Nathan Bangs · 20 of 29

Chapter 14. From the Close of the General Conference of 1836 to the Commencement of the General Conference of 1840. · 1837

This decrease in the number of Church members has already been accounted for, and, as might be supposed, the fact led to “great searchings of heart” among those who felt as they ought for the prosperity of the Church, and to an application of those means which were necessary for a revival of the work of God.

Among the means used for the revival and spread of the work of God, was that of adding strength to the missionary work.

We have already seen that efforts had been made to establish missions in South America. On the 22d of March, 1836, the Rev. Justin Spaulding, of the New England conference, sailed from the port of New York for Rio de Janeiro, the capital of the Brazilian empire. This magnificent city contains many residents from different parts of Europe and the United States, and being a place of considerable trade, a number of English and American sailors are constantly in the port. By these foreigners brother Spaulding was affectionately received, and the letters received from him, after his arrival, gave us reason to hope for a favorable issue of his labors.

Since the change in the political affairs of the country, though the Roman Catholic religion is still the religion of the empire, and is supported by the law of the land, a much more liberal spirit prevails among the higher orders of society, and their confidence in the infallibility of the priesthood, and those superstitions by which that church is distinguished, is much weakened; it is, therefore, hoped that the time is not distant when the “blindness which has happened” to that branch of the Christian church shall be removed, and a way opened for a free and unrestrained promulgation of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ in the empire of Brazil.

In the present state of things, however, brother Spaulding could have access only to the English and American portion of the population. To as many of these as would attend his meeting he preached in a private room, prepared for the purpose, and he had the happiness of finding a few who were willing to unite with him in his pious endeavors to spread Scriptural truth and holiness among the people. He was much aided in this good work by distributing among the people the holy Scriptures in the Portuguese language, with which he was generously furnished gratuitously by the American Bible Society. Indeed, he found the people, even the natives of the country, eager to read the word of God in their own language, notwithstanding the prejudices which had been excited against it by their early education.

Such were the encouraging prospects before him, that on the recommendation of brother Spaulding, an additional missionary, the Rev. Daniel P. Kidder, of the Genesee conference, and a male and female teacher, were selected and sent to this field of labor. They sailed from the port of Boston on the 12th of November, 1837, and arrived in safety to their place of destination. They immediately entered upon their work with a fair prospect of success; but the school, though prosperous for a season, did not answer our expectations, and was therefore abandoned in despair. Brother Kidder, after mastering the Portuguese language, traveled extensively from one city and village to another, distributing Bibles and tracts, and was generally received with affection and treated with respect, though the civil regulations of the country would not allow him to preach to the natives in their own language.

In Rio de Janeiro brother Spaulding had formed a small class, had established a sabbath school, and he occasionally preached to the sailors on board of the American vessels which were in the port. In this good work he was much encouraged by Commodore Nicholson, the United States naval officer, to whom he was favorably known as a minister of the gospel, and who gave countenance to his efforts. Yet with all these labors and hopeful prospects, Rio de Janeiro is a hard place for the gospel to operate upon, and has yielded but little fruit of our labor. The strong prejudices of the Catholic population, the indifference of most of those who call themselves Protestants, and the want of full toleration for the exercise of religious worship, present almost insuperable barriers in the way of planting the seeds of divine truth in that rugged soil. It is hoped, however, that a steady perseverance “in well doing” will eventually overcome opposition, and that we shall yet see South America delivered from the shackles of Romanism, and brought into the glorious “liberty of the sons of God.”

On the 14th of October, 1836, the Rev. John Dempster, of the Oneida conference, sailed from New York, as a missionary for Buenos Ayres, the capital of the Argentine republic, in South America. In this delightful city, which takes its name (good air) from the salubrity of the climate, there were supposed to be about five thousand foreigners, English, Scotch, and Americans, to whom brother Dempster, on his arrival, made known the objects of his visit. He was cordially received, and he soon opened his mission under favorable auspices, by preaching to a large and attentive congregation assembled in a room which he had hired for that purpose. His preaching soon made a most favorable impression upon the minds of the people, and his congregation increased to that degree, that he found it necessary to enlarge his place of worship, and he was, the next year, authorized by the board of managers to purchase a lot of ground, and proceed to the erection of a house of worship, about fifteen hundred dollars being subscribed by the people in Buenos Ayres, and ten thousand dollars more appropriated by the managers, to meet the expenses.

