Bryan Roe : a soldier of the cross : missionary travels and adventure in West Central Africa

Preface

ILST endeavouring to show something of what Bryan Roe did and suffered for

Western Africa, I have attempted also to present a faithful picture of the dangers and difficulties which all missionaries in that land of death have to face. I am afraid that in the past the interest manifested in our Eastern missions has caused us to forget the fact that the scenes of some of our greatest achievements for Christ have been laid in West Africa. While Exeter Hall has resounded from year to year with the voices of men from India, China, and South Africa, it has been noticed with sorrow and pain that the platform has seldom been occupied by a missionary from the West Coast, and if this book only succeeds in drawing more sympathetic attention to the labours of those who stand in perilous places, it will not have been written in vain.

My heartiest thanks are due to the Revs. David Roe, J. T. F. Halligey, and H. J. Ellis, and to the officials at the Mission House, for the materials they collected and placed at my disposal. C. R. J.

Cam, Gloucestershire, Sept. 1896.

PAGE

Contents

CHAP.

INTRODUCTION BY REV. MARSHALL HARTLEY^ 7

I. CHEDDLETON — THE ROES — A VILLAGE RE- VIVAL AND ITS RESULTS . . . II

Introduction

T~^ RYAN ROE was in many respects a strong man, and, as in ^ the case of all such, the value of his life lay much more in what he was than in what he did. “ As the man is, so is his strength,” and the secret of Mr. Roe's success as a Missionary is to be found in a spirit disciplined by prayer, by study, by a close walk with God, and in an enthusiastic passion for preaching Christ. He possessed most of the qualities which go to the making of a true Missionary, and only those who knew something of his inner life — his consecration to God, his patience under misrepresentation and injustice, his indomitable perseverance, his contagious zeal, and his devoutness — can fully appreciate his value to the Church, or understand what a loss to Western Africa his call higher has involved. To increase the number of these is the purpose of this book, sent forth in the hope that it may help to kindle and keep glowing the flame of Missionary enthusiasm in many hearts.

Friendship with Missionaries is one of the great

INTRODUCTION, privileges of my life ; and among the many whom I have known Bryan Roe ranks very high, for his own and for his work’s sake> May the Master whom he so fervently loved and so faithfully served cause this Memoir to further the great Missionary enterprise which was so dear to the heart of the servant whom He has called home to Himself

Marshall Hartley.

CHEDDLETON CHURCH AND VILLAGE.

BRYAN ROE: A SOLDIER OF THE GROSS

. CHAPTER I. , '

CHEDDLETON — THE ROES— A VILLAGE REVIVAL AND ITS RESULTS.

INSIGNIFICANT and obscure have been the birth places of many famous men, and it seems passingstrange to some minds that great and good men can spring from such surroundings.' The Pharisees of old discounted the claims of Christ because of His supposed Galilean origin, and sneeringly asked, Can any good come out of Nazareth ? ” '

• Few people, I imagine, outside the Pottery district, have heard of Cheddleton, a smalF village situate in North Staffordshire, about three miles fronY' Leek. There are not more than 300 people' in the parish, and probably its population has never exceeded that number; and yet its records reach badk considerably over a thousand years. Methodist histories, known and read of all ’men, utterly ignore the place, and appear, indeed, to be quite unconscious of its existence, notwithstanding the fact that from this quaint

II old and obscure village Methodism has reaped a rich and abundant harvest. It would seem almost beyond belief were I to recount the number of Methodist families, ministers, and influential laymen ; that have sprung from the Methodism of Cheddleton. The ministers are found in both the Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist Churches, some of them in the front rank, while many of the laymen occupy prominent and influential positions in the commercial world. The truth of this statement will at once be seen when it is remembered that such men as Dr. Joseph Wood, ex-President of the Primitive Methodist Conference, Mr. Thomas Willshaw, of Manchester, Mr. J. T. Warrington, of Liverpool, Messrs. A. and J. Morton, of Leek, are connected by birth or otherwise with Cheddleton. To this village, some thirty -six years ago, came Thomas Roe, bringing with him his wife and young family, David, Elizabeth, Harvey, and Eli ; and here, on October 27th, 1859, Bryan was born at the Yew Tree farm. Thomas Roe was a man of no mean ability. Starting life on his own account at nine years of age as a farm lad earning one pound per annum, with board and lodgings generously thrown in, he had, by dint of hard work and patient perseverance, pushed his way up in the world until, when we come across him four years after Bryan’s birth, we find him a fairly well-to-do tenant farmer, and the respected churchwarden of Gratwich church. There was nothing in this world that he disliked so much as being defeated by anything he was contending with, and the lessons he taught his four sons in the art of conquering difficulties may account in some measure for the success that has attended them in

