{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_71695/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_71695","id":"gutenberg_71695","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/71695","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Biographies","Category: History - Modern (1750+)","Category: History - Religious","Category: Religion/Spirituality","Mateer, C. W. (Calvin Wilson), 1836-1908","Missionaries -- China -- Biography"],"text":"CALVIN WILSON MATEER\n\n[Illustration: C. W. MATEER]\n\n\n\n\n CALVIN WILSON MATEER\n\n FORTY-FIVE YEARS A MISSIONARY\n IN SHANTUNG, CHINA\n\n A BIOGRAPHY\n\n BY DANIEL W. FISHER\n\n PHILADELPHIA\n THE WESTMINSTER PRESS\n 1911\n\n COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY\n THE TRUSTEES OF THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF\n PUBLICATION AND SABBATH SCHOOL WORK\n\n PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER, 1911\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n INTRODUCTION 9\n\n CHAPTER I\n\n THE OLD HOME 15\n\n Birth\u2014The Cumberland Valley\u2014Parentage\u2014Brothers and Sisters,\n Father, Mother, Grandfather\u2014Removal to the \u201cHermitage\u201d\u2014Life on\n the Farm\u2014In the Home\u2014Stories of Childhood and Youth.\n\n\n CHAPTER II\n\n THE MAKING OF THE MAN 27\n\n Native Endowments\u2014Influence of the Old Home\u2014A Country\n Schoolmaster\u2014Hunterstown Academy\u2014Teaching School\u2014Dunlap\u2019s Creek\n Academy\u2014Profession of Religion\u2014Jefferson College\u2014Recollections\n of a Classmate\u2014The Faculty\u2014The Class of 1857\u2014A Semi-Centennial\n Letter.\n\n CHAPTER III\n\n FINDING HIS LIFE WORK 40\n\n Mother and Foreign Missions\u2014Beaver Academy\u2014Decision\n to be a Minister\u2014Western Theological Seminary\u2014The\n Faculty\u2014Revival\u2014Interest in Missions\u2014Licentiate\u2014Considering\n Duty as to Missions\u2014Decision\u2014Delaware, Ohio\u2014Delay in\n Going\u2014Ordination\u2014Marriage\u2014Going at Last.\n\n CHAPTER IV\n\n GONE TO THE FRONT 57\n\n Bound to Shantung, China\u2014The Voyage\u2014Hardships and Trials on the\n Way\u2014At Shanghai\u2014Bound for Chefoo\u2014Vessel on the Rocks\u2014Wanderings\n on Shore\u2014Deliverance and Arrival at Chefoo\u2014By Shentza to\n Tengchow.\n\n CHAPTER V\n\n THE NEW HOME 70\n\n The Mateer Dwelling\u2014Tengchow as It Was\u2014The Beginning of\n Missions There\u2014The Kwan Yin Temple\u2014Making a Stove and\n Coal-press\u2014Left Alone in the Temple\u2014Its Defects\u2014Building a New\n House\u2014Home Life.\n\n CHAPTER VI\n\n HIS INNER LIFE 88\n\n Not a Dreamer\u2014Tenderness of Heart\u2014Regeneration\u2014Religious\n Reserve\u2014Record of Religious Experiences\u2014Depression and\n Relief\u2014Unreserved Consecration\u2014Maturity of Religious\n Life\u2014Loyalty to Convictions.\n\n CHAPTER VII\n\n DOING THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST 105\n\n Acquiring the Language\u2014Hindrances\u2014Beginning to Speak\n Chinese\u2014Chapel at Tengchow\u2014Province of Shantung\u2014Modes of\n Travel\u2014Some Experiences in Travel\u2014First Country Trip\u2014Chinese\n Inns\u2014A Four Weeks\u2019 Itineration\u2014To Wei Hsien\u2014Hatred of\n Foreigners\u2014Disturbance\u2014Itinerating with Julia\u2014Chinese\n Converts\u2014To the Provincial Capital and Tai An\u2014Curtailing His\n Itinerations\u2014Later Trips.\n\n CHAPTER VIII\n\n THE TENGCHOW SCHOOL 128\n\n The School Begun\u2014Education and Missions\u2014First Pupils\u2014Means\n of Support\u2014English Excluded\u2014Growth of School\u2014A Day\u2019s\n Programme\u2014Care of Pupils\u2014Discipline\u2014An Attempted\n Suicide\u2014Conversion of a Pupil\u2014First Graduates\u2014Reception After\n Furlough\u2014An Advance\u2014Two Decades of the School.\n\n CHAPTER IX\n\n THE PRESS AND LITERARY LABORS 150\n\n Contributions to the Periodicals\u2014English Books\u2014The Shanghai\n Mission Press\u2014Temporary Superintendency\u2014John Mateer\u2014Committee\n on School Books\u2014Earlier Chinese Books\u2014School Books\u2014Mandarin\n Dictionary\u2014Mandarin Lessons\u2014Care as to Publications\u2014Pecuniary\n Returns.\n\n CHAPTER X\n\n THE CARE OF THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS 173\n\n Reasons for Such Work\u2014The Church at\n Tengchow\u2014Discipline\u2014Conversion of School Boys\u2014Stated Supply\n at Tengchow\u2014Pastor\u2014As a Preacher\u2014The Scattered Sheep\u2014Miao of\n Chow Yuen\u2014Ingatherings\u2014Latest Country Visitations\u2014\u201cMethods\n of Missions\u201d\u2014Presbytery of Shantung\u2014Presbytery in the\n Country\u2014Synod of China\u2014Moderator of Synod\u2014In the General\n Assembly.\n\n CHAPTER XI\n\n THE SHANTUNG COLLEGE 207\n\n \u201cThe College of Shantung\u201d\u2014The Equipment\u2014Physical and\n Chemical Apparatus\u2014Gathering the Apparatus\u2014The Headship\n Laid Down\u2014The Anglo-Chinese College\u2014Problem of Location and\n Endowment\u2014Transfer of College to Wei Hsien\u2014A New President\u2014\u201cThe\n Shantung Christian University\u201d\u2014Personal Removal to Wei\n Hsien\u2014Temporary President\u2014Official Separation\u2014The College of\n To-day.\n\n CHAPTER XII\n\n WITH APPARATUS AND MACHINERY 236\n\n Achievements\u2014Early Indications\u2014Self-Development\u2014Shop\u2014Early\n Necessities\u2014As a Help in Mission Work\u2014Visitors\u2014Help to\n Employment for Natives\u2014Filling Orders\u2014A Mathematical\n Problem\u2014Exhibitions.\n\n CHAPTER XIII\n\n THE MANDARIN VERSION 252\n\n First Missionary Conference\u2014The Chinese Language\u2014Second\n Missionary Conference\u2014Consultation as to New Version of\n Scriptures\u2014The Plan\u2014Selection of Translators\u2014Translators at\n Work\u2014Difficulties\u2014Style\u2014Sessions\u2014Final Meeting\u2014New Testament\n Finished\u2014Lessons Learned\u2014Conference of 1907\u2014Translators of the\n Old Testament.\n\n CHAPTER XIV\n\n INCIDENTS BY THE WAY 275\n\n Trials\u2014Deaths\u2014The \u201cRebels\u201d\u2014Tientsin Massacre\u2014Japanese War\n with China\u2014Boxer Uprising\u2014Famine\u2014Controversies\u2014English\n in the College\u2014Pleasures\u2014Distinctions and\n Honors\u2014Journeys\u2014Furloughs\u2014Marriage\u2014The Siberian Trip\u2014Scenes of\n Early Life.\n\n CHAPTER XV\n\n FACING THE NEW CHINA 305\n\n The Great Break-Up\u2014Past Anticipations\u2014A Maker of\n the New China\u2014Influence of Missionaries\u2014Present\n Indications\u2014Dangers\u2014Duties\u2014Future of Christianity.\n\n CHAPTER XVI\n\n CALLED UP HIGHER 319\n\n The Last Summer\u2014Increasing Illness\u2014Taken to Tsingtao\u2014The\n End\u2014A Prayer\u2014Service at Tsingtao\u2014Funeral at Chefoo\u2014Tributes\n of Dr. Corbett, Dr. Hayes, Dr. Goodrich, Mr. Baller,\n Mrs. A. H. Mateer\u2014West Shantung Mission\u2014English Baptist\n Mission\u2014Presbyterian Board\u2014Secretary Brown\u2014Biographer\u2014\u201cValiant\n for the Truth.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nIt is a privilege to comply with the request of Dr. Fisher to write a\nbrief introduction to his biography of the late Calvin W. Mateer, D.D.,\nLL.D. I knew Dr. Mateer intimately, corresponded with him for thirteen\nyears and visited him in China. He was one of the makers of the new\nChina, and his life forms a part of the history of Christian missions\nwhich no student of that subject can afford to overlook. He sailed from\nNew York in 1863, at the age of twenty-eight, with his young wife and\nRev. and Mrs. Hunter Corbett, the journey to China occupying six months\nin a slow and wretchedly uncomfortable sailing vessel. It is difficult\nnow to realize that so recently as 1863 a voyage to the far East was so\nformidable an undertaking. Indeed, the hardships of that voyage were so\ngreat that the health of some members of the party was seriously impaired.\n\nDifficulties did not end when the young missionaries arrived at their\ndestination. The people were not friendly; the conveniences of life were\nfew; the loneliness and isolation were exceedingly trying; but the young\nmissionaries were undaunted and pushed their work with splendid courage\nand faith. Mr. Corbett soon became a leader in evangelistic work, but\nDr. Mateer, while deeply interested in evangelistic work and helping\ngreatly in it, felt chiefly drawn toward educational work. In 1864,\none year after his arrival, he and his equally gifted and devoted wife\nmanaged to gather six students. There were neither text-books, buildings,\nnor assistants; but with a faith as strong as it was sagacious Dr. and\nMrs. Mateer set themselves to the task of building up a college. One by\none buildings were secured, poor and humble indeed, but sufficing for a\nstart. The missionary made his own text-books and manufactured much of\nthe apparatus with his own hands. He speedily proved himself an educator\nand administrator of exceptional ability. Increasing numbers of young\nChinese gathered about him. The college grew. From the beginning, Mr.\nMateer insisted that it should give its training in the Chinese language,\nthat the instruction should be of the most thorough kind, and that it\nshould be pervaded throughout by the Christian spirit. When, after\nthirty-five years of unremitting toil, advancing years compelled him to\nlay down the burden of the presidency, he had the satisfaction of seeing\nthe college recognized as one of the very best colleges in all Asia. It\ncontinues under his successors in larger form at Wei Hsien, where it now\nforms the Arts College of the Shantung Christian University.\n\nDr. Mateer was famous not only as an educator, but as an author and\ntranslator. After his retirement from the college he devoted himself\nalmost wholly to literary work, save for one year, when a vacancy in\nthe presidency of the college again devolved its cares temporarily upon\nhim. His knowledge of the Chinese language was extraordinary. He prepared\nmany text-books and other volumes in Chinese, writing some himself and\ntranslating others. The last years of his life were spent as chairman\nof a committee for the revision of the translation of the Bible into\nChinese, a labor to which he gave himself with loving zeal.\n\nDr. Mateer was a man of unusual force of character; an educator, a\nscholar and an executive of high capacity. Hanover College, of which Dr.\nD. W. Fisher was then president, early recognized his ability and success\nby bestowing upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity, and in\n1903 his alma mater added the degree of Doctor of Laws. We mourn that the\nwork no longer has the benefit of his counsel; but he builded so well\nthat the results of his labors will long endure, and his name will always\nhave a prominent place in the history of missionary work in the Chinese\nempire.\n\nDr. Fisher has done a great service to the cause of missions and to the\nwhole church in writing the biography of such a man. A college classmate\nand lifelong friend of Dr. Mateer, and himself a scholar and educator of\nhigh rank, he has written with keen insight, with full comprehension of\nhis subject, and with admirable clearness and power. I bespeak for this\nvolume and for the great work in China to which Dr. Mateer consecrated\nhis life the deep and sympathetic interest of all who may read this book.\n\n ARTHUR JUDSON BROWN\n\n156 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK CITY, _April 13th, 1911_\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nWhen I was asked to become the biographer of Dr. Mateer, I had planned\nto do other literary work, and had made some preparation for it; but I\nat once put that aside and entered on the writing of this book. I did\nthis for several reasons. Though Dr. Mateer and I had never been very\nintimate friends, yet, beginning with our college and seminary days, and\non to the close of his life, we had always been very good friends. I had\noccasionally corresponded with him, and, being in hearty sympathy with\nthe cause of foreign missions, I had kept myself so well informed as to\nhis achievements that I had unusual pleasure in officially conferring on\nhim the first of the distinctions by which his name came to be so well\nadorned. As his college classmate, I had joined with the other survivors\nin recognizing him as the one of our number whom we most delighted to\nhonor. When I laid down my office of college president, he promptly wrote\nme, and suggested that I occupy my leisure by a visit to China, and that\nI use my tongue and pen to aid the cause of the evangelization of that\ngreat people. Only a few months before his death he sent me extended\ndirections for such a visit. When\u2014wholly unexpectedly\u2014the invitation came\nto me to prepare his biography, what could I do but respond favorably?\n\nIt has been my sole object in this book to reveal to the reader Dr.\nMateer, the man, the Christian, the missionary, both his inner and his\nouter life, just as it was. In doing this I have very often availed\nmyself of his own words. Going beyond these, I have striven neither\nto keep back nor to exaggerate anything that deserves a place in this\nrecord. All the while the preparation of this book has been going forward\nin my hands my appreciation of the magnitude of the man and of his work\nhas been increasing. Great is the story of his career. If this does not\nappear so to any reader who has the mind and the heart to appreciate it,\nthen the fault is mine. It, in that case, is in the telling, and not in\nthe matter of the book, that the defect lies.\n\nSo many relatives and acquaintances of Dr. Mateer have contributed\nvaluable material, on which I have drawn freely, that I dare not try to\nmention them here by name. It is due, however, to Mrs. J. M. Kirkwood\nto acknowledge that much of the chapter on \u201cThe Old Home\u201d is based on a\nmonograph she prepared in advance of the writing of this biography. It\nis due also to Mrs. Ada H. Mateer to acknowledge the very extensive and\nvaried assistance which she has rendered in the writing of this book:\nfirst, by putting the material already on hand into such shape that\nthe biographer\u2019s labors have been immensely lightened, and later, by\nfurnishing with her own pen much additional information, and by her wise,\npractical suggestions.\n\n D. W. F.\n\nWASHINGTON, 1911\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nTHE OLD HOME\n\n \u201cThere are all the fond recollections and associations of my\n youth.\u201d\u2014JOURNAL, March 4, 1857.\n\n\nCalvin Wilson Mateer, of whose life and work this book is to tell, was\nborn in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, near Shiremanstown, a few miles\nwest of Harrisburg, on January 9, 1836.\n\nThis Cumberland valley, in which he first saw the light, is one of\nthe fairest regions in all our country. Beginning at the great, broad\nSusquehanna, almost in sight of his birthplace, it stretches far away, a\nlittle to the southwest, on past Chambersburg, and across the state line,\nand by way of Hagerstown, to its other boundary, drawn by a second and\nequally majestic stream, the historic Potomac. Physically considered,\nthe splendid Shenandoah valley, still beyond in Virginia, is a further\nextension of the same depression. It is throughout a most attractive\npanorama of gently rolling slopes and vales, of fertile and highly\ncultivated farms, of great springs of purest water and of purling brooks,\nof little parks of trees spared by the woodman\u2019s ax, of comfortable\nand tasteful rural homes, of prosperous towns and villages where church\nspires and school buildings and the conveniences of modern civilization\nbear witness to the high character of the people,\u2014all of this usually\nset like a picture in a framework of the blue and not very rugged, or\nvery high, wooded mountains between which, in their more or less broken\nranges, the entire valley lies.\n\nTrue, it was winter when this infant first looked out on that world\nabout him, but it was only waiting for spring to take off its swaddling\nof white, and to clothe it with many-hued garments. Twenty-eight years\nafterward, almost to the very day, he, cast ashore on the coast of\nChina, was struggling over the roadless and snow covered and, to him,\nwholly unknown ground toward the place near which he was to do the work\nof his life, and where his body rests in the grave. When he died, in\nhis seventy-third year, the spiritual spring for which he had prayed\nand longed and labored had not yet fully come, but there were many\nindications of its not distant approach.\n\nJohn Mateer, the father of Calvin, was born in this beautiful Cumberland\nvalley, on a farm which was a part of a large tract of land entered by\nthe Mateers as first settlers, out of whose hands, however, it had almost\nentirely passed at the date when this biography begins. The mother of\nCalvin was born in the neighboring county of York. Her maiden name was\nMary Nelson Diven. Both father and mother were of that Scotch-Irish\ndescent to which especially Pennsylvania and Virginia are indebted for so\nmany of their best people; and they both had behind them a long line of\nsturdy, honorable and God-fearing ancestors.\n\nAt the time of Calvin\u2019s birth his parents were living in a frame house\nwhich is still standing; and though, with the passing of years, it has\nmuch deteriorated, it gives evidence that it was a comfortable though\nmodest home for the little family.\n\nOne of the employments of his father while resident there was the running\nof a water mill for hulling clover seed; and Calvin tells somewhere of\na recollection that he used to wish when a very little boy that he were\ntall enough to reach a lever by which he could turn on more water to make\nthe mill go faster,\u2014a childish anticipation of his remarkable mechanical\nability and versatility in maturer years.\n\nCalvin was the oldest of seven children\u2014five brothers and two sisters;\nin the order of age, Calvin Wilson, Jennie, William Diven, John Lowrie,\nRobert McCheyne, Horace Nelson and Lillian, of whom Jennie, William,\nRobert and Horace are still living. Of these seven children, Calvin and\nRobert became ministers of the gospel in the Presbyterian Church, and\nmissionaries in Shantung, China; John for five years had charge of the\nPresbyterian Mission Press at Shanghai, and later of the Congregational\nPress at Peking, where he died; Lillian taught in the Girls\u2019 School\nat Tengchow, and, after her marriage to Rev. William S. Walker, of the\nSouthern Baptist Mission, in the school at Shanghai, until the failing\nhealth of her husband compelled her to return to the United States;\nWilliam for a good while was strongly disposed to offer himself for the\nforeign missionary service, and reluctantly acting on advice, turned\nfrom it to business. Jennie married an exceptionally promising young\nPresbyterian minister, and both offered themselves to the foreign work\nand were under appointment to go to China when health considerations\ncompelled them to remain in their homeland. Some years after his death\nshe married a college professor of fine ability. Horace is a professor in\nthe University of Wooster, and a practicing physician.\n\nIn view of this very condensed account of the remarkable life and work\nof the children in this household, one may well crave to know more about\nthe parents, and about the home life in the atmosphere of which they\nwere nurtured. Their father and mother both had the elementary education\nwhich could be furnished in their youth by the rural schools during the\nbrief terms for which they were held each year. In addition, the mother\nattended a select school in Harrisburg for a time. Both father and mother\nbuilt well on this early foundation, forming the habit of wise, careful\nreading. Both were professing Christians when they were married, and in\ninfancy Calvin was baptized in the old Silver Spring Church, near which\nthey resided. Later the father became a ruling elder in the Presbyterian\nchurch to which they had removed their membership. In this capacity\nhe was highly esteemed, his pastor relying especially on his just,\ndiscerning judgment. He had a beautiful tenor voice and a line musical\nsense, and he led the choir for a number of years. Few laymen in the\nchurch at large were better informed as to its doctrines and history, and\nfew were more familiar with the Bible. There was in the church a library\nfrom which books were regularly brought home; religious papers were taken\nand read by the whole family, and thus all were acquainted with the\ncurrent news of the churches, and with the progress of the gospel in the\nworld.\n\nIn the conduct of his farm Mr. Mateer was thrifty, industrious and\neconomical. His land did not yield very bountifully, but all of its\nproducts were so well husbanded that notwithstanding the size of his\nfamily he yet accumulated considerable property. Though somewhat\nreluctant at first to have his boys one after another leave him, thus\ndepriving him of their help on the farm, he aided each to the extent of\nhis ability, and as they successively fitted themselves for larger lives\nhe rejoiced in their achievements.\n\nMr. Mateer died at Monmouth, Illinois, in 1875. When the tidings reached\nCalvin out in China, he wrote home to his mother a beautiful letter,\nin which among other things he said: \u201cFather\u2019s death was eminently\ncharacteristic of his life\u2014modest, quiet and self-suppressed. He died\nthe death of the righteous and has gone to a righteous man\u2019s reward.\nThe message he sent John and me was not necessary; that he should \u2018die\ntrusting in Jesus\u2019 was not news to us, for we knew how he had lived.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: DR. MATEER\u2019S MOTHER]\n\nBy reading the records that have been at my command I have gotten the\nconviction that the mother was the stronger character, or at least that\nshe more deeply impressed herself on the children. When Calvin made his\nlast visit to this country, he was asked whose influence had been most\npotent in his life, and he at once replied, \u201cMother\u2019s.\u201d In his personal\nappearance he strongly resembled her. If one could have wished for any\nchange in his character, it might have been that he should have had\nin it just a little bit more of the ideality of his father, and just\na little bit less of the intense realism of his mother. Some of his\nmother\u2019s most evident characteristics were in a measure traceable as an\ninheritance from her father, William Diven; for example, the place to\nwhich she assigned education among the values of life. He was a man of\nconsiderable literary attainments, for his day, and for one residing out\nin the country; so that when in later years he came to make his home\nwith the Mateers he brought with him a collection of standard books,\nthus furnishing additional and substantial reading for the family. Even\nShakspere and Burns were among the authors, though they were not placed\nwhere the children could have access to them, and were made familiar to\nthem only by the grandfather\u2019s quotation of choice passages. When his\ndaughter was a little girl, so intense was his desire that she should\nhave as good an education as practicable, that if the weather was too\ninclement for her to walk to the schoolhouse he used to carry her on his\nback. It was her lifelong regret that her education was so defective;\nand it is said that after she was seventy years of age, once she dreamed\nthat she was sent to school at Mount Holyoke, and she awoke in tears to\nfind that she was white-haired, and that it was only a dream. Although it\ninvolved the sacrifice of her own strength and ease, she never faltered\nin her determination that her children should have the educational\nadvantages to which she had aspired, but never attained; and in what they\nreached in this direction she had a rich satisfaction. Toward every other\nobject which she conceived to be good and true, and to be within the\nscope of her life, she set herself with like persistence, and strength,\nand willingness for self-sacrifice. Her piety was deep, thorough and\nall-controlling; but with her it was a principle rather than a sentiment.\nIts chief aim was the promotion of the glory of the infinitely holy God,\nthough as she neared the visible presence of her Saviour, this softened\nsomewhat into a conscious love and faith toward him. She survived her\nhusband twenty-one years, and died at the advanced age of seventy-nine.\nWhen the tidings of this came to her children in China, their chief\nlament was, \u201cHow we shall miss her prayers!\u201d\n\nWhen Calvin was about five years old, his parents bought a farm twelve\nmiles north of Gettysburg, near what is now York Springs, in Adams\nCounty. It is some twenty miles from the place of his birth, and beyond\nthe limits of the Cumberland valley. Even now it is a comparatively\nout-of-the-way spot, reached only by a long drive from the nearest\nrailway station; then it was so secluded that the Mateers called the\nhouse into which they removed the \u201cHermitage.\u201d Here the family continued\nto reside until about the time of Calvin\u2019s graduation from college. Then\na second and much longer move was made, to Mercer County, in western\nPennsylvania. Still later, a third migration brought them to Illinois.\nIt is to the home in Adams County that Calvin refers in the line quoted\nat the head of this chapter, as the place where \u201cwere all the fond\nrecollections and associations\u201d of his youth.\n\nThe farm was not very large, and the soil was only moderately productive,\nnotwithstanding the labor and skill that the Mateers put upon it. In\npicking off the broken slate stones which were turned up thick by the\nplow, the children by hard experience were trained in patient industry as\nto small details. At least the two elder frequently beguiled the tedium\nof this task \u201cby reciting portions of the Westminster Catechism and\nlong passages of Scripture.\u201d Another really tedious occupation, which,\nhowever, was converted into a sort of late autumn feast of ingathering,\nwas shared by the whole family, but was especially appreciated by the\nchildren. This was the nut harvest of the \u201cshellbark\u201d hickory trees of\nthe forest. As many as fifty or more bushels were gathered in a season;\nthe sale of these afforded a handsome supplement to the income of the\nhousehold. Along the side of the farm flows a beautiful stream, still\nbearing its Indian name of Bermudgeon, and in front of the house is a\nsmaller creek; and in these Calvin fished and set traps for the muskrats,\nand experimented with little waterwheels, and learned to swim. Up on an\nelevation still stand the old house and barn, both constructed of the red\nbrick once so largely used in the eastern section of Pennsylvania. Both\nof these are still in use. Though showing signs of age and lack of care,\nthey are witnesses that for those days the Mateers were quite up to the\nbetter standard of living customary among their neighbors. \u201cThis growing\nfamily,\u201d says Mrs. Kirkwood (Jennie), \u201cwas a hive of industry, making\nmost of the implements used both indoors and out, and accomplishing\nmany tasks long since relegated to the factory and the shop. Necessity\nwas with them the mother not only of invention, but of execution as\nwell. All were up early in the morning eating breakfast by candlelight\neven in summer, and ready before the sun had risen for a day\u2019s work\nthat continued long after twilight had fallen.\u201d In the barn they not\nonly housed their horses and cattle and the field products, but also\nmanufactured most of the implements for their agricultural work. Here\nCalvin first had his mechanical gifts called into exercise, sometimes\non sleds and wagons and farm tools, and sometimes on traps and other\narticles of youthful sport.\n\nIn this home family worship was held twice each day,\u2014in the morning\noften before the day had fully dawned, and in the evening when the\ntwilight was vanishing into night. In this service usually there were not\nonly the reading of Scripture and the offering of prayer, but also the\nsinging of praise, the fine musical voice of the father and his ability\nto lead in the tunes making this all the more effective. Of course, on\nthe Sabbath the entire family, young and old, so far as practicable,\nattended services when held in the Presbyterian church not far away. But\nthat was not all of the religious observances. The Sabbath was sacredly\nkept, after the old-fashioned manner of putting away the avoidable work\nof the week, and of giving exceptional attention to sacred things. Mrs.\nKirkwood, who was near enough in age to be the \u201cchum\u201d of Calvin, writes:\n\u201cAmong the many living pictures which memory holds of those years, there\nis one of a large, airy, farmhouse kitchen, on a Sabbath afternoon. The\ntable, with one leaf raised to afford space for \u2018Scott\u2019 and \u2018Henry\u2019\nstands between two doors that look out upon tree-shaded, flower-filled\nyards. There sits the mother, with open books spread all about her,\nstudying the Bible lesson for herself and for her children. Both parents\nand children attended a pastor\u2019s class in which the old Sunday School\nUnion Question Book was used. In this many references were given which\nthe children were required to commit. Older people read them from their\nBibles, but these children memorized them. Some of the longer ones could\nnever be repeated in after times without awakening associations of the\nmuscularizing mental tussles of those early days.\u201d It was a part of the\nreligious training of each child in that household, just as soon as able\nto read, to commit to memory the Westminster Shorter Catechism,\u2014not so\nas to blunder through the answers in some sort of fashion, but so as to\nrecite them all, no matter how long or difficult, without mistaking so\nmuch as an article or a preposition.\n\nStories are handed down concerning the boy Calvin at home, some of which\nforeshadow characteristics of his later years. One of these must suffice\nhere. The \u201cHermitage,\u201d when the Mateers came into it, was popularly\nbelieved to be haunted by a former occupant whose grave was in an old\ndeserted Episcopal churchyard about a mile away. The grave was sunken,\nand it was asserted that it would not remain filled. It was also rumored\nthat in the gloomy woods by which the place was surrounded a headless\nman had been seen wandering at night. Nevertheless the Mateer children\noften went up there on a Sabbath afternoon, and entered the never-closed\ndoor, to view the Bible and books and desk, which were left just as\nthey had been when services long before had ceased to be held; or\nwandered about the graves, picking the moss from the inscriptions on the\nheadstones, in order to see who could find the oldest. It was a place\nthat, of course, was much avoided at night; for had not restless white\nforms been seen moving about among these burial places of the dead? The\nboy Calvin had been in the habit of running by it in the late evening\nwith fast-beating heart. One dark night he went and climbed up on the\ngraveyard fence, resolved to sit in that supremely desolate and uncanny\nspot till he had mastered the superstitious fear associated with it. The\nowls hooted, and other night sounds were intensified by the loneliness,\nbut he successfully passed his chosen ordeal, and won a victory worth the\neffort. In a youthful way he was disciplining himself for more difficult\nordeals in China.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nTHE MAKING OF THE MAN\n\n \u201cIt has been said, and with truth, that when one has finished\n his course in an ordinary college, he knows just enough to be\n sensible of his own ignorance.\u201d\u2014LETTER TO HIS MOTHER, January\n 15, 1857.\n\n\nThe letter from which the sentence at the head of this chapter is taken\nwas written a week after Mateer had reached his twenty-first year and\nwhen he was almost half advanced in his senior year in college. Later in\nthe letter he says: \u201cImprovement and advancement need not, and should\nnot, stop with a college life. We should be advancing in knowledge so\nlong as we live.\u201d With this understanding we may somewhat arbitrarily set\nhis graduation from college as terminating the period of his life covered\nby what I have designated as \u201cthe making of the man.\u201d\n\nBack of all else lay his native endowments of body and of mind.\nPhysically he was exceptionally free from both inherited and acquired\nweaknesses. In a letter which he wrote to his near relatives in this\ncountry on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, he said, \u201cI have not\nonly lived, but I have enjoyed an exceptional measure of health.\u201d At\nno period was he laid aside by protracted sickness. At the same time,\nthis must not be understood to signify that he had one of those iron\nconstitutions that seem to be capable of enduring without harm every\nsort of exposure except such as in its nature must be mortal. In that\npart of his Journal covering portions of his college and seminary work\nhe often tells of a lassitude for which he blames himself as morally\nat fault, but in which a physician would have seen symptoms of a low\nbodily tone. Bad food, lack of exercise and ill treatment on the voyage\nwhich first brought him to China left him with a temporary attack of\ndyspepsia. Occasionally he had dysentery, and once he had erysipelas. At\nno time did he regard himself as so rugged in constitution that he did\nnot need to provide himself with proper clothing and shelter, so far as\npracticable. Nevertheless it was because of the sound physique inherited\nfrom his parents, and fostered by his country life during early youth,\nthat without any serious breaking down of health or strength he was able\nto endure the privations and the toils and cares of his forty-five years\nin China.\n\nAs to his native mental endowments, no one would have been more ready\nthan he to deny that he was a \u201cgenius,\u201d if by this is meant that he had\nan ability offhand to do important things for the accomplishment of which\nothers require study and effort. If, as to this, any exception ought\nto be made in his favor, it would be concerning some of the applied\nsciences and machinery, and possibly mathematics. He certainly had an\nextraordinary aptitude especially as to the former of these. While he\nhimself regarded his work in the Mandarin as perhaps the greatest of his\nachievements, he had no such talent for the mastery of foreign languages\nthat he did not need time and toil and patience to learn them. In college\nhis best standing was not in Latin or Greek. In China other missionaries\nhave been able to preach in the native tongue after as short a period of\npreparation; and the perfect command of the language which he attained\ncame only after years of ceaseless toil.\n\nSuch were his native physical and mental endowments: a good, sound,\nthough not unusually rugged, bodily constitution; and an intellect\nvigorous in all of its faculties, which was in degree not so superior as\nto set him on a pedestal by himself, yet was very considerably above the\naverage even of college students.\n\nConcerning the qualities of his heart and of his will it is best to wait\nand speak later in this volume.\n\nIn the making of a man native endowments are only the material out of\nwhich and on which to build. Beyond these, what we become depends on our\nopportunities and the use to which we put them. The atmosphere of the\nold home had much to do with the unfolding of the subsequent life and\ncharacter of Mateer. Some of his leading qualities were there grown into\nhis being.\n\nOther powerful influences also had a large share in his development.\nAbout three quarters of a mile from the \u201cHermitage\u201d stood a township\nschoolhouse, a small brick building, \u201cguiltless alike of paint or\ncomfort,\u201d most primitive in its furnishing, and open for instruction\nonly five or six months each year, and this in the winter. The pressure\nof work in the house and on the farm never was allowed to interrupt the\nattendance of the Mateer children at this little center of learning for\nthe neighborhood. Of course, the teachers usually were qualified only to\nconduct the pupils over the elementary branches, and no provision was\nmade in the curriculum for anything beyond these. But it so happened that\nfor two winters Calvin had as his schoolmaster there James Duffield,\nwho is described by one of his pupils still living as \u201ca genius in his\nprofession, much in advance of his times, and quite superior to those\nwho preceded and to those who came after him. In appearance Duffield\nwas awkward and shy. His large hands and feet were ever in his way,\nexcept when before a class; then he was suddenly at ease, absorbed in\nthe work of teaching, alert, full of vitality, with an enthusiasm for\nmastery, and an intellectual power that made every subject alive with\ninterest, leaving his impress upon each one of his pupils.\u201d Algebra\nwas not recognized as falling within the legitimate instruction, and\nno suspicion that any boy or girl was studying it entered the minds\nof the plain farmers who constituted the official visitors. One day a\nfriend of the teacher, a scholarly man, came in at the time when the\nexaminations were proceeding, and the teacher sprang a surprise by asking\nthis friend whether he would like to see one of his pupils solve a\nproblem in algebra. He had discerned the mathematical bent of the lad,\nCalvin Mateer, and out of school hours and just for the satisfaction\nof it he had privately been giving the boy lessons in that study. When\nan affirmative response was made by the stranger, Calvin went to the\nblackboard and soon covered half of it with a solution of an algebraic\nproblem. Surprised and delighted, the stranger tested the lad with\nproblem after problem, some of them the hardest in the text-book in use,\nonly to find him able to solve them. It would have been difficult to\ndiscover which of the three principal parties to the examination, the\nvisitor, the teacher, or the pupil, was most gratified by the outcome.\nThere can be no question that this country school-teacher had much to do\nwith awakening the mathematical capabilities and perhaps others of the\nintellectual gifts which characterized that lad in manhood and throughout\nlife.\n\nWhen Calvin was in his seventeenth year, he started in his pursuit of\nhigher education, entering a small academy at Hunterstown, eight miles\nfrom the \u201cHermitage.\u201d In this step he had the stimulating encouragement\nof his mother, whose quenchless passion for education has already been\ndescribed. His father probably would at that time have preferred that\nhe should remain at home and help on the farm; and occasionally, for\nsome years, the question whether he ought not to have fallen in with the\npaternal wish caused him serious thought. As it was, he came home from\nthe academy in the spring, and in the autumn and also at harvest, to\nassist in the work.\n\nThe first term he began Latin, and the second term Greek, and he kept\nhis mathematics well in hand, thus distinctly setting his face toward\ncollege. But his pecuniary means were narrow, and in the winter of\n1853-54 he had to turn aside to teach a country school some three miles\nfrom his home. In a brief biographical sketch which, by request of his\ncollege classmates, he furnished for the fortieth anniversary of their\ngraduation he says: \u201cThis was a hard experience. I was not yet eighteen\nand looked much younger. Many of the scholars were young men and women,\nolder than I, and there was a deal of rowdyism in the district. I held my\nown, however, and finished with credit, and grew in experience more than\nin any other period of my life.\u201d\n\nWhen the school closed he returned to the academy, which by that time\nhad passed into the hands of S. B. Mercer, in whom he found a teacher of\nexceptional ability, both as to scholarship and as to the stimulation\nof his students to do and to be the best that was possible to them. In\nthe spring of 1855 Mr. Mercer left the Hunterstown Academy, and went\nto Merrittstown, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where he took charge of\nthe Dunlaps Creek Academy. Calvin, influenced by his attachment to his\nteacher, and also by his intention to enter Jefferson College, situated\nin a neighboring county, went with him. Here he made his home, with\nother students, in the house occupied by the Mercers. For teaching two\nclasses, one in geometry and one in Greek, he received his tuition. For\nthe ostensible reason that he had come so far to enter the academy he was\ncharged a reduced price for his board. All the way down to the completion\nof his course in the theological seminary he managed to live upon the\nmeans furnished in part from home, and substantially supplemented by\nhis own labors; but he had to practice rigid economy. It was while at\nMerrittstown that he made a public profession of religion. This was only\na few months before he entered college. He found in Dr. Samuel Wilson,\nthe pastor of the Presbyterian church, a preacher and a man who won his\nadmiration and esteem, and who so encouraged and directed him that he\ntook this step.\n\nIn the autumn of 1855 he entered the junior class of Jefferson College,\nat Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. In those days it was customary for students\nto be admitted further advanced as to enrollment than at present. I had\nmyself preceded Mateer one year, entering as a sophomore in the same\nclass into which he first came as a junior. One reason for this state\nof things was that the requirements were considerably lower than they\nnow are; and they were often laxly enforced. Then, because the range of\nstudies required was very limited in kind, consisting until the junior\nyear almost exclusively of Latin, Greek and mathematics, it was possible\nfor the preparatory schools to carry the work of their students well up\ninto the curriculum of the college. Mateer had the advantage, besides,\nof such an excellent instructor as Professor Mercer, and of experience in\nteaching. He says: \u201cI was poorly prepared for this class, but managed to\nsqueeze in. The professor of Latin wanted me to make up some work which\nI had not done; but I demurred, and I recollect saying to him, \u2018If after\na term you still think I ought to make it up, I will do it, or fall back\nto the sophomore class.\u2019 I never heard of it afterwards. I was very green\nand bashful when I went to college, an unsophisticated farmer\u2019s boy from\na little country academy. I knew little or nothing of the ways of the\nworld.\u201d\n\nAs his classmate in college, and otherwise closely associated with him\nas a fellow-student, I knew him well. I remember still with a good deal\nof distinctness his appearance; he was rather tall, light-haired, with a\nclear and intelligent countenance, and a general physique that indicated\nthorough soundness of body, though not excessively developed in any\nmember. When I last saw him at Los Angeles a few years ago, I could\nperceive no great change in his looks, except such as is inevitable from\nthe flight of years, and from his large and varied experience of life.\nIt seems to me that it ought to be easy for any of his acquaintances\nof later years to form for themselves a picture of him in his young\nmanhood at the college and at the theological seminary. So far as I can\nnow recall, he came to college unheralded as to what might be expected\nof him there. He did not thrust himself forward; but it was not long\nuntil by his work and his thorough manliness, it became evident that in\nhim the class had received an addition that was sure to count heavily\nin all that was of importance to a student. I do not think that he\njoined any of the Greek letter secret societies, though these were at\nthe height of their prosperity there at that time. In the literary\nsocieties he discharged well and faithfully his duties, but he did not\nstand out very conspicuously in the exercises required of the members.\nIn those days there was plenty of \u201ccollege politics,\u201d sometimes very\npetty, and sometimes not very creditable, though not wholly without\nprofit as a preparation for the \u201crough-and-tumble\u201d of life in after\nyears, but in this Mateer did not take much part. Most of us were still\nimmature enough to indulge in pranks that afforded us fun, but which were\nmore an expression of our immaturity than we then imagined; and Mateer\nparticipated in one of these in connection with the Fr\u00e9mont-Buchanan\ncampaign in 1856. A great Republican meeting was held at Canonsburg, and\nsome of us students appeared in the procession as a burlesque company of\nKansas \u201cborder ruffians.\u201d We were a sadly disgraceful-looking set. Of one\nthing I am sure, that while Mateer gave himself constantly to his duties\nand refrained from most of the silly things of college life, he was not\nby any of us looked upon as a \u201cstick.\u201d He commanded our respect.\n\nThe faculty was small and the equipment of the college meager. The\nattendance was nearly three hundred. As to attainments, we were a mixed\nmultitude. To instruct all of these there were\u2014for both regular and\nrequired work\u2014only six men, including one for the preparatory department.\nWhat could these few do to meet the needs of this miscellaneous crowd?\nThey did their best, and it was possible for any of us, especially\nfor the brighter student, to get a great deal of valuable education\neven under these conditions. Mateer in later years acknowledges his\nindebtedness to all of the faculty, but particularly to Dr. A. B. Brown,\nwho was our president up to the latter part of our senior year; to Dr.\nAlden, who succeeded him; and to Professor Fraser, who held the chair\nof mathematics. Dr. Brown was much admired by the students for his\nrhetorical ability in the pulpit and out of it. Dr. Alden was quite\nin contrast to his predecessor as to many things. He had long been a\nteacher, and was clear and concise in his intellectual efforts. Mateer\nsaid, late in life, that from his drill in moral science he \u201cgot more\ngood than from any other one branch in the course.\u201d Professor Fraser\nwas a brilliant, all-round scholar of the best type then prevalent, and\nhad the enthusiastic admiration even of those students who were little\nable to appreciate his teaching. In the physical sciences the course\nwas necessarily still limited and somewhat elementary. His classmates\nremember the evident mastery which Mateer had of all that was attempted\nby instruction or by experimentation in that department. It was not\npossible to get much of what is called \u201cculture\u201d out of the curriculum,\nand that through no fault of the faculty; yet for the stimulation of\nthe intellectual powers and the unfolding of character there was an\nopportunity such as may be seriously lacking in the conditions of college\ninstruction in recent years.\n\nThese were the palmy days of Jefferson College. She drew to herself\nstudents not only from Pennsylvania and the contiguous states, but also\nfrom the more distant regions of the west and the south. We were dumped\ndown there, a heterogeneous lot of young fellows, and outside of the\nclassroom we were left for the most part to care for ourselves. We had\nno luxuries and we were short of comforts. We got enough to eat, of a\nvery plain sort, and we got it cheap. We were wholly unacquainted with\nathletics and other intercollegiate goings and comings which now loom up\nso conspicuously in college life; but we had, with rare exceptions, come\nfrom the country and the small towns, intent on obtaining an education\nwhich would help us to make the most of ourselves in after years. As to\nthis, Mateer was a thoroughly representative student. He could not then\nforesee his future career, but he was sure that in it he dared not hope\nfor success unless he made thoroughly good use of his present, passing\nopportunities. He was evidently a man who was there for a purpose.\n\nThe class of 1857 has always been proud of itself, and not without\nreason. Fifty-eight of us received our diplomas on commencement. Among\nthem were such leaders in the church as George P. Hays, David C. Marquis\nand Samuel J. Niccolls, all of whom have been Moderators of the General\nAssembly of the Presbyterian Church. In the law, S. C. T. Dodd, for\nmany years the principal solicitor of the Standard Oil Company, stands\nout most conspicuously. Three of our number have served for longer or\nshorter periods as college presidents. Of Doctors of Divinity we have\na long list, and also a goodly number of Doctors of Law; and others,\nthough they have received less recognition for their work, have in our\njudgment escaped only because the world does not always know the worth\nof quiet lives. To spend years in the associations of such a class in\ncollege is itself an efficient means of education. It is a high tribute\nto the ability and the diligence of Mateer that, although he was with\nus only two years, he divided the first honor. The sharer with him in\nthis distinction was the youngest member of the class, but a man who,\nin addition to unusual capacity, also had enjoyed the best preparation\nfor college then available. On the part of Mateer, it was not what\nis known as genius that won the honor; it was a combination of solid\nintellectual capacity, with hard, constant work. The faculty assigned him\nthe valedictory, the highest distinction at graduation, but on his own\nsolicitation, this was given to the other first honor man.\n\nIn a letter sent by him from Wei Hsien, China, September 4, 1907, in\nanswer to a message addressed to him by the little remnant of his\nclassmates who assembled at Canonsburg a couple of months earlier, to\ncelebrate the fiftieth anniversary of their graduation, he said:\n\n It was with very peculiar feelings of pleasure mingled with\n sadness that I read what was done by you at your meeting.\n The distance that separated me from you all adds a peculiar\n emphasis to my feelings, suggestive of loneliness. I have\n never been homesick in China. I would not be elsewhere than\n where I am, nor doing any other work than what I am doing. Yet\n when I read over the account of that meeting in Canonsburg my\n feelings were such as I have rarely had before. Separated by\n half the circumference of the globe for full forty-four years,\n yet in the retrospect the friendship formed in these years\n of fellowship in study seems to grow fresher and stronger\n as our numbers grow less. A busy life gives little time for\n retrospection, yet I often think of college days and college\n friends. Very few things in my early life have preserved their\n impression so well. I can still repeat the roll of our class,\n and I remember well how we sat in that old recitation room of\n Professor Jones [physics and chemistry]. I am in the second\n half of my seventy-second year, strong and well. China has\n agreed with me. I have spent my life itinerating, teaching and\n translating, with chief strength on teaching. But with us all\n who are left, the meridian of life is past, and the evening\n draws on. Yet a few of us have still some work to do. Let us\n strive to do it well, and add what we can to the aggregate\n achievement of the class\u2019s life work\u2014a record of which I trust\n none of us may be ashamed.\n\nIn the unanticipated privilege of writing this book I am trying to\nfulfill that wish of our revered classmate.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nFINDING HIS LIFE WORK\n\n \u201cFrom my youth I had the missionary work before me as a dim\n vision. A half-formed resolution was all the while in my mind,\n though I spoke of it to no one. But for this it is questionable\n whether I would have given up teaching to go to the Seminary.\n After long consideration and many prayers I offered myself\n to the Board, and was accepted.\u201d\u2014AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH for\n college class anniversary, 1897.\n\n\nIn the four sentences at the head of this chapter we have a condensed\noutline of the process by which Calvin Mateer came to be a foreign\nmissionary. In his case it did not, as in the antecedent experience of\nmost other clergymen who have given themselves to this work, start with\nan attraction first toward the ministry, and then toward the missionary\nservice; but just the reverse. In order to understand this we need to\ngo back again to \u201cthe old home,\u201d and especially to his mother. We are\nfortunate here in having the veil of the past lifted by Mrs. Kirkwood,\nas one outside of the family could not do, or, even if he could, would\nhesitate to do.\n\n Long before her marriage, when indeed but a young girl,\n Mary Nelson Diven [Calvin\u2019s mother] heard an appeal for the\n Sandwich Islands made by the elder Dr. Forbes, one of the early\n missionaries of the American Board, to those islands. He asked\n for a box of supplies. There was not much missionary interest\n in the little church of Dillsburg, York County, Pennsylvania,\n of which she was a member; for the Presbyterian Board of\n Foreign Missions had not been organized, and the American Board\n had not attained its majority. Her pastor sympathized with the\n newly awakened zeal and interest of his young parishioner,\n when she proposed to canvass the congregation in response to\n Dr. Forbes\u2019s appeal. The box was secured and sent. This was\n the seed that germinated in her heart so early and bore fruit\n through the whole of her long life.\n\n When in her nineteenth year she was married to John Mateer,\n hers was a marriage in the Lord; and together she and her\n husband consecrated their children in their infancy to his\n service. This consecration was not a form; they were laid upon\n the altar and never taken back. Through all the self-denying\n struggles to secure their education, one aim was steadily kept\n in view, that of fitting them either to carry the gospel to\n some heathen land, or to do the Lord\u2019s work in their own land.\n\n In addition to the foreign missionary periodicals, a number\n of biographies of foreign missionaries were secured and\n were read by all the family. Not only did this mother try\n to awaken in her children an interest in missions through\n missionary literature, but she devised means to strengthen\n and make permanent this interest, to furnish channels through\n which these feelings and impulses might flow toward practical\n results. One of these was a missionary mite box which she\n fashioned with her own hands, away back in the early forties,\n before the mite boxes had been scattered broadcast in the\n land. Quaint indeed it was, this plain little wooden box,\n covered with small-figured wall paper. Placed upon the parlor\n mantel, it soon became the shrine of the children\u2019s devotion.\n No labor or self-denial on their part was considered too great\n to secure pennies for \u201cthe missionary box.\u201d Few pennies were\n spent for self-indulgence after that box was put in place, and\n overflowing was the delight when some unwonted good fortune\n made it possible to drop in silver coins\u2014\u201csix-and-a-fourth\n bits,\u201d or \u201celeven-penny bits.\u201d Most of the offerings were\n secured by such self-denials as foregoing coffee, sugar, or\n butter. There was not at that time much opportunity for country\n children to earn even pennies. The \u201cred-letter\u201d day of all the\n year was when the box was opened and the pennies were counted.\n\n This earnest-hearted mother had counted the cost of what she\n was doing in thus educating her children into the missionary\n spirit. When her first-born turned his face toward the heathen\n world, there was no drawing back\u2014freely she gave him to the\n work. As one after another of her children offered themselves\n to the Foreign Board, she rejoiced in the honor God had put\n upon her, never shrinking from the heart strain the separation\n from her children must bring. She only made them more special\n objects of prayer, thus transmuting her personal care-taking to\n faith. She lived to see four of her children in China.\n\nThis explains how it came about that this elder son, from youth, had\nbefore him the missionary work as \u201ca dim vision,\u201d and that \u201ca half-formed\nresolution\u201d to take it up was all the while in his mind.\n\nWhen he graduated from college, he had made no decision as to his life\nwork. During the years preceding he at no time put aside the claims of\nmissions, and consequently of the ministry, upon him, and in various\nways he showed his interest in that line of Christian service. As he saw\nthe situation the choice seemed mainly to lie between this on the one\nhand, and teaching on the other. Before he graduated he had the offer of\na place in the corps of instructors for the Lawrenceville (New Jersey)\nschool, since grown into such magnitude and esteem as a boys\u2019 preparatory\ninstitution; but the conditions were not such that he felt justified in\naccepting. Unfortunately, there is a blank in his Journal for the period\nbetween March 4, 1857, some six months before he received his diploma at\nJefferson, and October 24, 1859, when he had already been a good while in\nthe theological seminary; and to supply it scarcely any of his letters\nare available. In the autobiographical sketch already noticed he says:\n\n From college I went to take charge of the academy at Beaver,\n Pennsylvania. I found it run down almost to nothing, so that\n the first term (half year) it hardly paid me my board. I was on\n my mettle, however, and determined not to fail. I taught and\n lectured and advertised, making friends as fast as I could.\n I found the school with about twenty boys, all day scholars;\n I left it at the end of the third term with ninety, of whom\n thirty were boarders. I could easily have gone on and made\n money, but I felt that I was called to preach the gospel,\n and so, I sold out my school and went to Allegheny [Western\n Theological Seminary], entering when the first year was half\n over.\n\nOne of his pupils at Beaver was J. R. Miller, D.D., a distinguished\nminister of the gospel in Philadelphia; and very widely known especially\nas the author of solid but popular religious books. Writing of his\nexperience at the Beaver Academy, he says:\n\n When I first entered, the principal was Mr. Mateer. The first\n night I was there, my room was not ready, and I slept with him\n in his room. I can never forget the words of encouragement\n and cheer he spoke that night, to a homesick boy, away for\n almost the first time from his father and mother.... My contact\n with him came just at the time when my whole life was in such\n plastic form that influence of whatever character became\n permanent. He was an excellent teacher. His personal influence\n over me was very great. I suppose that when the records are all\n known, it will be seen that no other man did so much for the\n shaping of my life as he did.\n\nWhile at Beaver he at last decided that he was called of God to study\nfor the ministry, but called not by any extraordinary external sign\nor inward experience. It was a sense of duty that determined him, and\nalthough he obeyed willingly, yet it was not without a struggle. He had a\nconsciousness of ability to succeed as a teacher or in other vocations;\nand he was by no means without ambition to make his mark in the world.\nBecause he was convinced by long and careful and prayerful consideration\nthat he ought to become a minister he put aside all the other pursuits\nthat might have opened to him. Not long after he entered the seminary he\nwrote to his mother: \u201cYou truly characterize the work for which I am now\npreparing as a great and glorious one. I have long looked forward to it,\nthough scarcely daring to think it my duty to engage in it. After much\npondering in my own mind, and prayer for direction I have thought it my\nduty to preach.\u201d\n\nOn account of teaching, as already related, he did not enter the\ntheological seminary until more than a year after I did, so that I was\nnot his classmate there. He came some months late in the school year, and\nhad at first much back work to make up; but he soon showed that he ranked\namong the very best students. His classmate, Rev. John H. Sherrard, of\nPittsburg, writes:\n\n One thing I do well remember about Mateer: his mental\n superiority impressed everyone, as also his deep spirituality.\n In some respects, indeed most, he stood head and shoulders\n above his fellows around him.\n\nAnother classmate, Rev. Dr. William Gaston, of Cleveland, says:\n\n We regarded him as one of our most level-headed men; our peer\n in all points; not good merely in one point, but most thorough\n in all branches of study. He was cheerful and yet not flippant,\n and with a tinge of the most serious. He was optimistic,\n dwelling much on God\u2019s great love.... He was not only a year in\n advance of most of us in graduating from college, but I think\n that we, as students, felt that though we were classmates in\n the seminary, he was in advance of us in other things. Life\n seemed more serious to him. I doubt if any one of us felt the\n responsibility of life as much as he did. I doubt if anyone\n worked as hard as he.\n\nThe Western Theological Seminary, during the period of Mateer\u2019s\nattendance, was at the high-water mark of prosperity. The general\ncatalogue shows an enrollment of sixty-one men in his class; the total\nin all classes hovered about one hundred and fifty. In the faculty there\nwere only four members, and, estimated by the specializations common\nin our theological schools to-day, they could not adequately do all\ntheir work; and this was the more true of them, because all save one\nof them eked out his scanty salary by taking charge of a city church.\nBut they did better than might now be thought possible; and especially\nwas this practicable because of the limited curriculum then prescribed,\nand followed by all students. Dr. David Elliott was still at work,\nthough beyond the age when he was at his best. Samuel J. Wilson was just\nstarting in his brilliant though brief career, and commanded a peculiar\nattachment from his pupils. Dr. Jacobus was widely known and appreciated\nfor his popular commentaries. However, the member of the faculty who left\nthe deepest impress on Mateer was Dr. William S. Plumer. Nor in this was\nhis case exceptional. We all knew that Dr. Plumer was not in the very\nfirst rank of theologians. We often missed in his lectures the marks of\nvery broad and deep scholarship. But as a teacher he nevertheless made\nupon our minds an impression that was so great and lasting that in all\nour subsequent lives we have continued to rejoice in having been under\nhis training. Best of all was his general influence on the students. We\ndoubt whether in the theological seminaries of the Presbyterian Church of\nthe United States it has ever been equaled, except by Archibald Alexander\nof Princeton. The dominant element of that influence was a magnificent\npersonality saturated with the warmest and most tender piety, having its\nsource in love for the living, personal Saviour. For Dr. Plumer, Mateer\nhad then a very high degree of reverent affection, and he never lost it.\n\nSpiritually, the condition of the seminary while Mateer was there was\naway above the ordinary. In the winter of 1857-58 a great revival had\nswept over the United States, and across the Atlantic. In no place\nwas it more in evidence than in the theological schools; it quickened\nimmensely the spiritual life of the majority of the students. One of its\nfruits there was the awakening of a far more intense interest in foreign\nmissions. I can still recall the satisfaction which some of us who in the\nseminary were turning our faces toward the unevangelized nations had in\nthe information that this strong man who stood in the very first rank as\nto character and scholarship had decided to offer himself to the Board of\nForeign Missions for such service as they might select for him. It was a\nfitting consummation of his college and seminary life.\n\nYet it was only slowly, even in the seminary, and after much searching\nof his own heart and much wrestling in prayer, that he came to this\ndecision. Outside of himself there was a good deal that tended to impel\nhim toward it. The faculty, and especially Dr. Plumer, did all they\ncould wisely to press on the students the call of the unevangelized\nnations for the gospel. Representatives of this cause\u2014missionaries\nand secretaries\u2014visited the seminary, where there were, at that\ntime, more than an ordinary number of young men who had caught the\nmissionary spirit. In college, Mateer, without seeking to isolate\nhimself from others, had come into real intimacy with scarcely any\nof his fellow-students. He says in the autobiographical sketch, \u201cI\nminded my own business, making comparatively few friends outside of my\nown class, largely because I was too bashful to push my way.\u201d In the\nseminary he, while still rather reserved, came nearer to some of his\nfellow-theologues; and especially to one, Dwight B. Hervey, who shared\nwith him the struggle over duty as to a field of service. They seem to\nhave been much in conference on that subject.