A STEPHEN WITH MANY A PAUL
1838-1839
“One presses on, and welcomes death,
One calmly yields his willing breath,
Nor slow nor hurrying, but in faith,
Content to die or live.
‘Jesus do Thou my soul receive;
Jesus do Thou my foes forgive:’
He who would learn this prayer must live
Under the holy Cross.”
KEBLE.
“The blood of the Martyr of Erromanga is giving its loud sound into all regions of the earth, and preaching sermons which by their holy strength make the Lord Jesus divide the spoil with the strong. That ever was the earnest expectation and hope of this servant of God; it is gloriously done." —From an unpublished letter written by Pastor Besser of Prussia, to Mrs. Williams.
ON the 19th of April, 1838, at six P.M., Mr. Williams looked for the last time upon the white cliffs of England. After the anguish of parting and the pangs of sea-sickness had abated, the mission party settled down to prepare for their future work. Beside Mr. and Mrs. Williams and their eldest son and his wife, the Camden carried sixteen new missionaries, all destined for the South Sea Islands. These twenty, with Captain Morgan, commander of the Camden, and some of the crew, formed themselves into a Christian church, which numbered twenty-six persons, and celebrated the sacred ordinances of their faith. From ten o'clock until two every morning, the younger missionaries assembled for instruction in the Tahitian and Raratongan languages.
The voyage passed without incident, and in September the Camden entered Sydney harbor. Thence they proceeded to Samoa, where Mr. Williams selected Fasetootai, in the island Upolu, as his future station. He had originally intended making his home at Raratonga, but Mrs. Williams preferred Samoa, and her husband deemed it wise to select Upolu, the district which had been conquered and devastated in the war which followed the murder of Tamafainga. They had scarcely entered into their new home, when a circumstance occurred which cast a gloom over all the mission band. This was the death of the Rev. J. Bamden, one of the new missionaries, who was drowned while bathing. "I perhaps shall be the next," said Mr. Williams with almost prophetic foresight, for so the event proved to be.
On the 17th of January, 1839, Mr. Williams left Samoa for a visit to Raratonga, and on the 4th of February he reached that island. His meeting with Makea the king was very cordial and affectionate upon both sides. "Oh, Makea," Mr. Williams said, "how kind are God's dealings to us in sparing us thus far, and permitting us to meet again.”
Within a few months the friends met where there is no parting; for the former things had passed away. On the 19th of the following October, Makea joined the great majority, whither we shall see Mr. Williams quickly followed him.
With the increased earnestness and mellowing of character, that we now understand to have been a preparation for the great change, but which we strangely seldom understand until our friends have left us, Mr. Williams strove to use to the utmost, the life which was so rapidly approaching the end of its earthly service. He landed 5000 Testaments in the Raratongan language; and no less important than giving the people the "god of books," he commenced arranging for the college which was to train up men to expound it. Of this institution, Mr. Buzzacott became the Principal. Mr. Williams thankfully noticed the immense improvement effected among the people; socially and religiously they were not like the same race that had treated the first teachers in such an indescribably abominable manner. The change had not been remarkably rapid, but it was lasting, and was the kind of success that necessitates and sustains another advance. In all Christian work much good service becomes latent; but like the heat that melts the ice, it also assists in causing the water to boil.
From Raratonga Mr. Williams went to other islands; at one of them, Atiu, he was for the seventh time rescued from drowning, this being also the second accident at the same spot.
On the 2nd of May, he reached his home once more, and here he remained, with the exception of two short trips which he made in Samoa, until his last and fatal voyage.
On the evening before his departure from Samoa, for what proved to him his last sacrifice for the salvation of the South Sea Islanders, Mr. 'Williams visited Mr. Mills, a brother missionary. The two friends sat for some time in solemn conversation, and Mr. Williams discussed his plans and his hopes with regard to what he felt to be a dangerous undertaking. He was interrupted by the entrance of a blind chief, named Sepaetaia, who had become a convert to Christianity. This man, who had only recently been an idolater himself, expressed a strong desire to assist his beloved minister in his attempt to reach the heathen of the New Hebrides. "Teacher Williams," he said, "I am a blind man, but I have a great desire to go with you to the dark lands. Perhaps my being blind will make them pity me, and not kill me. And whilst I can talk to them and tell them of Jesus, my boy" (and he placed his hand upon the head of his son, an interesting youth) "can read and write, and so we can teach them things.”
