POSTHUMOUS INFLUENCE.
History of his life not completed at his death--Thrilling effect of the
tragedy of Ilala--Livingstone's influence on the slave-trade--His
letters from Manyuema--Sir Bartle Frere's mission to
Zanzibar--Successful efforts of Dr. Kirk with Sultan of Zanzibar--The
land route--The sea route--Slave-trade declared illegal--Egypt--The
Soudan--Colonel Gordon--Conventions with Turkey--King Mtesa of
Uganda--Nyassa district--Introduction of lawful commerce--Various
commercial enterprises in progress--Influence of Livingstone on
exploration--Enterprise of newspapers--Exploring undertakings of various
nations--Livingstone's personal service to science--His hard work in
science the cause of respect--His influence on missionary
enterprise--Livingstonia--Dr. Stewart.--Mr. E.D. Young--Blantyre--The
Universities Mission under Bishop Steere--Its return to the mainland and
to Nyassa district--Church Missionary Society at Nyanza--London
Missionary Society at Tanganyika--French, Inland, Baptist, and American
missions--Medical missions--The Fisk Livingstone hall--Livingstone's
great legacy to Africa, a spotless Christian name and character--Honors
of the future.
The heart of David Livingstone was laid under the mvula-tree in Ilala,
and his bones in Westminster Abbey; but his spirit marched on. The
history of his life is not completed with the record of his death. The
continual cry of his heart to be permitted to finish his work was
answered, answered thoroughly, though not in the way he thought of. The
thrill that went through the civilized world when his death and all its
touching circumstances became known, did more for Africa than he could
have done had he completed his task and spent years in this country
following it up. From the worn-out figure kneeling at the bedside in the
hut in Ilala an electric spark seemed to fly, quickening hearts on every
side. The statesman felt it; it put new vigor into the despatches he
wrote and the measures he devised with regard to the slave-trade. The
merchant felt it, and began to plan in earnest how to traverse the
continent with roads and railways, and open it to commerce from shore to
centre. The explorer felt it, and started with high purpose on new
scenes of unknown danger. The missionary felt it,--felt it a reproof of
past languor and unbelief, and found himself lifted up to a higher level
of faith and devotion. No parliament of philanthropy was held; but the
verdict was as unanimous and as hearty as if the Christian world had met
and passed the resolution--"Livingstone's work shall not die: AFRICA
SHALL LIVE."
A rapid glance at the progress of events during the seven years that
have elapsed since the death of Livingstone will show best what
influence he wielded after his death. Whether we consider the steps that
have been taken to suppress the slave-trade, the progress of commercial
undertakings, the successful journeys of explorers stimulated by his
example who have gone from shore to shore, or the new enterprises of the
various missionary bodies, carried out by agents with somewhat of
Livingstone's spirit, we shall see what a wonderful revolution he
effected,--how entirely he changed the prospects of Africa.
Livingstone himself had the impression that his long and weary detention
in Manyuema was designed by Providence to enable him to know and
proclaim to the world the awful horrors of the slave-trade. When his
despatches and letters from that region were published in this country,
the matter was taken up in the highest quarters. After the Queen's
Speech had drawn the attention of Parliament to it, a Royal Commission,
and then a Select Committee of the House of Commons, prepared the way
for further action. Sir Bartle Frere was to Zanzibar, with the view of
negotiating a treaty with the Sultan, to render illegal all traffic in
slaves by sea. Sir Bartle was unable to persuade the Sultan, but left
the matter in the hands of Dr. Kirk, who succeeded in 1873 in
negotiating the treaty, and got the shipment of slaves prohibited over a
sea-board of nearly a thousand miles. But the slave-dealer was too
clever to yield; for the route by sea he simply substituted a route by
land, which, instead of diminishing the horrors of the traffic, actually
made them greater. Dr. Kirk's energies had to be employed in getting the
land traffic placed in the same category as that by sea, and here, too,
he was successful, so that within the dominions of the Sultan of
Zanzibar, the slave-trade, as a legal enterprise, came to an end.
But Zanzibar was but a fragment of Africa. In no other part of the
continent was it of more importance that the traffic should be arrested
than in Egypt, and in parts of the Empire of Turkey in Africa under the
control of the Sultan. The late Khedive of Egypt was hearty in the
cause, less, perhaps, from dislike of the slave-trade, than from his
desire to hold good rank among the Western powers, and to enjoy the
favorable opinion of England. By far the most important contribution of
the Khedive to the cause lay in his committing the vast region of the
Soudan to the hands of our countryman, Colonel Gordon, whose recent
resignation of the office has awakened so general regret. Hating the
slave-trade, Colonel Gordon employed his remarkable influence over
native chiefs and tribes in discouraging it, and with great effect. To
use his own words, recently spoken to a friend, he cut off the
slave-dealers in their strongholds, and he made all his people love him.
Few men, indeed, have shown more of Livingstone's spirit in managing the
natives than Gordon Pasha, or furnished better proof that for really
doing away with the slave-trade more is needed than a good treaty--there
must be a hearty and influential Executive to carry out its provisions.
Our conventions with Turkey have come to little or nothing. They have
shared the usual fate of Turkish promises. Even the convention announced
with considerable confidence in the Queen's speech on 5th February,
1880, if the tenor of it be as it has been reported in the _Temps_
newspaper, leaves far too much in the hands of the Turks, and unless it
be energetically and constantly enforced by this country, will fail in
its object. To this end, however, we trust that the attention of our
Government will be earnestly directed. The Turkish traffic is
particularly hateful, for it is carried on mainly for purposes of
sensuality and show.
The abolition of the slave-trade by King Mtesa, chief of Waganda, near
Lake Victoria Nyanza, is one of the most recent fruits of the agitation.
The services of Mr. Mackay, a countryman of Livingstone's, and an agent
of the Church Missionary Society, contributed mainly to this
remarkable result.
Such facts show that not only has the slave-trade become illegal in some
of the separate states of Africa, but that an active spirit has been
roused against it, which, if duly directed, may yet achieve much more.
