until the Annual Meeting of the mission in 1896 that Dr. Peoples and I
were appointed to make that tour, an account of which will appear later.
To complete, however, now the story of my relations with Mr. Arthington,
I may say that in advance of the Annual Meeting just referred to, I
wrote to him that the projected tour would surely be taken, and
suggested that sixty pounds would probably suffice to cover its expense.
His reply came the day before our meeting adjourned, with a cheque for
seventy pounds. The timely aid seemed to anticipate the divine approval
of our attempt. In his letter he suggested, “Perhaps it might be a good
precaution for you to let the French know your friendly object, and to
get full permission to travel east of the upper waters of the Mê Kōng as
far as you deem proper for your purpose. But, dear Brother, seek—and I
intend to ask with you—the Lord’s counsel and blessed comfort and
guidance.”
The tour was taken, as I have already intimated, and a full printed
report was sent to Mr. Arthington. On the whole, he was pleased; but it
is not easy to serve two masters. I had assured him from the beginning
that my first duty was to my mission and my own field. Still he was a
little disappointed that I had to go so far out of my way to join Dr.
Peoples in Nān; and a little more so that we could not get up nearer to
Tongking to give his favourite “John, Luke, and the Acts” to the tribes
supposed to be of Aryan descent, found by the French traveller. To
enable me to do this, he said, “I believe I should have great pleasure
in sending you all you will need from me.” He even intimated once that
he would be willing to provide in his will for the continuance of that
work. While not jealous of my connection with the Board, it seemed to
him a tantalizing thing that, while I was geographically nearer his goal
than any one else, and was, moreover, in sympathy with his devout spirit
and evangelistic aspirations to reach the “regions beyond,” I was not
free to carry out his favourite, though somewhat chimerical, plans.
The last letter I had from him was dated October 22d, 1898. His passion
was then as strong as ever to get his three favourite books to “the
tribes mentioned by the French traveller, ... for they are a people for
whom I have desired much, since the day I first read of them, that they
should have the Gospel.” He expressed great sympathy with my
disappointment that the French would not permit our labouring in their
territory, adding, “Yet the Lord will not be robbed of His own.” His
death occurred not very long after this. Of the disposition of his large
estate I found the following account in the London _Daily Graphic_:
“The late Robert Arthington of Leeds, left about £750,000 to the
London Missionary Society, and the Baptist Missionary Society.
The total value of his estate was £1,119,843. It is estimated
that the Baptist Missionary Society will receive £415,000 and
the London Missionary Society £335,000. The whole of the money
must be spent in the next twenty years on new missionary work,
and no part of it is to be spent in the United Kingdom.”
We reached Bangkok on September 11th, 1894. There we were joined by the
Rev. and Mrs. Howard Campbell and Dr. and Mrs. C. H. Denman, who had
come _via_ the Pacific. Earlier in this same year there had come to the
station in Mûang Prê, Dr. and Mrs. Thomas, Mr. and Mrs. Shields, and
Miss Hatch; with the Rev. and Mrs. L. W. Curtis and Miss Margaret Wilson
for Lakawn.
On our arrival in Chiengmai we found Mr. Phraner very ill with abscess
of the liver, and suffering at times intense pain. He had been warned by
physicians and friends to desist from his work and take his furlough.
But, as chairman of the Evangelistic Committee, he had been pushing the
evangelistic work too eagerly to heed these warnings. He refused to
leave his post till those who were absent should return. Soon after we
arrived he started for the United States, but, alas! it was too late. He
died in Singapore on January 15th, 1895, leaving a wife and two little
boys to pursue their sad journey alone. Mrs. Phraner—formerly Miss
Lizzie Westervelt—had served a useful term in the Girls’ School before
her marriage. The Phraner Memorial School for small children, erected by
the family and friends beside the First Church in Chiengmai, is an
appropriate tribute to their labours for the Lāo race, to which they
devoted their lives.
