{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_30026/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_30026","id":"gutenberg_30026","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/30026","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - American","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Mills, Samuel John, 1783-1818","Missionaries -- United States -- Biography"],"text":"MISSIONARY ANNALS.\n(A SERIES.)\n\n\n\n\nA STORY OF ONE SHORT LIFE, 1783 to 1818.\n\n\nBY\nELISABETH G. STRYKER.\n\n\n\n\nCHICAGO:\nWOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST,\nRoom 48, McCormick Block.\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT, 1888,\nBY WOMAN'S PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF MISSIONS OF THE NORTHWEST.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n                                                             PAGE\n   I. ANCESTRY--BIRTH--BOYHOOD--CONVERSION . . . . . . . . . .  7\n\n  II. COLLEGE--THE HAYSTACK--EFFORTS TO SPREAD THE INTEREST\n      IN FOREIGN MISSIONS  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12\n\n III. OBOOKIAH IN HAWAII--IN AMERICA . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16\n\n  IV. THE SANDWICH ISLANDS WITH AND WITHOUT THE GOSPEL . . . . 20\n\n   V. MILLS AT ANDOVER--THE AMERICAN BOARD . . . . . . . . . . 22\n\n  VI. AN APOSTOLIC JOURNEY IN THE UNITED STATES  . . . . . . . 25\n\n VII. MILLS' SECOND TOUR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28\n\nVIII. THE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY--THE UNITED FOREIGN\n      MISSIONARY SOCIETY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31\n\n  IX. THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY--MILLS, AS ITS AGENT,\n      VISITS AFRICA  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35\n\n   X. THE LAST JOURNEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40\n\n\n\n\nAs I write, I have in my mind a row of intelligent boyish faces.\nManly souls look through bright eyes. My heart responds to the beats\nof affection beneath jacket and cut-away.\n\nI see also a row of girlish faces, in which Christian and womanly\ngraces are dawning. I feel the warmth of pure young hearts beginning\nto swell with generous desires.\n\nThese are my real friends. Beyond them I see rows and rows of boys\nand girls whose sympathies and interest I would gladly claim.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThose among us interested in the young people, the boys and girls of\nour Churches, somewhat realize the lack of material wherewith to\nstimulate and nourish these young workers. The apiarist studies the\nnature of the insect which must yield him its sweets, and discovers\nthat \"the nature of the cell and the food affects the difference\" in\nthe bees. We have long watched our boys and girls, and either we do\nnot care what they yield, or we are dull not to notice that what\nsurrounds them and enters into their minds, is surely deciding their\nnatures. White clover honey can only be made from white clover\nblossoms. What they read and what they may be induced to read\nconcerns us as mission workers. Individual tastes make many by-paths\nin the field of literature, but the girls all enjoy the windings of\nromance, and the boys delight in the highway of adventure. \"But,\"\nthey say or think, \"Missions, their history and progress are so\nstupid, they have no decent heroes and heroines. We like Robinson\nCrusoe, and Little Women, and the Arabian Nights!\" But do we not know\nthat the stories of the lives of some of our missionaries, well told,\nmay stand side by side, upon the book-shelves and in the hearts of\nour young people, with the pages of De Foe and Louise Alcott? Many a\nboy and girl, charmed by the life and fortune of some unreal, and\noftentimes unworthy, hero, has attempted to make copy in his or her\nown life. Missionary lives are not lacking in the spirit, adventure\nand romance which are so fascinating. With these ideals in their\nminds, may we not expect followers of the Judsons, the Moffats, the\nFiskes and the Rankins?\n\nThe writer, who has humbly undertaken to re-tell an old tale, is\nneither a De Foe nor an Alcott. She finds she can borrow neither of\ntheir pens. Her own, conscious of its inexperience, finds its only\nrelief in the fact that the story is its own strength.\n\n\n\n\nSAMUEL J. MILLS.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nANCESTRY--BIRTH--BOYHOOD--CONVERSION.\n\n\nOur country is quietly enjoying the benefits of a great activity.\nForeign Missions are still feeling a noble impulse, and the origin of\nthis force was, under God, in the heart and brain of Samuel J. Mills.\n\nIt is a name known to us, but a history almost forgotten. Only upon\nthe shelves of some antiquarian, or in the undisturbed library of\nsome old homestead can a volume be found bearing the title \"Mills'\nMemoirs.\" Take it down, blow the dust from the leaves yellow with\nsixty-seven years, and you will find the narrative related in the\nstately, old-time style, and somewhat laudatory and expansive.\n\nHe had no son, as Adoniram Judson had, gladly to record the details\nof his busy life. The writer was Dr. Gardiner Spring, who laments\nhaving failed in the attempt to obtain what appeared to him to be\nimportant information. We are thankful to him for gathering even\nthese rare fragments.\n\nFrom a sketch of Salmon Giddings, the Damon Memorial, a letter from a\nrelative of Mills, and the life of Henry Obookiah have come a few\nincidents and facts, but mainly in the record of Dr. Spring have we\nfound our Story of One Short Life. Such hid treasure should find the\nlight, even though quarried by unskillful hands.\n\nBiographies are apt to seem discouraging, in the beginning; the\nattention being riveted upon the supposed hero, meets with a shock in\nfinding it has been following the history of his great-grandfather.\nThe scattered energies are then directed upon the grandfather, only\nto meet with a second delay. Again recovering, and following the\nfather's fortunes, the son, the subject of the work, is at last\nintroduced.\n\nThe great-grandfather of our hero must be brought in just long enough\nto answer one question. He was once asked, \"How did you educate four\nsons at Yale College, and give each a profession?\" His reply was,\n\"Almighty God did it, with the help of my wife.\" The grandfather (of\nour hero) was drowned while some of his children were still young.\nHis widow, committing their babes to the God of the fatherless,\nespecially offered for His service, a son named Samuel John. He\nbecame a minister, and for many years was settled in Torringford,\nConnecticut. He was eminent for his ability and character. Mrs. Stowe\nsaid of him--\"He was one ingrain New Englander. Of all the marvels\nthat astonished my childhood, there is none I remember to this day\nwith so much interest as Father Mills.\" This was the name by which he\nwas extensively known. His wife was a woman exemplary and devout.