China
It is probable that Mr James’s strong interest in Chinese missions originated in his college friendship with Morrison. For very many years China was never a day out of his thoughts; the vastness of its population fired his imagination as well as affected his heart; in his public and in his private devotions he was incessantly praying that China might be brought to Christ. He did not forget other regions of missionary enterprise; he had correspondents in the South Seas, in South Africa, and in India, but the evangelisation of China was his ruling passion.
In 1852 and 1853, intelligence reached this country of the most interesting and startling character. The officers in one of her Majesty’s ships reported that the Yang-tse-Kiang was covered with the wrecks of demolished idols; that Buddhas, twenty feet high, were floating outward to the ocean; that a great religious revolution had begun in China, which threatened the complete overthrow of idolatry. Missionaries sent home word that in one of the remote provinces there had appeared a powerful political party in open revolt against the government, and professing a new religious creed. It was said that the rebels proclaimed the imity of the Divine nature, and were furious iconoclasts; that they acknowledged the doctrine of the Trinity; that they received the Lord Jesus Christ as the universal Saviour; asserted the authority of the moral law as expressed in the Ten Commandments; insisted
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on the necessity of penitently confessing sin; and taught the immortality of the soul. With these truths, however, they mingled many grievous and grotesque errors.
Hung-tseu-seuen, the leader of the new movement, had acquired some knowledge of the Christian doctrine from a tract called ‘Good words to admonish the age,’ written by Leang-a-fah, the first Protestant Chinese convert, who had been baptized by Dr Milne at Malacca, in 1816. In 1834!, Leang-a-fah and three friends distributed ten thousand copies of this tract, among the young men assembled in Canton for the triennial examinations. This aroused the wrath of the mandarins, and ended in the flight of Leang-a-fah to Singapore, the severe punishment of one of his friends, and the death of another; but before the good work was stopped, one of the tracts had fallen into the hands of Hung-tseu-seuen, and issued in unexpected results. In 1837, this young man was seized with fever, and while his brain was on fire with disease, the new truths he had read in Leang-a-fah’s tract were interwoven with wild and insane fancies; he imagined he was taken up into heaven; that he received wonderful revelations, and was intrusted with a commission to overturn the idolatry of his countrymen. After his recovery, he wrote and circulated several books propounding the principles of a corrupted Christianity, and he travelled about the province of Kwang-se, propagating his opinions, and preparing the way for revolution. In 1850 there was a change in the policy of the imperial government, in consequence of the accession of a new emperor; and it seemed a favourable time for rousing the popular discontent against the Tartar dynasty. Suddenly a great army of insurgents poured out from the mountainous district of Kwang-se, and instantly swept to destruction the troops which attempted to resist their progress. So general was the sympathy which the movement immediately commanded, that many persons anticipated the destruction of the Chinese government, and an entire change in the national religion.
The tidings produced great excitement in England. Mr James, while cherishing the hope that the revolution, if successful, would overthrow many of the obstacles to Chinese evangelisation, saw that its success was still very doubtful He prayed and hoped for the best, but trembled. While his inind was divided between hope and fear, he received a letter from his friend Thomas Thompson, Esq. of Poundsford Park, boldly proposing that an immediate appeal should be made to the Christian zeal of the Sunday schools of this country to send A million new testaments to china. As the New Testament could be printed for fourpence, the scheme would require between £1G,000 and £17,000. To this letter he sent the following answer: —
TO THOIIAS THOMPSON, ESQ.
“Park, neak Glasgow, August 27, 1853.” ;My deae Sir, — Your letter followed me to this place, where I am spending a week with my friend, the wealthy and benevolent John Henderson.
“Your proposal is a noble and vast conception. It would be a gross and guilty neglect on the part of the Chri.sti;ui Clnuch to suffer the revolution in China to occur without some attempt to turn it to the advantage of that cause which all events are intended to subserve. It is the greatest providential movement of modern times, and is pregnant with results of a most momentous character. Still it is yet only partially developed — it is iVi transitu, and how it may determine it is impossible to say. Shoidd the insurgents be ultimately defeated, and the rebellion crushed, there will in all human probability be, for the present, insurmountable obstacles thrown in the way of propagating Christianity, inasmuch as it will be identified with the insurgent cause, and be proclaimed as treason to the throne and to the empire. The balance is yet trembling, and on what side it will preponderate waits to be seen.
“Under these circumstances, I am inclined to think we had better wait for future developments. For should the progress of the revulution be arrested and its present work unravelled, any labour we might take in the way suggested in your letter would be wasted energy. Should Pekin be taken, the success of the movement would most likely be complete, and we might go forward without hesitation. A very short time will decide this.
“In the event of such an occurrence, it becomes a question in what way the appeal should be made, and to whom. You say the Sunday schools might be called upon to take up the work. But why these? Would it not be better to appeal for joint action to the whole Christian Chiu-ch both in America and these United Kingdoms 1 Would it not
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be a beautiful spectacle of Christian union to see the followers of the Redeemer tlirougliout the world associating for the conversion of China? Recollect it is a pure biblical effort, like that of the Bible Society, requiring no sacrifice of opinion from any, and admitting without compromise the aims of all. The Bible Society might be applied to for a contribution, and it would doubtless grant one. Yea, I am not quite sure whether it would not be desirable to make that institution, representing, as it does, the Catholic Church, the central agency for carrying out the scheme.