The trade, however, breeds a reckless spirit, which cares little for
treaties or enactments, and is ready to continue the traffic as a
smuggling business after it has been declared illegal. In the Nyassa
district, from which to a large extent it has disappeared, it is by no
means suppressed. It is quite conceivable that it may revive after the
temporary alarm of the dealers has subsided. The remissness, and even
the connivance, of the Portuguese authorities has been a great hindrance
to its abolition. All who desire to carry out the noble object of
Livingstone's life will therefore do well to urge her Majesty's
Ministers, members of Parliament, and all who have influence, to renewed
and unremitting efforts toward the complete and final abolition of the
traffic throughout the whole of Africa. To this consummation the honor
of Great Britain is conspicuously pledged, and it is one to which
statesmen of all parties have usually been proud to contribute.
If we pass from the slave-trade to the promotion of lawful commerce, we
find the influence of Livingstone hardly less apparent in not a few
undertakings recently begun. Animated by the memory of his four months'
fellowship with Livingstone, Mr. Stanley has undertaken the exploration
of the Congo or Livingstone River, because it was a work that
Livingstone desired to be done. With a body of Kroomen and others he is
now at work making a road from near Banza Noki to Stanley Pool. He takes
a steamer in sections to be put together above the Falls, and with it he
intends to explore and to open to commerce the numerous great navigable
tributaries of the Livingstone River. Mr. Stanley has already
established steam communication between the French station near the
mouth of the Congo and his own station near Banza Noki or Embomma. The
"Livingstone Central African Company, Limited," with Mr. James
Stevenson, of Glasgow, as chairman, has constructed a road along the
Murchison Rapids, thus making the original route of Livingstone
available between Quilimane and the Nyassa district, and is doing much
more to advance Christian civilization. France, Belgium, Germany, and
Italy have all been active in promoting commercial schemes. A
magnificent proposal has been made, under French auspices, for a railway
across the Soudan. There is a proposal from Manchester to connect the
great lakes with the sea by a railway from the coast opposite Zanzibar.
Another scheme is for a railway from the Zambesi to Lake Nyassa. A
telegraph through Egypt has been projected to the South African colonies
of Britain, passing by Nyassa and Shiré. An Italian colony on a large
scale has been projected in the dominions of Menelek, king of Shoa, near
the Somali land. Any statement of the various commercial schemes begun
or contemplated would probably be defective, because new enterprises are
so often appearing. But all this shows what a new light has burst on the
commercial world as to the capabilities of Africa in a trading point of
view. There seems, indeed, no reason why Africa should not furnish most
of the products which at present we derive from India. As a market for
our manufactures, it is capable, even with a moderate amount of
civilization, of becoming one of our most extensive customers. The voice
that proclaimed these things in 1857 was the voice of one crying in the
wilderness; but it is now repeated in a thousand echoes.
In stimulating African exploration the influence of Livingstone was very
decided. He was the first of the galaxy of modern African travelers, for
both in the Geographical Society and in the world at large his name
became famous before those of Baker, Grant, Speke, Burton, Stanley, and
Cameron. Stanley, inspired first by the desire of finding him, became
himself a remarkable and successful traveler. The same remark is
applicable to Cameron. Not only did Livingstone stimulate professed
geographers, but, what was truly a novelty in the annals of exploration,
he set newspaper companies to open up Africa. The _New York Herald_,
having found Livingstone, became hungry for new discoveries, and
enlisting a brother-in-arms, Mr. Edwin Arnold and the _Daily Telegraph_,
the two papers united to send Mr. Stanley "to fresh woods and pastures
new." Under the auspices of the African Exploration Society, and the
directions of the Royal Geographical, Mr. Keith Johnston and Mr. Joseph
Thomson undertook the exploration of the country between Dar es Salaam
and Lake Nyassa, the former falling a victim to illness, the latter
penetrating through unexplored regions to Nyassa, and subsequently
extending his journey to Tanganyika. We can but name the international
enterprise resulting from Brussels Conference; the French researches of
Lieutenant de Semellé and of de Brazza; the various German Expeditions
of Dr. Lenz, Dr. Pogge, Dr. Fischer, and Herr Denhardts; and the
Portuguese exploration on the west, from Benguela to the head-waters of
the Zambesi. Africa does not want for explorers, and generally they are
men bent on advancing legitimate commerce and the improvement of the
people. It would be a comfort if we could think of all as having this
for their object; but tares, we fear, will always be mingled with the
good seed; and if there have been travelers who have led immoral lives
and sought their own amusement only, and traders who by trafficking in
rum and such things have demoralized the natives, they have only shown
that in some natures selfishness is too deeply imbedded to be affected
by the noblest examples.
Livingstone himself traveled twenty-nine thousand miles in Africa, and
added to the known part of the globe about a million square miles. He
discovered Lakes 'Ngami, Shirwa, Nyassa, Moero, and Bangweolo; the upper
Zambesi, and many other rivers; made known the wonderful Victoria Falls;
also the high ridges flanking the depressed basin of the central
plateau; he was the first European to traverse the whole length of Lake
Tanganyika, and to give it its true orientation; he traversed in much
pain and sorrow the vast watershed near Lake Bangweolo, and, through no
fault of his own, just missed the information that would have set at
rest all his surmises about the sources of the Nile. His discoveries
were never mere happy guesses or vague descriptions from the accounts of
natives; each spot was determined with the utmost precision, though at
the time his head might be giddy from fever or his body tormented with
pain. He strove after an accurate notion of the form and structure of
the continent; Investigated its geology, hydrography, botany, and
zoölogy; and grappled with the two great enemies of man and beast that
prey on it--fever and tsetse. Yet all these were matters apart from the
great business of his life. In science he was neither amateur nor
dilettante, but a careful, patient, laborious worker. And hence his high
position, and the respect he inspired in the scientific world. Small men
might peck and nibble at him, but the true kings of science,--the Owens,
Murchisons, Herschels, Sedgwicks, and Fergussons--honored him the more
the longer they knew him. We miss an important fact in his life if we do
not take note of the impression which he made on such men.
Last, but not least, we note the marvelous expansion of missionary
enterprise in Africa since Livingstone's death. Though he used no
sensational methods of appeal, he had a wonderful power to draw men to
the mission field. In his own quiet way, he not only enlisted recruits,
but inspired them with the enthusiasm of their calling. Not even Charles
Simeon, during his long residence at Cambridge, sent more men to India
than Livingstone drew to Africa in his brief visit to the Universities.