\n\nBeing assured that the three preceding generations were\ncommandment-keeping, we shall see how the Lord showed mercy unto the\nfourth. Almighty God and a true mother secure for many a man's sons,\nnot only education, but large efficiency and honor.\n\nThe seventh child, born April 21st, 1783, in this Torringford home,\nwas a son, named after his father, Samuel John. The child grew to be\na mighty instrument in God's hand, which He in His wisdom selected,\nknowing the fineness of the material with which he dealt. That we too\nmay know something of the tempering of the steel, we are permitted a\nreverent glance into that pious mother's bosom. Before the birthday\ncame she continually dedicated the little life beneath her heart to\nthe God who is pleased to accept such gifts. During all his childhood\nhe received the most careful Christian training. Nourished in such a\nhome-garden, and shined on by such mother-light, we cannot wonder\nthat the child grew toward the Sun, and that the roots of religious\ncharacter struck deep and spread wide.\n\nWhen but a little child he showed an unusual concern of conscience.\nAt fifteen the town in which he lived was greatly aroused and\nrevived. His friends and acquaintances received the blessing, and he\nwas deeply interested, but the revival passed, leaving him with a\nbitter, rebellious feeling in his heart.\n\nAbout this time, one fine cold winter morning, a merry sleigh load\ndrove from his father's house. He, with his brothers, sisters and\ncousins, about eighteen in all, went to spend a few days with his\nuncle in West Hartford. Samuel had recently come into the possession\nof a fine farm. He was gay and ambitious. His companions fearing his\ngood fortune might make him feel a \"little too high minded,\" sought\nto tease him. The evening before their return, after eating nuts and\napples, they agreed to have a little singing. They struck up \"Hark,\nfrom the Tombs a Doleful Sound,\" to the tune, Bangor. They sang it\nslowly and solemnly, now and then casting at him glances from their\nmischievous eyes. He sat a silent listener, while their song, sung in\nfun, made an earnest impression of which he could not rid himself.\n\nSoon after his farm was sold, and at eighteen he determined to go to\nLitchfield and study in the Academy. As he was leaving home, his\nmother's anxious heart could not let him go without enquiring for his\nsoul's health. Other mothers know the pain she suffered, when he told\nher \"for two years I have been sorry God ever made me.\" She replied\nto him as her wise heart prompted her, and sent him on his way. She\nwent where all mothers of boys must so often go, to her knees, alone\nwith God.\n\nHe had not gone far on his journey when he met a Friend. It was the\nGood Shepherd, whom that mother's urgent prayer had sent searching\nfor the wanderer. It was as if he had met Christ in his path. He\nlooked up at the great trees and down at the blossoms, and in\neverything saw God. He became so impressed with the perfections of\nthe Holy One he had so long resisted, that he lost sight of himself.\nHe sat down in the woods to wonder and to pray. It was not until some\ntime after that he realized any change in himself, and not until he\nreturned from Litchfield did his father perceive it. His conversion\nwas thorough. Not only was he turned about,--his face God-ward\ninstead of self-ward,--but he was impelled toward \"those sitting in\ndarkness.\" In his childhood, from his mother's lips, he often heard\nstories from the lives of Brainerd, Eliot, and other missionaries. He\nheard her prayers for them and their great undertakings. Once he\nheard her say, \"I have consecrated this child to the service of God\nas a missionary.\" Now it was his joy to follow those noble examples,\nand to fulfill his part in the plans of God and his mother for him.\nHis parents approved of his determination, though the thought of\nseparation tore their hearts. His mother said to him, \"I cannot bear\nto part from you, my son.\" When he reminded her of her vow, she burst\ninto tears, and never after made complaint. To his father he said\nthat he could \"not conceive of any course of life in which to pass\nthe rest of his days, that would prove so pleasant, as to go and\ncommunicate the gospel of salvation to the poor heathen.\"\n\nThis desire to spread the Gospel grew to be a sublime purpose, and\nfrom it he never wavered. He set about his plannings, with this\nsupreme end in view. Thanking God for his own salvation, he laid his\nlife in God's hand, imploring Him to use it for those who had as yet\nno knowledge of that mercy. The Lord took him from the plough, as he\ndid Elisha. He left the field for the college.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nCOLLEGE--THE HAYSTACK--EFFORTS TO SPREAD THE INTEREST IN FOREIGN\nMISSIONS.\n\n\nHe entered Williams College in the spring of 1806. During his first\nvisit home in June, he connected himself with his father's church. A\ncollege course means to some young men four years of frolic, or\nworse. To others it is an opportunity to cram knowledge, that shall\nby-and-by astound the round world and they that dwell therein. To\none, at least, it was the time for choosing \"smooth stones\" for his\ncombat with the giant adversary, whom he was brave enough to meet\nalone, if need be, \"in the name of the Lord of Hosts.\"\n\nAs a scholar he was not brilliant, but as a Christian he was \"a\nbright and shining light.\" To serve God was the highest aim of his\nlife. First of all, he served Him upon his knees. He used to pray\noften and earnestly, alone and with others. He pursued his studies\nfor the after use he might make of them, not for his own\naccomplishment. As he visited his friends in their rooms, and walked\nwith them through the groves, the subject dearest to his heart was\noftenest the theme of his conversation. To one friend he said:\n\"Though you and I are very little beings, we must not rest satisfied\ntill we have made our influence extend to the remotest corner of this\nruined world.\"\n\nHis life was so consistent, his disposition so sweet, his manners so\nwinning that every one was his friend. Those who had been unfaithful\nto their vows were reproved, and those opposed to religion were\ninduced to follow his example. During his first year there was a\nrevival, which seemed to come in answer to his earnest prayers. Many\nof his comrades became Christians, and so earnestly that they laid\naside or sanctified their old ambitions, and prepared to spread\nthrough the earth the fire kindled by this devoted youth.\n\nA mission band of boys were examined as to their knowledge of Samuel\nMills. \"Where was he born?\" asked the leader. \"Under a haystack!\"\nreplied a small boy. Had the question been, Where was the American\nBoard of Foreign Missions born? the answer would not have been so far\nfrom the way. Its baptismal naming came some years later, but under a\nstack of hay in a meadow, near Williams College, it was born, nursed\nand prayed over.