“I never saw Mr. Williams more deeply affected,” said Mr. Mills, "than he was at the earnestness with Which poor blind Sepaetaia entreated permission to follow him.”
The blind man was not, of course, allowed to accompany Mr. Williams in his voyage, but without doubt his willing mind was accepted by God as if it had actually led him to Erromanga. And it is also remarkable that, just at the time that Mr. Williams was sad on account of what he be the termination of his voyage, such an encouragement should have been given to him. It must have furnished him with food for devout thought, and have nerved him for the task that he dreaded.
No personal considerations, however, hindered this modern Paul; he resolutely prepared for what he knew would be his martyrdom.
On the 3rd of November, 1839, he preached for the last time, and, strangely enough, from Acts 20:36-38 —"And they all wept sore, and fell upon Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more." Both preacher and congregation were deeply depressed; every one present seemed instinctively to anticipate the coming final severance.
At midnight of the same evening, Mr. Williams took his leave of his wife and children, and went on board the Camden. Mrs. Williams, in parting with her husband, earnestly entreated him not to land at Erromanga. Was it from any monition conveyed to her spirit, or simply the foresight of affectionate anxiety? None can say. Before morning the Camden had left Samoa for the voyage which was to terminate in Mr. Williams' martyrdom.
After a run of six hundred miles, the Camden made Rovuma upon the 12th of November.
“We soon discovered from the indentures on the coast," says Mr. Cunningham, "that the island is formed in the best manner to give shelter for vessels requiring a harbor.
“After we had landed, the people came about us, and presented a most disgusting appearance. They were all besmeared with a powder which is prepared from the turmeric root. We noticed, however, that some of them had wrappers of European cloth tied round their bodies. The men wore long hair, and the unmarried girls retained locks of hair on each side and upon the back of their heads. The center, from the forehead to the crown, is kept close cut, and is ornamented with lime and turmeric.”
The next day they went on to the New Hebrides. Mr. Williams, in a letter which was written upon the 16th, says:—"Thus, my friend, we live in a dying world.... The grand concern should be to live in a constant state of preparation. This I find a difficult matter, from the demand incessantly made upon my energies, both of body and of mind, but I find great comfort from the consideration that many of God's people pray for me, and also that ALL is spent in the best of all causes.... Oh, how much depends upon the efforts of to-morrow! Will the savages receive us or not? Perhaps at this moment you or some other kind friend may be wrestling with God for us. I am all anxiety, but desire prudence and faithfulness in the management of the attempt to impart the Gospel to these benighted people, and leave the event with God.... The approaching WEEK IS TO ME THE MOST IMPORTANT OF MY LIFE.”
His mind derived its strength from the Sacred Scriptures, and then probably he consulted the fragment of paper upon which he had written various texts, evidently for his private meditation. This paper, tattered and torn, lies before us. Among the texts upon it are the following:—
DIVINE TEACHING.
“The eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity." Isa. 29:18.
“The Holy Ghost shall teach you all things." John 14:26.
PARDON.
“I am He that blotteth out thy sins." Isa. 43:25.
“The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." John 1:7.
TEMPTATION.
“God will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able." 1 Cor. 10:13.
“Sin shall not have dominion over you." Rom. 6:14.
“I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not." Luke 22:32.
On the next day, Sunday, November the 17th, they sighted the island of Fatuna. The natives were discerned collecting in groups, and making signs for the Camden to come near. The boat was lowered, but after rowing for some time, the party were unable to land. A chief, distinguished from his countrymen by bracelets, and rings of tortoise-shell inserted into his ears, came on hoard. After a while they found a bay on the other side of the island, into which they could take the Camden, and there they landed. The natives crowded around them, and were exceedingly friendly, but they could find no one willing to accompany them to Tanna. Two young men came on board for a little time, but they were soon tired of the motion of the ship, and begged to be set on shore again. During the night-time they lay to, intending to make Tanna, which was about forty miles distant, the next morning. In the darkness they had a magnificent view of the volcano, "blazing up," says Mr. Cunningham, "from the center of its crater, attended with dense clouds of smoke.”