\n\nOn the 21st of January, 1860, he presented himself before the Presbytery\nof Ohio, to which the churches of Pittsburg belonged, passed examination\nin his college studies, and was received under the care of that body;\nbut he had not then made up his mind to be a missionary. On the 12th\nof April of the same year he went before the Presbytery of Butler, at\nButler, Pennsylvania (having at his own request been transferred to the\ncare of that organization, because his parents\u2019 home was now within its\nbounds), and was licensed to preach. Yet still he had not decided to be\na missionary. He was powerfully drawn toward that work, and vacillation\nat no time in his life was a characteristic; there simply was as yet no\nneed that he should finally make up his mind, and he wished to avoid any\npremature committal of himself, which later he might regret, or which he\nmight feel bound to recall.\n\nThe summer of 1860 he spent in preaching here and there about Pittsburg,\nseveral months being given to the Plains and Fairmount churches; followed\nby a visit home, and another in Illinois.\n\nWhen the seminary opened in the autumn, he was back in his place. One\nof the duties which fell to him was to preach a missionary sermon\nbefore the Society of Inquiry. He did this so well that the students\nby vote expressed a desire that the sermon should be published. In his\nJournal he notes that the preparation of this discourse \u201cstrengthened\nhis determination to give himself to this work.\u201d Before the Christmas\nrecess Dr. J. Leighton Wilson, one of the secretaries of the Presbyterian\nBoard of Foreign Missions, visited the seminary, and in conference did\nmuch to stimulate the missionary spirit. He found in Mateer an eager and\nresponsive listener. On the 12th of December Mateer wrote a long letter\nto his mother, in which he expresses feeling, because without warrant\nsome one had told her that he had offered himself to the Foreign Board.\nHe says, \u201cI am not going to take such an important step without informing\nyou of it directly and explicitly.\u201d Then he proceeds to tell her just\nwhat was his attitude at that time:\n\n I have thought of the missionary work this long time, but not\n very seriously until within the last couple of years. Ever\n since I came to the seminary I have had a conviction to some\n degree that I ought to go as a missionary. That conviction has\n been constantly growing and deepening, and more especially\n of late. I have about concluded that so far as I am myself\n concerned it is my duty to be a missionary. I have thought a\n great deal on this subject and I think that I have not come to\n such a conclusion hastily. It has cost me very considerable\n effort to give up the prospects which I might have had at home.\n The matter in almost every view you can take of it involves\n trial and self-denial. I need great grace,\u2014for this I pray. But\n even if I have prospects of usefulness at home, surely nothing\n can be lost in this respect by doing what I am convinced is\n my duty. Indeed, one of the encouraging features, in fact the\n great encouragement, is a prospect of more extended usefulness\n than at home. This may seem not to be so at the first view, but\n a more careful consideration of all the aspects of the case\n will, I think, bring a different conclusion.\n\nThe letter is very full, and lays bare his whole mind and heart as he\nwould be willing to do only to his mother. It is a revelation of this\nstrong, self-reliant, mature but filial-spirited and tenderly thoughtful\nyoung Christian man and prospective minister, to a mother whom he\nrecognized as deserving an affectionate consideration such as he owed to\nno other created being.\n\nOn the 7th of January, 1861, he received a letter from his mother, in\nwhich she gave her consent that he should be a foreign missionary, naming\nonly one or two conditions which involved no insuperable difficulty. In a\nstudent prayer meeting about three weeks later he took occasion in some\nremarks to tell them that he had decided to offer himself for this work.\nStill, it was not until the 5th of April, and when within two weeks of\ngraduation, that he, in a full and formal letter, such as is expected\nand is appropriate, offered himself to the Board. In his Journal of that\ndate, after recording the character of his letter, he says: \u201cThis is a\nsolemn and important step which I have now taken. During this week, while\nwriting this letter, I have, I trust, looked again at the whole matter,\nand asked help and guidance from God. I fully believe it is my duty to\ngo. My greatest fear has been that I was not as willing to go as I should\nbe, but I cast myself on Christ and go forward.\u201d On the 13th of April he\nreceived word from the Board that he had been accepted, the time of his\ngoing out and his field of labor being yet undetermined.\n\nSo the problem of his life work was at length solved, as surely as it\ncould be by human agency. It had been his mother\u2019s wish that he should\nwait a year before going to his field, and to this he had no serious\nobjection; but as matters turned out, more than two years elapsed before\nhe was able to leave this country. This long delay was caused by the\noutbreak of the Civil War, and the financial stringency which made it\nimpossible for the Foreign Board to assume any additional obligations.\nMuch of the time the outlook was so dark that he almost abandoned hope of\nentering on his chosen work, though the thought of this filled his heart\nwith grief. He was intensely loyal to the cause of the Union, and if he\nhad not been a licentiate for the ministry he almost certainly would have\nenlisted in the army. He records his determination to go if drafted.\nOnce, indeed, during this period of waiting he was a sort of candidate\nfor a chaplaincy to a regiment, which fortunately he did not secure. For\nseveral months he preached here and there in the churches of the general\nregion about Pittsburg, and also made a visit to towns in central Ohio,\none of these being Delaware, the seat of the Ohio Wesleyan University.\nNot long afterward he received an urgent request from the Old School\nPresbyterian Church in that town to come and supply them. About the same\ntime the churches of Fairmount and Plains in Pennsylvania gave him a\nformal call to become their pastor, but this he declined. He accepted\nthe invitation to Delaware, I suppose partly because it left him free\nstill to go as a missionary whenever the way might open. At Delaware he\nremained eighteen months, until at last, in the good providence of God,\nhe was ordered \u201cto the front\u201d out in China.\n\nThe story of his service of the church in that place need not be told\nhere except in brief. It must, however, be clearly stated that it was\nin the highest degree creditable to him. In fact, the conditions were\nsuch that one may see in it a providential training in the courage and\npatience and faithfulness which in later years he needed to exercise on\nthe mission field. The church was weak, and was overshadowed somewhat\neven among the Presbyterian element by a larger and less handicapped New\nSchool organization; and was sorely distressed by internal troubles.\nFor a while after Mateer came, it was a question whether it could be\nresuscitated from its apparently dying stale. At the end of his period of\nservice it was once more alive, comparatively united, and anxious to have\nhim remain as pastor.\n\nOn November 12, 1862, while in charge of the church at Delaware, he was\nordained to the full work of the ministry, as an evangelist, by the\nPresbytery of Marion, in session at Delaware.\n\nOn December 27, 1862, he was married in Delaware, at the home of her\nuncle, to Miss Julia A. Brown, of Mt. Gilead, Ohio. Two years before\nthey were already sufficiently well acquainted to interchange friendly\nletters; later their friendship ripened into mutual love; and now, after\nan eight months\u2019 engagement, they were united for life. Mateer says in\nhis Journal, \u201cThe wedding was very small and quiet; though it was not\nwanting in merriment,\u201d and na\u00efvely adds, \u201cFound marrying not half so hard\nas proposing.\u201d Julia, as he ever afterward calls her, was a superbly\ngood wife for him. In her own home, in the schoolroom, in the oversight\nof the Chinese boys and girls who were their pupils, in the preparation\nof her \u201cMusic Book,\u201d in her labors for the evangelization of the women,\nin her journeyings,\u2014hindered as she was most of the time by broken\nhealth,\u2014she effectively toiled on, until at last, after thirty-five years\nof missionary service, her husband laid away all of her that was mortal\nin the little cemetery east of the city of Tengchow, by the side of her\nsister, Maggie (Mrs. Capp), who had died in the same service, and of\nother missionary friends who had gone on before her.\n\nWhen they were married they were still left in great uncertainty as to\nthe time when the Board could send them out, or, indeed, whether the\nBoard could send them out at all. They went on their bridal trip to his\nparents\u2019 home in western Pennsylvania, reaching there on Wednesday,\nDecember 31. Just a week afterward he received a letter from the Board\nannouncing their readiness to send them to China. The record of his\nJournal deserves to be given here in full.\n\n Scarcely anything in my life ever came so unexpectedly. A peal\n of thunder in the clear winter sky would not have surprised\n us more. The letter was handed me in the morning when I came\n downstairs at grandfather\u2019s. After reading it, I took it\n upstairs and read it to \u201cmy Jewel.\u201d In less than three minutes\n I think our minds were made up. Her first exclamation after\n hearing the letter I shall not forget: \u201cOh, I am glad!\u201d That\n was the right ring for a missionary: no long-drawn, sorrowful\n sigh, but the straight-out, noble, self-sacrificing, \u201cOh, I am\n glad!\u201d I shall remember that time, that look, that expression.\n If I did not say, I felt, the same. I think I can truly say I\n was and am glad. My lifelong aspiration is yet to be realized.\n I shall yet spend my life and lay my bones in a heathen land.\n I had fully made up my mind to labor in this country, and most\n likely for some time in Delaware; but how suddenly everything\n is changed! The only regret I feel is that I am not five years\n younger. What a great advantage it would give me in acquiring\n the language! But so it is, and Providence made it so. I had\n despaired of going, and despairing I was greatly perplexed to\n understand the leadings of Providence in directing my mind so\n strongly to the work, and bringing me so near to the point of\n going before. Now I understand the matter better. Now I see\n that my strong persuasion that I would yet go was right. God\n did not deceive me. He only led me by a way that I knew not.\n Just when the darkness seemed to be greatest, then the sun\n shone suddenly out. How strange it all seems! The way was all\n closed; no funds to send out men to China; and I could not go.\n Suddenly two missionaries die, and the health of another fails;\n and the Board feels constrained to send out one man at least,\n to supply their place; and so the door opens to me. And I will\n enter it, for Providence has surely opened it. As I have given\n myself to this work, and hold myself in readiness to go, I will\n not retrace my steps now. Having put my hand to the plow, I\n will not look back. I do not wish to. It is true, however, that\n preaching a year and a half has bound strong cords around me\n to keep me here. I cannot go so easily now as I might have done\n when I first left the seminary. It will be a sore trial to tear\n myself away from the folks at Delaware. They will try hard, I\n know, to retain me; but I think my mind is set, and I must go.\n I must go; I am glad to go; I will go. The Lord will provide\n for Delaware. I commit the work there to his hands. I trust and\n believe that he will carry it on, and that it will yet appear\n that my labor there has not been in vain. Yesterday I was\n twenty-seven years old. I hope to chronicle my next birthday in\n China. The Lord has spared me twenty-seven years in my native\n land. Will he give me as many in China! Grant it, O Lord, and\n strengthen me mightily to spend them all for thee!\n\nThis strong, persistent, conscientious, self-controlled, consecrated man\nhad found his life work at last.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nGONE TO THE FRONT\n\n \u201cIf there had been no other way to get back to America, than\n through such another experience, it is doubtful whether I\n should ever have seen my native land again.\u201d\u2014AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL\n SKETCH, 1897.\n\n\nThe choice of the country to which he should go as a missionary had been\nwith him a subject of earnest consideration and prayer. He says in his\nJournal, under date of September 12, 1862:\n\n The Board wished me to go to Canton, China, at first. This was\n altogether against my inclinations and previous plans; but the\n Board would not send me anywhere else, until in the last letter\n they offered to send me to Japan; I have long had thoughts of\n northern India or of Africa; and especially have I wished to go\n to some new mission where the ground is unoccupied, and where\n I would not be entrammeled by rules and rigid instructions.\n The languages of eastern Asia are also exceedingly difficult\n and the missionary work is peculiarly discouraging among that\n people.\n\nTwo days later, however, he sent the Board a letter saying that he would\ngo to Japan. When his field finally was specifically designated, it was\nnorth China. He was to be stationed at Tengchow, a port that had been\nopened to foreign commerce in the province of Shantung.\n\nThe Mateers remained at Delaware until late in April. Until that time he\ncontinued in charge of his church. In a touching farewell service they\ntook leave of their people, and traveled by slow stages toward New York.\n\nGoing to live in China was then so much more serious a matter than it is\nnow that we can scarcely appreciate the leave-takings that fell to the\nlot of these two young missionaries. The hardest trial of all was to say\ngood-by to mother and to father, and to brothers and sisters, some of\nwhom were yet small children, and for whom he felt that he might do so\nmuch if not separated from them by half the distance round the world.\n\nAt length on July 3, 1863, they embarked at New York on the ship that was\nto carry them far to the south of the Cape of Good Hope, then eastward\nalmost in sight of the northern shores of Australia, and finally, by the\nlong outside route, up north again to Shanghai. They were one hundred\nand sixty-five days, or only about two weeks short of half a year, in\nmaking the voyage. During that long period they never touched land. It\nneeds to be borne in mind that in 1863 the Suez Canal had only been\nbegun; that the railroads across our continent had not been built; and\nthat no lines of passenger steamers were running from our western coast\nover to Asia. No blame, therefore, is chargeable to the Board of Missions\nfor sending out their appointees on a sailing vessel. The ship selected\nwas a merchantman, though not a clipper built for quick transit, was of\nmoderate size, in sound condition, and capable of traveling at fairly\ngood speed. Accompanying the Mateers were Hunter Corbett and his wife,\nwho also had been appointed by the Board, for Tengchow. There were six\nother passengers, none of whom were missionaries, and, besides the\nofficers, there was a crew of sixteen men.\n\nAt best the voyage could not be otherwise than tedious and trying. The\naccommodations for passengers were necessarily scant, the staterooms,\nbeing mere closets with poor ventilation, and this cut off in rough\nweather. The only place available for exercise was the poop deck, about\nthirty feet long; thus walking involved so much turning as greatly to\nlessen the pleasure, and many forms of amusement common on larger vessels\nwere entirely shut out. Food on such a long voyage had to be limited in\nvariety, and must become more or less stale. Of course, it was hot in the\ntropics, and it was cold away south of the equator, and again up north\nin November and December. Seasickness is a malady from which exemption\ncould not be expected. When a company of passengers and officers with so\nlittle in common as to character and aims were cooped together, for so\nlong a time, in narrow quarters, where they must constantly come into\nclose contact, a serious lack of congeniality and some friction might be\nexpected to develop among them.\n\nThe ship also, on that voyage, encountered distinctive annoyances and\ndangers. For weeks after they sailed they were in constant dread of\nConfederate privateers. Once they were so sure that they were about to\nbe captured by a ship which they mistook for one of these destroyers\nof American commerce that they hastily prepared as well as they could\nfor such a catastrophe. When they sailed from New York, the battle of\nGettysburg was in progress and still undecided; and it was not until\nOctober 15 when they were overtaken by a vessel which had sailed eleven\ndays after them from New York, that their anxiety as to the result was\nrelieved, and their hearts were thrilled with exultation, by the news\nthat Meade was victorious, and also that Vicksburg had fallen. Out among\nthe islands to the northeast of Australia the ship was caught in a\ncurrent, and was forced so rapidly and nearly on the wild, rocky shores\nof an uncivilized island that the captain himself despaired of escaping\nwreck. Providentially a breeze from the land sprang up and carried them\nout of danger. They were overtaken by no severe storms. Several times\ntheir patience was sorely tested by protracted calms; in the Pacific it\nonce took them seventeen days to make three hundred and forty miles.\n\nAll of these things lay beyond the control of the officers and crew, and\nthe missionaries accepted them as trials to which they ought quietly\nand patiently to submit. But imagine as added to this a half year\u2019s\nsubjection to the arbitrary and autocratic rule of a captain who was\nignorant except as to seamanship; who was coarse and constantly profane\nin speech; who was tyrannical and brutal so far as he dared to be, and\nyet when boldly faced by those who were able to bring him to account\nfor his conduct was a contemptible coward; who skimped the people on\nboard of food adequate in quantity or decently fit in quality, partly\nbecause of stingy greed, and partly from a desire thus to gratify his\nmalignant disposition; who hated missionaries and seemed to have a\nspecial pleasure in making their lives on his ship as uncomfortable as\npossible; who barely tolerated such religious observances as the asking\nof a blessing at meals, or a service for social worship on the Sabbath\nin the cabin, and who forbade all attempts to do any religious work,\neven by conversation, among the crew; who was capable of descending to\nvarious petty meannesses in order to gratify his base inclinations; and\nwho somehow yet managed to secure from officers under him a measure\nof sympathy and co\u00f6peration in his conduct. When we have as fully as\npossible grasped these things, we can understand why Dr. Mateer, half\na lifetime afterward, wrote to his college classmates that if in order\nto reach America it had been necessary to repeat the experience of that\noutward voyage, it is doubtful if ever again he had seen his native land.\n\nBut at last this voyage was nearing its end. They might have reached port\nsome days earlier, had it not been that all the crew except three or four\nhad\u2014through lack of proper food and other bad treatment\u2014been attacked\nby scurvy, a disease already then having been almost shut out even from\nsailing vessels on long trips. On December 16 they had the happiness of\ngoing ashore at Shanghai, where they soon found a welcome in the homes\nof missionaries and of other friends. Corbett was not well, and Mateer\nalways believed that the health of both Julia and Corbett was permanently\ninjured by the treatment received on that outward voyage.\n\nOn the voyage the missionaries warned the captain that they would surely\nhold him to account for his conduct, when they reached Shanghai. They\nkept their word. After consultation with the missionaries on the local\nfield, with a lawyer, and with the American consul, they determined to\nproceed with formal charges against him. Learning of this, he lost no\ntime in coming to them, and, with fear and trembling, he begged that they\nwould have mercy on him. A second interview was appointed, but Corbett\nwas too unwell to see him, and Mateer had to meet him alone. In his\nJournal he says:\n\n I took the paper which had been read to the consul, and read it\n to him giving copious comments and illustrations, at the same\n time asking him to explain or correct if he could. I never in\n my life gave any man such a lecturing. I just kept myself busy\n for an hour and a half telling him how mean and contemptible\n a scoundrel he was. I then offered him as a settlement of\n the matter a paper which I proposed to publish, stating in\n it that he had apologized and that we had agreed to suspend\n prosecution. From this he pled off in the most pitiful manner,\n saying that he would be ruined by it.\n\nThe third day he came again and made such an appeal for mercy that\nMateer\u2019s sympathy, and also his desire to avoid detention at Shanghai,\nled him to agree to accept a private apology, and to refer the matter\nto the interested parties at New York. Years afterward Mateer, on going\naboard a coasting steamer bound for Shanghai, discovered that this man\nwas the captain. He at once cancelled his passage, and went ashore until\nhe could secure a place on another vessel.\n\nTengchow is distant more than five hundred miles from Shanghai. The\nonly way to reach it was by a second voyage northward along the coast\nto Chefoo, and thence overland. On January 3, 1864, the Mateers and the\nCorbetts went aboard the little coasting steamer \u201cSwatow,\u201d bound for\nChefoo. They had a head wind, and the ship was almost empty of cargo.\nThey suffered again from seasickness, and from cold on account of lack\nof bed-clothing. On the evening of the third day out, at about half-past\neight, they were sitting around the stove expecting soon to be at Chefoo,\nwhen suddenly the vessel struck the bottom and the bell rang to reverse\nthe engine. Bump followed bump, until it seemed as if she must go to\npieces. The captain, though not unfamiliar with the route, had allowed\nhimself to be deceived by the masts of a sunken ship, and supposing this\nto be a vessel at anchor in the harbor of Chefoo, had gone in, and his\nsteamer was now hard and fast on the bottom, about fifteen miles down the\ncoast from his destination. We will allow Mateer in his Journal to tell\nhis own story.\n\n All was a scene of indescribable confusion. The captain lost\n all self-possession and all authority over his men. Most of\n his crew and servants were Chinese or Malays, and on such an\n occasion the worst features of their character shine out. They\n refused to do anything and went to packing up their few goods\n and at the same time seizing everything they could get hold\n of. They went everywhere and into everything, pilfering and\n destroying. Meanwhile the waves were striking the vessel at\n a fearful rate, and threatening to break it into pieces. We\n knew not what to do, or what we could do. The mates and two\n passengers (a merchant and an English naval officer) lowered\n a boat and, pushing off, succeeded in landing and in making a\n rope fast from the ship to the shore. They found that we were\n much nearer the land than we had supposed. We were now in a\n great quandary what to do, whether to remain on the ship, or\n get in the boat and go ashore. We mostly inclined to remain,\n but the captain urged us to go ashore. While the wind remained\n moderate we could stay on the ship with safety; but if the wind\n should increase before morning we might be in danger of our\n lives. The captain said that he thought that it was not more\n than eight or nine miles to Chefoo, and he was anxious that\n word should be sent there. We at length yielded to his advice,\n and about eleven o\u2019clock got into a boat and managed to get\n ashore through the surf. It was a bitter cold night, and we\n loaded ourselves with blankets which we supposed would come\n into requisition to keep us warm. Our party consisted of nine\n passengers (we four, Rev. Williamson and wife and child, and\n Rev. McClatchie\u2014all missionaries\u2014and Mr. Wilson, a merchant,\n and Mr. Riddle, a naval officer) and six Chinamen. Our hope was\n to set out in the direction of Chefoo, get a lodging for the\n ladies and Mr. Corbett by the way, while the rest of us pushed\n on to Chefoo to obtain assistance. We started off according to\n this plan, but soon found our way stopped by fields of ice,\n and we were compelled to turn from our course and seek the\n hills which towered up in the distance. The walking was very\n fatiguing; indeed, the ground was covered several inches with\n snow, and at many places there were large cakes and fields of\n ice. After long and weary tramping and turning and disputing\n about the best way, we at length reached the hills. I mounted\n to the top of the first hill and tried to get the party to go\n up over the hill and directly inland until we should find a\n house or village. Other counsels prevailed, however, and we\n wandered along the foot of the hill the best part of a mile.\n At length I got in the lead, and persuaded them that no houses\n would be found unless we went inland from the barren beach.\n We then crossed the ridge at a low place and retraced our\n steps on the other side of it, and finally, after much urging,\n persuaded those who wanted to sit down until morning to follow\n on inland on the track of some of our Chinamen. We soon came\n to a village, which was indeed a welcome sight. We were cold,\n and our feet were wet, and we were very tired, especially the\n ladies. Our troubles were not over yet, however, for we could\n not induce any of the Chinese to let us in. It was now four\n o\u2019clock, and we were suffering from the effects of five hours\u2019\n wandering in the snow and cold. Yet they persistently closed\n their doors and kept us out. Mr. Williamson and Mr. McClatchie\n could talk to them some, yet they refused to receive us.\n\n At last, after shivering in the cold about an hour, we\n succeeded in getting into a sort of shanty, which, however,\n afforded but very poor comfort. There was a heated kang in it,\n and the ladies managed to warm their feet on this. When it\n began to get light Mr. Riddle and Mr. Wilson started to Chefoo,\n thinking the city was only half a mile distant. This was what\n Mrs. Williamson understood the natives to say. Some time after\n Mr. McClatchie started, supposing it was three miles. We made\n breakfast on boiled rice and sweet potatoes which the people\n brought us.\n\n I started back to see what had become of the ship, and to look\n after our things. I found the vessel all sound and everything\n safe. I succeeded in getting several trunks of mine and Mr.\n Williamson\u2019s landed on the beach, and got some of them started\n up to the village, which was at least two miles from the\n ship. Mr. Williamson then went down and succeeded in getting\n a variety of other things brought off and carried up to the\n village. It was a beautiful calm day, but we feared that a gale\n might spring up, as gales were frequent in this region at that\n time of year. In such a case the vessel must quickly be broken\n in pieces, and everything destroyed.\n\n We now began to look around for the night, and it was not a\n very comfortable prospect. Some English people came from Yentai\n (just across the bay from Chefoo) to survey the wreck of a\n vessel that had been cast away some time before at the same\n place, and they very kindly sent us some supper\u2014their own, in\n fact\u2014and also brought us a supply of furs and blankets. We had\n one large kang heated, and on this five stowed themselves,\n covering themselves with the blankets, while I made a bed and\n slept on the ground. The rest of the little room was filled\n with trunks and Chinese rubbish of various kinds. We slept\n very comfortably, however, and as we were very tired and had\n not slept a wink the night before, our sleep was sweet and\n refreshing to us. We had great cause to be thankful for even\n such accommodations in the circumstances.\n\n We made our breakfast on two dozen boiled eggs and some bread\n which the Englishmen had left us. I started immediately to the\n ship, intending, as the day was fine, to try and get as much\n as possible of the goods belonging to us off the ship, and\n to store them there until they could be taken to Yentai. As\n I came over the top of the hill and looked out on the sea, I\n saw a steamer coming which I knew was the English gunboat from\n Chefoo. My heart bounded with joy at the sight. At last we were\n to get help, and to reach Yentai without going overland. All\n our goods also would no doubt be saved.\n\nBy land it was twenty-eight miles to Chefoo, instead of the short\ndistance supposed by the men who started to walk, but they had persisted;\nand at their instigation the gunboat had come to relieve the party left\nbehind. After some failures the gunboat succeeded in pulling the \u201cSwatow\u201d\ninto water where she again floated safely. The party out at the village\nreturned, and the goods were brought back and put on board the gunboat,\nMateer remaining over night with the steamer and coming up the next day\nto Chefoo. He notices in his Journal that although Corbett was in a very\nweak state, he seemed to suffer little or no bad effects from the first\nterrible night on shore; nor were the ladies apparently any the worse\nfor their exposure. He mentions also that while some of the natives at\nthe village were disposed to annoy them as much as possible, others of\nthem were very kind, and he adds, \u201cNever before did I feel my helpless\ncondition so much as among those natives, with whom I could not speak a\nsingle word.\u201d\n\nOf course, they received a hearty welcome from the missionaries at\nChefoo. On the following Wednesday they started for Tengchow, fifty-five\nmiles away, traveling by shentza\u2014a mode of travel peculiar to China, and\ndeveloped largely because of the almost complete absence of anything\nlike good wagon roads. It is simply a sort of covered litter, sustained\nbetween two mules, one in advance of the other; in it one reclines, and\nis jolted up and down by the motion of the animals, each going after his\nown fashion over rough paths which lead without plan across the plains\nand hills. Mateer\u2019s Journal says of that trip:\n\n We rode about fifteen miles and stopped for the night at a\n Chinese inn. We had brought our eatables along, and, having\n got some tea, we made a very good supper, and we went to bed\n all together on a Chinese kang heated up to keep us warm. Next\n morning it was bitter cold, and we did not get started until\n about ten o\u2019clock. I made them turn my shentza and Julia\u2019s\n around [that is, with the open front away from the wind] or I\n do not know what we should have done. About five o\u2019clock our\n cavalcade turned into an inn, and we soon found to our chagrin\n and vexation that we were doomed to spend another night in a\n Chinese inn; which, by the way, is anything but a comfortable\n place on a cold night. We made the best of it, however, and the\n next morning we were off again for Tengchow, where we arrived\n safely about two o\u2019clock. At last our journeying was over,\u2014set\n down on the field of our labor.\n\nThey had reached the front. This was early in January, 1864.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nTHE NEW HOME\n\n \u201cOur new house is now done, and we are comfortably fixed in it.\n It suits us exactly, and my impression is that it will suit\n anyone who may come after us.... My prayer is that God will\n spare us to live in it many years, and bless us in doing much\n work for his glory.\u201d\u2014LETTER TO SECRETARY LOWRIE, December 24,\n 1867.\n\n\nTengchow is one of the cities officially opened as a port for foreign\ncommerce, under the treaty of Tientsin, which went into actual effect\nin 1860. Although a place of seventy thousand or more inhabitants, and\ncleaner and more healthful than most Chinese towns, it has not attracted\npeople from western nations, except a little band of missionaries. The\nharbor does not afford good anchorage; so it has not been favorable to\nforeign commerce.\n\nWhen the Mateers came to Tengchow, missionary operations had already\nbeen begun both by the Southern Baptists and the American Presbyterians,\nthough in a very small way. In fact, throughout the whole of\nChina,\u2014according to the best statistics available,\u2014there were then on\nthat immense field only something more than a hundred ordained Protestant\nmissionaries, and as many female missionaries. There were also a few\nphysicians and printers. The number of native preachers was about two\nhundred and fifty, and of colporteurs about the same. Few of these\ncolporteurs and native preachers were full ministers of the gospel. There\nwere sixteen stations, and perhaps a hundred out-stations. The Chinese\nconverts aggregated thirty-five hundred.\n\nIn all Shantung, with its many millions of people, the only places at\nwhich any attempt had been made to establish stations were Chefoo and\nTengchow, both on the seacoast. The Baptists reached the latter of these\ncities in the autumn of 1860. They were followed very soon afterward by\nMessrs. Danforth and Gayley and their wives, of the Presbyterian Board;\nand the next summer Mr. and Mrs. Nevius came up from Ningpo and joined\nthem.\n\nThe natives seemed to be less positively unfriendly than those of\nmany other parts of China are even to this day; yet it was only with\nprotracted and perplexing difficulties that houses in which to live could\nbe obtained. Not long after this was accomplished, Mrs. Danforth sickened\nand died, and was laid in the first Christian grave at Tengchow. Then\ncame a \u201crebel,\u201d or rather a robber invasion, that carried desolation and\ndeath far and wide in that part of Shantung, and up to the very walls\nof Tengchow, and left the city and country in a deplorable condition of\npoverty and wretchedness. Two of the Baptist missionaries went out to\nparley with these marauders, and were cut to pieces. Next ensued a period\nduring which rumors were rife among the people that the missionaries, by\nputting medicine in the wells, and by other means, practiced witchcraft;\nand this kept away many who otherwise might have ventured to hear the\ngospel, and came near to producing serious danger. After this followed\na severe epidemic of cholera, filling the houses and the streets with\nfunerals and with mourning. For a while the missionaries escaped,\nand did what they could for the Chinese patients; but they were soon\nthemselves attacked; and then they had to give their time and strength\nto ministering to their own sick, and to burying their own dead. Mr.\nGayley first, and then his child, died, and a child of one of the Baptist\nmissionaries. Others were stricken but recovered. The epidemic lasted\nlongest among the Chinese, and this afforded the missionaries opportunity\nto save many lives by prompt application of remedies; and so tended\ngreatly to remove prejudice and to open the way for the gospel. Ten\npersons were admitted to membership in the church, the first fruits of\nthe harvest which has ever since been gathering. But a sad depletion of\nthe laborers soon afterward followed. Mrs. Gayley was compelled to take\nher remaining child, and go home; Mr. Danforth\u2019s health became such that\nhe also had to leave; the health of Mrs. Nevius, which had been poor\nfor a long time, had become worse and, the physician having ordered her\naway, she and her husband went south. This left Rev. Mr. Mills and his\nwife as the only representatives of the Presbyterian Board, until the\nMateers and Corbetts arrived, about three years after the beginning of\nthe station by Danforth and Gayley.\n\nWhen the Mateers and Corbetts came they were, of necessity, lodged in\nthe quarters already occupied by the Mills family. These consisted of no\nless than four small one-story stone buildings clustered near together;\none used for a kitchen, another for a dining room, a third for a guest\nroom, and the fourth for a parlor and bedroom. Each stood apart from\nthe other, and without covered connection. The larger of them had been\na temple dedicated to Kwan Yin, whom foreigners have called the Chinese\ngod of mercy. According to the universal superstition, the air is full of\nsuperhuman spirits, in dread of whom the people of China constantly live,\nand to avert the displeasure of whom most of their religious services\nare performed. Kwan Yin, however, is an exception in character to the\nmalignancy of these imaginary deities. There is no end to the myths that\nare current as to this god, and they all are stories of deliverance from\ntrouble and danger. To him the people always turn with their vows and\nprayers and offerings, in any time of special need. Partly because the\nwomen are especially devoted to this cult, and partly because mercy is\nregarded by the Chinese as a distinctively female trait, the easy-going\nmythology of the country has allowed Kwan Yin, in later times, to take\nthe form of a woman. When the missionaries came to Tengchow, the priest\nin charge of this temple was short of funds, and he was easily induced to\nrent it to them. He left the images of Kwan Yin in the house. Just what\nto do with them became a practical question; from its solution a boy who\nlived with the Mateers learned a valuable lesson. When asked whether the\nidols could do anybody harm, he promptly replied \u201cNo\u201d; giving as a reason\nthat the biggest one that used to be in the room where they were then\ntalking was buried outside the gate! At first a wall was built around the\nother idols, but by and by they were all taken down from their places\nand disposed of in various ways. Mateer speaks of a mud image of Kwan\nYin, about four feet high, and weighing over two hundred pounds, still\nstanding in his garret in 1870.\n\nThe coming of these new mission families into the Mills residence\ncrowded it beyond comfort, and beyond convenience for the work that was\nimperative. The Mateers had the dining room assigned to them as their\nabode, this being the best that could be offered. Of course, little\neffective study could under such conditions be put on the language which\nmust be acquired before any direct missionary labor could be performed.\nUnder the loss of time he thus was suffering, Mateer chafed like a caged\nlion; and so, as soon as possible, he had another room cleared of the\ngoods of Mr. Nevius, which had been stored there until they could be\nshipped, and then set to work to build a chimney and to put the place in\norder for his own occupation. Thus he had his first experience of the\ndilatory and unskillful operations of native mechanics. The dining room\nwas left without a stove, and, on account of the cold, something had to\nbe done to supply the want. In all Tengchow such a thing as a stove could\nnot be purchased; possibly one might have been secured at Chefoo, but\nmost probably none could have been obtained short of Shanghai. The time\nhad already come for Mateer to exercise his mechanical gifts. He says:\n\n Mr. Mills and I got to work to make a stove out of tin. We had\n the top and bottom of an old sheet-iron stove for a foundation\n from which we finally succeeded in making what proves to be a\n very good stove. We put over one hundred and sixty rivets in\n it in the process of making it. I next had my ingenuity taxed\n to make a machine to press the fine coal they burn here, into\n balls or blocks, so that we could use it. They have been simply\n setting it with a sort of gum water and molding it into balls\n with their hands. Thus prepared, it was too soft and porous to\n burn well. So, as it was the time of the new year, and we could\n not obtain a teacher, I got to work, and with considerable\n trouble, and working at a vast disadvantage from want of proper\n tools, I succeeded in making a machine to press the coal into\n solid, square blocks. At first it seemed as if it would be a\n failure, for although it pressed the coal admirably it seemed\n impossible to get the block out of the machine successfully.\n This was obviated, however, and it worked very well, and seems\n to be quite an institution.\n\nThis machine subsequently he improved so that a boy could turn out the\nfuel with great rapidity.\n\nThe house, with the best arrangements that could be made, was so\novercrowded that relief of some sort was a necessity. The Corbetts,\ndespairing of getting suitable accommodations for themselves, went back\nto the neighborhood of Chefoo and never returned,\u2014an immense gain for\nChefoo, but an equally immense loss for Tengchow. Mills preferred to\nfind a new house for himself and family, and\u2014after the usual delays\nand difficulties because of the unwillingness of the people and of the\nofficials to allow the hated foreigners to get such a permanent foothold\nin the place\u2014he at length succeeded. But that was only a remote step\ntoward actual occupation. A Chinese house at its best estate commonly is\nof one story; and usually has no floor but the ground and no ceiling but\nthe roof, or a flimsy affair made of cornstalks and paper. The windows\nhave a sort of latticework covered with thin paper; and it is necessary\nto tear down some of the wall, in order to have a sufficient number of\nthem, and to give those which do exist a shape suitable for sash. The\ndoors are low, few in number, rudely made, and in two pieces. A Chinese\nhouse may be large enough, but it is usually all in one big room.\n\nIt fell to these missionaries to get in order the house which Mills\nsecured; and to do this in the heat of summer, and during a season of\nalmost incessant downpour of rain. They were obliged not merely to\nsupervise most unsatisfactory laborers, but also to do much of the work\nwith their own hands. Eventually Mills fell sick, and Mateer alone was\nleft to complete the job. Yet he records that on the first day of August\nhis associate had gone to his new residence, and he and Julia were happy\nin the possession of the old temple for their own abode. Unfortunately\nboth of them were taken down with dysentery. Of the day the Mills family\nleft he says in a letter to one of his brothers:\n\n Julia was able to sit up about half the day, and I was no\n better. You can imagine what a time we had getting our\n cooking stove up, and getting our cooking utensils out and\n in order,\u2014no, you can\u2019t either, for you don\u2019t know what a\n Chinese servant is when of every three words you speak to him\n he understands one, and misunderstands two. However, we did\n finally get the machine going, and it works pretty well.\n\nHere they remained three years; and, here, after they had built for\nthemselves a really \u201cnew home,\u201d they long continued to carry on their\nschool work.\n\nBut experience soon convinced them that a new dwelling house was a\nnecessity. The buildings which they occupied proved to be both unhealthy\nand unsuitable for the work they were undertaking. The unhealthiness\narose partly from the location. The ground in that section of the city is\nlow, and liable to be submerged in the rainy season. A sluggish little\nstream ran just in front of the place, passing through the wall by a low\ngate, and if this happened to be closed in a sudden freshet, the water\nsometimes rose within the houses. There was a floor at least in the main\nbuilding, but it was laid upon scantlings about four inches thick,\nthese being placed on the ground. The boards were not grooved, and as\na consequence while making a tight enough floor in the damp season, in\nthe dry it opened with cracks a quarter to half an inch wide. The walls\nwere of stone, built without lime, and with an excess of mud mortar, and\nlined on the inside with sun-dried brick. The result of all this was\nthat the dampness extended upward several feet above the floor, and by\ndiscoloration showed in the driest season where it had been. The floor\ncould not be raised without necessitating a change in the doors and\nwindows, and it was doubtful whether this could be made with safety to\nthe house. It is no wonder that, under such conditions, Mrs. Mateer began\nto suffer seriously from the rheumatism that remained with her all the\nrest of her life. Added to the other discomforts, were the tricks played\nthem by the ceiling. This consisted of cornstalks hung to the roof with\nstrings, and covered on the lower side with paper pasted on. Occasionally\na heavy rain brought this ceiling down on the heads of the occupants; and\ncracks were continually opening, thus rendering it almost impossible to\nkeep warm in cold weather.\n\nAn appeal was made to the Board for funds for a new dwelling. Happily the\nCivil War was about over, and the financial outlook was brightening; so\nin the course of a few months permission for the new house was granted,\nand an appropriation was made. The first thing to do was to obtain a\nsuitable piece of ground on which to build. Mateer had in his own mind\nfixed on a plot adjoining the mission premises, and understood to be\npurchasable. Such transactions in China seldom move rapidly. He bided his\ntime until the Chinese new year was close at hand, when everybody wants\nmoney; then, striking while the iron was hot, he bought the ground.\n\nLong before this consummation he was so confident that he would succeed\nthat, foreseeing that he must be his own architect and superintendent,\nhe wrote home to friends for specific information as to every detail of\nhouse-building. Nothing seems to have been overlooked. He even wanted to\nknow just how the masons stand when at certain parts of their work.\n\nEarly in February in 1867 he was down at Chefoo purchasing the brick\nand stone and lime; and so soon as the material was on hand and as\nthe weather permitted, the actual construction was begun. It was an\nall-summer job, necessitating his subordinating, as far as possible,\nall other occupations to this. It required a great deal of care and\npatience to get the foundations put down well, and of a proper shape for\nthe superstructure which was to rest upon them. In his Journal he thus\nrecords the subsequent proceedings:\n\n When the level of the first floor was reached I began the\n brickwork myself, laying the corners and showing the masons one\n by one how to proceed. I had no small amount of trouble before\n I got them broken in to use the right kind of trowel, which\n I had made for the purpose, and then to lay the brick in the\n right way. I had another round of showing and trouble when the\n arches at the top of the windows had to be turned, and then the\n placing of the sleepers took attention; and then the setting of\n the upper story doors and windows. The work went slowly on, and\n when the level was reached we had quite a raising, getting the\n plates and rafters up. All is done, however, and to-day they\n began to put the roof on.... I hope in a few days I will be\n able to resume my work again, as all the particular parts are\n now done, so that I can for the most give it into the hands of\n the Chinese to oversee.\n\nThe early part of November, 1867, the Mateers lived \u201chalf in the old and\nhalf in the new.\u201d On November 21 they finally moved. That was Saturday.\nIn the night there came up a fierce storm of snow and wind. When they\nawoke on Sabbath morning, the kitchen had been filled with snow through\na door that was blown open. The wind still blew so hard that the stove\nin the kitchen smoked and rendered cooking impossible. The stair door\nhad not yet been hung, and the snow drifted into the hall and almost\neverywhere in the house. Stoves could not be set up, or anything else\ndone toward putting things in order, until Thursday, when the storm\nabated.\n\nBut they were in their new house. It was only a plain, two-story, brick\nbuilding, with a roofed veranda to both stories and running across the\nfront, a hall in the middle of the house with a room on either side, and\na dining room and kitchen at the rear. Much of the walls is now covered\nby Virginia creeper, wistaria, and climbing rose. It is one of those cozy\nmissionary dwellings which censorious travelers to foreign lands visit,\nor look at from the outside; and then, returning to their own land, they\ntell about them as evidence of the luxury by which these representatives\nof the Christian churches have surrounded themselves. Yet if they cared\nto know, and would examine, they would out of simple regard for the\ntruth, if for no other reason, testify to the necessity of such homes for\nthe health and efficiency of the missionaries, and as powerful indirect\nhelps in the work of social betterment among the natives; and they would\nwonder at the self-sacrifice and economy and scanty means by which these\nworthy servants of Christ have managed to make for themselves and their\nsuccessors such comfortable and tasteful places of abode.\n\n[Illustration: TENGCHOW MISSION COMPOUND, FROM THE NORTH\n\nExtreme left, Entrance to Dr. Hayes\u2019 House. Behind this, part of back of\nDr. Mateer\u2019s House. Foreground, Vegetable Gardens belonging to Chinese]\n\nThe Mateer house stands on the compound of the mission of the\nPresbyterian Board, which is inside and close to the water gate in the\ncity wall. About it, as the years went by, were erected a number of other\nbuildings needed for various purposes. The whole, being interspersed with\ntrees, combines to make an attractive scene.\n\nThere was nothing pretentious about the house, but it was comfortable,\nand suited to their wants; and it was all the more dear to them because\nto such a large degree it had been literally built by themselves. Here\nfor more than thirty-one years Julia presided, and here she died. After\nthat Dr. Mateer\u2019s niece, Miss Margaret Grier, took charge previous to\nher marriage to Mason Wells, and continued for some years subsequent to\nthat event. To this house still later Dr. Mateer brought Ada, who was\nhis helpmeet in his declining years, and who still survives. This was\nthe home of Dr. Mateer from 1867 to 1904. It was in it and from it as a\ncenter that he performed by far the larger part of his life work. Here\nthe Mandarin Revision Committee held its first meeting.\n\nIt was always a genuine home of the most attractive type. What that means\nin a Christian land every reader can in a good degree understand; but\nwhere all around is a mass of strange people, saturated with ignorance,\nprejudice, and the debased morality consequent on idolatry, a people of\nstrange and often repulsive habits of living, the contrast is, as the\nChinese visitors often used to say, \u201cthe difference between heaven and\nhell.\u201d But what most of all made this little dwelling at Tengchow a home\nin the truest sense was the love that sanctified it. Dr. Mateer used\nin his later years frequently to say: \u201cIn the thirty-five years of our\nmarried life, there never was a single jar.\u201d Nor was this true because\nin this sphere the one ruled, and the other obeyed; the secret of it was\nthat between husband and wife there was such complete harmony that each\nleft the other supreme in his or her department.\n\nHere many visitors and guests received a welcome and an entertainment\nto which such as survive still revert with evidently delightful\nrecollections. This seems to be pre\u00ebminently true of some who were\nchildren at the time when they enjoyed the hospitalities of that home.\nPossibly some persons who have thought that they knew Dr. Mateer well,\nmay be surprised at the revelation thus made. One of those who has told\nher experience is Miss Morrison, whose father was a missionary. He died\nat Peking, and subsequently his widow and their children removed to one\nof the southern stations of the Presbyterian Mission. It is of a visit to\nthis new home at Tengchow that Miss Morrison writes. She says:\n\n Two of the best friends of our childhood were Dr. Calvin Mateer\n and his brother John. We spent two summers at Dr. Mateer\u2019s\n home in Tengchow, seeking escape from the heat and malaria of\n our more southern region. It could not have been an altogether\n easy thing for two middle-aged people to take into their quiet\n home four youngsters of various ages; but Dr. and Mrs. Mateer\n made us very welcome, and if we disturbed their peace we never\n knew it. I remember Mrs. Mateer as one of the most sensible and\n dearest of women, and Dr. Mateer as always ready in any leisure\n moment for a frolic. We can still recall his long, gaunt\n figure, striding up and down the veranda, with my little sister\n perched upon his shoulders and holding on by the tips of his\n ears. She called him \u201cthe camel,\u201d and I imagine that she felt\n during her rides very much the same sense of perilous delight\n that she would have experienced if seated on the hump of one\n of the tall, shaggy beasts that we had seen swinging along,\n bringing coal into Peking.\n\n Dr. Mateer loved a little fun at our expense. What a beautiful,\n mirthful smile lit up his rugged features when playing with\n children! He had what seemed to us a tremendous ball,\u2014I suppose\n that it was a football,\u2014which he used to throw after us. We\n would run in great excitement, trying to escape the ball, but\n the big, black thing would come bounding after us, laying us\n low so soon as it reached us. Then with a few long steps he\n would overtake us, and beat us with his newspaper till it was\n all in tatters. Then he would scold us for tearing up his\n paper. I remember not quite knowing whether to take him in\n earnest, but being reassured so soon as I looked up into the\n laughing face of my older sister.\n\nOf other romps she also tells at length. Several old acquaintances\nspeak of his love of children, and of his readiness to enter into the\nplayfulness of their young lives. He dearly loved all fun of an innocent\nsort; perhaps it is because of the contrast with his usual behavior that\nso many persons seem to put special emphasis on this feature of his\ncharacter.\n\nIn those early days Pei-taiho in the north, and Kuling and Mokansan in\nthe south, had not been opened as summer resorts. Chefoo and Tengchow\nwere the only places available for such a purpose, and there were in\nneither of them any houses to receive guests, unless the missionaries\nopened theirs. Tengchow became very popular, on account of the beauty of\nits situation, the comparative cleanness of the town, and the proximity\nto a fine bathing beach. As a usual thing, if one mentions Tengchow\nto any of the old missionaries, the remark is apt promptly to follow:\n\u201cDelightful place! I spent a summer there once with Dr. Mateer.\u201d\nPleasant as he made his own home to his little friends, and to veterans\nand recruits, he was equally agreeable in the homes of others who could\nenter into his spheres of thought and activity. He was often a guest\nin the house of Dr. Fitch and his wife at Shanghai, while putting his\nbooks through the press. He was resident for months in the China Inland\nMission Sanitarium, and in the Mission Home at Chefoo. Dr. Fitch and his\nwife, and Superintendent Stooke of the Home, tell with evident delight\nof his \u201ctable talk,\u201d and of other ways by which he won their esteem and\naffection.\n\nWhen the summer guests were flown from Tengchow, the missionaries were\nusually the entire foreign community,\u2014a condition of things bringing both\nadvantages and disadvantages as to their work. On the one hand, the cause\nwhich they represented was not prejudiced by the bad lives of certain\nforeigners coming for commercial or other secular purposes from Christian\nlands. On the other hand, they were left without things that would have\nministered immensely to their convenience and comfort, and which they\noften sadly needed for their own efficiency, and for their health and\neven for their lives. This was largely due to the tedious and difficult\nmeans of communication with the outside world. For instance, it was\nsix weeks until the goods which the Mateers left behind them at Chefoo\nwere delivered to them at Tengchow. Letters had to be carried back and\nforth between Tengchow and Chefoo, the distributing point, by means of\na private courier. When, by and by, the entire band joined together and\nhired a carrier to bring the mail once a week, this seemed a tremendous\nadvance. The cost of a letter to the United States was forty-five cents.\n\nBut the most serious of all their wants was competent medical attention.\nHow Mateer wrote home, and begged and planned, and sometimes almost\nscolded, about sending a physician to reinforce their ranks! In the\nmeantime they used domestic remedies for their own sick, or sent them\noverland to Chefoo, or in case of dire necessity brought up a physician\nfrom that city. Mateer soon found himself compelled to attempt what he\ncould medically and surgically for himself and wife, and also for others,\nand among these the poor native sufferers. One of his early cases was\na terribly burnt child whom he succeeded in curing; and another was a\nsufferer from lockjaw, who died in spite of all he could do; and still\nanother case was of a woman with a broken leg. He tried his hand at\npulling a tooth for his associate, Mr. Mills, but he had to abandon the\neffort, laying the blame on the miserable forceps with which he had to\noperate. Later he could have done a better job, for he provided himself\nwith a complete set of dental tools, not only for pulling teeth and for\nfilling them, but also for making artificial sets. All of these he often\nused. On his first furlough he attended medical lectures at Philadelphia\nand did a good deal of dissection. A closet in the new house held a stock\nof medicines, and by administering them he relieved much suffering, and\nsaved many lives, especially in epidemics of cholera. The physicians\nwho, in response to the appeals of the missionaries, were first sent to\nthe station at Tengchow did not remain long; and for many years the most\nof the medicine administered came out of the same dark closet under the\nstairs of \u201cthe New Home.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nHIS INNER LIFE\n\n \u201cI am very conscious that we here are not up to the standard\n that we ought to be, and this is our sin. We pray continually\n for a baptism from on high on the heathen round us; but we need\n the same for ourselves that we may acquit ourselves as becomes\n our profession. Our circumstances are not favorable to growth\n either in grace or in mental culture. Our only associates are\n the native Christians, whose piety is often of a low type; it\n receives from us, but imparts nothing to us. Mentally we are\n left wholly without the healthy stimulus and the friction of\n various and superior minds which surround men at home. Most\n whom we meet here are mentally greatly our inferiors, and there\n is no public opinion that will operate as a potent stimulus\n to our exertions. It may be said that these are motives of a\n low kind. It may be so; but their all-powerful influence on\n all literary men at home is scarcely known or felt till the\n absence of them shows the difference.\u201d\u2014LETTER TO THE SOCIETY OF\n INQUIRY, IN THE WESTERN THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, October 1, 1867.\n\n\nWe have now reached a stage in this narration where the order of time can\nno longer be followed, except in a very irregular manner. We must take\nup distinct phases of Mateer\u2019s life and work, as separate topics, and so\nfar as practicable consider each by itself. This is not at all because\nin him there was any lack of singleness of aim or of persistence. This\nman, from the time when he began his labors in China until he finished\nhis course, without interruption, put his strength and personality\ninto the evangelization of the people of that great empire. But in\ndoing this he found it necessary to follow along various lines, often\ncontemporaneously, though never out of sight of any one of them. For\nour purpose it is best that to some extent they should be considered\nseparately.\n\nBut before we proceed further it appears desirable to seek an\nacquaintance with his inner life. By this I do not mean his native\nabilities, or his outward characteristics as these were known and read by\nall men who came much into contact with him. It is from the soul life,\nand especially the religious side of it, that it seems desirable to\nlift the veil a little. This in the case of anyone is a delicate task,\nand ought to be performed with a good deal of reserve. In the instance\nnow in hand there is special difficulty. Mateer never, either in speech\nor in writing, was accustomed to tell others much about his own inward\nexperiences. For a time in his letters and in his Journal he occasionally\nbreaks over this reticence a little; but on November 27, 1876, he made\nthe last entry in the Journal; and long before this he had become so\nmuch occupied with his work that he records very little concerning his\nsoul life. Still less had he to say on that subject in his letters;\nand as years went by, his occupations compelled him to cut off as much\ncorrespondence as practicable, and to fill such as he continued with\nother matters. Nothing like completeness consequently is here undertaken\nor is possible.\n\nA notion that is current, especially among \u201cmen of the world,\u201d is that a\nmissionary is almost always a sentimental dreamer who ignores the stern\nrealities of life. It has been my work to train a good many of those who\nhave given themselves to this form of Christian service, and to have a\nclose acquaintance with a good many more; and I cannot now recall one of\nwhom such a characteristic could be honestly affirmed. I have in mind a\nnumber of whom almost the opposite is true. Certainly if to carry the\ngospel into the dark places of the earth with the conviction of its\nultimate triumph is to be called dreaming, then every genuine missionary\nis a sentimentalist and a dreamer; and Mateer was one of them. But in\nmeeting the experiences of life and in doing his work, he was about as\nfar removed from just accusation of this sort as anyone could be. Indeed,\nhe was such a matter-of-fact man that his best friends often wished that\nhe were less so. I have carefully gone over many thousands of pages of\nhis Journal and of his letters and papers, and I recall only one short\nparagraph that savors of sentimentality. It is so exceptional that it\nshall have a place here. In a letter written to a friend (Julia, I\nsuspect), in the spring of 1861, he says:\n\n I have lived in the country nearly all my life, and I much\n prefer its quiet beauty. I love to wander at this season over\n the green fields, and listen to the winds roaring through the\n young leaves, and to sit down in the young sunshine of spring\n under the lee of some sheltering bank or moss-covered rock. I\n love to think of the past and the future, and, thus meditating,\n to gather up courage for the stern realities of life.\n\nThis is not very distressingly Wertherian, and surely ought not, ever\nafter, to be laid up against the young man, the fountain of whose\nthoughts may at that season have been unsealed by love.\n\nBut we sadly miss the truth if we infer that, because he was so\nmatter-of-fact in his conduct, he was without tenderness of heart or\ndepth of feeling. Dr. Goodrich in his memorial article in the \u201cChinese\nRecorder\u201d of January, 1909, says of him:\n\n I do not remember to have heard him preach, in English or\n Chinese, when his voice did not somewhere tremble and break,\n requiring a few moments for the strong man to conquer his\n emotion and proceed. His tenderness was often shown in quiet\n ways to the poor and unfortunate, and he frequently wept when\n some narrative full of pathos and tears was read. The second\n winter after the Boxer year the college students learned to\n sing the simple but beautiful hymn he had just translated,\n \u201cSome one will enter the Pearly Gate.\u201d One morning we sang the\n hymn at prayers. Just as we were ending, I looked around to see\n if he were pleased with their singing. The tears were streaming\n down his face.\n\n This sympathetic tenderness was as much a part of his nature as\n was his rugged strength.... He dearly loved little children,\n and easily won their affection. Wee babies would stretch out\n their tiny arms to him, and fearlessly pull his beard, to his\n great delight.\n\n His students both feared him and loved him, and they loved him\n more than they feared him; for, while he was the terror of\n wrongdoers and idlers, he was yet their Great-heart, ready to\n forgive and quick to help. How often have we seen Dr. Mateer\u2019s\n students in his study, pouring out their hearts to him and\n receiving loving counsel and a father\u2019s blessing! He loved his\n students, and followed them constantly as they went out into\n their life work.\n\nA lady who was present tells that when the first of his \u201cboys\u201d were\nordained to the ministry he was so overcome that the tears coursed down\nhis cheeks while he charged them to be faithful to their vows.