These bright prospects were, however, soon eclipsed in some measure by a rigid blockade established by the government of France, so that all ingress and egress for foreign vessels, except ships of war belonging to neutral nations, were prevented. This measure of seeking national redress for supposed wrongs very soon brought much distress upon the people, cut off all intercourse by merchantmen, and drove many of the foreign residents to seek an asylum in Monte Video and other places, as might best suit their convenience. But though brother Dempster, in consequence of these things, was very reluctantly compelled to remit his endeavors to build a church, and though his congregation was somewhat diminished in numbers, yet he persevered in his work, acquired more and more of the public confidence, and even succeeded in establishing a flourishing school. In this last work he was aided by the arrival of a teacher, Mr. Hiram A. Wilson, a graduate of the Wesleyan University, who was sent by the managers, in September of 1838. He soon commenced a school in Buenos Ayres, and it has so prospered, that in 1840 another male and a female teacher were sent to aid him in this good work. There is therefore every reason to believe that the issue of this mission will be prosperous.

Among the most important missions on our list is Liberia, an account of which, until the deaths of Cox and Wright, has already been given. In 1835 the Rev. John Seys of the Oneida conference, was appointed by Bishop Hedding the superintendent of this mission. He entered upon this hazardous enterprise with an enlightened zeal, and soon succeeded in establishing preaching, and forming societies in nearly all the settlements in Liberia. The next year he was joined by the Rev. J. B. Barton, of the Georgia conference, and they strengthened each other’s hands in the work of the Lord. Though a war commenced upon the colonists by one of the native chiefs, which spread death in the colony, and sickness had deprived brother Seys of a promising son, and prostrated himself wife, and brother Barton, for a season, yet he and they persevered in faith and hope, and they reported for the year 1836 three hundred and seventy-five members of the Church, and one hundred and twenty-eight children in the schools.

We have already seen that there were in Liberia several colored local preachers, most of whom had emigrated to that country for the purpose of enjoying the blessings of civil and religious liberty in their “fatherland.” These were called into the active service of the ministry, and were eminently useful in building up the cause of God. One of them, brother Williams, formerly lieutenant-governor of the colony, volunteered his services to penetrate into the Congo country, for the purpose of ascertaining the probability of establishing a mission and school in king Boatswain’s dominions the king having manifested much friendship for the colonists and the mission. He was kindly received, and obtained from this friendly chief a promise of patronage and assistance. And though the good design was not carried into effect immediately, on account of a war which commenced about that time between the king and the Golah tribe yet the attempt led to important results; for soon after brother Seys was waited upon by a messenger from Boatswain, escorted by no less than two hundred men, among whom were some of his principal generals, requesting that a teacher might be speedily sent among them. After much prayer and consultation, a young colonist of good education and deep piety, by the name of Jacobs, was appointed for that station, at which the natives who had been sent on this errand of mercy expressed great satisfaction and joy.

By means of these additional laborers, they enlarged the sphere of their operations, established a new mission at Bushrod island, commenced a new stone house for divine worship in Monrovia, and a manual labor school at Millsburgh, called the Whiteplains Manual Labor school, both of which have been since completed; the former is filled from one sabbath to another with attentive hearers, and the latter is in successful operation, imparting the blessings of education and religion to the rising generation.

In the month of September, 1836, brother Seys, with a view to recruit his health, which had been much impaired by the corroding influence of the climate, and his excessive labors, visited the United States, and traveled extensively, holding missionary meetings, giving information to the people respecting the state of things in Africa, and taking up collections in behalf of the mission. This movement had a most happy effect in awakening a spirit of prayer, of liberality, and of active exertions in the cause of missions. In the following October he returned, taking in company with him, as his colleagues in labor and suffering, the Rev. Squire Chase, of the Oneida conference, and the Rev. George Brown, a colored local preacher of piety and talents, who, upon his arrival in Liberia, entered the traveling ministry, and has been very useful.

As the General Conference of 1836 had constituted the Liberia mission into a mission annual conference, brother Seys, as its superintendent, had called the preachers together, organized them into a conference, and nearly all the colored local preachers had become its members, and were therefore not considered in the character of traveling preachers. His gave a systematic energy to their operations, which added much to their strength and efficiency, and extended their influence more powerfully throughout the colony.

As the members of the mission family, as well as the colonists, had suffered, and were still suffering much for want of a competent physician, the board adopted measures for furnishing them with one, and also with no more female teachers. Accordingly, in the month of June of this year, Dr. S. M. E. Goheen, a young physician of piety and talent, embarked in company with the teachers for Liberia. They arrived in safety, and entered upon their work with energy and success. Dr. Goheen has been eminently useful as a physician, having succeeded admirably in checking and controlling the disease of the country, which has proved fatal to so many white people, as well as to many of the colonists, more especially soon after their landing while undergoing their acclimation. The teachers also have so far filled their stations to general acceptance, and they still continue their work for the benefit of the children and youth of their own sex.

The mission was greatly owned of God this year. In nearly all the stations, now employing no less than fifteen missionaries, white and colored, God poured out his Spirit, so that there were added to the Methodist Episcopal Church no less than one hundred and sixty members, twenty of whom were natives. In addition to the above-mentioned missionaries, and the physician, who aided the mission much by his active endeavors to promote the general cause, there were seven school teachers, having charge of two hundred and twenty-one pupils; and also three hundred children were taught in the sabbath schools. A temperance society was formed, with auxiliaries, on the pledge of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors as a beverage; and all things seemed to be going on prosperously. Brother Chase, however, soon fell sick of the African fever, and he was so prostrated as to abandon all hopes of recovery there; accordingly he returned to the United States, where he has since been restored to his usual health.