\n\nAbout fourteen years earlier foreign missionary organization had\nbegun across the Atlantic. On this side, the attention of Christians\nhad been occupied with their new homes and the needs of the destitute\nnear at hand. There were societies of domestic missions; but no\nscheme to touch hands God-blessed with hands idol-cursed, had ever\nbeen devised before the Lord of both put it into the heart of Mills.\n\"God called him out of the midst of the bush.\" The bush was this\nhaystack, but the place became \"holy ground.\" The Lord said: \"I have\nsurely seen the affliction of my people, and have heard their cry.\"\n\"Come now, therefore, and I will send thee.\"\n\nThis commission filled his soul. He gathered a few of his friends in\na grove, to tell them his convictions and his hopes. What was his\nsurprise and joy to find that the \"Angel of the Lord\" had appeared to\nthem also. A sudden thunder storm came upon them here, but his\nretreat, his place of safety, was near by. He led them under the\nhaystack, and there they talked together, and with God. And there\nthey continued to meet through two seasons, and finally formed\nthemselves into the first Foreign Missionary Society of this\ncontinent. Its object was \"to effect in the persons of its members a\nmission to the heathen.\"\n\nFrom the spot where the haystack once stood, now rises a marble\nshaft, bearing aloft a globe, underneath which is inscribed:\n\n               \"THE FIELD IS THE WORLD.\"\n\n  \"The Birthplace of American Foreign Missions, 1806.\"\n\n                  SAMUEL J. MILLS,\n                  JAMES RICHARDS,\n                  FRANCIS L. ROBBINS,\n                  HARVEY LOOMIS,\n                  BYRAM GREEN.\n\nAt every commencement, the college president leads to this monument a\nprocession of alumni, students, and guests. Prayer is offered that\nthe spirit of missions may still prevail at Williams, and that the\ntraditions of the past may be maintained.\n\nIn these years public opinion was decidedly opposed to the enterprise\nof these young men. Even good men thought their zeal extravagant and\nexpected it soon to subside. In order to arouse sympathy and a right\nsentiment, they devised various means. They discussed their projects\nwith Christian people. They distributed missionary sermons. A list\nwas made of the names of distinguished ministers, to whom these young\nmen made frequent visits, urging their suit. Among them, the first to\ntake fire, was Dr. Worcester. With one of them, Dr. Griffin, Mills\nasked to be permitted to study theology. Said the Doctor: \"I had\nalways refused such applications, but from the love I bore to him, I\nagreed to criticise one sermon a week. After that exercise he would\ncommonly sit and draw letters very moderately and cautiously from his\npocket, reading passages to me on some benevolent project. At length\nI perceived that _studying divinity_ with me had been quite a\nsecondary object, that his chief object was to get me engaged to\nexecute his plans. As soon as I discovered that, I told him to bring\nout his letters and all his plans, without reserve.\"\n\nMills became convinced that they could not expect help from the\nChurches unless the number was increased of young men ready to devote\ntheir lives to this cause. He and his friends then separated for the\npurpose of establishing societies in other colleges. Mills went to\nYale, hoping there to find kindred spirits. This was not the case,\nbut God had sent him for another purpose, and that to know Obookiah,\na heathen boy from the Sandwich Islands. This acquaintance greatly\nincreased his zeal.\n\nSometimes a little seed, wafted by the wind, is borne far from its\nmother plant to take root in a foreign soil: but its fruit may be\nreturned whence it came. This little lonely heathen child, blown by\nseemingly cruel and adverse winds, was tossed upon our Christian\nshores by the good hand of God. The ship which brought him touched\nother and idolatrous lands, but he was not to put his feet down till\nthey could be planted in the right place.\n\nThat his life touched Mills' life, both being quickened, is perhaps\nreason enough for giving here a portion of Obookiah's history and\nthat of his native land, if there were not another reason, and that\nthe opportunity, here afforded, of following a stream of influence to\nits sea.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nOBOOKIAH IN HAWAII--IN AMERICA.\n\n\nHenry Obookiah was born in Hawaii, about the year 1792. When about\ntwelve years old, two parties contending for dominion, disturbed the\npeace of the island. He alone survived the persecution of his family.\nHe was captured and carried home by the man who killed his parents,\nbut finally made his way to an uncle. Though he was well treated, he\nsuffered from loneliness. He said of himself, \"When I was at play\nwith other children, after we had made an end of playing, they return\nto their parents: but I was returned into tears, for I have no home,\nneither father nor mother. Poor boy am I.\"\n\nHe determined to go to some other country, and forget his sorrow. The\ncaptain of an American vessel showed him kindness, and consented to\ntake him on board. He brought him to America, and took him to his own\nhome in New Haven. Henry was a clumsy, stupid-looking boy at this\ntime, his appearance not revealing the undeveloped depths of his\nnature. He made the acquaintance of some of the students at Yale\nCollege, and of the Rev. E. W. Dwight. These friends becoming\ninterested in his welfare, offered to teach him. He accepted their\naid with avidity, and made wonderful progress, at the same time\nbecoming more and more lovable and attractive.\n\nA fun-loving disposition soon showed itself. He had great difficulty\nin pronouncing the letter _r_, giving it the sound of _l_. Every day\nhis teacher tried to help him, saying, \"try, Obookiah, it is _very\neasy_.\" This seemed to amuse the boy greatly, though as yet he could\nnot express himself in English. Some time after, when he could speak\nmore readily, he was describing to his teacher some of the customs of\nhis native land. Clasping his hands together, and adjusting his\nthumbs, he formed a cup which he raised to his lips to show how his\ncountrymen drank from a spring. His instructor tried to do the same,\nbut before he could reach his mouth with his hands the cup would be\ninverted so that the contents, had there been any, would have been\nspilled. Obookiah laughed heartily and said, \"_try_, Mr.\nDwight, it is _very easy_!\"\n\nOne day he mimicked the gait of some of his friends so cleverly, that\nthere was no mistaking whom he intended to personate. His teacher\nthen mocked his own awkward style, when he exclaimed several times:\n\"me walk so?\" Being assured that it was true, he rolled upon the\nfloor until his mirth exhausted his strength.