It seemed as if he suddenly awakened the minds of young men to a new
view of the grand purposes of life. Mr. Monk wrote to him truly, "That
Cambridge visit of yours. lighted a candle which will NEVER, NEVER
go out."
At the time of his death there was no missionary at work in the great
region of Shiré and Nyassa on which his heart was so much set. The first
to take possession were his countrymen of Scotland. The Livingstonia
mission and settlement of the Free Church, planned by Dr. Stewart, of
Lovedale, who had gone out to reconnoitre in 1863, and begun in 1875,
has now three stations on the lake, and has won the highest commendation
of such travelers as the late Consul Elton[80]. Much of the success of
this enterprise is due to Livingstone's old comrade, Mr. E.D. Young,
R.N., who led the party, and by his great experience and wonderful way
of managing the natives, laid not only the founders of Livingstonia,
but the friends of Africa, under obligations that have never been
sufficiently acknowledged[81]. In concert with the "Livingstone Central
African Company," considerable progress has been made in exploring the
neighboring regions, and the recent exploit of Mr. James Stewart, C.E.,
one of the lay helpers of the Mission, in traversing the country between
Nyassa and Tanganyika, is an important contribution to geography[82]. It
would have gratified Livingstone to think that in conducting this
settlement several of the Scotch Churches were practically at one--Free,
Reformed, and United Presbyterian; while at Blantyre, on the Shiré, the
Established Church of Scotland, with a mission and a colony of
mechanics, has taken its share in the work.
[Footnote 80: _Lakes and Mountains of Africa_, pp. 277, 280.]
[Footnote 81: See his work. _Nyassa_: London, 1877.]
[Footnote 82: See _Transactions of Royal Geographical Society_, 1880.]
Under Bishop Steere, the successor of Bishop Tozer, the Universities
Mission has re-occupied part of the mainland, and the freed-slave
village of Masasi, situated between the sea and Nyassa, to the north of
the Rovuma, enjoys a measure of prosperity which has never been
interrupted during the three or four years of its existence. Other
stations have been formed, or are projected, one of them on the eastern
margin of the lake. The Church Missionary Society has occupied the
shores of Victoria Nyanza, achieving great results amid many trials and
sacrifices, at first wonderfully aided and encouraged by King Mtesa,
though, as we write, we hear accounts of a change of policy which is
grievously disappointing. Lake Tanganyika has been occupied by the
London Missionary Society.
The "Société des Missions Évangéliques," of Paris, has made preparations
for occupying the Barotse Valley, near the head-waters of the Zambesi.
The Livingstone Inland Mission has some missionaries on the Atlantic
Coast at the mouth of the Congo, and others who are working inward,
while a monthly journal is edited by Mrs. Grattan Guinness, entitled
_The Regions Beyond_. The Baptist Missionary Society has a mission in
the same district, toward the elucidation of which the Rev. J. T.
Comber's _Explorations Inland from Mount Cameroons and through Congo to
Mkouta_ have thrown considerable light.
More recently still, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions, having resolved to devote to Africa Mr. Otis's munificent
bequest of a million dollars, appointed the Rev. Dr. Means to collect
information as to the most suitable openings for missions in Central
Africa; and on his recommendation, after considering the claims of seven
other localities, have decided to adopt as their field the region of
Bihé and the Coanza, an upland tract to the east of Benguela, healthy
and suitable for European colonization, and as yet not occupied by any
missionary body. Thus the Old World and the New are joining their forces
for the evangelization of Africa. And they are not only occupying
regions which Livingstone recommended, but are trying to work his
principle of combining colonization with missions, so as to give their
people an actual picture of Christianity as it is exemplified in the
ordinary affairs of life.
Besides missions on the old principle, Medical Missions have received a
great impulse through Livingstone. When mission work in Central Africa
began to be seriously entertained, men like Dr. Laws, the late Dr.
Black, and the late Dr. Smith, all medical missionaries, were among the
first to offer their services. The Edinburgh Medical Mission made quite
a new start when it gave the name of Livingstone to its buildings.
Another institution that has adopted the name for a hall in which to
train colored people for African work is the Fisk University, Tennessee,
made famous by the Jubilee Singers.
In glancing at these results of Livingstone's influence in the mission
field, we must not forget that of all his legacies to Africa by far the
highest was the spotless name and bright Christian character which have
become associated every where with its great missionary explorer. From
the first day of his sojourn in Africa to the last, "patient continuance
in well-doing" was the great charm through which he sought, with God's
blessing, to win the confidence of Africa. Before the poorest African he
maintained self-restraint and self-respect as carefully as in the best
society at home. No prevailing relaxation of the moral code in those
wild, dark regions ever lowered his tone or lessened his regard for the
proprieties of Christian or civilized life. Scandal is so rampant among
the natives of Africa that even men of high character have sometimes
suffered from its lying tongue; but in the case of Livingstone there was
such an enamel of purity upon his character that no filth could stick to
it, and none was thrown. What Livingstone did in order to keep his word
to his poor attendants was a wonder in Africa, as it was the admiration
of the world. His way of trusting them, too, was singularly winning. He
would go up to a fierce chief, surrounded by his grinning warriors, with
the same easy gait and kindly smile with which he would have approached
his friends at Kuruman or Hamilton. It was the highest tribute that the
slave-traders in the Zambesi district paid to his character when for
their own vile ends they told the people that they were the children of
Livingstone. It was the charm of his name that enabled Mr. E.D. Young,
while engaged in founding the Livingstonia settlement, to obtain six
hundred carriers to transport the pieces of the Ilala steamer past the
Murchison Cataracts, carrying loads of great weight for forty miles, at
six yards of calico each, without a single piece of the vessel being
lost or thrown away. The noble conduct of the band that for eight months
carried his remains toward the coast was a crowning proof of the love
he inspired.