^3

A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS.

their varipus spheres of work. , , This dislike of defeat was shown in more ways than one, and occasionally in a manner not altogether congenial to the feelings of his family. Bryan Roe ^ has told me that sometimes he , would arrive home fropi school bearing upon his person the marks of a sanguinary encounter with some scholastic rival. His father would regard him with a somewhat suspicious eye. “ Been fighting, eh?"' would be the enquiry made. “Yes, father.’’ “ And who conquered ?, ” If the answer was, “ I did, father," a short lecture on, the pernicious tendencies of pugilism would follow^ concluding with the admonition,, “ Don't do it again.” But if Bryan had reluctantly to confess that he^ha^d- come off only second best, in the fray, his father wqqld add insult to injury by ’administering another sound thrashing, finishing it off by saying, “ You ought not to fight ; but if you are driven to it .you ought always to win.''

Owing,- it may be, to the probable . fact that there was ho Sunday ;Schpol connected with the Anglican .Church at Cheddleton during Thomas Roe’s residence there, the, children attended fhe Wesleyan school, and David distinctly remembers hearing Richard Weaver preach from the text, .“The, Master is come, and calleth for thee.” ...

“ I was converted under that sermon,” he says, “ but being a mere lad , at the time, with no one to really in- ; struct me, I. gradually lost all the good I had received.'"

At Gratwich a different; order of things prevailed. There, .was a Church, school, and to it the children wdre,. regularly /sent Sunday after Sunday., ; jVfn Roe was , chosen , ehufchwarden. ^ for; .several years in succession,,-; and his son .Haryey' had the duty 'of collecting Church rates thrust upon hini,; - , 1 'C a '

In the hpnourable position of churchwarden Thomas Roe might have continued until the day of his death had not an incident occurred in 1864, which, trifling as it seemed on the surface, proved in reahty to be the turning point in the spiritual fortunes of the family. His eldest son, David, a lad of sixteen, left home to seek a living in America. That there was a special providence of God in the matter one cannot doubt, for up to this time David had manifested no particular desire for change, and seemed quite content with the idea of some day succeeding his father in the management of the farm. Beginning with a dream in the night, the impression grew upon the mind of the embryo farmer that he must go to America, and to America he accordingly went. He landed in New York with the proverbial half-crown in his pocket, and probably left it without much more, though he had determined, like many another youth of energy and enterprising spirit, to make his fortune. In this laudable ambition he might easily have succeeded, for, landing in the stirring times of war, he was offered 1,400 dollars to go as a substitute for a gallant soldier of the North to fight for the freedom of the slaves against the Confederate States. It was an offer not to be lightly despised, and would have been eagerly accepted by the adventurous young immigrant had he not received at the same time a letter from his mother earnestly beseeching him to take no active part in the great struggle. The 1,400 dollars went into the pockets of another man ; but David Roe found something of far greater value than gold — he found religion, he found God. His new life and surroundings led him into earnest thought about spiritual things. His sense of loss on leaving parents

A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS.

and friends behind, his yearning for love, his longing for the old restfulness of home-life, brought the kingdom of heaven very near to him, and opened for him the refuge of its everlasting gates and the repose of its eternal peace. David Roe became a Methodist, and, possessing gifts much, above the average, he was soon called upon to exercise them. Sitting in* church one Sunday morning he heard his pastor announce that brother Roe would preach in the evening.’' This was the first intimation he had of what was expected of him, and all through the afternoon his mind was confused as to what he should preach. Towards evening he went for a stroll in the lonely backwoods, and while holding communion there with God seemed to hear a quiet voice within him saying. Preach Christ ! Preach Christ ! ” At the appointed hour he went into the pulpit with fear and trembling, and preached for twenty minutes. What he said he has now no recollection of ; but at the end of the service the minister took him by the hand and said : “ Brother Roe, you are evidently called of God to preach, and it is our duty to make arrangements for you to go to college at once.”

