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1847—1850
“FORTY years have
elapsed,” said the Rev. James Hamilton, in. his report to the Synod
early in the next year, “since a young man, a native of Newcastle, and
brought up in one of our Presbyterian Churches, effected his circuitous
and almost clandestine passage as the first Protestant missionary to the
Chinese empire. Arriving solitary on a shy and unwelcoming shore, with
no Christian friend to cheer him, and no European arm to shelter him,
that faithful servant of Jesus spent years of lonely and perilous toil
in conquering a language with which scarce an Englishman had dared to
grapple. But many a happy change, the harbinger of changes happier
still, may thankfully be recognized in Mr. Burns’ entrance on his work.
Proceeding boldly to his destination, an honoured passenger in one of
Britain’s gallant argosies, and needing no alien interposition to
smuggle the evangelist into a land which Britain then forbade the
evangelist to tread, landing in open day, and beneath the glad assurance
of the Union banner, he found the missionaries of two hemispheres, as
well as Chinese Christians, there before him. And whilst we would join
our dear friend in commemorating these bright distinctions of his lot,
we record with special thankfulness the progress which he has already
made as a Chinese scholar. The wonderful labours of Morrison and his
coadjutors notwithstanding, the language still remains of all human
dialects the mightiest barrier to intercourse j . . . and with all the
helps afforded by his predecessors in this arduous work, and with all
the facilities for quiet and unmolested study in an English settlement,
we fully reckoned that years might pass before Mr. Burns could make any
practical essay in that appalling tongue. Already, however, before faith
and energy its terrors seem to disappear; and although it is only a year
since our brother began to apply his mind to the study, and though he
had only been two months arrived when last he wrote—we record it with
joy and wonder—he was already attempting to publish the Word of life in
the speech of Sinim. Having obtained access to the prisoners in the
public jail, he was enabled to read the Scriptures to them, and even to
address them briefly so that they understood.”
To this last incident he thus refers in his journal of date January 4th,
1848:—
“During the past month I have been making some progress in the Chinese,
and have had some opportunities of bringing into use the measure of
knowledge already acquired. A fortnight ago Dr. Morrison (whose little
daughter I still give a lesson to, and with whose Chinese comprador I
read the Scriptures in English and Chinese) asked me to go and visit in
the prison three Chinese criminals under sentence of death for murder,
and who were in deep distress and anxious to be visited by the ministers
of Christ. Unable to do much, I felt called to do what I could; and as
the execution of the sentence was delayed longer than usual in
consequence of the absence of the governor, I had almost daily
opportunities of meeting these poor men. I generally went alone, but at
other times in company with the Chinese preacher Chin-Seen. They were
very anxious to hear of the way of salvation through Jesus, and
evidently strove to understand my broken Chinese. Although unable to say
much to them I made them read with me Christian books, and on several
occasions I even joined with them in prayer, through the medium of their
own tongue. They did not speak the Canton dialect, which I am chiefly
studying, and this no doubt made my rude attempts less intelligible; yet
I felt encouraged, and enjoyed, I think, something of the power of grace
in praying with and for them. One of these poor men has received a
commutation of his sentence.” This first beginning of his work in the
sphere of direct missionary effort is characteristic, and must have been
peculiarly congenial to him. Like that divine Master in whose steps he
walked so closely, it was ever his delight most of all and first of all
to care for those for whom few else cared, to leave the ninety and nine
in the safe and quiet pastures, and go to seek the utterly lost in the
far wilderness. The publicans and sinners in the highways and hedges,
the neglected crowds of railway labourers or factory workers, the
soldiers in the rough barrack-room, or amid the terrible temptations of
the great city streets, had ever, in his native land and in Canada, had
a special attraction for him, as those to whom, as most needing, he owed
the deepest debt of compassion and help. He loved to walk like Christ on
the shady side of the world, and to be as a “brother born” to the
sorrowful, the outcast, the forsaken. And so it was that in China by a
singular coincidence it happened that his first care was directed to
that very class to whom three hundred years before the apostolic Xavier
had looked as the probable objects of his first missionary efforts—only
that now in these happier times, it was not needful to become a prisoner
in order to become the teacher of prisoners. It was quite in the spirit
too of his whole life thus immediately to begin his work with such
imperfect means of communication as were then at his disposal, instead
of waiting until a more perfect knowledge of the language should have
given him the advantage of clear and fluent utterance. In haste to reach
the souls of those he had come so far to seek, he was impatient of the
last barrier that still separated him from them; and if he could not yet
break down that partition wall, he might yet at least hold broken
converse with them through those narrow chinks and openings which he had
already made. He could speak only, indeed, with stammering words and
broken sentences; but those stammering words and broken sentences might
still convey some grains of the precious gold—reflect some glimmerings
of the eternal saving light—and that infinite blessing he dared not even