The year of our absence had been almost a banner year as regards
successful evangelistic work. Mr. Dodd’s Training School had furnished a
larger number of fairly well prepared evangelists than we ever had
before. Between forty and fifty of these had been actually at work in
the field for longer or shorter periods during the year, and their work
had been very successful. The Annual Meeting convened in Chiengmai soon
after our return. In it there was evident, on the part both of
missionaries and of native assistants, a degree of enthusiasm and
exuberant expectancy which, under the most favourable circumstances,
could hardly have escaped the inevitable reaction. Krū Nān Tā, a man of
magnetic power among his people, was then in his prime. The great value
of his services raised probably to an excessive degree our estimate of
the necessity of more _ordained_ native labourers. If one had done so
much, what might a dozen or a score accomplish? And there were the men,
with two, three, or even more years of training in the study of the
Bible. Most of them were elders or deacons in the different churches.
They had proved faithful in little. Why might they not be trusted with
more talents? Nine of these men were presented for examination before
the Presbytery.
When we began, it was thought—against the advice of Mr. Dodd, who was on
furlough—that one or two might be ordained to meet the immediate needs
of the work. Some of them had spent a number of years in the Buddhist
priesthood, and had some knowledge of Pali. Others were without such
education, but nearly all had learned to read Siamese. In Biblical
knowledge they had made fair progress. When the examination was closed,
there was a long and anxious deliberation, with special prayer for
divine direction. It was quite safe to ordain one or two. But the next
candidate was so near the standard of these that it might seem invidious
to exclude him—and so with the next, and the next. When the vote was
taken, six were chosen for ordination and three for licensure. The
millennium seemed drawing near!
With the new title and responsibility, higher wages were naturally to be
expected. And it was precisely upon this rock that our hopes and plans
suffered shipwreck. The Board, as never before, began to insist on the
native churches assuming the support of their own evangelists. The
methods of mission work set forth and practised in China by the Rev. Dr.
Nevius were urged upon us, and became very popular, especially with the
younger members of the mission, though in China they had not passed
beyond the stage of experiment. They are best described in Dr. Nevius’
own words:
“These two systems may be distinguished in general by the
former’s depending largely on paid native agency, while the
latter deprecates and seeks to minimize such agency. Perhaps an
equally correct and more generally acceptable statement of the
difference would be, that, while both alike seek ultimately the
establishment of independent, self-reliant, and aggressive
native churches, the ‘Old System’ strives by the use of foreign
funds to foster and stimulate the growth of native churches in
the first stage of their development, and then gradually to
discontinue the use of such funds; while those who adopt the
‘New System’ think that the desired object can be best obtained
by applying principles of independence and self-reliance from
the beginning. The difference between these two theories may be
more clearly seen in their outward and practical working. The
old uses freely, and as far as practicable, the more advanced
and intelligent of the native church members, in the capacity of
paid Colporteurs, Bible Agents, Evangelists, or Heads of
Stations; while the new proceeds on the assumption that the
persons employed in these various capacities would be more
useful in the end by being left in their original homes and
employments.”[17]
Footnote 17:
_Methods of Mission Work_, p. 4.
The result was that the mission took a good thing and ran it into the
ground. Economy became almost a craze. The churches were assessed—not
heavily, it is true—to support the ministers; and the ministers were
exhorted to take whatever stipend was agreed upon, and count any
deficiency in it as a voluntary contribution on their part, or as a debt
they owed their countrymen for the Gospel’s sake. Neither parishioners
nor workers understood the scheme. But it was tried for one year; and at
the next Annual Meeting (in 1895) the catastrophe came. The churches had
been asked to walk before they could stand; and the ministers were to
work, as well as walk, by faith and not by sight. As pastors, their
expenses were necessarily increased. They had to dress better, and to be
an example in clothing, and educating their families, and in
hospitality. It seemed to them that they were required to make bricks
without straw. A little yielding to demands that were not unreasonable
would have satisfied the ministers, and the churches would have been
encouraged by the continuance of some support from the Board for
evangelistic work, even though the amount was much reduced. The zeal was
well meant; but we broke off too suddenly.
