[Illustration]
AN ENGLISHWOMAN’S
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS
IN TROPICAL AFRICA:
BEING THE BIOGRAPHY OF GWEN
ELEN LEWIS, MISSIONARY TO THE
CAMEROONS AND THE CONGO
BY
GEORGE HAWKER
MINISTER OF CAMDEN ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH, LONDON
AUTHOR OF “THE LIFE OF GEORGE GRENFELL”
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAP
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON NEW YORK TORONTO
To
WILLIAM COULSON PARKINSON,
WHO HAS SERVED THE BAPTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY ON COMMITTEE FOR TWENTY-TWO
YEARS, WHO WAS SUPERINTENDENT OF CAMDEN ROAD CHURCH SUNDAY SCHOOL WHEN
GWEN ELEN THOMAS WAS A TEACHER, WHO BECAME AND REMAINED HER TRUSTED
FRIEND, WHOM THE AUTHOR ALSO GLADLY CLAIMS AS FRIEND,
THIS BOOK IS
AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
PREFACE
In July, 1910, I was requested by the Committee of the Baptist
Missionary Society to write the life of Mrs. Thomas Lewis of the Congo.
I had shortly before arranged with Mr. Lewis to undertake the work
independently; but it accorded well with his feelings and my own that it
should be done under the direction of the Society which Mrs. Lewis had
served for five-and-twenty years. Unfortunately the final decision was
not arrived at until Mr. Lewis was on the point of returning to Africa,
having already sent forward his wife’s journals and papers. Consequently,
in executing my task, I have missed the great advantage of consultation
with him. Chapters III., IV., V., and VI. only have received his revision.
When I asked him about materials, he replied: “If you can get hold of the
Hartland letters, you will have almost all you need. Gwen wrote to one or
other member of the family by every mail during all her missionary life,
and told them everything about her work which was worth the telling.”
The Misses Lily and Alice Hartland were kind enough to place “the
Hartland Letters” in my hands. The series was not complete, some letters
having been destroyed, and a few lost. But the remainder constituted a
great mass of most valuable material, and this book is largely based
upon it. On September 12th I received from Kimpese a small trunk filled
with Mrs. Lewis’s journals and papers; and meanwhile important parcels
of letters were entrusted to me by the Misses Percival, Mrs. John
Jenkyn Brown, and Miss Taylor. I am also specially indebted to Mrs.
Percival, the Misses Hartland, and Mrs. W. C. Parkinson, for personal
recollections, and for many suggestions and corrections.
The Rev. C. E. Wilson, B.A., General Secretary of the Baptist
Missionary Society, has given me the freedom of the Mission House for
the consultation of books and papers; and the Rev. Lawson Forfeitt has
helped me in many ways, especially in arranging the illustrations, and in
reading the proofs.
To these, and other friends whose names are mentioned in the text, I
acknowledge my obligations with warmest thanks.
In the numerous passages selected from Mrs. Lewis’s letters, the reader
will observe that the name of the correspondent is sometimes given. When
no name appears it must be understood that the citation is from “the
Hartland Letters.”
As my task neared completion I realised that I had been guilty of one
grave omission. During more than twenty years of her missionary life
Mrs. Lewis was in frequent communication with Mr. Baynes, her official
director, whom she regarded also as a most dear and honoured friend.
Yet so far as I remember, there occurs in this book but one incidental
and oblique reference to Mr. Baynes’s esteem for her. Observing this
I wrote to him, expressing regret for my default, and begging him to
send me a few lines of appreciation of his friend. With prompt kindness
he wrote the following letter, which contains what I wanted, with some
embarrassing additions. My respect for him prevents me from cutting
up what he has been good enough to write; and if I incur reproach for
printing appreciation of myself, I must bear it meekly for his sake.
“MY DEAR MR. HAWKER,—I am indeed most thankful to learn that
you have undertaken to write a Memorial of the life and labours
of my intimate and much-valued friend Mrs. Thomas Lewis, who
gave herself with such whole-hearted consecration to the
uplifting and enlightenment of the native peoples of the vast
Congo Region of Central Africa, and whose name and labours will
live for long years to come in the hearts and memories of those
on whose behalf she toiled so lovingly and so cheerfully, and
bravely endured such hardships and privations.