\n\nHis mother\u2019s love he repaid with a filial love that must have been to her\na source of measureless satisfaction. Julia could not reasonably have\ncraved any larger measure of affection than she received from him as her\nhusband; and later, Ada entered into possession of the same rich gift.\nOne of the things that touched him most keenly when he went away to China\nwas his separation from brothers and sisters, toward whom he continued to\nstretch out his beneficent hand across the seas.\n\nHe was a man who believed in the necessity of regeneration by the Holy\nSpirit in order to begin a genuinely Christian life. This is one of those\ngreat convictions which he never questioned, and which strengthened as he\nincreased in age. When he united with the church in his nineteenth year,\nhe thereby publicly declared that he was sufficiently sure that this\ninward change had passed upon him to warrant him in enrolling himself\namong the avowed followers of Christ. But of any sudden outward religious\nconversion he was not conscious, and made no profession. In the brief\nautobiographical sketch previously quoted he says:\n\n I had a praying father and mother, and had been faithfully\n taught from my youth. I cannot tell when my religious\n impressions began. They grew up with me, but were very much\n deepened by the faithful preachings of Rev. I. N. Hays, pastor\n of the church of Hunterstown, especially in a series of\n meetings held in the winter of 1852-3.\n\nAs to his external moral conduct there was no place for a visible\n\u201cconversion\u201d; he had no vicious habits to abandon, no evil companions\nfrom whom to separate himself. It was on the inner life that the\ntransformation was wrought, but just when or where he could not himself\ntell,\u2014an experience which as to this feature has often been duplicated in\nthe children of godly households.\n\nThe impression which I formed of him while associated with him in college\nwas that he lived uprightly and neglected no duty that he regarded as\nobligatory on him. I knew that he went so far beyond this as to be\npresent at some of the religious associations of the students, such\nas the Brainard Society, and a little circle for prayer; and that he\nwalked a couple of miles into the country on Sabbath morning to teach a\nBible class in the Chartiers church. If I had been questioned closely I\nprobably would have made a mistake, not unlike that into which in later\nyears those who did not penetrate beneath the surface of his life may\neasily have fallen. I would have said that the chief lack in his piety\nwas as to the amount of feeling that entered into it. I would have said\nthat he was an honest, upright Christian; but that he needed to have the\ndepths of his soul stirred by the forces of religion in order that he\nmight become what he was capable of, for himself and for others. Possibly\nsuch an expression concerning him at that time of life might not have\nbeen wholly without warrant; but in later years it certainly would have\nbeen a gross misjudgment, and while I was associated with him in college\nand seminary it was far less justified than I imagined.\n\nOn October 13, 1856, he began the Journal which, with interruptions, he\ncontinued for twenty years. In the very first entry he gives his reasons\nfor keeping this record, one of which he thus states:\n\n I will also to some extent record my own thoughts and feelings;\n so that in after years I can look back and see the history of\n my own life and the motives which impelled me in whatever I\n did,\u2014the dark and the bright spots, for it is really the state\n of one\u2019s mind that determines one\u2019s depressions or enjoyments.\n\nHe records distinctly that the Journal was written for his own eye alone.\nOne in reading it is surprised at the freedom with which occasionally\nhe passes judgment, favorable and unfavorable, on people who meet him\non his way. Concerning himself also he is equally candid. Most that he\nhas to say of himself relates to his outward activities, but sometimes\nhe draws aside the veil and reveals the inmost secrets of his soul and\nof his religious life. As a result we discover that it was by no means\nso calm as we might suppose from looking only at the surface. In this\nself-revelation there is not a line that would be improper to publish to\nthe world. A few selections are all that can be given here. A certain\nSaturday preceding the administration of the Lord\u2019s Supper was kept by\nhimself and other college students as a fast day, and after mentioning an\naddress to which he had listened, and which strongly appealed to him, he\ngoes on to say:\n\n I know that I have not been as faithful as I should. Though\n comparatively a child in my Christian life, as it is little\n more than a year since I was admitted to the church, yet I\n have come to the table of the Lord with my faith obscured, my\n heart cold and lifeless, without proper self-examination and\n prayer to God for the light of his countenance. I have spent\n this evening in looking at my past life and conversation, and\n in prayer to God for pardon and grace to help. My past life\n appears more sinful than it has ever done. My conduct as a\n Christian, indeed, in many things has been inconsistent. Sin\n has often triumphed over me and led me captive at its will. I\n have laid my case before God, and asked him to humble me, and\n prepare me to meet my Saviour aright. O that God would meet me\n at this time, and show me the light of his countenance, and\n give me grace and strength; that for the time to come I might\n lay aside every weight and the sins that do so easily beset me,\n and run with patience the race that is set before me! There\n seems to be some unusual interest manifested by some just\n now; so that I am not without hope that God will bless us and\n perhaps do a glorious work among us. Many prayers have this\n day ascended to God for a blessing, and if we are now left to\n mourn the hidings of God\u2019s face, it will be because of our sins\n and our unbelief. I have endeavored to keep this as a true fast\n day; yet my heart tells me that I have not kept it as I should.\n Sin has been mingled even in my devotions. Yet I am not without\n hope, because there is One whose righteousness is all-perfect,\n whose intercessions are all-prevalent. Blessed be God for his\n unspeakable gift.\n\nThe next day, however, among other things, he wrote:\n\n I think that I have never enjoyed a communion season so\n much.... This day my hopes of heaven have been strengthened,\n and my faith has been increased; and if I know my own heart,\n (O that I knew it better!), I have made a more unreserved\n consecration of myself to God than I have ever done before; and\n may he grant me grace to live more to his glory!\n\nSurely, the young man who thus opens to our view the secrets of his inner\nreligious life was not lacking seriously in depth of feeling. One is\nreminded of the Psalmist\u2019s hart panting after the water brooks.\n\nIn the seminary he still had seasons of troubled heart-searching and\nunsatisfied longings for a better Christian life. After reading a part of\na book called \u201cThe Crucible,\u201d he says:\n\n I have not enjoyed this Sabbath as I should. My own heart is\n not right, I fear. I am too far from Christ. I am overcome by\n temptation so often, and then my peace is destroyed, and my\n access to a throne of grace is hindered. I am ready to exclaim\n with Paul, \u201cOh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me\n from this body of death!\u201d Would to God I could also say with\n the assurance he did: \u201cI thank God, through our Lord Jesus\n Christ.\u201d\n\nAt the same time there is evidence that he was advancing toward a higher\nstage of religious experience, and that he was leaving behind him the\nelements of repentance and faith, and going on toward \u201cperfection.\u201d He\nreads the Life of Richard Williams, the Patagonian missionary, and then\nsits down and writes:\n\n He was a wonderful man; had a wonderful life. His faith\n transcends anything I have ever had. His communion with God\n was constant and joyous, at times rising to such a pitch\n that, in his own words, \u201che almost imagined himself in\n heaven.\u201d His resignation to God\u2019s will and consecration to his\n service were complete in the highest. In his life and in his\n death is displayed in a marvelous manner the power of God\u2019s\n grace. Reduced almost to the certainty of death by scurvy,\n in a little, uncomfortable barge or float, with scarce any\n provisions, far from all human help, in the midst of storms\n and cold, this devoted man reads God\u2019s Word, prays to him from\n his lowly couch, and deliberately declares that he would not\n exchange places with any man living! What godlike faith! What\n a sublime height to reach in Christian life in this world!\n I am more and more convinced that our enjoyment of God and\n sweet sense of the presence of Christ as well as our success\n in glorifying God depends entirely on the measure of our\n consecration to him, our complete submission of our wills to\n his. My prayer is for grace thus to consecrate and submit\n myself to his will. Then I shall be happy.\n\nI do not think that Mateer had any disposition to follow in the footsteps\nof Williams by tempting Providence through doubtful exposure of his life\nand health to danger; it was the consecration to the service of God that\nhe coveted. He seems about this time to have made a distinct advance\nin the direction of an increasing desire to give himself up wholly to\nthe service of his divine Master, and to submit himself entirely to the\nwill of God. A most severe test of this came to him in the questions of\nhis duty as to foreign missions. First, it was whether he ought to go\non this errand, and whether he was willing. Nor was it an easy thing\nfor him to respond affirmatively. He was a strong man, and conscious of\nhis strength. For him to go to the unevangelized in some distant part\nof the world was to put aside almost every \u201cfond ambition\u201d that had\nhitherto attracted him in his plans for life. Opportunities to do good\nwere abundantly open to him in this country. Tender ties bound his heart\nto relatives and friends, and the thought of leaving them with little\nprospect of meeting them again in this world was full of pain. To go as\na missionary was a far more severe ordeal fifty years ago than it is in\nmost cases to-day. Bravely and thoroughly, however, he met the issue.\nDivine grace was sufficient for him. He offered himself to the Board\nand was accepted. Then followed another test of his consecration just as\nsevere. For a year and a half he had to wait before he ascertained that\nafter all he was to be sent. There were times when his going seemed to\nbe hopeless; and he had to learn to bow in submission to what seemed the\ndivine will, though it almost broke his heart. When, late in 1862, one of\nthe secretaries told him that unless a way soon opened he had better seek\na permanent field at home, he says in his Journal:\n\n It seems as if I cannot give it up. I had such strong faith\n that I should yet go.... I had a struggle to make up my mind,\n and now I cannot undo all that work as one might suppose. What\n is it? Why is it, that my most loved and cherished plan should\n be frustrated? God will do right, however; this I know. Help\n me, gracious God, to submit cheerfully to all thy blessed will;\n and if I never see heathen soil, keep within me at home the\n glorious spirit of missions.\n\nIt was a severe school of discipline to which he was thus sent, but he\nlearned his lesson well.\n\nOne cannot think it at all strange that under the conditions of the\noutward voyage he suffered at times from spiritual depression. November\n19, 1863, he made this entry in his Journal:\n\n Spent the forenoon in prayer and in reading God\u2019s Word, in\n view of my spiritual state. I have felt oppressed with doubts\n and fears for some time, so that I could not enjoy myself\n in spiritual exercises as I should. I have had a flood of\n anxious thoughts about my own condition and my unfitness for\n the missionary work. I began the day very much cast down;\n but, blessed be God, I found peace and joy and assurance in\n Christ. In prayer those expressions in the 86th Psalm, \u201cready\n to forgive,\u201d and \u201cplenteous in mercy,\u201d were brought home to\n my heart in power. I trust I did and do gladly cast myself\n renewedly on Jesus, my Saviour. Just before dinner time I went\n out on deck to walk and meditate. Presently my attention was\n attracted by Georgie (Mrs. B\u2019s little girl) singing in her\n childish manner the words of the hymn, \u201cHe will give you grace\n to conquer.\u201d Over and over again she said it as if singing\n to herself. They were words in season. My heart caught the\n sound gladly, and also repeated it over again and again, \u201cHe\n will give you grace to conquer.\u201d I thought of the parallel\n Scripture, \u201cMy grace is sufficient for thee.\u201d The Spirit of\n God was in those words, and they were precious. My fears were\n all gone. I was ready to go, in the strength of this word, to\n China, and undertake any work God should appoint. I went to my\n room, and with a full heart thanked God for this consolation.\n Out of the mouth of babes thou hast ordained strength. I am\n glad that I gave this season to special seeking of God; it has\n done me good. Lord, make the influence of it to be felt. I had\n much wandering of mind at first, but God mercifully delivered\n me from this. O, that I could maintain habitually a devotional\n spirit, and live very near to the blessed Jesus!\n\nThough he but dimly understood it then, the Lord was in the school of\nexperience disciplining him in qualities which in all his subsequent\nwork he needed to put into exercise: to rest on the promises of God in\ndarkness, to wait patiently under delays that are disappointing, and to\nendure in the spirit of Christ the contradictions of the very sinners for\nwhose higher welfare he was willing to make any sacrifice, however costly\nto himself.\n\nOn his field of labor he was too busy with his duties as a missionary\nto write down much in regard to his own inner life. Nor is there any\nreason to regard this as a thing greatly to be regretted. The fact is\nthat during the decade which extended from his admission to membership\nin the church to his entrance on his work in China, he matured in his\nreligious experience to such a degree that subsequently, though there was\nincreasing strength, there were no very striking changes on this side of\nhis character. In the past he had set before himself, as a mark to be\nattained, the thorough consecration of himself to the service of God, and\nit was largely because by introspection he recognized how far he fell\nshort of this that he sometimes had been so much troubled about his own\nspiritual condition. Henceforth this consecration, as something already\nattained, was constantly put into practice. He perhaps searched himself\nless in regard to it; he did his best to live it.\n\nIn connection with this, two characteristics of his inner life are so\nevident as to demand special notice. One of these was his convictions\nas to religious truth. He believed that the Scriptures of the Old and\nNew Testament are the Word of God, and he was so sure that this is\nradically essential in the faith of a missionary that he was not ready\nto welcome any recruit who was adrift on this subject. He believed also\nwith like firmness in the other great evangelical doctrines set forth\nin the symbols and theologies of the orthodox churches. His own creed\nwas Calvinistic and Presbyterian; yet he was no narrow sectarian. He was\neager to co\u00f6perate with the missionaries of other denominations than his\nown; all that he asked was that they firmly hold to what he conceived to\nbe the essentials of Christianity. Because he believed them so strongly,\nthese also were the truths which he continually labored to bring home to\nthe people. In a memorial published by Dr. Corbett concerning him, he\nsays:\n\n Nearly thirty years ago I asked an earnest young man who\n applied for baptism, when he first became interested in the\n truth. He replied: \u201cSince the day I heard Dr. Mateer preach at\n the market near my home, on the great judgment, when everyone\n must give an account to God. His sermon made such an impression\n on my mind that I had no peace until I learned to trust in\n Jesus as my Saviour.\u201d An able Chinese preacher, who was with me\n in the interior, when the news of Dr. Mateer\u2019s death reached\n us, remarked, \u201cI shall never forget the wonderful sermon\n Dr. Mateer preached a few weeks ago in the Chinese church\n at Chefoo, on conscience.\u201d This was the last sermon he was\n permitted to preach. Salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus\n Christ, man\u2019s sinfulness and need of immediate repentance, and\n faith, and the duty of every Christian to live a holy life and\n constantly bear witness for Jesus, were the great truths he\n always emphasized. He died in the faith of the blessed gospel\n he so ably preached for nearly half a century.\n\nHand in hand with these great convictions went an absolute loyalty to\nduty. To this he subordinated everything else. The reason why he toiled\nwith his own hands, on buildings, on machinery, on apparatus, was not\nbecause he would rather do this than preach Christ, but because he was\nconvinced that the situation was such that he could not with a good\nconscience refuse to perform that labor. It was not his preference to\ngive long years to the making of the Mandarin version of the Scriptures;\nhe did it because plainly it was his duty to engage in this wearisome\ntask. He fought with his pen his long battle for Shen as the word to be\nused in Chinese as the name of God; and even when left in a commonly\nconceded minority, still refused to yield, only because he believed that\nin so doing he was standing up for something that was not only true but\nof vital importance to Christianity in China. His unwillingness under\nprotracted pressure to introduce English into the curriculum of the\nTengchow school and college, the heartbreak with which he saw the changes\nmade in the institution after its removal to Wei Hsien, were all due not\nto obstinancy but to convictions of duty as he saw it.\n\nA man of this sort,\u2014strong in intellect, firm of will, absolutely loyal\nto what he conceives to be his duty,\u2014travels a road with serious perils\nalong its line. A loss of balance may make of him a bigot or a dangerous\nfanatic. Even Dr. Mateer had \u201cthe defects of his qualities.\u201d He did not\nalways make sufficient allowance for persons who could not see things\njust as he did. He sometimes unwarrantably questioned the rectitude of\nothers\u2019 conduct when it did not conform to his own conception of what\nthey ought to have done. But these defects were not serious enough\ngreatly to mar his usefulness or to spoil the beauty of his character.\nHis wisdom as a rule, his rectitude, his entire consecration to the\nservice of God in the work of missions, his wealth of heart, after all,\nwere so unquestionable that any wounds he inflicted soon healed; and he\nwas in an exceptional degree esteemed and revered by all who came into\nclose touch with him.\n\nWas Dr. Mateer a very \u201cspiritually-minded man\u201d? It is not strange that\nthis question was raised, though rarely, by some one who saw only the\noutside of his life, and this at his sterner moments. He even did much\nof his private praying when he was walking up and down in his room, or\ntaking recreation out on the city wall, and when no one but wife or\nsister knew what he was doing. One had to be admitted to the inner shrine\nof his heart to appreciate the fervor of his piety.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nDOING THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST\n\n \u201cI have traveled in mule litters, on donkeys, and on foot\n over a large part of the province of Shantung, preaching from\n village to village, on the streets, and by the wayside. Over\n the nearer portions I have gone again and again. My preaching\n tours would aggregate from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand\n miles, including from eight thousand to twelve thousand\n addresses to the heathen.\u201d\u2014AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH, 1897.\n\n\nThe first thing which Mateer set himself to do, after he arrived at\nTengchow, was to acquire the language of the people. The difficulties\nwhich the Chinese tongue presents to the foreigner are too well known\nto need recital here, nor was it easier to Mateer than to other persons\npossessed of good ability and thorough education. In January, 1902, at\nthe request of Secretary Speer, he prepared for the use of the Board\nof Missions a paper on the subject of \u201cMissionaries and the Language.\u201d\nIn it he does not profess to be telling his own experience, and yet it\nis largely an exhibit of what he had himself done. In the introductory\nparagraph he says:\n\n One of the tasks, and to many one of the trials, of missionary\n life, is the learning of a new, and often a difficult language.\n So far as the message of the gospel is concerned, the tongue is\n tied until the language is learned. I set it down as a first\n principle, that every missionary should go out with a distinct\n and fixed determination to learn the language and to learn\n it well. Let there be no shrinking from it, no half measures\n with it. Laxity of this purpose in this matter is unworthy\n of anyone who is called to be a missionary. When I hear a\n young missionary, after a few weeks or months on the field,\n saying, \u201cI hate this language; who can learn such outlandish\n gibberish as this?\u201d my opinion of his fitness for the work at\n once suffers a heavy discount. Every young missionary should\n consider it his or her special business to fall in love with\n the language as quickly as possible.\n\nThen he proceeds to lay down certain general principles and thoroughly to\nelaborate them; insisting that everyone can learn the tongue of a people,\nnot merely well enough to make some sort of stagger at the use of it, but\nthoroughly; and giving directions as to the best method of accomplishing\nthis result. At the same time he recognizes the fact that by no means\nall missionaries are able to acquire the language so perfectly that they\nare competent to contribute to the permanent Christian literature of the\ncountry.\n\nIn his case there were exceptional difficulties as to this preliminary\nwork. Printed helps were few and not very good. Competent native teachers\nwere almost impossible to obtain at Tengchow, and were liable at any time\nto abandon their work. Besides, so long as the Mateers were hampered by\ntheir narrow quarters, along with other missionaries, in the old temple,\nand while he was compelled to give almost the whole of his strength to\nthe repairs and construction of buildings, for him to accomplish what\nhe otherwise might have done in this line was impossible. Under date of\nDecember 24, 1864, almost a year after his arrival at Tengchow, he wrote\nin his Journal:\n\n I have been studying pretty regularly this week, yet to look\n back over it, I cannot see that I have accomplished much.\n Learning Chinese is slow work. I do not wonder that the Chinese\n have never made great advances in learning. It is such a\n herculean task to get the language that a man\u2019s best energies\n are gone by the time he has himself prepared to work. It is as\n if a mechanic should spend half his life, or more, in getting\n his tools ready. Before I came to China I feared that I would\n have trouble acquiring the language, and I find my fears were\n well grounded.\n\nThis confession is very notable, coming as it does from the pen of him\nwho subsequently, as one of his associates said after his death, \u201cbecame\nnot only the prince of Mandarin speakers among foreigners in China, but\nalso so grasped the principles of the language as to enable him in future\nyears to issue the most thoroughgoing and complete work on the language,\nthe most generally used text-book for all students of the spoken tongue\u201d;\nand it may be added, who was selected by the missionaries of all China,\nin conference, to be chairman of the committee to revise the Mandarin\nversion of the Scriptures, and who in all that work was easily the chief.\nThe diligence with which he improved every spare moment in the study of\nthe language is shown by a letter of Mrs. Julia Mateer, in which she\nwrites of reading aloud to her husband in the evening while he practiced\nwriting Chinese characters.\n\nReally he was making better progress than probably he himself imagined.\nOn January 14, 1865, he began to go regularly into the school, to teach\nthe children a phonetic method of writing the Chinese characters. He\nrecords that on February 7 he took charge of the morning prayers, and\nadds:\n\n It seemed very strange indeed to me to pray in Chinese, and no\n less awkward than strange. I found, however, less embarrassment\n in doing it than I at first supposed. I might easily have begun\n some time ago, but our school-teacher performs the duty very\n acceptably, and so I left the matter to him until I was fully\n prepared. I trust that it will not be long till I will be at\n home in using Chinese.\n\nTengchow is the seat of one of the competitive literary examinations for\nstudents, and at the season when these are held thousands of candidates\npresent themselves. Under date of March 11, of that year, he says:\n\n A goodly number of the scholars have come to see me, to get\n books and to hear \u201cthe doctrine.\u201d I have had opportunity\n to do considerable preaching, which I have not failed to\n embrace. Some of them understood me quite well. I find a great\n difference between talking to them and to the illiterate\n people. They understand me a great deal better. Most of\n them listen with attention, and some of them with evident\n interest. They all treated me with respect. I gave them books;\n they promising to read them, and to come again at the next\n examination.\n\nThese occasions continued to offer like opportunity in succeeding\nyears, and he took all the advantage of it that he could. Only rarely\ndid students give him any cause for annoyance. On May 22 he went to a\nfair that was held just outside one of the gates, and tried his hand at\npreaching to that miscellaneous audience in the open air. In the forenoon\nhe talked himself tired, and returned in the afternoon to repeat the\neffort, but with what effect he could not tell. Rain came on and he\nhad to stop. He added in his Journal, \u201cOh, how I wish that I could use\nChinese as I can English,\u2014then I could preach with some comfort!\u201d On\nSabbath, June 19, he preached his first sermon before the little Chinese\nchurch organized at Tengchow. The notice he had was short, Mills having\nbeen taken ill, and sending him word that he must fill the pulpit. He\nsays: \u201cI could not prepare a sermon, and translate it carefully and\naccurately. I had just to get ready some phrases, and statements of the\nmain points, and depend on my Chinese for the rest. I got on better\nthan I expected I should, though to me at least it seemed poor enough.\u201d\nWe need not follow the process of his acquisition of the language any\nfurther, except to say that he never ceased to study it, and to seek to\nimprove in it, although he came by and by to be able to use it, in both\nspeaking and writing, so well that the Chinese often took more pleasure\nin hearing and reading his productions than if he had been a native.\n\nAs the senior missionary, Mills had charge of the church organized at\nTengchow, and any preaching that Mateer did in it was occasional. It\nwas not long before a movement was organized for evangelistic work on\nthe streets, and he gladly took part in that method of work. He was\nanxious also to obtain a room which he could use as a chapel. His first\nefforts to secure such a building were rendered futile on account of\nthe intense opposition of the people, and the disinclination, or worse,\nof the officials to enforce his legal rights in this matter, under the\ntreaty. It was not until the middle of April, 1867, that he succeeded in\nopening a room where he and his Chinese assistant could have a regular\nplace for preaching and selling books. It stood on a principal street,\nand was, therefore, as to location, well suited for the work to which it\nwas set apart. The opening of it was the occasion for the gathering of\na crowd of rowdies who threw stones at the doors, and otherwise created\ndisturbance; but prompt arrest of the ringleader and the haling of him\nbefore a magistrate brought the rowdyism to a close. Of course, the\nschool afforded another local opportunity for evangelization, and it was\nfrom the very first effectually employed.\n\nTengchow itself was not very responsive to the gospel. The demand for\nbooks was soon satisfied to such an extent that sales became small.\nThe novelty of street preaching and of the chapel services gradually\nwas exhausted. The little church did not attract many on the Sabbath,\nexcept the regular attendants. True, a city of so many inhabitants\nmight seem\u2014notwithstanding such limitations as existed\u2014a sufficient\nfield for all the labor that could be put upon it by the little band of\nmissionaries located there. But beyond the walls was all the rest of the\nprovince of Shantung, with none to evangelize it save the missionaries at\nChefoo and Tengchow. That province is in area about one-third larger than\nthe State of Pennsylvania; and it now has somewhere in the neighborhood\nof thirty millions of inhabitants, mostly scattered in innumerable\nvillages, though frequently also concentrated in cities. The climate is\nabout that of Kentucky, and the productions of the soil are not very\ndifferent. Part of the surface of the country is hilly and some of it\nrises into mountains of moderate height; but most of it is level or\nslightly rolling. Writing to one of the secretaries of the Board, under\ndate of May 10, 1869, Mateer thus expressed himself as to the strategic\nimportance of Shantung in the tremendous enterprise of evangelizing China:\n\n I think it is almost universally admitted that Tsinan fu [the\n capital, situated about three hundred miles southwest of\n Tengchow] offers the most promising field for missionary effort\n in China. The region in which this city lies is the religious\n center of China. Here both the great sages of China, Confucius\n and Mencius, were born. At Tai An, a short way to the south,\n the great religious festival of China is held, and there are\n unmistakable evidences that there is a religious element in the\n people of this province found nowhere else in China. I feel\n like saying with all my might, Let the Presbyterian Church\n strike for this province. It has given both religion and\n government to China in the ages that are past, and it is going\n to give Christianity to China in the future.\n\nThese pioneer missionaries in Shantung as promptly as possible sought,\nfirst by itineration, and later by opening new stations, to carry the\ngospel far and wide over the province. In this they labored under one\nserious inconvenience from which their brethren in much of south China\nare exempt. Down there it is easy to travel extensively on the rivers\nand the numerous canals. In Shantung the one great river is the Hoang,\nor Yellow, running from the west toward the east; and the one important\ncanal is the Grand, running north and south; and both of these are so\nfar remote from Chefoo and Tengchow that in the itineration of the\nmissionaries from these places they were of little use. As a consequence\nthey had to adopt the other methods of travel customary in that region.\nEven to-day, though a railway runs from the coast at Kiaochou, across\nShantung to Tsinan fu, and another across the west end of the province\nand passing through Tsinan fu is almost completed, much of the territory\nis no more accessible than half a century ago. The traveler can hire a\nmule, or more probably a donkey, and\u2014throwing his bedding across the\npacksaddle\u2014make his way, with the owner of the animal running along as\ndriver, to the place where, if he proceeds farther, he must hire a second\nmule or donkey; and so on to the end of his journey. One can also travel\nby wheelbarrow. These conveyances are considered to be quite genteel,\nand are much patronized by Chinese women. The wheels are big and clumsy,\nand, being innocent of oil, creak fearfully, and as the wheelbarrows\nare without springs the passenger is jolted excruciatingly. They are\npropelled by a man pushing by the handles, and often with the aid of\nanother, and sometimes a donkey in front, and it may be with a sail\nto catch the wind. In the hilly regions the shentza, or mule litter,\nis common. In describing this conveyance Mateer said in one of his\nSunday-school letters:\n\n The motion is various and peculiar. Sometimes the mules step\n together, and sometimes they don\u2019t. Now you have a plunging\n motion like the shaking of a pepper box, then comes a waving\n motion like the shaking of a sieve; and then a rolling motion\n like the rocking of a cradle, and then by turns these various\n motions mix up and modify each other in endless variety. I\n have often thought that if a man had a stiff joint, one of\n these shentzas would be a good thing to shake it loose. You\n are completely at the mercy of these two mules. If you are\n sitting up you think that you would be more comfortable lying\n down, and if you are lying down you think that you would be\n more comfortable sitting up. There is no relief from incessant\n shaking but to get out and walk.\n\nThe most genteel mode of travel is a two-wheeled cart, provided always\nthat the track called a road is wide and level enough to permit it to be\nused. I fall back on the Sunday-school letter for a description of it:\n\n A Chinese cart is heavy and clumsy to the last degree. It has\n no springs, no seat, no cushions, and is only wide enough for\n one to sit in it. The only way to keep your arms and head from\n being broken by the top, is to wedge yourself in with quilts\n and pillows. Passenger carts are usually drawn by two mules,\n one in the shafts and the other directly in front, hitched by\n two long ropes to the axle\u2014one passing on each side of the\n shaft mule. The driver either walks, or rides on the back part\n of the shafts.... I took one ride in one of these big carts,\n which I shall remember while I live. We had all gone to a\n country station, one hundred and twenty miles from Tengchow, to\n a meeting of Presbytery. After Presbytery we wished to go on\n to another station forty miles distant. There had been a great\n rain, and the ground was soft, and we could get no conveyance.\n At length we got a big cart to carry our luggage and Dr. Mills\n and myself. For it they rigged up a top made of sticks and\n pieces of matting. The team consisted of a mule, a horse, and\n two oxen, with two drivers. Mrs. Mateer had a donkey to ride,\n and Mrs. Capp had a sedan chair. Dr. Mills and myself took\n turns in walking with the native elder and assistant. When we\n got all our effects, bedding, cooking utensils and so forth, in\n the cart there was only room for one to sit, and the other had\n to lie down. The first day we dragged through the soft earth\n fifteen miles, but in order to do it we had to travel an hour\n after night. It was pitch dark and we had no lantern. We came\n very near losing our way, and finally had no small trouble in\n reaching an inn, and when we did reach it what a fuss there\n was before we got stowed in and got our suppers! We obtained\n a small room for the ladies, but Dr. Mills and I did not fare\n so well. We had to sleep on the ground in a sort of shed which\n had no doors. The next day we got an early start, and found\n the roads a little better, and managed to make the other\n twenty-five miles. During the day we crossed a sandy river\n which was swollen by the rains, and there was some danger that\n we might stick fast in the sand. The native assistant crowded\n into the cart. The elder put one foot on the end of the axle,\n which in a Chinese cart projects several inches beyond the hub,\n and supported himself by holding on to the side of the cart.\n The second driver perched himself in the same way on the other\n end of the axle. The chief driver stood erect on the shafts,\n astride of the shaft mule. He flourished his whip with one hand\n and gesticulated with the other, and both drivers hurrahed at\n the top of their voices. The team got excited, and with heads\n and tails erect,\u2014with a splash and a dash,\u2014we went safely\n through.\n\nThere is one other mode of travel, and perhaps then still the most common\nof all, even with missionaries when itinerating, and that is to walk.\nWhen the traveler on foot comes to a river if he has long patience he\nmay be ferried across; but if the stream is not very deep he may have to\nwade. Mateer, however, had a good strong physique and simple tastes, and\nwas entirely free from any disposition to fret over small annoyances.\nIn those earlier itinerating days he cheerfully took his full share in\nroughing it with other missionaries out in the province. He repeatedly\ntook trips when all the provision he made for eating was a spoon and a\nsaltcellar; the food he ate was such as he got at the inns and from place\nto place. His experiences in this line of evangelistic efforts had an\nimportant influence on his work in the school and the college. Certainly\nit was a great help toward that remarkable acquaintance with colloquial\nChinese which is shown in his literary labors.\n\nHis first trip to the country was made on October 14, 1864, and therefore\nbefore he had learned the language sufficiently to enable him to do much\nmissionary work. In reality it was just a visit by the entire foreign\nforce stationed by both the Baptists and Presbyterians at Tengchow out\nto a Chinese Christian residing ten miles away. In a measure, however,\nit was a typical journey. The roads were execrably bad, and Mateer and\nanother missionary had one mule between them, so that each walked half\nthe way. On August 22 of the ensuing year he, and Corbett,\u2014who had come\nup for the purpose,\u2014started on a genuine itinerating tour. It was in\none particular an unfavorable time. A Chinese inn at any season is apt\nto be uncomfortable enough to a person who has been accustomed to the\nconveniences and comforts of western civilization. In the Sunday-school\nletter already quoted Mateer said:\n\n The inns in China are various in size, but similar in style.\n You enter through a wide doorway which is in fact the middle\n of a long, low house fronting on the street. On the one side\n of this door, or passageway, is the kitchen, which is usually\n furnished with one or two kettles, a large water jar, and a few\n dishes, with a meat-chopper and chopping block. Usually there\n is a little room partitioned off at the far end, which serves\n for office and storeroom. On the other side is a wide, raised\n platform about two feet high, made of mud brick. It answers\n for the muleteers and humbler guests, to sleep on. Inside of\n this front building is a court or yard with a long shed at\n one or both sides, and troughs for feeding mules and donkeys.\n At the further end of this court, and sometimes at one side,\n are rooms for guests. These rooms contain no furniture but a\n table and a bench or two, and sometimes a chair, with a rough\n board bedstead, or a raised brick platform to take the place\n of a bedstead. No towel, soap, or other toilet necessaries are\n furnished. They usually have one washbasin, which is passed\n round, and is used besides for washing the sore backs of mules,\n and for such other necessary uses. There are no stoves or other\n means of warming the rooms. Sometimes they build a fire of\n straw under those brick bedsteads, which invariably fills the\n room with smoke. Or, you can order a pan of charcoal, which\n will fill the room with gas. The houses are all one story and\n have no ceiling. The rafters are smoked as black as ink, and\n are always festooned with cobwebs. The rooms never have wooden\n floors. In the more stylish inns the floors are paved with\n brick, but in ordinary inns the floors are simply the ground.\n In the summer fleas and mosquitoes are superabundant, and they\n attack all comers without respect of persons. Every night\n there is in the courtyard a musical concert which continues at\n intervals till morning, and is free to all the guests. The\n tune is carried by the mules and donkeys, and the scolding and\n swearing of the muleteers make up the accompaniment. Voices\n of great excellence are often heard in America, but for real\n pathos and soul-stirring effect there is nothing like a dozen\n or two Chinese donkeys, when they strike in together and vie\n with each other for the pre\u00ebminence. No common table is set,\n but meals are prepared to order and served to guests in their\n rooms. They are generally charged for by the dish.\n\nUnfortunately Mateer and Corbett had selected for their first itineration\na time of year when the mosquitoes and fleas and other vermin are at\ntheir worst, and they suffered accordingly.\n\nThey were gone just four weeks; and during that period they traveled two\nhundred and twenty-five miles. Much of the time it rained. At Laichow\nfu for this cause they were detained a week; and they had to lodge in a\nroom whose roof leaked so badly that they had to protect themselves with\noilcloths and umbrellas. The water was three feet deep on the floor.\nOne day they crossed twenty-two streams, none of them large, and yet\noften of such a character as to render passage very troublesome. For a\nwhile they had a shentza borne by a couple of crowbait mules, one of\nwhich was blind and had the trick of suddenly lying down for a rest, and\noccasionally fell flat into a mudhole, or tumbled its rider over a steep\nbank. They met with a variety of treatment from the people, but mostly\nit was not unfavorable to the prosecution of their work. Foreigners were\nstill a curiosity in the region, and that often attracted a crowd to\nsee them, and to ascertain by hearing and by reading what might be the\nnature of the Christian doctrine. Once it became necessary for Mateer to\nuse force to repel a man who persistently tried to seize a book. Each of\nthe missionaries preached about forty times, and at all sorts of places.\nTheir largest evident success was in disposing of books; these for the\nmost part by sale, the total of pages distributed amounting to two\nhundred and seventy-seven thousand. The details of the tour are given in\nMateer\u2019s Journal. If preserved, they will one day be of extreme interest\nto the Christians of China, as records of the very beginnings of the\nteaching of the gospel in Shantung.\n\nAgain, the next spring Mateer and Corbett, accompanied by Chinese\nassistants, went on another tour of preaching and of book-selling. Mateer\nleft Tengchow on April 5, and reached home on May 19. They started with\ntwenty-eight boxes of books, each weighing about seventy pounds; and,\nbecause they had exhausted the supply, they had to turn back before\nreaching the place to which they had originally intended to go. One of\nthe noteworthy things in their itinerary is that it brought them for\nthe first time to Wei Hsien, now one of the largest of the Presbyterian\nmission stations in north China, and the site of the College of Arts of\nthe Shantung University; and to Tsingchow fu, the site of the Theological\nCollege. In both towns the Presbyterians and the Baptists are united.\nAll that Mateer said in his Journal concerning Wei Hsien is:\n\n We did not go through the city, except the suburbs. The streets\n were full of people, and they were not sparing in their\n expressions of enmity and contempt. We saw a great number of\n elegant memorial arches near Wei Hsien and learned that it is\n a very wealthy place. This was indicated by the many elegant\n burying grounds around it, and by the good condition of the\n walls. The country all around, and indeed most we passed\n through to-day, was very rich. A man on the road who appeared\n to know told us that one individual, the richest in the city,\n was worth three million taels [then more than as many million\n dollars].\n\nTsingchow fu receives from him a much more extended notice. He speaks\nof the city\u2014although very much smaller than evidently it once had\nbeen\u2014as still large and filled with business. The surrounding country\nwins from him great admiration. Indeed, at several places he was much\nattracted by the prospect which spread itself out before his eyes; and\nsome of it reminded him even of the natural scenery of his \u201cOld Home\u201d in\nPennsylvania. Of course, it must not be supposed that all the region they\ntraversed was the equal of this; much of it was far less attractive in\nalmost every particular.\n\nOn this journey they had a great variety of experiences, some of them far\nenough from pleasant. Nearly everywhere they went, curiosity attracted\ncrowds of adults and of children. This seems to have been especially true\nin the neighborhood of Wei Hsien and Tsingchow fu. At the inns where\nthey stopped, privacy was almost impossible; the people peering in at\nthe windows and bolting into the room they occupied. Sometimes they were\ncompelled to expel the intruders with a dash of water or with an uplifted\ncane. Harder to bear were the opprobrious epithets applied to them.\nMateer said:\n\n Every village I come to, the term, \u201cdevil!\u201d \u201cdevil!\u201d comes\n ringing in my ears. Not that they always called it at me,\n but to one another, to come and see. Frequently, however, it\n was called out most spitefully, for me to hear. I think that\n within the last two days I have heard it from at least ten\n thousand mouths. It is strange how such a term could have\n gotten such universal currency. It expresses not so much hatred\n to the gospel as it does the national enmity of the Chinese to\n foreigners.\n\nHappily at the present time foreigners are seldom saluted by this\nepithet. At Chang Tsau they had two serious disturbances. The first\nwas caused by some sort of soothsayer, in whom the people had much\nconfidence. While Mateer was surrounded by a crowd of men to whom he was\nselling books, in rushed this man, brandishing an ugly looking spear;\nand, using the Chinese expression of rage, \u201cAh! Ah! I\u2019ll kill you!\u201d he\ndrove the spear straight at Mateer\u2019s breast. In those early days of his\nmissionary work Mateer carried a revolver for self-defense when going to\nplaces where he might be attacked, believing that he had a moral right to\nprotect himself from assault by evil-minded persons. On this occasion\nthe revolver was drawn instantly. As the man came closer Mateer seized\nthe spear, and warned the intruder of the consequences if he advanced a\nstep farther. The risk was too great for the courage of the soothsayer,\nand he went away crestfallen, but cursing the missionary, threatening\nto return and kill him, and launching his anathemas against anybody who\nbought the books. After the disturbance the people were not so eager to\nbuy, and an official tried to induce Mateer to cease his efforts, but,\npartly to show the futility of such interruptions, he continued, until at\nlength weariness compelled him to stop.\n\nThe other incident occurred in connection with the selling of books\nat a market. A man took advantage of a moment when the missionary\nwas receiving pay from a purchaser, and snatched away a book, but\nMateer seized and held him until the book was restored. This led to an\naltercation between the Chinese assistant and the thief, and blows were\nstruck. The disturbance began to spread, and several of the crowd seemed\ndisposed to lay hands on Mateer, when a significant reference to the\nrevolver brought the movement to a prompt termination. In order to show\nthe people that the missionaries were doing only what is lawful under the\ntreaty, and that they would not put up with insult or wrong, they sought\nsatisfaction through the official having jurisdiction, and warned him\nthat the case would be brought to the notice of the American consul at\nChefoo.\n\nThere is no record of any itineration again until the latter part of\nFebruary, 1869. That trip was not long in duration or very extensive in\nits territory. Julia and her sister Maggie accompanied Dr. Mateer and\nwere able to reach large numbers of women with the gospel. July 21 of\nthe same year he and Julia went on a tour of twelve weeks, their main\nobjective being Chow Yuen, where Miao, a zealous young convert, was\nopening a chapel. The story as to him can most appropriately be told in\nanother chapter.\n\nOn November 10 of the same year Dr. Mateer and Julia began a journey\nwhich lasted twenty-four days, during which they traveled about two\nhundred and fifty miles, some of the road being very hilly and rough, and\nthe weather cold. Their course was directed to certain localities where\nthere were converts, and where a beginning had been made by these native\nChristians to give the gospel to their neighbors. One of these places was\nLaichow fu, at which two of these had been spreading the light around\nthem, one of them having given a commodious chapel, with a guest room\nattached, in which the Mateers lodged. During a stay of three days they\npreached to large numbers; and especially on the last day all opposition\nwas swept away, and men and women came in crowds. In a village in the\ndistrict of Ping Tu they conducted service in a little chapel on the\nSabbath. In a letter to one of the secretaries of the Board he said:\n\n The chapel was so crowded that we were barely able to have any\n regular service for the benefit of the native Christians. We\n had finally to postpone our principal service till after night.\n I baptized five, the four who had previously been accepted,\n and one other who, though not very well instructed, was so\n earnest in his profession of faith that we did not feel that\n it would be right to refuse him. After this the Lord\u2019s Supper\n was administered. The circumstances made it one of the most\n interesting services of the kind I have ever been privileged\n to conduct. At the farthest point at which the gospel has yet\n got a foothold, in a house set apart by a native Christian for\n the worship of the true God, the majority of the company having\n never before participated in such a service, the circumstances\n were altogether such as to make the occasion one long to be\n remembered.\n\nOn February 13, 1873, he and Crossett began a tour that lasted about\nthree months and carried them far into the interior of Shantung. They\ntraveled in all about a thousand miles, and preached and sold books in\nover a hundred cities and towns. Once a man threatened Mateer with a\nmanure fork, and once he was struck by a stone thrown in a crowd by some\nunknown miscreant. The usual epithet for foreigners saluted them; but,\non the whole, they escaped any serious molestation. On this trip they\nvisited Tai An, the great temple, and the sacred mountain, and ascended\nthe steps to its summit. For a week they remained preaching in the\ntemple to the crowds. They also went to the tomb of Confucius, and to\nthe magnificent temple dedicated to the sage, in that neighborhood. At\nthat date not many foreigners had seen these Chinese shrines; but now\nthey have been so often described that it would scarcely be justifiable\nto cite the full and interesting record made by Mateer in his Journal as\nto what he saw and did at these places. Thence they proceeded as far as\nthe capital, Tsinan fu, where Mateer remained for eighteen days, while\nCrossett went on a journey still a couple of hundred miles farther to the\nnorth and west, in company with an agent of the Scottish Bible Society,\nwhich had been canvassing the province for six or eight years. At the\nclose of this tour they regarded the work of book-selling for most of\nShantung as so far completed as henceforth to deserve a more subordinate\nplace. During part of his stay at the capital Mateer preached and sold\nbooks, and part of the time he remained in his hired lodgings to receive\nvisitors, of whom he had not a few. To him one of the interesting sights\nwas the Yellow River. On their return journey they took in Tsingchow fu,\nand also Ping Tu, where the Christians then were terrified by persecution.\n\nAfter this he made only one more exclusively evangelistic itineration.\nThe care of the infant churches and other duties called him to continue\nto go longer and shorter distances from home; and in connection with\nthis he did a great deal of preaching here and there by the way. For\ninstance, in 1881 he attended a meeting of the Mission at Tsinan fu,\nand incidentally he preached in a hundred and sixty-three villages. It\nwas travel for the specific purpose of carrying the gospel into wholly\nunevangelized regions that he ceased to perform. In a friendly letter\nwritten to his cousin, Mrs. Gilchrist, as early as June 28, 1875, he said:\n\n The first years I was in China I traveled a good deal, and\n preached and sold books in the streets. I have not done so much\n of it the last two or three years, having been more closely\n engaged in my school. The younger men in the mission have been\n doing it chiefly. I am preparing a number of books for the\n press, and this has taken a good deal of time, and will take\n time in the future.\n\nThat final evangelistic itineration was made in 1878, and lasted from\nthe middle of October to the middle of November. It was out toward the\ngeneral region of Ping Tu and Laichow fu. The party consisted of Mateer\nand Mills, Mrs. Mateer and Mrs. Shaw, and a couple of Chinese assistants.\nMrs. Mateer and Mrs. Shaw visited the native Christians while the men\nwent to districts where there were no churches. In a letter to the Board\nMateer said:\n\n We each hired a donkey to carry our bedding and books, while we\n walked from village to village, and preached in the streets. I\n preached in this way in one hundred and ninety villages, and\n Mr. Mills in about as many. We went aside from the great roads\n into villages never before visited by any foreign missionary.\n We had audiences of from eight or ten, up to two or three\n hundred. In many cases we had a goodly proportion of women as\n hearers. Our reception was very various, for which in most\n cases we have no means of accounting. In some cases many came\n out to see and hear us. In other cases no one seemed inclined\n to pay any attention to us, and a considerable time would\n elapse before we would succeed in drawing a company to preach\n to. In one village I failed entirely to get anyone to listen. A\n goodly number saw us, but they passed by without stopping. One\n boy ventured to ask where we came from, when instantly a man\n near by at work reproved him for speaking to us. My assistant\n and I sat and waited about half an hour, and then went on to\n the next village. We carried a few books in our hands as a\n sort of advertisement of our business, and to give to such as\n would accept them. Sometimes the books were readily accepted,\n and we could have given away any number; but frequently not\n a soul would accept a book. No doubt some would have liked\n very well to have a book, but they were ashamed to accept it\n from the hated foreigner in the presence of so many of their\n neighbors and acquaintances. Only in two or three cases was any\n open hostility shown us, and in these it was confined to two\n or three individuals who failed to carry the crowd with them,\n so that in spite of their attempts to scatter our audience we\n still had plenty of hearers.\n\nThen as to the value of this kind of missionary effort he added an\nestimate from which he never deviated, and which in substance he\ncontinued to repeat:\n\n This method of work is very excellent, and at the same time\n very laborious. It reaches obscure places, and a class of\n people\u2014those who stay at home\u2014not otherwise reached. To be\n successful it must be pursued at a time of year when the people\n are somewhat at leisure.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nTHE TENGCHOW SCHOOL\n\n \u201cThe object of mission schools I take to be the education of\n native pupils, mentally, morally, and religiously, not only\n that they may be converted, but that, being converted, they may\n become effective agents in the hand of God for defending the\n cause of truth. Schools also which give a knowledge of western\n science and civilization cannot fail to do great good both\n physically and socially.\u201d\u2014THE RELATION OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS\n TO EDUCATION; a paper read before the Shanghai Missionary\n Conference of 1877.\n\n\nThe Tengchow School in 1884 was authorized by the Board of Missions\nto call itself a college. For several years previous to that date it\ndeserved the name because of the work which it was doing in its advanced\ndepartment. On the other hand, it did not cease at that time to maintain\ninstruction of an elementary and intermediate grade. In the present\nchapter we will for convenience confine our attention mainly to the\ntwenty years lying between the opening of the school and the formal\nassumption of the name of a college. Beyond the end of that period lies\nthe story of the institution under the title of the Shantung College, for\nanother twenty years at Tengchow; and since then, of the Shantung Union\nCollege, at Wei Hsien.\n\nUnder date of April 2, 1864,\u2014less than three months after the Mateers\narrived at Tengchow,\u2014Dr. Mateer made this entry in his Journal, \u201cWe\nhave it in prospect to establish a school.\u201d Their plan at that time was\nto leave the Mills family in possession of the old Kwan Yin temple,\nand to find for themselves another house where they could reside and\ncarry on this new enterprise. But when, during the latter part of that\nsummer, they were left in sole possession of the temple, they proceeded\nat once so to fit up some of the smaller buildings in the court as to\nmake it possible to accommodate the little school. In September the\nfirst term opened, with six little heathen boys, not one of whom had\never been to school before; and with quarters consisting of two sleeping\nrooms, a kitchen, and a small room for teaching. Chang, who was Mateer\u2019s\ninstructor in Chinese, was set to work also to teach these boys; and a\nnative woman was put in charge of the cooking department. To Julia he\nalways attributed the initiation of this entire work. For the first ten\nyears the school was almost entirely hers, he being otherwise at work. In\na conversation with Mrs. Fitch, of Shanghai, many years later he said:\n\n When Julia began the boarding school for boys in Tengchow I\n thought it a comparatively small work; but as it enlarged, and\n also deepened, in its influence, I saw it was too much for her\n strength alone. I knew that we must put our own characters into\n those boys, and I could do nothing less than give myself to the\n work she had so begun.\n\nAlmost half a century ago, when the school was started, and for some\ntime afterward, mission boards and missionaries had not settled down\ninto their present attitude toward education, lower or higher, as an\nagency in the evangelization of the non-Christian world. There were some\nvery earnest and intelligent workers who insisted that for an ordained\nminister to engage in teaching a school was for him to be untrue to the\ncalling for which he had been set apart. To sustain their position they\nappealed to apostolic example, and pointed to the small results as to\nconversions in the instances in which this method had been tried. Among\nthe advocates of schools also there was a lack of agreement as to the\nimmediate object to be sought by the use of this agency. Ought it to be\nso much the conversion of the pupils, and through this the raising up of\na native ministry, that all other results should be regarded as of small\nimportance? Or, ought the school to be looked upon as an efficient means\nof preparing the soil for the good seed of Christian truth to be sown\nlater by preaching the gospel? In the paper from which the quotation at\nthe head of this chapter is taken Mateer ably and fully discussed all\nof these questions, bringing out fairly both sides of them, and then\npresented his own convictions as he held them from the beginning of his\nmissionary career, and as he unswervingly adhered to them all the rest of\nhis life. He disclaimed any intention to exalt education as a missionary\nagency above other instrumentalities, and especially not above preaching\nthe gospel; and claimed for it only its legitimate place. As to this he\nlaid down and elaborated certain great principles involved in the nature\nof the case and verified by experience. Education, he said, is important\nin order to provide an effective and reliable ministry; to furnish\nteachers for Christian schools, and through them to introduce into China\nthe superior education of the West; to prepare men to take the lead in\nintroducing into China the science and arts of western civilization,\nas the best means of gaining access to the higher classes in China, of\ngiving to the native church self-reliance, and of fortifying her against\nthe encroachments of superstition from within and the attacks of educated\nskepticism from without. On the last of these propositions he enlarged\nwith wise foresight:\n\n So long as all the Christian literature of China is the\n work of foreigners, so long will the Chinese church be weak\n and dependent. She needs as rapidly as possible a class of\n ministers with well-trained and well-furnished minds, who will\n be able to write books, defending and enforcing the doctrines\n of Christianity, and applying them to the circumstances of\n the church in China.... Again, as native Christians increase\n in numbers, and spread into the interior, they will pass\n more and more from under the direct teaching and control of\n foreigners. Then will arise danger from the encroachment of\n heathen superstition, and from the baneful influence of the\n Chinese classics. Superstitions of all kinds find a congenial\n soil in the human heart, and they often change their forms\n without changing their nature. The multiform superstitions\n of China will not die easily; and unless they are constantly\n resisted and ferreted out and exposed, they will commingle\n with Christianity and defile it.... The day is not distant\n when the skepticism of the West will find its way into China.\n The day when it shall be rampant is not so distant as might be\n supposed. Error is generally as fleet-footed as truth. To repel\n these attacks, and vindicate the truth in the face of heathen\n unbelief, will require a high order of education. An uneducated\n Christianity may hold its own against an uneducated heathenism,\n but it cannot against an educated heathenism. We want, in a\n word, to do more than introduce naked Christianity into China,\n we want to introduce it in such a form, and with such weapons\n and supports, as will enable it to go forward alone, maintain\n its own purity, and defend itself from all foes.\n\nIn view of these ideals with regard to the object of such schools, he\nconcluded his paper by urging that they should be of an advanced grade\nrather than primary, though not excluding the primary; that the natural\nsciences should be made prominent in the instruction; and that the pupils\nshould be of Christian parentage, rather than of heathen. His prophecy as\nto skeptical books from the West is already in process of fulfillment.\n\nIt needs to be recognized that the substance of all this was in his\nmind when he opened that little elementary school. But he had to begin\nwith something that fell almost pitifully short of his ideal. The first\nthing that was necessary was to secure a few pupils under conditions\nthat made it worth while, in view of his object, to teach them. One of\nthese conditions was that the parents of the boys should formally bind\nthemselves to leave them in the school six or seven years, so that they\nmight finish the studies prescribed. Otherwise they would stay only as\nlong as suited them or their parents, and they would all the while be\nexposed to heathen influences that likely would nullify the Christian\ninstruction received. On the other hand, this arrangement made it\nnecessary for the school to furnish gratuitously not only the buildings\nand the teachers, but the food and lodging and clothes of the pupils.