On the following morning, Mr. Williams made the last entry in his journal, and the unfinished sentence with which it concludes is at once pathetic and most significant. The paragraph is as follows:—"Monday morning, 18th .—This is a memorable day, a day which will be transmitted to posterity; and the records of the events which have this day transpired will exert after those who have taken an active part in them have retired into the shades of oblivion; and the results of this day will be—" To him, the results of that day were probably made known in the land of light; to us, they are still veiled in mystery, although we can see how Mr. Williams' martyrdom has inspired and sustained the heroic spirit in missionary enterprise at home and abroad. When we arrive at the age of results, we shall probably find that one fount of universal blessing comes from the tragedy in the New Hebrides. By the death of this Stephen, probably many a Paul has been called to work, suffer, and in his turn attract others into the apostolical succession of those who have hazarded their lives unto the death for Christ's sake: On the evening of the 19th of November, the Camden lay to, off Erromanga, and Mr. Williams said that as Samoa was now well supplied with missionaries, he had almost decided to make his home in the island near them. But when, the next morning, they were in the boat pulling for the shore, he mentioned to Captain Morgan the fact that he had now relinquished this intention. He then thought of leaving as quickly as possible, and hastening on to the small island of Annotam, the most southerly of the group. One of the mission party, speaking of the evening of the 19th says, "Mr. Williams spent a very restless night, not being able to sleep (as he himself told us) with thinking about his intended labors in the morning.”
The following description of the tragic events of the 20th of November are taken from the narratives of Captain Morgan and Mr. Cunningham, eye-witnesses of the scene:—
“This is a day full of the most distressing circumstances. The events of this fatal day will form a dark page in the missionary history.... We were wafted along the southern side of the island, and got round to a fine spacious bay exposed to the West.... The shore looked most inviting, placid stillness slept along its dark romantic rocks, and the mountains in the distance presented a most enchanting view. A tribe of natives had followed our ship along the shore, and now we saw them grouping together among the rocks, and apparently enjoying the sight of our vessel.... The boat was accordingly lowered and, under charge of Captain Morgan, Mr. Williams, accompanied by Messrs. Harris and Cunningham, all left together for the shore. The ship then got a fine breeze out of the bay, and stood out to sea to work up to wind, so as to be as near as possible when the boat should have occasion to come on board again.... One or two circumstances tended to inspire us with confidence. Immediately on the boat reaching the shore, we got a chief to go and bring us a bucket of water. He did so, and returned in about half-an-hour. Some others brought us cocoanuts. Another circumstance also, that we noticed, was the children sporting along the beach, which we supposed would not be the case if they really harbored any designs against us.
“Messrs. Williams, Harris, and Cunningham, accordingly left the boat, and went ashore. After that, they commenced rambling along the beach, and communicating with the people. At one place Mr. Williams sat down, and a few natives collected round him, to whom he distributed a few fish-hooks and a few small pieces of calico. Captain Morgan then went ashore, and was seated on a bank, opposite the boat, which was off the beach. The party then rambled along the shore till they reached the point formed by a stream of water that ran up into the land. There Messrs. Williams and Cunningham remained some time, while Mr. Harris went on till he got out of sight in the bush, where there were a number of natives. In the meantime, Messrs. Williams and Cunningham had also separated. At this moment, awful to relate, a yell of the savages was heard inland, and the natives were seen in pursuit of Mr. Harris, and almost immediately he was seen to fall into the water, being struck down by the natives with clubs and spears. At the very first sight of the above circumstance, Mr. Cunningham began to run for the boat, and in passing called out to Mr. Williams to run too, but instead of running at the very instant, he remained looking inland towards Mr. Harris, and did not commence running till he heard the war-shell blown and the yell of war raised as a signal for hostilities. Mr. Williams, however, instead of running for the boat, had made a direct cut for the beach, and fell into the water. At first, there was only one native in pursuit of him, who struck him with his club on the arm. Mr. Williams then put his head down into the water. By this time, another native had arrived, and both of them commenced beating him with their clubs. After this, a party arrived, and thrust a number of arrows into his body. His body was then stripped, and the natives were to be seen wearing among them his clothes. We saw the water colored with his blood. His body was then taken out of the water, and lay all exposed on the sand surrounded by his cruel murderers, while the very children took up stones, and threw them against the lifeless corpse. While they were thus occupied with Messrs. Harris and Williams, a man was in pursuit of Mr. Cunningham, but he threw a stone at the man behind him, and happily escaped.”