“The cost of carrying out the scheme would be about £17,000. Surely this is not too much for the whole body of the faithful to raise for such an object.
“I submit these things for your consideration, and shall be happy to hear from you again. I feel quite prepared to follow up your suggestion in any way which upon mature deliberation may be thought best. I intend to return home next week, so that a letter may be addressed to me at my own place of residence.
“I beg my Christian respects to Mrs Thompson. — Yours very truly,
“J. A. James.”
Mr Thompson, who had been all his life an energetic friend of Sunday schools, clung to the idea of letting the million Testaments be the gift of the Christian children of England. But Mr James was strongly convinced that it would be best to place the scheme in the hands of the Bible Society. The confidence felt in that institution by evangelical members of the Established Church, as well as by all the Free evangelical Churches in this country, and its perfect organisation, were the principal considerations which determined his preference; and Mr Thompson soon gave way. On September the 14th, in the British Banner, and on the 15th, in the Patriot, Mr James addressed the following letter to the “Protestants of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,” developing his scheme: —
“We live in an age of wonders, but the greatest of them all is this movement in China. It is indeed ’ the wonder of wonders.’
“‘The Chinese revolution,’ says the Times newspaper, ’ is in all respects the greatest revolution the world has yet seen.’ Such a testimony, by such a witness, in addition to all that has been said by others still more competent to give evidence, deserves and demands our profoundest attention; for it is true, as it is important. God is evidently coming forth from His place to do one of His greatest works in the earth, and, vdth a voice loud and awful as thunder, is summoning the Christian Church to do something worthy of Him, of itself, and of the events that have occurred. We must be stone-deaf not to hear, and insensible even to death itself not to feel, the calls of God upon our devoted attention. The letters of Drs Legge and Hobson which have appeared in these columns, leave us no longer in ignorance or in doubt of the marvellous change which is coming over the Chinese Empire, not only politically, but morally considered. If anything more be necessary to complete the proof that Christianity, however corrupted, has much to do with this great movement, it is a document which I have lately read, which is an autograph letter of one of the insurgent chiefs, given to Dr Charles Taylor, when lately at Ching-Keang, which has been sent by Dr Lockhart, our medical missionary at Shanghae, to Mrs Lockhart, now residing in this neighbourhood, and of which the following is a translation: — -
“‘Lo, the fifth arranger of the forces attached to the palace of the celestial dynasty of T’hae-ping, who have received the command of Heaven to rule the Empire, communicates the following information to all his English brethren. On the first day of the fifth moon, (June 5,) a brother belonging to your honourable nation, named Charles Taylor, brought hither a number of books, which have been received in order. Seeing that the above-named individual is a fellow-worshipper of God, (Shang-te,) he is therefore acknowledged as a brother: the books likewise which he has brought agree substantially with our own, so that it appears we follow one and the same road. Formerly, however, when a ship belonging to your honourable nation came hither, (the Hermes,) she was followed by a fleet of impish vessels belonging to the false Tartars: now also when a boat from your honourable nation comes among us, the impish vessels of the Tartars again follow in its wake. Considering that your honourable nation is celebrated for your truth and fidelity, we your younger brethren do not harbour any suspicions. At present both Heaven and men favour our design, and this is just the time for setting up the Chinese and abolishing the Tartar rule. We suppose that you, gentlemen, are well acquainted with the sig-ns of the times, so that we need not enlarge on that subject; but while we, on our part, do not prohibit commercial intercourse, we merely observe that since the two parties are now engaged in warfare, the going to and fro is accompanied with inconvenience; and. judging from the present aspect of affairs, we should deem it better to wait a few months, imtil we have thoroughly destroyed the Tartars, when, perhaps, the subjects of your honourable nation could go and come without being involved in the tricks of these false Tartars.
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Would it not in your estimation also be preferable 1 We take advantage of the ojjijortunity to send you tkis communication for your intelligent inspection, and hope that every blessing may attend yoiL We also send a number of our olti books, which please to circulate among you.’
“From this interesting document the facts are clearly and fully estabUshed, that the new faith of the insurgents is substantially Christian, as evinced by the acknowledgment of the writer in his admission of the sameness of their religious books with ours; that they on this ground recognise us as their brethren, and are therefore, of course, prepared and ready to enter into fellowship with us, and receive our books. Thus everything proves that the insurgent party, with all their adherents, are accessible to the influence of British Christians, and that ’ a wide and effectual door is now set open ’ to the entrance of Christianity into China. It is pre-eminently beyond anything that has taken place in the history of modern missions ’ the Lord’s work, and is marvellous in our eyes.’ There is in this movement less of the hand of man, and more of the finger of God, than in anything that has recently occurred.