for a moment withhold. Besides, while seeking to teach those poor
prisoners the way of life, he would be at the same time learning
something from them. He would sharpen and polish his rude instrument in
the very act of using it, exercise his stammering tongue and correct his
broken sentences, while by their means he sought to instruct and comfort
others. It was on the same principle that, as he tells us in his first
letter from Hong-Kong, he from the first attended regularly the daily
Chinese service conducted by natives at the mission-house, and gave
lessons in English to the boy that waited on him along with another,
while “they repaid him with their Chinese, which he endeavoured to speak
with them as best he could; sometimes succeeding in being understood,
and sometimes provoking a smile only.” Dr. Hamilton I believe is
perfectly right in attributing his remarkable success in mastering the
difficulties and disarming “the terrors” of this singular tongue mainly
to the “faith and energy” with which he girded himself to the task. He
had indeed naturally a more than ordinary faculty for the study of
language, and that faculty had at an early period received the very best
discipline and training; but the natural faculty was more than doubled
by the intense and concentrated energy with which, when called for by
the highest ends, he used it. Here, as in everything else which
concerned the service of his divine Master, whatever his hand found to
do he did it with his might. As before in the case of the French in
Canada, so here he might be said for the time to have almost wholly
lived in the element of Chinese thought and Chinese speech. He spoke
Chinese, wrote Chinese, read Chinese, heard Chinese, sang in Chinese,
prayed in Chinese. Far into the night sometimes might his voice be heard
reciting aloud the words of life, or pouring out his heart before God in
the broken accents of that strange tongue which for Christ’s sake he had
determined with as little delay as possible to make his own. Six years
after this, as I heard recently from a relative, when on a visit to
England, he surprised a company of friends by suddenly pronouncing the
blessing before meat in Chinese, and then calmly repeating the same in
English. It was only an extreme instance of that which was in reality
the ruling principle of his whole missionary life. From the first and in
everything “to the Chinese he became as a Chinese that he might gain the
Chinese ”— lived in their world, thought their thoughts, spoke their
words. It was thus alone, as it seems to me, that he was enabled in
after-years, as the prompt and fearless pioneer of the missionary band,
to make those rapid transitions from one sphere of labour to another,
which required in each case the forgetting of one language and the
learning of another. The acquiring of a new Chinese dialect was
comparatively an easy task to him, because he lived habitually in a
Chinese element, and was thoroughly imbued with the very spirit of all
Chinese thought and speech.
The following extracts from his journals and letters will still further
illustrate the nature of his work, and the spirit which actuated him
during the first, and necessarily in a great measure preparatory and
tentative, part of his missionary life:—
"Hong-Kong, Dec. 27ih, 1847.—My dear Mother,— I am again allowed the
opportunity of addressing you from this distant shore, that you may know
something of what I am doing, and that I may find at last some vent for
those feelings which the thought of those from whom I am so far removed
awakens. I have been, since I last wrote, going on with my Chinese
studies, and I desire to be thankful that I am enabled to make a little
progress, while the difficulties that still remain to be encountered
before I can attain to anything like a full mastery of the language, are
so many that, were it not for the greatness of the end in view, I would
be disposed to abandon the undertaking.” Then after referring to his
visits to the prisoners, “It is encouraging,” he continues, “even
already to be able to point even in a few expressions to the Lamb of God
who taketh away the sin of the world—to that Root of Jesse to whom the
Gentiles are to seek and find his rest to be glorious. Among our own
countrymen last Lord’s-day was interesting, as that on which for the
first time a congregation met here in connection with the Presbyterian
Church. The place of meeting at present is central and convenient (an
old bungalow, immediately behind the club-house); and though the numbers
attending may not at first be very large, yet it is hoped that by the
blessing of God this may form the beginning of that which shall issue in
important results, both among the Chinese and amongst our own
countrymen.”
To this congregation he continued to minister during the whole period of
his stated residence in Hong-Kong, without, however, undertaking the
task of constituting a regular church, or “entangling himself in any way
that might retard his labours among the Chinese.” Meantime, while his
spare time and spare thoughts were given to his countrymen, his main
strength and his whole heart were still with those in whose behalf he
had come, and with whom, in the whole circumstances of his life, he more
and more identified himself. Leaving the comfortable lodging in a
European family in which he had been at first received, he removed to a
hired house of his own in the midst of the native population, where he
might bury himself out of sight with Chinese companions and in a Chinese
home. His mode of life there must have been a very humble one in the
eyes even of his humbler neighbours, if one may judge from a significant
incident which he afterwards playfully told me. There had been some
commotion in the neighbourhood in consequence of some petty robbery or
other misdemeanour, and an excited crowd was passing before the door in
eager pursuit of the culprit. “Oh! you need not look there,” cried one
from amongst the throng, “it is only a poor foreigner.”