\n\nAfter being instructed about the true God, idol worship seemed to him\nridiculous. He said, \"Hawaii gods! They _wood_,--_burn_. Me go home,\nput 'em in a fire, burn 'em up. They no _see_, no _hear_, _no_\nanything.\" Then added, \"We make _them_. Our God,\" looking up, \"He\nmake us.\"\n\nAfter Mr. Mills arrived in New Haven he became a friend of Mr.\nDwight's, and being often in his room, occasionally heard this boy\nrecite. He became greatly attached to him, and began to cherish a\nplan for his future. He wanted to see Obookiah a Christian, educated,\nand then a missionary to his native land.\n\nOne evening Mr. Mills had not been long in Mr. Dwight's room, when\nObookiah came in with a very gloomy face. He said he had no place to\nlive; Mr. ---- didn't want him any more, and Miss ---- had threatened\nto take away his new clothes. Mr. Mills told him he would take him to\nhis own home, and that he had clothes enough for both. This cheered\nthe poor, disconsolate fellow, who soon went with Mr. Mills to\nTorringford, and was placed under the \"care of those whose\nbenevolence was without a bond or check, or a limit to confine it.\"\nHere he spent a part of the year 1810, and was treated wisely and\naffectionately. Mrs. Mills taught him the Catechism, and her son\nJeremiah assisted him in his studies. At different times, and\nfrequently, their house was his home.\n\nHe became gentle and refined in his manner, a Bible-loving, earnest,\nprayerful Christian. His friends who had been so careful in the\ntraining of his mind and heart, had not neglected his hands. He was\ntaught much that was useful and practical, particularly in farming.\nHe surprised all by the quickness and eagerness with which he\nlearned. He was both inquisitive and acquisitive to a remarkable\ndegree. He persisted in knowing and getting, that he might impart\nwhat he had gained to his own countrymen. To return to them for their\nenlightenment, was his consuming desire.\n\nHe visited many families, and many of the churches of New England,\nalways creating a deep interest in his mission. Many people who had\naffirmed that the heathen could never be reclaimed from their low\nestate, were forced to change their opinions after seeing and knowing\nObookiah, and were inspired to pray and give for his and other\nunevangelized races.\n\nThe presence of Obookiah in this country, as well as of other heathen\nyouth, together with the desire to educate some of our own Indians,\nled to the formation of the Foreign Mission School, at Cornwall,\nMass. This school was under the care of the American Board ten years.\nIts pupils were from many different nations. In 1826 it was\ndiscontinued, for by this time the missions were able to educate the\nyoung at their several stations.\n\nObookiah was pursuing his studies here, when, in the beginning of the\nyear 1818, he was stricken with typhus fever, and suffered several\nweeks. On the 17th of February, 1818, he shook hands with all his\ncompanions present, and with perfect composure addressed to them the\nparting salutation of his native language, \"Alloah \u221a\u2264 e\"--\"my love be\nwith you.\"\n\nMrs. Stone, in whose house he died, and who cared for him with\nChristian kindness during his sickness, said, \"This had been one of\nthe happiest and most profitable periods of her life; that she had\nbeen more than rewarded for her cares and watchings by day and night,\nin being permitted to witness his excellent example, and to hear his\ngodly conversation.\"\n\nAlmost immediately after his death, missionaries, inspired by his\nlife, hastened to accomplish his cherished purpose, the establishment\nof a mission in the Sandwich Islands. Mills was far from home, but\nreturning at the time, not knowing Obookiah had died, he said to a\nfriend, \"If it please God that I may arrive safely, I think that I\nshall take Obookiah and go to the Sandwich Islands and there I will\nend my life.\"\n\nFrom that day to this, missionaries and missions, schools, churches\nand Christians have multiplied, till all those islands name the name\nof Christ.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE SANDWICH ISLES WITH AND WITHOUT THE GOSPEL.\n\n  \"Surely the isles shall wait for me.\"\n\n\nThe missionaries found upon these islands naked savages, without\nbooks, education, or courts of justice. The people were slaves,\ngoverned arbitrarily by chiefs. It was a nation of debauchees,\nthieves and drunkards. There were no marriage laws. Two-thirds of the\nchildren born were destroyed. If an infant was ailing or troublesome,\nthe mother scooped a hole in the ground, covered the child with earth\nand trampled out its life. The aged and infirm were taken to the brow\nof a precipice and pushed over. The sick were removed to such a\ndistance that their groans could not annoy, and left to die. The\ninsane were stoned to death.\n\nGod opened the way for the missionaries by a revolution which did\naway with idolatry, but did nothing for the uplifting of society.\nSome of the noblest specimens of our American manhood have devoted\ntheir lives to these desolate, far-away creatures. The mention of one\nwill suffice as a sample of the salt that purified those bitter and\nfilthy waters.\n\nWhen he stepped on shore at Hilo, in 1832, it was to stay till his\nwork was finished--and he lived beyond the three score and ten. Such\na life is a rebuke to the restlessness of many modern workers. For\nforty-two years he labored patiently in pressing himself and what he\nknew upon Hawaiian youth--nearly a thousand in all--many of whom are\nnow pastors, leading lawyers, men of affairs, missionaries to\nMicronesia, and the men who stand for righteousness in the native\nchurches. Great events and advances in science were exciting his\nnative land, but he worked on, struggling for things unseen and\neternal. Amid uninspiring surroundings, and performing many menial\nduties, he led a high spiritual and intellectual life, not seeking\nhonor, but service--thereby gaining honor, and the \"rest that\nremaineth.\"\n\nAs for the results of such consecration, wisdom and work, the facts\nare a marvel in history. Any prophecy in regard to them would have\nbeen thought a wild dream. These islanders have taken their place\namong the Christian nations. Marriage is considered honorable, the\nfamily established, as well as schools, churches and a government,\nwhose constitution ordains that \"no law shall be enacted at variance\nwith the word of the Lord Jehovah, or with the general spirit of His\nword.\"\n\nIn proportion to the population, there are more readers than in\nBoston. The proportion of true Christians is as great as anywhere in\nChristendom. They are decently clad, their homes are comfortable,\neven sometimes going so far as to possess a melodeon and a\nsewing-machine! They have progressed in agriculture, commerce, the\nindustries, literature and the arts. It is a regenerated nation.\n\nThe American Board has erased this mission from its list and\ntransferred all responsibility to the Hawaiian Evangelical\nAssociation.