Captain Morgan also adds, that Mr. Williams said to him, "Captain, you know we like to take possession of the land, and if we can only leave good impressions on the minds of the natives, we can come again, and leave teachers; we must be content to do a little; you know Babel was not built in a day.”
The company in the boat were helpless spectators of this tragedy. They indeed headed the boat towards Mr. Williams, but the natives shot arrows, and threw stones at them. They were, therefore, compelled to return to the brig. One who remained on board the Camden, thus describes their return:" As the boat approached us within hail, we foreboded something had happened, but our imaginations had not formed the most distant idea of the tragic scene which was about to be disclosed to us. As the boat was coming alongside, the hurried orders of Get a towing line in readiness,' and for all hands to stand by and make sail, produced the most terrifying sensations in our minds, and intense anxiety as to what had really happened. We heard the captain exclaim, We have lost Mr. Williams and Mr. Harris,' and he added, they 're dead, the natives have killed them.' Language cannot describe what our feelings at this dreadful moment were. Nothing in all our past experience seemed to have produced similar sensations. The most intense grief took possession of our hearts, and, racked with most excruciating pangs of agony, we looked vacantly on the shore, but, oh how gloomy!... The more we think of it, the more we grieve, the more we wonder. We cannot but conceive that our friend is still among us, and his presence animating us in our labors.”
A gun was fired from the Camden, but instead of frightening the natives, they immediately carried off Mr. Williams' corpse into the bush. Without exception, the native teachers on board were panic stricken by the tragic events of the morning, and as they were, therefore, unwilling to land upon any other island of this dangerous group, Captain Morgan had no other resource but to make all sail for Sydney, which port he made on the 30th of November. The Governor of New South Wales was induced to send a ship of war to Erromanga, to recover the remains of Mr. Williams. The Favorite, man-of-war, left Sydney for that purpose on the 1st of February, and on the 27th of the same month, she reached Erromanga. The savages confessed that they had eaten the bodies, but a few bones, including the skulls, were given to the Captain. With these relics on board, the Favorite sailed to Samoa, and at midnight on the 24th of March, Mrs. Williams learned that she was a widow. The grief of the natives was intense; pathetic cries of "Alas, Williams! alas our father!" resounded on every side. The relics of the martyr were interred at Apia, in Samoa, and a monument was erected above them, bearing this inscription:—" Sacred to the memory of the Rev. John Williams, Father of the Samoan and other missions, aged 43 years and 5 months, who was killed by the cruel natives of Erromanga, on November 20th, 1839, while endeavoring to plant the Gospel of Peace on their shores.”
Miss Gordon-Cumming, in "A Lady's Cruise in a French Man-of-War," says, however, "It is now known that the bones that are interred at Apia were taken at random by the natives of Erromanga from a cave where they are wont to deposit their own dead, under the impression that the foreign ship wished to purchase human bones. The skull of John Williams is buried beneath a palm tree in Erromanga.... Near it was buried a small bit of red sealing wax about an inch and a half in length, which was found by the natives in his pocket, and supposed to be a foreign idol. This relic was afterward disinterred and sent home to his children.”
The melancholy tidings did not reach England until the 6th of April, 1840. Mr. Pritchard, the English consul at Tahiti, in a letter to a friend at Birmingham, dated March 3rd, 1840, says: “His death has made a deep impression on the minds of the natives; many of them are wearing mourning for him. They say that they cannot sleep at night for thinking of him. They frequently start in their sleep, supposing that they see him. One woman came to me with half a dollar in her hand, saying that she wished to purchase a portrait of Mr. Williams, that she might have it to look at, now that he is gone.... In this case, as in most others, the foreigners have been the first aggressors. A few years ago, several foreigners united, chartered vessels, and went with an armed force, took possession of a part of the island (i.e., of Erromanga,) built a fort to protect themselves, and then cut, at their pleasure, the sandal wood belonging to the poor, natives. This sandal wood is very valuable in the China market.