“I cannot help saying I know of no one who can tell the story
of her consecrated life and labours so sympathetically as
yourself, her beloved Pastor and her valued friend and adviser.
Her name will ever be associated with your Church at Camden
Road, from which have gone forth so many heroic missionaries
and martyrs whose one desire it was to bear to the benighted
peoples of Central Africa ‘The Light of Life,’ counting it
highest privilege to tell out the Story of His Love, Who
though He was rich for our sakes became poor.”
“For many years I had the joy of intimate friendship with Mrs.
Lewis, and a more devoted, consecrated missionary I have never
met. It is a great satisfaction to me that you have undertaken
to write the story of her life and labours, and I trust that
as the result many may be led to follow in her footsteps, who
shall realise in doing so a joy akin to that which inspired her
to the end, and described in her own words:—
“‘No toil so sweet, no joy so deep as following in His
footsteps who gave Himself for us.’
“‘Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord.’
“With sincere regard,
“Yours as ever,
“ALFRED H. BAYNES.’
May the good wish of one who has been a great helper of the cause of
Foreign Missions be graciously fulfilled.
GEORGE HAWKER.
ANSON ROAD, N. 1911.
CONTENTS
PAGE
PREFACE v
CHAPTER I
EARLY YEARS 1
CHAPTER II
BETROTHAL, BEREAVEMENT, AND DESIGNATION TO THE CAMEROONS 19
CHAPTER III
VOYAGE TO THE CAMEROONS, AND A SURFEIT OF ADVENTURES. 1884 39
CHAPTER IV
ORANGE BLOSSOMS AND _IMMORTELLES_. 1885 64
CHAPTER V
RETURN, MARRIAGE, AND JOURNEY TO CONGO. 1885-1887 82
CHAPTER VI
FIRST TERM AT SAN SALVADOR. 1887-1890 102
CHAPTER VII
SECOND TERM AT SAN SALVADOR 128
CHAPTER VIII
SECOND TERM AT SAN SALVADOR (_continued_) 145
CHAPTER IX
THE BUILDING OF THE NEW CHAPEL AT SAN SALVADOR, AND OTHER MATTERS 165
CHAPTER X
THE OPENING OF THE NEW CHAPEL AT SAN SALVADOR. SEPTEMBER, 1899 184
CHAPTER XI
PIONEERING IN ZOMBO: PERILS AND PROVIDENCES. 1898-1899 198
CHAPTER XII
LIFE AT KIBOKOLO 227
CHAPTER XIII
LIFE AT KIBOKOLO (_continued_) 247
CHAPTER XIV
A MISSION OF MERCY 271
CHAPTER XV
LAST FURLOUGH 281
CHAPTER XVI
SETTLEMENT AT KIMPESE 299
CHAPTER XVII
THE FIRST SESSION AND THE LAST VOYAGE. 1909 312
CHAPTER XVIII
CHARACTERISTICS 333
APPENDIX 343
INDEX 348
ILLUSTRATIONS
MRS. LEWIS. PORTRAIT _Frontispiece_
LINE MAP OF AFRICA SPECIALLY INDICATING CAMEROONS AND CONGO xvi
PAGE
CAMDEN ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH, LONDON 12
PORTRAITS: MR. GEORGE THOMAS, MRS. THOMAS, MISS THOMAS, AND
REV. THOMAS LEWIS 52
CHIEF NOSO AND PART OF HIS FAMILY 122
BWINGIDI (EVANGELIST’S WIFE) AND GIRLS’ SCHOOL AT NKABA, AN
OUT-STATION NEAR SAN SALVADOR 140
SAN SALVADOR: RUINS OF ANCIENT PORTUGUESE CATHEDRAL 170
SAN SALVADOR. OLD SCHOOL-CHAPEL 188
SAN SALVADOR. NEW CHAPEL 188
FERRY OVER NKISI RIVER. MRS. LEWIS IN CANOE 224
HOME OF MR. AND MRS. LEWIS AT COMBER MEMORIAL STATION,
KIBOKOLO (1903) 224
THE DISPENSARY AT KIBOKOLO. MRS. LEWIS STANDING IN DOORWAY 240
BRIDGE OVER LUSENGELE STREAM, NEAR COMBER STATION, KIBOKOLO 260
GRASS HOUSE AT KIMPESE IN WHICH MR. AND MRS. LEWIS LIVED