“Corner of Aberdeen Street, Queen’s Road, Tuesday, February 29th,
1848.—During these two months mercy has abounded towards me. May I have
grace to bless and glorify the God of my life and salvation! In my work
among the British population I have been in some degree encouraged,
though not in any manner fitted to show me that they ought to be the
principal object of my efforts to promote the kingdom of God. Our
meetings on Sabbath continue rather to increase, but on week-days very
few attend. Early in January I began to feel my need of having the
assistance of some native of this province to read with me, in order
that I might get acquainted with the colloquial dialect, and acquire as
far as possible the right mode of intonating each word—a point of the
greatest importance in order to effective speaking, and one of the
greatest difficulty. The Lord has graciously, I trust, guided me in
this. A brother missionary spoke of my want to Mr. Gutzlaff, who kindly
furnished me with a teacher, a young man from Canton city, whom I have
found very suitable. He came to me on January 25th. After a week or two
I found it would be desirable, in order to give full employment to my
teacher, and also to open up my way into Chinese society, that I should
get him if possible to open a small Chinese school; and I thought it
would be well if I could get a house having accommodation for this
purpose, and where I might myself live with none but Chinese around me,
and so be obliged to speak the language at all times. It is in this view
that I have taken the house in which I now am. I entered it a week ago
(February 22d), and found myself alone, with none but my two Chinese
servants, to whom, however, I had been providentially directed, and whom
I found willing from the first day to come and worship with me. We read
and have continued to read together in Matthew’s Gospel (Morrison’s
version), and I pray with them imperfectly. These beginnings have
encouraged me. ‘Who hath despised the day of small things?’ Yesterday my
teacher came to live here, and he expects to be able to open a school in
the lower flat of this house, which was formerly a druggist’s shop, and
is very suitable for this purpose, and also for collecting a small
congregation, should the Lord incline them to come, and give fitness to
enter on the solemn work in a manner so public.”
But while he thus “thought it good to be left” amongst heathen strangers
and amid strange associations and ways of life “alone,” he still did not
feel lonely. Here as elsewhere to him one place differed from another
mainly in the degree in which he possessed the felt presence of God,1
and enjoyed a holy freedom and enlargement of heart in His service. The
chief effect of solitude was to bring him nearer to those from whom for
the gospel’s sake he had been so far separated, and to impart an
increased tenderness and fervour to his affectionate remembrances and
prayers:—On the 28th March he writes to his mother:—
“After having had worship with my Chinese family (two servants, a
teacher, and three boys) I take up my pen to endeavour to hold some kind
of communication, from this distant region of the earth, with those who
are dearest to me on it. I feel, as I did last time, the want of hearing
from any of you; but I have been comforted in some degree by the absence
of any bad news, whether by the papers or by Mrs. K.’s letters. May the
living and true God be the God and Redeemer and portion of each of my
beloved friends, and be more and more gracious to, and more and more
glorious in the eyes of my beloved parents as they advance to the
borders of the unseen and eternal world! May you be enabled to say with
the divine Psalmist, ‘Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none
upon the earth whom I desire besides thee: my flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever!’ ‘As for me
I shall behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I
awake with thy likeness.’ May your faith be as the shining light,
shining more and more unto the perfect day! Oh! that I might hear in
this far land of those of our dear kindred that as yet love not Jesus,
having the eye divinely opened to behold His beauty and preciousness!
For myself I am here in the midst of a people of a strange language, and
who know not the true God nor Jesus Christ whom he hath sent to be the
light and life of men and yet I cannot say that I am solitary or
forsaken. I feel indeed more at home here than I did when I was ast
among you in Scotland, when the weight of that call which I believe I
obeyed in coming here was resting upon me and making me as a stranger
among my own kindred. When I last wrote I had newIy taken up with my
Chinese domestics, and had been encouraged by ee mg able to read and
pray with them (though feebly) in then own tongue. My teacher had not
then joined e and I was uncertain whether he would succeed in getting a
school formed on the principles of the gospel.
In this, however, I have been encouraged beyond my first instance I want
to go on gradually until the character of the school becomes fixed on
right principles, and until I see that it really promises to accomplish
more than that which I sought it for at the outset, viz. bringing me
into such intercourse with the people as might enable me to acquire the
language as they speak it, and might open up the way for preaching the
Word among them when I am able to do this. Three of the boys stay with
us in the house, and all of them come regularly to worship in the
morning, when we have a little meeting of seventeen or eighteen persons
in all. The school is of course shut up on Sabbath, but the last two
Sabbaths most of the boys have been with us most of the day learning a
Christian book, and have also attended Chinese worship of their own
accord at the chapel of the London Society, where a native at present
officiates. Soon after the school was opened it was interesting to me
one morning about six o’clock, and before any one was on foot but
myself, to see a Chinese woman with a little boy of eleven or twelve
knocking to be admitted to the school. I thought of that blessed time
approaching when the mothers of China will bring their children to the
feet of Jesus that he may bless them. The Chinese are diligent in
learning after their own manner. They begin with the morning light and
continue to con over their insipid task (insipid, as we would reckon it)
until evening. They are an intelligent and interesting race, and when
the gospel takes hold of them in elevating and saving power, they will
be interesting in another manner.”
Amid such quiet, patient, but unobtrusive labours the first fourteen
months of his residence in Hong-Kong passed away. Longing for great
things, yet not despising the day of small things, he was content
meanwhile to occupy faithfully the narrow sphere assigned him, and to
wait in patience till the great Master should open a wider door. The
time, however, was now come for a further and bolder flight. His
proficiency in the spoken language of the Canton province was now
sufficient to enable him at least intelligibly to declare his message.