\nGradually this was so far modified that the parents provided their\nclothes and bedding and books. To meet the running expenses of the school\nthe average cost of each pupil was ascertained, and an effort was made\nto secure from Sabbath schools in the United Stales a contribution of\nthat amount. The plan of designating a particular boy for support by a\nparticular Sabbath school was suggested from home for consideration, but\nwas discouraged, on the ground that it might often prove disappointing,\nthrough the uncertainties as to the conduct of the boy; and it was\nrarely, if at all, practiced. In order to secure these contributions each\nyear a letter had to be carefully prepared, and then duplicated, at first\nby hand, and later by lithographing process, and sent to the Sabbath\nschools that shared in giving for this purpose. These letters were of a\nvery high order, taking for the theme of each some important phase of\nChinese life and manners or of mission work. They might to advantage\nhave been gathered into a volume; and if this had been done, it would\nbe entitled to rank with books of the very best kind on the same general\nsubject. The preparation of these letters and their multiplication and\ndistribution cost very considerable time and labor; to lighten this for\nher husband, Julia rendered valuable assistance, even to the extent\neventually of taking upon herself the entire work, except the printing.\n\nThe average expense of a boy was at first estimated at forty dollars, but\nwith the rise of prices as the years went by, this estimate had to be\nraised. The scheme worked well enough to enable the school not only to go\non, but gradually to increase its numbers as other events opened the way.\nNor was there any difficulty in obtaining all the pupils that could be\naccommodated. At the beginning all were from families who were too poor\nto educate their boys in native schools, and to whom the fact that in\naddition to the good education received, their boy was also clothed and\nfed, proved inducement sufficient to overcome the opprobrium of allowing\nhim to fall under the influence of the hated foreigner. It really meant\nno little in those early days, and, in fact, in all ante-Boxer times,\nfor parents, even though Christians, to send their boys to the Tengchow\nschool. An honored native pastor who was at one time a pupil there wrote:\n\n When my parents first sent me to school, there was a great\n protest from all the village. They tried to scare my mother\n by saying that the foreigners were vampires who could extract\n the blood of children by magic arts. Nevertheless I was sent;\n though I must own that I was a little scared myself. When I\n came home at Chinese New Year vacation, I was most carefully\n examined by all these prophets of evil; and when they found\n that not only my pulse was still a-going, but that I was even\n rosier and in better flesh than before, they said that the\n three months I had been there were not enough to show the\n baneful results; only wait! After the Germans took Kiaochow\n and began the railroad, the rumors in that region became\n worse. Under each sleeper a Chinese child must be buried. To\n furnish axle grease for the \u201cfire-cart\u201d human fat must be\n tried out\u2014anyone could see the great boilers they had for the\n purpose; and under those great heaps of fresh-turned earth they\n buried the bones.\n\nAt the time of the Tientsin massacre it was currently reported that\nMateer was fattening boys for the purpose of killing them, and then\ntaking their eyes and hearts to make medicine with which to bewitch the\npeople.\n\nNevertheless the numbers were always full, except at brief intervals,\nwhen reduced by popular disturbances, epidemics or such causes. The\nschool in its second year had twelve pupils, just double the number with\nwhich it began its work. It will be remembered that in 1867 the Mateers\nbuilt and occupied their new home. This vacated the old Kwan Yin temple\npremises. In the application to the Board to erect the new home Mateer\nsaid:\n\n We do not propose to vacate the old premises, but to\n appropriate them to the school, for which they would be\n admirably adapted. We look forward with confidence to an\n increase of the school. Our present number of scholars,\n however, occupy all the room we can possibly spare; if we\n increase we must build not only sleeping rooms, but a large\n schoolroom. This would not, it is true, cost as much money as\n a foreign house, but it would not come as far below as perhaps\n you might suppose. The main building would make one or two most\n admirable schoolrooms, which will accommodate any school we\n will likely ever have. One of the side buildings would make a\n very convenient dining room and kitchen, and the other, with\n additional buildings made vacant, would with a very little\n refitting furnish at least ten new rooms besides what we now\n have. It will probably be many years before we will have more\n than these.\n\nWith all his largeness of vision he did not yet foresee the coming\nTengchow college; though he was planning for greater things for the\nmission as well as for the health and comfort of himself and wife.\n\nBecause the language employed was solely Chinese, at the beginning\nneither Mateer nor his wife could take part in the instruction; all had\nto be done by the Chinese assistant, who was a professing Christian. It\nwas not long, however, until both the Mateers were able to help; though\nat no time did he give himself exclusively to teaching. The boys were\ntaught to read and write in their own language, so that for themselves\nthey might be able to study the Bible and other books which they were\nexpected to use. Arithmetic was a part of this course in the elementary\ndepartment with which the school began, and it was one of the very\nfirst of the branches of which Mateer took charge. Mrs. Mateer had a\nclass in geography, and widened their vision of the world by informing\nthem of other lands besides China. Three times a week she undertook\nthe peculiarly difficult task of instructing them to sing. Of course,\nthere was morning worship. This was held in the schoolroom. The service\nconsisted of a hymn, of a chapter in the New Testament read verse about,\nand a prayer. There was also evening worship. On Sabbath morning all\nattended the little native chapel. In the afternoon a sort of Sunday\nschool was held, and in it Mateer taught the bigger boys, and Mrs.\nMateer the smaller, in the Scriptures. At worship on Sabbath evening he\nquestioned them all in turn about the sermon in the morning. Such was\nthe very humble way in which the school was nurtured in its infancy, and\nstarted on the road to become what has been pronounced to be the very\nbest of all the colleges in China.\n\nThree months after the first opening the six pupils admitted were reduced\nto three, because the fathers of the other boys were unwilling to sign\nthe obligation to leave them in the school the required number of years.\nA decade after the school was begun Mateer said in a Sunday-school letter:\n\n Our boys are from nine or ten to eighteen or twenty years, and\n a number of them have been in school seven or eight years.\n If they have never been to school, we require them to come\n for twelve years, but take them for a less time if they have\n already been several years in a native school. We try to get\n those who have already been to school, as it is a saving both\n of labor and of money.\n\nAt the end of a quarter of a century after the school was begun he said:\n\n During these years we took many boys into the school who came\n to nothing. Some were too stupid, and we had to send them away\n after they had learned to read and knew something of the Bible.\n Others were bad boys, and we had to dismiss them; and some got\n tired and ran away, or were taken away by their parents because\n they wanted them at home to work. We sifted out some good ones,\n who were bright and promised to make good men.\n\nThe pupils they retained at the end of the first ten years were culled\nout of more than twice their number. Of the routine of the school he\nwrote:\n\n The boys go to school at six o\u2019clock in the morning, and\n study till eight. Then all meet in the large schoolroom for\n prayers. After this there is a recess of an hour for breakfast.\n At half-past nine they go to school again, and remain till\n half-past twelve. In the afternoon they have another session\n of four hours. During the shortest days of winter they have an\n evening session instead of a morning session. These are the\n ordinary hours of study in the native schools. At first we\n thought so many hours in school too much for either health or\n profit, but after trying our plan for several years, we were\n convinced that for Chinese children and Chinese methods of\n study the native plan is best. The great business in Chinese\n schools is committing the classics, which they do by chanting\n them over rhythmically at the top of their voices, each one\n singing a tune of his own, and apparently trying to \u201chollow\u201d\n louder than the others. The din they make would be distracting\n to one of us, but the Chinese teacher seems to enjoy it. The\n exercise it gives the lungs compensates, perhaps, for the\n want of more play hours. When Mrs. Mateer or I go into the\n school to hear classes, we, of course, make them stop their\n uproarious studying, and study to themselves. About half the\n day our boys devote to Christian and to scientific books. They\n learn a catechism of Christian doctrine, \u201cThe Peep of Day,\u201d\n Old Testament history, \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress,\u201d \u201cEvidences of\n Christianity,\u201d and memorize portions of Scripture. They study\n also geography, ancient history, arithmetic, algebra, geometry,\n trigonometry, natural philosophy, and chemistry. They are\n trained in singing, writing essays, and debating. The native\n books which they study are composed mostly of the maxims and\n wise sayings of Confucius and Mencius, together with a large\n number of poems. These books teach people to be honest and\n upright. They teach children to obey their parents and elder\n brothers. They also contain a great deal about the duties of\n the people to their rulers, and of the rulers to the people.\n They praise all good and virtuous men, and exhort all to lead\n virtuous lives; but they offer no motives higher than the\n praise of men. They teach nothing about God or future life.\n They are all written in what is called the classical style,\n which is to a Chinese boy what Latin is to an American boy.\n These books the boys commit to memory, and recite to their\n teacher, but without understanding them. When a book has been\n memorized and a boy can repeat it from beginning to end, the\n teacher commences to explain it to him. He has neither grammar\n nor dictionary to help him, but must learn all from the\n teacher\u2019s lips. When a young man can repeat all these books and\n give the explanation, and can write an essay in the same style,\n the Chinese consider him a scholar, and when he can do this,\n and in addition has mastered all the other branches of study\n mentioned above, we consider his education finished, and he\n graduates from our school. A boy must have a good mind, and be\n very diligent if he gets through in twelve years.\n\nThe clothes of the boys, of course, were entirely Chinese as to material\nand style. Their food was of like character. The dormitories were low\nrooms with earthen floors and the bedsteads were of dry mud. The letter\ncontinues:\n\n Teaching the boys their regular lessons is but a small part of\n the work to be done in such a school as ours. Ways and means\n have to be provided to have their food bought and properly\n cooked. The cook must be prevented from stealing it, and the\n boys from wasting it. Their clothes have to be made in proper\n season, and mended and washed, and the boys watched that they\n do not destroy them. Then each boy\u2019s grievances have to be\n heard and his quarrels examined into and settled. Bad boys have\n to be exhorted or reproved, and perhaps punished and every\n possible means used, and that constantly, to make the boys\n obedient and truthful and honest. We also strive to train them\n to habits of industry, perseverance, and self-reliance, without\n which their education will do them no good. Thus you see that\n to train up these boys so that they shall become good and\n useful men requires a great deal of labor, patience, and faith,\n and prayer.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n Large College Building End of Chapel College Bell\n (formerly Kwan Yin Temple) Small Schoolroom]\n\nThese are homely details, but we cannot overlook them, and understand the\nlife of the Mateers in its connection with this work.\n\nDiscipline in any school composed of so many boys and of such varied\nage could not be an easy task; in this Chinese school it was peculiarly\nperplexing. There were some unusual incidents. Falsehood, stealing,\nquarreling, gluttony, and even sodomy were offenses that had to be dealt\nwith according to the circumstances attending each case. One instance of\ndiscipline was so distinctively Chinese that the description of it by\nMateer in his Journal deserves a place here. Under date of April 9, 1869,\nhe wrote:\n\n One very distressing thing has happened within a month. Leon\n Chin Chi was being persecuted by his father in relation to the\n matter of his marriage engagement with Shang Yuin, when in a\n fit of desperation he went and bought opium, and took it to\n kill himself. Some of the boys suspected him, and went to see.\n They found him lying on his bed evidently in great distress of\n mind, and refusing to answer any questions save to say that\n his affairs were all over with. I inferred from this, as also\n from his saying to one of the boys that he would never see him\n again, that he had taken poison\u2014most likely opium. I went and\n got a strong emetic, and mixed it up, but he refused to take\n it. I then got a stick and used it to such good purpose that\n in a very short time he was glad to take the medicine. It had\n the desired effect, and in a very short time he vomited up the\n opium. He seemed to lay the beating to heart very much. It was\n evidently a new idea to him to be put through in such a style.\n After a day or two, when he had gone to school again, I gave\n him a formal and severe whipping in the presence of the school.\n I thought very seriously over the matter of whipping him, and\n concluded that it was my duty to do it. I believe now that it\n did the boy good. He was called before the session last week,\n when he manifested a good deal of sorrow and penitence. He was\n publicly reproved and admonished on Sabbath morning. I am sorry\n that he had such a weakness; it greatly decreases my reliance\n on him, and my belief in his genuine Christian character. It\n must be allowed that there is some little excuse, in the way\n in which the Chinese all regard suicide. He had not got those\n ideas all educated out of him.\n\nWhile Mateer differed in opinion from those missionaries who favored\nschools simply as effective agents for the conversion of the pupils, he\nregarded this as one of the leading results to be sought and expected.\nIt was almost two years after the opening of his school when he had the\ngreat joy of baptizing one of the pupils. In describing the event to a\nsecretary of the Board, he said:\n\n He is the oldest boy in the school, and is in fact a man in\n years, though his education is not yet nearly finished. He\n has been for two or three months feeling that it was his\n duty to profess Christ, but, as he is naturally modest and\n retiring, he did not make his wish known. His mother, to whom\n he was uncommonly attached, died recently, and this brought\n him to a full decision. His examination before the session\n was most satisfactory, showing that he has improved well his\n opportunities of learning the truth. I have great hopes of his\n future usefulness. He has a good mind, and is a most diligent\n student, and if he is spared, and is taught of God\u2019s Spirit he\n may be a great treasure to us in preaching to the heathen.\n\nThree months later he wrote again of this young man as exemplary in\nconduct and as growing in grace, and added:\n\n I am thankful that I can now say that another has since been\n baptized. He is the most advanced boy in the school, and is\n in fact very nearly a man. His conversion was not sudden, but\n gradual, after the manner of almost all the Chinese. We trust,\n however, that he is a true child of God, and we have strong\n hope that if he is spared he will make a very useful man.\n\nThe next year three more of the largest boys were received into the\nchurch. The session examined two others, but thought it best for them to\nwait a few weeks; and a number more were hoping to be received, but were\nadvised to defer the matter. Thus the conversion of the boys gradually\nprogressed, until at the time when the school formally became a college,\nall who had graduated, and nearly all the pupils still enrolled who were\nsufficiently mature, were professing Christians.\n\nJulia\u2019s sister, Maggie Brown, came out to join the station at Tengchow\nearly enough to render valuable help in the initial stages of the\nschool. In 1871 she married Mr. Capp. One of the necessities which\nMateer recognized was that of a girls\u2019 school, his reason being the\nvital importance of providing suitable wives for the young men whom\nhe was training. After her marriage Mrs. Capp took charge of such a\nschool, and she and her brother-in-law, Mateer, continued to co\u00f6perate in\nthat important enterprise. For use in teaching she translated a mental\narithmetic, and in this she had his assistance. Dr. Corbett wrote:\n\u201cIn spite of all discouragements in the way of securing permanent and\nefficient heads, and of the paucity of results, he never wavered in his\nsupport of the girls\u2019 school, and always planned for its welfare, because\nhe saw in it an element necessary to the final success of the Christian\nChurch.\u201d When Mrs. Capp died, she left her little all for the erection of\nbuildings to be used by the school which he had encouraged, and to which\nshe had consecrated the maturity of her powers.\n\nThirteen years went by before any of the young men graduated. The first\nclass consisted of three men who had completed the course, which by that\ntime had been enlarged beyond the curriculum already described so as to\ninclude astronomy, the text-book used being a good, stiff one,\u2014no other\nthan a translation of Herschell\u2019s work. Of that first class Mateer said:\n\u201cThey will probably teach for a time at least. There is more call for\nteachers than for preachers at present.\u201d Under date of May 2, 1877, he\nwrote as to this first commencement:\n\n We had a communion on the occasion. The speeches made by the\n young men at graduation were excellent, and the whole effect on\n the school was most happy. The boys saw distinctly that there\n is a definite goal before them and their ambition was stirred\n to reach it.\n\nThe report for that year speaks as follows:\n\n All of the graduates are men of excellent talents. They are\n really fine scholars both in their own language and literature\n and in western science. One of them goes to Hangchow to\n take charge of the mission school there,\u2014a school which had\n flourished well-nigh twenty years before the school in Tengchow\n was born. Another of them goes to Chefoo, to teach a school for\n the Scottish Presbyterian mission. The third goes to assist Dr.\n Nevius in his extensive country work, where I am sure he will\n render the most valuable service. One of our former pupils,\n who has been teaching in the school during the last year, also\n goes to assist Dr. Nevius in the same way. This he does of his\n own free will, knowing that he will have harder work and less\n pay. We expect a large number of new pupils next year. More are\n anxious to come than we can take. We will try to do the best we\n can.\n\nFrom May, 1879, to January, 1881, the Mateers were absent from China, on\ntheir first furlough home. During this period the school was in charge\nof other missionaries, and a part of the time was without a regular\nsuperintendent; yet it continued its work fairly well. The return of\nthe Mateers was made the occasion of a reception that must have been\nexceedingly pleasant to them. In the Sunday-school letter for 1881 he\ndescribed it:\n\n From Chefoo to Tengchow we traveled in a shentza. The weather\n was cold and the ground covered with snow. We got along\n comfortably, however, and reached Tengchow in safety. The\n schoolboys had heard of our coming, and were all on the lookout\n to meet us. It was Saturday afternoon, and they had no school;\n so they all came out of the city to meet us on the road.\n They met us in companies, and their beaming faces and hearty\n expressions of delight made us feel that we were indeed welcome\n back to Tengchow. Their faces looked very familiar, though some\n of the smaller boys had grown very much during our absence. The\n next week the school closed for the year.\n\nLate in 1881 they were gladdened by the arrival of Robert Mateer and\nLillian as re\u00ebnforcements to the mission. Robert has been one of the\nmost efficient of the Presbyterian missionaries in Shantung, especially\nin evangelism, and is still doing most excellent work. Lillian was\nattractive in person and proved herself an accomplished and successful\nteacher. In the course of time she married Mr. Samuel Walker. The failure\nof his health compelled their return home.\n\nThe year 1882 seems to have been marked by a distinct advance all along\nthe line. The average attendance rose to sixty-five. The new students\nwere selected out of the possible admissions, and consisted of such as\ngave most promise as to work and character, some of them being already\nwell advanced in their studies, and full-grown men. The secret of this\nwas the enlargement of the constituency of the institution, through\nthe reputation it had already won for itself among the Chinese in\ngeneral, and through the increase of native Christians. Perhaps the\nmost remarkable improvement was in the prosecution of their work by\nthe students; a state of things due to such causes as the presence of a\nlarger number of select and advanced pupils, with a fuller and higher and\nprescribed curriculum, with formal public graduation at its completion.\n\nSo straitened had their quarters become that in the following year\nanother building was obtained, care being taken that its outfit should,\nas heretofore, be of so plain a character as not to lift the men who went\nout from the institution above their own people in their ideas and habits\nof living. Of course, the growth of the school and its differentiation\naccording to the stages of the curriculum necessitated a considerable\nincrease in the force of teachers. After graduates began to go out,\nseveral of these were employed. Lillian Mateer for a while helped in the\nschool, but it was not long until her marriage to Mr. Walker terminated\nher connection with the Presbyterian work and her residence at Tengchow.\nIn the autumn of 1882 very substantial and permanent help came by the\narrival of Mr. and Mrs. W. M. Hayes, whose large services will require\nfurther notice as this biography proceeds. Were it not that the story of\nthe life of Mrs. Julia Mateer is told fully in a suitable volume, much\nwould be said here as to her remarkable achievements, especially in the\nschool.\n\nMateer\u2019s work in connection with the school lay only in part in the\nclassroom; but whatever shape it took, it was always of such a character\nas to impress his own individuality in a remarkable degree. Both he and\nJulia regarded personal influence as of such vital importance that they\nwere not quite prepared to welcome an increase of pupils so great as to\nhazard this element of training. Dr. Corbett says: \u201cAs a teacher he was\nenthusiastic and eminently successful. He was always wide-awake and never\ndull; so he was able to keep the attention of every student. Any attempt\nto deceive him was useless, and students found no comfort in going to\na recitation unless they had been faithful in their preparation.\u201d The\ntruth is that, helpful as he gladly made himself to everybody who tried\nto conduct himself as he ought, he was a terror to all triflers and\nevildoers, old or young. Dr. Mateer\u2019s surname in Chinese was Ti. The\ntiger is called Lao Hu. It is significant that among themselves his\nstudents sometimes spoke of him as Ti Lao Hu. One thing he believed with\nhis whole heart, and endeavored to impress in every legitimate way on his\npupils. This is that the highest office to which a Christian man can be\ncalled is the ministry of the gospel. In all his conduct of the school\nhis dominating desire was to raise up faithful, able, well-educated men,\nfilled with the Spirit, to go forth as ambassadors of Christ to win China\nfor Him. As Dr. Corbett adds: \u201cFor this purpose he gave wise counsel,\nintellectual effort, unceasing toil and daily prayer. He gave of his own\nmoney freely to help the destitute, and make it possible for youths of\npromise to fit themselves for usefulness.\u201d\n\nSuch, briefly told, is the story of the Tengchow school. In the two\ndecades of its existence it had fully justified the consecrated wisdom\nof its founder and head. From the little elementary department with\nwhich it had opened, it had advanced so as to become also a high school,\nand at length to do work of full collegiate rank. At the time when it\nformally took the name of a college, there was an average attendance\nof seventy-five, including three day scholars. It had educated more or\nless completely perhaps two hundred pupils, who had come up from Chinese\nfamilies, some of them Christian and many of them heathen. Of those who\nremained long enough to be molded by the influences of the institution\nand were mature enough, all made a public profession of their faith in\nChrist. They had been trained to live upright, godly, Christian lives;\nand they had seen one of their number die in peace through his faith in\nChrist. The character and the work of those who had gone out to do their\npart in the activities of the world were such as to command respect and\nconfidence and influence. For the graduates who were beginning to be sent\nforth there was a demand to fill positions of high importance, much in\nexcess of the supply, and by no means limited to Shantung. Besides all\nthat had been achieved, the prospect of far greater things in the future\nwas assured.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nTHE PRESS; LITERARY LABORS\n\n \u201cMaking books is a very important branch of missionary effort,\n which I would by no means depreciate; but he who would\n undertake it should be sure of his call, and should not begin\n too soon. There is a temptation to forego active evangelistic\n work for the less laborious and perhaps more congenial work\n of sitting in a study, translating or studying the literature\n of the language. Much precious time is sometimes wasted in\n this way, especially in the earlier stages of a man\u2019s life,\n before he is quite able to weigh himself against his work.\n It is a rare thing indeed that a missionary should undertake\n writing or translating a book inside of five years, and then\n he should be supported by the advice and approval of his older\n associates.\u201d\u2014MISSIONARIES AND THE LANGUAGE, 1902.\n\n\nMateer was at no time a very prolific contributor to the home newspapers\nand periodicals. For about ten years, with some frequency, he wrote for\n\u201cThe Presbyterian Banner\u201d letters concerning the work of the mission\ndone by himself and others in China; but after that he was too busy to\ncontinue such writing, except at long intervals. Once or twice he sent to\nthe United States more labored replies to what he considered misleading\narticles that had appeared in such periodicals as \u201cThe Princeton Review,\u201d\nin regard to the condition of things in China. He greatly deprecated\nlaudation of matters Chinese and unwarranted hopefulness as to the\nimmediate future of their country. He was strongly inclined to question\nthe wisdom of the policy which the United States was pursuing in China\nforty or fifty years ago, and he did not hesitate to express in print\nhere at home his views on that line of topics. Beyond these fugitive\ncontributions to the newspapers and periodicals he published little else\nin this country, save a booklet or two, one or more of which he prepared\nfor the use of the Board at their request. Sometimes he questioned\nwhether his slight use of the home press might not leave the impression\nthere that he was not doing as much as others who were more frequent in\ntheir contributions; but all the same he gave himself to the other work\nwhich his hands found to do.\n\nMost of his contributions to current literature appeared in China and\nwere written for \u201cThe Chinese Recorder.\u201d His articles in this periodical\nextend over almost his entire missionary life, some of them being brief,\nbut many of them being elaborate discussions of great subjects affecting\ndirectly or indirectly the work of evangelization in non-Christian lands.\nHis book on the Chinese term for God was not published until 1902, and,\nof course, was in English, though with copious extracts from Chinese\nliterature. His only other English book was a review of Dr. Nevius\u2019\n\u201cMethods of Missions.\u201d\n\nHis publications in Chinese, as we shall presently see, were very\nconsiderable in number, and were of large importance to the work of\nmissions; for he at no time allowed himself to be diverted to the\nproduction of any treatise that would not be helpful in the one service\nto which he consecrated his life. But before he began to avail himself\nof the press for his own books, he was somewhat unwillingly compelled\nfor a while to take the management of a printing establishment. Down\nat Shanghai there was already a mission press, the funds for the\nestablishment of which had in large part been contributed for that\ndistinct purpose, and which had been left hitherto to the management\nof the Presbyterian missionaries of that general region. The Synod of\nChina\u2014by order of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the\nUnited States\u2014was organized in the autumn of 1870, and the first meeting\nwas held at Shanghai. The condition of the mission press at that place\nwas brought before the synod, and was by that body handed over to the\nforeign missionaries in attendance, as more properly belonging to their\ncontrol. A plan covering the entire operation of the plant, as drawn up\nby Mateer in a committee and approved by the entire body, was sent home\nto the Board for sanction, which in due time it received. One of the\nthings for which immediate provision was necessary was a man to take\ncharge of the establishment, and the choice, after repeated efforts to\nsecure some other suitable person, and after his own refusal to take\nthe place, returned to him in such a way that he felt that he could not\ndecline it, if limited to a period of a year, and with the privilege of\nspending some time as necessary up at Tengchow. Of course, temporary\narrangements had to be made for the conduct of the school. For this\npurpose Julia\u2019s sister, Maggie, was called into service; and with such\nassistance as she could command she gave excellent satisfaction. She was\nalso in possession of the Mateer home. As to the work to which he was\nthus temporarily called at Shanghai, he said in his Journal:\n\n While it is a very great trial to me to come to Shanghai, it is\n not without some inducement. It will increase very largely my\n acquaintance, and will enlarge my knowledge of China and its\n affairs. Also I hope it may be the means of getting something\n of great benefit done for Julia\u2019s health. I am very sorry that\n the doctor who treated her before is not here now. My great\n sorrow is that it will interfere with my Chinese studies, and\n prevent me accomplishing what I had designed.\n\nIt was not until August, 1872, that he finally went back to Tengchow to\nresume his work there.\n\nThe details of his life while at Shanghai probably would not interest\nmost readers. He said of it in his Journal, under date of January 29,\n1872:\n\n I neglected everything to do the work in the press, and I\n worked with an assiduity that I have rarely given to anything\n in my life. I had hoped when I went to Shanghai to have some\n time to study, but I found it utterly out of the question. The\n demands for the press were imperative, and I just gave myself\n to the work.\n\nTwo sides of his capabilities were there brought into special\nrequisition. One of these was his efficiency as a business manager,\u2014a\ncharacteristic due partly to his native qualities, and partly to his\nhabits of accuracy, of wise forethought, of careful oversight, and of\ninsistence on the faithful performance of duty by all employees. This\nside of his character is brought out by his \u201cletter books.\u201d Separation\nby the space of half a globe from the base of supplies made it necessary\nto anticipate wants by eight or ten months. For convenient reference he\ncaused every business letter, and many others, to be copied. Especially\nas the school and college at Tengchow grew on his hands he had to conduct\nwhat was in reality a large miscellaneous business, under conditions that\nwere very exceptionally difficult. He had not only to provide for his\nown wants in his family and in his work, but also to accommodate others\nby acting as their agent. His orders had to go sometimes to Shanghai,\nbut more frequently to London, or to New York, or to some place in the\ninterior of the United States. Many are curiosities, owing to the nature\nand the range of articles included\u2014from a steam engine or a telescope or\ncostly chemical supplies to a paper of pins. Some of the lists cover more\nthan ten pages in the copy. Woe to the merchant or agent in London or New\nYork or Shanghai who by mistake or for other reason sent without adequate\nexplanation any article that was not quite in accordance with the order!\nHe might expect to get a sharp letter, and a demand to rectify the\nmistake if that were practicable. Service as treasurer of the mission\nalso gave him drill. Shilly-shally workmen are one of the horrors which\nsometimes call from him in his Journal groans of anguish. When he had\ncompleted his charge of the press establishment, including as it did a\nbook department, a job department, a dwelling for the superintendent,\nquarters for the workmen, all of whom were Chinese, a chapel for these\nworkmen, and other equipments, it was a well-organized business, running\nregularly and smoothly, and doing its work about as efficiently as was\npossible under the conditions.\n\nThe other side of his capabilities there especially called into exercise\nwas his mechanical gifts. As an illustration, the following from his\nJournal, under the same date as that just given, will answer:\n\n I had to get a Japanese dictionary started, and it was a most\n embarrassing affair. My predecessor had made promises which\n he could not fulfill. The men were there to print, and yet we\n had to send to England for paper to do the job. Also all the\n pronunciation marks for Webster\u2019s dictionary were to be put in,\n and we did not have the type or the matrices. I had to have the\n letters cut on wood, and matrices made; this was a world of\n trouble. Some of the letters were cut over half-a-dozen times\n or more, and after all they were far from perfect. I also had a\n set of shaped music types cut, and this took a deal of time and\n pains to get them all properly cut, as also to get the matrices\n made. I finally succeeded quite well in both respects.... I\n also experimented not a little in stereotyping, and succeeded\n in doing fair work. I trained one boy who stereotyped Matthew\n before I left. In order to carry it on effectually and rapidly\n I had a furnace and press made and fitted up, which after\n sundry changes worked very well.... I also had a new style\n of case for Chinese type made, which I think will be an\n improvement on the old. I also had a complete and thorough\n overhauling of the matrices, reassorted them all, and had new\n cases made. This was a serious job, but it will I am sure prove\n a very great help to the efficient working of the establishment.\n\nHe consented to manage the press only until a competent man could be\nsecured to take it off his hands. When casting about for such a person,\nhis mind had been directed to his brother John, nearly a year before he\nwas himself forced into this position. John had hoped to go to college,\nand to prepare for the ministry, and to go out as a missionary, but,\non account of certain tendencies developed as to his health, he was\ncompelled to abandon his purpose. As to his mechanical gifts and his\nability to turn them into use in a great variety of ways, he resembled\nCalvin; and the latter was so confident that John could soon fit himself\nto be a competent superintendent of the press at Shanghai that he advised\nthe Board of Missions to make inquiry in regard to him. The result was\nthat eventually he was selected for the place, and he arrived in China\nearly in August, 1871. Before he could satisfactorily enter on his duties\nit was necessary for him to acquire some knowledge of the language and\nto acquaint himself with the business committed to his charge. This\ndetained Calvin until late in that year; and after a period of some three\nmonths spent at Tengchow, he returned to Shanghai to assist John in\nmoving the press to new and much better premises that had been purchased.\nThe moving proper was a heavy job, requiring a week of hard, dirty labor.\nThe distance was about a mile, mostly by water, but by land a hundred or\nmore yards at either end. While thus engaged, although he was no longer\nofficially at the head of the business, he took the main charge, so as\nto allow his brother to give his time chiefly to the acquisition of the\nlanguage and to other things that he needed to learn.\n\nThe new place is the same now occupied by the press in Peking Road. Under\nthe superintendency of Rev. G. F. Fitch, it has become the center not\nonly of the Presbyterian missions, but of the general missionary activity\nall over China. In writing to his brother as early as November, 1869, he\nsaid of this plant: \u201cIt is a very important place, and would give you\nan extensive field for doing good. The establishment is not very large,\nit is true, as compared with similar establishments in such cities as\nNew York or Philadelphia; yet it is the largest and best of the kind in\nChina. It not only does all the printing for all our missionaries, but\na great deal of job work for others; besides making and selling a large\namount of type.\u201d After he had completed his term of the management,\nand while helping John to get into the traces, he wrote to one of the\nsecretaries of the Board:\n\n I am not in favor of enlargement, but I would be very sorry to\n see the present efficiency of the press curtailed. It is doing\n a great and a good work not only for our missions, but for all\n China. It has exerted a prodigious collateral influence both\n in China and in Japan, affording facilities for the production\n of all kinds of scientific books, dictionaries, and so forth.\n Aside from any general interest in the missionary work, having\n at no small sacrifice left my proper work and given more than a\n year to the press, and also having a brother here in charge of\n it, I feel a lively interest in its future.\n\nThe last record that has come down to us concerning his work there is:\n\u201cWe have just sold to the Chinese government a large font of Chinese\ntype. They are going to use movable metal type. This is a large step for\nthem to take, and it will do good. China yields slowly, but she is bound\nto yield to Christianity and Christian civilization.\u201d\n\nAt no subsequent period of his life had he any part in the management of\na printing establishment, but indirectly he continued to have much to\ndo with the press. He was a member of a joint committee of the Shantung\nand the Peking mission, in charge of publications, and as such he had\nto acquaint himself with what was needed, and with what was offered,\nso as to pass intelligent judgment. Unofficially and as a friend whose\naid was solicited, he revised one or more of the books which his\nassociates submitted to him for criticism. At the General Conference\nof Missionaries, held at Shanghai in 1877, a committee, of which he\nwas a member, was appointed to take steps to secure the preparation of\na series of schoolbooks for use in mission schools. Not long afterward\nhe published an elaborate paper on the subject, discussing in it the\ncharacter which such publications should have, and especially calling\nattention to the need of peculiar care as to the Chinese words which\nought to be employed in the treatises on the sciences. That committee\ndiligently set itself to work, and initiated measures for a rather\ncomprehensive set of books by various missionaries to meet the want\nrecognized in this general field. He was himself called upon to prepare\nseveral books, some of which he was willing to undertake; others he\nput aside as not properly falling to him. In one or two instances he\nclaimed for himself precedence as to treatises suggested for others to\nwrite. Some friction occurred, and when the Conference met again in\n1890 that committee was discharged, and an Educational Association,\ncomposed of missionaries familiar with the needs of schools, and\nconfining its functions more exclusively to the publication of books\nfor teaching\u2014largely under his leadership\u2014was formed. He was its first\nchairman. This change he had warmly favored, and he was an active member\nof the Association. In it he was chairman of a committee on scientific\nterms in Chinese, a subject of great difficulty, and of prime importance\nin the preparation of text-books. In the subsequent years he was so\nmuch occupied with the revision of the Mandarin Bible, and with other\nduties, that he could give to the technical terms only a secondary place\nin his activities. Still, six years after he accepted this chairmanship\nhe says: \u201cI have collected a large number of lists of subjects for terms\nin chemistry, physics, mathematics, astronomy, geology, metallurgy,\nphotography, watch-making, machinery, printing, music, mental and moral\nphilosophy, political economy, theology, and so forth.\u201d Subsequently he\ncontinued this work.\n\nThe first literary production of his own pen in Chinese was a tract on\ninfant baptism; this was called forth by local conditions at Tengchow. A\nsmall sheet tract, entitled \u201cA Prayer in Mandarin,\u201d also followed early.\nAs chairman of the committee appointed by the Educational Association, he\nmade a report on chemical terms, and recommended a new and distinctively\nChinese method for the symbols in that science. This was printed.\n\nIn a preliminary report of the Shanghai press, made in September, 1871,\nhe, in a list of books in course of preparation, mentions under his own\nname as author the following: \u201c1. Catechism on Genesis, with answers\nto the more difficult questions,\u2014_finished_, needing only a slight\nrevision. 2. An explanation of the moral law as contained in the ten\ncommandments,\u2014_half-finished_. 3. Scripture Text-Book and Treasury,\nbeing Scripture references by subjects, supplying in great part the\nplace of a concordance,\u2014_one-third finished_.\u201d All of these had been\nunder way for several years, but had been frequently shunted off the\ntrack by other imperative work. Very soon after that date the catechism\nwas published. He had a good deal to do with Julia\u2019s \u201cMusic Book,\u201d\nespecially in coining appropriate terminology, though he never claimed\njoint authorship in it. Along with Dr. Nevius, he published a hymn\nbook for use in Chinese services; and down to the close of his life,\nespecially on a Sabbath when he did not preach, he now and then made an\nadditional Chinese version of a hymn. In fact, whenever he heard a new\nhymn that especially moved him he wished to enrich the native collection\nby a translation of it into their speech. One which the Chinese came\ngreatly to like was his rendering of the Huguenot song, \u201cMy Lord and I.\u201d\nA subject that was always dominant in his mind and heart was the call to\nthe ministry, and it was significant that one of the last things on which\nhe worked was a translation of the hymn which has the refrain, \u201cHere am\nI, send me.\u201d It was not quite finished when his illness compelled him\nto lay down his pen; but recently at a meeting of the Chinese student\nvolunteers, constituting a company rising well toward one hundred and\nfifty, that hymn was printed on cards, and a copy was given to each of\nthese candidates for the ministry. In 1907 he had carried a theological\nclass through the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and as an outcome his\ntranslation was published. This is the last religious book he made in\nChinese. During his long service as a missionary he taught a number of\ntheological classes in various studies, and his lectures were regarded\nas very superior, but he published none of them.\n\nHis schoolbooks all originated in the necessities of his own work as\na teacher. The first thus to force itself upon his attention was an\narithmetic. He was already at work on it in 1868, and it went to press\nwhile his brother John was superintending the plant at Shanghai. The\npreparation of such a book, to one unacquainted with the conditions\nunder which this one was made, may seem to have been a rather easy\nundertaking, and to have required little more than a sufficient mastery\nof the Chinese language and of English; yet there were some perplexing\nquestions that arose in connection with it. For instance, the method of\nwriting numbers horizontally was wholly unknown to the Chinese. Should\nthe new arithmetic use the western, or should it retain the Chinese\nmethod? To retain the Chinese would be to train the pupils in a usage\nthat would be confusing in subsequent reading of western mathematics; to\nabandon it would be equally confusing in printing the text of the book,\nwhich, according to Chinese usage, must be arranged perpendicularly. The\ndifficulty was gotten over by duplicating each pattern example, giving it\nonce horizontally and once perpendicularly. Pupils using the book were\npermitted to take their choice in performing their work, but in the text\nproper all numbers appeared vertically. Such lines as those dividing the\nnumerator and denominator of a fraction stood perpendicularly, with the\nfigures to the right and the left. Until he published his arithmetic,\nthe Chinese numerals had been employed; he introduced the Arabic. At the\ndawn of the new era subsequent to the Boxer outbreak, almost the first\nbook in demand by Chinese teachers and pupils outside the mission schools\nwas a western arithmetic; and among others put upon the market were many\n\u201cpirated\u201d editions of Mateer\u2019s book, printed on cheap paper and with\nwooden blocks. The publishers had not yet learned the significance of\n\u201ccopyright.\u201d The circulation of the book, however brought about, had at\nleast the effect of immediately increasing the reputation of its author\namong the scholarly classes outside the church. Of the editions issued\nby the press at Shanghai tens of thousands of copies have been sold. Dr.\nFitch writes that \u201cit is impossible to state the total number,\u201d and that\n\u201cthe book has gone into all parts of the empire.\u201d\n\nIn October, 1884, he submitted to the schoolbook committee of the\nEducational Association the manuscript of his geometry, and in doing so\nhe said of it:\n\n It is the result of much pains and labor.... The book is\n written in plain Wen-li, and much pains has been taken to\n make it smooth in style and accurate in meaning. In the few\n equations used I have introduced the mathematical signs\n employed in the West, of which I have given a full explanation\n in the beginning of the book.... Mathematical signs and\n symbols are a species of universal language, used alike by all\n civilized nations, and it is unwise to change them until it\n is absolutely necessary. The young men who have given most\n effective assistance in the preparation of this geometry are\n decided in their opinion that we should not change or garble\n the mathematical symbolism of the West, but give it to them in\n its integrity. The only change made is in writing equations\n perpendicularly instead of horizontally,\u2014a change which is\n necessitated by the form of Chinese writing.\n\nThe book was published the following year. To the same committee he\nreports in March, 1882, that his algebra was then all in manuscript,\nand only needing revision and some rearrangement before printing. The\ngeometry was followed by his algebra, first part. These have had a large\nsale, though, because fewer studied this branch, not the equal of the\narithmetic.\n\nOn January 14, 1908, he sent to the manager of the press the preface to\nthe second volume of his algebra, which covers the same ground as the\n\u201cUniversity\u201d edition in the United States. Of this Dr. Hayes says: \u201cOver\ntwenty years ago he began the preparation of Part II of his algebra, and\nthe draft then made was used in manuscript for many years. Other duties\npressed upon him, and he was compelled to lay it away unfinished. Yet\nhe had not forgotten it, but from time to time he would make a step in\nadvance. It was only a few months before his death that the work was\ncompleted and published.\u201d\n\nThere were a number of other books which he planned, on some of which\nhe did considerable work, but none of which he completed. One of these\nwas so colossal in its projected scope and scholarship that it deserves\nspecial notice because indicative of the large things to which early\nin his missionary career he was already eager to give his time and\nabilities. This was a Mandarin dictionary. In its preparation he sought\nto associate with himself Rev. Chauncey Goodrich, of Peking; and in\nwriting to him under date of June 6, 1874, he thus stated his conception\nof the work:\n\n My idea of the book is a dictionary of the spoken language of\n north China, in all its length and breadth, including on the\n one hand all the colloquialisms that the people use in everyday\n life,\u2014all they use in Chi-li and in Shantung, and in all the\n Mandarin-speaking provinces, so far as we can get it, noting,\n of course, as such, the words and phrases we know to be local.\n Further, let it include as a prominent feature all sorts of\n ready-made idiomatic phrases, and in general all combinations\n of two or more characters in which the meaning coalesces, or\n varies from the simple rendering of the separate characters.\n\nConsiderable preliminary work had already been done, when the death of\nMrs. Goodrich compelled her husband to withdraw from the partnership; and\nthe project was abandoned by Mateer, though with a hope that it might be\nresumed. In 1900, however, as the fruit of this and kindred studies he\npublished an analysis of two thousand one hundred and eighteen Chinese\ncharacters. This little book was designed to help children in dictation\nexercises to write characters, and is still largely used for this\npurpose by mission schools. The huge dictionary, though never completed,\nhad three direct descendants. With Dr. Goodrich it produced first a\nChinese phrase book, and then a pocket Chinese-English dictionary,\nwhich for brevity and comprehensiveness is a marvel, and which is\nregarded by almost every student of Chinese as a necessity. In marked\ncontrast with these two volumes is an immense dictionary left behind\nin manuscript by Dr. Mateer. It is wholly in Chinese; and as it lies\nunfinished it occupies more than a cubic foot of space, and consists of\na set of volumes. No comprehensive dictionary of the Chinese language\nhas been published for two hundred and fifty years, and the last issued\nhad been mainly classical. The object of this was to supply the evident\nneed of a great new work of that sort. One insurmountable difficulty\nencountered was a phonetic arrangement commanding common usage. None had\nthe requisite approval. Fortunately, on this undertaking Dr. Mateer did\nnot spend his own time, except so far as that was necessary to direct the\npreparation of it by his scribes when they were not otherwise employed.\n\nIn his letter to his college classmates in 1897 he says that he has\n\u201cwell in hand a work on electricity, and one on homiletics prepared when\nteaching theology.\u201d Neither of these was finished and published. To his\ncollege classmate, S. C. T. Dodd, Esq., he wrote in 1898 that he was\ntrying also to finish a work on moral philosophy. In March, 1878, he\nwrote to Dr. W. A. P. Martin, of Peking: \u201cYou will remember probably\nthat when you were here I spoke of my intention to make a natural\nphilosophy by and by. You said, \u2018Go ahead,\u2019 and that you would retire\nin my favor by the time mine was ready, say, ten years hence. If I am\nspared I hope to have the book ready within the time, if not sooner.\nAs you know, natural philosophy is my hobby, and I have taught it more\nthoroughly probably than has been done in any other school in China. I\nintend when I visit America to prepare myself with the material and the\nfacilities for such work.\u201d He was not able to find time for this work;\nand when later Dr. Martin invited him to write for the revised edition of\nhis treatise the chapter on electricity, this privilege had for the same\nreason to be put aside. He had also advanced far toward the completion of\na translation of \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress\u201d into Mandarin.\n\nHis \u201cMandarin Lessons\u201d was published early in 1892, and immediately\ncommanded a success even larger than its author may have anticipated.\nEver since, it has gone on toward a more general use by foreigners\nwishing to master the language, and has now far outstripped every other\nwork of its kind. He was a quarter of a century in making the book. June\n28, 1873, he made the following entry in his Journal concerning it:\n\n Most of last week and this I have spent in making lessons and\n planning a much larger number than I have made. Mr. Mills urged\n me to work at them for Dr. \u2e3a\u2019s benefit, as he did not seem to\n take hold of Wade. I did not think of what a job I was sliding\n into when I made three lessons for Maggie a few years ago. I\n have now laid out quite an extensive plan, and if I am spared\n I trust I shall be able to finish it, though it will take a\n deal of work. I believe that I can produce a far better book\n than any that has yet been brought forth. I was not intending\n to do this work now, and cannot work much more at it, as other\n matters imperatively demand attention.\n\nGuided by the hint in this quotation, we are able to trace the book\nstill farther back to its very beginning. June 20, 1867, he said in his\nJournal: \u201cMaggie Brown [Julia\u2019s sister] has been pushing on pretty lively\nwith the Chinese. I made her lessons for a good while, which she studies,\nand now she is reading \u2018The Peep of Day.\u2019 I tried to make her lessons\nwith a view to bringing out the peculiarities of Chinese idiom. It led\nme to a good deal of thinking and investigating. I have a mind to review\nand complete the work, and may some day give it to the world. My great\ndifficulty is in classifying the results attained.\u201d\n\nAs the years went by his ideas of the plan for the work took definite\nshape. In one of his letters concerning it he wrote:\n\n Each lesson illustrates an idiom, the word idiom being taken\n with some latitude. The sentences, as you will see, are\n gathered from all quarters, and introduce every variety of\n subjects. I have also introduced every variety of style that\n can be called Mandarin, the higher style being found chiefly\n in the second hundred lessons. The prevailing object, however,\n is to help people to learn Mandarin as it is spoken. I have\n tried to avoid distinct localisms, but not colloquialisms.\n A large acquaintance with these is important, not to say\n essential, to every really good speaker of Mandarin. It is,\n of course, possible to avoid the most of them, and to learn\n to use a narrow range of general Mandarin which never leaves\n the dead level of commonplace expressions, except to introduce\n some stilted book phrase. This, however, is not what the\n Chinese themselves do, nor is it what foreigners should seek\n to acquire. Many colloquialisms are very widely used, and they\n serve to give force and variety to the language, expressing in\n many instances what cannot be expressed in any other way. I\n have tried to represent all quarters, and in order to do so I\n have in many cases given two or more forms.\n\nIn the pursuit of his plan he sought the aid of competent scholars in\nthe north and in central China, so as to learn the colloquialisms and\nthe usage of words; also in the preparation of a syllabary of the sounds\nof characters as heard in each of the large centers where foreigners are\nresident. To accomplish this he also traveled widely. Late in 1889, after\na summer spent in studying the dialects of China, he, in company with\nJulia, made a three months\u2019 trip to the region of the Yangtse, going down\non the Grand Canal, spending a month on the great river, and remaining a\nmonth at Nanking; always with the main purpose of informing himself as to\nthe current Mandarin, so as to perfect his book. This tour enabled him\nto give it the final revision; and in his opinion it \u201cmore than doubled\nthe value\u201d of the \u201cLessons.\u201d As finished, they were a huge quarto of six\nhundred pages, which with the help of Mrs. Julia Mateer he saw through\nthe press down at Shanghai. In 1901, assisted by Mrs. Ada Mateer, he\nissued a more elementary work of the same general nature.\n\nThe protracted study and care which he put upon the \u201cLessons\u201d were\ncharacteristic of him in all his literary productions. Upon this subject\nno one is better qualified to bear testimony than is Dr. George F. Fitch,\nSuperintendent of the Presbyterian Mission Press, at Shanghai, who speaks\nfrom direct personal observation. He says:\n\n One very marked characteristic of Dr. Mateer was the almost\n extreme painstaking with which he went over any work which he\n was getting ready for publication; revising and re-revising,\n seeking the judgment of others, and then waiting to see if\n possibly new light might dawn upon the subject. I remember\n reading shortly after I came to China the manuscript of a paper\n which he had prepared with great labor, upon the much-mooted\n \u201cterm question\u201d; and in which he had collected, with infinite\n pains, seemingly a great number of quotations from the Chinese\n classics and other native works, bearing on the use of Shen as\n the proper word for God in Chinese. I urged him to publish at\n once, as I thought it might be useful in helping settle that\n question. But he stoutly refused, saying that it was not yet\n complete. Nor did it finally see the light, in print, until\n nearly twenty years afterward.\n\nNone of his books at all reveal the protracted and toilsome process\nof the preparation. We see only the result of years of research. For\ninstance, in his library there was a long row of Chinese books each one\nof which showed a large number of little white slips at the top. Each one\nof this multitude of marks had been placed there by some student whom he\nhad employed respectively to read works in Chinese likely to use the word\nShen, in order to indicate the passages at which he needed to look. All\nthese were canvassed, and the different shades of meaning were classified.\n\nFrom the \u201cMandarin Lessons,\u201d and recently from the arithmetic, he\nreceived substantial pecuniary returns, though not at all sufficient to\nentitle him to be regarded as wealthy. In his manner of living he would\nhave been untrue to his training and impulses if he had not practiced\nfrugality, economy, and simplicity. As the means came into his possession\nhe used them generously both for personal friends and for the promotion\nof the cause to which he had consecrated his life. Of his outlays for the\nschool and college we shall presently need to speak. The expenses of the\nYangtse trip came out of his own pocket. March 9, 1895, he wrote to one\nof the secretaries of the Board:\n\n The mission minutes spoke, if you remember, of my intention\n to erect a building for a museum and public lecture room,\n and present it to the Board. This I intend to do at once. It\n will cost about twelve hundred dollars, possibly more. I may\n say in the same connection also that my \u201cMandarin Lessons\u201d\n has fully paid all the cost of printing, and so forth, and I\n expect during the next year to pay into the treasury of the\n Board one thousand dollars, Mexican. This I do in view of the\n liberality of the Board in giving me my time while editing\n and printing the book. When the second edition is printed I\n expect to pay over a larger amount. I need not say that I feel\n very much gratified that the book has proved such a success:\n especially do I feel that it has been, and is going to be, very\n widely useful in assisting missionaries to acquire the Chinese\n language. My scientific books are also paying for themselves,\n but as yet have left no margin of profits.\n\nMay 20, 1905, he wrote to a secretary: \u201cI may say, however, that in view\nof the great importance of the school both to the Tengchow station and as\na feeder to the college at Wei Hsien, I have set apart from the profit\nof my \u2018Mandarin Lessons\u2019 enough to support the school for the present\nyear.\u201d December 13, 1906, he wrote to a friend in the United States: \u201cMy\nbrother is now holding a large meeting of elders and leading men from all\nthe stations in this field. There are about three hundred of them. It is\nno small expense to board and lodge so many for ten days. I am paying\nthe bill.\u201d In one of his latest letters to me he mentions this ability\npecuniarily to help as affording him satisfaction.\n\n\n\n\nX\n\nTHE CARE OF THE NATIVE CHRISTIANS\n\n \u201cThe need of the hour in China is not more new stations\n with expensive buildings and wide itinerating. It is rather\n teaching and training what we have, and giving it a proper\n development. Most of all we should raise up and prepare pastors\n and preachers and teachers, who are well grounded in the truth,\n so that the Chinese Church may have wise and safe leaders....\n There are already enough mission stations, or centers, in the\n province, if they were properly worked. The need of the hour is\n to consolidate and develop what we have, and by all means in\n our power develop native agency, and teach and locate native\n pastors,\u2014men who are well grounded in the faith.\u201d\u2014LETTER TO\n SECRETARY FOX, of the American Bible Society, January 6, 1906.\n\n\nDr. Mateer believed that sooner than most missionaries anticipated the\nChinese Christians will join together and set up an independent church.\nHe meant by this not merely a union of the ministers and churches of\nthe various Presbyterian denominations at work in the country, such\nas has already been effected, but an organization that would include\nin its membership all the Protestant Christians, and that would leave\nlittle or no place for the service of foreign missionaries. He regarded\nthis as inevitable; and for that reason he considered it to be of prime\nimportance that such an effective preliminary work should promptly\nbe done, that this coming ecclesiastical independence might not be\nattended by unsoundness as to creed or laxity in life. At the same\ntime, in holding up the care and the training of the native Christians\nas so important a part of the work of the foreign missionary in China,\nin anticipation of what is ahead, he was only for an additional reason\nurging what he had in all his long career recognized as second to no\nother in importance. Of course, at the beginning of the effort to\ngive the gospel to a people it is indispensable to do \u201cthe work of an\nevangelist\u201d; that is, to seek by the spoken word and by the printed book\nto acquaint them with elementary Christian truth, and to endeavor to win\nthem to Christ; and we have already seen how diligent Dr. Mateer was in\nthis service, especially in his earlier missionary years. But he was just\nas diligent in caring for the converts when gained; and in the school\nand college it was the preparation of men for pastors and teachers and\nevangelists that was constantly his chief aim.\n\nThe first body of native Christians with whose oversight he had anything\nto do was that very small band that had been gathered into the church\nat Tengchow. Mills was the senior missionary, and as such he presided\nover that little flock until his death. In 1867 he was installed as the\npastor, and he continued in this office nearly twenty years. During this\nlong period Dr. Mateer at times supplied the pulpit and cared for the\nchurch in Mills\u2019s absence or illness, but for most of the time it was\nonly as a sort of adviser that he could render help in that field. We\nhave no reason to think specially unfavorably of Chinese converts because\nsome of those with whom he then had to do at Tengchow, or elsewhere,\nproved themselves, to him, to be a discouraging set of professing\nChristians. Were not a good many of Paul\u2019s converts very much of the\nsame grade when he traveled among the churches, and wrote his letters?