After obtaining a considerable quantity, a disease broke out among them which carried off a great many; the others were compelled to leave; many of the natives were killed by them. I am not sure that Mr. Williams knew that this was the island where the sandal wood expedition had been; but there is no doubt his death, and that of Mr. Harris, was in consequence of the base treatment the natives had received from the foreigners who forced their way upon these shores. Mr. Harris was a very interesting young man, who had come out at his own expense. It was his intention to return to England to marry, then coming out again to labor at the Marquesas.”
As an example of the outrages which have exasperated the natives almost to the point of madness, we may relate the following incident.
Three vessels that were collecting sandal wood, anchored off one of the islands which form the group that is known as the New Hebrides. The white men plundered the natives, and helped themselves to the yams and fruit without offering any recompense whatever to the tillers of the soil. Nearly three hundred pigs were also seized, and when the owners of these animals attempted to resist this act of spoliation, they were shot down without mercy. Not content with these high-handed proceedings, the robbers landed again, and chased the natives into a large cave, in which the helpless fugitives, hoping that they would be safe, took refuge from their brutal foes. But the sailors pulled down the houses, and piled the dry thatch rafters and other materials at the mouth of the cavern, and then set fire to the pile. The miserable natives were of course suffocated by the smoke.
It is scarcely to be wondered at that such deeds were repaid by similar outrages; indeed, so insecure was life, that Dr. Turner declares that, to his own personal knowledge, no less than three hundred and twenty men, who had been engaged in the sandal wood trade, perished in less than nine years.
During the year of Mr. Williams' death, a whale ship sailed along the coast of an island adjacent to Erromanga, and fired promiscuously into the villages as she passed them. Two missionaries were upon this island, but they were fortunately not killed by the natives in retaliation for the cruelty of their fellow-countrymen.
In 1842, Mrs. Williams returned to England. When off Cape Horn, she wrote a farewell to the Isles of the South, from which the following sentences are extracted:—
“Farewell, rolling ocean, on whose bosom we have been borne from island to island, honored by carrying the glad tidings of the Gospel of Peace to the benighted inhabitants!
“Natives! you who have felt and known that the Lord is gracious, farewell! May you be kept from returning to those evils which you profess to have thrown away, and be faithful unto death, that you may receive a Crown of Life “Heathens! I weep for you, while I say, ' Father forgive them, they know not what they do! '
“My Dear Children, I trust I say farewell only for a season; if spared, I hope to welcome you in the land of your fathers.”
Her eldest son, John, and his wife, are the children addressed in the last paragraph; they remained at Samoa. In the year 1845, Mrs. Williams settled at Islington, and became a member of Union Chapel. For some years, she worked actively among the poor as a tract distributer and sick visitor. But in the winter of 1849-50 the symptoms of a disease appeared, which in 1851 proved fatal. On the 15th of June, 1851, she rejoined her husband, bearing testimony, until the last, of her faith in Christ. "I hope I am not deceiving myself," she said, "dear Jesus have mercy upon me. My trust is only in Thee.”
"What a happy meeting you will have with your dear Mr. Williams in heaven," remarked a friend, and Mrs. Williams at once replied, "Oh yes! What a day that will be! What a blessed clay!”
Another friend repeated, “Jesus can make a dying bed Feel soft as downy pillows are, While on His breast I lean my head, And breathe my life out sweetly there,” and Mrs. Williams constantly murmured, "Oh, I wish I could, I wish I could.”
Dr. Allon said of her, "Her faith was clear and unfaltering to the last. And once and again, as I have knelt at her bedside, and an almost overpowering sympathy has prompted expressions and petitions that only the strongest faith could appropriate, has the earnest but tremulous response assured me that she held fast her confidence; and I have left her, wondering most of all at the mysterious power of the religion that could thus enable her patiently to endure.”
“So her children and friends returned to their place; for those who waited for Christiana had carried her out of their sight. So she went, and called and entered in at the gate, with all the ceremonies of joy that her husband Christian had entered with before her.”