The shores of continental China with its teeming towns and villages lay
before his eyes, and he longed to be in the midst of the vast
harvest-field. It was true that as yet the permissive liberty of
intercourse with the native population was confined within the limits of
the five open ports, nor had any Protestant missionary hitherto extended
his labours much beyond their precincts. There would, he knew, be much
difficulty and possibly some danger in the attempt; but there was no
manifest impossibility, and an impossibility alone was in his view a
sufficient hindrance to one who would go forward in a great work in the
name of the Lord. He would at least knock at the door, and see whether
that divine almighty hand would open it. “You desired,” said he in one
of his letters, that three doors might be opened to me,—the door of
entrance into the language, the door of access into the country, and the
door of admittance for the Lord’s truth into men s hearts. The first of
these has been opened in an encouraging degree already; and it now
remains to seek by prayer and actual trial that the other two doors may
be opened also.” He announced accordingly the discontinuance both of his
Sunday English services and of the Chinese school at Hong-Kong, and
steadfastly turned his face towards the “regions beyond:”—On January
29th, 1849, he writes:—
“The routine of my work hitherto has been in learning the Chinese
language, with the important accompaniment of preaching from week to
week among my own countrymen. Now, however, I am entering as far as can
be foreseen on a new sphere and mode of labour, being about to
discontinue my temporary position both among the Chinese and English,
and go forth among the people of these shores with the Word of eternal
life in my hands, and gradually also on my tongue. Yesterday (Sabbath,
28th) I intimated the discontinuance of my English preaching, and to-day
I have given warning to my servants, &c., that the school, which is at
present interrupted by the Chinese New Year, will not be again
re-opened. To this decision I have been clearly led, as we have yet no
prospect of any minister from Scotland, nor of any other missionary who
might take up the educational part of the work among the Chinese, and I
had but one alternative before me, viz. that of either proceeding to
form a church and locating myself among my countrymen and in my Chinese
school; or that of leaving both, and going forth into the field at large
in order at once to attain in a proper manner the spoken language, and
to spread abroad the gospel of salvation among these unsaved millions.
This latter course I have felt it my duty to adopt, although it is one
accompanied with many difficulties and dangers of different kinds. But
the work must be done, and I am enabled joyfully to say, ‘Lord, here am
I, send me.’ The young man who has been teaching the school and myself
will not, I think, return to me; but the other two assistants will go
forth, I trust, with me, and perhaps others also. Certainly my past
habits and experience fit me above most preachers for attempting this
mode of missionary work; but whether, and how far, I may be succeeded in
it is with the Lord, at whose command alone I go forth. I need not add
that in these circumstances I shall have special need of special prayer
to be made in my behalf, and in behalf of the people among whom I may j
be led from time to time. China is not only forbidden ground to a
foreigner, but it is a land of idols and a land without a Sabbath. How
great then must be that power which can alone open up my way and make it
successful! But Jesus hath said, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven
and on earth;’ and Jehovah hath said to the Son, ‘Ask of me and I will
give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possession.’ Let the weak then say, I am strong! I
shall not add more by coming down to matters of lesser moment. May the
souls of God’s people among you prosper and be in health, and may many
be brought nigh who are now far off in heart from the living God! With
love to all who love the Lord and seek his face,—I am, dear mother, your
affectionate son,—Wm. C. Burns.”
The event fully justified the decision which he had taken, and the brave
and resolute spirit in which he prepared himself for its accomplishment.
The difficulties and dangers with which he laid his account were indeed
not wanting, but in the midst of them all his way was opened and his
course prospered to a degree which he had scarcely dared to hope. While
there were frequent risks from the assaults of robbers and the jealous
spirit and policy of the local authorities, he met everywhere amongst
the great body of the people with that friendly reception which they
have been since found in other cases to accord to any stranger who
frankly casts himself upon their kindness. He possessed in large measure
that genial human sympathy, and that quiet self-possession and
promptitude of fit reply, which, Mr. Fortune tells us, form the best
passports to the good humour and friendly entertainment of a Chinese
crowd; and a foreigner who trusts himself in places where foreigners are
rare must expect to live very much in the midst of crowds. So he found
his way with comparatively little trouble or interruption from village
to village, and seldom failed at least of a numerous and inquisitive, if
not earnestly attentive audience. Even the personal privations and
hardships which he had regarded as inevitable were much less serious
than he had anticipated: so that he very soon sent back to Hong-Kong a
heavy cloak which he had brought away with him, with the significant
message that “he did not need to sleep on the hills.” His chief danger
throughout arose from the general repute, sadly belied in his case, of
the untold wealth possessed by foreigners, and the consequent sensation
produced among the robber-class by the arrival of a European stranger.
Anything therefore in the shape of gold, or that looked like gold, he
found the greatest possible hindrance to his quiet and peaceful
progress, and a light purse the necessary condition of a light heart.