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nMILLS AT ANDOVER--THE AMERICAN BOARD.\n\n\nFrom Yale College, Mills went to Andover to study theology. Soon\nafter entering, his dear mother died. His grief was passionate. He\nmourned for the loss of her face, her voice, her prayers, but not as\none \"without hope.\"\n\nAt Andover he met some of his former friends, and found new ones\nwhose hearts the Lord had stirred--Newell, Judson, Nott, Hall, Mills!\nNames to shout at the sleeping saints of this our day! Lives to\nuphold to the view of our self-pleasing generation! These men\norganized a second missionary society, similar to the one at\nWilliams. They met to pray and plan. Their prayers were answered and\ntheir plans resulted in the formation of the American Board of\nCommissioners for Foreign Missions.\n\nIf the objections made to their plans were here rehearsed, the\narguments would sound very familiar; they are the same, in spite of\ntheir repeated death-blows, that array themselves against the plan of\nmissions to-day. The assailants of this cause are not students of\nhistory. There is no such thing as opposition, or even indifference,\nto Christian missions, unless there is ignorance behind it.\n\nThese young men succeeded in gaining the sympathy and alliance of\nsome of the prominent pastors, and the professors in the seminary. To\nthe annual meeting of the General Association of Massachusetts, at\nBradford, June 27, 1810, they presented the following paper:\n\n  The undersigned, members of the Divinity College, respectfully\n  request the attention of their Reverend Fathers, convened in the\n  General Association at Bradford, to the following statement and\n  inquiries:\n\n  They beg leave to state, that their minds have been long impressed\n  with the duty and importance of personally attempting a mission to\n  the heathen; that the impressions on their minds have induced a\n  serious, and they trust a prayerful, consideration of the subject\n  in its various attitudes, particularly in relation to the probable\n  success and the difficulties attending such an attempt; and that\n  after examining all the information which they can obtain, they\n  consider themselves as devoted to this work for life, whenever God\n  in his providence shall open the way.\n\n  They now offer the following inquiries, on which they solicit the\n  opinion and advice of the association. Whether, with their present\n  views and feelings, they ought to renounce the object of missions,\n  as visionary and impracticable; if not, whether they ought to\n  direct their attention to the Eastern or Western world? Whether\n  they may expect patronage and support from a missionary society in\n  this country, or must commit themselves to the direction of a\n  European society; and what preparatory measures they ought to take\n  previous to actual engagement?\n\n  The undersigned, feeling their youth and inexperience, look up to\n  their fathers in the church and respectfully solicit their advice,\n  direction and prayers.\n\n                                           ADONIRAM JUDSON JR.\n                                           SAMUEL NOTT JR.\n                                           SAMUEL J. MILLS.\n                                           SAMUEL NEWELL.\n\nThe names of Rice and Richards were struck off \"for fear of alarming\nthe Association with too large a number.\"\n\nThis paper was referred to a special committee, who indorsed the\nsentiment and submitted a plan to the association, which was carried\ninto effect by the appointment of a Board of Commissioners for\nForeign Missions.\n\nAfter much exertion and inquiry at home, Judson was sent to England\nto learn if help could be expected from the London Missionary\nSociety. He found that society willing to take the young men under\nits care and support, but not ready to assist the new Board.\n\nThe American society soon received aid within its own boundaries,\nwhich was a far better beginning than to be dependent upon outside\nresources. Mrs. Mary Norris, the wife of one of the founders of\nAndover Seminary, bequeathed thirty thousand dollars to the Board.\nGod's Spirit generally revived the churches, opening the eyes and\nhearts of His people, their purses as well, though not many of the\nlatter were well filled in those days.\n\nGod only has a full record of the anxious courage and faith which was\nexercised by the supporters, managers, and appointees of the Board\nduring those first struggling years. Under the care of this board\nMills and his friends placed themselves, and by it most of them were\nsent out in the year 1812.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nAN APOSTOLIC JOURNEY IN THE UNITED STATES.\n\n\nFrom the first throb of his Christian life, the heart of Mills beat\nlike a soldier's. He called out the recruits, captained the forces,\nand died in service--a hero! In his student days he had a compelling\ninfluence upon his classmates, and even then showed signs of\ngeneralship in his faculty of organizing. The establishment of the\nForeign Mission School was largely consequent upon his suggestions;\nin the formation of the American Board he was one of the foremost\npersonal instruments.\n\nStudies finished, his heart firm in his lofty purpose, highborn\nschemes began their struggling claim for his attention. The world\nwith all its lands stretching their help-beckoning fingers, was\npersuading him. Over the home land, his and ours, he turned his\npenetrating glance. He saw occasion for vast concern, and here was\nhis first response. To go first, opening the way for others through\nthe tangled wilderness, was his design, his master-plot. That \"divine\nferment\" at Williams College worked the good of home, as well as of\nforeign, missions.\n\nHaving chosen a companion-spy, the Rev. John Schermerhorn, soon after\nhis graduation in 1812, he went to view a goodly land, which he\ndesired to have the people of God go up and possess. This tour was\nundertaken under the patronage of the Connecticut and Massachusetts\nHome Missionary Societies. Heretofore these societies had prayed and\nwept over young missionaries sent to the uncivilized wilds of Western\nNew York! The plan of Mills and Schermerhorn was to travel through\nthe wide territory lying between the great lakes and the Gulf of\nMexico, to learn the moral condition of the inhabitants, and scatter\nwhat good they might.\n\nThe map of this region, as published in Morse's school atlas of 1823,\nis curiously different from the maps of the present day. The state\nand territorial lines have been altered, those green, pink, and\nyellow blanks have become densely freckled and wrinkled, by the dots\nof cities and towns, and by the complicated tracery of railroads.