DURING CONSTRUCTION OF PERMANENT BUILDINGS (1908) 302
KIMPESE: KONGO TRAINING INSTITUTION. PART OF STUDENTS’ QUARTERS 312
KIMPESE: KONGO TRAINING INSTITUTION. THE REV. THOMAS LEWIS
(PRINCIPAL), MRS. LEWIS, THE REV. S. E. MOON (A.B.M.U.,
TUTOR), AND STUDENTS (1909) 324
[Illustration: WEST CENTRAL AFRICA showing KAMERUN (CAMEROONS) and THE
LOWER and MIDDLE CONGO
_Bartholomew, Edinʳ_
Baptist Missionary Society’s Stations thus _S. Salvador_]
CHAPTER I
EARLY YEARS
Gwen Elen Thomas was born in London, and resided in the metropolis until
the call of Africa drew her across the sea. She never lived in Wales,
save during brief holiday visits, yet the Principality had its rights in
her character and career, and a cherished place in her natural affection.
Her father was a Welshman, and her husband was a Welshman. All her life
long the beauty of the western hills glimmered through the dear home
talk; she was passing happy in her occasional holiday sojourns among
them; and often, when spent by labour in the torrid heat of Africa,
longed for wings which might bear her away to some bracing mountain
height in Wales.
Her father, George Thomas, was born at Maentwrog, to fair-seeming
prospects; but his sky was soon overclouded by dire bereavement, and his
life was much acquainted with adversity and disappointment. His father,
Griffith Thomas of Maentwrog, early held a good position as “Crown Agent
for the Woods and Forests of North Wales,” and married a woman whom he
loved with intense devotion. Several children were born of the marriage,
but at the birth of the youngest the mother died. Two years later her
husband was laid beside her in the grave. It was commonly affirmed that
the death of his wife shattered him, and that he died of a broken heart.
The heads of this plaintive little story are inscribed, with customary
brevity, upon a tombstone in the graveyard of the church at Maentwrog,
and read as follows:—
“To the memory of Jane, wife of Griffith Thomas of Maentwrog, Gent.
She departed this life on the 21st day of September, 1811, aged 37
years. Also of the above-named Griffith Thomas, died on the 10th day of
September, 1813, aged 34 years.”
The young orphaned children were taken charge of by relatives, and George
was brought up by his grandmother.
At the age of eighteen, or thereabouts, he came to London to seek his
fortune, and obtained a position in Finchams’ Tea Warehouse at Charing
Cross. Some years later he met a young lady, Anne Clarke, at an evening
party and resolved, precipitately, that if he ever married, she should be
his wife. His affection was subjected to the test of time. Three years
elapsed before he secured an engagement, and four more ere he carried off
his bride.
Anne Clarke was the daughter of George Rix Clarke, a Suffolk man, who
wrote a history of Ipswich, which is still esteemed by antiquarians and
topographers. In middle life he married a Scottish girl of seventeen, and
Anne, their first child, was born at her mother’s home in Edinburgh.
The china bowl used at her christening is a treasured possession of the
family.