Years after this I remember that when I gave him a small pocket-Bible in
place of a much valued one which he had lost, he said with a significant
smile, that his only objection to' it was the gilt clasp, which he
feared would one day attract the greedy eyes of some Chinese robber, and
cause the theft of the book for the sake of the gold—an apprehension
which was soon afterwards in point of fact fulfilled. From the following
extracts it will be seen that such “perils of robbers” were the only
serious perils he encountered in this difficult, and as it seemed to
many at the time, somewhat daring undertaking:—
“At Shap-Pat-Hceung (or Eighteen Villages), February 2 6th, 1849.—My
dear Mother,—I have had the privilege of again hearing from you, and
this privilege has been even greater than usual, from the fact which the
date of this letter intimates, that I am now no more among our
countrymen, but am dwelling among this heathen people alone, were it not
for the presence of a covenant God and Saviour. In following out the
purpose intimated in my last, I left Hong-Kong on Wednesday the 7th
current for the opposite continent of China, and have been, since that
time, going from place to place with my Chinese assistants and one
servant, much as I used to do in Scotland in days that are past. In some
places I have spent only one day; in others I have remained for a longer
time, the population being large and the door open. As yet I have been
furthered and prospered far beyond what I looked for; and although the
difficulties are many, even of an outward kind, yet I do not despond in
looking to the future. One of our difficulties arises from the constant
fear the people are in of robbers, who suppose, though in my case
without cause, that foreigners have much money with them; and again in
places where there are mandarins a foreigner is likely to be dislodged
at once. This was my experience at first setting out; for I had spent
only one night at Cowloon, opposite to Hong-Kong, when I was warned to
remove, and so had to retreat for the time. The people also at present
are in constant apprehension of war with England, and this makes them
more suspicious of foreigners who come into their borders. But with all
this I have hitherto had great liberty of access to the population, and
as far as I have been able to declare my message I have found attentive,
and in some cases earnestly attentive hearers. . . . The valley I am now
in is full of villages, as its name intimates. It is also the seat of a
market held nearly every third day, to which the ‘people of the
surrounding country resort, and this makes it an important centre of
operations. Yesterday—the Christian Sabbath—was the market-day here. I
was out among the people about three hours, and had much support from
God. What need have I of the presence of the Lord of the Sabbath in a
land like this, that I may not lose my own soul in seeking to save the
souls of others! I shall probably need to leave this place soon, as the
master of the house I am now in does not promise us lodgings even for
another night. But the Lord will provide. ‘ They shall not be ashamed
that wait for me.’”
It will have been observed with what feeling he speaks of his position
in finding himself for the first time in a Sabbathless land, and of the
dreary round of the secular market-days, irrespective of all the
hallowed mementos and signs of a higher world. He often recurs to this,
and evidently felt it as the sorest of all privations—almost like the
blotting out of the sun from the sky of his daily life. His words
vividly remind one of the feelings expressed by the Psalmist, when,
under a similar sense of spiritual deprivation and exile, he remembered
the Lord ! from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, and from the
hill Mizar. “When I remember these things my soul is cast down within
me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of
God, with the voice of j joy and praise, with a multitude that kept
holy-day. Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted
within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for the help of
his countenance.” It was under the impulse ot such feelings that he
would from time to 1 time break away from his solitary labours amongst
those heathen villages, and make a rapid visit to the comparatively
Christian community at Hong-Kong, for the sake “ of retirement and the
privileges of the Christian Sabbath.” He snatched one of those seasons
of sacred retreat about a month after the date of the letter just
quoted: but after a brief space he is again at his work, and dates the
16th April, from “the village of Pan-Seen, to the north of Hong-Kong
about eighty-five miles:”—
“Dear Mother,—After writing you from Hong-Kong at the end of last month,
I remained there a few days longer, to enjoy the advantage of retirement
and the privileges of a Christian Sabbath, and on the 4th of the present
month returned again to this continent of China. Since coming back I
have visited four villages of 1000 to 1500 inhabitants each, remaining
generally for a few days, and embracing such opportunities as are given
me, both in going out among the people, and in the visits which many pay
to us, to make known something of the gospel message. We were some time
ago invited to come to the village where we now are; and not only do we
here enjoy the fullest external liberty to speak to the people, but
there are some who receive us with much cordiality, and seem to manifest
some interest in our message. One man in particular who this evening
worshipped with us seems as if his mind were opening to the truth. But
ah! when I speak thus you must not judge of such a case as if it were
similar to those which we remember at Kilsyth, Dundee, and Perth, in
days that are past! There is among this people no Sabbath, no Bible, no
distinct knowledge even of the existence of one only living and true
God; and in my present circumstances it is not a little encouragement to
find tokens even of a distinct and cordial apprehension of the simplest
principles of divine truth. How little are many who neglect the great
salvation among you aware that they are indebted for all that is pure
and elevated in the'ir knowledge to that holy Book which they despise!
Were it not my abiding conviction that the Lord hath sent me here, and
that His grace can be made sufficient for us in all circumstances, I
would sometimes be overwhelmed when regarding the state of this blinded
people, and the danger to which my own soul is exposed in dwelling among
them. From day to day I have enjoyed many tokens of the Lord’s guiding
and supporting hand; but while this is the case, I cannot say that as
yet I have seen any clear indications in the state of this people that
the day of their spiritual deliverance is at hand. In other days it has
been my solemn privilege to enter into the labours of others, and it may
be that here I am to labour where others are to reap. . . . April
17th.—This morning I resume my pen in haste to conclude this letter.
From morning to morning the Lord’s mercies are ever new. Great is His
faithfulness.. . . I am about to-day to remove to a village further on.