The expression “ at once ” was evidently used advisedly, for within a week the youthful preacher found himself entered as a student of Wyoming College, Pennsylvania. How useful those 1,400 dollars would have proved at this time ! for, possessing only a very slender purse, he had to work his way through college, ringing the bell for classes, lighting fires, and so on, in return for which he received board, lodging, and tuition. He comforted himself with the thought, however, that the presence in his purse of the almighty dollars might have meant the absence i6 from his heart of the Almighty God, seeing that he was converted during a revival which occurred at the very time he would have been a\vay on distant battlefields doing soldier’s duty. He stayed three years at Wyonlihg, during which time he had charge of a small Methodist Episcopal Church which had fallen on evil times, and which had connected with it two ‘mission places. It was hard,* uphill work, but it could not

have fallen into more ' capable hands. The cause throve and flourished under his zealous and painstaking care, a great revival broke out, and hundreds of people were brought to a knowledge of God. At one of the mission places a -church was built, and it soon became the centre of earnest evangelistic effort, which was far-reaching in its influence, and eminent- REV. DAVID ROE. k' Stimulating to other

Churches in its effects. But success was purchased at the cost of the missioner’s health. What with the strain of his college course, his pastoral work, his preparation for the pulpit, and his church-building, David Roe’s health broke down, and he was ordered by the doctdrs to ' return to England for complete’ rest and change.

The influence of the change that had been wrought in the life of David Roe by the mighty Spirit .of God soon led ' to a complete revolution in the orderly household of the farmer Ghurchm^h, who was now occupying

A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS.

the Lea farm, near Eccleshall, having left his daughter Elizabeth and her husband in charge of the one vacated. The for7n of godliness hitherto preserved was found to be unsatisfying and unsafe. A small Primitive Methodist chapel became as much frequented by the farmer and his family as the parish church, and one by one, father, mother, and children were converted to God, Harvey being the last to consecrate himself to the service of Christ.

The circumstances attending the conversion of three of the brothers are singular enough to demand some little attention. James Simkin, a young shoemaker of High Ofhey, had the misfortune to meet with an accident which rendered him incapable for a time of following his occupation. Taking advantage of his involuntary holiday, he paid a long-promised visit to an old aunt of his at Bishop’s Offley, and being an earnest Primitive Methodist, he determined to do something for Christ in the village, which, he saw, was spiritually dead. Just before retiring to bed on the first evening, he said, “Aunt, shall ■ I read a chapter out of t’ good old Book, and pray wi’ ye? ”

“Just as yo’ like, Jim,” was the reply. “ Pm no ranter ; but it shall never be said that Nanny Shropshire shut her ears to the reading of God’s word.”

The truth of her assertion that she was no “ranter” was evidenced by the fact that a prolonged search had to be made for the Bible, which was discovered at last hidden safely away on top of an old grandfather’s clock, covered with dust and mildew. It was with a somewhat shamefaced air that Nanny wdped away the telltale tokens of neglect and laid the book before her nephew. She expected nothing less than a sharp lecture, and silently upbraided herself i8 for not having had the Bible in a more conspicuous position and a less dusty condition. But whatever James’ thoughts were he gave no expression to them, and contented himself with reading a short Psalm and engaging in prayer, which so affected his aunt that next night she invited a neighbour in to hear Jim read and pray. ‘‘ He do it quite natural-like ; a’most as good as any parson, and he ain’t no scholard either,” she said, not a little proud of her nephew’s gift.

The neighbour, moved by curiosity, came, and James ventured a few comments on the portion he read. While engaged in prayer the Holy Spirit descended most powerfully, the neighbour wept aloud, and Mrs. Shropshire cried out for God to have mercy on her. Both found salvation that night. The news spread through the village like wildfire next morning that “ Nanny Shropshire and her neighbour ha’ gotten converted, and there’s to be praiching in her cottage the neet.”