For the unfortunate results, the mission, the native ministers, the
churches, and, indirectly, the Board should share the responsibility.
The advantages gained by our Training School were nullified, and all
progress toward a permanent Theological School was at an end. After
those two Annual Meetings there was no call for theological training,
and no future for a native ministry. So we have to go on appealing to
the Board and to the American churches for foreign workers, although the
salary of one of these would support half a dozen or more native
ministers.
It is easy to say that native ministers and church members should be
willing, out of pure gratitude, to labour for the evangelization of
their own people, or that such and such other races have done so. As a
matter of fact, the Lāo church is largely indebted for its progress to
the power exerted by the church itself. And as to the example of other
races, we must remember that there are racial differences. Even our
nearest Christianized neighbours, the Karens, stand in a class quite by
themselves in this respect. We can no more apply one rule to all
oriental races than we can enforce western customs in the Orient. But we
certainly cannot expect happy results from the application of rules that
would have discouraged our own ancestors when the first Christian
missionaries found them.
Among the things of more hopeful augury accomplished in the year 1894,
two deserve special mention—the establishment of Christian Endeavour
Societies in all the Lāo churches, primarily through the efforts of Dr.
Denman, and the publication of the Book of Psalms and of a hymnal of
over two hundred hymns and tunes. The Psalms were translated by Dr.
Wilson, and the hymns were almost wholly from his pen.
At the Annual Meeting, to which reference has already been made, a
committee was appointed to consider anew and report on the question
whether it was or was not advisable now to occupy the northern portion
of the field with a permanent station, and, if it were deemed advisable,
to determine the location. I had been anxious to have it occupied two
years before this time, but had yielded then to the claims of Prê and of
Nān—of Prê because the relief work among the sufferers from famine had
furnished a most auspicious opening there; and of Nān because it was a
larger city and province than any in the nearer north. Notwithstanding
the greater progress of the work in the north, with organized and
growing churches in Wieng Pā Pāo, Chieng Rāi, and Chieng Sên, there
seemed to be a lingering doubt as to the wisdom of establishing
permanent stations in cities so small as these. Most of my colleagues
had never visited that northern region. No one save myself had surveyed
the whole field. Yet no part of the work of a mission is more important,
or requires better judgment, than the location of its permanent
stations. Although fully persuaded in my own mind, I did not wish the
mission to embark on a new project involving outlay of money and of men,
without the mature judgment of the whole mission. Hence it was at my own
suggestion that the committee was appointed.
On January 20th, 1896, Dr. Denman and I of this committee started
northward. Mr. Dodd joined us later. It is a great thing to have a
physician along on such a tour. He relieves a great deal of suffering
among a needy people, and so lifts a great load of care from his
companion. But beyond this, I myself had quite an attack of fever on
this particular trip, and was much indebted to his care for my recovery.
Then we had the stereopticon along, and lectured nearly every night to
large audiences. The doctor manipulated the lantern, and left the
explanation and application to me. Those pictures have made the Gospel
story to live in the imaginations of many thousands of people. The
occasional introduction of a familiar scene from native life serves to
give confidence that the others also are real, while a few comic ones
interest the children, old and young. A picture of the King of
Siam—their King—with three of his children, one of them with his arms
about his father’s neck, always attracted great attention, and was often
asked for again at the close of the exhibition.
I had some trouble this time with my sadaw elephant. At one stage his
back became so sore that I should have left him behind, were it not that
he had had a serious encounter with a tusker, and I dared not risk him
in that vicinity. He escaped from the encounter with some bruises, and
it was fortunate that he inflicted no serious wound on his antagonist.
And he was quite well again, before we got home. This was, however, the
last tour he made with me. Elephants had become property so unsafe that,
before the next season, I disposed of both of mine. In one year, out of
three hundred and fifty elephants employed by a timber firm, thirty-two
died and twenty-two were stolen. But it was like parting with a friend
to see the sadaw go.