Nearly every day some new token comes to light of the affection and
honor with which he was regarded all over Central Africa. On 12th April,
1880, the Rev. Chauncy Maples, of the Universities Mission, in a paper
read to the Geographical Society, describing a journey to the Rovuma and
the Makonde country, told of a man he found there, with the relic of an
old coat over his right shoulder, evidently of English manufacture. It
turned out, from the man's statement, that ten years ago a white man,
the donor of the coat, had traveled with him to Mataka's, whom to have
once seen and talked with was to remember for life; a white man who
treated black men as his brothers, and whose memory would be cherished
all along the Rovuma Valley after they were all dead and gone; a short
man with a bushy moustache, and a keen piercing eye, whose words were
always gentle, and whose manners were always kind; whom, as a leader, it
was a privilege to follow, and who knew the way to the hearts of
all men.
That early and life-long prayer of Livingstone's--that he might resemble
Christ--was fulfilled in no ordinary degree. It will be an immense
benefit to all future missionaries in Africa that, in explaining to the
people what practical Christianity means, they will have but to point to
the life and character of the man whose name will stand first among
African benefactors in centuries to come. A foreigner has remarked that,
"in the nineteenth century, the white has made a man out of the black;
in the twentieth century, Europe will make a world out of Africa." When
that world is made, and generation after generation of intelligent
Africans look back on its beginnings, as England looks back on the days
of King Alfred, Ireland of St. Patrick, Scotland of St. Columba, or the
United States of George Washington, the name that will be encircled by
them with brightest honor is that of DAVID LIVINGSTONE. Mabotsa,
Chonuane, and Kolobeng will be visited with thrilling interest by many a
pilgrim, and some grand memorial pile in Ilala will mark the spot where
his heart reposes. And when preachers and teachers speak of this man,
when fathers tell their children what Africa owes to him, and when the
question is asked what made him so great and so good, the answer will
be, that he lived by the faith of the Son of God, and that the love of
Christ constrained him to live and die for Africa.
APPENDIX.
No. I.
EXTRACTS FROM PAPER ON "MISSIONARY SACRIFICES."
It is something to be a missionary. The morning stars sang together and
all the sons of God shouted for joy, when they first saw the field which
the first missionary was to fill. The great and terrible God, before
whom angels veil their faces, had an Only Son, and He was sent to the
habitable parts of the earth as a missionary physician. It is something
to be a follower, however feeble, in the wake of the Great Teacher and
only Model Missionary that ever appeared among men; and now that He is
Head over all things, King of kings and Lord of lords, what commission
is equal to that which the missionary holds from Him? May we venture to
invite young men of education, when laying down the plan of their lives,
to take a glance at that of missionary? We will magnify the office.
The missionary is sent forth as a messenger of the Churches, after
undergoing the scrutiny and securing the approbation of a host of
Christian ministers, who, by their own talent and worth, have risen to
the pastorate over the most intelligent and influential churches in the
land, and who, moreover, can have no motive to influence their selection
but the desire to secure the most efficient instrumentality for the
missionary work. So much care and independent investigation are bestowed
on the selection as to make it plain that extraneous influences can have
but small power. No pastor can imagine that any candidate has been
accepted through his recommendations, however warm these may have been;
and the missionary may go forth to the heathen, satisfied that in the
confidence of the directors he has a testimonial infinitely superior to
letters-apostolic from the Archbishop of Canterbury, or from the Vatican
at Borne. A missionary, surely, cannot undervalue his commission, as
soon as it is put into his hands.
But what means the lugubrious wail that too often bursts from the circle
of his friends? The tears shed might be excused if he were going to
Norfolk Island at the Government expense. But sometimes the missionary
note is pitched on the same key. The white cliffs of Dover become
immensely dear to those who never cared for masses of chalk before.
Pathetic plaints are penned about laying their bones on a foreign shore,
by those who never thought of making aught of their bones at home.
(Bone-dust is dear nowhere, we think.) And then there is the
never-ending talk and wringing of hands over missionary "sacrifices."
The man is surely going to be hanged, instead of going to serve in
Christ's holy Gospel! Is this such service as He deserves who, though
rich, for our sakes became poor? There is so much in the _manner_ of
giving; some bestow their favors so gracefully, their value to the
recipient is doubled. From others, a gift is as good as a blow in the
face. Are we not guilty of treating our Lord somewhat more scurvily than
we would treat our indigent fellow-men? We stereotype the word "charity"
in our language, as applicable to a contribution to his cause. "So many
charities,--we cannot afford them." Is not the word ungraciously applied
to the Lord Jesus, as if He were a poor beggar, and an unworthy one too?
His are the cattle on a thousand hills, the silver and the gold; and
worthy is the Lamb that was slain. We treat Him ill. Bipeds of the
masculine gender assume the piping phraseology of poor old women in
presence of Him before whom the Eastern Magi fell down and
worshiped,--ay, and opened their treasures, and presented unto Him
gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They will give their "mites" as if
what they do give were their "all." It is utterly unfair to magnify the
little we do for Him by calling it a sacrifice, or pretend we are doing
all we can by assuming the tones of poor widows. He asks a willing mind,
cheerful obedience; and can we not give that to Him who made his
Father's will in our salvation as his meat and his drink, till He bowed
his head and gave up the ghost?
Hundreds of young men annually leave our shores as cadets. All their
friends rejoice when they think of them bearing the commissions of our
Queen. When any dangerous expedition is planned by Government, more
volunteers apply than are necessary to man it. On the proposal to send a
band of brave men in search of Sir John Franklin, a full complement for
the ships could have been procured of officers alone, without any common
sailors. And what thousands rushed to California, from different parts
of America, on the discovery of the gold! How many husbands left their
wives and families! How many Christian men tore themselves away from all
home endearments to suffer, and toil, and perish by cold and starvation
on the overland route! How many sank from fever and exhaustion on the
banks of Sacramento! Yet no word of sacrifices there. And why should we
so regard all we give and do for the Well-beloved of our souls? Our talk
of sacrifices is ungenerous and heathenish....
It is something to be a missionary. He is sometimes inclined, in seasons
of despondency and trouble, to feel as if forgotten. But for whom do
more prayers ascend?--prayers from the secret place, and from those only
who are known to God. Mr. Moffat met those in England who had made his
mission the subject of special prayer for more than twenty years, though
they had no personal knowledge of the missionary. Through the long
fifteen years of no success, of toil and sorrow, these secret ones were
holding up his hands. And who can tell how often his soul may have been
refreshed through their intercessions?...
