WESLEY AN METHODIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY

[s. 794] : History: The first distinctively foreign mi ionary of Wesley an Methodism was Dr. Coke. As early as 1744, through the efforts of White field, special hours of prayer for the outpouring of the spirit of God upon all Christian churches and upon the “whole inhabited earth” were observed, and John Wesley went to North America to preach. From that time onward mi ions in the British po e ions in North America were carried on, and numerous preachers were sent out. These mi ions, however, were mainly intended for the lienefit of British colonists, and mi ions to the heathen were not undertaken until 1786, 777 when Thomas Coke, destined by the Methodists England for Nova Scotia, was driven to the British West Indies, where a mi ion to the negro slaves was at once commenced. In his hand the conduct of the Wesley an mi ions was mamly placed until 1804, when, upon his in departure for America, a committee of three was appointed by the Conference to undertake the management of the work. It was at Dr.^ Coke’s instigation that a mi ion to West Africa was undertaken in 1811, and after cro i no the Atlantic eighteen times, when he was 76 years old, he again sailed, with six other mi ionaries, December 31, 1813, to Ceylon to found there the third Methodist mi ion. His death, early in the following year, made nece ary other arrangements for carrying on the work; the Society was accordingly reorganized, and’ in the course of a few years was placed on its present permanent footing. The management of the mi ions and the collection and disbursement of funds are entrusted to a committee appointed annually by the Conference, as are also the general secretaries and two treasurers, a minister and a layman. Development of Work: Before the death of John Wesley, his teachings had been extended into Ireland, Scotland, the Shetland Isles, and the Channel Islands; and the first years of the new century saw the Methodists at work among the French prisoners in England and in the French prisons. As early as 1807 a society of seventy persons was reported at Arras, France, and Methodism rapidly extended to other parts of the country. Work was begun in Germany in 1830 by Christopher Gottlob Muller, who had been converted through the instrumentality of a Wesley an minister; in Switzerland in 1839, by the Wesley an mi ion- New Zealand was commenced in 1822; in the same year a mi ionary was also sent to the until 1820 established there. As soon as this work was on a firm basis, the mi ionaries endeavored to do something for Friendly Islands, but that a mi ion was it was not but some years elapsed before the mi ion became an actual fact. Work in China was undertaken in 1853. As a result of this development the Foreign Mi ions of the Wesley an Methodist Mi ionary Society are cla ed in three departments: Fiji, to Fiji A. Mi ions originated by the Society but now entirely independent and under the direction of Colonial Conferences: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the South Sea Islands. B. Mi ions under the immediate direction of local Conferences but aided by the Society: West Indies, and South Africa Ireland, France, (Cape Colony, Natal, Orange River Colony). Mi ions still under the immediate direction of the British Conference: Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, Malta, Cairo): Ceylon; India (North and South); China; South Africa (Transvaal, Swaziland, Rhodesia); West Africa (Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Lagos); C. Canada: The work in this country was from first chiefly colonial, and the organization of the Canadian Methodist Mi ionary Society in 1824 early took the care of the work among the Indians from the parent Society. Australia: It is perhaps doubtful whether the a mi ion was ever commenced in any part of the world under more discouraging circumstances than was that of the Wesley an Society to Austraha. New South Wales was chiefly a community of convicts, with wandering tribes of savage natives on its borders. The free settlers and squatters, widely scattered and entirely destitute of religious instruction, were Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward’s Island, and Newfoundland. Upon Dr. Coke’s recommendation a mi ionary was sent to the Bermudas in 1799. The mi ion to India at Ceylon was undertaken by Dr. Coke in 1813. The first scheme for the estabhshment of a mi ion to West Africa, devised by Dr. Coke in 1769, proved a failure, but in 1811 a second attempt was made at Sierra Leone, which was eventually succe ful; in 1821 a second station was opened on the river Gambia, and in 1834 a mi ion to the Gold Coast was undertaken. In the year 1814 the Society sent the Rev. John McKenny to Southern Africa as its first mi ionary. A little later