Four children were born to George and Anne Thomas, of whom Gwen Elen was
the third. At the date of her birth, January 28, 1853, her parents were
residing at Albion Grove, Barnsbury, in comfortable circumstances. They
had previously become associated with the Baptist Church worshipping
at Providence Hall (now Cross Street), Islington, under the pastorate
of the Rev. John Jenkyn Brown, who was subsequently well known to
the Nonconformist world as “John Jenkyn Brown of Birmingham,” and
who in 1882 was President of the Baptist Union of Great Britain and
Ireland. Mrs. Thomas was received into the fellowship of the Church
at Islington. Her husband, though a man of pronounced evangelical
conviction, was restrained by invincible compunction from ever assuming
the responsibility of Church membership. None the less, a warm friendship
subsisted between him and his minister, which was maintained through all
the changes of following life. When he died, his daughter, Gwen Elen,
looked to Mr. Brown with filial affection which was warmly answered, and
it is significant that upon the occasion of her marriage, he came from
Birmingham to London to fulfil the paternal office of giving the bride
away.
While Gwen Elen was still in early childhood the family fortunes
sustained a severe reverse. Her father, who was in business as a Scotch
agent, was the victim of a fraudulent transaction, and the loss entailed
was so heavy that his business was ruined. There followed years of
struggle and vicissitude. During part of this period the family resided
at Fulham, but before Gwen had emerged from childhood, they returned
to the north of London and became connected with the Baptist Church at
Camden Road.
One suggestive glimpse of her child-life comes down to us. Gwen and her
younger brother Herbert, who were great chums, used to sit together,
under the dining-room table, reading stories of Moffat and Livingstone.
Years afterwards, when they were both still quite young, and the
missionary interest at Camden Road Church had become acute, Herbert said
one day to his sister, touched surely by the spirit of prophecy: “Gwen,
you had better marry one of these missionaries, and I will come out and
be your lay-helper.” The forecast was only realised in part. Gwen did
marry a missionary, but before that came to pass, at the early age of
nineteen, Herbert died.
In these days the Church at Camden Road was a strong and flourishing
community, and by way of becoming yet wealthier and more influential.
The sanctuary was erected in 1854 by the Metropolitan Chapel Building
Association, and at first stood in the fields. But the tide of building
soon swept beyond it, and the surrounding district became the kind of
suburb in which a Nonconformist Church enjoys conditions favourable
to success. In 1857 the congregation invited the Rev. Francis Tucker,
B.A., of Union Chapel, Manchester, to become its minister. He accepted
the invitation, formed a Church, and commenced a period of service,
honourably and successfully maintained for twenty-seven years. Mr.
Tucker was a man of winning personality and sympathetic manners. As
a preacher he possessed commanding advantages; his musical voice was
managed with consummate skill; he was master of refined, poetic diction,
was gifted with imagination, and swayed withal by fervent evangelical
conviction. Moreover, having held for a short period a missionary
pastorate in Calcutta, his interest in the foreign work of the Church was
enlightened and intense.
As a child Gwen Thomas passed under the influence of this estimable man,
an influence which waxed but never waned until the day of his death. It
is touching to recall that upon one occasion when she was recovering from
a severe attack of fever at the Cameroons, and tormented by insomnia, her
restless mind was haunted by the thought that if only Mr. Tucker could
come and read to her she would be hushed to sleep.
While yet a girl her heart was given to Christ, in surrender which knew
no recall, and at the age of eighteen she was baptized by her beloved
minister and welcomed into the fellowship of the Church. It was at
this time, or perhaps a little earlier, that she became a teacher in
the Sunday School, which she had attended as a scholar for several
years. Owing to circumstances, her secular schooling had been somewhat
irregular, but she was fortunate in its finishing stage. It was the day
of “Private Schools for Young Ladies,” now almost obsolete, and one of
the best establishments of this order was conducted in Hilldrop Road by
the Misses Hewitt. The school was distant from Camden Road Church less
than a hundred yards, the principals were members of the Church, and
were women of high character and adequate attainments. Their school was
held in great repute in the district, and their influence was a social
factor of happy moment. That the Misses Hewitt were able to command the
esteem and affection of their pupils is pleasantly evidenced by the fact
that, though the school has been discontinued for years, “The Hilldrop
Old Girls’ Club” still exists, and it will interest readers of this book
to be informed that the last annual issue of _The Hilldrop Magazine_, the
organ of the club, contained an “In Memoriam” article on Gwen Elen Lewis.