\nDid it not take much patience, and fidelity, and persistence on the part\nof Christ to make anything worth while out of his select disciples? Yet\nthese constituted the membership of the primitive church from which even\nthe missionaries of our day have originated. At any rate some of the\nearliest experiences of Dr. Mateer with the native Christians were of a\nvery depressing sort. In his Journal, under date of March 17, 1864, he\nmade this record:\n\n Since coming to Tengchow there have been great difficulties\n in the native church. Several of the members were accused\n by common fame of various immoral practices,\u2014one of smoking\n opium, another of lying and conforming to idolatrous practices,\n and another of breaking the Sabbath. The second of these\n confessed his fault, and was publicly reproved; the third also\n confessed, and on his profession of penitence was restored to\n the confidence of the church. But though the first confessed to\n the use of the ashes of opium, he gave no certain assurance of\n amendment; and he was suspended, and so remains. These matters\n gave us all a great deal of anxiety and sorrow of heart. It is\n sad thus to find that even those who profess the name of Christ\n are so much under the power of sin. It is one of the great\n discouragements of the missionary work. Yet God is able to\n keep even such weak ones as these unto eternal life.\n\nUnder date of September 15, 1866, he told of a worse case of discipline:\n\n We had a hearing with the accused, and gave him notice that\n he would be tried, and of the charges and witnesses. We wrote\n to Mr. Corbett at Chefoo, to get depositions for us. He did\n so, and we met, and tried him. The evidence was sufficient\n to convict him of lying, and of forging an account, and of\n adultery; notwithstanding, he denied it all, endeavoring to\n explain away such evidence as he was forced to admit. We\n decided to excommunicate him, and it was done two weeks ago.\n\nIt must not be supposed that there was a great deal of such discouraging\nwork; as a rule, the native Christians tried to live correct lives; and\nthe worst that could be said of most of them at those early dates was\nthat they were \u201cbabes\u201d in Christ. But we cannot appreciate what the\nmissionary needs to do as to the professed converts unless we look at\nthis depressing phase. Besides, incidentally we are thus shown one of\nthe methods by which the native Christians were trained in the conduct\nof their own churches. Each case is dealt with just as is required by\nthe regulations of the denomination with which the church is associated.\nThe same formalities and processes are employed as if in the United\nStates; the same fairness and fullness of investigation, with witnesses\nand hearing of the accused; and the same effort neither to fall below\nnor to exceed what justice and charity combined demand for the good of\nthe individual and of the organization as a whole. As to this, in these\nparticular cases no exceptional credit can be claimed for Dr. Mateer; but\nwe can be perfectly sure that it commanded his hearty approbation. This\nwas a practical school also in which was called into exercise a quality\nof which a young missionary, and especially a man of his type, seldom\nhas enough,\u2014that of mingling a firm adherence to truth and righteousness\nwith a forbearing kindness that will not break a bruised reed or quench\nthe smoking flax. Gradually this became so characteristic of him that the\nboys in his school and the Christians in the churches were accustomed to\ncome to him and unburden themselves not only of sorrows, but of faults,\nwith no expectation that he would condone wrong or shield them from its\njust consequences, but confident that he would feel for them, and help\nthem if he could. Nor was it to these classes alone that his heart and\nhands opened. As they came to know him better, the professor in the\nimperial university sought his advice and the coolie turned to him in his\nneed; and never in vain.\n\nBut there was a brighter side to the experience of those early days.\nSeveral of the boys in the school were converted. What joy this afforded,\nwe who live in Christian lands cannot appreciate. The little church at\nTengchow also steadily moved forward in those early days of its history.\nIn 1869 it had risen to about fifty members, and the attendance was such\nthat a building solely for its services became indispensable; and in due\ntime an appropriation was made by the Board of Missions, first for a lot,\nand soon after for a house of worship. Pastor Mills was then absent, and\nby appointment of presbytery Dr. Mateer acted as stated supply. As such,\nhaving first bought the lot, he made an appeal to the Board for the new\nedifice, saying:\n\n We hold our services in the boys\u2019 schoolroom, which has been\n kept inconveniently large, for this very purpose. It is the\n only room that will seat all, and it will not do it sometimes.\n The desks have to be carried out every Sabbath; and all the\n benches, chairs, and so forth, about the establishment carried\n in, making a decidedly nondescript collection. Aside from the\n inconvenience, two serious drawbacks are felt. One is the\n want of sacred associations about the place. All heathen are\n wanting in reverence, and no small part of what they need is\n to have this idea instilled into their minds. We greatly need\n in this work a house especially devoted to the worship of God.\n The other drawback is the disorganizing effect the Sabbath and\n week-day services have on the school. The room being in the\n midst of the premises, it is impossible to prevent a large\n amount of lounging, gossiping, and so forth, in the boys\u2019 room\n before the service begins. The superintendent feels that it is\n a very serious drawback to the school, as well as an injury to\n the native Christians.\n\nAny American who is familiar with students and their habits will perceive\nthat in this matter Chinese young men and boys are very much like those\nof our own land.\n\nIn that appeal there is another paragraph that deserves transcription\nhere:\n\n It has been said that the Christians in heathen lands ought to\n build their own churches, but this is impossible in the early\n stages of the work, especially at the center of operations,\n where the foreigner preaches and teaches in person, and where a\n large part of his hearers are often from a distance. The church\n at this place gives character to the whole work in the eyes\n of the people at large, and must of necessity differ in many\n respects from churches in small places presided over by native\n pastors. Concerning these last we have already taken a decided\n stand, requiring the natives to help themselves to a great\n extent.\n\nDr. Mateer was appointed by the presbytery to serve a second year as\nstated supply of the Tengchow church; and had it not been that he was\ncalled in 1870 to Shanghai to take charge of the mission press, he no\ndoubt would have given his personal supervision to the erection of the\nnew house of worship. It was built during his absence, and when he came\nback he rejoiced in its completion. At the death of Mills in 1895, Dr.\nMateer was chosen pastor, and was installed as such,\u2014a position he was\nable to assume because he had found in Mr. Hayes a substitute for himself\nin the presidency of the college. He remained pastor until he went with\nthe college to Wei Hsien. Dr. Hayes had already for years worked quietly\nand efficiently in the school, under the presidency of Dr. Mateer,\nand had shown himself to be a man of exceptional ability and energy\u2014a\nman after Dr. Mateer\u2019s own heart. After he assumed the presidency Dr.\nMateer was still to assist in the college, but he was so often absent or\notherwise engaged that both the college and the preaching were largely in\nthe hands of Dr. Hayes.\n\nAccording to the \u201cForm of Government\u201d of the Presbyterian Church in the\nUnited States of America, when a \u201ccall\u201d is made out for a pastor it must\nbe certified to have been voted by a majority of the people entitled\nto exercise this right; and it must fill the blank in the following\nclause: \u201cAnd that you may be free from worldly cares and avocations,\nwe hereby promise and oblige ourselves to pay to you the sum of ... in\nregular quarterly (or half-yearly, or yearly) payments during the time\nof your being and continuing the regular pastor of this church.\u201d In the\nsettling of native pastors over the Chinese churches scattered through\nthe country, the filling of that blank, and the actual subscription of\nthe funds needed for this and other expenses of the organization, usually\nrequire the presence of a missionary and of his earnest stimulation\nand guidance. Sometimes the pledges are very liberal, if estimated by\nability of the members; and sometimes it is with great difficulty that\nthey are brought up to the measure of their duty. The salaries, however,\nare almost incredibly small, and even according to Chinese standards are\nscarcely sufficient for a livelihood. We need to keep this state of\nthings in mind in order to appreciate the amount that was inserted in\nthe blank in Dr. Mateer\u2019s call to the pastorate of the Tengchow church.\nIn reporting the entire procedure to the Board of Missions, he said:\n\u201cThe church in Tengchow in calling me for their pastor promised a salary\nof cash amounting to fifty dollars, which is to be used to employ an\nevangelist whom I am to select and direct.\u201d Of course, he continued to\nreceive his own pay as a missionary from the funds of the Board. The\nfifty dollars was probably a creditable amount, as contributed by the\nnative members out of their narrow means; and as a salary for a native\nevangelist it was at least a fair average.\n\nWhen reporting this pastorate to the Board of Missions, Dr. Mateer said,\n\u201cThis is work that I love to do, especially the preaching.\u201d When doing\nthe work of an evangelist among the people at large, sermonizing could\nhave no place. Even formal addresses of any sort were rarely practicable.\nThe best that the missionary can do when itinerating is to get attention\nby any legitimate means, and then to talk, and hear and answer questions,\nand bear with all sorts of irrelevancies and interruptions. But when a\nchurch is organized, a sermon, consisting of a passage of Scripture and\na discourse built upon it, is just as much in place as it is in one of\nour home houses of worship on the Sabbath. It was to the opportunity for\nthat form of service that he refers when he expressed his pleasure in\nthe pastorate. In this also he greatly excelled. Some who knew him most\nintimately, and who appreciated fully his great worth and efficiency,\ndid not regard him as a very eloquent preacher in an English pulpit. He\ncommanded the attention of his audience by his strong, clear, earnest\npresentation of the great religious truths which he believed with all\nhis soul. The personality and consecration of the man were a tremendous\nforce when he stood in a pulpit in his own land; what he lacked was the\nability which some speakers possess of carrying his audience with him,\nalmost irrespective of the thoughts to which they give utterance. But in\npreaching to the Chinese he took on an extraordinary effectiveness. There\nwas in the man, in the movement of his thought, in his mastery of the\nlanguage, in the intense earnestness of his delivery, in the substance of\nhis sermons and addresses, much that captivated the native Christians,\nand made others bow before his power. Mr. Baller, who had heard him\nfrequently, says: \u201cHis sermons were logical, direct, a unit in thought\nand enriched with a copious vocabulary and illustrations. His points were\nusually put from the Chinese point of view, so that a foreign air was\nconspicuously absent.\u201d To this day some of his addresses are recalled as\ntriumphs of real eloquence of speech; perhaps the most notable of these\nbeing an address which he delivered at the opening of the English Baptist\nInstitution at Tsinan fu, in 1907. It was an opportunity such as never\nbefore had come to a missionary in Shantung,\u2014all the highest officials\nof the province, and half-a-hundred others of lesser degree, being\npresent. He took as his theme \u201cThe Importance of an Upright Character,\u201d\nand more than rose to the height of the occasion. One of his most\nmemorable sermons was delivered before a convention of some three hundred\nwomen gathered at Wei Hsien from the native church members of that region.\n\nHis ministry at Tengchow was fruitful of great good in many ways. One of\nthese was the growth of the church by the conversion of the natives. Just\nbefore he removed to Wei Hsien, he recorded the fact that during all his\npastorate there had not been one of the quarterly communions at which\nthere were no additions. The beginning of his pastorate was signalized\nby the accession of eighteen,\u2014eight being from the college and six from\nthe girls\u2019 school. Its close was marked by an accession of twenty-six, of\nwhom twenty-one were baptized, the largest number up to that date ever\nreceiving that sacrament, at the same time, in the Tengchow church. Only\none was from the college, all the rest having come in through the labors\nof two associates in the station, Miss Snodgrass and Dr. Seymour.\n\nJust as soon as by evangelistic itineration and other means converts\nwere made in the neighboring region, outside of Tengchow, it became\nnecessary for the missionaries to look after these scattered sheep in the\nwilderness; and for a good while a large share of that work fell to Dr.\nMateer and his wife. In fact, it had been partly through their labors,\ndirect or indirect, that these converts had been won, and therefore\nthey felt it especially a duty to care for their nurture. That, of\ncourse, involved a large variety of efforts. In the earlier years these\nfrequently consisted in part of interposition, so far as it was wise and\npracticable to shield native Christians from gross wrongs to which they\nwere exposed. The hatred of the rulers and of most of the people for\nforeigners and the foreign religion was bitter. Even at Tengchow the very\ntombstones in the little cemetery where the missionaries buried their\ndead were repeatedly broken,\u2014an act regarded by the Chinese as the most\ngross and cowardly insult that can be offered to a living man; yet it was\nslow work to secure from the officials protection, or justice as to the\ncriminals. The case of Miao, of Chow Yuen, a district capital situated\nfifty miles to the southwest of Tengchow, is specially notable. Early\nin 1869 the Mateers and Margaret Brown, with a Chinese assistant, went\nto itinerate, and on the way they visited him. When converted out in\nhis native district of Tsi Hea, he immediately began to endeavor to win\nothers to Christ. So he sent word to his clansmen and friends that he had\nimportant business with them, and invited them to come to his house. This\noccurred while the missionaries were there, and they witnessed what took\nplace at the gathering. Miao made a reception speech, in which he said:\n\u201cI have sent for you, and you have come. I said nothing in my letter, but\nfor you to come, and that I had an important matter to tell you. It is\nthis: I have led you in serving the Devil. There was nothing I would not\ndare to do, and nothing that you would not care to follow me in doing.\nI have now found something better. We have often engaged in doubtful\nenterprises. I have now found something that there is no doubt about: it\nis thoroughly reliable, resting on the strongest possible proof. I have\nleft the service of the Devil, and I want you to leave it. As I have led\nyou in his service, I want now to lead you out of it. I want to show\nyou the way and to present you to the true God. Examine for yourselves;\nsearch to the bottom; and know that I am not deceiving myself nor you.\nThis doctrine of Jesus is absolute and unmistakable truth.\u201d In writing\nof this, Dr. Mateer adds: \u201cThese words were spoken with a fervor and an\nemphasis that brought tears to my eyes. I thanked God for them, while I\nprayed that they might not be in vain. Rice was then brought, and this\nyoung Christian sat down with his friends and asked a blessing,\u2014the first\nthey had ever heard,\u2014praying for them directly and specifically. The\nwhole village came to hear, with many from neighboring villages. Save\nthe time occupied in eating, we preached to them nearly all day, keeping\nit up till far into the night. The ladies also had crowds to hear them\nall the time.\u201d It was not long until Miao, partly of himself and partly\nat the instigation of other native Christians, came to Chow Yuen, with\nthe determination to establish himself there as a preacher of his new\nfaith. In August of the same year the Mateers again visited him, this\ntime at his new place of residence, and did what they could to help him\nin his chosen work. His education and character were such as to promise\nwell. Following the usual custom of a Chinaman when about to start a new\nenterprise, a feast was made; some eighteen guests responded favorably\nto invitations to be present, and at the close of the entertainment a\nsort of meeting was held, and Dr. Mateer made a brief statement of what\nChristianity is, what was the nature of this enterprise, and what was\nMiao\u2019s relation to it. He told the audience that the mission would pay\nthe rental of a small chapel, but that Miao would work gratuitously,\nexcept so far as he might be assisted by the voluntary contributions of\nhis friends. All the Chinese present, with the exception of two members\nfrom the Tengchow church, were non-Christians, yet the guests subscribed\na sum sufficient to meet the expenses of the feast and to leave a surplus\nto go toward the support of the preacher. Some of his friends had already\npromised to help to support him, and had presented him with a fine\nsignboard to hang in front of the room he occupied as his chapel, and\nanother for the back of the stand where he stood when speaking. All this\nwas so exceptional and so hopeful that Dr. Mateer came away rejoicing in\nthis apparent readiness even of the unevangelized to welcome the gospel.\nBut here begins quite another turn of the story. Miao had continued but\na few days at this work when a couple of constables seized him and the\nman from whom he had rented the room for a chapel, and hurried them to\nthe office of the magistrate. The owner was accused of having rented a\nhouse to \u201cforeign devils,\u201d and was forthwith beaten most cruelly to the\nextent of two hundred blows. Miao was then called, charged with evil\ndoctrines and practices, such as kneeling in prayer and calling on unseen\npersonages. In reply he rehearsed the chief truths of the gospel, and in\nanswer to a taunting question, whether Jesus could suffer for him, he\nsaid that he so believed. The magistrate ordered him to be beaten fifty\nblows with the large bamboo and sent him chained to prison. That evening\nhe had a second hearing, and the next morning he was marched off, with a\nchain about his neck and his hands bound together, thirty miles away to\nTsi Hea, but comforting himself in his weariness and suffering by singing\nChristian hymns. The morning after his arrival he was called before the\nmagistrate and confronted with charges forwarded from Chow Yuen\u2014such as\nbeing in league with foreign devils, using false pretense of preaching\nreligion, seducing the people by artful works, being possessed of secret\nmagical arts, taking forcible possession of a house, influencing the\npeople to form combinations dangerous to the state, and a whole rigmarole\nof offenses, big and little. He was commanded to confess, and when he\nwould not, he was first beaten three hundred blows with the small bamboo,\nand then he received a hundred more in the face. The second day he was\nrecalled, and when he still would not confess he was again beaten. The\nmagistrate being especially searching in his inquiry as to how Christians\nprayed, and as to what they prayed for, Miao as the best explanation\nhe could give kneeled and prayed in his presence. At this stage of the\naffair Dr. Mateer, having been informed of the situation, arrived, and\nsecured a promise from the officer that he would go no further until he\nheard from his superiors; and on his return to Tengchow he reported the\ncase to the American consul at Chefoo, though with little hope that under\nthe prevalent policy of the American government anything would be done.\nIn an article in \u201cThe Presbyterian Banner\u201d he said: \u201cI shall not soon\nforget my feelings when I saw this Christian brother with a chain round\nhis neck and his body disfigured with bruises for the gospel\u2019s sake.\nI could not restrain the tears as I looked him in the face. It is one\nthing to talk of persecution a thousand miles away, and another to see it\nface to face. I assured him of our sympathy and unceasing prayers in his\nbehalf, and that I would do my utmost to rescue him.... Numbers of the\nnative Christians have boldly visited Miao in prison, and some of them\neven prayed with him. All have been stirred up to pray as never before,\nand made to feel that their only hope is that God will interpose on their\nbehalf. This young Christian has been guilty of no offense against the\nstate. The charges preferred by the officers are pure fabrications, the\ninventions of malice and hatred to the truth, and would never have been\nentertained by the officer had he not been only too glad of a pretext to\nget the Christians in his power.\u201d So soon as possible Dr. Mateer went to\nChefoo to see the American consul, and on his return home he learned that\nMiao had been released, under some restrictions as to his whereabouts;\nbut no amends were made for the gross injustice done.\n\nThere was still a long sequel to this affair. After the period which\nhas since intervened the story seems to be unworthy of the dignity of a\nfull recital here; though it might be interesting to some as an example\nof obstacles encountered by the work of missions away from places where\nforeign influences are commonly powerful enough to prevent them. A\ncondensed account must suffice. It should be remembered that it was in\nAugust that the persecution of Miao occurred. The purpose of it, at least\nin part, was to shut Christianity out of Chow Yuen. To allow this would\nhave been to inflict on that cause a blow that probably would encourage\nopposition of a like kind in other localities; and therefore it evidently\nwas the duty of the missionaries to prevent it if practicable. Especially\nwas it true of Dr. Mateer that he was too resolute a spirit to yield to\nsuch a violation of rights secured under treaty with foreign governments.\nConsequently late in November he went again to Chow Yuen, in order to\nsecure a house that could be used as a chapel; for in the interval\nbetween these visits the room previously occupied for this purpose had\ngone into other hands and was no longer available. The magistrate also\nhad been promoted, and another filled his place. Dr. Mateer soon found\na house, rented it, and secured the approval of the magistrate. Then\nfollowed a series of chicanery, brutality, deceit, low cunning, and petty\nmeanness running over several months, and compelling two more trips by\nhim in the dead of winter. Once he took with him two other missionaries,\nand they went armed with pistols in order to defend themselves if\nattacked. The old woman who rented the room to him, and who in so doing\nhad been animated by ill will to her relatives and by a desire for money,\nwas seized and beaten by members of her own family, and likewise by the\nmagistrate. The same gang beat the middleman who, according to Chinese\ncustom, had negotiated the bargain. The whole rental was only about ten\ndollars. Petty and miserable as the affair was, it had its ludicrous\nfeatures; as, for instance, when Dr. Mateer, in his determination not\nto be ousted from the house until some satisfactory arrangement was\nmade, picked up the old woman and set her down on the outside, where she\nexhausted her strength in billingsgate. It was not until the beginning of\nMarch that the trouble at Chow Yuen was finally ended. The issue was a\ntriumph in the main for the missionary; another acceptable room was, with\nthe official approval of the magistrate, secured for a chapel, and the\nmoney that had been paid for the rental of the other house was refunded.\nThe best of all was the fate that overtook the man who had been the\nringleader in the long series of wrongdoings toward the representatives\nof Christianity. The magistrate did his best to shield this fellow, but\nat last he had to yield. He called the man into his presence, and this\nis what was done, as related by Dr. Mateer: \u201cHe was required to knock\nhead to me; and then I took him in hand, and though he tried to evade,\nI compelled him to own up to his sin, and to make a distinct promise of\namendment; and then the substance of what he said was put on record by\nthe clerk, and a copy was given me.\u201d It all illustrates what a determined\nman who has right on his side may accomplish even in an out-of-the-way\ncity in China. It is characteristic of Dr. Mateer that in one place in\nhis Journal during this wearisome affair he says that if it were not for\nhis school he would go to Chow Yuen, and stay there until a settlement is\nreached. Perhaps in later years Dr. Mateer and his associates would have\nregarded it as inexpedient to go so far in the defense of a convert; but\nin those earlier days this was a battle for toleration of Christianity,\nand not a mere struggle to right the wrongs of an individual convert.\n\nOther incidents of the dark side to the work of caring for the native\nChristians might be given, but I have thought it best to turn chiefly to\nthe brighter phases of the subject. Of these there were many, and they\nwere of many kinds; but they were of so unsensational a character as\nnot now to be likely to awaken much interest in the reader. They belong\nto the day of small things for the gospel in China; but let them not be\ndespised; by and by they will be treasured, if the record of them is\npreserved, as the beginnings of the evangelization of Shantung. When they\noccurred they brought the joy of approaching harvest. For example, in\nconnection with that last trip out to Chow Yuen, Dr. Mateer wrote:\n\n As it was Saturday, however, I felt I must try if possible to\n get home, so that the Sabbath service should not be neglected,\n when so many inquirers were waiting to hear. I found not only\n the ten who had come from Ping Tu, but some seven or eight\n from other places. I had, of course, to commence teaching them\n at once. I gave the half of each day to them, and continued\n it without interruption for three weeks. They gave diligent\n attention to the business of learning. At the same time Mrs.\n Mateer had a class of women who were seeking admission to the\n church. Last week all who were considered ready were examined\n by the session and passed upon. Twenty were received,\u2014fifteen\n men and five women. They were all baptized together yesterday.\n It was a new sight in Tengchow, to see such a number standing\n up at once to profess the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that we are\n all grateful as we should be for such a signal token of God\u2019s\n presence with us. Our hearts are enlarged to look for still\n greater things in the future. Our schoolroom was packed to its\n utmost capacity, so that when the twenty rose up to present\n themselves for baptism, it was with great difficulty that room\n could be made for them to stand. Let us hope that the day of\n small things is past in this part of China. Chinese officials\n may persecute us, and foreign governments ignore us, but they\n cannot restrain God\u2019s Spirit. There are still a number of\n inquirers.\n\nIn the earlier part of his missionary life he frequently made trips\nof greater or less length to various places in the province to help\nthe native Christians by organizing churches, assisting their pastors,\nholding services, stimulating to work for the gospel, administering the\nsacraments, and in every other available manner forwarding the cause of\nChristianity. Hospitality was gladly extended by the people; and it was\nas gladly accepted, though not infrequently it introduced to quarters\nthat were odd and even uncanny. Dr. Mateer described guest rooms in which\nhe was entertained, and which were a strange combination of granary,\nreceptacle for lumber, bedchamber and \u201cparlor,\u201d crammed with all sorts of\ncorresponding articles, not excepting a coffin conspicuously displayed in\na corner. However, in his own home he lived without ostentation; and on\nhis journeys he did not find it hard to adapt himself to the customs of\nhis native entertainers.\n\nIn later years, though for the most part he left itinerations to the\nyounger members of the mission, yet he did not entirely discontinue them.\nIn February, 1896, for instance, he wrote to the secretaries of the Board\nof Missions:\n\n Three weeks ago Mrs. Mateer and I returned from a trip of\n seventeen days to the district of Lai Chow, eighty miles\n distant. Our friends protested against our taking such a trip\n in the winter and in our state of health. We acted on our\n own judgment, however, and went, and are benefited rather\n than otherwise. The trip was exceedingly profitable. We\n confined our visit to two stations, holding special services\n each day\u2014morning, afternoon and night. I received eight to\n the church. At one station a new church was organized, with\n twenty-six members, a branch from the older station. At this\n older station there are many inquirers, and the work is in\n a very hopeful condition, very largely as the result of the\n influence of a young man, an undergraduate of the college, who\n has been there teaching a day school for three years.\n\nOne of his last journeys of this sort was made not long before his\nseventieth birthday, and the following is his record concerning it:\n\n From Tengchow we came overland to Wei Hsien in shentzas. I made\n it a point to spend the Sabbath at Lai Chow fu, and went out\n and preached morning and afternoon to our little church at Ning\n Kie, which is three miles from the city. Dr. Mills and I were\n instrumental in founding the station some thirty-six years ago.\n It has grown very slowly. Mrs. Mateer had visited it frequently\n in subsequent years, and had taught the women, and there are\n now a goodly proportion of women in the church. In the earlier\n years evangelists were sent to labor in the region, and to\n preach to and teach the people. In those days opposition to the\n gospel was very great, and progress was very slow. In later\n years, owing to change of policy, evangelists were not sent,\n save on an occasional visit, and the church declined, though\n it still lived. A few years ago special efforts were made, and\n the church increased somewhat, and finally a native pastor was\n settled over this church, in connection with another about\n fifteen miles away. Before the expiration of the first year the\n Boxer uprising brought the arrest and beating of the pastor and\n much persecution to the church. The pastor did not return. The\n church was discouraged, and the pastor was called elsewhere. If\n we now had an available man, he could be located at Lai Chow\n fu; but there is no man.\n\nHis last country trip was made some time in December, 1907. This is the\nrecord: \u201cTwo weeks ago I went down on the railroad to Kiaochow to assist\nour native pastors in a meeting for the women. There were about seventy\nthere from various other stations, besides those in town. The meeting\nwas most interesting, and must do a great deal of good. It was projected\nand managed by the native pastors on their own account. There were five\nnative pastors present, and helping in the meeting. Many women spoke and\nsome made set addresses.\u201d There were approximately one hundred and fifty\npresent, many of whom walked miles to be there. His own speech was a plea\nto the mothers to consecrate their sons to the ministry, and the tears\nran down his cheeks as, while making it, he spoke of his own mother.\n\nThe reader needs to bear in mind that Dr. Mateer did not operate as an\nindependent individual, but as the agent of a thoroughly organized\nsystem, in conformity with the government of the Presbyterian Church\nand the regulations of the Board of Missions. Of these agencies there\nis one that lies wholly outside the constitutional provisions of the\ndenomination, but that is approved as a part of the machinery needed for\nthe foreign field. This is what is called the \u201cmission.\u201d Its members\nare the missionaries sent out by the Board and residing near enough to\nmeet together for the transaction of business. To the mission belong\nsuch duties as to locate members and appoint their work, to make annual\nestimates of funds and re\u00ebnforcements needed, to receive the money from\nthe Board, and to apply it, according to directions, general or specific.\nDr. Mateer had much to do with inaugurating the \u201cexecutive committees\u201d\nnow so widely adopted by the missions. Many questions affecting the\noperations sustained through the Board, of necessity came before the\nannual mission meeting for discussion and action. Lines of policy as to\nconduct of the work out in the field, if involving important features,\nare left for decision to the Board; but full and frank consideration\nof them by the members of the missions, either when in session or as\nindividuals, is usually welcomed.\n\nAn important discussion in which Dr. Nevius and Dr. Mateer were\nespecially conspicuous arose on their field over a theory advanced by\nDr. Nevius in his \u201cMethods of Missions.\u201d It was no personal controversy,\nthough, of course, the respective personalities of two such strong,\npositive, earnest men inevitably tinged it. The question at issue\nmainly concerned the pecuniary support of native Christians as agents\nin the evangelization of their own people. No attempt need here be made\nto state with fullness the positions taken or the arguments employed.\nBroadly, the policy advocated by Dr. Nevius was that the main work of\nevangelization should be thrown on the native Christians, and that those\nwho could read and understand \u201cthe doctrine\u201d should voluntarily and\nwithout compensation instruct those who could not; while the foreign\nmissionaries, paid as heretofore by the Board, should give themselves\nto a general superintendence and to periodical examinations of the\ncatechumens and scholars taught by the native church members. Dr.\nMateer was just as earnestly as Dr. Nevius in favor of utilizing native\nChristians in the evangelization of their people, and was just as eager\nto develop among them self-support, but he was thoroughly convinced that\nconditions were not ripe in China for the radical policy of withholding\nfrom native laborers, as a rule, all pay from the funds of the Board;\nand that an attempt of this sort before the proper time would result in\nserious disaster. This brief statement will suffice to show that it was\na question over which wise and good men might readily differ, and that\nthe fact that they discussed it earnestly and fully is a sign of healthy\nlife. It seems to me to be a problem that cannot be satisfactorily\nsolved by theoretical argument, or by votes in a mission, or by even\nthe decision of a board. The only crucial test is actual trial. All that\nneeds to be said further as to this discussion is, on the one hand, to\nemphasize the fact that Dr. Mateer, in his care of the native Christians\nand churches, often labored hard and long to bring up congregations, in\nthe support of their pastors and evangelists, to the measure of giving\nfor which they were able; and, on the other hand, that he thought he\nsaw in certain fields evidence of the bad consequences of the policy he\ncontroverted.\n\nUntil it is desirable to organize the churches of a given foreign\nmissionary field, after the order prescribed by the Presbyterian form\nof government, the mission must continue in the entire supervision;\nbut it is the practice, just as soon as the way is open, to set up\npresbyteries and synods, and to commit to them those matters which\nbelong to their jurisdiction. In these bodies ruling elders, as the\nofficial lay representatives of the native churches, and all the native\nordained ministers sit as the equals in authority with the ordained\nforeign ministers. The Board, unless in exceptional cases, has not been\naccustomed to turn over to them the administration of the funds forwarded\nfor use on the field, or such matters as concern the policy and plans\nit adopts; but all that pertains to the organization of churches, the\nsettlement of pastors, the acceptance of candidates for the ministry and\ntheir licensure and ordination, and the administration of discipline\nfor the ministers, with complaints and appeals from the churches, is\nleft to the presbytery. Of course, as converts and churches and native\nministers increase, the tendency is to put them, as the majority, in\ncontrol in these bodies. It is a system which opens the way for some\ndangers; nevertheless it is, in the nature of the situation, the only\ncourse to pursue, and unless abused, it has a most wholesome influence on\nthe native Christians. It brings home to them the fact that, equally with\nthe foreigners who have given them the gospel, they have privileges as\nmembers of the church of Christ, and also their responsibility as such.\nDr. Mateer believed with all his heart in the setting up of these regular\necclesiastical bodies so soon as possible. Late in November, 1865, he\nwas one of the little band who organized the Presbytery of Shantung, at\na meeting held at Chefoo, when as yet there were no native ministers to\ntake part. The next meeting was held the following October at Tengchow,\nand he was elected moderator and stated clerk. It is evident that if a\npresbytery is to be of any considerable value to a native member the\nlanguage used must be his own, not that of the foreign missionary. With\nthis understanding, the following from Dr. Mateer\u2019s Journal concerning\nthat meeting can be better appreciated: \u201cIt was voted that hereafter all\nthe proceedings be in Chinese, and at it we went. It was very awkward at\nfirst, making and putting motions, but after some practice we got along\nbetter. We had a very pleasant meeting indeed. One of the chief items of\nbusiness was a call presented by the native church for Mr. Mills, which\nhe accepted, and we arranged for his installation.\u201d\n\nIt was ten years before such progress had been made out in the province\nthat it was practicable to hold a presbytery in the rural regions. In\na letter to his mother, dated December 24, 1877, Dr. Mateer said: \u201cThe\nmeeting of the presbytery in the country marks an era in our progress in\nShantung. Many of the Christians from all the region were assembled, and\nevidently got much good from what they saw and heard. Our presbytery is\ngetting to be an important event, and a power among the native churches.\nOur desire is that it may be more and more felt.\u201d Sometimes the meetings\nwere saddened by the cases of discipline, after a native ministry began\nto be enrolled; but if the case demanded it, even deposition from the\nsacred office and excommunication from the church were imposed, and the\nnative elders and ministers were sturdy supporters of adequate sentences.\nIn contrast with this was the joy of receiving candidates for the\nministry, and sending them out to preach the gospel as they seemed to be\nready for that work. Occasionally a man up in years, and without thorough\neducation, but apparently qualified to be effective as a preacher, is\nauthorized by the presbytery to \u201cexercise his gifts\u201d; but usually those\nwho offer themselves are young men who after long courses of study, and\ncareful examination, are sent on this errand. For instance, in his report\nfor 1874 as stated clerk, Dr. Mateer said:\n\n Considerable time was taken up in the presbytery by the\n examination of candidates for the ministry. These were\n thorough, and so far as they went were sustained with great\n credit. One candidate was licensed to preach. He is not young,\n as licentiates usually are, being about sixty. He is, however,\n full of zeal for God, and may yet do good service. One of our\n licentiates was ordained as an evangelist. This is the first\n native preacher who has been ordained by this presbytery. It\n marks a new step in our work, one for which we are devoutly\n thankful to God. We have no more important work to do than to\n raise up well-qualified natives to preach the gospel to their\n countrymen. We trust this one will soon be followed by others.\n\nDr. Mateer was careful to treat the native elders and ministers as the\nequals of the foreign missionaries, in the ecclesiastical bodies and\nelsewhere; and as a consequence he commanded their confidence, so that\nhe was able sometimes to render important services by healing threatened\ndissensions. This, as might be supposed, was especially true of his own\n\u201cboys,\u201d who had as students learned to revere both his judgment and his\nfraternal spirit.\n\nIn writing to \u201cThe Presbyterian Banner\u201d concerning the meeting of the\nPresbytery of Shantung, in September, 1869, he said: \u201cThe matter of\nthe formation of a synod in China was discussed, and a circular letter\nwas prepared, and ordered to be sent to the other presbyteries urging\nthe propriety of such a step at once. It is now twenty years since the\nGeneral Assembly took action looking toward and opening the way for the\nformation of this synod.\u201d That body held its first meeting at Shanghai\nin October of the following year. The synod in the Presbyterian system\nis the next higher organization above the presbytery, and consists of\nall the ordained ministers of a larger district already containing three\nor more presbyteries, and of ruling elders representing the churches;\nor it may be constituted from delegates appointed by the presbyteries\non a fixed basis. It has the right to review all presbyterial action,\nand also has authority to originate measures within its constitutional\njurisdiction. Among the missionaries in China at that time there was a\nconsiderable number who regarded the synod as a sort of fifth wheel to\nthe coach, and as not likely to be capable of rendering a service worth\nits cost in money and time. Under indirect form this phase of the subject\ncame into warm and protracted debate in that first meeting, and may be\nsaid to have been fought out to a settlement. Dr. Mateer was a strong\nbeliever in the importance of the synod, and in debate, and in other\nways, he threw the whole weight of his influence avowedly on that side\nof the issue, and helped to win. Other problems were of such a character\nas also to arouse his interest to a high degree. Ought the language used\nin the body to be limited to the Mandarin or ought it to include local\ndialects? On this question, of course, he stood for the Mandarin. Ought\na theological institution to be established; and if so, where? As to\nthis, a sort of compromise was effected, and an appeal was sent home for\na share in the \u201cMemorial Fund,\u201d to establish in China one or more such\nschools, but leaving location to be determined later. The synod consisted\nof twenty-four members, ten of them being foreign missionaries, and\nfourteen native pastors and elders. The proceedings had to be translated,\nduring the various sessions, into several different dialects, in order\nto be made intelligible to all. The body sat for ten days, and then\nadjourned to assemble the next year at Ningpo. It was in connection with\nDr. Mateer\u2019s attendance at Shanghai that he was induced to take temporary\ncharge of the mission press.\n\nThe second meeting of the synod was held at Ningpo. Dr. Mateer was chosen\nmoderator. Writing in his Journal concerning that meeting, he said:\n\n The great difficulty of the synod was the language, and this\n was indeed no small embarrassment. As I was moderator, I felt\n it more than any other. It was all I could do to tell what\n was going on at times. If it had not been for the practice\n I had through the summer in Shanghai, I should have been\n quite lost. The most interesting discussion we had was on the\n qualifications of candidates for the ministry. The native\n members insisted that they must learn English, and the foreign\n members opposed. The native brethren finally carried their\n point. The discussion at some points of its progress was really\n exciting, and not a little amusing.\n\nThe next meeting was held at Chefoo, and as the retiring moderator he\npreached the opening sermon. In his Journal he says: \u201cI had prepared the\nsermon quite carefully, having written it all out, and so had to read it.\nIt is the only sermon I ever wrote out fully in Chinese. I found reading\na Chinese sermon very awkward and embarrassing.\u201d A committee of which\nhe was a member had been appointed by the preceding meeting at Ningpo\nto prepare for deliberative bodies a compendium of technical terms,\u2014for\nthe lack of which in Chinese they had been seriously hindered,\u2014and also\nto formulate rules of order. They made a report which was approved, and\nauthorized for use in the synod and in the presbyteries.\n\nOne other excerpt from the records of his pen must conclude the story\nof his work in the synod, though it was continued down through his\nsubsequent years. He said:\n\n Delegates, officially deputed, were present from the mission\n of the Presbyterian Church South; also from the mission of\n the United Presbyterian Church in Scotland; and from the\n independent Presbytery of Amoy, composed of the missions of the\n American Dutch Reformed and the English Presbyterian Churches\n combined. They all expressed a desire for mutual co\u00f6peration,\n and for the ultimate union of all the Presbyterians in China\n into one Chinese Presbyterian Church. A committee was appointed\n to correspond with the various Presbyterian bodies or missions\n in China, and prepare the way for an ultimate union. This union\n may not be accomplished for many years, but that it should come\n as soon as practicable seems to be the almost unanimous opinion\n of all concerned.\n\nIn 1907 one long advance was made toward the realization of the desire\nso earnestly expressed by that synod a third of a century before.\nAfter preliminary consultations extending over a number of years,\nrepresentatives of eight distinct missions, operated by as many different\nPresbyterian denominations of Europe and America, met together, and\nconstituted \u201cThe Presbyterian Church of China,\u201d and also offered a\nwelcome to any other Chinese churches of like faith and practice to\nunite with them. Dr. Mateer thought that on account of the size of China\nand the consequent expense of travel and variety of speech, it would be\nbetter to make two ecclesiastical bodies out of this material. Belonging\nto the new organization, there were, besides the foreign missionaries,\nabout a hundred native ministers, and forty thousand communicants. Dr.\nMateer was not a member of the body which met to declare and organize\nthis union; but, being present, he was invited to sit as a corresponding\nmember. Under the regulations of his American denomination, the names of\nordained foreign missionaries entering such new churches on the foreign\nfield as that just mentioned are enrolled in the minutes of the home\nGeneral Assembly on a separate list; and these ministers are entitled to\nbe received by the presbyteries without the examination required of those\nwho come from other denominations in foreign countries. This was the\necclesiastical status of Dr. Mateer when he died. He was a member of the\nPresbyterian Church in China; but he was still enrolled by the church of\nhis fathers.\n\nThe highest of all the organizations within the Presbyterian system is\nthe General Assembly. Its supervision, within constitutional limits,\nextends over synods, presbyteries, and individual ministers and churches,\nand it has other distinct functions pertaining to the entire denomination\nthroughout the world. Dr. Mateer was a commissioner from his presbytery\nin China to the Assembly which met in 1880 in New York; and again to\nthe Assembly which met in Los Angeles in 1903. In this last he was\nnominated for moderator, but failed of election, for reasons not in any\nway disparaging to him. It is well understood that an election to that\noffice is contingent on so many incidental things that the choice can\nseldom be foreseen. Local influences at Los Angeles were strongly thrown\nin favor of the successful candidate, meaning by these the representation\nin the Assembly and the Presbyterian visitors from all the Rocky Mountain\ncountry and from the Pacific coast. Besides, to many of the commissioners\nDr. Mateer was a man but slightly known. His work had been great, but\nit had also been quiet. Nor when on his furloughs had he in speaking to\nthe churches won renown by bursts of missionary eloquence. He made a\nvery creditable run for the moderatorship, and was beaten by a man of\nhigh standing in the church. He was appointed chairman of the Judicial\nCommittee.\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nTHE SHANTUNG COLLEGE\n\n \u201cWhile I live I cannot cease to have a vital interest in the\n college.... I cannot bear to be wholly away from the college to\n which my life has been given.\u201d\u2014LETTER TO SECRETARY BROWN, April\n 10, 1907.\n\n\nThe change of the name of the school which Dr. Mateer had founded and\nnurtured for nearly two decades was made at the formal request of the\nmembers of the Shantung Presbyterian Mission, sent to the Board under\ndate of February 14, 1881. It was accompanied by a \u201cplan,\u201d and that part\nof the paper was as follows:\n\n I. That the Tengchow Boys\u2019 High School be organized into and\n constituted a college, to be called \u201cThe College of Shantung.\u201d\n\n II. That it be carried on and governed by a board of six\n trustees nominated by the Shantung Mission, and confirmed by\n the Board of Foreign Missions.\n\n III. That the college embrace a six years\u2019 course of study\n in Chinese classics, general science, and Christian ethics;\n including particularly \u201cThe Four Books\u201d and \u201cFive Classics,\u201d\n Chinese history, with Biblical and general history,\n mathematics, physical, mental and moral sciences, evidences of\n Christianity, and so forth.\n\n IV. That the aim of the college be to educate thoroughly both\n in Chinese and western learning; and to do this from the\n standpoint and under the influence of Christianity.\n\n V. That the Chinese language be the medium of instruction\n throughout the course, English being taught only as an extra in\n special cases.\n\n VI. That there be connected with the college a department to\n prepare pupils to enter it.\n\n VII. That it be the ultimate design to make the students\n attending the college self-supporting; and that in order to do\n this the style of living be strictly on the Chinese plane; and\n that natives be trained as fast as possible to man the college\n with efficient professors.\n\n VIII. That the college be located for the present at Tengchow,\n leaving open the question of its removal to a more central\n position at some future time.\n\nFor this request the main reasons were added _in extenso_. They are too\nlong to be given here; but they can be, in the main, compressed into two\ngeneral statements. One of these was the need of a high-grade institution\nof this sort in northern China, and especially in the great province of\nShantung. It was conceded that Tengchow was not as central a location as\nthe college might ultimately require; but, being a literary city and a\ntreaty port, and as yet free from the special temptations and corrupting\ninfluences of a mixed foreign population, it at least temporarily had\nmarked advantages. The other general statement is that the institution\nwas already in fact a college by reason of its curriculum, and was\nequipped with buildings and outfit suitable for the advanced work which a\ncollege ought to do. In order that it might retain the position it had\nwon, and in order to secure endowment and reputation, the new name was\nvery desirable.\n\nIn a letter dated April 4, 1885, the mission appealed to the Board for\na new house to be built for the accommodation of the chief foreign\nassistant in the college, and incidentally gave a statement as to the\nplant. They said: \u201cAt a remarkably small cost to the Board it has come\ninto possession of plain but extensive premises, which are very well\nadapted to the purpose. With the small additions and changes proposed for\nthe current year it will have good boarding and dormitory accommodations\nfor eighty or ninety pupils, with roomy yards and courts. It has also\ntwo large schoolrooms, three recitation rooms, one large lecture room,\na philosophical apparatus room, a chemical apparatus room with a shop\nand storeroom. It has also a substantial stone observatory, costing one\nhundred and sixty dollars.\u201d In 1894, a grant for new buildings having\nbeen made by the Board, steps looking to their erection were taken.\nWriting of these, March 23, 1895, Dr. Mateer said, \u201cWe staked off the\nground to-day, and will make a start at once.\u201d That year, however, on\naccount of his duties on the committee for the revision of the Mandarin\ntranslation of the Scriptures, he laid down the presidency of the\ncollege, though he did not cease to assist in the instruction and in\nthe management of it. February 8, 1896, he wrote to the Board: \u201cThe\nheadship of the college is now in Mr. Hayes\u2019s hands, and with it the\nmajor part of the work. I am especially thankful that the interests of\nthe college are in the hands of a capable man; nevertheless, when I am\nin Tengchow a considerable share of the general responsibility still\nclings to me, and no inconsiderable share of the work, and Mrs. Mateer\u2019s\nshare is in nowise decreased. Our new buildings are finished, and are an\nunspeakable convenience. The wonder is how we did without them so long.\nThey have served to raise our college in the estimate of the people of\nthe whole city.\u201d These new buildings consisted of a main edifice of two\nstories, dormitories, and chemical laboratory. The old temple structure\nwas converted into a chapel and various alterations were made as to uses\nof the smaller houses. The original estimate of the outlay was eight\nthousand dollars. Whether this sum was sufficient is not stated in any\nof the records that have come into my hands; but inasmuch as nothing is\nsaid about a deficit, it is probable that there was none, except such as\nDr. Mateer and others on the ground met out of their own pockets. The new\nbuildings were supplied with steam heat and electric light from a house\nspecially fitted for the purpose, with a tall chimney that seemed as if a\nlandmark for all the region; and some other additions were subsequently\nmade by means of special contributions. Taken altogether, the plant, into\nthe possession of which the Tengchow College eventually came, though\nconsisting largely of houses that were externally without architectural\npretension, and in part of the Chinese order and somewhat inadequate, was\nextensive enough to indicate the magnitude of the work the institution\nwas doing.\n\nOne of the things on which the members of the mission laid stress in\ntheir request for the elevation of the school to the rank and title of\na college was that it already had \u201ca good collection of philosophical\nand chemical apparatus, believed to be the largest and best-assorted\ncollection in China.\u201d Dr. Mateer also was accustomed to speak of this\napparatus with a pride that was an expression, not of vanity, but of\nsatisfaction in a personal achievement, that was eminently worth while.\nFor instance, in his letter to his college classmates in 1897, he said:\n\u201cI have given some time and considerable thought and money to the making\nof philosophical apparatus. I had a natural taste in this direction, and\nI saw that in China the thing to push in education was physical science.\nWe now have as good an outfit of apparatus as the average college in\nthe United States,\u2014more than twice as much as Jefferson had when we\ngraduated; two-thirds of it made on the ground at my own expense.\u201d It\nwas a slow, long job to produce it. Early in his career as a teacher in\nthe Tengchow school he had little need of apparatus because the pupils\nwere not of a grade to receive instruction in physics; but it was not\nvery long until he recorded his difficulty, for instance, in teaching\npneumatics without an air pump. Some of his instruction at that general\nperiod was given to a class of students for the ministry. He was always\ncareful to let it be known that his school was in no degree a theological\nseminary; he held it to be vital to have it understood that it was an\ninstitution for what we would call secular instruction, though saturated\nthrough and through with Christianity. But again and again throughout his\nlife he took his share in teaching native candidates for the ministry;\nand before the college proper afforded them opportunity to study western\nscience he was accustomed to initiate these young men into enough\nknowledge of the workings of nature to fit them to be better leaders\namong their own people. Thus, writing in his Journal, February, 1874,\nconcerning his work with the theological class that winter, he said:\n\n I heard them a lesson every day,\u2014one day in philosophy\n [physics] and the next in chemistry. I went thus over optics\n and mechanics, and reviewed electricity, and went through the\n volume on chemistry. I practically gave all my time to the\n business of teaching and experimenting, and getting apparatus.\n I had carpenters and tinners at work a good part of the time.\n I got up most of the things needed for illustrating mechanics,\n and a number in optics; also completed my set of fixtures for\n frictional electricity, and added a good number of articles\n to my set of galvanic apparatus. With my new battery I showed\n the electrical light and the deflagration of metals very well.\n The Ruhmkorff coil performed very well indeed, and made a fine\n display. I had an exhibition of two nights with the magic\n lantern, using the oxyhydrogen light. In chemistry I made\n all the gases and more than are described in the book, and\n experimented on them fully. They gave me no small amount of\n trouble, but I succeeded with them all very well. I made both\n light and heavy carbureted hydrogen, and experimented with\n them. Then I made coal gas enough to light up the room through\n the whole evening. Altogether I have made for the students a\n fuller course of experiments in philosophy or chemistry than I\n saw myself. They studied well and appreciated very much what\n they saw. I trust the issue will prove that my time has not\n been misspent. I have learned a great deal myself, especially\n in the practical part of experiment-making. It may be that I\n may yet have occasion to turn this knowledge to good account. I\n have also gathered in all a very good set of apparatus, which I\n shall try to make further use of.\n\nIt was in this way that the collection was begun. As he added to it in\nsucceeding years, every piece had a history that lent it an individual\ninterest. Much of it continued to be produced by his own hand, or at\nleast under his own superintendence, and at the expense of himself, or\nof his friends, who at his solicitation contributed money for this use.\nSome of the larger and more costly articles were donated by people to\nwhom he appealed for help, and therefore peculiar personal associations\nclustered about them. For instance, when home on his first furlough, he\nmet Cyrus W. Field, on a voyage to Europe, and interested him in the\nTengchow School. After reaching China again, he wrote a letter to Mr.\nField and solicited from him the gift of a dynamo. In the course of some\nmonths a favorable response was received; and, eventually, that dynamo\nrendered most valuable service in lighting the buildings. Two friends,\nwhose acquaintance he had made in the United States,\u2014Mr. Stuart, of New\nYork, and Mrs. Baird, of Philadelphia,\u2014gave him money to buy a ten-inch\nreflecting telescope, with proper mountings and accompaniments; and when,\nas so often happens in such matters, there was a considerable deficit,\nhis \u201cUncle John\u201d came to the relief. In ordering through an acquaintance\na set of telegraph instruments he explained that the Board was not\nfurnishing the means to pay for it, but that it was purchased with his\nown money, supplemented by the gifts of certain friends of missions and\neducation.\n\nThis must suffice as to the history of that collection of apparatus. It\nis, however, enough to show why he had so much pride in it.\n\nIt was in 1895 that he laid down the headship of the college. He took\nthis step all the more readily because in his successor, Rev. W. M.\nHayes, now of Tsingchow fu, he had entire confidence as to both character\nand ability. On his arrival in China Mr. Hayes was immediately associated\nwith Dr. Mateer in the school, and showed himself to be a thoroughly\nkindred spirit. He continued at the head of the college until 1901,\nwhen he resigned his position in order to start for the governor of the\nprovince a new college at Tsinan fu. It may not be out of place to\nadd here that the governor at that time was Yuan Shih K\u2019ai, a man of\nlarge and liberal views, and that there was, as to the new college he\nwas founding, in the requirements nothing that made it improper for a\nChristian and a minister of the gospel to be at the head of it. It is\ndue to Mr. Hayes to say that in accepting this position he was confident\nthat he had the approval of nearly all the missionaries associated\nwith him. However, it was not very long until Yuan was transferred to\nthe viceroyalty of the province of Chi-li, which dominates Peking, and\na successor took his place in Shantung, who was of a different mind,\nand who introduced such usages into the new institution that Mr. Hayes\nfelt conscientiously bound to lay down his office. He is now one of the\ninstructors in the theological department of the Shantung Christian\nUniversity, into which the college at Tengchow has been merged.\n\nIn the request of the members of the mission for the elevation of the\nTengchow school to the rank and title of a college one of the articles\nspecifically left the ultimate location of the institution an open\nquestion. The main objection to Tengchow was its isolation. It is away\nup on the coast of the peninsula that constitutes the eastern end of\nthe province, and it is cut off from the interior by a range of rather\nrugged hills in the rear. Though a treaty port, its commerce by sea has\nlong been inconsiderable, and gives no promise of increase. At the time\nwhen that request was made, it is likely that some, though signing,\nwould have preferred that the college should be removed down to Chefoo.\nTo any project of that sort Dr. Mateer was inflexibly, and with good\nreason, opposed; and it never assumed such strength as to give him much\napprehension. Along in the later \u201ceighties\u201d and in the early \u201cnineties\u201d\nthe question of location again arose in connection with the Anglo-Chinese\ncollege which Dr. A. P. Happer, of the Presbyterian missions in China,\nundertook to found. He progressed so far as to raise a considerable sum\nof money for endowment and had a board appointed for the control. The\nproject at no stage received the hearty support of Dr. Mateer, though,\nof course, so long as it did not threaten hurt to his own college or\nthe ideas which it represented he did not make any fight against it.\nDr. Happer had long been a missionary in southern China, and was beyond\nquestion earnestly devoted to his work; his idea was that by means of\nthe Anglo-Chinese college he would raise up an efficient native ministry\nfor the churches. The conviction of Dr. Mateer was that, so far as this\nresult is concerned, the institution, by the very nature of the plan,\nmust be a comparative failure. English was to be given a large place\nin the curriculum, and for students it was to draw especially on such\nas could pay their own way. In a long letter dated March 18, 1887,\ncalled out by the question of the location of the proposed college, and\nsigned by Dr. Mateer and Mr. Hayes, they frankly expressed to one of\nthe secretaries of the Board their reasons for believing so strongly\nthat an institution conducted on the plan proposed could not realize\nthe main object which its founder sought. They had found it necessary\nyears before, in the Tengchow College, to meet the question as to the\nintroduction of English, and the decision was in favor of using Chinese\nalone in the curriculum; and so long as the school remained in charge of\nMateer and Hayes, they rigidly excluded their own native tongue. When the\nTengchow school was just emerging into the Tengchow College, Dr. Mateer\nthus expressed his convictions on that subject:\n\n If we should teach English, and on this account seek the\n patronage of the officers and the rich, no doubt we could get\n some help and countenance. We would be compelled, however, to\n give up in good measure the distinctively religious character\n of the school. We would get a different class of pupils, and\n the religious tone of the school would soon be changed in spite\n of us. Another result would also be almost inevitable, namely,\n the standard of Chinese scholarship would fall. The study of\n English is fatal to high acquisition in the Chinese classics.