a station was established in Little Nam aqua land, and from this point the work extended by degrees throughout Southern Africa. In 1812 the committee received an appeal from two schoolmasters who were teaching in New South Wales, by order of government, to send out Wesley an preachers to undertake a mi ion 1821, to Victoria in 1838, and to Queensland 1850. The mi ion to the cannibals of in Western Hemisphere (Bahamas, Honduras and Portugal were reached; and in Italy in 1860, after the revolution in the civil government had allowed a measure of religious liberty to the people. In 1766 the first Methodist sermon was preached in America by a Mr. Embury at his house in New York City. In 1780 Methodism was carried to Canada by a local preacher, and not long after mi ions were established among the Indians in Canada, and, later, in Hudson British Columbia, arnong the convicts, and the Rev. Samuel Leigh went for this purpose to Sydney in August, 1815. Mi ionaries were sent to Tasmania in the West Indies). A. Mi ions originated by but now independent of the WMMS. aries already at work in the south of France; at Gibraltar in 1809, from whence Spain and Bay Territory, Weu>a Wesley an Metlioilist only a few degrees above the convict population. Up to the time of the arrival of the first Wesley an mi ionary the government had been occupied in erecting jails, barracks, and other public buildings nece ary for the civil, military, and convict establishment, but very little had been done for the religious and moral improvement of the people. Indeed, the whole aspect of affairs the state of societ}‘, the mode of government, the discipline adopted in the management of convicts, and the temper and spirit of everything and everybody appeared cold, cruel, and repulsive in the extreme. Neverthele , Mr. Leigh (1815), having secured the countenance and protection of the colonial government, began to arrange his plans, and mapped out a wide circuit in which to itinerate. From Sydney he extended his labors to Paramatta, where he met the Rev. Samuel Marsden, one of the four chaplains appointed to minister to the troops and convicts, and afterward identified with mi ions to New Zealand. A istance was given by Methodists in Australia, reen for cements were sent from England and — — | “Wesley an Metliodisit the work prospered. In 1864 funds were secured for a Wesley an College at Sydney, and the formation of the Austral asian Methodist Mi ionary Society (organized in 1822 as an auxiliary and in 1855 as a separate Society) relieved the parent Society of responsibility for work in that section of the world. The fields specially under the care of this Austral asian Society are Samoa, Fiji, New Britain, New Guinea, China, the Chinese in Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland; and the Indi<in Coolies of Fiji. In 1900 the Bible Christians of Australia united with the Methodist churches, and combined forces (1898) the represented 55 mi ionaries, native 3,903 workers, in 22 principal and 1,411 outstations, with 100 organized churches and 35,275 communicants. New Zealand: In I8I8 the Rev. Samuel Marsden persuaded Mr. Leigh to take a trip to New Zealand, and as a result on a visit to England he laid before the committee a proposal for the commencement of a mi ion to the The Society was cannibals of New Zealand. at that time laboring under a heavy debt, but Mr. Leigh, by forcible appeals to the friends of mi ions in many parts of England, obtained contributions of goods of various kinds, which in New Zealand would be more valuable than money itself, and the Society undertook to commence the new mi ion without delay. About this time two Maori chiefs arrived in London with Mr. Kendall of the Church Mi ionary Society; their appearance gave a new impetus to the plans for New Zealand; the nece ary preparations were soon completed, and the party of mi ionaries consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Leigh, Mr. and Mrs. Horton, appointed to Tasmania, and Mr. Walker — from England on April 28, 1821. Work was commenced at Wangaroa in 1822. Up to 1830 the mi ion met with no succe , and for a time the work was broken up. Then there came a change and the advance was most marked, and when in 1855 the work was pa ed over to the Australian Conference there was a large community of European and Maori Wesley ans. Subsequently the Maori church was greatly depleted, but after the sailed establishment (1874) it of the New Zealand Conference revived. South Seas: These mi ions include those in the Friendly Islands, Samoa, Fiji, and New Britain In June, 1822, (Neu Pommern). about twenty-two years after the last surviving agent of the LMS had escaped from the Tonga or Friendly Islands, the Rev. Walter Lawry, with his family, sailed from Sydney, and in the following August anchored off