My messenger waits, and I must in haste conclude, praying for all
covenant blessings to my beloved parents, kindred, &c., and for grace
and peace to all the churches of the living God.—I ever am,” &c.
At his first starting from Hong-Kong he had characteristically left his
assistants to direct the boat to any quarter,” on the long extended
coast, “they thought best,” having “no other plan but that of making
known the gospel by tracts and speech, leaving all the rest, as well as
this the greatest, to the gracious care of God.” And so he went on from
day to day in his work of faith and patience, passing on from village to
village with the divine message, which it was the joy of his life to
declare, simply as the Unseen Hand of his Master seemed to open and
point the way—now lingering for a while in one spot, now pressing
rapidly on, as the Pillar of Cloud appeared to halt or to move onwards
before him. “As soon as he reached a village, he commenced to read his
Bible aloud, say, under the shade of a tree—soon the villagers began to
gather, and he explained to them the nature and object of the Gospel.
Usually some one would ask him at mealtime where he was to eat? and he
as usually partook of what was set before him by some hospitable
villager. As evening approached, some one would offer him a night’s
shelter; and thus he often went on from week to week, preaching the
word, and lacking nothing.” Meanwhile, it was his lot almost wholly “to
plough in hope, and to sow in hope,”—intensely longing for the fruit of
souls, yet willing either to gather it in with his own hands or to sow
the seeds of a harvest to be reaped by others. The entries in his
journal are at this period singularly brief and hurried—mere jottings,
evidently hastily noted down overnight in the midst of outward
discomforts and almost constant movement—but only on that account speak
the more impressively of the abundance and self-denying nature of his
labours:
“We went to Cowloon, but they took me to a school-house rented by the
London Mission, and after one day’s stay among a listless people we were
obliged to leave in consequence of the mandarin’s remonstrating with the
landlord of the house. On Thursday the London missionaries came over,
and I went back with them to the Chinese Medical Hospital (Hong-Kong).
On Friday we again landed directly opposite at Tseen-Sha-Tein, had good
openings and favour among the villages, and lodged in a mat-shed—I
eating, as I had the previous day, and have done since, with my Chinese
companions, but not putting on in the meantime any part of the Chinese
dress.
On Saturday we removed to Tseen Wan (Shallow Bay) village, a distance of
perhaps twenty-five Chinese miles; the people very friendly, but
generally speaking the Hak-ka, not the Puntee or Canton city dialect.
Here we remained until Wednesday (yesterday), when we crossed the hills,
a distance of 20 or 25 Chinese miles (probably 7 or 8 English miles), to
this valley covered with villages (Shap-Pat-Hceung). To-day I have been
out, and have had more encouragement in the aspect of the people, and
also in my ability to communicate to them the great truths, (1) That
there is but one true God, His character, &c.; (2) That all men are
sinners—idolators, &c.; and (3) That there is a Saviour and only one,
Jesus the Son of the living God.
“Shap-Pat-Hceung.—Much encouraged at Pat-Hoeung. Left it on Tuesday the
20th. 21st at Cum-Teen. Many people—attention—at night fear of robbers.
22d. Came here. Door opened. Many people. Attention.
“Shum-Chan, March 8th, Monday.—Came here on Friday, after being six days
at Shap-Pat-Hceung, and three days at Sin-Teen. People friendly. Arrived
on the market-day. Great press to see the foreigner, but all friendly.
On Saturday messenger arrived from Hong-Ivong robbed by the way of the
money he was bringing. In my own room—not an every-day privilege in this
land —Oh! for the Spirit of grace to improve it.
“Chinese Hospital, Hong-Kong, March 29th.—We staid at Shum-Chan until
Wednesday the 14th, visiting the surrounding villages. 14th. Removed
westward to Sheung-Poo-Tan, visiting villages to the west, Kak-Teen,
Kong-Ha, Wong-Kong, &c., eight days. At Shenn-Poo-Tan, people very
friendly and attentive—Kak-Teen, not so. Thursday, returned to
Shum-Chan; invited to go back into the country; crossed the Yuen-Long,
and thence on foot to Pai-Teung beside Cap-Shui-Man, and thence by boat
to this place—way prospered—arrived here at six o’clock p.m., just as
Dr. Hirschberg, a dear brother who gives us lodging here, was about to
land from Cowloon, to which he goes every Monday. Here I have ordered a
Chinese dress, and I trust that next week I may again go forth into the
country. The seven weeks I have already spent there have been full of
encouragement.”