“And, now, what is the duty of the Church 1 “What can we do? What might we to do 1 What, in the name and by the help of the Lord, shall we do to help on this great work 1 What does our Divine Lord exjDect from us ] What -will He approve and bless if we do it? We have missionaries, I know, of various denominations, which must be indefinitely multiplied, and from various countries — able, devoted, long-tried men, who ynH do all they can, and who will feel a fresh stimulus to their work in these great events. But what are they among so many millions of the population 1 And into how limited a portion of the Chinese territory can they penetrate? They are divided into sections, and though they are held together in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace, they, like ourselves, from whom they go forth, are separate in action. Is there nothing to be done at this juncture by the union and co-operation of all at home and all abroad for the conversion of China to the pure faith of the gospel of Christ 1 I say, for the pure faith of the gospel of Christ. For it is evident, thac though the new faith of this body comprehends the elements of Christianity, it is, for want of the New Testament, in an imperfect and corrupted form. “What they want is, the Christian Scriptures. They know more of the Old Testament than of the Ncav. Protestants, now give your serious attention to what follows. I have lately received a letter from that active and devoted friend of Christian enterprise, Thomas Thompson, Esq. of Poundsford Park, containing the- noble proposal to raise a fund immediately for printing and circulating in China a million copies of the Chinese New Testament, and earnestly toliciting me to lay the subject before the public, through the medium of the press, and to call out the Sunday-school teachers and scholars to do the work. The project of circulating a million copies of the New Testament is itself a vast idea. Is it practicable? EasUy. Is it worth the effort, the pains, and the cost 1 Transcending all we can calculate. Shall it be done? “Will not voices as numerous, though far more intelligent, as those which, in the eleventh century, under the wild enthusiasm of Peter the Hermit, shook the plains of Clermont, and raised the thimdering shout, ‘God wills it!’ again say, ‘God wills iti’ What might not a million copies of the New Testament, poured into China at such a time as this, accomplish for the cause of Christianity, in correcting the false notions of the insurgent leaders, of the nature of our holy religion, and in circulating a pure Christianity among their followers? Unhappily, Christianity is now presented mixed up with fables, and associated with fanaticism, war, and massacre. It is infinitely important that we should lose no time in presenting it pure and uncorrupted in its own inspired records.
“Mr Thompson proposed that this work should be done by the Sunday schools and their teachers. In my reply to him, I suggested that, while they need not be excluded, the work should be done by the whole Christian public, and would afford a beautiful, glorious, and usefid object of Christian union and co-operation. To this, in a subsequent letter, he entirely assents. Suppose, for instance, that a public meeting was called at Exeter HaU expressly for this object, which should combine the various denominations in this plan, to give a million copies of the New Testament to China. “What a blessed spectacle of confederated zeal! There is Christian union for action — action of the most momentous character, and which implies and requires no compromise of principle in any one. What is this but a smaller temporary Bible Society for China, created for the occasion, having at once the form, features, spirit, and object of the greater and permanent one? And if it were thought more desirable, let this effort be made in connexion with and under the direction of the British and Foreign Bible Society, of which it may itseK be a kind of affiliated branch.
“It will be seen by calculation, that as a Chinese New Testament can now be printed and sold for fourpence — mirabile dictu! — the milhon copies will require, all expenses included, about ,£17,000. Such a sum, for one object, seems large; ah, but what an object! Was such a sum ever yet expended upon the Bible, with such a prospect of immense results 1 Were the friends of the Bible ever yet invited to such an effort? It would facilitate the raising of the reqmsite means, if, instead of taking down the individual subscription in the usual m/mey 2e
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form in pounds, shillings, and pence, they were entered in the numeral one of so many copies. My friend, Mr Thompson, has commenced this subscription list himself, by promising to give one thousand copies; and I shall be most happy to give five hundred. There is something in this mode of contribution that more powerfully interests the imagination. A poor man, for example, entering his name for only a single copy, is better pleased with the idea of giving a single copy of the New Testament to an inhabitant of China, than giving fourpence to a common fund for that purpose. We know, of course, it amounts to the same result; but we are influenced by the forms, as well as essences of things; and giving sixty copies of the Scriptures to sixty Chinamen, sounds in the ear pleasanter than giving a pound to a fund for purchasing a million copies. It brings out more forcibly the value and importance of individual efi’ort.
“As regards the distribution in China, this might be intrusted to a committee, formed of the missionaries of all denominations in that empire. How would it delight these holy men, and strengthen their hands in their great and noble enterprise, to be the almoners of such a gift to the nation for whose conversion they are labouring!
“Protestants, can you need motives to induce you to engage in such an enterprise 1 Look at the events which have called forth this appeal What mind but the Infinite One can calculate or comprehend their stupendous importance and infinite results 1 I am astonished at the comparative apathy with which the intelligence is received and dwelt upon. It is a new epoch in our world’s history, pregnant with ineflFable and inconceivable consequences, both to the world and to the Church.
“How consentaneous and homogeneous this efi’ort with the movement itself, which has had its origin more by the press than by the living voice of the missionary. The Chinese are a reading people, and are fond of books, and will soon read with avidity the inspked records of that faith which has been set forth by their leaders and embraced by the insurgent party.
“The insurrection is essentially a Protestant and not a Popish movement. The Jesuits have had nothing to do with it, and they will stand aghast with amazement and mortification. But at the same time they will lose not a moment in endeavouring in some way to ihfluence, direct, and pervert it. All the machinations of the Vatican, stirred up and inspired by all the art and cunning of the father of lies, will be employed to turn it to the purpose of the Church of Rome. I have not the shadow of a doubt that emissaries from the camp of the Papist’ are on the way to Nankin, if they are not there already, to gain th( ear of the chiefs of the insurgents. There is, however, this hope, thai they will not succeed The Chinese convei-ts are such determined and relentless iconoclasts, that they will not receive the images of Rome nor tolerate their worship. Yes, but Rome, to gain her ends, -Kill conceal for a while every sign and symptom of her idolatry. Trust not to this; like her master, she can transform herself to accomplish her purpose into an angel of Ught. Be up and doing, in the way of arming the Chinese population against Popery with the sword of the Spirit. Circulate the New Testament at once, and the whole Bible in due time. Be beforehand with Rome. The revolution has commenced in connexion with portions of the Scriptures; keep up that connexion. Already the Chinese of the revolution consider our Sacred Book as theirs, OS the bond of friendship and the symbol of a common faitL Let us lose not a moment in bestowing as a great national gift the volume of our common faith. Rome would barter much of her territory and her power in other parts of the world for China. For a long succession of ages this empire has been the object of her ambition, her efforts, and her hopes. Let us disappoint her expectations; and what is so legitimate and so probable a way to do so as a wide circulation of the New Testament. Let this be one of the operations and triumphs of the jubilee year of the British and Foreign Bible Society.