To the pages of this magazine she was an occasional contributor.
At the age of nearly sixteen she entered the Hilldrop school, and for
about a year enjoyed advantages which greatly improved her equipment for
the battle of life. Like many of her fellow pupils, she became warmly
attached to her teachers, and the ensuing friendship was only broken by
her death. I am happily indebted to Miss Amy Hewitt for the following
paragraphs. Confessedly unable to supply incidents, Miss Hewitt has
conveyed impressions which are as vivid as they are helpful:—
“It is many years since she was a school girl, and the lapse of time
has naturally robbed my memory of all but the most startling individual
happenings in our professional experience. Moreover, Mrs. Lewis was
not the sort of girl to make dramatic school history. High souled, law
abiding, and very conscientious, loving knowledge for its own sake, and
eager to make the most of her advantages, she was an ideal scholar.
“Coming into an atmosphere thoroughly congenial to her temperament, she
settled happily at once, and though she has since said that the influence
of the few months spent as a daily pupil at Hilldrop Road was amongst the
most permanently formative of her life, there was nothing at the time
to distinguish her from a set of like-minded young girls who were her
companions, and some of whom became her life-long friends.
“Though I have no definite facts to communicate, my impressions of her
personality and character remain undimmed. I remember that as Gwen Elen
Thomas she entered our school on October 12, 1868, a short, plump,
fair, blue-eyed girl of sixteen, whose slight guttural accent, even
without the additional hint of her Welsh name, would have suggested
her nationality. Her bearing was self-contained but alert. She was
_there_—her individuality well developed; and she was _there_, with all
her faculties alive to receive and to give out influence. That was the
first superficial impression.
“Later on we became familiar with, and learned to love, the serious,
intent face, the steady penetrating glance, and the quick sense of
humour, which on the slightest provocation lighted up her countenance
with fun, and moved her to hearty laughter. She was keenly interested in
her studies and brought to bear on them strong intelligence and powers
unusually mature for her age.
“Monsieur de Lamartinière was at that time our French master, and Gwen
Elen greatly delighted in his lessons. She had been thoroughly well
grounded in the language, and so was prepared to profit by advanced
lessons; and she made very rapid progress.
“Gifted and eager, she never seemed to find any subject dull or
distasteful, but, as was natural to one of her sympathetic and deeply
religious character, History, Literature, and Scripture particularly,
attracted her and brought her original mind into play.
“The splendid endowments of heart and head which made her so good a pupil
were given unstintedly to her missionary work, and it was with great
delight that we heard from time to time of her wonderful success in
Africa.”
One of her fellow scholars at the Hilldrop School was Emily Smith,
daughter of Mr. Jonas Smith, a deacon of Camden Road Church, and between
these two girls there grew up a warm and helpful friendship. They
prepared their lessons together, and entered with girlish ardour into
each other’s interests. In course of time Gwen Thomas became a frequent
visitor at her friend’s home. And that it was a genial, hospitable home,
there are not a few who could bear grateful witness. When her own mother
died, the Smiths loved her the more for her sorrow, and for the filial
devotion she had displayed; and how the friendship was maintained, and
how Annie Smith a younger daughter followed her into the mission-field,
will appear as this story proceeds.
And now something must be said of a man whose influence upon the life of
Miss Thomas was not less than that of her minister, though he was her
senior by a few months only. Thomas J. Comber was a member of the Baptist
Church at Denmark Place, Camberwell, of which Dr. Charles Stanford, of
gracious memory, was the gifted honoured minister. The love of Christ
and the passionate desire to be a missionary of the Cross came to Comber
in his early youth. While yet a lad, he became a Sunday-school teacher
at Denmark Place, and was barely nineteen when he entered Regent’s Park
College to gain equipment for his ordained career.