Of Mr. Williams, Dr. Campbell says: “The first thing with regard to his person that presents itself to us, is his great physical power, which materially contributed to success in his peculiar sphere of missionary effort. He was massive rather than muscular, and strong, without remarkable activity; his stature was somewhat above the middle size, his chest was of unusual breadth, the shoulders considerably rounded and broadly set. His aspect was a little singular; indeed he was often taken for a foreigner. There was something strikingly peculiar in the aspect of Mr. Williams. Having been once seen, he was ever after easily recognized, and you could instantly point him out at a distance, among ten thousand men. The head was very large, long, and wanting in that conical elevation, so generally found associated with extreme benevolence, a quality for which, notwithstanding, he was so remarkable. The forehead was an oblong square, of no great breadth, and retired considerably. The countenance altogether was one of uncommon benignity; it had all the serenity of the finest summer eve, shaded with a slight expression of sadness. The eye was soft and lustrous; it sparkled from beneath his dark brows, distinctly bespeaking the benevolence that glowed within. All his features were rounded, every feature evinced simplicity of character, tranquility of heart, and honesty of purpose. The entire visage, in fact, was so deeply stamped with the impress of good nature and good will, as to inspire every beholder with immediate confidence. He hoped everything from labor under the guidance of heaven, without it-nothing. Industry was the usual element he breathed in; he could not be idle, neither could he be in a bustle. Had he been escaping from a sinking ship or a burning house, he would have proceeded with deliberation.”
“Mr. Williams," he adds," did not know that he was a genius, till the people of England told him; and even then he was not quite clear about it. He believed that what HE did was practicable by everyone who would bestow the requisite effort." One who knew him even more intimately (Rev. W. Ellis), thus depicts his character." He was richly invested with rare endowments for the high and holy enterprise in which his life was spent and sacrificed.... Among the rare endowments which he so richly shared, the most conspicuous were those that were most practical. The love that all hearts cherished for him is the most unequivocal evidence that benevolence and love were among the ruling feelings of his own bosom. His abilities, natural and acquired, his wide spreading range of aim and action, his admirable and uniform identification of himself with the people, blending inseparably their advancement in everything important and valuable with his own satisfaction and happiness, and his subordination of all attainments, influence and efforts, to the extension of the Gospel, and the spiritual benefits of the people, combine to render him one of the most honored messengers of mercy that the Church has sent forth, or the heathen world has received.”
In the year 1857, a Nova Scotian, with his wife, settled as missionaries in the island which had been stained by the blood of John Williams. At first they were kindly received, but, when the measles had broken out in the island, they were sentenced to die as having caused the epidemic. On the 20th of May, 1861, both husband and wife were brutally murdered by the enraged savages. With a heroism almost apostolic, Mr. Gordon's brother at once took up his murdered brother's work, and succeeded in securing the affections of those who had robbed him of both brother and sister. But on the 7th of March, 1872, he also received the martyr's crown, being killed by a native whose child had died. Thus many have died for Erromanga, but their blood has not been shed in vain.
The death of John Williams was a noble close to his long life of service on behalf of the natives of the South Seas. It was the crowning and highest expression of the sacrifice spread out through all the years of his missionary career. He himself knew the risk that he ran every time he set foot upon heathen shores; but his passion for souls was so intense, and his devotion to his work so absorbing and overpowering, that he could allow no considerations of peril to hinder or prevent his progress. With the eagerness that men generally only manifest when seeking for gold, he craved for the eternal well-being of the degraded tribes of -Polynesia. His journal bears witness not only to the ardor of this desire, but also to the fact that it was habitual to him. He lived, planned, suffered, and at last died, because he loved the souls of men. To such a man all the race is under the most weighty obligation; he immeasurably lifts the tone of even Christian morality, his unselfishness, his sincere piety, are an inspiration "as if an angel shook his wings." Such men are the choicest gifts of mediatorial grace; they are gospels, and should be to us revelations as to what God can make of a man and do with a man who will yield to His Divine influences and Grace. Above all things, such a martyrdom lays a perpetual obligation upon Christians to continue the forward movement, until all nations shall serve Him, all people call Him blessed.
“AND THEY GLORIFIED GOD IN ME.”