* * * * *
The committee visited the three northern churches, and, after full
conference both with the local rulers and with the Christians, reached
the unanimous decision that there should be a station established in the
north, and that it should be at Chieng Rāi. In this we were largely
influenced by the central situation of that place with reference to a
considerable group of cities and towns within the same watershed, and
all, like Chieng Rāi itself, rapidly filling up with an agricultural
population crowded out from the dear and densely settled lands further
south. And in addition to this was the conviction that the new station
would prove a stepping-stone to the large northern section of the Tai
race, established in territory which is now English, French, and
Chinese. We still think that some amicable arrangement should be made
with the American Baptist Missionary Union, by which the Tai race to the
north of Siam and east of the Salwin should be left to our mission. The
Union has a great work among the hill-tribes—a work for which they are
specially adapted and specially well equipped; while we are equally well
equipped for work among the Tai.
Dr. Denman viewed the field with special interest, for he had been
designated to help in opening the station, and we had the virtual
sanction of the Board thereto. It was the prospect of having a physician
that specially enlisted the interest of the rulers of Chieng Rāi; though
both they and their people were friendly to our work on other grounds.
It made us sad to think that our old friend the governor had not lived
to see the mission started. But the beautiful lot given by him on the Mê
Kok will always be a memorial to him. In due time Rev. and Mrs. Dodd and
Dr. and Mrs. Denman moved up and opened the station. The years have
abundantly justified the wisdom of this step. In 1910 the accessions to
the churches in Chieng Rāi equalled those of the mother church in
Chiengmai.
From Chieng Sên we sent out two parties of evangelists, five in each,
well loaded with Scriptures and tracts, one northwestward to Keng Tung,
and the other across the Mê Kōng to Mûang Sing. This was the very first
mission work ever done in the Keng Tung State. These parties carried
also a supply of medicines, and were limited in time to two and a half
months. They were everywhere well received, and on their return gave
interesting reports of their work. Their books were eagerly read, and
the supply of them was far too small. There were a number of interesting
cases of believers. Some villages were loath to have them leave. The
experiment, in fact, was very successful.
[Illustration:
PHYA SURA SIH, SIAMESE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR THE NORTH]
As soon as our committee work was done, Mr. Dodd was obliged to return.
After visiting the Mūsô villages, Dr. Denman and I moved on to Chieng
Kawng. This town is situated on the right bank of the great river within
the fifteen-kilometer zone which was reserved as neutral territory upon
the cession of the left bank to France. A French military station was on
the opposite side of the river, and a small gunboat was lying there—the
first that ever came up through the rapids. Among the crew were two or
three who could read English, and who were very anxious to get English
Bibles. This was an unexpected request which we could not then meet. But
I applied for some to the American Bible Society, and received them just
before I started on my trip of the next year; and, finally, was able to
forward them to the men from Lūang Prabāng. The captain of the gunboat
was very kind to us while we stayed at Chieng Kawng, and was much
interested in having his men get the Bibles.
Letters were presently received by Dr. Denman summoning him back to
Chiengmai on account of the illness of his wife. This left me again
without an associate, and with the added care of the medical work, which
cannot be avoided on such a tour, and which, of course, rests more
heavily on a layman than it does on a trained physician. Before
returning home I made a call—and I believe it was the last one—at the
Mūsô villages beyond the Mê Kōng. Again my hopes were raised of gaining
the whole tribe. With such a prospect I would gladly have remained with
them several months. But again I had to leave them with only the “next
year” promise—which never was fulfilled. I reached home on May 5th,
after an absence of three and a half months.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
XXXIII
THE REGIONS BEYOND
Two important tours were undertaken by the Lāo Mission in 1897—one at
the opening of the year, eastward and northward beyond the Mê Kōng River
into French and Chinese territory; and the other after the close of the
rainy season, northward into British territory. The latter tour led to
far-reaching results, but it does not come within the scope of this
personal narrative. The former was rendered possible by the timely gift
of seventy pounds from Mr. Arthington, already mentioned; and
represented the nearest approach we could then make toward the
fulfilment of his great desire to reach with the Scriptures those
“tribes of Aryan origin” in the “regions beyond.” Dr. Peoples, then of
Nān, was my companion during part of this tour; and we went well
supplied with Scriptures and tracts, no less than fourteen carriers
being loaded with these alone. I left home on January 12th, going
eastward by way of Lakawn and Prê to Nān, where Dr. Peoples was to join
me. At each of these stations I spent a busy and a delightful Sunday;
and from Lakawn as far as Nān I had the pleasant company of Miss Fleeson
and Miss Dr. Bowman, returning to their post from the Annual Meeting.
