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“...ROBERT MORRISON
MARSHALL BROOMHALL
EDITORIAL SECRETARY, CHINA INLAND MISSION
AUTHOR OF
Iilam in Chinn, Pioneer Work in Hunan,
In Quest of God, Faith and Facto, etc.
us ipxiT^KTwv fopAiOV T<0MISSION
LONDON, PHILADELPHIA, TORONTO
MELBOURNE and SHANGHAI
1924...”
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“...without the music of the Gospel story; there are
millions of Chinese Moslems for whom practically
nothing has been done; and there is yet unlimited
scope for fellowship and camaraderie with the
Chinese leaders in the older and more developed
stations. May this story of the labours of an un-
daunted master-builder stir the Christian Church
anew to fresh effort to complete the enterprise and
to “ bring forth the headstone with shoutings,
crying, Grace, grace unto it.”
MARSHALL BROOMHALL
China Inland Mission, London
January lftth, 1924...”
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“...CONTENTS
PAGH
Author’s Preface ...... ix
Table of Dates . . . . . . xv
CHAP.
I. The Great Closed Land ... 1
II. A Great Tradition and a Little
Child ...... 6
III. The Hidden Man of the Heart . 14
IV. High Employ......................22
V. The Call of China .... 27
VI. The Voyage . . . . . 85
VII. Old Canton ..... 41
VIII. Facing Life’s Task .... 51
IX. Some Momentous Decisions . . 60
X. Overlapping Extraordinary . . 69
XI. A Colleague at Last ... 74
XII. The Ultra-Ganges Mission . . 81
XIII. Dismissed but Indispensable . . 86
XIV. Lonely and in Constant Appre-
hension ...... 98
XV. An Iona in the East . . .110
xiii...”
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“...copies of the Acts of the Apostles in Chinese
1811 Translated St Luke’s Gospel. Completed Chinese Grammar
1812 Chinese Edict forbidding the printing of books in Chinese on the
Christian religion
1813 Mr and Mrs WiUiain Milne reached Macao
Morrison completed translation of the New Testament
1814 Tour of the Malay Archipelago by Milne
Morrison’s first convert, Tsae A-ko, baptized
1815 Mrs Morrison and children sailed for England
Mr and Mrs Milne sailed for Malacca to commence the Ultra-
Ganges Mission
Battle of Waterloo...”
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“...warlike Gurkhas compelled to acknowledge the
sovereignty of China.
Such was the situation in that great closed land
towards the end of the eighteenth century. If the
brief glory of Kublai Khan the Mongol be excepted,
China’s sway had never been so extensive and
complete, yet was she more determined than ever
to bar her doors against the barbarians from afar.
For merchant or missionary to stand outside and
knock at those closed gates was humiliating and at
times exasperating. Hitherto no Protestant mission-
ary had attempted it. But the day for advance had
dawned, and it is the purport of these pages to tell
the story of the man who heard and responded to a
call which demanded dauntless resolution and eternal
patience....”
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“...twenty-first
birthday. The next day found him installed in
Hoxton Academy under the care of the Revs. Dr
Simpson and W. Atkinson. The thoroughness of
his previous studies was soon appreciated, and by
intense application he speedily surpassed more
advanced students. Active Christian work was
combined with his studies, for he preached in the
villages around London under the London Itinerant
Society.
During his two years1 residence at Hoxton he
became increasingly impressed with the claims of
the mission field, though at the same time he was
under constant pressure from his people in New-
castle to return home.
Jesus [he writes], I have given myself up to Thy
service. The question with me is, where shall I serve
Thee ? I learn from Thy Word that it is Thy holy
pleasure that the Gospel shall be preached in all the
world. . . . My desire is, O Lord, to engage where
labourers are most wanted. Perhaps one part of the
field is more difficult than another. I am equally unfit
for any . . . but through...”
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“...station in
England I should consider a bar to my setting out for
Macao or Canton as a missionary of our Society, to devote
the rest of my days to the propagation of the Gospel in
China. I recommend this subject, my dear Sir, to your
serious consideration.
Whether Dr Moseley could have gone himself or
not we do not know, but he certainly did not abate
his interest or activities. Although disappointed in
the inability of three societies to proceed with his
proposal, he was gladdened by the London Mission-
ary Society’s resolve to look out for a suitable person...”
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“...The Call of China
3i
or persons to proceed to China,1 and was soon brought
into touch with the man upon whom their choice fell.
Morrison’s solid gifts and persevering industry as
a student at Gosport almost immediately impressed
Dr Bogue with his fitness for the proposed mission
to China. A few months later, despite his love for
Africa, we find Morrison writing to a friend urging
him to become his colleague in this service :
I wish I could persuade you to accompany me. Take
into account the three hundred and fifty millions of
souls in China who have not the means of knowing
Jesus Christ as Saviour. Think seriously of your
obligations to Jesus. Pray the matter over before God
and send me, as soon as is proper, the result.