“What will be so likely to impress the mind of the Chinese with fervour, both for this gift of the Word of God, and the givers of it too, ’ as the fact, that all sections of the Chiistian Church had united in this labour of love? They already know from our missionaries that on some points we hold different views of the meaning of the Word of God; 1 but this xmited action will convince them that we are agreed on the I auilwiity of the Word itself, and that we live in unity and love, and I for our common faith can act together. One of the first acts and arguf ments by which the Jesuits will attempt to prejudice the minds of the Chinese against the Protestants -svill be our divisions and sects. And how can we better answer this than by reminding them of the million, copies of the Word of God, which, by this holy and loving association j of all sects and parties, we had sent amongst them? I” Let it not be said, ‘The issue of the contest is not yet known, and ’ that it would be premature to make the effort tUl we know how it will terminate.’ This was my own impression when the subject was first proposed to me by Mr Thompson; but, on further reflection, and on conversing with some friends about it in the counting-house of my excellent friend, John Henderson, Esq. of Glasgow, I am led to the conclusion that no time is to be wasted by delay. Should the present Government suppress the rebellion, of which, from the testimony of Dr Legge, I see no great probability, the opportunity will be lost of pouring into China the pure Word of God; while, on the other hand,
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should the insurgents be successful, the door will remain permanently open for its introduction without hindrance or molestation.
“Protestants! I appeal to you, then, for the support of this project. A nobler one was never presented to your attention. What a platform does it afford for our union without compromise! Conscientious or prudential scruples keep many of you from coming within the bonds of ‘The Evangelical Alliance while others are kept back from it by the question — Gui bono? We are told, and perhaps with some truth and force, that union for union’s sake, without action, is too abstract an idea for so busy and practical an age as this. Well, then, here is an object of immense importance, which, whUe it unites our hearts, may engage our activities. It was my intention at one time to make the proposal to the Evangelical Alliance to take up the subject; but on consideration, I deemed it best to throw it open to the whole Protestant body, and which, if it see fit, may not limit itself to the circulation of one million of copies of the New Testament, but go on in this glorious career till it has filled all China with Bibles.
“AlS Christians, how we must exult in this wonderful movement! There are many things in it which we lament, but there are others ia which we must rejoice, even with joy and singing. The Christianity mixed up with it, which is now so corrupted and disfigured, will, we hope, by God’s grace and His Word, throw off the slough of its corruptions, and come forth pure. How fervent should be our prayer for God’s blessed Spirit to come down upon the work, and how strong should be our faith in a glorious result! It is worthy of remark, that this movement, though it originated from one of the converts of a missionary connected with the London Missionary Society, is not in direct connexion with that society or any other. The prejudiced eye of sectarianism has no reason for looking askance from it; religious bigotry can raise no murmur, indulge no suspicion, fling no objection against it. There is no room for even the ordinary operations of jealousy or envy. It is an event that belongs to our common Christianity, in which all Christians may feel, and should manifest, a common interest; and let all come forward to the help of the Lord against the mighty.
“Christian men and Protestants of all denominations! in the name of our holy religion — the spread of which is now so likely to take place over so vast a portion of the earth, — in the name of the great empire of China, now by the mysterious providence of God opening for the reception of the gospel of Christ — and especially in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whose kingdom seems likely to be established upon the ruins of the idolatry of half the pagan population of the globe, — I call upon you, and conjure you, to give the subject of this paper your serious and prayerful consideration. J. A. James.
“P.S. — As this 13 an appeal to Protestants and Christians generally, I shall feel gratified if the editors of other religious newspapers would, pro-ided they deem the proposal worthy of notice, recommend the consideration of it to their readers in any way they may think proper.
“Should the proposal be thought worthy of notice and consideration, a question will arise as to the parties who shall take the initiative. Perhaps no better plan for this could be devised than referring it to a conference between the secretaries of the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Protestant Alliance, the Evangelical Alliance, and of the various missionary societies. Or it coidd be taken up by a few imofficial laymen, who might issue a circular of invitation in their own names to others. But probably it could be best accomplished by the British and Foreign Bible Society. It comes within the comprehension of their object, and they have an extensive machinery of organisation by which it could be worked out.”
The proposal was formally adopted by the committee of the Bible Society on the 19 th of the same month. In the British Banner of the 21st, appeared a letter from Mr James, announcing the result of his appeal to his ovn congregation on the previous Smiday.
“TO THE EDITOR OF THE ‘BEITISH EANXER.’
“Sir, — In addition to my letter in the Patnot on Monday, I find it necessary to write one more, for which I beg room in your columns, which have already been thrown so widely open to me. I hope it will not be requisite to trouble you or your readers with much more on this momentous subject; but having adopted the grand idea of a million copies of the New Testament for the largest empire on earth, and at a time when that empire seems preparing to receive them, I lill, at the hazard of being reproached with ’ boring ’ the public, leave no efi’urt untried to make it a ’ great fact.’