Brief as these itinerary notes are, they will give the reader a
tolerably distinct idea of the character of the missionary’s life and
work during this first and tentative effort to carry the gospel message
into the interior of the Chinese territory. The lodging in the
“mat-shed;” the frequent alarms of robbers; the arrival of the messenger
from Hong-Kong without the expected money supplies; the summary
dismissal by the mandarin and the friendly bearing of the people
generally; the eager rush at the market town “to see the foreigner;” the
valleys thick-sown with villages; the journeys on foot, without purse or
scrip or change of raiment, over the hills; the significant and touching
allusion to the rare privilege of a night “in his own room;” the brief
breathing time of retirement and prayer, in the midst of the poor and
suffering, in the Chinese hospital,—all, naked as they are alike of
detail and colouring, form together the elements of a picture of
apostolic faith and zeal, and self-denying labour which rises to the
mind’s eye as vivid as it is impressive and rare. The reader will have
noticed too, the passing allusion to his gradual adoption at this time
of the Chinese habits alike in food and in dress; a matter in which, I
believe, he has been hitherto almost entirely singular amongst
missionaries of the Protestant faith. The circumstance admits of easy
explanation. I daresay there was to him a certain charm in being thus
entirely like to those whose servant he desired to be for Christ’s sake,
and thus visibly to walk in the steps of him who would “be all things to
all men if by any means he might save some.” But that was not his main
reason, or one which he himself ever gave. His practice in this respect
was singular, mainly because his sphere of labour and his circumstances
were singular. Within the limits of the five open ports, or in any place
where the sight of a foreigner is a common and everyday occurrence,
there was in his view no advantage whatever in the adoption of the
Chinese dress and mode of life; but in inland towns and villages it was
essential, unless one wished to be the centre of a noisy street crowd,
and to be gazed at like a gorilla or an ourang-outang. He found it of
the greatest importance, with a view to the peaceful prosecution of his
work, to avoid this, and therefore he did avoid it. When Dr. Morrison
arrived at Hong-Kong, “he adopted,” says Dr. Medhurst, “the dress and
manners of the natives, allowing his hair and nails to grow, eating with
the chopsticks, and walking about the factory in thick Chinese shoes. In
this, as he afterwards acknowledged, he meant well, but he judged ill;
for in the first place the confinement and hard fare injured his health;
then, his singular habits deprived him of the association of his
countrymen; and lastly, his intercourse with the natives was hindered
rather than helped by it. Had he been residing entirely among the
Chinese, far separated from Europeans, the adoption of the Chinese
costume might have prevented immediate observation and conduced to
permanent settlement ; but in Canton, where there is a marked difference
between the Chinese and Europeans, the attempt to unite the habits of
such opposite classes only excited the animadversions and suspicions of
both. The Catholics in Macao dress all their priests and catechists in
the European costume, which is a sort of protection against native
interference; but whe?i they send agents i?ito the interior, they clothe
them after the Chinese fashion, in order to avoid the gaze of the
populace, and the annoya?ice of the police.” These sagacious and
discriminating remarks, written more than thirty years ago, have been
since fully justified by the experience of those who, whether as
missionary or scientific pioneers, have passed beyond the lines of
European residence, and pushed their way “into the regions beyond.”
There, for a foreigner simply to show himself in his foreign dress is to
become the signal for the assembling of an idle and inquisitive crowd,
which grows and swells as he passes along. A graphic instance may be
given from Mr. Fortune’s interesting narrative of a Residence among the
Chinese, Inland, on the Coast, and at Sea. “When we landed from our
boats,” says he, “a large crowd assembled round us, and followed us into
the city (Pinghoo), increasing as we went along. Every now and then a
little urchin ran past to give warning on ahead, so that we found the
whole street aware of our approach, and every door and window crowded
with anxious faces. All went on quite well, however, although the crowd
contained some mischievous looking fellows in its ranks. When we entered
a shop the scene outside was quite fearful. The street was very narrow
and literally crammed with human beings, all anxious to see us and to
find out what we were buying. In more than one instance the pressure was
so great as to endanger the fronts of the shops; and anxious as the
Chinese are for trade, I believe the poor shop-keepers were heartily
glad when they got rid of us.”1 An introduction like this into any
community could scarcely facilitate the quiet discharge of any serious
work, and least of all the furtherance of that eternal kingdom which
“cometh not with observation.” In rapid missionary journeys, indeed, by
canal or river, where the object is simply to distribute books and
declare the gospel message at each village and hamlet by the way, and
then pass quickly on, the singularity of the European dress may be even
of advantage, as signalizing the stranger’s arrival, and immediately
gathering an eager audience round him. The little unwonted excitement
passes off harmlessly, as the strange visitor is off and away before the
crowd has grown into a tumult and suspicious citizens and jealous
mandarins have taken the alarm. But to make a more lengthened sojourn in
such a community, and go about one’s work steadily and quietly, one must
cease to wear the garb of a stranger.
After about a week’s repose, Mr. Burns was again at his work (April
1st), and continued his evangelistic movements amongst the continental
villages for about six weeks longer, pushing his way still further
inland to the north and the west. At the close of that period, however,
the hot and rainy season rendered further progress for the present
impracticable, while at the same time the more suspicious and less
friendly attitude of the people as he advanced westward gradually more
and more closed the door against him. He accordingly returned to Hopg-Kong,
and took up his abode in a manner somewhat more permanent, under the
friendly roof of his endeared friend Dr. Hirschberg, first on Morrison’s
Hill and then at his new hospital in Victoria.