\n\nThese travelers did not telegraph their intended arrival, nor sleep\nand dine their way to their journey's end, on the \"Flyer,\" and then\nrest in some palatial hotel at last. Each mounted his horse, taking\nwith them by way of baggage all that was necessary for the\ntrip,--tent, provisions, clothing and Bibles. They plodded through\nmiry swamps, they climbed up and down almost perpendicular ledges,\nand cut their way through canebrakes with a hatchet. When they had\ncreeks to cross they swam their horses. At night they camped, often\nin the rain and sometimes without food. More than once they were\nserenaded by Indian war-whoops and the howling wolves. Stopping at\ntown or settlement they were made cordially at home in hut and cabin.\nIn some places they perceived bright prospects, the germs of future\ncities, and were often urgently besought to stay and preach the\ngospel permanently.\n\nThey found everywhere the Sabbath profaned, only a few good people in\nany one place, and Bibles rare possessions. In some places the people\nwere longing for the Gospel. In all the leading towns they formed\nBible societies, and everywhere preached and distributed Bibles,\nwhich were gladly received.\n\nFrom Nashville they went down the Cumberland and Mississippi with\nGeneral Jackson and fifteen hundred volunteers. In New Orleans they\ngained the consent of Bishop DeBury to distribute the Scriptures in\nFrench to the French Romanists, who made up three-fourths of the\npopulation of the state. They found no Protestant church in the city.\nThey here organized a Bible society, and remained several weeks to\npreach and to hold prayer-meetings.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nMILLS' SECOND TOUR.\n\n\nIn the year 1814 Mr. Mills having obtained the assistance of some of\nthe eastern Bible societies, and having chosen as companion the Rev.\nDaniel Smith, started on another tour through the South and West.\nThey went laden with Bibles and the prayers of Christian friends.\nThey went through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri.\nIn all these states they found the people \"exceedingly destitute of\nreligious privileges,\" and a \"lamentable want of Bibles and\nmissionaries.\" They found \"American families who never saw a Bible,\nor heard of Jesus Christ.\" There was only one minister to ten\nthousand people if equally placed; but there were districts\ncontaining from twenty to fifty thousand \"without a preacher.\" These\nmen were light-bringers to this \"valley of the shadow of death,\" as\nMills called it. They found English soldiers, French Romanists,\ncolored slaves, our own dear countrymen, greedy for the bread of\nlife.\n\nThey traveled more than six thousand miles; they passed through a\nvariety of climates; they endured \"perils in the city, perils of the\nwilderness, perils on the rivers and on the sea,\" that they might\ncast that bread upon the waters which you and I are finding after\nmany days.\n\nMills arrived for the second time in New Orleans, soon after the\ncelebrated battle of January 8, 1815, and cheered many hearts by his\ncoming. He visited the soldiers in prison, the sick and wounded in\nthe hospitals; kneeling on the bare floor where they lay, he prayed\nand talked with them, sang for them, and gave them Bibles; he\npreached in camp. The Philadelphia society had given him a quantity\nof French Bibles. The people were clamorous for them. They thronged\nthe distributor's door, and remained even after the notice had been\ngiven that no more could be had until the following day. They came\nsometimes from great distances. In one week a thousand copies were\ngiven away. In one instance a Romish priest assisted in this work.\nThe bishop acknowledged the deplorable state of the people, and\npreferred their having the Protestant version to none at all.\n\nWhen these adventurers in Christ's kingdom visited St. Louis, they\nfound it a place of two thousand inhabitants,--\"a tumble-down French\nvillage,--built mainly of wooden slabs and poles set vertically, and\nwell daubed with mortar mixed with straw, though there were many log\nhouses.\" In a school-room they delivered the first Presbyterian or\nCongregational sermons ever preached on the west side of the\nMississippi. They were gratefully received, and had crowded\naudiences. The people would gladly have supported either one could he\nhave stayed.\n\nBut the immediate duty of these explorers for souls was to return to\nthe churches which had sent them out, to report what they had\ndiscovered, and to beg that men be sent to these waste places which\nwere waiting to be made to blossom. All New England was roused to\neffort by their appeal, and the next year ten or twelve men responded\nto the summons.\n\nIn 1848 the word \"gold\" was whispered in California and heard all\nover the world. The gold-hunters pressed forward from every corner of\nthe earth. It was not thought a hard thing to turn one's back on\nhome, friends and country, for the sake of gold, though that\nglittering promise was, to most of those who searched, like the bag\nat the end of the rainbow, and all the riches of this world \"make\nthemselves wings.\" \"The promises of God are sure,\" and the riches\nwhich He bestows are everlasting; and yet to the call, gold and\nglory, young men answer by the thousand, while to the cry, Christ and\na crown, they respond by the dozen! \"Choose ye this day whom ye will\nserve.\"\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nTHE AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY--THE UNITED FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY.\n\n\nDuring these two missionary journeys the heart of our apostle was\nswelling with the woes of the sin-bound, and his brain contriving for\ntheir release. Upon his return he settled in New York state, and\nspent two busy years in working out his purposes. While waiting for\ntheir maturity he was most of the time in the large cities,\nparticularly New York. Here he spent what might have been leisure, in\nvisiting the poor in the neglected districts. He also wrote many\nletters; and in the churches, and everywhere, and upon everybody,\nurged attention to the world's great needs, and their great duties.\nAs the result of this planning, waiting and working, he was permitted\nto see formed the American Bible Society, and the United Foreign\nMissionary Society. On the subject of city evangelization, he\nadvanced ideas which we at this striving time might well study.\n\nThe entire destitution of religious privileges which Mills had\nwitnessed in the West and South, and the great desire of the people\nfor the word of God, with their inability to supply themselves, made\nhim eager for the formation of a National Bible Society, which should\nbe large enough and strong enough to supply such great want. He had\nsome hope of having the matter brought out at the general assembly of\nthe Presbyterian church; but it was thought best to have it come\nabout through the existing Bible societies, rather than have it bear\nthe features of any denomination.\n\nThe matter was kept constantly before influential people by this\nindefatigable man, and at last on the 8th of May, 1816, delegates\nfrom the different Bible societies of the United States convened in\nNew York city, and resolved unanimously \"to establish, without delay,\na General Bible Institution, for the circulation of the Holy\nScriptures, without note or comment.