It is more than a convenient Sabbath day’s journey from Regent’s Park to
Denmark Place, and so it fell out that in his student days Comber became
a frequent worshipper at Camden Road. He loved children, was keen for
any kind of Christian service, and soon found an opening in the Sunday
morning infant class. It occurs to me to remark, in passing, that he is
the only theological student of my remembrance who ever found himself
effectually called to this modest sphere of labour. And I am tempted to
add that if there be aught of disparagement in this reflection, it is not
of the sphere.
His increasing interest in Camden Road Sunday School, and his zeal for
the spiritual welfare of the scholars, led him to request permission to
conduct a week-evening children’s service. Camden Road Church has always
been reasonably conservative, and the proposed innovation was not acceded
to without demur. But Comber, thus early, was not a man to be deterred
from treading any path which seemed to him the path of duty, because
certain excellent people might be in doubt of its expediency. Hesitating,
dubious folk are apt to draw aside when one appears who will not be
denied, and Comber had his way. The service was instituted, and spiritual
forces generated by its means are working to-day.
The early hour of the children’s meeting made it difficult for young men
to attend, and Comber’s helpers were at first exclusively drawn from
the teachers on the girls’ side of the school; and now and then he was
twitted by the remark that all his lieutenants were girls. But he was
too much in earnest to be perturbed by a gentle gibe, and in the course
of a few years the pleasantry would seem a feeble thing, in relation to
a man who had proved himself, under heroic conditions, to be a resolute,
virile, and resourceful leader of men.
Meanwhile if his lieutenants were girls they were of the right mettle,
believed in him implicitly, admired him profoundly, backed him bravely in
his Christian endeavours, and were destined to remain his warm friends
as long as he lived. Gwen Elen Thomas was one of them, and among others
associated with her in this service were Miss Emily Smith, Miss Rosa
Nodes, who played the harmonium, and Miss Emily Pewtress, daughter of Mr.
Stephen Pewtress, deacon and secretary of the Church.
Comber believed profoundly in child conversion. He set himself to bring
about early and intelligent decision for Christ, and his purpose was
honoured of God. There were many such decisions, and in course of time
there was a goodly list of children who simply but credibly affirmed
their personal faith in Christ. These Comber wisely accounted babes
in Christ, who needed nursing, and as many of them were girls, some,
fourteen or fifteen years of age, he concluded that their own teachers
were fitter for the business than himself. So he called his four
lieutenants together and informed them that these young converts must be
divided up into classes, of which they must take charge. In the course of
his instructions concerning procedure, he said that each little meeting
must be commenced with prayer. They were dismayed. No one of them had
ever engaged in prayer with a human audience; the thing could not be
done. Practical and gently autocratic, he bade them meet together and
make their first attempts among themselves. They were obedient, and the
work went on according to the leader’s plans.
Though Comber did very well with his young women helpers, it was all
joy to him when one of the teachers from the other side of the school
joined him, and shared his labours in the conduct of the services. Of
John Hartland, now entering the story of Miss Thomas’s life, much will
be written in the next chapter. Suffice it to say at this point that
he stood beside Comber in his work among the children at Camden Road,
conducted it after Comber had sailed for the Cameroons, joined him later
on the Congo, and died in his arms, having won from him a love as deep
and tender as that he gave him.
Comber now had a man lieutenant, and had need of him. For though the
majority of his weekly audience may have been girls, there were always
boys present, and of the importance of his work among the boys the
following letter from Mr. S. Leslie Pewtress yields convincing and
beautiful evidence:—
“My remembrances of these services for children conducted by Mr.
Comber at Camden Road are very hallowed ones. I was quite a lad, but
can distinctly recollect how the talk in our home ran that he was a
very brave young student to attempt them, and very persevering to get
permission to hold them, in spite of much opposition and cold water.
“There was no Band of Hope then. For children there were occasional
magic lanterns, annual Sunday-school meetings, and a composition and an
elocution class for young fellows—also a singing class. But Mr. Comber’s
meetings were so different from all these. I felt as I entered the room
that there was a holy purpose in it all. Coming, as Mr. Comber did, from
outside, having no relatives or friends in the place, he seemed to me a
direct messenger from God. I had a strange awe of him that he dared speak
as he did, and yet I rejoiced that he could. I wish I could recall the
hymns we sang. They seemed very special at the time I know.