“I am perpetually receiving letters and newspapers from various parts of the country approling the scheme, giving names of subscribers, and earnestly inquiring how to proceed. For self-defence, therefore, I must now inform the pubHc that the subject is in the hands of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who have taken it up, and purpose to carry it through, and to whom all further communications should be made. It is no longer Mr Thompson’s scheme nor mine, but theirs. I will, however, here state, for the information of my honoured brethi-en in the ministry — -with whom and our Sunday-school superintendents
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and teachers the success of the proposal will, under God’s blessing, depend — my own method of procedure. After the morning sermon yesterday, which was founded on the words, “Let us not be weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not,” (Gal. vi. 9,) I gave a brief statement of the religious aspect of the revolution in China, and of the proposed scheme of supplying the Chinese with the New Testament, and begged the congregation that they would go home and ponder the subject, and after dinner write down upon a slip of paper their names, with the number of copies they would subscribe. Having thus appealed to the congregation, I addressed the Sunday-school teachers and children, and told them that they would not be shut out from the privilege of sharing in this great and good work. Considerable enthusiasm was evidently excited, though I was not particularly impassioned beyond what is my usual custom when I have anything important to accomplish. In the evening, just before the second hymn was given out, the deacons went round with the boxes which are usually employed at collections to gather up the papers. On coimting the numbers, it was found that nearly twenty-Jive thousand copies had been subscribed, which in money value reaches the sum of somewhat above ^£410. I confess I was as much surprised as I was delighted, especially as it is but a fortnight since we had our missionary anniversary, when we raised nearly £500 for the Missionary Society. It is not, however, to parade our doings that I transmit this statement, but to prove how easily the proposed million of New Testaments may be raised, yea, a million copies of the whole Bible, if the ndnisters of religion will take up the work, and throw their souls into it. The people are willing, waiting, eager for the opportunity to do something. By this morning’s post, a friend has written to me, saying, ‘Put my name down for 10,000 copies.’ Is not God, by His providence, doing some great thing in China, and by His grace drawing the hearts of His people into fellowship with Him? I am now somewhat anxious lest we should be seduced into a dependence upon these efforts alone, instead of a simple reliance upon God’s grace. Let us devoutly remember that man’s doings, even in circulating the Holy Scriptures, without God’s Holy Spirit, will do nothing effectual for the conversion of the world; and that, therefore, the more we do the more we must pray. A suigle copy of the New Testament will do more, with God’s blessing, for China’s conversion than a million copies without it. Let us therefore pray without ceasing. — Yours, &c.,
“J. A. James.”
The two next letters were printed in the Patriot of the 26th, and the British Banner of the 28th of September: —” TO THE EDITOR OF THE ‘PATRIOT.’
“Sir, — I am grateful for the support you have rendered by your very able advocacy to the realisation of my friend Mr Thompson’s noble idea of pouring at this juncture the New Testament Scriptures into China. The British Banner has done good service in this cause, so has the Christian Times, and the Watchman, and the Record, and some provincial papers. The project is laying firm hold on the public mind. Help is offered, spontaneously and most cordially, from various quarters. Well indeed might it be! It is no bubble of enthusiasm — no mere vision of a heated imagination — no impracticable suggestion of a wild and dreamy inventiveness; but a project as useful as it is vast, and as attainable as it is useful. It will, however, require prompt, immediate, and combined action. Again I say, no time is to be lost. The golden opportunity is now in our hands, and if not improved it may be ages before it returns. We must not sleep over the matter, nor merely talk about it, nor merely praise it; we must act, all of us — each of us. All can do something, and all must do what they can. Still we want leaders. They are ready — they have offered — they are able — they are ■nilhng. The British and Foreign Bible Society have come forward, as it might have been expected they would do. When were they backward to respond to any call for help to circulate the Word of God? What have they not already done for China? We have only to read the resolution passed by the committee, in which they have embraced with ardour Mr Thompson’s proposal, and held it up for public support, and also the letter of Mr Brown, the secretary, to be convinced of the willingness of this institution to become Britain’s almoner to China of this million copies of the New Testament.
“Gentlemen of the Committee of the Bible Society —” I begin with you. May I, without presumption or impertinent officiousness, venture to offer you a few suggestions? Would it not be desirable for you, without delay, to appoint a sub-committee of your own number for carrjdng out this special object, apart even from the general purposes of the jubilee 1 I am not unaware of the seeming complexity which this, by possibility, may introduce into your operations, already so multiform. The scheme, however, is so vast, the object to be accomplished so momentous, the opportunity so favourable, and the urgency so pressing, that you may justly consider a little extra labour in this case well bestowed. We want immediately a body, in whose wisdom, zeal, and ability we all have confidence, to concentrate and guide our operations; and where can we find such a body, so speedily and so satisfactorily, as among you? Would it not, also,
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conduce to the success of the project, if a circular were issued by such a sub-committee to the auxiliaries and subscribers, earnestly recommending its support, and inviting contributions? I do not forget that you are still in the midst of your operations for the year of jubilee, and that you may, perhaps, hesitate about the propriety of proposing a new object. But it is not altogether new. China was among the objects you presented to the public, as what you contemplated by the celebration of the jubilee; so that it is only an enlargement of one of the branches of your programme. Besides, the benefactions of your friends for this happy season of your existence are ah-eady nearly completed. Let this come in as a supplemental effort to all that has been done and is doing. Have faith in God, in His people, and in your friends. Be not afraid. CaU upon us to come forward and trust in you to carry out our own purpose. Depend upon it you will not be disappointed. Let the trumpet-caU be sounded from Earl Street, and you may rest assured it will be returned in ten thousand echoes from the country on the 12th of October.