Tonga. Among the hundreds of natives who came off from the shore in their canoes was one English man, named Singleton, who had lived sixteen years on the island, being one of the survivors of the ill-fated”Port-au-Prince,” whose crew had been ma acred in 1806. He had become a thorough Tonga man in manners and language, but became very useful to Mr. Lawry as an interpreter and in other ways, and before long himself accepted the Gospel. Mr. Lawry was kindly welcomed by chiefs and people, and tho the habitual ficklene of the people manifested itself, there was some succe and in 1826 other mi ionaries 778 were sent out by the Society. Urgent calls come from other islands, and at Vavau, Hapai and Mau the progre was phenomenal. Special attention was paid to education and the preparation of Christian literature, and in 1870, it was affirmed that not a single heathen remained in the Tonga Islands. One of the results of the revival in the Friendly Islands in 1834 was the commencement of a mi ion to Fiji, which was undertaken by the mi ionaries (one of whom, Mr. Watkin, went to England to plead there the cause of “poor Fiji”), seconded by King George and some other zealous The Fijians at that time disciples from Tonga. were atrocious cannibals, even exceeding the people of New Zealand, the New He brides, and other islands in this and in war, polygamy, adultery, murder, suicide, deception, fraud, In October, 1835, theft, and many other crimes. Me rs. Cro and Cargill, with their families, several converted Friendly Islanders, and a few Fijians returning to their own country, embarked in a small schooner, the “Blackbird,” and, landing at Lukemba, commenced the work destined to be so hard and perilous, but also so ble ed. Perhaps there never was a harder struggle between light and darkne , truth and error, than that which took place in the course of the Fiji Mi ion, but the mi ionaries persevered and pushed forward, and had their reward in the victory which crowned their efforts at last. The ce ion of the islands to Great Britain in 1874 facilitated the work, which has been continued under the auspices of the Austral asian Society. As the mi ion to Fiji was the outgrowth of the work in the Friendly Islands, so that in New Britain resulted from the work in Fiji. Commenced in 1875 by a company largely made up of native teachers from Fiji, there were the usual experiences of hostility and bloodshed, but the courage of the little band never faltered, the places of those who had fallen were soon filled and the work has grown under the care of the Austral asian Society. The Society has also some work in Savaii and the adjacent islands, commenced in 1835, tho never developed as fully as that of the LMS. B. Mi ions aided by the Society: Those in Ireland and France are chiefly among Roman Catholics, altho the English communities are not neglected. West Indies: In January, 1758, Mr. Wesley preached in the house of Nathaniel Gilbert, Esq., the Speaker of the House of A embly in Antigua, who was at that time residing in England. Several of Mr. Gilbert’s negro servants were also present and appeared much affected by the sermon. Later on, two of these slaves were baptized by Mr. Wesley. Mr. Gilbert, too, became identified with the Methodist people, and upon his return to Antigua commenced at once to hold religious meetings for his own people and those of the surrounding estates, and in every po ible way labored for their good until his death. Two of the slaves kept up the work, and a Mr. Baxter, a shipwright and a Methodist local preacher, did what he could. Repeated appeals were made to England, but it was not until 1786 that Dr. Coke, driven out of his course to Nova Scotia by a storm, landed at Antigua, became interested in the situation there and in the neighboring islands. The result was that mi ionaries were sent out in 1787 and in the course of a few years almost every colony was reached. 770 In 1885 the British Conference, contrary to the judgment of the Mi ionary Committee, decided that the time had come for a West Indies Conference, and accordingly the entire work of the Society in that section, excepting Bahamas and Honduras, was so set apart. Two conferences were found, Haiti, San Domingo, Panama and Costa Rica, a Western, including Jamaica, and an Eastern, including Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Barbados, Trinidad, and British Guiana.’ All of these sections have suffered heavily in recent years, and while the churches, notably in Guiana, have been ordinarily prosperous, the general situation is such that (1903) it has been decided to bring them back under the care of the British Conference. South Africa: In 1815 the Rev. Barnabas Shaw was appointed to commence a Wesley an Mi ion in Cape Colony. Permi ion to preach was refused, but he took matters into his own hands and preached without the governor’s sanction. His congregations, however, were composed principally of soldiers, and his greatest desire being to preach Christ to the heathen, he gladly availed himself of an opportunity which offered, through Mr. Schmelen of the LMS, to go to Great Nam aqua land. In September, 1815, Mr. Schmelen and Mr. Shaw, with their families, attendants, and supplies, set out on their long journey. On the 4th of October, after cro ing the Elephant River, Mr. Shaw unexpectedly found his sphere of labor in meeting the chief of Little Nam aqua land, accompanied by four men, on his way to Cape Town to seek for a Christian teacher, so that his tribe, like others, might have the advantages which he had seen follow the introduction of the Gospel. Mr. Shaw agreed to go with the chief to his mountain home and to remain with him and his people, while Mr. Schmelen continued his journey to his own station in Great Nam aqua land. About three weeks later the chief and his party reached Lily Fountain, on Kamiesberg, the principal home of the chief of the tribe of i Little Namaquas. They were met by a party of natives who had come out to welcome them, and from that introduction the work prospered, and was extended by tours into Great Nam aqua land and Damar a land. An attempt to establish a mi ion north of Orange River resulted in the murder of the company of mi ionaries and native teachers, but another effort was more succe ful. Subsequently, on the entrance of German societies, the work beyond the Orange River was transferred to the Rhenish Society. In the year 1820 a second attempt was made to start a Wesley an Mi ion in Cape Colony, and Mr. Edwards was directed to proceed thither from Little Nam aqua land. With the cordial permi ion of the governor to preach to and instruct the slave population of the town and neighborhood, he began his work, which he for some time prosecuted with succe , and in which he was succeeded by other mi ionaries sent out from England. Chapels were built in various parts of Cape Town, with which were connected pros The work has perous day and Sunday schools. extended also into the Grahams Town and Queens town districts. Mi ion work was commenced in Bechuanaland in 1822, tho it was some In 1841 a little time before it was succe ful. Wesley an mi ionary accompanied the British troops into Natal, and after a time of service for the English and Dutch inaugurated a work for the natives. The churches in the whole section, Wesley an Itfethodlst English and Kafir, grew rapidly, and in 1882 the South African Conference was organized and a umed the entire care of the mi ion work in South Africa, excepting that in the Transvaal, Swaziland, and Rhodesia, which remained under the direction of the parent Society. C. Mi ions under the British Conference. 1. Western Hemisphere. (1) Honduras: In British Honduras four stations are occupied: Belize, Corozal, Stann Creek, and Toledo. In Spanish Honduras the stations are Roatan and San Pedro Sula. The work is among the foreign population and among the natives, including the mahogany and logwood cutters. There are (1903) 32 chapels, 17 other preaching places, 8 mi ionaries and a istants, 41 teachers, 48 catechists and local preachers, 1,737 communicants, 26 schools, 1,453 scholars (including S. S. scholars, 2,254), attendants on services, 6,180. (2) Bahamas: The work here was commenced in 1803 by Rev. William Turton, a native of the West Indies, at New Providence. It has been extended until there are stations at Na au, Rock Sound, Tarpum Bay, Governor’s Harbor, Harbor Island, Great Abaco, Andros and Bimini, and Key West. The report shows (1903) 29 chapels, 9 other preaching places, 12 mi ionaries and a istants, 7 teachers. 111 local preachers, 3,561 communicants. The number of day schools is small 4, but special attention is paid to Sunday schools, which number 30, with 3,795 scholars; attendants on services, 11,520. m.entioned above, the (3) West Indies: As British Conference is now taking charge of this work, for some time cared for by local Conferences. 2. Ceylon: Notwithstanding repeated appeals, the Society did not feel willing to undertake work in India, until Dr. Coke offered to lead the enterprise and to provide the nece ary initial expense, to the amount of £6,000. In 1813 he and six young mi ionaries started. Dr. Coke died on the voyage, but his colleagues resolved They reached to carry through the undertaking. Colombo, Ceylon, were kindly received by the governor, and several places were named to them as greatly in need of the Gospel and of schools It was def or the training of native children. cided to open stations at Colombo, Galle, and Matura in the south, among those of the native population who speak Sinhalese, and at Jaffna and Batticaloa in the north, where the Tamil