[Illustration: CAMDEN ROAD BAPTIST CHURCH, LONDON.
(Photo: F. Thurston, F.R.P.S., Luton.)]
“Mr. Comber made a practice of standing at the door and saying goodbye
to us as we went out. I tried to avoid him if I could, and being one of
the bigger lads he let me pass many times. One night, however, he took
my hand somewhat diffidently, and as he said good-night, added, ‘Do
you love the Lord Jesus?’ I was quite dumb with emotion. I can feel the
appealing look with which I lifted my eyes to his face and met his kindly
loving eyes, even now. Then I broke away and hurried home to my bedside,
where, on my knees, the tears streaming down my cheeks, and in utter
silence, my heart poured itself out to God in longing desire to be a
better boy. It was my first conversion, the first yielding of heart and
will to God I ever made.
“Mr. Comber never knew. He said no word to me at later meetings. What
he thought of my rudeness and coldness I do not know. I fear I hurt him
a little, but he never resented it. His later work, especially as a
missionary, was always shaming me to myself, while he has always been
to me the ideal Christian young man, and hero. But when I look at his
photograph it is always to the children’s services that my thoughts are
carried back.”
The writer of this letter, who, to my personal knowledge, has been for
five-and-twenty years a cultured, devoted, and successful Christian
worker among children and young people, would probably be in agreement
with one of Comber’s four helpers, already named, who recently told me
that he was unquestionably one of the strongest personal, spiritual
forces she had ever encountered in a lifetime of Christian service.
That this man exercised a formative and dominant influence upon the life
of Miss Thomas, during the years of their association, is a statement
that needs no other proof than that afforded by the facts, that she
began her missionary career in his tracks upon the Cameroons; spent
three-and-twenty years of her life in the great Congo field, which he and
Grenfell opened up for the Baptist Mission; and, as long as she lived,
continued to speak of him with reverent affection.
In certain regards Comber and Miss Thomas were greatly unlike in
temperament, yet had they much in common of gravest moment. The love of
Christ was the grand passion of both their lives. They were both endowed
with indomitable will and the consequent capacity for sustained industry.
They both loved and understood children, possessed the saving grace of
humour, and, devoutness notwithstanding, took innocent and wholesome
delight in fun.
I met Comber several times during his last furlough, but my visual
remembrances of him are restricted to two living pictures, typical and
contrasting, which I will endeavour to call up before the mind of the
reader. A children’s party is in course at the house of Mr. Jonas Smith.
The company is gathered in the drawing-room, and consists of twenty or
thirty children of varying ages, with a sprinkling of benevolent elders.
Comber is at the piano, singing, to his own accompaniment, a humorous
song. The accompaniment is mimetic as well as musical. Every feature of
his mobile face, roguishly turned to his audience, and every muscle of
his lissom body, seem to move in concert with the fun. When it is over
and he is about to leave the instrument, he is stormed by overwhelming
numbers, held to his place, and coaxed and coerced into singing again.
Three months later I find myself sitting in the area of Exeter Hall.
This time it is not a children’s party which is in course, but the Annual
Meeting of the Baptist Missionary Society. The Hall is crowded in every
part, and in the middle of the platform stands a young man, with a keen,
clean-shaven, boyish-looking face. The great hushed throng is mastered
by the speaker, who is none other than the singer of the laughing song.
He does the storming this time, and he has his way with the hearts of
his audience. There have been heavy losses on the Congo. Counsels of
retreat have been urged. What has Thomas Comber to say about it? He has
the right to speak. He is a lonely man. His young bride has lain for
years in a Congo grave, and the Congo grave of his brother, Dr. Sidney
Comber, is newly made. Yes, surely he has the right to speak! What has
he to say? Even now after four-and-twenty years I can see the flame of
passion kindling in his face as he pleads that he and his brethren may
be spared the shame, and the cause of Christ the wrong, which would be
involved in retreat. Would they bid Grenfell back, whose exploits he
praises and whose gallant words he quotes? It is unthinkable. That speech
made history. Counsels of retreat died into silence. “Forward,” not
“Backward,” became the order of the day.