Ministers of Religion of every Denomination —” Much will depend upon you! If the scheme find favour in your eyes, its success is, by God’s blessing, determined. Is it not worth your consideration, and worthy of it? It is, at any rate, no trifling thing. All its terms are vast. The New Testament — a million copies — China. You are invited to aid in nothing little. Call out the energies of your private friends and your congregations. Preach about it, and circulate in your various circles an interest in it. Open subscription books for your people to enter their names for the number of copies each will subscribe for. There is scarcely a congregation in the kingdom so small or so poor but what might send five hundred copies of the Christian records to five hundred Chinese families; and there is scarcely a congregation that would not do it, if their minister earnestly asked them to do so. My honoured brethren, lend your aid!
“Men of Wealth —” What would a thousand, or even ten thousand, copies be to you? Imitate the example of the Earl of Gainsborough, and give us your individual names and contributions to this cause.
“Committees, Superintendents, and Teachers of Sunday schools —” You cannot, must not, shall not be left out! It was Mr Thompson’s original proposal to leave the work in your hands. But it was thought that it was a work too heavy for you to bear up alone, and it was also considered that it would be depriving many who are not teachers of a privilege in which they would wish to share, to confine the effort exclusively to you. But you must have a share, and a large share too, in the blessed work. Is there a child in your schools who would not willingly give a penny a- week for four weeks, or a halfpenny a-week for eight, to bestow a copy of the New Testament upon a Chinese boy or girl? Ask for only one copy from each child, and what an aggregate would result! Abeady the work is begun in this way. One offer of this kind has come to hand, and it is a noble one: —
“‘Chesterfield, September 19, 1853.
“‘My dear Sie, — The Brampton (near Chesterfield) Wesleyan Methodist Sunday school respond to the call for China. They will give five hundred copies, and would have liked to have given one thousand copies of the New Testament to the Chinese; but for the other five hundred they pray the God of all China to open the hearts of all Sunday-school teachers, scholars, and those interested in the training up of youth, to disseminate God’s truth, but especially to aid now in sending a million copies of the Chinese New Testament, — to strike while the iron is hot. Now is the time, I believe, the thing can be easily accomplished, and by Sunday-school teachers and scholars. We are longing for Christ’s kingdom; we pray that He would soon come and reign; we esteem it a high privilege to give; we would be the first to hold up your hands in this noble work, and we pray that God would for Christ’s sake bless you, and keep you, and strengthen you until the summons arrives, and that we may meet in heaven.
“‘Excuse this hasty scrawl; I am so much pressed to-day in business, but not so busy as to forget to put this into the post; I am so anxious that you should have this quickly. Please direct us how to proceed in the payment, for we are ready with that also. — I remain, my dear sir, yours faithfully,
“‘Thomas Irving, Superintendent, so called.
“‘The Kev. J. A. James.’
“AH honour to the Brampton Wesleyan Methodist Sunday school and its energetic superintendent. Let this example be as setting fire to a train, or rather, the first spark which shall kindle the flame of a noble sacrifice on the altar of our Sunday-school system.
“Heads of Families —” How much might you do! And how can you better train your children to Christian activity and benevolence — to interest in the cause of Christ, or to noble deeds — than by engaging them in this magnificent work? Here, too, I have a letter in point: —
LIFE OP JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
“‘St John’s Wood Park. “‘My dear Sir, — “We have already contributed to the Bible Society, and now send as a jubilee memorial our desire of presenting five hundred copies of the New Testament to the Chinese. Accredit me, dear sir, yours devotedly,
“‘Henry Thompsoit.
Coi)ies.
“* Henry Thompson, St John’s Wood Park,. loO
Mrs Henry Thompson, do.,,.. .100
Master Henry Heugh Thompson, do.,.. 50
Miss Charlotte Elizabeth Thompson.,. 50
Master James Stratten Thompson,,,. 50
Miss Fanny Thompson, ..... 50
Miss EUza Mary Thomson, .... 50” Another beautiful instance of this kind is recorded in the Banner of last Wednesday.
“These are delightful instances of family fellowship in a great and good cause. In one of those, a Christian household will furnish five hundred Chinese families with a copy of that book which is ’ able to make them wise unto salvation.’ I would here make a proposal, that the heads of all Christian families would, on Sunday morning, the 2d of October, at the hour and before the exercise of domestic devotion, take down the names of all the members of the household, not excluding the servants, and the number of copies they are willing to subscribe for, and then present the list on the family altar as an offering to God, sanctifying the gift by the Word of God and prayer. What a scene would this present to heaven in the families of the godly upon earth!