\n We would doubtless have great trouble in keeping our pupils\n after they were able to talk English; they would at once go\n seeking employment where their English would bring them good\n wages. Tengchow, moreover, is not a port of foreign residents,\n but rather an isolated and inland city, and it would not be a\n good place to locate a school in which teaching English is made\n a prominent feature.\n\nHis observation since had served to confirm him in the conviction of\nyears before, and in the letter to a secretary of the Board, Hayes united\nwith him in stating clearly and forcibly their joint opinion on the\nsubject.\n\nIn casting about for a location for the Anglo-Chinese college, the choice\nnarrowed down so that it lay between Canton, Nanking, Shanghai, and\nTientsin. Chefoo was mentioned, but not seriously considered, yet even\nthe possibility of location there, although remote, was so important a\nmatter to the Shantung College that it compelled the men at the head\nof that institution to be on the alert so long as the question was\nundetermined. By and by Dr. Happer became disposed to turn over the\nmanagement of his projected college to some other person, and he wrote to\nDr. Mateer, sounding him as to the vacancy, should it occur. The scheme\nat that time seemed to be to locate the new institution at Shanghai, and\nto unite with it the Shantung College; and in a long letter in response,\nwritten January 9, 1890, Dr. Mateer went very candidly over the entire\nsituation. Among other things he said:\n\n It will be necessary, however, to settle the policy of the\n college, and also its headship, before making any definite\n move. Whoever undertakes to make English and self-support\n prominent features, and then aims at a Christian college, has,\n as things are at present in China, a difficult contract on\n his hands. I for one do not feel called to embark in such an\n enterprise, and my name may as well be counted out.... Nor can\n the school at Tengchow be moved away from Shantung. We might\n go, and the apparatus might be moved; but not the pupils. It\n is futile to talk of them or any considerable number of them\n coming to Shanghai; nor will pupils go from central China north\n to be educated save in exceptional cases. The distance and the\n expense are both too great. Each section of China must have its\n own schools.\n\nNot long afterward the situation was such that Dr. Mateer and Mr. Hayes\naddressed to the trustees of the endowment a paper in which a suggestion\nwas made that under certain conditions the fund raised by Dr. Happer\nshould be turned over to the Shantung College. In that paper there was\na frank statement of their attitude as to English. They were entirely\nwilling to introduce that language, but only under such conditions that\nit could not seriously alter the character and work of the institution.\nThe paper is too long for introduction here. It will suffice to quote\nfrom a letter sent by Dr. Mateer at the same time to one of the\nsecretaries of the Board, and dated February 9, 1891:\n\n There are one or two things I want to say in a less formal way.\n One is that in case our proposition in regard to English is not\n satisfactory, you will take care that the proposed school is\n not located in Chefoo as a rival of the college in Tengchow. It\n would be nothing short of suicidal for the Board to allow such\n a proceeding, and would be a great wrong, both to myself and\n to Mr. Hayes. We do not propose to engage in such a contest,\n but would at once resign, and seek some other sphere of labor.\n Again, I wish to call your attention to what is the real\n inwardness of our plan for English; namely, to teach it in such\n a way, and to such parties only, as will insure its being used\n in literary and scientific lines. We will not teach English\n merely to anyone, nor teach it to anyone who wants merely\n English. We will teach it to men, not to boys. Lastly, Mr.\n Hayes and I have for several years had in mind the idea of a\n post-graduate course in applied science, and have been waiting\n for my visit home to push it forward; and even if the present\n endowment scheme fails, we will still feel like pushing it, and\n introducing some English as already indicated.\n\nNothing came of the suggestion that the money should be turned over to\nthe Shantung institution.\n\nDr. Mateer still continued to help in the college at Tengchow, as he had\ntime and opportunity. Early in the \u201cnineties,\u201d and after the movement\njust considered had failed to materialize, he solicited from the Board\nthe privilege of seeking to raise an endowment fund, but at that time he\nwas unable to secure their consent. At the beginning of 1900 the Board\nchanged their attitude, and authorized an effort to be made to secure\ncontributions for this purpose. Of course, in order to be successful in\nthis undertaking, a satisfactory plan for the control of the college was\na necessity; and as to this Dr. Mateer was consulted, and he gave his\nopinions freely. His preference was expressed for a charter giving the\nendowment a separate legal status, but providing that the members of the\nBoard of Foreign Missions, acting in this distinct capacity, should be\nthe trustees. The general oversight of the institution he thought should\nbe assigned to a \u201cField Board of Directors,\u201d composed of members of the\nShantung Mission. This was not a scheme that entirely satisfied him. The\nspecter, on the one hand, of a diversion of the college into a school for\nteaching English, and, on the other, of making it a theological seminary,\nwould not altogether down; but in the ultimate appeal to the members of\nthe Board of Foreign Missions he recognized a safeguard that was not\nlikely to prove inadequate. When he was on furlough in 1903, he spent\na considerable part of his time in soliciting permanent funds for the\ncollege, then already removed to its present location; but he was unable\nto secure much aid. Ada was with him; and she says of his experience in\nthis work, \u201cHe was so accustomed to success in whatever he undertook that\nit was hard for him to bear the indifference of the rich to what seemed\nto him so important.\u201d\n\nThe transfer of the college to another location was a question that\nwould not permanently rest. So long as it was whether it should go from\nTengchow to Chefoo, or be swallowed up in another more pretentious\ninstitution at Shanghai, and not yet in existence, it was comparatively\neasy to silence the guns of those who talked removal. But at the opening\nof the twentieth century, even out there in north China, important\nchanges indirectly affecting this problem had occurred. The missions had\nbeen strengthened by a number of new men, who came fresh from the rush of\naffairs in the United States, and eager to put their force into the work\nin China in such a way that it would tell the most. Even China itself\nwas beginning to awake from the torpor of ages. In Shantung the Germans\nwere building railroads, one of them right through the heart of the\nprovince, on by way of Wei Hsien to the capital, and from that point to\nbe afterward connected with Tientsin and Peking. It is not strange that,\nunder the new conditions, the young members of the mission especially\nshould desire to place the college which loomed up so largely and\neffectually in the work to which they had consecrated their lives where\nit could be in closer touch with the swarming millions of the land and\nwith the movements of the new times. February 26, 1901, Dr. Mateer wrote\nto the Board:\n\n At a meeting of the Shantung Mission it was voted to remove the\n Tengchow College to Wei Hsien, and then give up the Tengchow\n station. Being at Shanghai, engaged in the translation work,\n I was not able to be present at the mission meeting, and it\n seems incumbent on me to say something on a matter of so much\n importance, and that concerns me so much.... First, with\n reference to the college. The major part of my life has been\n given to building up the Tengchow College, and, of course, I\n feel a deep interest in its future. As you can easily imagine,\n I am naturally loath to see it moved from the place where\n Providence placed it; and to see all the toil and thought given\n to fitting up the buildings, with heating, lighting, and the\n other appliances go for nothing; as also the loss of the very\n considerable sums of money I have myself invested in it. The\n Providence which placed the college in Tengchow should not be\n lightly ignored, nor the natural advantages which Tengchow\n affords be counted for nothing. It is not difficult to make out\n a strong case for Wei Hsien, and I am not disposed to dispute\n its advantages, except it be to question the validity of the\n assumption that a busy commercial center is necessarily the\n best place to locate a college. In view of the whole question,\n it seems to me that unless an adequate endowment can be\n secured\u2014one which will put the college on a new basis\u2014it will\n not pay the Board to make the sacrifice involved in moving the\n college to Wei Hsien.... However, I would rather go to Wei\n Hsien than be opposed strongly at Tengchow.\n\nOn that part of his contention he lost; and it would be useless now to\ntry to ascertain the respective merits of the two sides to that question.\nThe second part of the letter just cited discussed the abandonment of\nTengchow as a mission station. The plan of those who took the affirmative\nof this debate was to leave that city to the Southern Baptists, who\nalmost forty years before had preceded the Presbyterians a few weeks\nin a feeble occupation, but who had been entirely overshadowed by the\ndevelopment of the college. For the retention of the station Dr. Mateer\npleaded with his utmost fervor and eloquence. Though the decision\nremained in uncertainty while he lived, and the uncertainty gave him\nmuch anxiety, large gifts, coming since, from a consecrated layman, have\nrendered the retention of the Tengchow station secure. The wisdom of the\ndecision is vindicated by present conditions. At the close of 1909 the\nstation reported a city church with three hundred members; a Sabbath\nschool which sometimes numbers five hundred pupils; thirty out-stations\nwith about five hundred members; twenty-four primary schools, giving\ninstruction to three hundred and sixteen boys and girls, and taught by\ngraduates of the higher schools of the station; a girls\u2019 high school with\nan average enrollment of forty-six pupils, and for the year then closing\nhaving twelve graduates, nearly all of whom became teachers; a boys\u2019 high\nschool with an attendance of forty, and sending up a number of graduates\nto the college at Wei Hsien or to other advanced institutions, and having\na normal department with a model primary department; and also a helpers\u2019\nsummer school; besides other machinery for reaching with the gospel the\nthree millions of people gathered in the neighborhood of Tengchow. Nor\nhas the work of the Presbyterians in the least hampered that of the\nSouthern Baptists.\n\nThe actual removal of the college was not effected until the autumn of\n1904. In the interval between the time when it was determined to take\nthis step and when it was actually accomplished a number of important\nthings affecting the course of Dr. Mateer\u2019s life occurred. Mr. Hayes, as\nelsewhere stated, resigned the presidency; and Rev. Paul D. Bergen, who\nhad come out to the mission in 1883, was chosen in his place. Dr. Mateer\nhad been so closely associated with Mr. Hayes, and had such complete\nconfidence in him, that the resignation came almost like a personal\nbereavement; but he rose nobly out of the depths, and wrote home to the\nBoard: \u201cMr. Bergen is clearly the best man that our missions in Shantung\nafford for the place. He is very popular with the Chinese, which is much\nin his favor. The time is as auspicious as it is important. Educational\naffairs are taking a great boom, and it looks as if Shantung was going to\nlead the van. If it is properly supported the college should do a great\nwork.\u201d During the interval here covered Dr. Mateer came to the United\nStates on his third and last furlough, reaching China again in the autumn\nof 1903, and bringing with him some substantial fruits of his efforts for\nthe college.\n\nOn his arrival he was confronted by another great problem as to the\ninstitution. A combination had already been almost effected by the\nAmerican Presbyterians and the English Baptists in Shantung for a\nunion in the work of higher education in the province. The matter had\nalready gone so far that, although he feared that the scheme would\nbring about such radical changes as to endanger the real usefulness\nof the institution, yet he made no serious opposition, and it went\nsteadily forward to consummation. Under the plan adopted the Shantung\nChristian University was established; and provision was made for a\njoint maintenance of three distinct colleges in it, each at a different\nlocation, chosen because of mission and other conditions\u2014a college of\narts and science at Wei Hsien, a theological college at Tsingchow fu, and\na medical college at Tsinan fu. The plan also provides for a university\ncouncil, to which is committed the general control of the institution,\nsubject, of course, to certain fundamental regulations; and of this body\nDr. Mateer was one of the original members. The first meeting was held\nat Tsingchow fu near the end of 1903. Writing to one of the secretaries\nof the Board of Missions concerning this, he said: \u201cAll were present.\nOur meeting was quite harmonious. We elected professors and discussed\nand drew out some general principles relating to the curriculum and\nthe general management. Theoretically things seem quite promising; the\ndifficulty will come in practical administration. The buildings at Wei\nHsien are all up to the first floor. There should be no difficulty in\ngetting all ready by next autumn, at which time the college ought by all\nmeans to be moved.\u201d Early the next summer he wrote: \u201cI started to Wei\nHsien about a month ago, overland. I spent over two weeks taking down\nand packing my goods, and so forth, including workshop, boiler, engine,\ndynamo, and so forth. I found it quite a serious undertaking to get\nall my miscellaneous goods packed up, ready for shipment on boats to\nWei Hsien.... I remained in Wei Hsien twenty-four days, unpacking my\neffects, getting my workshop in order, and planning for the heating and\nlighting outfit.\u201d In the same letter he expressed himself as follows\nconcerning the theological college at Tsingchow fu: \u201cIt was certainly\nunderstood at the meeting of the directors last winter that it was to be\nmuch more than a theological seminary in the strict sense of the word. It\nwas understood, in fact, that it would have two departments,\u2014a training\nschool and a theological seminary proper. In this way only can the full\nmeasure of our needs be supplied.... With this organization it is not\nunlikely that the school at Tsingchow fu will be larger than the college\nat Wei Hsien.\u201d\n\nThis narrative as to Dr. Mateer and the Shantung College is now\napproaching its close, and most readers probably will prefer that, so\nfar as practicable, the remainder of it shall be told in his own words.\nDecember 21, 1904, he wrote to a friend: \u201cThe college is now fully moved\nto Wei Hsien, and has in it about a hundred and twenty students. The new\nbuildings are quite fine,\u2014much superior to those we had in Tengchow. Mrs.\nMateer and I have moved to Wei Hsien to live and will make this our home.\nWe are living in the same house with my brother Robert, making all one\nfamily. This arrangement suits us very well. I am not teaching in the\ncollege, but I would not feel at home if I were away from it. I hope it\nhas a great future.\u201d In his report for himself and wife, for the year\n1904-05, he says: \u201cThe greater part of the autumn was spent in overseeing\nthe building and fitting up of a workshop, and in superintending the\nsetting up of a new thirty-two horse-power steam boiler for heating and\nlighting the college, together with a system of steam piping for the\nsame; also the setting up of engine and dynamo and wiring the college\nfor electric lights. I also set up a windmill and pump and tank, with\npipes for supplying the college and several dwelling houses with water.\nI also built for myself and Mrs. Mateer a seven-kien house in Chinese\nstyle, affording a study, bedroom, storeroom, box room, and coal room.\u201d\nThis little, narrow, one-story house constituted their home during the\nrest of his life in Wei Hsien, though they still look their meals with\nthe other family. They sometimes called this house \u201cthe Borderland,\u201d for\nonly a narrow path separated them from the small foreign cemetery at the\nextreme corner of the compound. In November, 1905, he wrote to one of the\nsecretaries of the Board: \u201cThe college is, of course, delighted at the\nprospect of a Science Hall. I take some credit for having prepared the\nway for this gift from Mr. Converse.\u201d In his report for the year 1906 he\nsaid: \u201cDuring the early part of the winter I spent considerable time,\nplanning, estimating, and ordering supplies for the lighting, heating,\nand water supply of the new Science Hall at Wei Hsien.\u201d\n\nWe are at length face to face with the last stage in the active\nconnection of Dr. Mateer with the college. February 26, 1907, he wrote to\none of the secretaries of the Board of Missions:\n\n I returned three days ago from the meeting of the College\n Directors at Tsingchow fu. The meeting was prolonged and a very\n important one. A number of important and embarrassing questions\n were before us.... You will hear from others, of course, and\n from the minutes, that Dr. Bergen resigned the presidency of\n the college, and that in our inability to find a successor\n I was asked to take the position temporarily, until other\n arrangements could be made, and Dr. Bergen was asked to remain\n as a professor, which he agreed to do. This provided for the\n teaching, and makes it possible for me to take the presidency\n without doing much teaching, which I could not do under present\n conditions.\n\nDuring the period of his service in this capacity the college not only\ndid well in its regular work; it also made some important advances. The\ntotal attendance was one hundred and eighty-one, and a class of ten was\ngraduated at commencement. At Tengchow he had always valued the literary\nsocieties very highly, and these now received a fresh impetus. Several\nrooms of the new Science Hall were brought into use; two additional rows\nof dormitories were built, one for college and personal teachers and\nworkmen, and one for students; not to mention lesser matters.\n\nNevertheless he found his official position in certain ways very\nuncomfortable. Some of the reasons of this were casual to the internal\nadministration, and cannot now be appreciated by outsiders, and are not\nworth airing here. Others were of a more permanent nature, and had to do\nwith the future conduct and character of the institution. The question\nof English had been for a while hushed to sleep; but it was now awake\nagain, and asserted itself with new vigor. In a letter dated December 19,\n1907, he said: \u201cI am strongly in favor of an English School, preferably\nat Tsinan fu, but I am opposed to English in the college. It would very\nsoon destroy the high grade of scholarship hitherto maintained, and\ndirect the whole output of the college into secular lines.\u201d His fear was\nthat if English were introduced the graduates of the institution would\nbe diverted from the ministry and from the great work of evangelizing\nthe people to commercial pursuits, and that it would become a training\nschool of compradors and clerks. Later the intensity of his opposition\nto the introduction of English was considerably modified, because of the\nadvantage which he perceived to be enjoyed in the large union meetings,\nby such of the Chinese as knew this language in addition to their own.\nHe saw, too, that with the change of times a knowledge of English had\ncome to be recognized as an essential in the new learning, as a bond of\nunity between different parts of China, and as a means of contact with\nthe outside world. Looking at the chief danger as past, he expressly\ndesired that the theologues should be taught English. At any rate he had\nbeen contending for a cause that was evidently lost. At this writing the\ncurriculum of the college offers five hours in English as an optional\nstudy for every term of the four required years; and also of the fifth\nyear. Dr. Mateer, besides, was not fully in sympathy with a movement that\nwas then making to secure a large gift from the \u201cGeneral Education Fund\u201d\nfor the endowment of the institution. In the letter just quoted he says:\n\u201cThe college should be so administered by its president and faculty as\nto send some men into the ministry, or it fails of its chief object. I\nam in favor of stimulating a natural growth, but not such a rapid and\nabnormal growth as will dechristianize it. I do not believe in the sudden\nand rapid enlargement of the plant beyond the need at the time. It would\nrapidly secularize the college and divert it entirely from its proper\nideal and work.\u201d These questions were too practical, and touched the\nvitals of the institution too deeply, to be ignored by earnest friends\non either side. Some things as to the situation are so transparent that\nthey can be recognized by any person who looks at it from not too close\na point of view. The entire merits of the argument were in no case\nwholly on one side; and as a consequence it is not surprising that wise\nand good men differed as they did; and the only decisive test is actual\ntrial of the changes advocated by the younger men. It is also perfectly\nplain that in this affair we have only another instance of a state of\nthings so often recurring; that is, of a man who has done a great work,\nputting into it a long life of toil and self-sacrifice, and bringing it\nat length to a point where he must decrease and it must increase; and\nwhere in the very nature of the case it must be turned over to younger\nhands, to be guided as they see its needs in the light of the dawning\nday. He can scarcely any longer be the best judge of what ought to be\ndone; but even if he were, the management must be left for good or ill to\nthem. That evidently is the fight in which Dr. Mateer came ultimately to\nsee this matter. He courageously faced the inevitable. In this, as in all\nother cases, no personal animosity was harbored by him toward anyone who\ndiffered from him.\n\nOctober 27, 1907, he wrote to an associate on the Mandarin Revision\nCommittee: \u201cI have now dissolved myself from the management of the\ncollege, and shall have very little to do with it in the future. It\nhas cost me a great deal to do it, but it is best it should be so. I\nam now free from any cares or responsibility in educational matters.\u201d\nIn a letter to Secretary Brown, dated December 21, 1907, he said: \u201cIn\nview of the circumstances I thought it best to resign at once, and\nunconditionally, both the presidency and my office as director. I have\nno ambition to be president, and in fact was only there temporarily\nuntil another man should be chosen. I did not wish to be a director\nwhen I could not conscientiously carry out the ideas and policy of a\nmajority of the mission. It was no small trial, I assure you, to resign\nall connection with the college, after spending the major part of my\nmissionary life working for it. It did, in fact, seriously affect my\nhealth for several weeks. I cannot stand such strains as I once did.\u201d\n\nOne of the striking incidents of his funeral service at Tsingtao was\nthe reading of the statistics of the graduates of the Tengchow College,\nincluding the students who came with the college to Wei Hsien. These\nhave since been carefully revised and are as follows: Total receiving\ndiplomas, 205; teachers in government schools, 38; teachers in church\nschools, 68; pastors, 17; evangelists, 16; literary work, 10; in\nbusiness, 9; physicians, 7; post-office service, 4; railroad service,\n2; Y. M. C. A. service, 2; customs service, 1; business clerks, 2;\nsecretaries, 1; at their homes, 6; deceased, 22. These graduates are\nscattered among thirteen denominations, and one hundred schools, and in\nsixteen provinces of China. About two hundred more who were students at\nTengchow did not complete the course of studies.\n\nThe institution since its removal has continued steadily to go forward.\nThe large endowment that was both sought and feared has not yet been\nrealized, and consequently the effect of such a gift has not been tested\nby experience; but other proposed changes have been made. A pamphlet\npublished in 1910 reports for the college of arts and sciences an\nenrollment of three hundred and six students, and in the academy, eighty.\nThe class which graduates numbers seventeen, all of whom are Christians.\nDown to that year there had been at Wei Hsien among the graduates no\ncandidates for the ministry, but during 1910, under the ministration of\na Chinese pastor, a quiet but mighty religious awakening pervaded the\ninstitution, and one outcome has been a vast increase in the number of\ncandidates for the ministry or other evangelistic work. The pamphlet\nalready quoted speaks of more than one hundred of the college students\nwho have decided to offer themselves for this work. It is appropriately\nadded that \u201csuch a movement as this amongst our students inspires us with\nalmost a feeling of awe.... Our faith had never reached the conception\nof such a number as the above simultaneously making a decision.\u201d It has\nrecently been decided to bring all the departments of the university to\nTsinan fu, the provincial capital.\n\nIn the theological college at Tsingchow fu, according to the last report,\nthere were eleven students in the regular theological department and one\nhundred and twenty-eight in the normal school. In the medical college\nat Tsinan fu there were thirteen young men. The aggregate for the whole\nuniversity rises to five hundred and thirty-eight. On the Presbyterian\nside this all began with those six little boys, in the old Kwan Yin\ntemple, in the autumn of 1864, at Tengchow. To-day it is a university,\nand is second to no higher institution of learning in China.\n\nIt is said that Dr. Mateer never led in prayer, either public or private,\nthat he did not most earnestly ask that the Lord would raise up Chinese\nChristian men, who as leaders would bring many to Christ. His prayers\nduring the forty-five years of his missionary life are receiving a\nwonderful answer at Wei Hsien and at Tsingchow fu.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nWITH APPARATUS AND MACHINERY\n\n \u201cThe things most likely to be needed in China, are first,\n electrical engineering, especially telegraphy, and second,\n civil engineering, especially surveying and laying out of\n railroads. Special preparation in one or both of these\n things would be very valuable. But what is more necessary\n for immediate use, and as a preliminary to these things, is\n a practical knowledge of scientific apparatus,\u2014how to make\n and how to use it. I have myself picked it up from books,\n without any instructor, but only at a great expense of time and\n labor.\u201d\u2014LETTER TO A PROSPECTIVE TEACHER, October 29, 1888.\n\n\nWhenever a group of the early acquaintances of Dr. Mateer talked together\nabout him, one thing certain to be mentioned was his achievements with\napparatus and machinery, both with the making and with the using of\nthem. Out in China his reputation for this was so great that it at\ntimes came near to being a burden to him. We have already seen that\nthe temporary superintendence of the mission press at Shanghai was\nthrust upon him, contrary to his own preference, and because, as he\nexpressed it in a letter at that time, the men in control considered\nhim a \u201cJack-of-all-trades,\u201d able to do anything at which he might be\nput. If they then did really think of him as no more than a man who\nwith machinery could do a great many things without performing any of\nthem thoroughly well, they did him a great injustice, which their\nsubsequent knowledge amply corrected. As the years went by, and in this\nsphere of his multifarious activity he rose to larger and more difficult\nachievements, his fame as to this spread far and wide among both natives\nand foreigners. At no time, however, did he permit his efficiency in this\nline to loom up in such a form or in such a degree as to seem even to\nothers to put his distinctively missionary labors into the background.\nIt is a significant fact that in the eulogiums pronounced on him at his\ndeath this feature of his character and work is seldom even mentioned. He\nwas\u2014first, last, and all the time\u2014a man whose life and whose abilities\nwere so completely and so manifestly consecrated to the evangelization\nof the Chinese that when those who knew him best looked back over the\nfinished whole, his remarkable achievements with apparatus and machinery\nscarcely arrested their attention.\n\nDr. Mateer himself regarded his efficiency in this sphere as due in\nsome measure to native endowment. He had an inborn taste and ability\nfor that sort of work; and stories have come down concerning certain\nvery early manifestations of this characteristic. It is related that\nwhen he was a little boy he was suffering loss through the raids made by\nthe woodpeckers on a cherry tree laden with luscious fruit. He pondered\nthe situation carefully, and then set up a pole, close by, with a nice\nlodging place for a bird at the top, and armed himself with a mallet down\nat the foot. The woodpecker would grab a cherry, and immediately fly\nto the pole in order to eat it; but a sharp blow with the mallet would\nbring him from his perch to the ground. So the boy saved his cherries.\nIt is also related of him that when a mere boy he had a friendly\ndispute with his father over the question whether a sucking pig had the\nhoming instinct. He maintained that it would return to its mother under\nconditions that proved the affirmative; and in order to satisfy himself,\nhe placed a pig in a sack, and took it a long way from its familiar\nhaunts, and turned it loose. It had been agreed that the result was to\ndecide the ownership. To his delight, immediately the pig started on a\nbee line for home, and never gave up the race until it was back in its\nold place.\n\nFor the development and application of this natural gift he received\nalmost no help from others. Probably if that old workbench in the barn\nat the \u201cHermitage\u201d could speak, it might tell something as to oversight\nand guidance of the boy by his father, in making and repairing traps\nand tools for use in recreation and in work; but beyond this he had no\ninstruction. In his day at college a chemical or physical laboratory was\nsupposed to be exclusively for the professor to prepare his experiments;\nthe student was expected only to be a spectator in the classroom when\nthe experiments were shown. The man who occupied the chair of natural\nphilosophy at Jefferson when we were there had a gift for supplementing\nhis scanty outfit of apparatus with the products of his own skill and\nlabor, and if the student Mateer had found his way down into the\nsubterranean regions where these were wrought, he and Professor Jones\nwould have rejoiced together in sympathetic collaboration; but no such\nunheard-of violation of ancient custom occurred. In the academy at Beaver\nhe first turned his hand to making a few pieces of apparatus which he\ncraved as helps in teaching. But it was not until he reached China that\nthis field for his talent opened before him, and continued to enlarge\nall the rest of his life. In fact, even when he was absent from China,\non his furloughs, he did not get away from his work with apparatus and\nmachinery. During one of his earlier furloughs, while he was looking up\neverything that could be helpful to his Chinese boys, he spent some time\nin the Baldwin Locomotive Works, by special permission, in studying the\nconstruction of locomotives, so that he might be able to make a model of\none on his return to China. In connection with this he showed such an\nacquaintance with the structure of these engines that he could scarcely\nconvince some of the skilled mechanics that he had not been trained to\nthe business. Dr. Corbett wrote concerning him, after his death: \u201cIt was\nmy privilege to meet him at the World\u2019s Fair at Chicago in 1893. He had\nspent nearly a month there examining minutely many things of special\ninterest to him. As my time was limited he kindly became my guide for\na while, and gave me the benefit of his observations. We first visited\nthe department of electricity, which he had carefully studied in all its\nvarious applications. We next went to Machinery Hall, where he had spent\ndays making drawings, measurements, and so forth, of the most complex\nmachinery. He seemed to understand everything as though this had been\nthe work of his life.\u201d Dr. Hayes says: \u201cDr. Mateer\u2019s ability to meet\nexigencies was well shown a few years ago in Wei Hsien, when suddenly the\nlarge dynamo failed to produce a current. He unwound the machine until he\nlocated the fault, reinsulated the wire and rewound the coil; after which\nthe machine furnished its current as usual.... Electrotyping was hardly\nin general use in the west until he secured an outfit of tools and taught\na class of native artisans. When electric fans came in vogue he purchased\na small one as a model and proceeded to make another.\u201d\n\nThe time came when Dr. Mateer had a shop equipped to do a great variety\nof work; and though not on a large scale, yet big enough to meet his\nneeds. Already in 1886 in a letter to his brother William he said: \u201cIn\norder to repair apparatus, and in order to make many simpler articles,\nI have fitted up quite a complete workshop, entirely at my own expense.\nI have invested in the shop, in tools and materials quite one thousand\ndollars. I keep a workman at my own cost, whom I have trained so that he\ncan do most ordinary kinds of work. There are a great many small articles\nwe can make here more cheaply than we can buy them. There are, however,\nmany articles we cannot make, especially those that involve glass or the\nuse of special machinery, or special skill.\u201d That shop continued to\ngrow, and the variety of its output increased. Writing of this, Mrs. Ada\nMateer says:\n\n So soon as possible in addition to the room used for carpenter\n work, a side house was devoted to the purposes of a shop, which\n grew in completeness as time went on. An upper story was used\n for storing finished apparatus, for a painting, varnishing,\n and drying room. The lower story was the shop proper, with\n well, smithy, a long workroom, private room for chemicals and\n so forth. Every conceivable amount of space in the shop\u2014above,\n around, and below\u2014was occupied with materials, on boards hung\n from above, in cases made of old boxes lining the walls, and\n on the floor. The shop contained not only materials for things\n that are to be, but became also a tomb of things that were, but\n are not, as well as a hospital for things disabled. What old\n histories were unearthed when, after forty years, this shop had\n to be moved to Wei Hsien!\n\nUp there it was perpetuated, the main difference consisting in larger and\nbetter quarters, with some improved conveniences. His wife continues:\n\n For every machine bought, the market was canvassed by\n correspondence, and the best selected. Especially was this\n true with reference to any tools or machinery used in\n the construction of apparatus,\u2014as machines for turning,\n blacksmithing, plumbing, screw-cutting, burnishing,\n electroplating, casting, and so forth. His shop was thoroughly\n fitted with all appliances for the making of apparatus, or\n electric or steam outfitting, so that he was ready to do\n anything, from setting up a windmill or water system, or\n installing an engine and dynamo, to brazing broken spectacle\n frames or repairing a bicycle.\n\nSo far as it was practicable he turned over the actual mechanical labor\nto Chinese workmen,\u2014a skilled foreman and apprentices under the foreman\u2019s\ndirection.\n\nWhy, though a missionary, did he employ so considerable a part of his\ntime in this way? Especially at the outset of his missionary career\nstern necessity to meet his own needs and those of his associates drove\nhim to this line of work. Had he been set down in China at some such\nplace as Shanghai, where foreign articles could be purchased, very\nlikely his mechanical gifts would have remained largely dormant. But at\nTengchow he helped to make a stove out of odds and ends, because one\nwas indispensable in order to keep warm. For the same sort of reason he\nextracted teeth and made false sets, cobbled shoes, and acted as master\nworkman of all the building trades in the erection of the \u201cnew home.\u201d\nSometimes he was thus compelled to do things which seemed strange even to\nhim. When, in 1865, little Katie Mills died, he had to act the part of\nundertaker. He said:\n\n It fell to me to make the coffin, which I did as well as I\n could from memory. I could not tell the carpenter, and I\n had to do the work myself. He did the rough work, and I did\n the cutting and fitting. I had to go entirely by my eye,\n and I found it no easy matter to get it in every respect in\n proportion. We covered it with black velvet outside, and\n inside with white linen. It looked very well when finished,\n and pleased Mr. and Mrs. Mills very much. It is a work I never\n thought of doing.\n\nAt one point on the way through Siberia when homeward bound on his\nlast furlough the train was halted by some defect in the working of\nthe mechanism of the locomotive. Dr. Mateer, on account of the delay,\ngot out of his compartment and went to see what was the matter. He saw\nthat the locomotive was a huge Baldwin, with whose construction he had\nfamiliarized himself when in the United States on a previous furlough,\nand he quickly discovered the cause of the trouble. He could speak no\nRussian, and the men in charge of the engine could speak no English,\nbut he managed to show them the cause of the defective working of the\nmechanism, and how to remedy it; and soon the train was again speeding on\nits way.\n\nThe time never came during his long residence in China when a necessity\ndid not occasionally force itself on him to utilize his mechanical gifts,\nand not infrequently on the common utensils of life. In Wei Hsien he\noften spent hours directing in such repairs as were needed for furnaces\nand the like.\n\nFew of his later and larger achievements in this field could be fairly\nregarded as works of necessity, strictly speaking; they rather were meant\nto be aids in the great enterprise of evangelizing the Chinese Empire.\nHe was thoroughly convinced that one of the most powerful agencies that\ncould be employed for this purpose was the school and the college.\nHe was equally sure that of all the studies that could be introduced\ninto the curricula of these institutions, none could be so effective\nin opening the way for the gospel as that of the natural sciences, and\nespecially physics, inclusive of modern mechanical appliances of its\nprinciples. He believed that if bright young men were educated in that\nkind of knowledge, and sent out under Christian influences among their\nown people, if they were also converted to Christianity, the outcome must\nbe the dissipation of the existing blind adherence to the superstitions\nand ideas of centuries long remote in the past; and that with this must\ncome the opening wide of the door for the entrance of Christianity. That\nwas his forecast; and the present situation in China goes far toward\nvindicating the wisdom of it. But to teach effectively the natural\nsciences he must have apparatus. The only way he could secure this was by\nbuying what he could, and by utilizing his own ability to set this up,\nand to add as much as possible for the outfit yet needed. Such was the\nprime object not only of what in a more limited sense constituted the\napparatus of the school and college, but also of such larger appliances\nas the plant for heating and lighting the premises. These were far more\nthan conveniences that helped to better work; they were themselves\nconstant exhibitions to the students and to the people at large of the\nprinciples of natural science, and of their value in the affairs of\nactual life.\n\nDr. Mateer utilized his outfit of apparatus and machinery as a means of\nreaching others besides the students in his own institution, with the\ninfluence of modern science, thus opening a way into their minds for the\ngospel. As to one of his methods of accomplishing this object Ada gives a\ngraphic account:\n\n At the time when the official examinations were held in\n Tengchow, a large number of scholars came to town, hoping\n to secure a degree, which should be the first step toward\n official preferment. So many of these, having heard the fame\n of the foreign machine, came to see and to hear, that Dr.\n Mateer used to give up his time to them during the days they\n were at leisure. Finally the opportunity to do good in this\n way proved so great that a place was provided for the purpose,\n which was also much used at the Chinese New Year, when all the\n town and countryside give themselves up to recreation. After\n the \u201cMandarin Lessons\u201d began to bring in money, he devoted the\n profits to the building of a large museum, with an entrance on\n the street. One half was a big audience room, so arranged that\n it could be darkened down for stereopticon or cinematograph\n exhibitions. But it usually served as an audience room, where\n the crowds could sit and listen to preaching, while the\n detachment that preceded them was shown through the inner room\n by expert assistants. What a chamber of wonders that inner room\n proved to them! Here was a man, using a single hand to turn\n a small crank, grinding corn as fast as a woman or a donkey\n could do it on the millstones with much more labor. Here in\n cases were birds stuffed, and on the walls pictures of strange\n animals. Here was a man turning a large crank that in some\n mysterious way made a little iron car overhead first send\n out sparks, and then run all around the room on a circular\n railroad. They wondered if it would not have been easier for\n the man to drag the car around on the ground! There was an oil\n engine at the end of the room, that was a wonder, no mistake;\n and a \u201cshocking\u201d machine that shocked them indeed; and untold\n other wonders. When the tour of the room was finished, the\n crowd was let out by another door, their almond eyes quite\n round, while a signal given by a steam siren showed it was time\n for the next group to go in, and \u201copen-open-eyes,\u201d as they call\n sight-seeing.\n\nOccasionally a mandarin of high order came to witness the marvels. The\nreport of the Shantung Mission for 1909 says that through the agency of\nthe chapel and museum twelve thousand people were brought into touch with\nthe gospel during the year; so the work still continues.\n\nAnother good account to which Dr. Mateer turned this peculiar gift\nwas that of starting industries for native Christians and promoting\nself-help among the needy. Now it was a loom for weaving coarse Chinese\nlinsey or bagging, or a spinning or a knitting machine, that he ordered;\nagain, he inquired for a roller press to be used for drying and pressing\ncotton cloth after dyeing; and more than once he sent for a lathe for\na Chinese blacksmith. In 1896 he interested himself in procuring an\noutfit for a flouring mill. He said: \u201cThe enterprise of starting the\nmill was conceived by Chinese Christians, and they are going to form a\ncompany to raise the money. I do not think that there is a roller mill\nin China,\u2014certainly not in north China.... We personally will not make\na cent out of it; but we are interested to get the Chinese Christians\nstarted in an enterprise by which they can make a living, and introduce\nimprovements into their country.\u201d\n\nHis apprentices went out in many instances master blacksmiths,\nmachinists, and electricians, and had no difficulty in finding places. A\nChinese general temporarily at Tengchow employed one of these men as a\nblacksmith, and his order was so evidently filled according to western\nmethods that he paid a visit to the wonderful shop of this wonderful\nmaster. The very last man for whom he obtained a place was his most\nskilled electrician and his latest foreman. This man started a shop up at\nthe capital of the province, and for its outfit Dr. Mateer carried on an\nextensive correspondence and procured large invoices of goods. Because\nof the provincial university established there under the new educational\nr\u00e9gime there was imperative need of such an establishment, and the\noutlook for success was excellent. Unfortunately for the proprietor,\nhowever, the Chinese officials were equally alive to the opportunity\nand were jealous of a rival. So they managed to compel him to sell out,\nthough they broke the fall a little for him by retaining him as foreman.\nIt is said that the thought of this workman\u2019s troubles lay heavy on the\nheart of Dr. Mateer in his last illness. It was usually for the poor\nthat he interested himself after this practical fashion; yet he did not\nrefuse to lend aid to others in promoting enterprises that would be of\ngeneral advantage. For a wealthy Chinaman who owned a coal mine that had\nbeen flooded with water he went to a great deal of trouble in order to\nput him in the way of securing a suitable pump. But whether it was for\nrich or poor that the opportunity came to render such services, he put\naside all thought of his own ease or name or profit, and did the best in\nhis power.\n\nHe had special satisfaction in the manufacture of electrical machines,\nthough it was no easy matter to cut and bore the large glass wheels\nwithout breaking them, and to adjust all parts so that the greatest\nefficiency was attained. Ada says:\n\n When a machine was perfected, giving an unusually long spark,\n he always liked to take me over at night to the shop to see it\n perform. I well remember the last time,\u2014at Wei Hsien. At one\n end of the shop was the windmill. Here he stopped to show me\n a way of equalizing the stroke of the windmill pump piston,\n by hanging on an old kettle of scrap iron. Then he took me\n into an inner room, where on one end of a long table stood the\n newly finished machine,\u2014a beauty, no mistake. Having forgotten\n some necessary key, he took the lantern and went to get it,\n leaving me in the dark. I noticed sounds, the dripping of water\n in the well; but what was the ticking I heard? On the return\n of the lantern I saw the cause,\u2014a number of clock dials all\n hung on the wall, and all to be run by one clock by means of\n electricity. These were for the college recitation rooms when\n they should be finished. Then Calvin made the new machine\n do its work. Adjusting carefully the mechanism, and then\n measuring the spark, he exclaimed with boyish glee, \u201cThere,\n isn\u2019t that a beauty!\u201d\n\nDr. W. A. P. Martin, of Peking, related in the \u201cChinese Recorder\u201d of\nDecember, 1908, this incident as to Dr. Mateer: \u201cIt was once my privilege\nto spend part of a vacation in his hospitable home at Tengchow. I found\nhim at work constructing scientific apparatus with his own hands and\nwrestling with a mathematical problem which he had met in an American\nmagazine. When I solved the problem, he evinced a lively satisfaction, as\nif it were the one thing required to cement our friendship.\u201d The problem\nwas to find the diameter of an auger, which, passing through the center\nof a sphere, will bore away just one half of its bulk. It is easy to see\nthat to a man of that sort his work and the scientific and practical\nproblems constantly arising in connection with the making of apparatus\nand the adjustment of machinery must have been in themselves a rich\nsource of pleasure, though he never allowed himself to be so fascinated\nby his shop as to break in on what he conceived to be his higher work.\nSpeaking of his last years, Ada says: \u201cHe would go out wearied with the\nbaffling search for a way of expressing clearly in Chinese a thought\nnone too clear in the original Greek, his forehead grooved with the\nharrows of thought. He would come back from the shop an hour later, with\nwell-begrimed hands, a new spot on his long Chinese gown, a fresher pink\nin his cheeks, a brighter sparkle in his eyes, and his lips parted with\na smile. Then, having washed, he would immediately set himself again to\nthe work of revision.\u201d\n\nHe loved also to share this joy, so far as it could be done, with others.\nAt the Synod of China with his apparatus he gave several exhibitions\nthat were greatly appreciated. At Wei Hsien he rendered similar services\nin the high schools, and at Chefoo in the school for the children of\nmissionaries. The Centennial Fourth of July, being quite an exceptional\noccasion, he celebrated not with ordinary gunpowder, but by setting off\na considerable quantity of detonating chemicals. In the early days at\nTengchow a home-made electric fly whisk whirled above the dining table,\nand a little pneumatic fountain playing in a bell glass rendered the room\nand the meals additionally pleasant to the family and to the guests. Ada\nwrites:\n\n But the thing that most of us will remember longest is an\n illustrated lecture on electricity delivered to the college in\n Wei Hsien, and afterward to the foreigners there. As we sat\n in a darkened room in the college watching the long sparks\n of fire, the twisting circles of many-colored light, half\n illuminating a tall, white-bearded figure in a long black gown,\n he seemed to us like some old magician, learned in the black\n arts, now become bright arts, invoking to his aid his attendant\n spirits. Nor was the enchantment diminished when afterward,\n more wonderful than a palmister, he showed us by the x-rays the\n bones of our hands. A few weeks later one of the ladies of the\n compound gave an evening entertainment in which each one in the\n station was hit off in some bright way, and we were to guess\n the name. One number of the programme was this: A black-robed\n figure with cotton beard appeared, leading a youth whom he\n seated in a chair. Then the venerable personage proceeds to\n examine the head of the stripling with a stereoscope covered\n with black cloth, supposed to be a fluoroscope, while an\n alarm clock in a tin pail near by supplies the crackling of\n electricity. He gives a careful examination, shakes his head,\n and pronounces the verdict in one word, \u201cEmpty.\u201d In explanation\n of the tableau it only needs to be said that between the\n exhibition and the entertainment Dr. Mateer had given the young\n men of the station their examination in the language.\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nTHE MANDARIN VERSION\n\n \u201cI am mortgaged to the Bible revision work.... It cost me a\n great effort to engage in it, but it will probably be the most\n important work of my life.\u201d\u2014LETTER TO SECRETARY BROWN, June 13,\n 1896.\n\n\nTo tell this part of the story of Dr. Mateer\u2019s life satisfactorily, I\nmust begin with the first general missionary conference, held at Shanghai\nin May, 1877. For two years previous he had served on a committee to\nprepare the way for the meeting, and in this capacity he had rendered\nmuch valuable assistance. At that conference he read a paper in which he\nelaborately discussed the subject of \u201cThe Relation of Protestant Missions\nto Education.\u201d The meeting was regarded as successful, and a second was\ncalled, to assemble at Shanghai, in May, 1890. It was at this conference\nthat the movement for a revision of the Bible in Chinese took actual\nmeasures toward realization.\n\nFor the sake of any readers not well informed as to the Chinese language,\na few preliminary statements concerning it may be desirable here. In a\nvery broad and general sense it may be said that as to elements, one\ntongue prevails throughout China proper; but that there is also much\nimportant variation in this general tongue. First of all, it needs lo\nbe noted that the language takes on two principal forms,\u2014the classic, or\nWen-li, and the spoken, or Mandarin. The classic has come down through\nthe centuries from the times of Confucius and Mencius, and remains\ncomparatively the same as it is found in the writings of those sages.\nThis is accepted as the model for all writing; and for that reason\nChinese students have been required to spend the greater part of their\ntime in memorizing those ancient books, so that they might not only\nabsorb their teaching, but also especially that they might be able to\nreproduce their style. The classic Chinese is stilted and so condensed\nthat in comparison with it a telegram would seem diffuse; and though\nmany of the characters are the same as those used in writing the spoken\nlanguage, yet the meaning and often the sound of characters is so\ndifferent that an illiterate person would not understand it on hearing\nit read. The spoken language, on the other hand, may be compared with\nEnglish as to its use. Good English is very much the same throughout\nthe countries where it is the vernacular, and though it takes on local\ndialects, it remains everywhere intelligible. So, broadly speaking, is\nit also as to the spoken Chinese in a large part of the empire. From the\nYangtse up into Manchuria, though the pronunciations differ very much,\nthe colloquial if put into writing is understood. In other words, with\ndifferences of dialect and pronunciation it is the speech of perhaps\nthree hundred millions of people. The regions excepted lie along the\ncoast from Shanghai down, and inland south of the Yangtse, where the\ndistinct tongues are numerous and are largely unintelligible except in\ntheir own localities.\n\nIt has been the rule in China that a mandarin must not be a native of\nthe province where he holds office; and, of course, it is essential that\nhe should be acquainted with the speech which constitutes the _lingua\nfranca_. Perhaps for this reason it is called Mandarin. But down to the\ntime when missionary publications rendered it common in print, it was\nnot employed in that mode. All books, business or government documents,\nthe one newspaper of the country, which was the court gazette, and all\nletters were in the higher or, as it is called, the Wen-li form, the only\nexception being some novels, and even these were streaked with Wen-li.\nThis, however, ran through gradations,\u2014from the highest, which is so\ncondensed and so bristles with erudite allusions that only a trained\nscholar can understand it, down to a modification which is so easy that\nwith a slight alteration of particles it is almost the same as the\nMandarin.\n\nDuring the long period of the nineteenth century preceding the meeting\nof the second general missionary conference, a number of translations of\nthe Scriptures, some of them of the whole, and some of parts, had been\nmade, and had come more or less into use. The men who did this pioneer\nwork deserve to be held in perpetual esteem, especially in view of the\ndifficulties under which they labored. Among the missionaries who sat\nin that conference there was no disposition to withhold this honor, or\nto disparage the value of these early translations; but there was so\nwidely prevalent among them and their associates at that time on the\nfield a conviction that no existing version was satisfactory, that they\nrecognized it as a duty to take up the subject, and to initiate steps\nlooking to the production of a better. An informal consultation as to\nthis was held by a few men, a couple of days before the conference\nassembled; but inasmuch as Dr. Mateer had not been invited, he did not\nattend. Another consultation was held the following day, and because\nof his great interest in the subject of a Bible revision, he attended\nwithout an invitation. The views expressed clearly indicated that there\nwas a general agreement that a revision was desirable, but it also was\nmade very plain that beyond this there was a wide divergence of opinion.\nWe will allow one of his letters to a representative of the American\nBible Society, under date of May 26, 1890, to tell the next step in this\ngreat undertaking:\n\n As I walked home from the meeting, and revolved in my mind\n the difficulty of the situation, the idea of an executive\n committee, to whom the whole work should be intrusted, came\n across my mind. When I reached my room I sat down, and in a few\n minutes and without consultation with anyone, wrote out the\n plan, which without essential modification was subsequently\n adopted. It seemed to strike all parties very favorably. On\n the second day of the conference two large, representative\n committees were appointed by the conference, one on Mandarin\n and one on Wen-li. I was a member of both these committees.\n Each committee had a number of meetings, in which the subject\n was freely and fully discussed in all its bearings. It was\n evident that there was a general desire for a version in simple\n Wen-li, and, the difficulties being less in regard to the work\n already done, a conclusion was first reached in regard to this\n version. In Mandarin the difficulties were greater.\n\nAn agreement, however, was reached. The version in the higher classic\nstyle then gave the most trouble, but a satisfactory basis for this also\nwas agreed upon; and the reports as to all three versions were adopted\nunanimously by the conference. In the same letter he says: \u201cI worked\nhard for these results, and felt no small satisfaction in seeing such\nperfect unanimity in the adoption of the plan proposed. I have never done\nanything in which I felt more the guiding hand of God than in drawing up\nand carrying through this plan.\u201d\n\nThe selection of translators for each of the projected new versions was\nhanded over respectively to executive committees; and Dr. Mateer was\nappointed on that having charge of the Mandarin, and made chairman of it.\nHe heard that he was talked of as one of the revisers for that version,\nbut as yet he had not decided what was his duty, if chosen. It will\nagain be best here to take up from one of his letters the thread of the\nnarrative. Under date of December 13, 1890, he writes to Dr. Nevius:\n\n I can truly say that before I went to the conference I never\n even dreamed of what has come to pass. It never occurred to me,\n before the conference, that I should take any prominent part in\n the matter of Bible translation. I felt that education was the\n only field in which I should come to the front. I was never in\n my life so providentially led as I was in this matter. I was\n selected chairman of the Mandarin Executive Committee and have\n been pushing the getting of translators. The first few months\n were spent in corresponding and comparing notes as to men.\n We took a ballot recently, which resulted in the election of\n five, ... I being the only one who received a unanimous vote.\n We are now voting for the others, to make up the seven.... My\n book of \u201cMandarin Lessons\u201d has no doubt brought me forward,\n and its preparation has in a measure fitted me for the work.\n My personal preferences are against the work of translation,\n and I would fain decline it, but I don\u2019t see how I can in view\n of the circumstances. I feel my incompetency, especially in\n Greek and Hebrew, and you may be sure I am very loath to give\n up the educational and literary work on my hands. Much of it\n is half finished. But if the Mandarin Bible is to be made,\n some one must do it; moreover, the men who do it must have\n the confidence of the missionary body; otherwise it will be a\n failure. As it is, circumstances have led me to the position,\n and the strong opinion of the men on the committee, and of\n others, leads me to feel that I cannot lightly refuse.\n\nIn November, 1891, the revisers met at Shanghai. Dr. Mateer, in a letter\nwritten in the following January, said:\n\n The scheme for the revision of the Chinese Bible set on foot\n by the conference is now fairly organized, and approved by\n the three great Bible societies. The work of pushing the\n organization has fallen largely on me, and I feel no small\n sense of relief now that it is successfully accomplished.\n Contrary to my own desire, I am compelled to lake a share as\n one of the revisers in Mandarin; not that I do not relish the\n work, but because it will of necessity interfere with many\n of my cherished plans. We had a meeting of all the revisers\n of the three versions, and it was a fairly harmonious and an\n altogether successful meeting. A great work is before us which\n I trust we may, in the good providence of God, be enabled to\n accomplish.\n\nThe interval of about a year and a half between the general conference\nand the organization just mentioned was required because of the\ndifficulty of selecting and securing the translators. These for the\nMandarin version, as that body was originally constituted, consisted\nof Henry Blodgett, George Owen, Chauncey Goodrich, J. R. Hykes, Thomas\nBramfitt, J. L. Nevius and C. W. Mateer. During the years in which this\nwork was continued there were in the membership so many changes caused by\ndeath, removal and other causes, that Dr. Goodrich and Dr. Mateer alone\ncontinued from the beginning until the translation of the New Testament,\nthe part of the Bible first revised, was tentatively completed. Mr.\nBaller of the China Inland Mission stands next in length of service,\nhaving joined the committee in 1900. Dr. Mateer in the work of revision\nhad the assistance of two Chinese Christians whose services were so large\nand valuable that they deserve more than a passing mention here. In a\nrecent letter Dr. Goodrich pays them the following just tribute:\n\n Dr. Mateer, in the work of rendering the Scriptures into a\n universal Mandarin colloquial, had two exceptionally fine\n teachers. The first was Mr. Tsou Li Wen, an ordained pastor,\n who left his parish to engage in this work. Mr. Tsou was\n trained by Dr. Mateer in his college, receiving his theological\n training under Drs. Nevius, Mateer and others. He was a man\n of beautiful spirit, discriminating mind, and a fine sense of\n language. He was also a man of indomitable perseverance. After\n a strenuous day\u2019s work of eight hours or more, he would often\n toil by himself far into the night, seeking for some phrase\n or phrases which expressed more exactly or more beautifully\n the meaning of the original. And before the final review, both\n he and my own lamented teacher (Chang Hsi Hsin) would bestow\n the greatest pains, in the hours when they should have been\n sleeping, in a careful inspection of the work. Thus did Mr.\n Tsou toil, while separated from his family for long periods of\n time; his work on Bible revision being as truly a labor of love\n as that of any member of the committee.\n\n But alas! Mr. Tsou\u2019s life burned out all too soon in his\n exhausting labors. But how I should like to see his crown, and\n his shining face!\n\n Happily for the work, Dr. Mateer had another scholar, trained\n also in his school, Mr. Wang Yuan Teh, a young man of keen,\n incisive, logical mind, who had read all the best books in the\n Mandarin colloquial. Mr. Wang was quick to see any fault in\n the structure of a sentence, and insistent on its being put\n right. He also worked most faithfully in this translation,\n refusing offers which came to him of a salary several times the\n amount he received. I think he was held, partly by Dr. Mateer\u2019s\n personality, which drew him strongly, and partly by his own\n love for the work itself. When the chariot of fire came for Dr.\n Mateer, he left us, much to our regret and loss.\n\n The work of these two men has entered largely into the present\n translation of the New Testament, and the influence of their\n work, as of Dr. Mateer\u2019s, abides, and will continue to be felt,\n till the great work of rendering the Bible into a universal\n Mandarin is finished.\n\nDr. Mateer himself, in the preface to his \u201cMandarin Lessons,\u201d makes\nacknowledgment of the valuable services rendered in the preparation of\nthat work by Tsou Li Wen, and also by his own wife.\n\nThe Mandarin Committee, at the meeting in 1891, after organization,\nproceeded to divide up the books of the New Testament among themselves\nfor work, and adopted a plan of procedure. Each man was first carefully\nto revise or translate his own portion; and then to send it around to\nthe others, who were to go over it, and write their suggestions of\nemendations, each in a column parallel to the proposed text. Next, the\noriginal translator was to take these emendations, and with their help\nwas to prepare a text in Mandarin for submission to the entire committee.