A month later he wrote again :
The undertaking is arduous, my brother, and I
seriously entreat you to count the cost. Many among
the Chinese are highly refined and well informed ; they
will not be beneath us but superior. The Romish
missionaries will be our bitterest foes...”
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“...hardly
walk across the room.
Of his books he was more careful than of himself.
On his arrival he had exercised the greatest pre-
cautions in the removal of his Chinese papers and
books from the ship to the Factory, lest the officials
should learn the object of his coming. And though
he denied himself many necessary comforts, he
refused to be parsimonious in securing a library.
The coat which served me on my passage [he wrote]
serves me still, but on things that relate to the fulfilling
of my mission I have been more liberal. Not knowing
how long I may be permitted to continue here, I have
purchased a few Chinese books, papers and pencils, etc.
The first of these cannot be obtained but by stealth . . .
I have now secured between four and five hundred
volumes on language, religion, philosophy, medicine,
their code of laws and history.
It was not long before he wrote again to say that
he had secured one thousand two hundred and
twenty-nine volumes. He knew that the Chinese
who purchased these...”
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“...64
Robert Morrison
troubles occasioned by the Government here. It is my
heart’s wish to go away to a more comfortable residence,
where freedom may be given to communicate fully and
publicly the Good Tidings. I have a strong impression
in my mind that Java would be a better place than this
for our Mission. Direct us, O Lord, and help us to put
our trust in Thee.
Though on principle Morrison avoided reference
in his letters to the nature of his official duties—
regarding these as confidential—there is sufficient to
indicate that they were frequently of a delicate and
difficult character. With the knowledge that the
directors of the East India Company at home were
not friendly, and with the criticisms to which he
was subjected by many of the Company’s servants
in Canton, as well as the hostile attitude of the
Chinese Government, it required unusual dogged
determination to continue at his post. But, to use
his own words, he “ plodded on,” having, as Milne
testified, “ the patience that refuses...”
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“...and when
he received a copy of the sermon preached by Henry
Martyn at Calcutta—in which great sermon Martyn
had stated “ Asia must be our care ”—Morrison
actually obtained subscriptions from the English
residents at Macao to the amount of two hundred
and eighty-five dollars, which he forwarded to the
treasurer of the Calcutta Auxiliary Bible Society.
Through these early years there had been gradu-
ally maturing in his mind that thought which
ultimately led to the formation of the Ultra-Ganges
Mission, to which we shall refer in a subsequent
chapter. He even looked further ahead, and had
a vision of developments which were only to be
appreciated many years later:
I wish that we had an institution at Malacca for the
B...”
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“... but
ignorant and dishonest man.
Morrison, therefore, sought to discuss this matter
with the Serampore group, and was perplexed at
their silence. On June Sth, 1808, he wrote :
I have not heard from Serampore though I have
written again and again. Either letters have mis-
carried or the brethren have chosen what some would
deem a prudential silence.
It is perhaps impossible at this distance of time
to estimate with perfect justice all the elements in
this problem. The officials of the London Mission-
ary Society wrote to Morrison to comfort him, saying,
“ We neither of us strive for the mastery nor the
fame in this matter,” but at the same time sent a
strong protest to Carey and his colleagues.1
The rivalry, however, between Morrison in his
lonely station at Canton and Marshman with his
colleagues at Serampore continued. For fifteen
years Marshman, with the most rigid economy of
1 See and Times of Carey, Marshman and Ward, by John C.
Marshman, Vol. I., page 396....”
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“...Morrison
scarcely conceive how any foreigner can feel sure of
having attained the true spirit and idiom of the language
without having that ready and constant access to the
natives which a residence in the country can alone
afford.
And John Clark Marshman, in his official history
of the Serampore Mission, writes thus of his father’s
work:
The translation was necessarily imperfect: indeed,
considering the great disadvantages under which it
was executed, it could not have been otherwise, and it
is now valuable chiefly as a memorial of his missionary
zeal and his literary perseverance. ... At this distance
of time, and on an impartial review of the circumstances
and wants of the Serampore Mission, the appropriation
of Mr Marshman’s strength to a distant object of doubtful
expediency cannot be regarded without some feelings
of regret,1
No one, however, can fail to admire the zeal and
unwearied perseverance that Marshman exhibited,
although the unwisdom of pursuing his task when
Morrison was...”
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“...CHAPTER XI
A COLLEAGUE AT LAST
The Romanists reproach the Protestants that their ministers
have no Mission, as not being authorized in their ministry either
by an uninterrupted succession from the Apostles, or by miracles or
by any extraordinary proof of a vocation. Many among us deny any
other Mission necessary for the ministry than the talents necessary
to discharge it. . . . Knowledge of any science constitutes a right
to teach it, and why the communication of Christian science should
be fettered by any other conditions is not easy to comprehend.—
Robert Morrison.