Here he remained, with only one brief interruption, for the next eight
months, perfecting his knowledge of the Chinese language, and becoming,
as he says, less and less “at home with the pen and more with the
Chinese pencil;” doing the work of a Barnabas amongst the sick and
suffering in the hospital beside him; and co-operating zealously with
his esteemed host in all his other works and labours of love. But the
nature of his occupations during this quiet interval, as well as the
views and aspirations which animated him, will be best learned from his
own words, which will appropriately close the history of this first
stage of his Chinese life
“Chinese Hospital, Hong-Kong, June 21st, 1849.—My dear Mother,—My last
letter would not prepare you for hearing from me again so soon, and that
too from this place. I went on last occasion more to the westward
(having already visited a good part of those who speak my dialect to the
north), and there we found the people everywhere so averse to the
presence of a foreigner, that after sleeping nine successive nights on
the water in going from place to place, and not being allowed to lodge
on shore, I returned here, where I have again resumed my quiet studies,
and where I enjoy opportunities of doing what I can amongst this people,
not only in speaking to the patients in the hospital, but in visiting
others in the neighbourhood. The season also at present, both from great
rain and great heat, is not so favourable for that mode of life which I
have been following for some previous months on the opposite continent.
I trust that in due time my path may be further opened, and that it may
graciously be made plain by the Lord in what way and in what place I am
to be more permanently employed upon these shores. I do not think at
present of returning to the continent, but it is possible that my path
may be made plain to do so sooner than I can anticipate. Perhaps you are
by this time aware that Dr. James Young, a much valued friend here,
offered himself some time ago to the Presbyterian Church in England as a
missionary. The last mail has brought to him the intimation of his offer
of service being accepted; but where and how we may be located and
employed on these shores , is not yet fully determined; nor can Dr. Y.
leave his present employment until the close of the present year. It was
a great mercy that in my last journey as well as in the two previous
ones I was preserved from every danger, although surrounded with perils
seen and unseen. The night before I landed here we were not, I suppose,
above half a mile from a Macao passage-boat when it was attacked by
pirates and robbed with the loss of some lives. The firing was so loud
that, in the darkness, we supposed it must be some English war-steamer
in pursuit of pirates. I was at this time on board the Chinese
passage-boat from Canton, and no evil was allowed to come nigh to us.
The person who has charge of the Chinese hospital where I am now lodged
is a converted Jew, Dr. Hirschberg, connected with the London Missionary
Society. I have long enjoyed his friendship, and now for a season I am
very favourably situated in lodging with him, both for learning the
language and for speaking a little among the patients who come seeking
cure to their bodily diseases. It is little indeed, however, that I can
add regarding tokens of an encouraging nature among the people. But the
day of mercy and deliverance promised will come, and then these ends of
the earth shall remember and turn unto the Lord. You have need to pray
for all of us who labour here, that we may be endued with a patient and
persevering spirit, for the natural and spiritual difficulties of the
field are of no common kind. . . Commend me, dear mother, to the prayers
of God’s people. May you and my father never forget me, when, either one
or both, you draw near the glorious high throne of our Father in heaven.
Jesus is the way. In His blood we have access: in Him we are complete! ”
Again, about a month after, July 25th, he writes:—
“I take up my pen (not so much used in these days as my Chinese pencil)
to write a few lines that you may know something of my present affairs.
During the past month I have been quietly resident here; and while I
have thus enjoyed much leisure for study, I have also had daily
opportunities of taking part, both as a hearer and as a speaker, in the
meetings which are held for the good of the patients and of the
household. As I had no present need for my former native assistants who
journeyed with me on the mainland, they left me more than a month ago,
and I am thus in the meantime alone, and co-operating with others as
formerly at home and in my own tongue. This kind of position suits me,
and will probably continue to be my position here until at least Dr.
Young is ready to join me, which is not until the beginning of next
year.
Do not cease, dear parents, to pray for me, that I may be still
graciously kept and divinely quickened and enlarged in the way of God’s
testimonies. The removal of such pillars as John M£Donald and also Sir
Andrew Agnew would overwhelm the minds of God’s people, were it not that
they are not man-worshippers, but have their faith staid on Him who ever
liveth, and hath an unchangeable priesthood. While Jesus lives, the
Church which is His body shall live also, each member receiving by faith
out of His fulness and grace for grace. How securely must the Church of
the living God be built, when it can stand unshaken while so many who
seemed to be pillars are removed! But in the Church above, those who are
made to be pillars ‘shall go no more out.’ Blessed, holy? glorious
society of the redeemed in the presence of God and the Lamb! May our
hearts be ever there until amazing grace open the door of that inner
sanctuary, and call us to come in! Oh! when shall the nations on
earth—the many millions of these distant Gentiles—hear the call of the
Son of God, bringing them into the Church below to be prepared for the
Church above! The change will be great indeed when this takes place! May
we have grace to pray and labour that the time may be hastened! You will
remember me, dear father, to all who ask of my welfare, and engage the
praying to pray much and more in our behalf, and that China’s gates may
be opened to the King of glory! ”
One more effort (November, 1849) to resume his evangelistic labours on
the mainland, in which he was met with obstacles still more formidable
than on the last occasion, and returned, robbed and stripped of
everything but the clothes necessary to cover him, and his work at Hong
Kong and its vicinity closed. He sailed with Dr. Young, whose brief but
bright career was for the next four years intimately associated with
his, for Canton on the last day of February, 1850.
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