It is something to be a missionary. The heart is expanded and filled
with generous sympathies; sectarian bigotry is eroded, and the spirit of
reclusion which makes it doubtful if some denominations have yet made up
their minds to meet those who differ with them in heaven loses much of
its fire....
There are many puzzles and entanglements, temptations, trials, and
perplexities, which tend to inure the missionary's virtue. The
difficulties encountered prevent his faith from growing languid. He must
walk by faith, and though the horizon be all dark and lowering, he must
lean on Him whom, having not seen, he loves. The future--a glorious
future--is that for which he labors. It lies before him as we have seen
the lofty coast of Brazil. No chink in the tree-covered rocks appears to
the seaman; but he glides right on. He works toward the coast, and when
he enters the gateway by the sugar-loaf hill, there opens to the view
in the Bay of Rio a scene of luxuriance and beauty unequaled in the
world beside.
The missionary's head will lie low, and others will have entered into
his labors, before his ideal is realized. The Future for which he works
is one which, though sure, has never yet been seen. The earth shall be
filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. The missionary is a
harbinger of the good time coming. When he preaches the Gospel to a
tribe which has long sat in darkness, the signs of the coming of the Son
of Man are displayed, The glorious Sun of Righteousness is near the
horizon. He is the herald of the dawn, for come He will whose right it
is to reign; and what a prospect appears, when we think of the golden
age which has not been, but must yet come! Messiah has sat on the Hill
of Zion for 1800 years. He has been long expecting that his enemies
shall be made his footstool; and may we not expect, too, and lift up our
heads, seeing the redemption of the world draweth nigh? The bow in the
cloud once spread its majestic arch over the smoke of the fat of lambs
ascending as a sweet-smelling savor before God--a sign of the covenant
of peace--and the flickering light of the Shechinah often intimated the
good-will of Jehovah. But these did not more certainly show the presence
of the Angel of the Covenant than does the shaking among the nations the
presence and energy of God's Holy Spirit; and to be permitted to rank as
a fellow-worker with Him is a mercy of mercies. O Love Divine! how cold
is our love to Thee! True, the missionary of the present day is only a
stepping-stone to the future; but what a privilege he possesses! He is
known to "God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of
angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received
up into Glory." Is that not enough?
Who would not be a missionary? His noble enterprise is in exact
accordance with the spirit of the age, and what is called the spirit of
the age is simply the movement of multitudes of minds in the same
direction. They move according to the eternal and all-embracing decrees
of God. The spirit of the age is one of benevolence, and it manifests
itself in numberless ways--ragged schools, baths and wash-houses,
sanitary reform, etc. Hence missionaries do not live before their time.
Their great idea of converting the world to Christ is no chimera: it is
Divine. Christianity will triumph. It is equal to all it has to
perform. It is not mere enthusiasm to imagine a handful of missionaries
capable of converting the millions of India. How often they are cut off
just after they have acquired the language! How often they retire with
broken-down constitutions before effecting anything! How often they drop
burning tears over their own feebleness amid the defections of those
they believed to be converts! Yes! but that small band has the decree of
God on its side. Who has not admired the band of Leonidas at the pass of
Thermopylæ? Three hundred against three million. Japhet, with the decree
of God on his side, only 300 strong, contending for enlargement with
Shem and his 3,000,000. Consider what has been effected during the last
fifty years. There is no vaunting of scouts now. No Indian gentlemen
making themselves merry about the folly of thinking to convert the
natives of India; magnifying the difficulties of caste; and setting our
ministers into brown studies and speech-making in defense of missions.
No mission has yet been an entire failure. We who see such small
segments of the mighty cycles of God's providence often imagine some to
be failures which God does not. Eden was such a failure, The Old World
was a failure under Noah's preaching. Elijah thought it was all up with
Israel. Isaiah said: "Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed?" And Jeremiah wished his head were waters, his
eyes a fountain of tears, to weep over one of God's plans for diffusing
his knowledge among the heathen. If we could see a larger arc of the
great providential cycle, we might sometimes rejoice when we weep; but
God giveth not account of any of his matters. We must just trust to his
wisdom. Let us do our duty. He will work out a glorious consummation.
Fifty years ago missions could not lift up their heads. But missions now
are admitted by all to be one of the great facts of the age, and the
sneers about "Exeter Hall" are seen by every one to embody a _risus
sardonicus_. The present posture of affairs is, that benevolence is
popular. God is working out in the human heart his great idea, and all
nations shall see his glory.
Let us think highly of the weapons we have received for the
accomplishment of our work. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal
but spiritual, and mighty through God to the casting down of
strongholds. They are--Faith in our Leader, and in the presence of his
Holy Spirit; a full, free, unfettered Gospel; the doctrine of the cross
of Christ,--an old story, but containing the mightiest truths ever
uttered--mighty for pulling down the strongholds of sin, and giving
liberty to the captives. The story of Redemption, of which Paul said, "I
am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," is old, yet in its vigor,
eternally young.
This work requires zeal for God and love for souls. It needs prayer from
the senders and the sent, and firm reliance on Him who alone is the
Author of conversion. Souls cannot be converted or manufactured to
order. Great deeds are wrought in unconsciousness, from constraining
love to Christ; in humbly asking, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? in
the simple feeling, we have done that which was our duty to do. They
effect works, the greatness of which it will remain for posterity to
discern. The greatest works of God in the kingdom of grace, like his
majestic movements in nature, are marked by stillness in the doing of
them, and reveal themselves by their effects. They come up like the sun,
and show themselves by their own light. The kingdom of God cometh not
with observation. Luther simply followed the leadings of the Holy Spirit
in the struggles of his own soul. He wrought out what the inward
impulses of his own breast prompted him to work, and behold, before he
was aware, he was in the midst of the Reformation. So, too, it was with
the Plymouth pilgrims, with their sermons three times a day on board the
_Mayflower._ Without thinking of founding an empire, they obeyed the
sublime teachings of the Spirit, the promptings of duty and the
spiritual life. God working mightily in the human heart is the spring of
all abiding spiritual power; and it is only as men follow out the
sublime promptings of the inward spiritual life, that they do great
things for God.