\" Before closing their sessions a\nconstitution was adopted, managers elected, and an address issued to\nthe people of the United States, informing them of the project, and\ninviting their sympathy and co\u221a\u2202peration in this benevolent scheme.\n\nThis was a great day to Mills, and those who saw him, sitting apart,\nwatching with intense eagerness the deliberations of the convention,\nlong remembered his delighted face. But how must the resources and\nusefulness of this society have exceeded even his fond hopes!\n\nAs its first depository, it shared the office room of its agent. From\ntime to time it was forced to move to larger quarters, until the year\n1853, when it located permanently, in its well-known building, The\nBible House, on Astor Place, New York city. This edifice is of brick,\nsix stories high, and occupies a solid block. In its first year, the\nsociety received $37,779, and issued 6,410 volumes; in its seventieth\nyear (1886) its receipts were $523,910, and it issued 1,437,440\nvolumes. In the Bible House, the working force--manufacturing and\nexecutive--numbers about 250. The auxiliaries which directly and\nindirectly center in this society, number about 7,000.\n\nFrom this great tree and its many branches, the leaves have been sent\nfor the healing of nations. There are now but few countries where\nthere are any impediments to the free circulation of the Scriptures.\nIn our own land the society has afforded relief to its feeble\nauxiliaries, has supplied destitute Sabbath-schools, has endeavored\nto place the Bible in the common schools, to distribute it among\nsoldiers and seamen, to furnish hotels, steamboats, railroads, and\nhumane and criminal institutions. By it, the Bible has been\ncirculated among immigrants, the destitute poor, the freedmen, the\nChinese, and (in the Douay version) among Romanists. At four\ndifferent periods the society has made exploration among the states\nand territories, to search and supply the destitute. Proportionately\nthe number of families without the word of God is much smaller now\nthan when the society was organized, notwithstanding the enormous\ngrowths in population.\n\nThe society has attempted to send the Bible to all the inhabitants of\nthe earth, accessible to its agents. It has established depots in\nalmost every place where the American churches have missions. It\ncirculates the Scriptures in more than eighty different languages and\ndialects. In 1856, in compliance with a special request, and by means\nof a special gift, the Society's Imperial Quarto English Bible, bound\nwith extraordinary care, enclosed in a rosewood case, and accompanied\nby a courteous letter, was sent to each of the reigning monarchs and\nother chief magistrates of the world.\n\nBefore the art of printing, the Bible was the most expensive book in\nthe world. So late as the American Revolution, in its cheapest\nedition a volume could not be purchased for less than two dollars.\nThis society now furnishes a copy of the entire book for twenty-five\ncents. It has made the Bible the cheapest book in the world.\n\nMills, anxious to see every wheel set in motion for the advancement\nof Christ's kingdom, was restless because of the inaction of the\nPresbyterian church in the cause of Foreign Missions; again by his\npersonal influence upon prominent men, another plan was matured. A\ncommittee was appointed by the General Assembly to confer with\ncommittees from the Dutch and Scotch churches, and a new society was\nformed, called the United Foreign Missionary Society. After a few\nyears of efficient service this society was merged with the American\nBoard, yielding to it its name and affairs.\n\nWhile so busy with these schemes just referred to, Mr. Mills was\ncollecting all possible information in regard to South America. He\ndesired to have the way opened for a mission in that country, and was\nwilling to go himself to make the needed investigations. But it was\nseven years later when the American Board sent the first men to that\nfield.\n\nIn spite of these great enterprises, which must have been so\nabsorbing of time and energy, this busy man found opportunity and\nstrength to search out the squalid back streets of New York, and to\ngo from house to house of its wretched inhabitants, giving sympathy,\nspeaking words of Christian love and instruction, and where they\nwould receive them leaving the word of God and good books.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY--MILLS, AS ITS AGENT, VISITS\nAFRICA.\n\n\nAbraham Lincoln, when a young man, made a journey into the South. Of\nall the impressions which those new scenes made upon him, the one\ndeepest and strongest was that of slavery. It filled him with\nloathing, but kindled a zeal which never slumbered, until it cost his\npriceless life.\n\nIt was such a spark which became a fire in the breast of Mills. What\nhe saw and what he heard, during those southern tours, made him a\nwilling martyr for the sake of Africa's sons and daughters. Their\ndegradation made him ready to endure all things if only he could\npierce the black cloud overshading them. His first effort resulted in\na school, called the African School, for training young colored men\nto teach and preach to their own race. He then lent essential aid in\nthe formation of the American Colonization Society.\n\nThis society was composed of noble-minded men whose pitying attention\nwas fastened upon the bondage, afflictions and heathenism of their\nblack brothers, in this so called free land.\n\nTheir aim was to furnish a refuge, in their own country, for those\nwho were emancipated here, and it was their hope that such a scheme\nwould do much toward the abolition of slavery.\n\nTheir first effort was the collection of information: first, in\nregard to the condition of the slave here, that they might enlist\ngeneral sympathy in their work. In a letter written by Mr. Mills\nabout this matter, he said: \"State facts. Facts will always produce\nan effect, at least on pious minds. You can easily possess yourself\nof facts, the bare recital of which will make the heart bleed.\" From\nthe extensive observations he had made in the South, and by having\nthe subject so long in his mind, he was very ready to \"state facts,\"\nand did so in every time and place. The information needed, in the\nsecond place, by the society was in regard to a suitable location for\nthe colony, and the methods which would be required to obtain it. Mr.\nMills was made their agent.\n\nHe chose as a colleague, to share his responsibility, the Rev. Mr.\nBurgess. After some months of preparation they left America, planning\nto visit England first for information and assistance and then\nAfrica, for the accomplishment of their errand.\n\nHis father says of the \"good-bye\" which he bade him, at the time,\nthat \"he enjoyed peculiar peace of mind, committing himself entirely\nto the guidance and protection of the Almighty.