language is in common use. In a very short time the mi ionaries were able to preach to the — natives, and also to Dutch and Portuguese colwere organized, a printing pre was set up at Colombo, a Sinhalese grammar and dictionary were prepared, and the work literary, eva nfl our i shed in all its departments In addition to those gelical, and educational. already mentioned, important stations were established in Southern Ceylon, at Negombo, Kandy, Caltura, Pentura, Seedua, Morotto, Wellewatta, and other places; while in North Ceylon, where the Tamil language had been conquered and several native teachers trained for the work, chapels and schools were established, not only in the villages adjacent to Jaffna, but also at places at a considerable distance, which were afterward occupied as separate stations. As at present organized the work is divided into four districts: Colombo, Kandy, Galle, and Jaffna. There are two colleges, Wesley College, at Colombo, and Richmond College, at Galle. There onists. Schools — ^VeNleynn Metliodist “West Indies and medical developed, while the system of day Considerable attention schools is well arranged. is paid to the needs of the English and Portuguese communities, but the chief work is in the Tamil and Sinhalese languages. The report (1903) shows tor the four districts 69 chapels, 245 other preaching places, 68 mi ionaries and a istants, 4,738 communicants, 986 day school teachers in 379 schools, with 29,031 pupils, and about 15,000 attendants on services. 3. India: The first Wesley an mi ion work in India was begun in Madras in 1817. It has since developed until there are eight districts, Madras, Negapatam, Haidara,bad, Mysore, Calcutta, Lucknow, Bombay, and Burma. Special attention is paid to education: witne Royapettah College, in Madras, and Findlay College, at Mannargudi; also training institutions and general schools in the different districts. Street preaching in Madras and tours through the 780 communicants, 61 day schools, are also several industrial schools catechists, 9,683 work Especially with 56 teachers and 2,970 scholars. in the Transvaal section it is impo ible to distinguish between the work for English and Dutch is Haidarabad have brought good Medical work, too, has been pre ed. In Burma the chief work is at Mandalay. In all, work for the English residents takes an important place. The report shows for the 8 districts 152 chapels, 267 other preaching places, 130 mi ionaries and a istants, 224 local preachers, 8,035 communicants, 570 day schools, with 27,886 scholars, and more than 20,500 attendants at villages of results. services. 4. China: In 1852 Mr. Piercy, who had for some time labored in China at his own expense, offered his services to the Wesley an Society, was accepted by them, and appointed to Canton, where he remained until the war between England and China forced him, with other mi ion During the two aries, to take refuge in Macao. years spent there he continued the study of the language with unabated zeal, and upon the restoration of peace, in 1858, reoccupied Canton, as a station of the Society. In 1860, upon the receipt of a legacy intended expre ly for the India and China mi ions, the Committee was enabled to largely extend its work. The staff of workers was increased in numbers, and a new station was commenced at Fat-shan. In 1862 a mi ion for North China was established at Hankau. Later Wu-chang, Han-yang, Sui-chow, Wu-hsueh and other stations were occupied, and more recently a station has been opened in Hunan at Chang-sha. In this work the Society has the a istance of the Central China Wesley an Lay Mi ion. In the two districts, Canton and Wu-chang, including Hu-nan, the report (1903) shows 79 chapels, 27 other preaching places, 34 mi ionaries and a istants, 51 local preachers, 2,597 communicants, and 52 teachers in 42 day schools, with 1,011 scholars. 5. South Africa: The mi ions in South Africa, retained under the care of the British Wesley an Conference and thus controlled by the Mi ionary Society, include the Transvaal and Swaziland, and Rhodesia districts. The former is divided into the central section, Johannes burg, Pretor i a, Middle burg, etc.; the northern and eastern section, Zoutpansberg, Swaziland, Delagoa Bay, etc.; the southwestern section, Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp; British Bechuanaland section, Mafeking. The Rhodesia district is divided into the Mash on a land and MatabiHland sections. The report (1903) shows in the two districts 151 chapels, 282 other preaching places, 53 mi ionaries and a istants, 559 local preachers, 51 and that for the natives. 