The movement of not one mind only, but the consentaneous movement of a
multitude of minds in the same direction, constitutes what is called the
spirit of the age. This spirit is neither the law of progress nor blind
development, but God's all-eternal, all-embracing purpose, the doctrine
which recognizes the hand of God in all events, yet leaves all human
action free. When God prepared an age for a new thought, the thought is
thrust into the age as an instrument into a chemical solution--the
crystals cluster round it immediately. If God prepares not, the man has
lived before his time. Huss and Wycliffe were like voices crying in the
wilderness, preparing the way for a brighter future; the time had
not yet come.
Who would not be a missionary? "They that be wise shall shine as the
brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as
the stars for ever and ever." Is God not preparing the world for
missions which will embrace the whole of Adam's family? The gallant
steamships circumnavigate the globe. Emigration is going on at a rate to
which the most renowned crusades of antiquity bear no proportion. Many
men go to and fro, and knowledge is increased. No great emigration ever
took place in our world without accomplishing one of God's great
designs. The tide of the modern emigration flows toward the West. The
wonderful amalgamation of races will result in something grand. We
believe this, because the world is becoming better, and because God is
working mightily in the human mind. We believe it, because God has been
preparing the world for something glorious. And that something, we
conjecture, will be a fuller development of the missionary idea
and work.
There will yet be a glorious consummation of Christianity. The last
fifty years have accomplished wonders. On the American Continent, what a
wonderful amalgamation of races we have witnessed, how wonderfully they
have been fused into that one American people--type and earnest of a
larger fusion which Christianity will yet accomplish, when, by its
blessed power, all tribes and tongues and races shall become one holy
family. The present popularity of beneficence promises well for the
missionary cause in the future. Men's hearts are undergoing a process of
enlargement, Their sympathies are taking a wider scope. The world is
getting closer, smaller--quite a compact affair. The world for Christ
will yet be realized. "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of
the Lord as the waters cover the sea."
* * * * *
No. II.
TREATMENT OF AFRICAN FEVER.
In July, 1859, when the Expedition to the Zambesi had been there about a
year. Dr. Livingstone drew up and forwarded to Sir James Clark, Bart.,
M.D., a very full report on the treatment of African fever. The report
details at length a large number of cases, the circumstances under which
the attack was experienced, the remedies administered, and their
effects. In order to ward off the disease in the mangrove swamps, which
were justly described as hotbeds of fever, a dose of quinine was
administered daily to each European, amounting to two grains, and taken
in sherry wine. When an attack of the disease occurred, and the stomach
did not refuse the remedies, Dr. Livingstone administered a dose of
calomel with resin of jalap, followed by quinine. These remedies were in
almost all cases successful, and the convalescence of the patient was
wonderfully rapid. The "pills" which Dr. Livingstone often referred to
were composed of resin of jalap, calomel, rhubarb, and quinine. It was
usually observed that active employment kept off fever, and that on high
lands its attacks were much less violent. Where the stomach refused the
remedies a blister was usually the most effectual means of stopping
the sickness.
Experience did not confirm the prophylactic action of quinine; exemption
from attack in unfavorable situations was rather ascribed to active
exercise, good diet, and to absence of damp, exposure to sun, and
excessive exertion. Even while navigating an unhealthy part of the
Shiré, and while, owing to the state of the vessel, the beds were
constantly damp, good health was enjoyed, owing to the regular exercise
and good fare.
In the upper regions of the Shiré, Dr. Livingstone says he and his
companions were exposed in the early hours of the morning to the dew
from the long grass, marching during the day over rough country under
the tropical sun, and then sleeping in the open air; but though they had
discontinued the daily use of quinine they Were perfectly well, as were
also their native attendants. This was one of the considerations that
gave him such confidence in the healthiness of the Shiré highlands.
Two or three years later, in writing to a friend, Dr. Livingstone
thanked him for having sent him a missionary journal, which he greatly
enjoyed--_The News of the Churches and Journal of Missions_. To show the
very unusual pleasure which this Journal gave him, he proposed to send a
communication to the editor, but said he was somewhat afraid to do so,
lest it should meet the fate of many a paper forwarded to editors at an
earlier period of his life. Mustering courage, he did send a letter, and
we find it in the number of the journal for August, 1862. It is
entitled, "A Note that may be useful to Missionaries in Africa," and
consists of a statement of the remedy for fever, and an account of its
operation. He had been led to think of this from seeing in the _News of
the Churches_ for February, 1861, a reference to his remedy in an
account of the death of the Helmores. The proportions of the several
ingredients are given--"for a full-grown man six or eight grains of
resin of jalap, and the same amount of rhubarb, with four grains of
calomel, and four of quinine, made into pills with spirit of cardamoms.
On taking effect, quinine (not the unbleached kind), in four grains or
larger doses is given every two hours or so, till the ears ring, or
deafness ensues; this last is an essential part of the cure."
The last part of the letter is a description of Lake Nyassa, and a
statement of its importance for purposes of civilization and
Christianity.
The _News of the Churches_ was projected in 1854 by the late Rev. Andrew
Cameron, D.D., and the present writer, and conducted by them for a time;
in 1862 it was in the hands of the Rev. Gavin Carlyle, now of Ealing.
* * * * *
No. III.
LETTER TO DR. TIDMAN, AS TO FUTURE OPERATIONS.
QUILIMANE, 23_d May_, 1856.
THE REV. DR. TIDMAN.
DEAR SIR,--Having by the good providence of our Heavenly Father reached
this village on the 20th curt., I was pleased to find a silence of more
than four years broken by your letter of the 24th August, 1855. I found,
also, that H.M.'s brigatine "Dart" had called at this port several times
in order to offer me a passage homeward, but on the last occason in
which this most friendly act was performed, her commander, with an
officer of marines and five seamen, were unfortunately lost on the very
dangerous bar at the mouth of the Quilimane River. This sad event threw
a cold shade over all the joy I might otherwise have experienced on
reaching the Eastern Coast. I felt as if it would have been easier for
me to have died for them than to bear the thought of so many being cut
off from all the joys of life in generously attempting to render me a
service. As there is no regular means of proceeding from this to the
Cape, I remain here in the hope of meeting another cruiser, which the
kindness of Commodore Trotter has led me to expect, in preference to
going by a small Arab or Portuguese trading vessel to some point on the
"overland route to India." And though I may possibly reach you as soon
as a letter, it appears advisable to state in writing my thoughts
respecting one or two very important points in your communication.