The earnest and repeated requests for a colleague
which Morrison sent home to the directors of his
Society received from the first sympathetic con-
sideration, and William Milne, a young student of
Gosport, was early marked out by Dr Bogue as the
man best suited for this post.
Milne, who was two or three years Morrison’s
junior, was born in the parish of Kennethmont in
Aberdeenshire in 1785, and lost his father at the
early...”
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“...8o
Robert Morrison
friendship. In a new and pressing way the need
for a Mission settlement forced itself upon the two
pioneers, and shortly after this, the whole ques-
tion of future residence became the most urgent of
problems....”
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“...CHAPTER XII
THE ULTRA-GANGES MISSION
It has long been my wish to form a central Home beyond the
Ganges, for teachers and preachers; from whence some of the
number may go forth occasionally on missionary tours, two and
two, perhaps an European and a native disciple together; and
when they have finished their tour, let them return to refresh
their minds and re-establish their health, and attend to studies to
fit them for new stations, as they may be discovered or present
themselves.—Robert Morrison.
Though Morrison felt it utterly unreasonable of the
Portuguese authorities to refuse hospitality to a
British subject when Britain, under Wellington,
was shedding her blood and spending her treasure
to preserve the integrity of Portugal, the hostility
of the Roman Catholics at Macao was such that all
hope of a settlement there had to be abandoned.
In considering the problems involved, a broader
view than securing a residence for Milne was dis-
cussed. Morrison himself was by no means satisfied...”
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“...82
Robert Morrison
Although Morrison could delay decision as to his
future sphere, prompt action was necessary for
Milne. It was therefore decided, early in 1814, that
Milne should make a tour through the chief Chinese
settlements in the Malay Archipelago to distribute
the New Testament among the Chinese settlers, and
secure a residence for the whole or part of the China
Mission. Morrison had already completed the trans-
lation of the New Testament, concerning which he
makes the following reference in his diary on the
last day of 1813 :
I bless the Lord that this year the New Testament
has been completed in Chinese and is now nearly all
printed. Oh, that it may be the means of great good.
Lord, own it as Thine own Word.
For the purposes of Milne’s journey two thousand
copies of the New Testament, ten thousand tracts,
and five thousand copies of a Catechism were printed.
Concerning this work Morrison wrote, “ We are
often concerned lest a disclosure should prevent the
accomplishment of our...”
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“...The Ultra-Ganges Mission
83
the very outset he was nearly captured by a Chinese
war junk; at Batavia the vessel in which he had
sailed sank in the Roads a few hours after he landed ;
and he did not escape attacks of fever and ague.
But he received the most handsome assistance and
encouragement from the Honourable Sir Stamford
Raffles, Lieutenant-Governor of Java, who not only
granted him all possible facilities, but furnished him
with letters of introduction to British officers and
native princes. At Malacca also Colonel Farquhar,
the Resident, showed himself a warm friend to all
his undertakings.
It was during Milne’s absence that Morrison had
the great joy of baptizing his first convert, the first-
fruits of Protestant Missions in China. This convert
was a man named Tsae A-ko, who had been brought
into contact with Morrison during his first year in
China and later had been employed in putting
the New Testament through the press. This joyous
event must be recorded in Morrison’s own language...”
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“...Jerusalem of our Ultra-Ganges Mission else-
where. We want a headquarters at which to meet
and consult, from which to commission persons to go
forth on every hand,—a home to which to retire in case
of sickness or declining years. We want, if it be in the
course of Divine Providence attainable, a school for the
instruction of Native and European youths, for the recep-
tion and initiation of young missionaries from Europe.
. . , There we shall have our Chinese College, and our
Ultra-Ganges Mission press. ... I pant so much for
liberty to declare freely the unsearchable riches of Christ,
and to teach fully the doctrines of the Christian religion,
that I have often felt a wish to quit my present station,
and seek one less restricted.
The plans for this Ultra-Ganges Mission were
submitted to the directors of the Society at home,
and may be epitomized as follows :
I. That the present state of China is such as renders
printing, and several other labours connected with our
mission, very difficult; and even...”
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“...his un-
divided attention to translation, the second member of
the Mission shall engage in translating some parts of the
Old Testament—thus uniting their labours till the whole
version be completed.
It is not within the scope of this biography to
follow in detail the developments of this Ultra-
Ganges Mission, which fulfilled a most useful function
until the opening of China brought this preparatory
effort to its natural close. In Malacca, Java and
Amboyna, in Penang and Singapore, valuable work
was accomplished by such men as Medhurst, Legge,
S. Dyer (father of the first Mrs Hudson Taylor), and
others, some of whom were spared to render long
and great service to the cause of God in China when
that country was opened to the Gospel....”
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