"March 16, 1876. Today we said farewell to the veteran missionary, Rev.
John Stronach.
"He has been laboring many years at this place in connection with the
London Missionary Society. This morning he left us for his native land by
a new route.
"Each of the three Missions has one or more boats employed exclusively in
carrying missionaries and native preachers on their trips to and from the
various outstations accessible by water. These boats are called by the
native Christians 'hok-im-chun,' which means 'Gospel boat.' Mr. Stronach
embarked on one of these 'Gospel boats.' He expected to land at one of the
Mission stations on the mainland northeast from Amoy, and then travel
overland on foot or by sedan-chair to Foochow. He will spend the remaining
nights of this week and the Sabbath at various stations under the care of
the Missions at Amoy, and say some parting words to the native Christians.
"He expects early next week to meet one of the Methodist missionaries of
Foochow, and in company with him to pass on to that city, spending the
nights at stations under the care of the Foochow Missions. We may now
travel overland from Amoy to Foochow (a distance of one hundred and fifty
miles) and spend every night, sometimes take our noonday meals, at a
Christian chapel. Does this look as if missions were a failure in this
region? At Foochow Mr. Stronach will take steamer for Shanghai, thence to
Yokohama and San Francisco.
"All the missionaries of Amoy and many Chinese Christians accompanied Mr.
Stronach to the boat. It is very sad to say farewell to those with whom we
have been long and pleasantly associated.
"Mr. Stronach left England in 1837, thirty-nine years ago, to labor as a
missionary in the East Indies.
"He came to Amoy in 1844, shortly after this port was opened to foreign
commerce and missionary labor. He was soon sent to Shanghai as one of the
Committee of Delegates on the translation of the Scriptures into the
Chinese language. If he had done nothing more for China than his share in
this great work, the benefit would have been incalculable. After the
completion of this work in 1853, he returned to Amoy, where he has labored
continuously, with the exception of a short visit a few years ago to
Hongkong and Canton, and a shorter one last year to Foochow. Very rarely
has he been interrupted in his work by illness. In the history of modern
missions few instances can be found of missionaries who have been permitted
to labor uninterruptedly for nearly forty years, not even taking one
furlough home.
"In the case of Mr. Stronach the language concerning Moses may be literally
applied, 'His eye is not dim, nor his natural force abated.' He does not
yet have occasion to use spectacles, and the route he has taken proves him
still full of mental and physical vigor. Think of the discoveries and
inventions during the last forty years! Will Mr. Stronach recognize his
native land? The good hand of the Lord be with him and make his remaining
years as happy as his past ones have been useful."
The other letter, to Rev. John M. Ferris, D.D., was written on the occasion
of the death of the Rev. Carstairs Douglas, LL.D., one of the most
accomplished and scholarly men ever sent to any mission field:
"AUGUST 8, 1877.
"By this mail we have sad news to send. It relates to the death of Rev.
Carstairs Douglas, LL.D., of the English Presbyterian Mission at Amoy. He
was the senior member of that Mission, having arrived at Amoy, July, 1855,
twenty-two years ago.
"Dr. Douglas, two weeks ago to-day, was in apparent good health. On that
day he made calls on several members of the foreign community. To some of
them he remarked, concerning his health, that he had never felt better.
That evening he was in his usual place in our weekly prayer-meeting. The
next morning at four o'clock he began to feel unwell, but did not wish to
disturb others, so called no one until about half past six. Then some
medicine was given him and he sat down at his study-table for the morning
reading of his Hebrew Bible. About an hour after this he became much worse
and the doctor was sent for. On his arrival the physician pronounced his
disease to be cholera of the most virulent type, and the case to be almost
without hope of recovery.
"In consequence of our long and close intimacy word was soon sent to me. I
hastened to see him. He was already very weak and could not converse
without great effort. Everything was done for him that could be done. But
he continued failing until about a quarter before six in the afternoon,
July 26th, when he breathed his last. He knew what his disease was and
what would probably be its termination, but evidently the King of Terrors
had no terror for him. His end was peace. He retained his consciousness
nearly to the last.
"He was to have preached in our English chapel to the foreign community on
the following Sabbath morning. He told us his text was Romans vi. 23, 'The
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.' The text was so suitable to the occasion that I took it,
and in his place on the next Sabbath morning preached his funeral sermon
from his own text.
"By overwork he had worn himself out, and made himself an old man while he
was yet comparatively young in years. He came to China quite young and at
the time of his death was only about forty-six years of age, and yet men
who had recently become acquainted with him thought him over sixty. Is any
one inclined to blame him too much for this, as though he wore himself out
and sacrificed his life before the time? If so, he did it in a good cause
and for a good Master. Besides this, he did more work during the
twenty-two years of his missionary life than the most of men accomplish in
twice that time. And then, he reminds us of One, who when only a little
over thirty years of age, from similar causes, seems to have acquired the
appearance of nearly fifty (John viii. 57).
"Recently, especially during the last year, it was manifest, at least to
others, that his physical strength was fast giving way. Yet he could not
be prevailed upon to leave his field for a season for temporary rest, or
even to lessen the amount of his work.
"I never knew a more incessant worker. He was a man of most extensive
general information. I think I have never met with his equal in this
respect. He was acquainted with several modern European languages and was a
thorough student of the original languages of Holy Scripture, as witness
the fact of his study of the Hebrew Bible, even after his last sickness had
commenced. As regards the Chinese language, he was already taking his
place among the first sinologues of the land. We were indebted more to
him, perhaps, than to any other one man for the success of the recent
General Missionary Conference (at Shanghai).
[At this first General Conference of the Protestant missionaries of China,
held at Shanghai in May, 1877, Dr. Talmage preached the opening sermon and
read a paper, the title of which was, "Should the native churches in China
be united ecclesiastically and independent of foreign churches and
societies?"]
"As a member of the Committee of Arrangements he labored indefatigably by
writing Ietters and in other ways to make it a success, and though
comparatively so young, he well deserved the honor bestowed on him in
making him one of the presidents of that body. 'Know ye not that there is
a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?'
"This is a great blow to the English Presbyterian Mission in this place.
It is also, because of the intimate relations of the two missions and the
oneness of the churches under our care, a great blow to us. It is a great
blow to the whole mission work in China--greater, perhaps, than the loss
of any other man. You will not wonder that I, from my long intimacy with
him, feel the loss deeply, more and more deeply every day and week, as the
days and weeks pass away without him."