6. West Africa. (1) Sierra Leone and Gambia: Dr. Coke’s first scheme (1769) for the civilization of the Fulas, in the neighborhood of Sierra Leone, proved a failure. Some of the company sent out died of fever before reaching their destination, others absconded, and the rest returned home. In the year 1811 the Rev. George Warren and three school teachers were sent to Sierra Leone. Upon their arrival in the colony they found about one hundred persons, chiefly free blacks from Nova Scotia, who had received the Gospel at the hands of Wesley an mi ionaries there. They had already built a chapel, and had sent repeatedly to England for a mi ionary. After eight months of labor Mr. Warren died of fever, and for many years there was much lo of life from the climate. Eventually, however, this was to a good degree overcome, the work was developed into the surrounding country, including a settlement at the mouth of the Gambia. The principal stations are Free town, Wellington, Waterloo, Sherbro, etc., in Sierra Leone, and Bathurst, in the Gambia section. (2) Oold Coast: The work of the Society in this section commenced in an effort to provide for some native boys who had learned to read the Bible in the Government school. In 1845 the Rev. Henry Wharton, a native of the West Indies, went out, and, vnth the help of several native mi ionaries and some Europe ans, the foundations for a succe ful work were laid. Stations were formed at Cape Coast Castle, Accra, and a number of other places, while the Lagos region, including Abeokuta, Yoruba Interior, Porto Novo, etc., was set apart as a separate mi ion district. The report (1903) shows in the three districts 212 chapels, 787 other preaching places, 61 mi ionaries and a istants, 109 catechists, 777 local preachers, 214 teachers in 159 day schools, with 11,748 pupils, and 19,180 communicants. 7. Europe: (1) Italy: The work of the Society is carried on in three sections: the northern at Rome, Spezia, Parma, Bologna, Padua, Milan, Luino, Simplon, etc.; the southern at Naples, Salerno, Potenza, etc.; the Sicily at Palermo, Me ina, Catania, etc. (2) Spain: Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca and Minorca. Portugal: Lisbon and Oporto. Mediterranean: Gibraltar, Malta, and Cairo. A considerable amount of the European work is for English residents, and of that at Malta and Gibraltar for the soldiers. The report for the European Mi ions (1903) shows 24 chapels, 75 other preaching places, 44 mi ionaries and a istants, 19 catechists, 62 teachers in 42 day schools, with 2,325 scholars, and 2,199 communicants. (3) (4) The Wesley an Society emphasizes Sunday school work, and in most cases the number of Sunday school scholars exceeds the number of those in the day schools. The Women’s Auxiliary of the Wesley an Methodist Mi ionary Society, organized in 1858, carries on its work in closest connection with the general society. The Central China Wesley an Lay Mi ion, which for some years represented a number of independent workers along the lines of the CIM, 781 was, in 1899, merged in tlie general Society, tho in some oases the funds remain distinct. *”WEST, Henry S. January 21, 1827.: Born at Bingliamton, N. Y., Died at Sivas, Turkey, April He studied at Yale College and the 1, 1876. College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York; ’, ’ ( * After practising medicine for some time, he was appointed by the ABCFM a mi ionary to Turkey and sailed in January, 18.59. He was stationed at Sivas, at the western edge of the Armenian highlands; but he journeyed far in every direction to heal the sick. In fact his mi ionary career of 17 years was remarkable. His surgical skill, combined with his willingne to ride a hundred miles to help a desperately sick man, made him famous. The blind eyes which he opened were past counting; the deformed, the crippled, the diseased who were relieved or cured by him would make a great host if a embled together. His operations in lithotomy alone were 150 or more, with barely half a dozen unfavorable results. Wherever he went the diseased, the halt, the blind thronged him, for they thought his powers miraculous, like those of Probably no physician in the Turkish Jesus. Empire enjoyed an equal reputation among the whole people. In addition to ceasele labors of this sort he trained quite a body of skilled native physicians, who in the main did credit to their teacher. While Dr. West treated the poor with great and sympathetic liberality, he always insisted on proper payment from Pashas and ethers able to pay. But for himself he received nothing but his mi ionary salary, paying over all his profe ional earnings into the treasury of the mi ion. In all of his career he was a warmhearted, sincere and earnest Christian and a faithful mi ionary. He never showed nervousne in the most difficult operation, and he never flinched from duty. His devotion to duty cut short his life. It was while attending one of the very poor in Sivas that he contracted the typhus fever which resulted in his death. City. 799