From this prosperous state of things in Liberia, the board of managers determined, on the pressing representation of brother Seys, to establish a classical school. A teacher, the Rev. J. Burton, a local preacher, and a graduate of Allegheny College, was accordingly engaged, and funds appropriated for erecting a suitable building, and furnishing the needful books, apparatus, etc. A printer was also appointed, who was furnished with a press and materials for printing, and brother Seys was authorized to issue a semimonthly paper, to be called “Africa’s Luminary,” of which he was appointed editor. In 1839 the academy went into operation; and the first number of Africa’s Luminary was issued on the fifteenth of March, 1839. Both its contents and mechanical execution reflect honor upon its editor and printer.

An additional missionary was also sent out by the same expedition, the Rev. W. Stocker. He did not, however, long survive. Soon after his arrival, he was seized with the fever of the climate, and after lingering for a while, alternately reviving and sinking, he finally fell asleep in Jesus, in the hope of everlasting life.

In the same year the mission was destined to suffer another loss by the death of one of its most devoted missionaries, the Rev. J. B. Barton. He had labored for the benefit of Africa nearly four years, with great zeal and usefulness, and, to all human appearance, had become so acclimated as to be able to resist the inroads of the fever for many years. The year before his death he visited the land of his birth, married him a pious wife, and returned to Liberia with a view to devote the residue of his days to the salvation of Africa; but not long after his return, his young wife, with her infant child, was called to mourn over the sudden death of a pious and devoted husband, in a strange and foreign land. As, however, he lived to the Lord, so he died in the Lord, and is enjoying the reward of his sacrifices and labors in the world of glory.

It had been the earnest desire of the board of managers and of the bishops, that, in addition to supplying the colonists with the word and ordinances of the gospel, the native population should not be neglected. Accordingly, efforts had been made, hitherto with but little immediate success, to penetrate into the interior, and call the attention of the native Africans to the blessings of Christianity. Some few, who had occasionally mingled with the colonists, and attended our places of worship, had tasted “that the Lord is good,” and twenty of these had become members of the Church. Still, however, but a feeble impression had been made upon the minds of the “heathen round about,” and the efforts to reach them more effectually with gospel truth were renewed with great ardor in 1838. At length, a building was erected and a school opened in a place bordering on heathen territory, called, in honor of the bishop who had interested himself much in behalf of the Liberia mission, Heddington, for the special benefit of native children and youth, and the charge of it was given to brother George Brown. Here he commenced operations, uniting manual labor with mental training. God honored the enterprise. In a short time the house was filled, and the divine Spirit was poured out upon its inmates, and how between seventy and eighty have professed a “knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins.”

There are now, 1840, employed in this interesting mission, fourteen missionaries, six teachers, and one physician. In the several stations there are seven hundred and twenty-eight Church members, and about four hundred pupils in the several schools. The mission is, indeed, exerting a hallowing influence upon almost the entire population of the colony, and gradually extending its influence among the native Africans themselves. If, therefore, no untoward circumstance shall supervene to interrupt its progress, but it shall go on in its career of usefulness as it has been begun, and thus far advanced, increasing in power and influence in a ratio already seen, who can calculate the benefits it shall confer upon the benighted sons and daughters of Africa! May God ever have it under his holy protection.

In the western parts of our country, new fields for missionary enterprise were daily opening, for which the Missionary Society was affording supplies; but as they differ nothing materially from ordinary new circuits, it is considered inexpedient to swell this History in naming them more particularly than to say, that they were the means of giving to these new and destitute places increased facilities for securing gospel privileges, and the surest means of temporal and spiritual prosperity.

The aboriginal missions, heretofore particularly noticed, were generally prosperous, though some of them were still suffering from the removal of the Indians to their new homes west of the Mississippi.

Thirty-two preachers had died during the past year; one hundred and thirty-five located, one hundred were returned supernumerary, and two hundred and fourteen superannuated; four had been expelled, and three had withdrawn.

An effort had been made to ascertain the number of local preachers, and this year I find the number returned on the Minutes to be 4,954. As, however, all the conferences had not sent in their reports, the enumeration must have been incomplete.

Numbers in the Church: Whites This Year: 570,123; Last Year: 564,974; Increase: 5,149 — Colored This Year: 76,657; Last Year: 82,296; Decrease: 5,639 — Indians This Year: 2,695; Last Year: 2,833; Decrease: 138 — Total This Year: 658,574; Last Year: 653,032 — Increase: 5,542 — Preachers This Year: 3,147; Last Year: 2,929; Increase: 218.