“Before I conclude this letter, already too long, I may be permitted briefly to point out one circumstance connected with the present rebellion in China, eminently favourable, as a collateral fact, to our attempts in evangeKsing its inhabitants; and that is the prohibition by the insurgents of the use of opiimi. The use of this deleterious drug had become so common, and was becoming so much more extensive, as to throw a still more formidable obstacle in the way of moral reformation than even drunkenness is in these kingdoms. The consumption of this poison, except as medicine, is now amongst the prohibitory precepts of the new code of morals put forth by the party seeking the dominion of the empire. Let us all now be up and doing. Enough of writing in newspapers and other periodicals. Let us proceed to action; and let the British and Foreign Bible Society lead us on to the glorious achievement, under the s’weet sounds of the jubilee trampets and the inspiring watchword, ‘A million copies of the New Testament for China!’ — Yours,
“J. A- jAitES.
“F.S. — Those friends who have addressed letters to me, with oflFers of contributions, are hereby respectfully informed that their names and amounts of subscriptions shall be forwarded to the sub-committee of the Bible Society, as soon as such committee is formed and announced; to whom I shall then hand over the management of this great concern, contented to be lost in their mighty shadow, and thankful for the honour of having brought under public notice the conception of Mr Thompson.
“It is, of course, understood that the promises are upon the condition that the million copies, or very near to it, are subscribed for.”
“TO THE EDITOE OF THE ‘BRITISH BAN>T:E.’
“SiE, — “Without waiting for your promised and published opinion of my proposal for this great object, I trouble you with a word of explanation, to remove a misconception which the gigantic natui-e of the project may produce, and has already produced, on some minds.
“Among the numerous letters of approval of the scheme which are daily reaching me from various quarters, one of them, from a member of the Society of Friends, suggests that, from calculations he has made, it will require a ship of more than 200 tons to carry out the million copies of the New Testament to China, and that the duty upon the paper would amount to nearly J3000, which, however, he thinks, might, by application to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, be remitted in the way of drawback. Nevertheless, my correspondent expresses his willingness to co-operate in carrying out the scheme. For his information, therefore, as well as others, I remark, that the books must of necessity, on various accounts, be printed in China, where, notwithstanding the present rather high price of paper in the empire, books can be printed at a much lower rate than in this country. Dr Dick’s volume on the Solar System has been translated into Chinese, and, with the diagrams, has been published at the wonderfully low rate of one pennj’.
“This fact of our having to print the books in China, is an additional motive for losing no time in carrying out the proposal It is a case to which applies, with great propriety and emphasis, the proverb, ‘He gives twice who gives quickly.’
“Offers of assistance are coming in fast. One gentleman writes, ‘I shall subscribe for 500 copies at least.’ Another says, ‘I shall sub-LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
scribe 1000 copies for myself, and another 1000 for my wife.’ A third, wealthy and profusely generous, will enter, I know, largely into the scheme. By much prayer, much faith, much labour, and much union, a pure Christianity, by God’s grace, may now be introduced into China Let us up and be doing.
“J. A. James.
“F.S. — Since the foregoing letter was written, I have received the following communication, which will shew that this scheme is attracting notice in high and influential quarters: —
“‘9 Cavendish Square, Septemher 18, 1853.” ‘Dear ]Ir James, — I see from the papers that there is a subscription for sending Bibles to China. As I am going, dear sir, immediately abroad, I am anxious to send you my contribution to the excellent scheme, and therefore have the pleasure to enclose you a chequefor £20. — I remaia, dear ]Ir James, sincerely yours,
“‘Gainsborough.’”
The editors of the Patriot and the British Banner, and, indeed, of all the newspapers representing the great evangelical communities, cordially supported the scheme, and their columns were filled week after week with communications which shewed the interest it had excited among all ranks, and in every part of the country.
It so happened that this appeal for the million New Testaments was made when the Bible Society was in the midst of its jubilee celebrations. In their report for 1854 they state its results: —
“Not in vain did your committee again cast themselves on the hberahty of the Christian public. With little effort on their part, but with much noble, and generous, and self-denjdng effort on the part of others, the calculated amount necessary for the proposed million of New Testaments has been promptly raised; and a noble surplus is found, which, after meeting the further requirements of the project, will be wholly devoted to the spreading of the Scriptures in China. The intensity, activity, and rapid result of this new effort of Christian zeal has perhaps never been sui-passed; contributions have flowed in from all quarters, and from all classes, in almost endless variety of amoimt. In this, as in the general Jubilee Fund, the poor man has vied with the rich, the child with the aged sire, the colonies with the mother country, and even foreigners, in climes far distant from each other, have pressed to take, though it may have been but an humble part in this magnificent act of charity.
“The amount of the united special funds, as made up at the close of the societ/s financial year, has already been announced to you. This amount has since been increased as follows: —
“GeneralJubilee Fund,... £67,040 0 5
China Fund, 32,183 16 6
MaHng a total of., £99,223 16 11”
While the society’s general Jubilee Fund amounted to £67,000, the special China Fund amounted to £32,000, thus providing for the printing, not of “one million Testaments,” as originally proposed, but of TWO mLLiONS. The society immediately invested £30,000 in the 3 per cents, on account of the Chinese Testament Fund, of which £5000 was sold in the year 1857, and £5000 in the year 1858. The accrmng dividends, with the subsequent contributions, have increased the original fund from rather more than £32,000 to £44,383, 5s. 6d., of which £22,570 remained in hand on March 31st, 18G0. How those copies of the Word of God already issued have been distributed, will be seen from the following extract, printed in the Bible Society’s last report, from a letter of the Rev. W, Muirhead: —
“I have visited the literary examinations at a place called Kwanshaw, forty miles off. I took six hundred copies of the New Testament, and fifty of the Old, with me. On reaching the city I was amazed at the number of students gathered together, and was told there would be at least ten thousand in the course of the month, as they included the graduates and aspirants from thirteen different districts. I began the work of distribution, and was pleased at the eagerness of the students in general to receive a volume of the Sacred Volume. Liv plan was to load a boatman and a native agent with as many as they could conveniently carry, and to take twenty or thirty copies in my owa hand. Walking along the streets I met the students in every direction, when I requested them in a polite manner to accept a copy. In a few minutes the supply was exhausted, and we either returned at once to the boat for more, or I stood up in some pubHc place to addi-ess the students and others on the great truths of salvation. In this way I spent three or four days, and proceeded on missionary work to another part of the country. But as this was too good an opportunity to be neglected, I returned in a short time to Shanghae, d arranged with a missionary brother, Mr Johns, that either he or I should go again to Kwanshaw
LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
for the same purpose. He immediately agreed, and left last week with. three thousand copies of the New Testament.