One night on this portion of the trip we were awakened by the cries of
our men and the snorting of the ponies, to find that we had a visit from
a night prowler, coming so near that we heard the clatter of the loose
stones which he dislodged as he sprang away. The tracks we found in the
morning showed him to be a large Bengal tiger. On this same stretch of
road, as recently as 1910, the mails for Nān were interrupted by a
man-eating tiger, which killed several men and women, till, finally, he
was despatched by Dr. Peoples within a few hundred yards of the mission
compound.
Ten days were spent in journeying northward through the great province
of Nān, stopping night by night in its villages and towns, where we
always had good audiences at our evening worship. Sunday we spent at
Mûang Ngôn, and then turned eastward, striking the Mê Kōng at Tā Dûa,
and making our way up its western bank. At Bān Hūi Kûa we found such
interest that we were sorry that we must move on. The Prayā—or Pīa, as
the name is called throughout this region—spent an afternoon in
transcribing in the Lūang Prabāng character the tract entitled “The Way
to Happiness.” He had heard something of our religion before this from a
former princess-pupil of Miss Cole in the Wang Lang School at Bangkok.
As he bade us good-bye he said, pointing upwards, “I hope we shall meet
up yonder,” and seemed pleased that we had the same anticipation.
The next Sunday we camped in the monastery grounds at Bān Hūa Ling. The
people began to assemble before breakfast, and long before it was time
for the morning service the grounds were full. The abbot, with his monks
and the officers, sat directly before me as I explained the method of
salvation through Jesus Christ. The audience listened most attentively.
At the close the abbot and the officers remained for further
conversation. The abbot expressed surprise at our errand. He had never
known of anybody’s travelling about simply to teach the people. Some
expressed fear of encountering the anger of the spirits if they should
no longer worship them. To this the doctor gave the scientific answer
that fevers and most other diseases were caused and propagated by
specific germs, over which the spirits have no control whatever. This
was to them a new idea, but they seemed to comprehend it. Next morning,
when we left them, the people followed us with expressions of regret.
When we reached Chieng Mên, a town on the western bank of the river and
opposite Lūang Prabāng, we found a European with a group of boys, who
turned out to be the French schoolmaster. He invited us to dine with him
that evening, and the next day aided us in crossing the river. Our first
duty in Lūang Prabāng was to report to the French authorities, M.
Vackle, the Commandant Supérieur, and M. Grant, the Commissaire. They
had been notified from Bangkok of our coming, and received us with
genuine French hospitality. We never met two more perfect gentlemen.
They even offered us a house; but, as the abbot of the principal
monastery was a personal friend of mine, they yielded to our preference
to stop with him, but only on the ground that there would be more
comfort and room for our men.
That evening we were invited to dine with M. Vackle. M. Grant and his
staff were present; and the dinner was a royal one, to which we were
prepared to do full justice. We had the embarrassment of not being able
to converse save through a native interpreter not well versed either in
French or in English. But our host was most considerate, as were also
his French guests. And every evening during our stay we dined with one
or another of the officials.
Next day we called on the Lāo “King,” as he is still euphemistically
called, though possessing only such powers as the French give him. When
we made our business call on the French officials to ask permission to
proceed on our missionary tour through the French territory, they were
very obliging. We freely discussed together alternative routes, and they
offered us passports for any of them. When at last with some hesitancy,
the question of permanent work and a mission station was broached, M.
Vackle replied that for that he had no authority. Application would have
to be made to the Governor General at Hanoi, and preferably through
Washington and Paris. The prospect still seemed hopeful.