\nBroadly speaking, this was the method pursued to the end, though with\nsome modifications compelled or suggested by experience. It was hoped\nthat comparatively rapid progress would be made; but in reality the\ncommittee did not come together again until September, 1898; and even\nthen, only the Acts of the Apostles was ready for general revision. For\nthis delay there were various causes, such as the death of Dr. Nevius\nand the resignation of others, and the absence of Dr. Mateer on furlough\nhome; but the chief cause was that every member was burdened with so much\nother work that only a fraction of his time could be given to this duty.\nDr. Mateer, for example, found himself loaded down with other literary\nand missionary labors. At the meeting held at Tengchow, in 1898, he\nwas elected chairman of the committee. This was an honor, but it also\ncarried with it peculiar duties which materially added to his burden.\nThe committee could muster only five members for that sitting, but they\nproceeded with their work, and at the end of two months and a half they\nfinished the book of Acts; and then they separated.\n\n[Illustration: MANDARIN REVISION COMMITTEE AT WORK\n\nDR. S. LEWIS (American Methodist Episcopal)\n\nDR. GOODRICH (Congregational)\n\nDR. MATEER (Presbyterian)\n\nM. BALLER (China Inland Mission)]\n\nThat meeting by actual experience brought out distinctly not only the\ndifficulties of necessity arising from the translation of particular\nbooks of the Bible, and indeed of every verse; but also others of a\nmore general character, some of which had previously been more or less\nclearly seen. Should the new version take as its basis one or more of the\ntranslations already in existence; or should it go back straight to the\noriginal Greek, and use the existing translations merely as helps? In\nany case, constant reference to the original was a necessity. For this,\nwhich of the published texts should be accepted as the standard? The\nmeeting also disclosed a wide divergence of opinion as to the style of\nMandarin that ought to be employed. On that subject in 1900, Dr. Mateer\nexpressed himself fully and strongly, in an article published in the\n\u201cChinese Recorder.\u201d He said:\n\n The Mandarin Bible, in order to fulfill its purpose, should be\n such as can be readily understood by all when heard as read\n aloud by another. The fundamental distinction between Wen-li\n and Mandarin is that the former is addressed to the eye, the\n latter to the ear. In all Protestant churches the reading of\n the Scriptures has, from the first, constituted an important\n part of public worship. In order that this reading may serve\n the purpose intended, the Scripture must be so translated\n as to be intelligible to the common people. Only thus will\n they hear it, as they did its Author, \u201cgladly.\u201d It is not\n enough that those who know \u201ccharacters\u201d should be able to\n read it intelligently, but rather that those who do not know\n \u201ccharacters,\u201d and who in fact constitute by far the greater\n part of the Chinese people, should be able to understand it\n when it is read to them. Here then is the standard to be aimed\n at,\u2014a version that represents the Chinese language as it is\n spoken, and addresses itself to the ear rather than to the eye.\n\nHe summarized the chief characteristics of the proper style thus: that\nwords should be employed which the people who commonly use Mandarin can\nunderstand; that sentences should conform to the model of the spoken\nlanguage; and, concerning both of these requisites, that such care should\nbe taken as to brevity, the order of words and clauses, the connective\nparticles, and the evident movement of thought as expressed, that the\nChinese would recognize in it a people\u2019s book; and yet one that is free\nfrom undignified colloquialisms and localisms. All this he held up as an\nideal, not likely to be fully realized by any set of translators, but if\ndistinctly aimed at, more sure to be nearly approached. Toward the close\nof the work on the Mandarin version still another question of a general\nnature arose. Throughout most of their labors the committee had before\nthem the revised easy Wen-li translation, and for a part of the time\nthey also had the revised classic Wen-li Bible. Ought the three revised\nChinese versions to be harmonized, so as to eliminate all variations?\nThat, of course, would be ideal. On this question the report of the\nMandarin Committee, which was as to substance prepared by the chairman,\ntook the negative. It said:\n\n The differences are not great, and where they exist, the\n versions will serve Chinese students as a sort of commentary.\n There are a multitude of questions in Biblical interpretation\n which no translation can settle once for all. Moreover,\n ninety-nine out of a hundred of those who use the Mandarin\n will never look at any other translation. Two versions in\n perfect accord seem like a fine product, but it is difficult\n of realization. An attempt at reconciling the present versions\n would develop many difficulties. A Mandarin sentence\n especially is not easy to tamper with. The change of a single\n word would often dislocate a long sentence, and necessitate\n retranslation and adjustment to the context.\n\nThe Mandarin committee of translators continued their tentative revision\nof the New Testament until late in 1906, a period of fifteen years,\ncounting from the date of their first meeting for organization and\nassignment of specific duties. They held eight different sessions,\nbeing almost one each year after they were ready with actual work;\nand none of the sessions were shorter than two and a half months, and\none of them stretched out to six months. They assembled at Tengchow,\nnear Peking, at Shanghai, and most frequently at Chefoo. In the final\nreport is the record: \u201cThe chairman can say for himself that he has\ngiven the equivalent of about seven years all-day labor to this work.\nHe was present at every meeting, and first and last missed but one\nday\u2019s session.\u201d Each of the meetings took on distinctive incidental\nassociations. The third was held at Shanghai, and from December, 1900,\nran over some months into 1901. At that time, on account of the Boxer\nuprising, missionaries were temporarily there as refugees from all the\nprovinces directly concerned in the version. The sittings were in a small\nupper room in the Union Church, which came to be called \u201cthe Jerusalem\nChamber,\u201d and visitors were many. They saw two rows of men, one on each\nside of a long table, yellow faces being sandwiched alternately with\nwhite, as each translator had, as usual in this work, his Chinese\nassistant at his side. Often the discussions were carried on in Mandarin,\nso that these assistants might be able to understand and pass their\nopinion. Incidentally it may be noted that besides his work on the\nrevision, Dr. Mateer often met with the refugee missionaries during this\nperiod and greatly gratified them by participating in the discussion of\npractical problems.\n\nAfter the Mateers returned from their furlough, the sessions were all\nheld at Chefoo, first in one of the rooms of the China Inland Mission\nSanitarium, and later in a large upper room in the Missionary Home,\noverlooking the bay. Usually at the commencement of their meetings they\nsat together for three hours in the morning, and reserved the rest\nof the day for such private study as they wished to make; but as the\ntime wore on they would increase the sittings to as many hours also in\nthe afternoon, and crowd the private review into such odd moments as\nwere left. To anyone, these protracted labors on such a work must have\nbecome exceedingly tedious and almost irksome; but to no one was it more\nso than to Dr. Mateer. He knew Mandarin almost as if it had been his\nnative tongue; but the Mandarin which he knew had often to be modified\nand expressions adjusted, so that a Scripture written in it would suit\nother regions of China as well as those with which he was familiar. In\nwriting his \u201cMandarin Lessons\u201d and in preparing his educational books\nhe had only to ascertain to the best of his ability how to express his\nideas in Chinese, and that was the end of the search; but here he had\nto do his best, and then submit his product to the opinion of others,\nand often with the result of changes which did not commend themselves to\nhis preference. Yet, on his return home from the sittings he would say:\n\u201cI ought not to complain. I get my way oftener than any other man does.\nOnly I cannot help thinking of the work I have laid aside unfinished in\norder to do this.\u201d After each meeting the year\u2019s work was printed, marked\n\u201cTentative Edition,\u201d and with a slip inviting criticism was sent to the\nmissionaries in north China and Manchuria. These criticisms were all to\nbe canvassed before the edition could be printed that was to be presented\nto the Centenary Conference, to which they were to report.\n\nThe final meeting for the tentative revision of the New Testament lasted\nfor more than five months, and the work was pushed with even more than\nthe usual vigor. The Centenary Missionary Conference for China was only a\nyear ahead when they began. After the conference the revision was to run\nthe gauntlet of criticisms, and these were to be canvassed; and thus at\nlast the revision was to take its permanent form. Mrs. Mateer gives the\nfollowing graphic account of one of the closing incidents of that session.\n\n Passage had already been engaged for the Goodrich family on a\n steamer sailing north. The baggage was all carried down, the\n family all waited on the upper veranda, with hats on, and the\n Doctor\u2019s hat was ready for him to seize as soon as he should\n get out of the meeting. The \u201crickshaw\u201d men were waiting, ready\n to run with their loads. But still no sound of approaching\n feet! Finally, as it got dangerously near the hour of sailing,\n Mrs. Goodrich said, \u201cI must go and hurry them up.\u201d So she\n marched boldly down the hall, listened a minute at the door,\n and came back with her fingers on her lips. \u201cThose dear men\n are praying,\u201d she whispered; and tears filled our eyes as our\n hearts silently joined in the prayer. Of course, every morning\n session was opened with prayer; but this was the consummation\n of all these years of toil, the offering of the finished work\n at the altar.\n\nAlthough the committee completed their revision at that session, so\nfar as this was possible until the conference should meet and approve\nor disapprove it, there was very considerable work of a tedious nature\nleft to Dr. Mateer to perform. The finishing touches yet to be put upon\nportions of the version were not a few; but the thing that required of\nhim the most protracted and delicate attention was the punctuation.\nFor this he introduced a new system which seemed to him to be best\nfor the Chinese language, and which can be estimated fairly only by a\nscholar in that tongue. To him also as chairman came the criticisms\nwhich were invited from all quarters, most of which were welcomed,\nbut some of which touched him to the quick. At length, in the spring\nof 1907, the conference assembled at Shanghai, and the report of the\nCommittee of Revisers was made to that body. He wrote to a friend in\nthe United States concerning it: \u201cWe had a grand missionary conference\nin Shanghai, which, of course, I attended. There was more unanimity and\nless discussion than in the former conference.\u201d The report received a\nhearty approval, and the version was started on its course of examination\nby all concerned, as preparatory to its final completion. It was issued\nfrom the press at Shanghai in 1910. It was called a revision, the aim\nbeing to offer it, not so much as a rival to the older versions, as an\nimprovement upon them; but in reality it was an almost entirely new\ntranslation, though in making it advantage had been taken of the valuable\npioneering done by the others. Writing to a friend after the conference\nhad adjourned, Dr. Mateer frankly said:\n\n Please note that we still have opportunity for final revision,\n in which many defects will be eliminated. There are places\n not a few with which I myself am dissatisfied, many of which\n I see can be improved. I refer especially to texts that are\n excessively literal, and where foreign idioms are used to\n the detriment of the style. It must also be remembered that\n many terms and expressions that seem strange and perhaps\n inexpressive at first will on further use seem good and even\n admirable. Every new translation must have a little time to win\n its way. That our version will appeal strongly to the great\n mass of the Chinese church I have no doubt.\n\nDuring the long years he was engaged in this great undertaking he learned\nsome valuable lessons concerning the translation of the Scriptures.\nHe came to speak of it as an art, for which special training and\nexperience are needed. In an article which appeared after his death,\nin the November issue of \u201cThe Chinese Recorder\u201d for that year, he gave\nat length a discussion of \u201cLessons Learned in Translating the Bible\ninto Mandarin.\u201d He pointed out difficulties that hamper the making of\na version in the Mandarin as compared with the Wen-li in either of its\nforms. To appreciate these, one needs to be a master in those tongues.\nBut he also indicated others that lie in the way of a translation of\nthe Scriptures into any sort of Chinese. Many of the very ideas of the\nBible on moral and spiritual subjects had never entered the Chinese\nmind, and consequently there are no suitable words or phrases to express\nthem. Just as western science has to invent its own terms when it enters\nChina, so also within limits must the translator of the Bible introduce\na vocabulary suited for his purpose. He believed that in the China of\nto-day prejudice had so far begun to yield that this could be effectively\nand wisely done. In fact, each branch of modern thought that has been\ngrafted on the stem of the Chinese has already brought with it new words,\nso that hundreds of these have recently been coined and are on the\ntongues of the leaders. Along with the lack of an adequate vocabulary\ngoes another thing that adds to the difficulty. In the translation of\nother books the main need is to express the thought, and in doing this\nconsiderable freedom is usually tolerated; but accuracy of expression,\nbecause of the very nature of the Bible, is of the first importance\nin a version. Besides, the Chinese Christians seem especially disposed\nto insist on this quality. The tendency of a translator is apt to be\ntoward adapting the Scripture to what is conceived to be the taste\nof the Chinese, to write up to the style with which the educated are\nfamiliar, or down to the level of the uneducated speech. Another defect\nis to magnify or to minify peculiarities of expression originating in\nthe region where the Scriptures were written. Dr. Mateer thought that he\nrecognized very distinctly tendencies of this sort in the older versions,\nthough abating in more recent times. His article concluded as follows:\n\n The Bible does not need any doctoring at the hands of\n translators. The Chinese church is entitled to have the Bible\n just as it is, in a strictly faithful and accurate translation.\n This they demand of us who translate it for them. They do not\n want to know what the writers would have said if they had\n been Chinese, but what they actually did say. This is the\n manner in which the Chinese who have learned English are now\n translating foreign books into their own language, and this\n is very evidently the spirit of the times. The English Bible,\n especially the Revised Version, is a monument of careful and\n accurate translation. Translators into Chinese cannot do\n better than follow in the same line. I have a number of times\n heard students when using commentaries, or hearing lectures\n on various portions of Scripture, express their surprise and\n dissatisfaction that the Bible had not been more accurately\n translated. I have known Chinese preachers, when quoting a\n text which had a marginal reading saying that the original\n says so and so, to remark with strong disapproval, \u201cIf the\n original says so, why not translate it so, and be done with\n it?\u201d On one occasion in our committee, when a question was\n raised about giving a metaphor straight or paraphrasing into\n a comparison, one of our literary helpers said with vigorous\n emphasis: \u201cDo you suppose that we Chinese cannot understand and\n appreciate a metaphor? Our books are full of them, and new ones\n are welcome.\u201d If we do not give the Chinese the Bible as it\n is, they will condemn us, and before long will do the work for\n themselves.\n\n In conclusion, it is worthy of remark that no one man can make\n a satisfactory translation of the Bible. There are limitations\n to every man\u2019s knowledge of truth and of language. Every man\u2019s\n vision is distorted in some of its aspects. This is a lesson we\n have been learning day by day, and are still learning. If any\n man wishes to find out his limitations in these respects, let\n him join a translating committee.\n\nWith regard to the difficulties in the way of this revision, Dr. Goodrich\nthus expresses himself:\n\n No literary work of such peculiar difficulty has been\n undertaken in China since the first translation of the\n Scriptures by Morrison. To produce a Bible whose language shall\n run close to the original, simple enough to be understood by\n ordinary persons when read aloud in the church or in the home,\n and yet chaste in diction; this work to be done by a committee\n chosen from widely distant localities,\u2014from Peking on the\n northeast, to Kneichow in the southwest,\u2014might well frighten\n any body of men. For the first years together the work was\n almost the despair of the committee. Their efforts to make\n themselves mutually understood and to unite on a rendering\n were often immensely prolonged and exasperatingly amusing.\n\nBut they were trying to do for China what Wyclif did for the English\nand what Luther did for the Germans,\u2014to make a translation of the Bible\ninto a vernacular form of national speech which would be everywhere\nintelligible; and they took courage and pressed forward slowly but surely\ntoward their goal. In doing this they not only have accomplished the end\nimmediately sought, but they also have put into the hands of the people\nat large a model which will largely mold all their coming literature.\n\nThe conference at Shanghai in 1907 approved the report on the New\nTestament and decided to proceed to the revision of the Old Testament,\nand appointed an executive committee to select the men to do this work.\nThe members chosen were the same five who had served toward the close of\nthe revision of the New Testament, with the exception of a new translator\nneeded because one of the old committee had gone home. Dr. Mateer was\nespecially anxious that they might be saved from the necessity of\nbreaking in and training several inexperienced members. Of course, he\nhad foreseen that he would probably be selected, but when informed that\nthis had been done he reserved his decision until he knew of whom besides\nhimself the committee was to consist. To Dr. Goodrich of the American\nBoard, with whom he had been so intimately associated, he wrote several\ntimes, urging him to accept; and in one of these letters he said: \u201cThere\nis a variety of reasons why I am perhaps as loath as you are to do this\nwork. So far as money, reputation, or personal taste goes, I should\nrather do other work. But then it seems as if duty calls to this. Neither\nyou nor I can ignore the fact that the experience and training of all\nthese years have fitted us in a special manner for this work. We can do\nit better and faster than new men.\u201d He was again made chairman, and as\nsuch he proceeded to distribute the first of the revision work, for which\nhe selected Genesis and certain of the Psalms. He began his personal\nlabors at the opening of the year, and in the summer the committee\nassembled at Chefoo to consider what had then been accomplished. The\nGoodrich and the Mateer families went into residence during their\nprojected stay, and took for this purpose a house occupied usually as\nheadquarters for the school for the deaf, Mrs. Goodrich, because of the\ncondition of Mrs. Mateer\u2019s health, having charge of the housekeeping. The\nmeetings were held in a little chapel of the China Inland Mission, in the\nneighboring valley. It was while so situated that Dr. Mateer was stricken\nwith his fatal illness.\n\nIn a letter which he addressed \u201cTo the dear ones at home,\u201d on the\noccasion of his seventieth birthday, he said:\n\n God has also blessed me in enabling me to accomplish several\n of the leading purposes of my life. From my boyhood I longed\n for a liberal education. My next great desire was to give at\n least forty years to work in China. Soon after I came to China\n I began educational work on a very small scale, but aspired\n to raise up a college that might be a power for good. I early\n formed the purpose of becoming an adept in the spoken language,\n and in aiming at this saw the need of a text-book for learning\n the language, and set about making it. All these purposes I\n have been enabled, by the blessing of God, to accomplish. My\n great work for the last ten years has been to lead in the\n translation of the Bible into Mandarin. This has been a most\n trying and laborious task, which is not yet completed. The New\n Testament is nearly done, but whether the Old Testament will be\n completed, who can tell? My desire and hope is to complete it.\n To prepare a mature and approved translation of the Bible for\n the use of two hundred and eighty millions of people will be\n for the glory of God in China.\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nINCIDENTS BY THE WAY\n\n \u201cThere are many trials and self-denials in missionary\n life, but there are also not a few compensations and some\n advantages.\u201d\u2014LETTER \u201cTO THE DEAR ONES AT HOME,\u201d at his\n seventieth birthday.\n\n\nThe statement just quoted is general, and admits of application in the\ncase of every faithful foreign missionary; but Dr. Mateer meant it\nespecially as an expression of his own experience. In the story of his\nlife work as already here told we have seen it constantly exemplified.\nThere, however, still remain other instances that deserve permanent\nrecord. In speaking of them as \u201cincidents by the way,\u201d and in gathering\nthem into a single chapter, I do not mean to indicate that they are\nunimportant. Some of them concerned the depths of his life. But his work\nafter he reached China was chiefly along the lines that have been traced\nin the preceding chapters, and those matters now to be related, however\nimportant, were incidents by the way.\n\nOf the trials that overtook him, none were so keenly felt as his\nbereavements. Only two or three of these can be mentioned here,\u2014such\nas occurred within the circle of his own relatives out in China. The\nfirst was the death of Mrs. Capp, the sister of Mrs. Julia Mateer.\nThis occurred on February 17, 1882, at Tengchow. She went down into the\nshadows with the tender ministrations of her sister and of Dr. Mateer. In\nwriting to a brother of her deceased husband, he said:\n\n On Sabbath afternoon,\u2014yesterday,\u2014we buried her on the hill west\n of the city, with other missionary friends who have gone before\n her. She was greatly beloved by the Chinese, and there were few\n of the Christians here who did not weep to part with her. Mr.\n Mills conducted the funeral service in English, and made some\n excellent remarks, admirably adapted to the occasion. One of\n our native elders made a very effective address in Chinese. Her\n work is done, and it is well done. Her memory will not soon die\n amongst the Chinese in this city and neighborhood. We will miss\n her, oh, so much,\u2014her help, her counsel, her genial society,\n her spiritual power! Her school will miss her the most: her\n place in it cannot be filled. She was ready to die, and strong\n in faith, yet she longed to live, not that she might enjoy\n life, but, as she several times said, that she might save some\n more souls. She repeatedly assured us of her joy that she had\n come to China, and declared that she had never counted it a\n sacrifice, but a privilege. I told the Chinese over her coffin\n to imitate her as she did Christ,\u2014her zeal and earnestness in\n all duty, and her untiring endeavor and desire to save souls.\n\nSixteen years later, almost to a day,\u2014February 16, 1898,\u2014Julia finished\nher earthly work and entered into the heavenly rest. I have already\nmentioned that sorrowful event in the life of Dr. Mateer, and said\nsomething of her character. Her biography is soon to be given to the\nworld in a distinct volume. Under these circumstances it would be\nsuperfluous to make any extended record concerning her here. It is due,\nhowever, to her husband to quote at least a part of one paragraph from a\nbrief memoir of her written by him shortly after her death. In telling of\nher varied labors and achievements he said this, which so far as it was\nknown to her in life, must have been an immeasurable satisfaction:\n\n Before the end of her first year in China she look an active\n part in opening the little school which ultimately grew\n into the Shantung College. To this school she gave the best\n energies of her life, and to her in no small degree is due its\n continued success. She was an accomplished teacher, especially\n of young boys.... She did far more than teach, during the\n earlier years of the school; she did fully two thirds of the\n work involved, giving her time day and night to every detail.\n She kept the accounts, looked after food and clothing and a\n hundred nameless things. To the end she was the confidante\n and adviser of all, in their troubles, trials, and plans, in\n their marriage alliances, and in their spiritual exercises.\n The thoughtful care she gave to all her pupils when they were\n sick endeared her to the hearts of all who were in the college.\n She studied medicine on her own account, and had no mean skill\n as a physician. All the sick in the native church, and all\n the sick in her own neighborhood, heathen and Christian, came\n to her, and she never refused a call. There is no graduate\n of the Tengchow College who does not have a place for her\n in his heart, close by the side of that of his own mother.\n During her illness there is probably not one of these young\n men, scattered as they are over all north China, who did not\n pray earnestly for her, many of them in public as well as in\n private; and many of them have written her the most anxious and\n affectionate letters. On her sixtieth birthday, last July, the\n students of the college and graduates with their most imposing\n ceremony presented her with a decorated silk gown, and placed\n a large title, or sign, in gilt letters over the front door of\n the house, \u201c_Character-nourishing aged mother_.\u201d It was the\n proudest day of her life when these young men presented her\n with this most fitting token of their loving reverence and\n esteem.\n\nIn view of the hatred and prejudice which confronted her and her husband\nwhen they arrived in Tengchow nearly thirty-five years before, it must\nhave almost seemed to her like the illusion of a dream.\n\nWe have previously seen that Dr. Mateer\u2019s brother John became the\nsuperintendent of the mission press at Shanghai in 1872. He continued in\nthat position until 1876, when he returned home. For a good many years\nhe was in business in the United States, and then he returned to China\nand took charge of the mission press of the American Board at Peking. In\nApril, 1900, Dr. Mateer was called by telegraph to come to that city as\nquickly as possible, on account of the dangerous illness of his brother;\nbut John died the day before his arrival. In a letter to the surviving\nbrothers and sisters Dr. Mateer, after describing the funeral services,\nadded:\n\n It is evident that his work here in the press was highly\n appreciated. He was also held in high esteem by the members of\n the other missions, and was well and favorably known in the\n American legation. Several of the speakers said that John\u2019s\n life was a well-rounded and successful one, achieved in the\n face of great difficulties. From the standpoint of worldly\n wisdom his life could scarcely be called successful; but from\n the spiritual, it certainly was. In this regard he was probably\n superior to any member of the family. His mind was clear to\n the end and filled with confident hope. As his disease grew\n more serious he showed no fear, and to the last he faced death\n without a tremor. May God give unto each of us who remain grace\n to face the king of terrors with the same triumphant faith. We\n buried him in the foreign cemetery, just north of the city, in\n the most beautiful spot in that cemetery, and just by the side\n of Rev. Mr. Morrison of our mission.\n\nIt did not fall to the lot of Dr. Mateer to have any experience of\nperilous adventure and of hairbreadth escapes such as have come into the\nlives of missionaries in uncivilized lands, and even in China. Still he\nby no means escaped serious risks. In his earlier itinerations he was\nseveral times threatened with attacks from individuals or crowds, and\nsometimes he armed himself in order to defend himself from assault. The\nsecond year of his residence in Tengchow, because of negotiations going\nforward for the renting of a house near the south gate, a meeting of as\nmany as a thousand people composing the most influential clan in the\ncity assembled in one of the temples, and demanded of the officials\npermission to kill the man who controlled the house, and the foreigners;\nbut the excitement passed away without any open outbreak. In the summer\nof 1867 there was a great scare at Tengchow over the approach of a body\nof \u201crebels.\u201d These were in reality robbers, consisting of the dregs left\nbehind at the suppression of the Tai-Ping rebellion, who burned and\nlaid waste large districts of country, and mercilessly slaughtered the\npeople. Their approach to Tengchow had so often been reported that nobody\nknew what to anticipate; but at length they, sure enough, made their\nappearance in the neighboring country. The inhabitants crowded into the\ncity by thousands, bringing with them donkeys, cattle, and everything\nthat could be hastily removed, so that not only the houses, but the\nstreets and vacant places were crammed with them, the mission premises\nnot being excepted. Julia found in the situation a fine opportunity to\ngive the gospel to the women; and her husband was equally diligent among\nthe men, though he was unfortunately hampered by the absence of his\nChinese assistant. A British war vessel called early in the scare and\noffered to remove the missionaries to a place of safety; and later the\n\u201cWyoming,\u201d a United States naval vessel, anchored out in the bay, where\nshe could bring her guns to play, if necessary, for the protection of\nAmerican citizens. Happily, after five days of this state of things the\nrebels again vanished, but not without leaving in their trail sickness\nand desolation. The missionaries do not seem to have been much alarmed\nat any time during the excitement, though no one could tell what might\nhappen.\n\nIn 1870 there was a cruel massacre of a large number of French Roman\nCatholic missionaries and of some others at Tientsin, and much valuable\nmission property was destroyed. The news of this spread rapidly over\nnorth China and kindled the animosity of the natives against foreigners\nto such a degree that the situation in many localities became very\ndangerous. At Tengchow rumors of plots to wipe out the missionaries there\nwere frequent, and the native Christians and others who were friendly\ncommunicated to them information that justified serious apprehension.\nA meeting of all the members of both the Baptist and the Presbyterian\nstation was called, and then another the next day, and by an almost\nunanimous vote it was declared that it was the duty of all to take refuge\nin Chefoo or elsewhere until the danger was substantially ended. Dr.\nMateer in these meetings advocated brief delay and further inquiry, but\nwhen he found himself in a minority of one, he yielded his judgment to\nthat of all the others. Just as soon as possible a message was sent to\nChefoo for a ship to come up and take the families to that place, and a\ncouple of British vessels promptly responded. All valuables that could\nbe quickly packed and easily removed were shipped; and the premises at\nTengchow were placed in charge of as trusty Chinese as could be obtained\nfor the purpose, and a promise was given by the chief official of\nthe city that he would see that constables watched the property. Dr.\nMateer did not go on the ship, but remained a day along with a Baptist\nmissionary in order to complete the arrangements required for the proper\nkeeping of the houses and goods, and then he followed on horseback down\nto Chefoo. The prompt appearance of the ships in the harbor and the\nremoval of the missionaries seem to have made a most wholesome impression\non the people, and the excitement soon subsided, and a rather general\ndesire prevailed, even among the non-Christian Chinese, that they should\nreturn. The American minister at Peking also greatly gratified the\nrefugees and their fellow-laborers from the United States by the to them\nsomewhat novel experience of his taking an earnest practical interest\nin their welfare. He advised them to return to Tengchow, and solicited\nthe privilege of sending them back on an American warship. After an\nabsence of about a month Dr. Mateer went thither on a preliminary trip,\nand was pleasantly surprised at the friendly altitude of the people. In\ndue time the other missionaries and their families followed; but at the\nmeeting of the synod which ensued a little later he was compelled, after\na brief sojourn at Tengchow, to go down to Shanghai and remain there for\na year and a half in charge of the mission press. Just how real was the\ndanger that caused this temporary flight to Chefoo, and how imminent,\nis a secret that perhaps no man clearly knew, and which certainly the\nmissionaries never ascertained. Writing in his Journal, just after his\nreturn, concerning his reluctant acquiescence in the vote of all except\nhimself in favor of going, he says:\n\n Nevertheless acquiescence was one of the hardest trials of my\n life. My mind was filled that night with a tumult of emotions;\n and I did not sleep a wink till the morning light dawned. I did\n not know how much I loved Tengchow, and perhaps I overrated the\n damage our leaving would do to our own cause here, especially\n to our schools. I am not sure, however, that I did. The future\n remains to be seen. God may, and I trust he will, turn it to be\n a blessing both to us and to the native Christians. Aside from\n the question of the actual amount of danger at that time I felt\n a strong aversion to going in any case, unless when my life was\n in such instant peril that there was no possible doubt.... I am\n not yet convinced, however, and though I do not wish to make\n any rash vows, yet I think that I will not fly from Tengchow\n again unless there is a great deal more imminent danger.\n\nWhen, in 1894-95, the war between Japan and China raged, Tengchow being\na port on the sea, and not far from Japan, was of course likely to be a\nplace directly involved in the hostilities. The missionaries elected to\nremain at their post, and asked the consular agent of the United States\nat Chefoo to notify the proper military official of their presence,\nnumber, calling, and nationality, and to say that in case of attack they\nwould hoist the American flag over the mission premises, and that if the\nChinese found themselves unable to defend the city they would exert\ntheir influence to have it surrendered without loss of life. The Japanese\ndid come, and they, as a diversion from the seizure of Wei-hai-wei,\nbombarded the place on three successive days. As to this, Dr. Mateer says\nin his autobiographical sketch for his college classmates, \u201cI watched\nthe progress of affairs from the lookout on top of my house, but escaped\nuntouched, though eight shells fell close around the house, and one went\nover my head so close that the wind from it made me dodge.\u201d\n\nDuring the Boxer uprising of 1899-1900, though the movement originated\nin Shantung, the missionaries and native Christians of that province\nsuffered less than in adjacent provinces. The reason for this is that\nafter the murder of Brooks in 1899, the anti-foreign governor, Yu Haien,\nwas at the solicitation of the missionaries and the Foreign Office\nremoved. Unfortunately he was not deposed, but was merely changed to\nShansi. This accounts for the terrible carnage there. The new governor\nof Shantung, the since famous Yuan Shih K\u2019ai, did his best to hold the\nBoxers in check in his own province, and in the main was successful. The\nprompt and efficient action of Consul Fowler, of Chefoo, in removing the\nmissionaries from the interior also helped to save life. Still it was\nbad enough in the western parts even of Shantung. The native Christians\nin many places were robbed, beaten, and so far as possible compelled by\nthreat of death to disown their faith. The story of the destruction of\nthe property of the mission at Wei Hsien, and the narrow escape of the\nmissionaries, through the courage of one of their number, is about as\nthrilling as any that is told of that period of widespread burning and\ncarnage. In the eastern side of the province, beyond ominous excitement\nat such places as Tengchow and Chefoo, there was no serious disturbance.\nProbably this was due in part to the wholesome respect which the Chinese\nliving not too far from the sea had come to feel for foreign war vessels,\nand for the troops which they could promptly disembark.\n\nJust before the siege of Peking began Dr. Mateer had made his visit to\nthat city, to bury his brother John. The earlier part of 1900 he remained\nat Tengchow quietly at his work, and sending his orders just as usual\nfor supplies needed by the college and personally. In July, by order\nof the American consul, the missionaries were brought down to Chefoo\non a gunboat. Dr. Mateer and Mr. Mason Wells, however, lingered behind\nfor a while. It was vacation, and Dr. Mateer occupied his time with the\nMandarin version. Among the Chinese a wild rumor gained some currency\nthat he was leading an army of many thousand men to relieve Peking; and\nthe fact that his _fianc\u00e9e_ was shut up there gave at least piquancy to\nthe report. Later he went on down to Shanghai, and there spent six months\non the Revision Committee; and so he did not get back to Tengchow until\nJune, 1901, when the Boxer uprising was at an end.\n\nIn a communication which he published in \u201cThe Herald and Presbyter\u201d later\nin 1900, he gave at considerable length his views as to the causes of\nthat dreadful outbreak. These do not differ essentially from the ideas\nwhich have come to be generally accepted in the United Stales. The\nmissionary propaganda he frankly acknowledges to have, by the very nature\nof its message, aroused the malignity of evil men; and this also to have\nbeen much aggravated by the habit of Roman Catholics of standing between\ntheir converts and the enforcement of Chinese laws; but he denied that\nthis was the main cause. He holds that the outbreak was chiefly due to\nthe traditional hatred of foreigners; to the territorial aggressions of\nthe western nations in China; to the ill treatment of Chinese abroad and\nin their own ports by foreigners; and last, but by no means least, to the\nGerman operations in Shantung, consisting of their revenge for the murder\nof some German priests, the occupation of Kiao-chow, and the survey and\nbuilding of a railroad through the province. The high-handed encroachment\nof Russia in Manchuria and the construction of a railroad through that\nprovince, and the guarding of it by Russian troops, added fuel to the\nflames. Summing up, he says: \u201cThe whole movement is anti-foreign,\u2014against\nall nationalities and occupations, ministers of governments, consuls,\nmerchants, missionaries, teachers, and engineers, railroads, telegraphs,\nchurches, schools, and Christian converts,\u2014everything in short that is in\nany way connected with the detested foreigner. It is the conservatism of\nold China rising up and bracing itself for one last desperate struggle to\nsuppress the new China that is supplanting it.\u201d\n\nAnother of the trials that touched deeply his heart was the contact into\nwhich he was brought with the sufferings of the people through famine. In\n1876, 1877, and 1878 there was great scarcity in the general region of\nTengchow, and consequently the prices for food rose so high that it was\nimpossible for the poor to obtain the necessaries of life. Dr. Mateer, as\nalso other missionaries, helped them to the extent of his ability, and\nbecame the almoner of charitable people who sent money from western lands\nto buy food for the famishing. But in 1889 he was brought face to face\nas never before in his life with destitution in China. The inconstancy\nof the Yellow River was one cause of the terrible disaster. Twice within\nabout a third of the nineteenth century it had changed its bed; and as a\nconsequence, finding its new channel too small to carry off the waters\nin times of heavy and protracted rain, it had repeatedly flooded vast\ndistricts, often to a depth of several feet, carrying destruction to\nthe mud walls of the buildings and desolation to the cultivated ground.\nDrought also in a portion of northwestern Shantung had prevailed to such\nan extent as to prevent the growth and maturing of grains and vegetables.\nAt last a climax was reached by these disasters; and it was recognized\nby missionaries and others as so awful in its character and so vast in\nits sweep that a Famine Relief Committee for Shantung was organized, and\nan appeal was made for help from Great Britain and the United States,\nand from the southern ports of China. At least two hundred thousand\ndollars came in response, and it was especially in connection with the\ndistribution of this that Dr. Mateer was brought into direct personal\ncontact with the suffering. Districts were assigned to missionaries and\nothers, and a careful canvass with the aid of reliable helpers was made.\nThey ascertained that many tens of thousands of the people had wandered\naway from their homes, either to seek food or at least to leave to the\nmore feeble and helpless such sustenance as might yet remain. No one\never was able to form a definite idea of the number who had died from\nstarvation, either on their wanderings or at their places of residence.\nThe canvassers found multitudes trying to sustain life by eating the\nhusks of grain, the seeds and roots of grasses and weeds, the bark of\ntrees, and the blades of wheat. Some of those who had been considered\nrich had provided themselves with poison, so as to take their own lives\nwhen they must come to the point where to live would be to see their\nchildren perish from starvation. The allowance furnished by the relief\nfund to an individual was fixed at about a cent a day in all ordinary\ncases, and it was ascertained that on this allowance at least a hundred\nthousand lives were saved. On some old, faded Chinese sheets of paper,\nclosely written with his own hand, the record of a part of Dr. Mateer\u2019s\nexperiences in the famine canvass, out in northwestern Shantung, has come\ndown to us. As it is all now a thing of the remote past, there probably\nwould be no good in recording the dreadful details here. It is a story\nof children reduced to skeletons, eager to lick up every crumb as big\nas a pinhead that fell from the bit of coarse bread given them; of men\nand women falling down on their knees and begging for food for their\nfamilies, and bursting into tears at the prospect of relief; of the sale\nof wives and daughters to procure something to eat; of unburied corpses,\nand of graves just filled with those who have perished. He said under\ndate of April 9, 1889: \u201cIt is the hardest work I ever did in my life. To\nlook all day long on a continual succession of starving people, and to be\nbeset by their entreaties to enroll more names than you can, is very hard\non the nerves. There is no end to the starving people.\u201d Again, May 17,\nhe said: \u201cAfter seven weeks and two days I am at last about to leave for\nTsinan. We have now enrolled about thirty-three thousand, and the work of\nenrollment in this place is finished.\u201d What as to the religious outcome?\nThe impression made upon multitudes even in excess of those who received\naid was most favorable to Christianity. One of the leading Chinese\nassistants in the work wrote to the people who furnished the aid: \u201cThis\nmust be the right religion. If not, why is it that the followers of other\nreligions do not do such things?\u201d Thus they were willing to examine into\nChristianity, and the more they examined, the more they believed, until\nthey were converted to Christ. As an ultimate outcome, several hundred\nwere received into the churches.\n\nThe controversies which he had with some of his fellow-missionaries in\nChina were a serious trial to him. He was not by inclination \u201ca man of\nwar,\u201d but in connection with the prosecution of the missionary work in\nwhich he was engaged in common with his brethren, questions of great\npractical and immediate importance arose, and as to some of these he\nhad strong convictions that were at variance with those of other wise\nand able men on the field. It was best for the cause that these should\nbe thoroughly discussed, and there was much that could be fairly and\nearnestly urged upon either side. All that could be rightly demanded was\nthat the \u201cfighting\u201d should be open and honorable, and that it should\nbe conducted in such a manner as not to hinder the missionary work or\nto descend into personal controversy. Dr. Mateer, as to ability and\nefficiency, stood in the front rank of those who were giving their lives\nto the evangelization of China. It was his duty to express his views\non these questions, and to do this in such a way that no one could\nmisapprehend them. If any fault could be found with him in this matter,\nperhaps it would be that he saw his own side so vividly that he was not\nalways able to recognize the entire force of that which was said in favor\nof what ran counter to it. Those who knew him well and appreciated the\ngreatness and tenderness of his heart waived the sting which sometimes\nseemed to be in his words; but perhaps some others who were not so well\nacquainted with him occasionally winced under its pungency. Everyone who\nwas concerned in these discussions, long ago has come to recognize him in\nthese as an earnest, capable man, trying to do his duty as he saw it.\n\nBy far the most protracted of these controversies was over the word that\nought to be used in Chinese to express the idea of God. Under date of\nNovember 4, 1865, he made this entry in his Journal: \u201cThis week I had a\nnote from Mr. Mills, saying that a proposition was current at Peking to\nget out a Union New Testament in Mandarin, and to use in it _Tien Chu_\nfor God, and _Sheng Shen_ for Holy Spirit, and that all but Mr. \u2e3a had\nsigned it. I cannot sign it at all; I am utterly opposed to any such\na proceeding. I cannot conscientiously use these words.\u201d That was his\nfirst gun in a battle that for him completely ended only with his life.\nHis contributions to the discussion were sufficient to be in substance,\nas we have already seen, gathered into a separate volume. In 1907 his\n\u201cLetter Book\u201d shows that he was still remonstrating against a request\nto the Bible societies to employ for God and for spirit Chinese terms\nthat violated his convictions. His very last recorded utterance on the\nsubject was in a letter dated November 17, 1907. In it he expresses\nhis gratification that in an edition of the New Testament for China,\nissued by an English Bible society, they were \u201cto use the terms _Shen_\nand _Sheng Ling_ for God and Spirit.\u201d He added: \u201cThis suits me. These\nand these only are the right terms, and despite all appearances will\nultimately win in the really orthodox and evangelistic church of China.\u201d\nIt is not improbable that the drift of opinion for various reasons as to\nthis was against him; but it was in this faith that he died.\n\nAs to his part in the discussion concerning what came to be known as\n\u201cMethods of Missions,\u201d no more need be said here than that the men who\ntook part in this were alike seeking the best solution of a difficult\nproblem, and never wavered in unbroken fellowship and confidence as\ncomrades in the larger work of giving the gospel to China. It was not\nuntil 1905 that Dr. Mateer published his book on this subject, and then\nonly when urged by some of his associates.\n\nIn the battle as to English in the college, Dr. Mateer had to yield to\nthe majority who came into control after the removal to Wei Hsien. He\nwas great enough not to allow the new policy to chill his love for the\ninstitution, or to stay his hands from such help as, in addition to his\noccupation with the Mandarin version, it was possible for him to lend\neither by influence or money, or even by physical toil. In his final\nrelations with the college he proved himself to be still its loyal and\ngenerous supporter.\n\nIt has often been remarked that one never meets a foreign missionary who\nhas thrown himself or herself unreservedly into the work who is unhappy.\nThey are human, and feel their trials often keenly; but their faces shine\nwith an inward peace, and they rejoice over the one sheep, or the many,\nwhom they have found in the wilderness and won to Christ. When Dr. Mateer\nadvanced in age, and thought of what he had helped to accomplish for\nthe evangelization of China, he must have felt a satisfaction such as\nseldom possesses a soul. In view of this supreme joy it almost seems out\nof place here to tell of the \u201cincidents by the way\u201d which ministered to\nhis pleasure. One of these consisted of the signs of appreciation shown\nhim by men or bodies of men whose commendation meant something worth\nwhile. We have seen how the missionaries on the field trusted and honored\nhim by calling him to leadership in several most important enterprises\nlooking toward large and permanent results. But others besides\nmissionaries recognized him as worthy of their honors and trust. Hanover\nCollege in 1880 conferred on him the doctorate of divinity. In 1888 the\nUniversity of Wooster, for his \u201cattainments, literary and scientific,\nphilosophical and theological, and for his success in his work as a\nChristian missionary and teacher,\u201d gave him the doctorate of laws. At\nthe centennial of his alma mater in 1902, Washington and Jefferson\nCollege also conferred on him the doctorate of laws, in recognition of\nhis \u201cdistinguished ability and service as a scholar and minister of the\ngospel.\u201d In 1894, the British and Foreign Bible Society by making him\nan honorary foreign member gave him an exceptional distinction. In\nAugust, 1898, his lifelong friend, Rev. Dr. W. A. P. Martin, who had\nbeen called to the headship of the new Imperial University planned for\nPeking, wrote to him, asking whether he would accept the deanship of the\nschool of engineering; but in reply he declined, on the dual ground that\nhe was under obligation to continue in his missionary work and in the\ntranslation of the Scriptures. In December of the same year he received\nfrom the \u201csuperintendent\u201d of the new Imperial University at Nanking an\ninvitation to become the \u201chead master\u201d of that nascent institution.\nComing as this did directly from that high Chinese dignitary, it was an\nextraordinary mark of respect and confidence; but this also he declined,\nand for the same reasons as in the preceding case. In writing of these\noffers he said to one of the secretaries of the Board of Missions:\n\n Both these positions offered me a salary much greater than\n a missionary gets. Though not now doing much active work\n in teaching in the college, I yet feel that my work and\n influence here are very important. Having embarked in the\n work of Bible translation, I cannot turn my back upon it,\n unless the conditions of the work itself constrain me to do\n so. Also I am anxious to preach,\u2014especially to work in revival\n meetings amongst the native churches. I also value highly the\n opportunity I have to preach to the students of the college.\n\nOne of the minor but notable honors that came to Dr. Mateer was the\ncelebration of his seventieth birthday at Wei Hsien. The Chinese have a\ncurious custom as to the birthday of the emperor, and perhaps of other\ndistinguished persons; they celebrate it a year, a month, and a day in\nadvance of the true date. This custom was followed on the occasion of\nDr. Mateer\u2019s seventieth birthday. An eyewitness has given the following\ngraphic description of the affair:\n\n \u201cThe alumni and students of the college planned the \u201cbirthday\n party\u201d; and a most elaborate affair it was. In the morning\n a long procession of hired rejoicers, with gay banners and\n doleful native bands, marched into the compound from the\n city and were reviewed at the great gate by Dr. Mateer and\n the college faculty. Wasn\u2019t it a fortunate thing that the\n doctor-of-laws hood of Dr. Mateer agreed so well with the\n Chinese idea of crimson as the most appropriate color for any\n celebration? At the chapel, which was packed to the limit\n with natives and out-of-town guests, presentation speeches\n which none but Orientals would ever have sat through, and\n responses were made, world without end. The most successful\n native pastor in this part of China, who was once Dr. Mateer\u2019s\n table boy, spoke first. The highest officials of the country\n were present in all their grandeur, looking properly haughty\n and impressive,\u2014though I shall never cease feeling that the\n typical expression of dignity and authority in China resembles\n the lime-in-the-mouth look more closely than anything else.\n If a concrete argument for the existence of the college were\n necessary, I can think of none better than a look at the\n alumni. Such splendid, manly fellows they were, with keen,\n intelligent faces! Some have become wealthy business men, who\n show their appreciation; and many are native pastors and\n teachers. A double quartet of college students furnished the\n music; and it was remarkable how well they sang the complicated\n part tunes. They have had no regular training, but have kept at\n it by themselves, and have surprised us all by their progress.\n But for the music, the real, soul-uplifting music, give me the\n native band! Imagine several bagpipes and flutes, diminutive\n drums, and two or three toy trumpets which sound only one note;\n and then conceive of each player carrying on an independent\n enterprise, and you may know something about the Chinese native\n band. It is too rare for words. Large bunches of firecrackers\n fastened on tripods, and cannon crackers, were used all through\n the festivities, so that it seemed exactly like the Fourth of\n July. A Chinese feast was given to all the invited guests, and\n the rabble from the villages near by encamped on the compound\n and ate the lunches they had carried about with them all\n morning in their handkerchiefs. It was a great day for the\n college, and a great occasion for the village people; but most\n demoralizing to language study. The gold-embroidered, scarlet\n banners were so many and so immense that since that one day in\n the church no place has been found sufficiently large to hang\n them.\u201d\n\nIn the general section of China where he lived he made many journeys.\nOver that part of Shantung situated to the east of the Yellow River he\ntraveled often, and far and wide. Several times he visited Peking. Once,\nas we have seen, he went down the Grand Canal, to Nanking, and the lower\nYangtse. Frequently he steamed up and down the coast to Shanghai, and\nonce as far south as Ningpo. But those immense and populous provinces\nsituated in the west and south of China he never visited, not because he\nwas not interested in them, or could not afford the expense, but because\nhe could not spare the time. In the spring of 1868 the \u201cShenandoah,\u201d\nan American war steamer, came to Tengchow on its way to Korea, where\nsearch was to be made for any survivors that might remain from the\n\u201cGeneral Sherman,\u201d lost there two years before. The \u201cShenandoah\u201d wanted\nan interpreter, and by general consent the duty seemed to fall on Dr.\nMateer, so that he fell constrained to accept, though the health of his\nwife and other affairs rendered this very inconvenient. The cruise lasted\nabout six weeks, and carried them to several places on the west coast\nof Korea, and among these to the river Pyeng Yang, since so familiar to\nreaders of missionary journals, and to those who followed the Japanese\ntroops on their march against the Russians in the recent war. That was\nthen a \u201cforbidden land\u201d to foreigners, and the expedition found it\ndifficult to get into peaceable or forcible communication with officials\nor other natives, and accomplished almost nothing. In the light of the\nfuller present knowledge of that politically unhappy but religiously\nhopeful country the observations of the interpreter or of any of the\nother persons belonging to the expedition are now of little interest.\n\nDr. Mateer came back to the United States only three times on furlough\nduring the more than forty-five years that intervened between his\nsailing for China in 1863 and his death. The first of these absences from\nChina began in May, 1879, and ended about the first of January, 1881.\nUnder the rule of the Board of Missions he was entitled to a furlough\nhome long before that time, but he felt that he could not sooner leave\nhis work. He also held the opinion that there is usually no sufficient\nreason to justify this privilege to a young missionary so early as is\nestablished custom. His wife, on account of health, had preceded him\nsome six months. He came by way of Japan, and brought with him two\nMills children, their mother having died. They crossed the Pacific on\na slow vessel, but the voyage was delightful, and in about as great a\ncontrast as is possible with his experience on the ship which originally\ncarried him to China. He was made more than comfortable and the captain\nwent out of his way in order to show him courtesies. On arrival in the\nUnited States his time was spent in the main as by other home-coming\nmissionaries,\u2014in family reunions, visiting here and there, preaching to\nchurches, addressing ecclesiastical meetings of various sorts, seeking\nrecruits among theological students, and other engagements,\u2014the total of\nwhich so completely fill up the time that little is left for real rest\nand recuperation. To this customary list he added two other items,\u2014a\nperiod spent in attending medical lectures at Philadelphia, and a hasty\ntrip across the Atlantic to England and to Paris.\n\nHis second furlough extended from July, 1892, until October, 1893.\nHe went and came by the Pacific route, and was comfortable on these\nvoyages. Julia was with him. During that sojourn in the United States, in\naddition to the occupations usually engrossing the time of a missionary\non furlough, he went to Chautauqua and studied Hebrew in order to fit\nhimself better for revision work. He also made at the World\u2019s Fair at\nChicago that exhaustive examination of machinery, and especially of\nelectrical appliances, of which Dr. Corbett, in the quotation previously\ngiven, has told us. One of the greatest pleasures that came to him on\nthis leave of absence was the privilege of once more seeing his mother,\nthen advanced in years. In the last of his letters to her that have come\ndown to us he mentions that he and Julia are at the writing just going\ninto the harbor at Chefoo, and he concludes by saying: \u201cWe are very glad\nthat we are at the end of our journey, and back again in China. This is\nwhere our work lies, and this is where we ought to be.\u201d It was on his\narrival at Tengchow that his students gave him that royal welcome already\ndescribed.\n\nOn September 25, 1900, he was married to Miss Ada Haven, who had been\nfor many years a missionary of the American Board at Peking, and as\nsuch was recognized as an accomplished Chinese scholar and a successful\nand highly esteemed teacher in the Bridgman School. Her engagement to\nDr. Mateer briefly antedated the siege of Peking, and she was one of\nthe company of foreigners of whose fate the western world waited with\nbated breath to hear during the midsummer of 1900. In her book, \u201cSiege\nDays,\u201d she has given an inside view of the experiences of herself and of\nmany others, and as such it has not only a passing but also a permanent\ninterest and value as a record of that remarkable episode of madness on\nthe part of the \u201cold\u201d China. After the relief of the city and a little\nseason of recuperation from the strain of the siege, Miss Haven came down\nto Chefoo, and the marriage took place in the Presbyterian church at\nChefoo, Dr. Mateer\u2019s old friend, Dr. Corbett, performing the ceremony.\nAs his wife, Ada rendered him valuable assistance, by taking part in the\npreparation of the smaller book of \u201cMandarin Lessons.\u201d She also greatly\nhelped the committee on the Mandarin version of the New Testament by\nmaking a Greek and English concordance of their first revision. For eight\nyears they two walked together; and he had from her in his literary\nlabors, as well as in other ways, an inspiration and often a direct help\nof which the world outside of their home can know very little.\n\nHis last furlough extended from June, 1902, to August, 1903. Dr. and Mrs.\nMateer came to the United States by way of the Siberian railroad and the\nAtlantic, so that when he arrived in China on his return he had a second\ntime gone around the world. In a letter written to me in April, 1908,\nhe says, \u201cWe went home seven years ago by the Siberian railroad, and it\nwas exceedingly comfortable,\u2014much more so than traveling in an ordinary\nPullman car.\u201d Perhaps in the interval that had elapsed the recollection\nof the discomforts that attended the first stage of that journey had\nsomewhat faded from his memory; or he may have had in mind only the part\nthat lay through Siberia proper and in European Russia. A Chinese naval\nofficer who had often come to his study to talk over various matters\nhad expressed a desire to take him and his wife over to Port Arthur\nin a gunboat when they started on their homeward route. The officer\nintended by this only one of those empty compliments which Orientals are\naccustomed to pay, without any thought that the offer involved would be\naccepted. Dr. Mateer was himself the soul of truth and honor, and, being\nsuch, took what this officer said to him at its face value. So, in this\ncase, he sent word of acceptance of the offer, but an answer came back\nthat \u201cafter all, it would be inconvenient to take them just then, and\nthat orders had been left with a Chinese junk to take them.\u201d The junk\ncould not come in to shore and they had to go out in a rowboat. When they\nwent aboard, they found that there was no cabin,\u2014nothing, indeed, at\ntheir command but a little hold about breast-high, stowed full of Chinese\nbaggage, some of it consisting of malodorous fish and onions. In order\nto make room for them, the onions were piled in stacks just above on the\ndeck; but even this change left for human occupation merely about a cube\nof five feet. The boat was crowded with Chinese passengers, and it poured\ndown rain, from which the Mateers could protect themselves only by\nhoisting an umbrella over the hatchway which was at the same time their\nonly source of ventilation. It was not until the third day that they\nreached Port Arthur.\n\nIt was characteristic of Dr. Mateer that under these conditions he spent\nevery moment of daylight in putting final touches on the manuscripts\nof the \u201cTechnical Terms\u201d and of the \u201cChemical Terms,\u201d so that these\nmight be mailed immediately to the printer. They came very near missing\nthe train, and if this had happened they would have been compelled to\nwait a week for another opportunity. The railroad had but recently been\ncompleted at that end, and no regular schedule as to service had yet been\nestablished; but with many delays and with various inconveniences, after\na week, they reached the point at which they overtook an express train\nbound for Irkutsk. This was luxury indeed, compared with the beginning\nof the journey. From Irkutsk onward the commendatory language of Dr.