Accompanied by many kind expressions of approbation, which I highly
value on account of having emanated from a body of men whose sole object
in undertaking the responsibility and labor of the Direction must have
been a sincere desire to promote the interests of the kingdom of our
Lord among the heathen, I find the intimation that the Directors are
restricted in their power of aiding plans connected only remotely with
the spread of the gospel. And it is added, also, that even though
certain very formidable obstacles should prove surmountable, the
"financial circumstances of the Society are not such as to afford any
ground of hope that it would be, within any definite period, in a
position to enter upon untried, remote, and difficult fields of labor."
If I am not mistaken, these statements imply a resolution on the part of
the gentlemen now in the Direction, to devote the decreasing income of
the Society committed to their charge to parts of the world of easy
access, and in which the missionaries may devote their entire time and
energies to the dissemination of the truths of the gospel with
reasonable hopes of speedy success. This, there can be no doubt, evinces
a sincere desire to perform their duty faithfully to their constituents,
to the heathen, and to our Lord and Master, yet while still retaining
that full conviction of the purity of their motives, which no measure
adopted during the sixteen years of my connection with the Society has
for a moment disturbed, I feel constrained to view "the untried, remote,
and difficult fields," to which I humbly yet firmly believe God has
directed my steps, with a resolution widely different from that which
their words imply. As our aims and purposes will now appear in some
degree divergent--on their part from a sort of paralysis caused by
financial decay, and on mine from the simple continuance of an old
determination to devote my life and my all to the service of Christ, in
whatever way He may lead me in inter-tropical Africa--it seems natural,
while yet without the remotest idea of support from another source, to
give some of the reasons for differing with those with whom I have
hitherto been so happily connected.
It remains vividly on my memory that some twenty years ago, while musing
how I might spend my life so as best to promote the glory of the Lord
Jesus, I came to the conclusion that from the cumulative nature of
gospel influence the outskirts even of the Empire of China presented the
most inviting field for evangelical effort in the world. I was also much
averse to being connected with any Society, having a strong desire to
serve Christ in circumstances which would free my services from all
professional aspect. But the solicitations of friends in whose judgment
I had confidence led to my offers of service to the London Missionary
Society. The "Opium War" was then adduced as a reason why that remote,
difficult, and untried field of labor should stand in abeyance before
the interior of Africa, to which, in opposition to my own judgment, I
was advised to proceed. I did not, however, go with any sort of
reluctance, for I had great respect for the honored men by whom the
advice was given, and unbounded confidence in the special providence of
Him who has said, "Commit thy way unto the Lord, etc. In all thy ways
acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy steps." I was contented with
the way in which I had been led, and happy in the prospect of being made
instrumental in winning some souls to Christ.
The Directors wished me to endeavor to carry the gospel to the tribes
north of the Kuruman. Having remained at that station sufficient time
only to recruit my oxen, I proceeded in the direction indicated, and
while learning the language I visited the Bakhatla, Bakwains,
Bangwaketse, and Bamangwato tribes, in order to select a suitable
locality for a mission, in the hope of succeeding in making a second
Kuruman or central station, which would, by God's blessing, influence a
large circumference. I chose Mabotsa, no one who has seen that country
since has said the choice was injudicious. The late Rev. Dr. Philip
alone was opposed to this plan on account of solicitude for my safety,
"because Mosilikatse was behind the Cashan mountains thirsting for the
blood of the first white man who should fall into his hands. And no man
would in his sober senses build his house on the crater of a volcano."
Having removed to the Bakwains of Sechéle, I spent some of the happiest
years of my life in missionary labor, and was favored in witnessing a
gratifying measure of success in the spread of the knowledge of the
gospel. The good seed was widely sown, and is not lost. It will yet bear
fruit, though I may not live to see it. In the pursuit of my plan I
tried to plant among the tribes around by means of native teachers and
itineracies. We have heard again and again of a "preparatory work going
on" in India, but who ever heard of such in Africa? A village of 600 or
800 may have one, or even two missionaries, with school-masters and
schoolmistresses, and the nearest population, fifty or one hundred miles
off, cannot feel their influence. Believers will not, in many cases, go
beyond the circle of their own friends and acquaintances.
I was happy in having two worthy men of color, to aid me in diffusing a
knowledge of Christ among the Eastern tribes, but the Boers forbade us
to preach unto the Gentiles that they might be saved. My attention was
turned to Sebituane by Sechéle at the very time this happened, but I had
no intention of leaving the Bakwains. Droughts succeeded, and these,
with perpetual threats and annoyances from the Boers, so completely
distracted the mind of the tribe that our operations were almost
suspended. It is well known that food for the mind has but little savor
for starving stomachs. The famine, and the unmistakable determination of
the Boers to enslave my people, at last made me look to the north
seriously. There was no precipitancy. Letters went to and from India
respecting my project before resolving to leave, and I went at last,
after being obliged to send my family to Kuruman in order to be out of
the way of a threatened attack of the Boers. When we reached Lake
'Ngami, about which so much has been said, I immediately asked for
guides to take me to Sebituane, because to form a settlement in which
the gospel might be planted was the great object for which I had come.
Guides were refused, and the Bayeiye were prevented from ferrying me
across the Zouga. I made a raft, but after working in the water for
hours it would not carry me. (I have always been thankful, since I knew
how alligators abound there, that I was not then killed by one.) Next
year affairs were not improved at Kolobeng, and while attempting the
north again fever drove us back. In both that and the following year I
took my family with me in order to obviate the loss of time which
returning for them would occasion. The Boers subsequently, by relieving
me of all my goods, freed me from the labor of returning to Kolobeng
at all.