“The students are the most appropriate class of Chinamen amongst whom to distribute the Sacred Volume, as they can most readUy understand it, and, through God’s blessing, may exert an influence over the scholars under their care, and in the communities around them,”
The next extract is from the secretary of the Corresponding Committee of the Bible Society at Canton: —
“Colporteurs stopped at a large trading place, Tin-po. A church member, named Y6ung, is a shopkeeper there, and found them quarters. The village elders called this man before them, and inquired about his becoming a Christian. He related that he went a§ a blind man to Dr Hobson, who healed him, and instructed him in the doctrines of salvation, and that he was baptized and became a disciple of Jesus Christ. They inquired about the two colporteurs; if they wished to open a preaching place, and whether the foreign teacher was coming to Tin-po. He explained that they came for a few days only, and had books to distribute — that the foreign teacher was unable to leave Canton at present. The elders answered that they knew the fame of Dr Hobson, who was a man of great benevolence; he had healed others of their town. They also ordered the inhabitants not to molest or hinder the colporteurs, and promised that if the foreign teacher visited the place they would issue similar instructions. The residents received their books gladly. A few of the gentry inquired about the Testament; some of the people came to their house to converse about the doctrines; they stayed several times till nine o’clock at night.”
It would be a mistake to estimate the importance of this unique and successful movement merely by the money which was contributed, or even by the vast number of Testaments which it has placed at the disposal of Chinese missionaries and colporteurs. Mr James’s proposal created a deep and general interest in missions to China, out of which may some day arise efforts to evangelise that country of a far grander magnitude than Protestant churches have ever yet attempted. Just as the Testaments were beginning to be distributed, events occurred which for a time disturbed missionary operations. On the 8th of October 1856, the Arrow, a vessel with a register from Sir John Bowring, the Governor of Hong Kong, and with an Englishman for her master, was boarded while at anchor near Canton by a Chinese officer. Twelve of the crew were seized and carried away; it was alleged that the British flag was flying at the time, and hauled down by the Chinese. Apologies having been refused by the brutal Yeh, the Imperial High Commissioner, and Governor of Canton, hostile proceedings immediately commenced, and the war, in which France and England united, was protracted tiU nearly the middle of 1858. On the 21st of June that year, a treaty of peace was signed at Tien-Tsin, and the western powers secured freedom and protection throughout China for Christian missionaries, and toleration for such Chinese as should be converted to the Christian faith.
These surprising concessions awakened in England the gxeatest astonishment and delight, and greatly stimulated missionary enthusiasm; in Mr James’s heart the intelligence rekindled the fire of youth, and he wrote a pamphlet glowing with passion and radiant with hope, imploring the Protestant chiu’ches of Great Britain, Ireland, and America to accept at once the obligation imposed upon them by the opening of China to the gospel. “In default,” he says, “of some voice of more commanding power than my own, I have determined to call the attention of the churches to their duty and their privilege in reference to recent stupendous events afiecting China. Disabled by the visitation of God for much bodily labour in His cause, I must, if I would do anything, employ my pen. If intense interest in the spiritual welfare of China qualify me for the task of urging the claims of that country, I am not unmeet for it; for I can truly say that a day never passes over my head during which I do not let my thoughts fly to it, and my earnest prayers ascend to God for it. Perhaps I may, without assumption or arrogance, affirm that the subject belongs to me, since God by my pen, no long time since, called forth between two and three million copies of the Scriptures for China, and raised for the Bible Society between £30,000 and £40,000 for this purpose. Hanng thus sent forth the call for a million Testaments, (for such only was the original requirement,) I seem almost authorised to raise another caU for a hundred missionaries.”
LIFE OF JOHN ANGELL JAMES.
He was not content with merely publishing his pamphlet, but posted several hundreds of copies to the most prominent men in the various evangelical denomiuations of England and Scotland, accompanying them in many instances with private letters, urging and entreating an immediate response to “God’s voice from China.” Many of these letters were answered in a manner that indicated that his earnestness and fervour had touched the hearts to which he appealed: all the prelates of the English Church, with one exception, courteously acknowledged his communications; several of them with great cordiality.
The recent interruption of friendly relations between China and western Europe has again checked our missionary exertions; but the hope may be justly cherished, that whenever the people of that great empire shall be accessible to the influences of Christian teaching, Chinese missions wUl be supported with an enthusiasm and a generosity which shall demonstrate that Mr James did not write and speak and pray in vain.