\" He, who had endured\nso many hardships for Christ's sake, knew in whom he trusted.\n\nAfter about two weeks' sailing, they encountered a fearful storm and\nhad need of all their faith. The wind blew furiously for thirty-six\nhours. The captain ordered the masts cut away and the decks cleared.\nHe remained on deck, calmly giving orders, until they were driven\nalmost upon a ledge of rocks. Despairing of any safety in the ship,\nhe abandoned her, taking his children with him in a small boat. Some\nof those left on board the ship, in their agony of peril, were in the\ncabin, beseeching the mercy of Him who rules the violent sea. Others\nwere on deck, where Mr. Burgess, praying aloud, commended their souls\nto God.\n\nAll unexpectedly, a counter current bore them into deeper water, past\nthe rocks. All exclaimed, \"It is the work of God!\" A gloomy night\nthey spent tossing on the sea, but in the morning quiet came. The\nmate assumed control, and by using what crippled forces they could\ncommand, they found their way to a harbor of France.\n\nFrom there they proceeded to London. They were cordially received by\na number of distinguished men and officials. Among them Mr.\nWilberforce and Mr. Zachary Macauly, the former governor of Sierra\nLeone, who introduced them to the Duke of Gloucester. They met\neverywhere with Christian sympathy, and the kindest offers of\nservice. Having obtained letters to the governors of colonies in\nAfrica, they left England for the west coast, February 3, 1818.\n\nThis voyage was a pleasant one, and brought them in about thirty days\nto the mouth of the Gambia. They anchored near the village of St.\nMary's, and went to inspect this and other settlements. They made the\nacquaintance of the governors and the Europeans, everywhere gathering\nuseful and pertinent facts.\n\nThey proceeded south, visiting towns and villages, and calling upon\nthe kings and head men. On these occasions they were received in the\n\"palaver house,\" by the chiefs arranged in true African style,\nregardless of taste. One was described as wearing \"a silver-laced\ncoat, a superb three-cornered hat, blue-bafta trousers, considerably\nthe worse for wear, and no stockings or shoes.\" The insignia of\nroyalty were a silver-headed cane in one hand, a horse-tail in the\nother. Before the palaver could go on, the hosts must receive\npresents, and as their guests had oftenest been slave traders, rum\nand tobacco had become essentials.\n\nBy means of interpreters they made known their friendly feelings, and\nthat they had come from America. \"That wise and good men had agreed\nto help the black people who wished to come to this country; that the\ndesign was a good one, and would promote the best interests of the\nblack people both in America and Africa; that if they would sell or\ngive tracts of their unimproved lands, the people who came would\nintroduce more knowledge of the arts and agriculture, would buy such\nthings as they had to sell, and would sell to them such things as\nthey wanted;\" that the children were to be educated; that they had\ncome as messengers of peace and good tidings, bringing no weapons in\ntheir hands--that they did not desire war.\n\nThey found that African kings knew the art of being slothful in\nbusiness. They seemed to have no idea of dispatch, but would talk for\nhours without coming to the point. In general their reception was\ncordial, and, in some instances, more than that. Land was offered\nthem in five different places. Their greatest obstacle was the\nunsavory reputation of the white men who had preceded them,--the\nslave-traders and merchants,--men who had been gross, violent and\nrapacious. One of the natives who saw Mr. Mills and Mr. Burgess in\nprayer, said he \"never knew before that white men prayed!\"\n\nThey found that the natives would not be unwilling to give up their\nsuperstitions, and were gratified at the prospect of education for\ntheir children; that they would be glad to have God's word, and the\npure religion it teaches. One old man with white hair and beard,\nwished for this good time to come at once; he wanted to know more\nabout God's book before he died.\n\nThe observations and inquiries which had been so conscientiously made\nby the agents, enabled them to report to their society that the\nproject was both practicable and expedient. After due consideration\nof the instructions and recommendations of experienced foreigners,\nand the details of exploration, which this report furnished them, the\nsociety thought it most wise to proceed with the undertaking.\n\nAfter seeking needed individual and governmental aid, and perfecting\nso far as possible the organization, the first colony was sent to\nAfrica in 1820. They endured the discouraging vicissitudes which are\ngenerally incident to new settlements, and in a few years success\nseemed certain.\n\nIn 1847 LIBERIA became an established free republic. The constitution\nis modeled upon our own.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nTHE LAST JOURNEY--BRIG \"SUCCESS,\" FRIDAY, MAY 22, 1818.\n\n\n\"We have taken an affectionate leave of the clergymen, the civil\nofficers, and the colonists of Sierra Leone. We are embarked for the\nUnited States, by way of England; and the continent of Africa recedes\nfrom our view.\"\n\nThis is the last entry in Mills' journal. Three months had been spent\nin Africa; months of unsparing toil, under a scorching sun, amid\ndepressing pagan scenes. But the undertaking had been reasonably\nsuccessful, and tired bodies had been upheld by grateful hearts.\n\nOn shipboard once more, with faces turned homeward, opportunity came\nfor fatigue to assert itself. The strength of Mills, never great at\nthe best, began to fail. A deep spirituality, which had possessed him\nthrough all the journey, grew stronger and stronger. And as they were\nwafted, day by day, nearer home, it became evident that his spirit,\ntoo, was nearing its desired haven. Fever burned his body; but at\nlast eternal health claimed his soul. Under a glowing sunset, he was\nburied, to wait until the sea surrenders its dead.\n\nThe one great desire of his life, \"to sit in some quiet corner and\nteach the perishing,\" was unfulfilled; but God through him had sent,\nand yet sends, many teachers to many far corners.\n\nThirty-five years, only, of mortal life was allotted him in which to\naccomplish so much; yet it was time enough,--not because of his\nuncommon gifts, but because he knew the secret of well doing. He did\nnot attempt to be the origin--the source, but gloried in being the\nchannel through which God poured His great thoughts. No time was lost\nby obstructions; the dredge that kept the channel free was\nprayer--private, social, public, constant prayer, not for himself,\nbut for God's glory.\n\n\n\n\nTHE END.","title":"A Story of One Short Life, 1783 to 1818","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":9232}