Of the circumstances attending our arrival at Sebituane's, and the
project of opening up a path to the coast, you are already so fully
aware, from having examined and awarded your approbation, I need
scarcely allude to it. Double the time has been expended to that which I
anticipated, but as it chiefly arose from sickness, the loss of time was
unavoidable. The same cause produced interruptions in preaching the
gospel--as would have been the case had I been indisposed anywhere else.
The foregoing short notices of all the plans which I can bring to my
recollection since my arrival in Africa lead me to the question, which
of the plans it is that the Directors particularize when they say they
are restricted in their power of aiding plans only remotely connected
with the spread of the gospel. It cannot be the last surely, for I had
their express approval before leaving Cape Town, and they yield to none
in admiration of the zeal with which it has been executed. Then which
is it?
As it cannot be meant to apply in the way of want of funds deciding the
suspension of operations which would make the connection remote enough
with the spread of the gospel by us, I am at a loss to understand the
phraseology, and therefore trust that the difficulty may be explained.
The difficulties are mentioned in no captious spirit, though, from being
at a loss as to the precise meaning of the terms, I may appear to be
querulous. I am not conscious of any diminution of the respect and
affection with which I have always addressed you. I am, yours
affectionately, DAVID LIVINGSTON.
No. IV.
LORD CLARENDON'S LETTER TO SEKELETU.
_From_ THE EARL OF CLARENDON, _Principal Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs of Her Majesty, the Queen of Great
Britain, to our esteemed Friend_ SEKELETU, _Chief of the
The Queen our Sovereign and the British Government have learned with
much pleasure from her Majesty's servant, Dr. Livingstone, the kind
manner in which you co-operated with him in his endeavors to find a
path from your country to the sea on the West Coast, and again, when he
was following the course of the river Zambesi from your town to the
Eastern Coast, by furnishing him on each occasion with canoes,
provisions, oxen, and men, free of expense; and we were pleased to hear
that you, your elders and people, are all anxious to have direct
intercourse with the English nation, and to have your country open to
commerce and civilization.
Ours is a great commercial and Christian nation, and we desire to live
in peace with all men. We wish others to sleep soundly as well as
ourselves; and we hate the trade in slaves. We are all the children of
one common Father; and the slave-trade being hateful to Him, we give
you a proof of our desire to promote your prosperity by joining you in
the attempt to open up your country to peaceful commerce. With this
view the Queen sends a small steam-vessel to sail along the river
Zambesi, which you know and agreed to be the best pathway for conveying
merchandise, and for the purpose of exploring which Dr. Livingstone
left you the last time. This is, as all men know, "God's pathway;" and
you will, we trust, do all that you can to keep it a free pathway for
all nations, and let no one be molested when traveling on the river.
We are a manufacturing people, and make all the articles which you see
and hear of as coming from the white men. We purchase cotton and make
it into cloth; and if you will cultivate cotton and other articles, we
are willing to buy them. No matter how much you may produce, our people
will purchase it all. Let it be known among all your people, and among
all the surrounding ¸tribes, that the English are the friends and
promoters of all lawful commerce, but that they are the enemies of the
slave-trade and slave-hunting.
We assure you, your elders and people, of our friendship, and we hope
that the kindly feelings which you entertain toward the English may be
continued between our children's children; and, as we have derived all
our greatness from the Divine religion we received from Heaven, it will
be well if you consider it carefully when any of our people talk to
you about it.
We hope that Her Majesty's servants and people will be able to visit
you from time to time in order to cement our friendship, and to promote
mutual welfare; and, in the meantime, we recommend you to the
protection of the Almighty.
Written at London, the nineteenth day of February, 1858. Your
affectionate friend, CLARENDON.
* * * * *
Letters similar to the above were sent to many of the other chiefs
known to Livingstone.
* * * * *
No. V.
PUBLIC HONORS AWARDED TO DR. LIVINGSTONE.
A complete list of these honors is not easy to construct; the following
may be regarded as embracing the chief, but it does not embrace mere
addresses presented to him, of which there were many:
1850. Royal Geographical Society of London award him the Royal Donation
of 25 guineas, placed by her Majesty at the disposal of the Council
(Silver Chronometer).
1854. French Geographical Society award a Silver Medal.
1854. University of Glasgow confer degree of LL.D.
1855. Royal Geographical Society of London award Patron's Gold Medal.
1857. French Geographical Society award annual prize for the most
important geographical discovery.
1857. Freedom of city of London, in box of value of fifty guineas, As a
testimonial in recognition of his zealous and ¸persevering exertions in
the important discoveries he has made in Africa, by which geographical,
geological, and their kindred sciences have been advanced; facts
ascertained that may extend the trade and commerce of this country, and
hereafter secure to the native tribes of the vast African continent the
blessings of knowledge and civilization.
1857. Freedom of city of Glasgow, presented in testimony of admiration
of his undaunted intrepidity and fortitude: amid difficulties,
privations, and dangers, during a period of many years, while
traversing an extensive region in the interior of Africa, hitherto
unexplored by Europeans, and of appreciation of the importance of his
services, extending to the fostering of commerce, the advancement of
civilization, and the diffusion of Christianity among heathen nations.
1857. Freedom of city of Edinburgh, of Dundee, and many other towns.
1857. Corresponding Member of American Geographical and Statistical
Society, New York.
1857. Corresponding Member of Royal Geographical Society of London.
1857. Corresponding Member of Geographical Society of Paris.
1857. Corresponding Member of the K.K. Geographical Society of Vienna.
1857. The Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow "elect that
worthy, eminent, and learned Surgeon and Naturalist, David Livingstone,
LL.D., to be an Honorary Fellow,"
1857. Medal awarded by the Universal Society for the Encouragement of
Arts and Industry.
1857. University of Oxford confer degree of D.C.L.
1857. Elected F.R.S.
1858. Appointed Commander of Zambesi Expedition and her Majesty's
Consul at Tette, Quilimane, and Senna.
1872. Gold Medal awarded by Italian Geographical Society.
1874. A memoir of Livingstone having been read by the Secretary at a
meeting of the Russian Geographical Society cordially recognizing his
merit, the whole assembly--a very large one--by rising, paid a last
tribute of respect to his memory.--_Lancet_, 7th March, 1874.
Any omissions in this list notified to the author will be supplied in
future editions.
Printed in the United States of America