\nMateer was justified by the accommodations. The Mateers visited Moscow\nand St. Petersburg; then came on to Berlin, and thence, successively,\nto D\u00fcsseldorf, Cologne, Paris, and London, the latter place brilliant\nwith preparations for the belated coronation of King Edward, which took\nplace while they were there. From Liverpool they crossed the Atlantic to\nHalifax, and then entered on their American vacation.\n\nA part of the furlough he spent in efforts to secure endowment for the\nShantung College. In the prosecution of this work he visited various\nchurches, and in Pittsburg he remained for six weeks. It was during this\nfurlough that he sat as a commissioner from his presbytery in the General\nAssembly at Los Angeles. Among other celebrated spots which they included\nin their itinerary was the Yosemite Valley. But the part of the furlough\nthat probably afforded them both the most unalloyed pleasure was spent in\na visit to the region of the \u201cold home.\u201d His wife, in a letter, tells the\nstory thus:\n\n Ever since our marriage it had been the cherished plan of\n my husband to take me on a wedding journey when we got to\n America,\u2014a carriage journey, to see all the spots familiar\n to his childhood. By planning with this in view we were able\n to spend the anniversary of our wedding in Mechanicsburg,\n with Calvin\u2019s cousins. One of these made a feast for us. Many\n were the reminiscences exchanged,\u2014a happy binding of past\n and present. In a day or two we started on the long-promised\n journey, in a \u201cone-horse-shay,\u201d a journey of several days,\n our stops at noon, and again overnight, always being with\n friends of his childhood. But the friend to which most of all\n he wished to introduce me was his beloved old Long Mountain;\n and as I looked first at that, and then at his glowing face, I\n saw whence, next to his Bible and catechism, he had drawn his\n sturdy love of truth and freedom. Either on that journey, or on\n subsequent trips from Mechanicsburg or Harrisburg, we visited\n all the localities familiar to his childhood,\u2014his birthplace,\n where the wall that used to seem so high to him now appeared\n so low to the white-bearded six-footer,\u2014the brook where the\n clover mill used to stand,\u2014the Silver Spring church, where he\n was baptized, and its adjoining graveyard, where lie many of\n his old Scotch-Irish ancestors, under quaint inscriptions....\n It rained hard the day we visited the battle field of\n Gettysburg. This trip we took in company with an old friend of\n Calvin\u2019s, a veteran of the war. Not less interesting were the\n surroundings of his second home, the \u201cHermitage.\u201d Almost more\n noteworthy than the house was the big \u201cbank-barn,\u201d\u2014the mows for\n hay, the bins for grain, the floor where he used to ride on\n horseback around and around over the grain in order to thresh\n it, the old workbench, and, above, the swallows\u2019 nests. The\n rush of memory was so strong that the white-haired missionary\n could not keep back the tears. He showed me the little old\n schoolhouse, the stream near by, the old flour mill, within an\n inner room of which he and his boy companions used to meet on\n winter evenings around a \u201cten-plate\u201d stove for debate. Another\n place of great interest was the old haunted churchyard, the\n fence of which he had mounted to fight his battle with the\n ghosts, and from which he got down a conqueror, never more to\n fear the face of man or devil.\n\nBut the most sacred of all the spots which they visited was the grave of\nhis mother, in the cemetery at Wooster, Ohio.\n\nFrom Seattle they sailed to Japan, and thence after a short season of\nfellowship with the venerable translator of the Old Testament, Bishop\nSchereschewsky, and with other friends, they came back to Tengchow.\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nFACING THE NEW CHINA\n\n \u201cChina is a great land, and has a great future before it. I am\n thankful that I have had the opportunity to do what I could to\n make it what it ought to be. The Church of God is bound to have\n a great triumph here, with great trials in the process.\u201d\u2014LETTER\n TO JAMES MOONEY, November 27, 1906.\n\n\nWhen Dr. Mateer wrote that letter, the new China had not come. Nor has\nit yet appeared. The utmost that can be said confidently is that there\nare signs of a spring thaw in the vast sheet of ice that for so many\ncenturies has held that country in fetters. Some great rifts can be\nseen in the surface and sounds that are indicative of movement can be\nheard. People who stand on the shore, and some of those who are on the\nice, are shouting, \u201cOff at last!\u201d It seems scarcely possible that the\napparent thaw shall not continue until the streams are cleared and the\nland is warmed into new life by the ascending sun. But how long it will\nbe before this is accomplished it is almost useless for the best-informed\nmen to attempt to forecast. When the ice does really go, will it be with\na sudden rush that will carry with it great injury to much that is well\nworth preserving? Or will the change come so quietly and gradually that\nthe ice will sink without a tremor, and the frost will gently melt away\ninto waters that only freshen the soil? Probably the new China is not far\naway; as sure as progress is the law of civilization and enlightenment\nin the world, it cannot be postponed much longer. Dr. Mateer lived long\nenough to recognize the signs of its approach, and while he was glad\nbecause of this, he also was deeply anxious.\n\nHis direct acquaintance with the old China extended over the long period\nof forty years,\u2014from his arrival at Tengchow in 1863 to his return\nfrom his last furlough, in 1903. During the five years immediately\npreceding his death he was face to face with the signs indicative of\nthe China that is to be. He was therefore exceptionally qualified to\nspeak intelligently concerning the present situation in that country;\nfor it is not the man who now for the first time finds himself there,\namid the demand for railroads, and telegraphs, and up-to-date navy and\narmy, and schools, who is most competent to interpret the movements of\nthe hour. We are more likely to learn the whole truth if we turn to\nveterans like Sir Robert Hart and Dr. W. A. P. Martin and Dr. Mateer,\nwho by almost lifelong experience know the real mind and heart of China;\nwhich surely, notwithstanding the occurrences of to-day, have not been\ncompletely changed. On the one hand, there can be no doubt of the love\nwhich Dr. Mateer had for the people of China. To promote their welfare\nin this world as well as in the next he gave himself to the uttermost\nall his long time of residence among them, and when death confronted\nhim at last, his only reluctance to obey that call of his Master was\nbecause he would be unable to complete what he regarded as perhaps his\ngreatest service for them. As we have already seen, in his explanation\nof the causes of the Boxer outbreak, notwithstanding his heartbreak and\nindignation for the horrors and outrages perpetrated, he lays bare the\nsecret of it, as consisting in part of the wrongs done by foreign nations\nand persons to China and the Chinese. There were hundreds and perhaps\nthousands in Shantung who revered him as a father, and confided in him as\nthey did in almost no other human being.\n\nI mention this side of his attitude because there is another that must\nbe brought out here so clearly that no failure to see it is possible.\nHe never allowed himself to be blinded as to radical faults of the most\nserious nature in the Chinese. It was about the same time as his entrance\non his missionary work that Americans were set agog by the \u201cBurlingame\nMission,\u201d and indulged in very extravagant notions of the civilization of\nold China and very rosy anticipations of the future. Even missionaries\ncaught the fever of the hour, and for home publication wrote articles\nthat seconded this view. This was so completely foreign to the reality,\nas Dr. Mateer saw it, that he responded with an elaborate article in\nwhich he calmly punctured these current notions. It was the fashion\nthen to regard the Chinese as leading the world in past ages, but in\nhis opinion in none of their boasted achievements do they deserve such\ncredit. Largely they have been imitators; and in the realm of their own\ninventions and discoveries and organizations they have seldom shown\nthemselves capable of making the applications that ought to have been so\npatent to them that they could not miss them. Perhaps\u2014writing as he did\nin reply to overdrawn appreciations on the other side\u2014he may have fallen\ninto the opposite mistake, to some degree. Perhaps also in later years\nhe would not have gone quite so far in the direction he then took; but\nhe never wavered in his opinion that in the lapse of ages during which\nthe Chinese had lived so exclusively within themselves, characteristics\nthat are racial have been developed, some of which must be overcome, and\nothers of which must be immensely transformed, before China can take her\nplace among the advanced nations of the world. Also, ignorance, prejudice\nand superstition stand in the way, and cannot suddenly be dispelled. He\ncontinued to believe that, notwithstanding the present rush to introduce\nwestern appliances, the hatred of the foreigner, except among a minority,\nremains in the heart of officials and people. He believed too that,\nbecause of their faithlessness to obligations which they had assumed\ntoward other governments, the apparent aggressions of foreign nations\nwere not always and altogether without a measure of justification.\nChinese law he considered to be still so much a mere whim of officials,\noften corrupt, that the time has not yet come for an American citizen,\nwhether missionary or merchant or mechanic, to be left safely to the\nuncertainties of a native court.\n\nDr. Mateer was one of the leading \u201cmakers of the new China.\u201d It is\nbecause of his \u201cMandarin Lessons\u201d that it is now, in comparison with\nthe olden times, so easy to acquire the language; thus not only the\nmissionary but also the agents of modern civilization are helped to gain\nspeedy access to the people. He was the first to plant a college in the\ngreat province of Shantung, the birthplace of Confucius and Mencius,\nand still the center to which the race turns as that from which has\nemanated their most dominant cult. He took the lead, even of all the\nmissionary colleges, in the place which he assigned to physical science.\nWith his own money he built a museum which he described as \u201ca kind of\npolytechnic, for exhibiting foreign sciences and machinery to Chinese\nstudents and visitors.\u201d There they could see the appliances of steam and\nof electricity at work, including a model railroad, and the telephone and\ntelegraph. When the governor of the province organized his university at\nthe capital, it was the man whom Dr. Mateer had made his successor in the\ncollege at Tengchow who was at first placed at its head, and five of the\ngraduates were chosen to fill chairs in the new institution. He prepared\ntext-books in mathematics, for which there is an enormous demand in the\nschools which are supplanting those of the olden time. To him more than\nto any other individual is due the translation of the New Testament\ninto a form of the language which is just as intelligible to the man\nwho can read but little, as to the educated; and which cannot be widely\ncirculated without starting upward tendencies more mighty than those of\nrailroads and western machinery. It would be preposterous to claim for\nany one person that he has been the maker of the new China; but there are\nnot very many who, as to the mighty transformation apparently not far\ndistant, rank so high up as Dr. Mateer.\n\nThus far in holding him up as one of these leaders I have not mentioned\nhis influence as an effective missionary in the sphere usually occupied\nby the representatives of the gospel; and for the reason that, as to\nthis, he is a sharer with a multitude of others. At present there must\nbe about four thousand men and women\u2014ordained ministers, and lay men and\nwomen\u2014in that line of Christian service in China, and there are about\ntwo hundred thousand Chinese Christians. These, though scattered far and\nwide among the hundreds of millions of the population, are sufficient to\nbe powerfully felt on the side of genuine progress. Though in rapidly\nlessening numbers, their presence stretches back to the coming of Robert\nMorrison, a hundred years ago. Dr. Mateer\u2019s own judgment as to the\nrelation of the missionary work to the present situation is well worth\nattention. In an article written by request, about nine months before his\ndeath, he said:\n\n The nation is in a state of transition which, when compared\n with her past and her traditions, is nothing short of\n marvelous. Who would have predicted thirty-five years ago that\n such a state of things as the present would so soon prevail?\n God has used a variety of powerful forces to awaken China from\n her long sleep, not the least of which have been the presence\n and influence of the missionary. Aside from his main business,\n which is the conversion of individuals and the upbuilding\n of churches, he has had a powerful influence in a number of\n important matters. First, his residence in all parts of inland\n China has done far more than is generally known to remove\n prejudice and to familiarize the people with foreign ideas\n and things. Second, he has been a main factor in starting the\n anti-foot-binding movement that is now sweeping over the land.\n Third, he has been the chief mover in the remarkable anti-opium\n reformation that is now enlisting the utmost effort of the\n Chinese government. Lastly, in the intellectual awakening, and\n in starting the wonderful educational propaganda now being\n pushed forward by the government, he has been a potent factor.\n Missionaries have made the text-books, and the graduates of\n their schools have set the pace for this remarkable movement;\n and this has been done notwithstanding the intense prejudice\n that exists against Christianity and its professors.\n\nOf the fact that he was face to face with a state of things that promised\ntremendous changes he was fully conscious. No man could have been more\nalive to his environment during these last years of his life. May 2,\n1905, he wrote to a generous friend in the United States: \u201cThe state of\nthings in China to-day presents a great contrast with what it was when I\narrived here forty-one and a half years ago. Then everything was dead\nand stagnant; now all is life and motion. It is just fairly beginning, it\nis true, but there is the promise of great things in the near future.\u201d\nSeptember 1, 1907, in another letter to a friend, he says: \u201cThis great\nand massive people, so long below the horizon of the western world,\u2014a\nmisty, unknown land,\u2014is looming large in the east, and the eyes of the\nwest are on it. China is awakening from the sleep of ages. Her senses\nare still dull, benumbed by the traditional customs and conservative\nfollies of the past, but her eyes are opening more and more, day by day.\nIt is true she still wants to sleep on, but she cannot. The clamor of the\nworld\u2019s progress dins in her ears. Giant hands are shaking her. Specters\nfill her imagination and groundless fears make her troubled. She essays\nto rise, but has no strength. She is growing frantic at the realization\nof her own weakness and incompetence.\u201d\n\n[Illustration: CELEBRATING DR. MATEER\u2019S SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY]\n\nFacing the new China he, while gladdened on the whole by the outlook, yet\nsaw grave dangers in the way. Some of these are due, in his estimation,\nto characteristics that have rooted themselves very deeply in the spirit\nof the people at large. In his article on \u201cEducation in China\u201d he said:\n\n It is a peculiarity of the Chinese character that they are\n very hard to convince of the utility of a new thing, and must\n always be doubly sure before they decide to act; but as soon as\n the decision is made, they at once grow recklessly impatient\n for the consummation. The old educational methods and ideals\n are now abolished and the government is rushing headlong\n into new and hitherto untried measures. They issue commands\n to their subordinates without providing the means of carrying\n them out. The result is a chaos of more or less futile effort,\n attended by burdensome taxes and illegal exactions that produce\n disaffection and rebellion. The lack of competent teachers\n handicaps the whole movement. To the eye of a western educator\n most of their primary and secondary schools are little short\n of a farce. Mission schools have trained a large number of\n competent teachers, but in most cases the prejudice against\n Christianity is so strong that heathen schools will not use\n them. This prejudice is much stronger in the secondary schools\n than it is in the provincial colleges and universities. The\n high officials generally take more liberal views, and they are\n free from the social ostracism that prevents a small official\n or a private gentleman from employing a Christian teacher.\n\nOn account of the characteristics just described, while he rejoiced in\nthe immense progress which Christianity was making both in the conversion\nof increasing thousands and also in its indirect influence over\nmultitudes more, he had anxieties as to the near future of the church\nin that land. Writing to one of the secretaries of the American Bible\nSociety, in January, 1906, he said: \u201cIf I understand the signs of the\ntime in China, it will not be many years\u2014I put it at ten to fifteen\u2014until\nthe Chinese church will declare her independence of the missionaries,\npay her own expenses, and make her own creed.... What this creed will\nbe, will depend very much on the kind and number of preachers we train\nin the meantime.\u201d The speeches made at the Chinese Students\u2019 Alliance,\nheld at Hartford, August 24, 1910, both by the Chinese and by Americans,\nindicate a very strong tendency in this direction.\n\nIn view of the entire situation, national and religious, he iterated\nand reiterated that the most imperative duty of missionaries in China\nat present is the training of native preachers and teachers on a scale\nand in a manner that will fit them to meet the emergency, and to take\nadvantage of the opportunity for the evangelization of the land and the\nstarting of the church that soon must be, on a voyage that will not,\nthrough lack of chart and compass and proper guidance, wreck itself on\nthe way. Here are some of his deliberate utterances within the last three\nyears of his life:\n\n Allow me to say that at the present time in China I regard\n schools and the training of teachers and preachers as the chief\n thing,\u2014much more important than the founding of new stations,\n with expensive buildings, in order to cover new territory. This\n is not a passing thought, but is said advisedly. The time for\n training these teachers and preachers is limited; before many\n years the native church will declare her independence, when all\n will depend on the intelligence and soundness of her leaders.\n\nAgain taking a view that includes the church, but that is so broad as to\nsweep over the entire national situation, he said:\n\n \u201cChina is fascinated by the power, skill, and knowledge of the\n west. She covets these things, and clamors impatiently for\n them, but they do not come at her call. She has caught up the\n idea that education will solve the problem and speedily lift\n her into the family of nations. She issues edicts to annul\n the old and inaugurate the new. She commands the opening of\n schools in every county, not realizing that without teachers,\n or methods, or money efficient schools are impossible. True to\n her character, she is deceiving herself with a sham; a mere\n pretense of knowledge. The old is passing faster than the new\n is coming, and there are ominous signs of danger ahead. There\n are already a good many competent Christian teachers in China,\n and very few others; but Chinese conservatism hates and fears\n Christianity, and will not employ Christian teachers if it can\n possibly be avoided. China has still one great and fundamental\n lesson to learn, namely: that Christianity is not her enemy,\n but her friend; that faithful and honest men are not made by\n simply teaching them geometry and chemistry. She will presently\n learn, however, that Christianity holds the only patent there\n is for the construction of high moral character. She resents\n the idea now, but sooner or later she will be compelled to\n admit it. In the meantime she needs men to teach her, and to\n show her the way. Never perhaps in the world\u2019s history was the\n saying of Christ more conspicuously exemplified: \u201cThe harvest\n truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.\u201d\n\nEver since he set foot on the soil of that country he had kept on\npleading for reinforcements in his work,\u2014now a physician, then a teacher,\nagain a man capable of overseeing mechanical operations, and always more\nordained missionaries. He entertained very common-sense notions as to\nthe sort of reinforcements that are desirable. He says in an old letter\ndirected to theological students in the seminary where he was trained:\n\u201cI might add more especially that missionaries should not be men of one\nidea, unless perchance that idea be a zeal for saving souls. The men\nneeded are those who have well-balanced, practical minds.... The man of\nvivacious temperament, pleasing address, ready wit, and ready utterance,\nother things being equal, will make the best missionary.\u201d The language\nhe did not regard as at all beyond the acquisition of any person with\nfair ability and faithful application, though he recognized more than a\nmoderate measure of these as essential to the writing of books. As the\nnew China loomed up before him, his cry for help became, if possible,\nmore earnest; it came from the very depths of his soul, and with an\nintensity which words could not adequately express.\n\nBefore proceeding to relate the story of his death, can I do better than\nto give the last of these appeals of which we have the records? The\nletter from which I quote is dated Wei Hsien, September 1, 1907, just a\nyear before his Master called him home. He said:\n\n Tell the young men of America for me, that China now presents\n to the church the greatest opportunity of the ages. God has\n opened the door,\u2014opened it wide. Three hundred and fifty\n millions of people are ready to hear the gospel message. This\n door has not been opened without great strife and effort. In\n the face of steady and persistent opposition, and through much\n suffering and bloodshed, a large and lasting impression has\n been already made. The dark and discouraging days are over and\n the future is bright with promise. As I look back over the\n first twenty-five years of my missionary life, it seems like a\n troubled dream. The last fifteen years have wrought wonders in\n China. Old customs and prejudices are giving way. The bright\n dawn of better things is upon us. The most conservative and\n immovable people in the world, persistently wedded to the\n old ways, are getting used to new things, and are ready to\n accept whatever promises profit and prosperity. All ears are\n open, and the preaching of the gospel is nowhere opposed or\n resisted. I often wish I were young again, just ready to start\n in on the bright opening campaign. In a large sense the future\n of the church and of the world lies wrapped up in this great\n people. Why in the providence of God the gospel of salvation\n has not long ere this reached this oldest and greatest nation\n is an unexplained mystery. These unconverted millions of the\n Mongolian race will presently come into their inheritance of\n truth and grace, and then who shall say what they will become,\n and do? Their fecundity, their physical stamina, their patient\n persistence and intellectual vigor, are factors that will count\n in the world\u2019s future history.... As I look at the situation\n in the light of the past, and forecasting the probabilities\n of the future, a more inviting field for the exercise of\n consecrated talent has rarely, if ever, presented itself in\n the history of civilization. Very few people in the church in\n the west understand and appreciate the present condition of\n things in China. The political forces and problems are better\n understood than the moral and religious. It is still true that\n \u201cthe children of the world are wiser in their generation than\n the children of light.\u201d The faith of the long, old centuries\n is passing rapidly away, but what shall the new faith be? This\n is the great Christian question of the hour. The young men of\n China are mad to learn English, because there is money in it.\n With English come books and newspapers, sowing the seeds of\n agnosticism, and skepticism, and rationalism, and so forth.\n The cry is, Who will champion the truth? Who will administer\n the antidote? Who will uphold the cross? Who will testify\n for Christ? The call is urgent. Satan is in the field. The\n opportunity is passing. The time is strategic. The changes of\n many years are now crowded into one. Young men, it is time to\n be up and doing! The march of events will not wait on your\n tardiness. Who will hear the Master\u2019s trumpet call?\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nCALLED UP HIGHER\n\n \u201cI have given my life to China: I expect to live there, to die\n there, and to be buried there.\u201d\u2014FROM HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS IN\n THE CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Allegheny, Pa., 1862.\n\n \u201cI expect to die in heathen China, but I expect to rise in\n Christian China.\u201d\u2014ANOTHER FAREWELL ADDRESS.\n\n\nIn the chapter on the Mandarin revision we left the committee on the Old\nTestament, in the summer of 1908, at work on Genesis and the Psalms,\ndown at Chefoo, with the Goodrich and the Mateer family keeping house\ntogether. Dr. Goodrich had been the dean of the Union Theological\nSeminary at Peking, and so was thoroughly versed in the educational phase\nof missions, still occupying so large a place in the heart and mind of\nDr. Mateer. These two men also had served together on the revision of the\nNew Testament, from the beginning to the end. They were in many features\nof their character very different from each other, and yet in their\ncommon labors and in their convictions they were in thorough harmony.\nMrs. Goodrich and Mrs. Mateer had come out on the same steamer in 1879,\nto join the forces of the American Board, as unmarried missionaries; and\nthe subsequent years had served to cement their friendship. The house in\nwhich they resided at Chefoo during that summer looked out on a charming\nscene: the \u201cisland,\u201d the bay, and the passage, with craft of all kinds,\nChinese junks and sampans, and steamers, small torpedo boats, and big\nbattleships of every nation, either riding at anchor or coming up into\nthe harbor. From the back windows the eye rested on a jagged range of\nhills, crowned at the top by a curious wall, so like the views of the\nGreat Wall shown in pictures that ignorant sailors imagined it to be that\nfamous structure. One can easily understand that under such circumstances\nthe two families greatly enjoyed the earlier part of the session of the\ncommittee. Dr. Goodrich, in the following quotation from the article\nwhich he published in the January issue of \u201cThe Chinese Recorder,\u201d in\nmemory of Dr. Mateer, had in mind his entire acquaintance with him,\nextending over thirty-five years, but it is tinged especially with the\nrecollection of the preceding summer. He says:\n\n Much of the time we have been together in the protracted daily\n sessions of the committee, as well as in the long evening\n walks, when we talked on everything between the zenith and the\n nadir; for then his thoughts were \u201cready to fly East as West,\n whichever way besought them.\u201d If he were not widely read, he\n had thought widely and deeply, being at once conservative,\n progressive, and original. He had strong opinions, and was\n at times severe and stern in maintaining them. But he loved\n those of a contrary opinion with a true and deep affection.\n From first to last he was a royal friend. Dr. Mateer thought\n naturally in terms of logic and mathematics, but not without a\n side in his nature for poetry and sentiment.\n\n Dr. Mateer\u2019s character, especially during the later years,\n was constantly mellowing, and the past summer, which our two\n families spent together in our own \u201chired house\u201d at Chefoo,\n must ever be remembered as one of the happiest periods of our\n lives, without a break or jar to mar its enjoyment. Was it a\n sort of unconscious preparation for the sweeter joys and more\n perfect fellowship in the dear upper home?\n\n Dr. Mateer worked on with his usual untiring faithfulness,\n during the last summer, though not quite well at times. How\n he lived in the Psalms, upon which he bestowed loving labor!\n Sometimes he would look out from his little study to the room\n which held all too closely his beloved wife, who has followed\n the Bible revision with an interest scarcely less intense than\n his own, and consult with her on some difficult phrase, or tell\n her of some beautiful figure he had succeeded in translating.\n\n In the early morning we took a dip in the sea\u2014he was a good\n swimmer\u2014and after he had \u201ctalked with Him,\u201d at six o\u2019clock he\n was ready for his teacher. In the evening his walks were less\n regular and shorter than in other years.\n\nIn explanation of one sentence of the preceding it needs to be stated\nthat by an accident Mrs. Mateer was then so disabled that she kept her\nroom.\n\nDuring the summer he suffered from a chronic tendency to dysenteric\ndiarrhea, yet it was not until well toward the close of the session\nof the Committee that he remained in bed for the entire day. At first\nhe worked on there, upon the translation of the Psalms, which he was\nespecially anxious to give to the people in such language that they\ncould readily catch it with the ear, and that the Psalms might be to the\nChinese church the rich heritage they are to the English-speaking race.\nAt length it became evident that his case was fast becoming so critical\nthat if medical aid under the most favorable conditions could save his\nlife, the very best that could be had must be secured at once. So it was\ndecided that he ought to go on a steamer down to Tsingtao in the German\nconcession. It would require twenty-four hours to make the trip; but when\nasked whether he was able to endure the journey, he replied: \u201cI must. I\nshall die if I remain here.\u201d\n\nThe necessity for the change was not due to any lack of medical care\nor friendly ministrations at Chefoo; it was made in order to secure\nthe superior advantages which a good hospital affords. Fortunately the\nvoyage was quiet. His wife went with him; and Dr. and Mrs. Goodrich\nalso accompanied them. It was Tuesday night when they reached Tsingtao,\nand friends were at the landing; and, supported in loving arms, he was\ncarried at once in a carriage to the Faber Hospital, where Dr. Wunsch,\na skilled physician, exhausted his efforts to save him. Dr. Hayes was\nalready there, and at Dr. Mateer\u2019s request spent each day in the hospital.\n\nFriday of that week was the anniversary of their marriage, but it was\nimpracticable for his wife to be brought to his bedside. Saturday it\nbecame evident that the end was not far away, and she was permitted\nto see him; and he seemed so comforted by her presence, though he was\ntoo weak to talk much, that they allowed her to stay. In response to\na telegram, his brother Robert and Madge, his wife, came at once.\nSaturday afternoon his mind wandered, and seemed to run on the affairs\nof the college. Sunday morning he asked Robert to pray with him; and in\nconnection with this one of the great passions that had long possessed\nhim manifested itself. As on the journey down on the boat he lay\nexhausted, he had said to Dr. Goodrich: \u201cThey must do their best to cure\nme at the hospital, so that I can finish the Psalms. That is all I have\nto live for now\u201d\u2014meaning, of course, by this, only the work to which he\nhad given himself. Now, when his brother in his prayer asked that the\nsufferer at whose bedside he knelt might be given an abundant entrance\ninto the heavenly rest, Dr. Mateer cried out: \u201cRaise your faith a notch\nhigher, Robert. Pray that I may be spared to finish the translation of\nthe Psalms.\u201d Then he asked that Dr. Hayes be called in, and he requested\nhim to pray for this; and when this was done he added, \u201cO Lord, may this\nprayer be answered!\u201d\n\nOn Sabbath when some of his \u201cboys,\u201d alumni of the Shantung College, who\nwere living in the town came to see him, he was so weak that he could\nonly say to them, \u201cGood-by.\u201d\n\nAll those last days he took great comfort in prayer. As he gradually went\ndown into the shadow of death, his faith continued firm and bright. To\nan inquiry by his wife as to his trust in Christ, he replied: \u201cYes, I\nhave nothing to fear.\u201d Some time before the end he said to his brother\nRobert, \u201cI have laid up all in my Father\u2019s keeping.\u201d The very last\nwords which he was heard distinctly to articulate were indicative of a\npassion that possessed his soul even far more strongly than his desire to\ncomplete his work on the Scriptures. Those who knew him most intimately\nrecognized in him a man of extraordinary reverence for God,\u2014for him\nwhom, from his childhood\u2019s memorizing of the catechism on to the end, he\nbelieved to be infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom,\npower, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. He was one of those who\nin the public services of a house of worship always stood in prayer,\nthough about him all might be sitting in their seats. He thought no other\nposture except kneeling or standing appropriate in this act of social\nworship. His whole conception of religion, theoretical and practical, was\nsaturated with a holy fear of God. To him God was his heavenly Father,\nwho has manifested himself above all else in the person and work of\nJesus Christ, and unto whom he constantly turned with holy boldness; but\nwhenever he came consciously into the divine presence he was devoutly\nreverent. It was in keeping with his whole religious life, therefore,\nthat his last audible words, were \u201cHoly! Holy! True and Mighty!\u201d Then\u2014not\nlong afterward\u2014he fell asleep. He died at 10:25 in the morning of\nSeptember 28, 1908.\n\nAmong his papers a little book was found which when it was opened proved\nto be a collection of private prayers recorded in 1863, the year in which\nhe went to China. The last of these prayers is the following:\n\n Permit not the great adversary to harass my soul, in the last\n struggle, but make me a conqueror, and more than a conqueror\n in this fearful conflict. I humbly ask that my reason may be\n continued to the last, and if it be Thy will, that I may be so\n comforted and supported that I may leave testimony in favor of\n the reality of religion, and thy faithfulness in fulfilling\n thy gracious promises, and that others of thy servants who\n may follow after, may be encouraged by my example to commit\n themselves boldly to the guidance and keeping of the Shepherd\n of Israel. And when my spirit leaves this clay tenement, Lord\n Jesus receive it. Send some of the blessed angels to conduct my\n inexperienced soul to the mansion which thy love has prepared.\n And oh, let me be so situated, though in the lowest rank, that\n I may behold thy glory!\n\nThis prayer, which in his young manhood he had recorded in that little\nbook, was fulfilled so far as its petitions concerned his end upon earth;\nand who doubts that equally fulfilled were also those petitions which\nlooked forward to his entrance upon the eternal life?\n\nAt Tsingtao a funeral service was held in the little Chinese Presbyterian\nchapel. Among those present were Rev. Dr. Bergen and Rev. W. P. Chalfant,\nfrom the Shantung Presbyterian Mission, then holding a meeting at Wei\nHsien, representatives from the Basel and Berlin Protestant Missions, and\na large number of Chinese. After the casket was placed in the church,\nformer students of the Shantung College came in with long wreaths of\nimmortelles, and so festooned these about the coffin that they could\nremain on the journey yet to be taken. Addresses were delivered in both\nEnglish and Chinese, and were full of appreciation for the missionary\njust gone up higher. The Chinese speakers were some of his own \u201cboys,\u201d\nwho then testified to their appreciation of their \u201cold master,\u201d as they\nwere accustomed to call him. After the service the casket was taken to\nthe same steamer on which he had been brought down, and thus was removed\nto Chefoo, in care of his brother Robert and Mr. Mason Wells. That\nevening the casket was escorted by a number of Chinese Christian young\nmen to the rooms of the Naval Young Men\u2019s Christian Association; and the\nnext morning to Nevius Hall, on Temple Hill, where it remained until the\ntime of burial, covered with flowers provided by loving hands.\n\nDuring this delay the missionaries up at Tengchow had, in response to a\ntelegram, exhumed the remains of Julia, and caused them to be transferred\nto Chefoo, where they were placed in the vault prepared in the cemetery.\nHer monument, however, was left standing in the original burial place,\nand the name of Dr. Mateer has also been inscribed on it.\n\nThe funeral service was at 2.45 P.M., on Sabbath; and the large, new\nchurch on Temple Hill was filled to overflowing. The conduct of this\nservice was in the hands of the Chinese, Pastor Wang of the Temple Hill\nchurch presiding, and Pastor Lwan of the Tengchow church assisting. In\na sermon based on Revelation 14:13, Pastor Wang spoke of Dr. Mateer\u2019s\nlong and active life, of his power as a preacher who addressed himself\nstraight to the hearts of the people, and of the enduring character of\nthe work he had accomplished. Rev. Lwan followed in an address in which\nhe dwelt upon the large number of people who would mourn the death of\nDr. Mateer, and the many different places where memorial services would\nbe held; on his adaptability to all classes of men in order to win them\nto Christ, and on his unfailing assurance that the gospel would finally\ntriumph in China.\n\nThe English service followed immediately afterward in the cemetery; but\non account of the large number of foreign missionaries who had come, and\nthe limited space, announcement had to be made before leaving the church\nthat of the many Chinese who were present, only those who had been Dr.\nMateer\u2019s students could be admitted. One of the great regrets incident to\nthe burial was that Dr. Corbett, who had come out to China with him on\nthat long first voyage, and who had been his close associate on the field\nin so much of the work, and who cherished for him the warmest regard,\ncould not be present. He was away in a country field when death came to\nDr. Mateer, and the news did not reach him in time for him to return to\nthe funeral. In his absence Rev. Dr. W. O. Elterich, of Chefoo, conducted\nthe service. After he had spoken, Rev. J. P. Irwin, of Tengchow,\u2014who\nhad been associated with Dr. Mateer in the same station, and who as a\nconsequence knew him intimately,\u2014bore his testimony especially to the\nunceasing activity of the life of him whose body was about to be lowered\ninto the grave, and the impossibility that his work should have been\nfinished even if he had lived to be a hundred years old; to the warm\nheart hidden beneath an exterior that did not always reveal it; and to\nthe purpose now fulfilled, but formed nearly half a century before by him\nand by her whose remains now rest at his side, to spend their whole lives\nin giving the gospel to China, and to be buried in its soil.\n\nTheir graves are in a very beautiful spot, directly in front of the upper\nwalk leading in from the gate, and in close proximity to those of Dr.\nNevius and of others of their missionary friends and associates.\n\n[Illustration: AT THE GRAVE OF DR MATEER]\n\nThe tributes paid to his character and work were so numerous, both out\nin China and in the United States and in other Christian lands, that all\nthat is practicable here is to make some selections that may serve as\nrepresentatives. That of Dr. Corbett deserves the place of precedence.\nTheir strong attachment was mutual. In an article filling several\ncolumns of \u201cThe Presbyterian Banner,\u201d Dr. Corbett paid his tribute to\nhis deceased friend. Much of this is of necessity a condensed rehearsal\nof his life and of the leading characteristics therein revealed. He\nconcludes by saying:\n\n Personally I shall ever esteem it one of the greatest blessings\n of my life that it has been my privilege to have enjoyed\n the friendship, and of being a colaborer with this great\n man for nearly fifty years. More than forty years ago it\n was my privilege to spend with him weeks and months on long\n itinerating journeys, preaching daily to hundreds who had never\n heard the gospel, and at no place finding Christians to cheer\n our hearts. Often after a long day of exhaustion, preaching in\n the open air at great markets and on crowded streets, in the\n evening we would kneel together at the inn and earnestly pray\n for God\u2019s richest blessing upon our efforts to bring men to a\n saving knowledge of the truth. Often the thought came into our\n mind, Can these dry bones live? Shall we live to see Christian\n churches established and shepherded by Chinese pastors? His\n unwavering faith in the ultimate and universal triumph of the\n gospel in China was a tower of strength to all associated\n with him. When the news of his death reached me at our inland\n station, the thought rushed into my mind: \u201cKnow ye not that\n there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?\u201d\n\n The world will ever seem more lonely without him. His sympathy\n and help could always be counted on in every kind of true\n missionary work. His labors were crowned with success and honor\n continuously, until he was summoned by the Master to a higher\n and wider sphere where his saints serve him.\n\nIt seems to me that the man who is entitled to be heard next is the\nRev. Dr. W. M. Hayes, now of Tsingchow fu, but formerly\u2014after the\nresignation of Dr. Mateer\u2014the head of the Tengchow College. There is\nno one of his associates on the mission field in whom Dr. Mateer had\ngreater confidence; and for years they were in such constant contact\nthat they knew each other most thoroughly. A few days after the burial\na memorial service was held at Wei Hsien, and at this Dr. Hayes made\nan extended address before an audience including the students of the\ncollege. The respective lines of thought which he first elaborated were\nhis faithfulness to Christ\u2019s service, his resolution, his attention to\ngreat matters, and his industry. In the conclusion he said:\n\n Let us strive to make his strong spiritual qualities our own.\n Of these, the most conspicuous were three: First, his faith.\n The morning he died, replying to an inquiry of his brother,\n he said, \u201cI have left those things long ago in the hands of\n my Father.\u201d Later, and only a few hours before his death, he\n said, as if speaking to himself, \u201cWe are justified of the\n Lord Jesus.\u201d It is not strange that with such a faith he fell\n asleep as a little child would in its mother\u2019s arms. Second,\n his reverential spirit. Though he did not fear the face of\n man, and was outspoken in his convictions, yet, especially\n in his later years, as one who had served with him on the\n Translation Committee from the first remarked, his reverence in\n approaching the divine presence was apparent to all. This was\n characteristic of him to the end. The last distinct utterance\n which he made was, \u201cHoly! Holy! Holy! True and Mighty.\u201d Lying\n prone on his couch, it seemed as if he saw the King in his\n beauty, and the vision filled his soul with godly fear.\n Third, his forgiving spirit. Being a man of decided views, and\n disapproving of what did not seem to him wise and good, he did\n not always approve of the course taken by his colleagues; yet\n if convinced that a man was working with a single heart for the\n interest of Christ\u2019s kingdom, he was ready to forgive, and to\n hope for the best. He loved the Lord who had forgiven him, and\n so loved those who had offended against himself. This extended\n both to those with whom he labored, and to those for whom he\n labored. One of his marked characteristics was not to give over\n any man who had fallen away, and he was always ready to give\n him another chance.\n\nI have already noticed the intimacy of Dr. Chauncey Goodrich, of Peking,\nwith Dr. Mateer. The tribute which he paid his long-time friend, and his\nassociate and captain on the Mandarin Revision Committee through the many\nyears of their labors, is perhaps the most comprehensive of all that have\nbeen published. It filled fourteen pages of \u201cThe Chinese Recorder,\u201d and\ntouches all the leading features of the life and work of Dr. Mateer. What\nhe says as to the Mandarin version has especial weight. His testimony was:\n\n In the interest of truth it must be added that no man gave\n so much time and hard work, or dug quite so deep. His effort\n to produce a translation which should match the original,\n to translate the figures and preserve their beauty, was\n extraordinary.... At these sessions Dr. Mateer by his strong\n and masterful personality, as well as by the thoroughness of\n his preparation, did much to set the style of the work.\n\nTurning to some of his leading characteristics, he proceeded thus:\n\n First, his personality. In the Conference of 1890, Dr. Wright,\n secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, was\n with us. He remarked that \u201cof all the men present at that\n conference, there were two whose personality most impressed\n him.\u201d One of these was Dr. Mateer. He bore himself like a\n sort of prince among men, _facile princeps_. He was born to\n lead, not to follow. Having worked out his own conclusions, he\n was so sure of them that he expected, almost demanded, their\n acceptance by others. Yet he was not arrogant and was truly\n humble. Moreover, he could ask forgiveness for words that he\n felt had been too hasty or too harsh, feeling much broken by\n giving pain to a friend. In this he showed his greatness. He\n could also forgive and forget. But he was still a leader by the\n very force of his personality.\n\n He had the quality of perseverance in a large degree.\n Having undertaken a work, he held to it with unwavering and\n unconquerable persistence to the end, ... and that not only\n because he gripped the work, but because the work gripped him.\n Had his life been spared, he would have worked steadily on\n through the Old Testament till the last verse of Malachi was\n finished, and the whole was carefully reviewed. Of Dr. Mateer\u2019s\n habit of working till the end was reached Dr. Hamilton writes:\n \u201cNot many months ago, at a meeting of the Shantung Board of\n Directors, we had a considerable amount of unfinished business,\n and the week was hastening to its close. No one had more work\n awaiting him at home than the Doctor. Yet when the question\n of the time of our dispersion was raised, he said: \u2018I have\n always made it a rule, when I attend meetings of this kind, to\n finish up the business in hand, no matter how long it takes.\u2019\u201d\n United to this quality of perseverance was a kindred quality of\n thoroughness, that appeared in everything he attempted.\n\n Dr. Mateer possessed a rugged strength of character. He was\n almost Spartan in his ability to endure hardships, and in his\n careless scorn for the amenities and \u201celegant superfluities\u201d\n of modern life. Yet \u201cbeneath a rugged and somewhat austere\n exterior\u201d he had a heart of remarkable tenderness. He was a\n block of granite with the heart of a woman.\n\nRev. Mr. Baller also had been associated with Dr. Mateer in the revision\nof the Scriptures since 1900. He says of him:\n\n He has left behind him an example of strenuous toil that it\n would be difficult to parallel; of iron constitution, he was\n able to do an amount of work that would have killed most men.\n His devotion to the cause of Christ was beyond praise. His\n recreation consisted in change of occupation, and he made all\n tend to the one end.\n\nAda, who in the last eight years of his life stood nearer to him by\nfar than any other, and knew his innermost life, puts on record this\nsupplement as to some of his traits not so fully brought out by the\ntestimony of his friends:\n\n Next to his reverence, the most noteworthy feature of his\n character was his love of truth: truth in the abstract,\n scientific truth and truth in the common conversation of life,\n but especially in matters of religion. He had no patience with\n the popular maxim that it does not matter what a man believes,\n so long as he is sincere. \u201cIs there no such thing as truth?\u201d\n he would say. \u201cDoes it make no difference to a man whether the\n bank in which he invests is broken? Men are not such idiots in\n the ordinary affairs of life.\u201d If it came to a choice between a\n polite lie and the impolite truth, he would choose the latter.\n He exalted truth above every other virtue. His love of it freed\n him from that trammeling of conventionality which binds so\n many. He would be the slave of no man-made custom.\n\n Associated with this characteristic, perhaps a result of it,\n was the kindred love of freedom. One of his favorite texts was,\n \u201cAnd ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you\n free.\u201d This sturdy independence he sought to impress on all\n minds coming under his influence. He had no patience with that\n kind of education that simply trained the Chinese to become\n \u201clackeys of the foreigners.\u201d How his lips would curl as he\n muttered that phrase! He would waste money often in trying to\n help some one to assertive, manly work in independent lines,\n rather than as an employee. This sturdy force in his character\n was like the magnetic crane, which lifts pieces of iron, even\n though they have been hidden in the ground. It compelled the\n manhood in other men to assert itself; though hidden from view,\n yet to burst from its covering, and to be drawn up higher.\n\nAs already noted, the West Shantung Mission was in session at Wei Hsien\nwhen the tidings of Dr. Mateer\u2019s death came; and before they adjourned\nthey adopted a highly appreciative minute concerning him. In it they\nsaid, among other equally strong tributes to his worth:\n\n No one ever went to him in trouble without finding sympathy\n and help. Frugal in his style of living, he gave generously\n of his personal means to many a needy man; and he made many\n considerable gifts to the college and to other departments of\n the work he so much loved. His name will long be a fragrant\n memory in our midst, and the Chinese will more and more, in the\n years to come, rise up and call him blessed.\n\nThe English Baptist Mission at their first meeting after his death\nadopted resolutions expressive of their deep sense of loss. One of these\nwill serve as an example of all:\n\n Combined with great strength of will and an enthusiasm which\n overcame all difficulties and opposition which stood in the way\n of the accomplishment of the great and arduous tasks, he was\n endowed with much tenderness of heart and a devoted loyalty to\n the gospel. He was a successful educator, a fine administrator,\n a powerful preacher, and a distinguished scholar; and his\n removal from amongst us has left a gap which will not soon or\n easily be filled.\n\nThe Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, under whom he had served for\nforty-five years, adopted an extended and highly appreciative paper. In\none of the paragraphs, they say:\n\n Dr. Mateer was a man of unusual ability and force of character;\n an educator, a scholar, and an executive of high capacity....\n The Board records, with profound gratitude to God, its sense\n of the large usefulness of this great missionary educator.\n It mourns that the work is no longer to have the benefit of\n his counsel, but it believes that he builded so wisely and so\n well that the results of his labors will long endure, and that\n his name will always have a prominent place in the history of\n missionary work in the Chinese Empire.\n\nSecretary Brown, of that Board, in a letter to Rev. Robert Mateer, of Wei\nHsien, said: \u201cI regarded him as one of the great missionaries not only of\nChina, but of the world.\u201d\n\nScores upon scores of personal letters, and a large number of articles\npublished in newspapers and periodicals, are available as tributes to\nhis work and character. Necessarily, they repeat what is said in the\nquotations already given, though almost every one makes some valuable\naddition. Few of them were meant for publication, and it is not because\nof a lack of appreciation that any of them are omitted here.\n\nShall his biographer add his own estimate of the work and character of\nDr. Mateer? If the writing of this book has been at all what it ought\nto be, this cannot be still needed; for, if he has revealed the inner\nand the outer life of this great Christian missionary as it deserves,\nand as he has aimed to do, then to turn back now and rehearse his\ncharacteristics would be a superfluity. Besides, if I begin, where shall\nI end? I must tell of his personality; his individuality; of his physique\nand of his psychical nature; of his peculiarities of intellect,\u2014its\nvigor, versatility and vision; of his great heart, and the tenderness\nof it that was not always externally manifest enough to command\nrecognition; of his will that yielded never to numbers or force, but\nonly to truth and duty; of a conscience whose voice would have made him\ndefy anything that man could do to him; of a piety that rooted itself in\nthe sovereignty and in the grace of Almighty God, and in the redemption\nwhich Christ finished on the cross; of a consecration that laid himself\nand all that he could bring upon the altar of divine service; of the\npreacher, the teacher, the scholar, the man of science, the man of\nbusiness, and of the son, the husband, the brother, the fellow-disciple\nand associate in Christian service; of his economy of time and of money,\nand of his generosity; of his conservatism and his progressiveness; of\nhis singleness of purpose, his courage, his persistence, his efficiency;\nof his weaknesses as well as of his strength; of his many successes and\nhis few failures; and of how much more I cannot enumerate. I would be\njustified in comparing him with the very foremost of the servants of\nChrist, living or dead, who during the past century have consecrated\ntheir lives to the evangelization of China; or with Verbeck of Japan, or\nDuff of India. However, I will here venture further, only to invite as\nmany as may to look well into the story of his life; and I am confident\nthat they will join with me in saying: \u201cThis was a Christian; this was as\ndistinctively a missionary, and as efficient as anyone of our age; and at\nthe same time this was as manly a man as our generation has seen.\u201d\n\nIn the \u201cPilgrim\u2019s Progress\u201d we read: \u201cAfter this it was noised abroad\nthat Mr. Valiant-for-truth was taken with a summons by the same post as\nthe other; and had this for a token that the summons was true, \u2018That his\npitcher was broken at the fountain.\u2019 When he understood it he called\nfor his friends, and told them of it. Then, said he, I am going to my\nFather\u2019s; and though with great difficulty I am got thither, yet now I do\nnot repent me of all the trouble I had been at to arrive where I am. My\nsword I give to him that succeeds me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and\nskill to him that may get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a\nwitness for me that I have fought His battle who now will be my rewarder.\nWhen the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the\nriver side, into which as he went he said, \u2018Death, where is thy sting?\u2019\nAnd as he went down deeper, he said, \u2018Grave, where is thy victory?\u2019 So he\npassed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nINDEX\n\n\n Aground off coast of China, 63\n\n Algebras, 164\n\n Anglo-Chinese college, 216, 218\n\n Anniversary of graduation, 39\n\n Apparatus, 209, 211, 244\n\n Apprehensions as to China, 308, 313\n\n Arithmetic, 162\n\n\n Baller, Rev. Mr., 182, 258, 333\n\n Baptism, infant, tract, 160\n\n Beaver Academy, 43, 239\n\n Bergen, Paul D., 225, 229, 325\n\n Birth, 15\n\n Birthday, seventieth, 273, 295\n\n Books in preparation, 160, 166\n\n Boyish traits, 17, 25, 237\n\n \u201cBoxer\u201d uprising, 264, 284, 286\n\n Brown, Arthur J., 9, 12, 336\n\n Brown, Julia A., 53\n\n Brown, Margaret, 54, 123, 143, 153, 168\n\n Business capability, 154\n\n\n Canal, Grand, 169\n\n Candidate for ministry, 42, 44, 48\n\n Capp, Mrs., 54, 123, 143, 144, 153, 168, 276\n\n Caring for converts and churches, 123, 126, 174, 178, 183, 192, 193,\n 194, 201\n\n Catechism, 161\n\n Chalfant, W. P., 325\n\n Chapel at Tengchow, 110\n\n Characteristics, personal, 25, 28, 45, 82, 83, 90, 91, 101, 148, 170,\n 171, 236, 320, 324, 330, 332, 333, 335, 336\n\n Characters written, Chinese, 165, 253\n\n Chefoo, 67, 203, 264, 265, 273, 281, 299, 300, 320, 326\n\n China, appointed to, 57\n\n China as a mission field, 70, 317\n\n China, the \u201cnew,\u201d 150, 286, 305, 311, 317\n\n Chinese characteristics, 308, 312\n\n Chinese language, 105, 108, 165, 252, 269\n\n Chinese Presbyterian church, 199, 200, 204, 205\n\n Chow Yuen, 123, 184\n\n Christianity in China, 173, 310, 313\n\n Classmates, 37, 38\n\n Coal press, 75\n\n Coffin, making a, 242\n\n College student, 34, 93\n\n Conference, first missionary, 252, 255\n\n Conference, second missionary, 252\n\n Conference, third missionary, 266, 267, 272\n\n Controversies, 151, 170, 197, 203, 290\n\n Conversion, 92\n\n Converts, early, 123, 142, 143, 176, 177, 192\n\n Corbett, Hunter, 59, 62, 67, 76, 102, 116, 119, 144, 176, 239, 300,\n 327, 328\n\n Country school, 29\n\n Cumberland valley, 15\n\n Curriculum of Tengchow school, 136, 138, 144\n\n\n Dangers, 63, 121, 122, 124, 280, 281, 283, 284\n\n Death, 324\n\n Delaware, Ohio, 52, 58\n\n Delay after appointment, 51, 54, 99\n\n Discipline, church, 142, 175, 200\n\n Discipline, school, 140, 141\n\n Diven, grandfather, 20\n\n Doctorate of Divinity, 293\n\n Doctorate of Laws, 293\n\n Duffield, James, 30\n\n Dunlaps creek academy, 32\n\n Dwelling houses, 80, 228\n\n\n Education and missions, 129, 159, 312, 315\n\n Education, the \u201cnew,\u201d in China, 244\n\n Electrical machinery, 214, 248\n\n Elterich, W. O., 328\n\n Employment for converts, 246, 334\n\n English Baptist mission, 225, 335\n\n English in school and college, 203, 216, 218, 230, 292\n\n Entertainments, 245, 250\n\n Experimentation, scientific, 213\n\n\n Faber hospital, 322\n\n Famines, 287\n\n Farm life, 22\n\n Father, 16, 18\n\n Field, Cyrus W., 213\n\n Fitch, G. F., 157, 163, 170\n\n Funeral services, 325, 326\n\n Furloughs, 145, 298, 299, 300\n\n\n General Assembly, 206, 303\n\n Generosity, 171, 172, 287\n\n Geometry, 163\n\n Goodrich, Chauncey, 91, 165, 166, 258, 259, 266, 271, 272, 319, 320,\n 322, 323, 331\n\n Graduates of college, 144, 145, 149, 233, 295, 323, 326\n\n Grier, Margaret, 82\n\n\n Hamilton, W. B., 332\n\n Happer, Andrew P., 216\n\n Haven, Ada, 299\n\n Hayes, Watson M., 147, 164, 179, 210, 214, 225, 240, 322, 323, 329\n\n Hays, Isaac N., 93\n\n Hebrew at Chautauqua, 299\n\n \u201cHermitage,\u201d the, 22, 238, 304\n\n Home life, 23, 41, 79, 82\n\n Honors and distinctions, 38, 293\n\n House-building, 76, 78, 228\n\n Hunterstown academy, 31\n\n Hymn book and hymns, 161\n\n\n Illness, last, 321\n\n Inns, Chinese, 68, 116\n\n Invitations declined, 43, 52, 218, 294\n\n Irwin, J. P., 328\n\n Itinerations, 112, 116, 119, 123, 124, 125, 127, 184, 186, 329\n\n\n Japanese bombardment of Tengchow, 284\n\n Jefferson College, 33, 238\n\n\n Kiao-chow, 195, 286\n\n Kirkwood, Mrs. Jennie, 17, 23, 40\n\n Korean expedition, 297\n\n Kwan Yin temple, 73, 129, 135, 210\n\n\n Language, learning the, 105, 108, 109\n\n Licentiate, a, 49\n\n Licentiates, Chinese, 201\n\n Locomotives and Baldwin Works, 239, 243\n\n Lwan, Pastor, 327\n\n\n Maker, a, of \u201cnew\u201d China, 309\n\n Mandarin Dictionary, 165, 166\n\n Mandarin Elementary Lemons, 170, 300\n\n Mandarin Lessons, 167, 169, 172\n\n Mandarin version, 252, 255, 256, 259, 263, 264, 265, 267, 268, 271,\n 319, 321, 322, 331\n\n Manufacturing, 240\n\n Marriage, 53, 299\n\n Martin, W. A. P., 167, 249, 306\n\n Mateer, Ada Haven, 82, 170, 241, 248, 250, 266, 299, 303, 319, 321,\n 322, 324, 333\n\n Mateer, Horace N., 17\n\n Mateer, Jennie W., 17, 23, 40\n\n Mateer, John L., 17, 156, 278\n\n Mateer, Julia A., 53, 62, 78, 108, 114, 123, 126, 129, 134, 137, 147,\n 169, 170, 192, 194, 276, 280, 298, 299\n\n Mateer, Lillian, 17, 146, 147\n\n Mateer, Robert M., 17, 146, 323, 324, 326\n\n Mateer, William D., 17, 240\n\n Mechanical ability, 155, 236\n\n Medical work, 86, 298\n\n Mercer, S. B., 32\n\n \u201cMethods of Missions,\u201d 151, 196, 292\n\n Miao, 123, 184\n\n Miller, J. R., 44\n\n Mills, Rev., 72, 114, 126, 167, 174, 179, 194, 199, 243, 276, 291, 298\n\n Ministry, a Chinese, 161, 200, 314\n\n \u201cMission,\u201d the, 196\n\n Missionary, a foreign, 40, 42, 49, 51, 54, 57\n\n Missionary qualifications, 316\n\n Moderator of Synod, 203\n\n Mother, 16, 20, 40, 50, 299, 304\n\n Museum, 245\n\n\n Nanking, 169, 294\n\n Nevius, J. L., 71, 145, 151, 196, 256, 259\n\n New Testament revision, 258, 260, 264, 266\n\n Ningpo, 203\n\n\n Observatory, 209, 214\n\n Old Testament revision, 272, 273, 319, 322\n\n Ordination, 53\n\n\n Parentage, 16, 18\n\n Pastorate, 179, 180, 192\n\n Pecuniary affairs, 171, 172\n\n Peking, 264, 278, 285, 294\n\n Periodicals and contributions, 150\n\n Persecutions, 187, 195\n\n Policy of college, 230\n\n Preacher, as a, 91, 102, 181\n\n Preaching in Chinese, 109, 204\n\n Premises of school and college, 129, 135, 147, 209, 210, 229\n\n Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 335\n\n Presbytery of Shantung, 199, 200\n\n Presidency of college, 179, 214, 229, 231\n\n Press, the mission, 152, 155, 157, 278\n\n Profession of religion, 33\n\n Provincial college, 215, 247, 309\n\n Publications, 150, 160, 161, 162, 164, 165, 166, 167, 169, 170\n\n Pupils, 129, 132, 134, 135, 137, 138, 146\n\n\n \u201cRebels,\u201d Tai-Ping, 71, 280\n\n Religious life, 33, 89, 93, 101, 104\n\n Removal to Wei Hsien, 226\n\n Revisers, Mandarin version, 256, 258, 264, 272\n\n\n Sabbath School letters, 133\n\n School-Book Commission, 159\n\n Science Hall, 228, 229\n\n Science teaching, 212\n\n Shanghai, 62, 152, 202, 252, 278, 282, 285\n\n Shantung, province, 71, 111, 284, 289\n\n Shantung college, 128, 207, 220, 253, 303\n\n Shantung Christian University, 222, 234\n\n \u201cShen,\u201d 151, 170, 291\n\n Siberian trip, 243, 300, 302\n\n Social life, 82, 193\n\n Southern Baptist mission, 70, 220\n\n Stated supply, 178, 179\n\n Stereotyping, 155\n\n Stove, making a, 75\n\n Student visitors, 108, 245\n\n Students converted, 142, 143, 149\n\n Superintending the mission press, 152, 153\n\n Surgery, 86\n\n Synod of China, 152, 201\n\n\n Tai An, 124\n\n Tengchow, 68, 70, 84, 108, 208, 215, 264, 280, 281, 304\n\n Tengchow church, 72, 174, 177, 192\n\n Tengchow school, 129, 132, 135, 138, 140, 146, 149, 153, 277\n\n Tengchow station, 71, 73, 81, 223\n\n Terms, ecclesiastical, 204\n\n Terms, technical and scientific, 159, 160\n\n Theological student, a, 46, 96\n\n Theology, teaching, 212\n\n Tientsin massacre, the, 281\n\n Tours and travels, 68, 112, 114, 116, 119, 123, 124, 125, 126, 169,\n 171, 192, 193, 296, 298, 299, 300, 322\n\n Translating and its lessons, 269, 271\n\n Travel, modes of, 68, 112\n\n Tributes, 327-338\n\n Tsinan, 125, 226, 234, 289\n\n Tsingchow, 119, 120, 125, 226, 229\n\n Tsingtao, 233, 322, 325\n\n Tsou Li Wen, 259, 260\n\n Type-making, 155\n\n\n Union in Shantung Christian University, 226\n\n Union of Presbyterians in China, 204, 205\n\n\n Voyage, first, 58, 99\n\n\n Walker, Mrs. Lillian, 17, 18, 146, 147\n\n Wang Yuen Teh, 259, 327\n\n War, Chino-Japanese, 284\n\n Wedding journey, 303\n\n Wei Hsien, 119, 226, 228, 285, 295, 330\n\n Wei Hsien, at, 228, 243, 248, 250, 295\n\n Welcome at Tengchow, 145\n\n Wells, Mrs. Margaret G., 82\n\n Wells, Mason, 82, 285, 326\n\n West Shantung mission, 325, 334\n\n Western Theological Seminary, 43, 46\n\n Wilson, Samuel, 33\n\n Workshop, 240, 241\n\n\n Yangtse, the, 169, 171, 253\n\n Yuan Shih K\u2019ai, 215, 284","title":"Calvin Wilson Mateer, forty-five years a missionary in Shantung, China : $b a biography","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":90264}