Such are my two distinct remembrances of the man, whom the children at
Camden Road loved as a teacher, admired as a hero, and romped with as a
playmate; whom the Congo natives, when they came to know him, regarded as
a miracle of love and power; and whom his comrades followed as a captain
whose belt has been buckled by the fingers of Almighty God.
* * * * *
During the years of Comber’s memorable service at Camden Road, Miss
Thomas lived at home with her parents. Her mother was a woman of gentle,
retiring disposition, who permitted herself to be absorbed by domestic
interests, and was remarkable for an inexhaustible patience, which her
daughter Gwen inherited, to the great advantage of her own soul, her
comrades, and her work. Mr. Thomas was a man of keen intellect and
independent outlook, who was wont to talk freely with his children about
books and men and movements of the day, and whose conversation was an
educative influence of major importance.
On Christmas Eve, 1876, Miss Thomas sustained one of the great
bereavements of her life, in the passing away of her mother, long an
invalid, to whom her filial attention had been unremitting. Three months
earlier, in September of the same year, she, with many others, had said
“goodbye” to Thomas Comber, who sailed for the Cameroons. The Children’s
Service Valedictory Meeting at Camden Road was at once sorrowful and
enthusiastic. The young folk were grieved to lose their leader, but loyal
enough to be glad that he was going to the great work marked out for him
by God. A testimonial address, headed “Mizpah,” was presented to him by
John Hartland, in the name of the children who had signed it, together
with a magic lantern, for which they had subscribed; and promising
faithful, affectionate, and prayerful remembrance, Comber passed on his
way.
Of course, he continued to correspond with his young friends, and by way
of augmenting their interest in his work, suggested that they should
support a mission boy. The suggestion was adopted, and a scholars’
working meeting was instituted by Miss Gwen Thomas and Miss Emily
Smith, to raise the necessary funds. It was a modest enterprise at the
beginning. The first sale was held in a corner of the schoolroom, with
goods displayed upon a single table. Later a second corner was annexed,
and a second table furnished. Later still Mrs. Jonas Smith took practical
interest in the undertaking, a “Ladies’ Missionary Working Party”
was formed, and so on, until the whole Church became involved in the
business of “The Camden Road Congo Sale,” which at one period ranked as a
Denominational Institution.
The Annual Sale is still maintained, though in modified form, and in
the course of its history has contributed to the funds of the B.M.S.
some £3,000, more or less. Mrs. Lewis loved “The Congo Sale,” was often
occupied with its business when on furlough, had the honour of opening it
more than once, when the opening had become a function, and talked of it
when she lay a-dying.
Miss Alice Hartland remembers that at the early working meeting Miss
Thomas used to read to the children as they sat sewing, “The Life of
Robert Moffat.” Naturally Robert Moffat was one of her heroes, and many
years later she wrote, in a passage which I propose to quote, that Mrs.
Moffat was her ideal of what a missionary’s wife should be. Happily, by
the grace of God, she lived to realise her ideal, in marked degree, and
to create a new one for others who may follow in her steps.
One pathetic family incident relates itself to this children’s working
meeting shortly after its inception. In 1868 Miss Thomas’s elder sister,
Eliza Jane, was married to Dr. Richard Percival, and some three years
later accompanied him to St. Lucia, West Indies, where he had secured a
medical appointment. His health failed, and after a short stay he was
compelled to return. There were three children of the marriage, Ethel,
Eva, and Beatrice, whose names will often appear in this book. But
their father’s health was never strong, and in 1877 he was lying ill at
St. Leonards. Two of the children were staying with their Aunt Gwen,
and on Saturday afternoon were taken by her to the Working Meeting.
While engaged in the meeting she received a telegram bidding her bring
the little ones to the bedside of their dying father. They were taken
immediately, and shortly afterwards he passed away.