The little cottage was in consequence crowded that night, and young Simkin read, prayed, and exhorted so fervently and with such manifest power that several men and women were led to Christ.

The work had now assumed a phase which Simkin felt unable to deal with alone, and he called to his assistance the services of Richard Hodson, a Primitive Methodist local preacher. Night after night for over a week the two took their stand on the village green, holding forth the word of life, and among the converts gathered in was Thomas Roe’s dairymaid. The night after her conversion the two evangelists called at the Lea farm, and invited all the inmates to the service. Bryan alone was able to attend, and when he returned his face was beaming with a new-found joy. Little did he guess when he left home of the important issues that were to attend his presence on the village green that day ! Before the lengthening shadows of night had darkened the earth he had seen himself in the light of the cross ; he had seen Him whom to know is life eternal. Bryan Roe, young as he was, had taken his place in the ranks of the redeemed, and his life henceforth was to be spent in the service of the Saviour.

On the Sunday following it was decided to hold a camp meeting on the green in the afternoon, and a cottage lovefeast at night, and to both these services the Primitive Methodists turned up in great numbers from the neighbouring districts. Just for the fun of the thing Harvey Roe attended the lovefeast, and to his intense surprise one of the speakers proved to be his young brother Bryan, who spoke so touchingly that the whole congregation were moved to tears. When the prayer-meeting was entered upon Harvey thought it was high time for him to leave ; the proceedings had not been quite so funny ” as he had anticipated, and he was quietly making for the door when he caught sight of his brother Eli and four of the Lea farm servants kneeling among many others at the penitent form. While he was gazing at them Richard Hodson came up with the question, “ Are you not going to join your brothers and become a soldier pf the cross with them ? ”

“Not to-night,'' was the reply.

“ Not to-night ! " repeated Hodson ; “ why, you may be in hell before morning ! "

Never before had Harvey Roe been talked to in so plain a manner, and he left the meeting indignant at what he called Hodson's impertinence. He went off to bed before the others arrived home, but not to sleep. Hodson’s words rang in his ears, and threw him into an agony of distress, and before it was fairly light: next morning he stole off to an old barn, and there, alone with God, sought and found the blessing his brothers already possessed.

One can imagine the feelings of the family as they gathered around the fireside altar that night to. sing a simple hymn, to hear a portion of Scripture read, and to be committed in prayer to the fatherly care and goodness of God — how their hearts would swell with gratitude and gladness at the thought that one and all they were the redeemed of the Lord. Separations would inevitably come in the. near or distant future, but they were able to rejoice in the sure and certain hope of meeting again, if not on earth, in heaven, in the great hereafter.

Nearly all the inmates . of the Lea farm, servants included, joined the Church in the cottage at Bishop's Offley, and the permanent results of that village revival may be. judged from the fact that three of the converts,. Harvey and Bryan Roe and G. Harris, became ministers, and four others acceptable local preachers. So thriving did the young cause become that in less than two years a chapel was built, the site being given by Mr. Thomas Roe, who was now deeply attached to Primitive Methodism. Up to the day of his death, which occurred in 187.9, he was a staunch and generous supporter of the Church of his later years, and had the joy of seeing his eldest son, David, actively engaged in the work of the English ministry, and two other sons preparing for a .similar career. His work was taken up by his third-born son, Eli, who settled down on the Lea farm, where he continues to this day.

Chapter II. Beginning To • Work — Revival Services — Richmond

J UST about the time of the revival at Bishop’s Offley the fortunes of David Roe took , another sudden Turn, and the future of his life, as regards his sphere of work, was very considerably altered. His intention in coming to England had been to quietly rest until his health was fully restored, and then to return to America. His ardent nature, however, would not allow him to remain idle long, and he was soon busily employed in preaching wherever an opportunity occurred, both in Wesleyan and Primitive Methodist pulpits.

One Monday morning he received a letter from the Rev. Michael Johnson, Chairman of the Macclesfield District, whom , he had never seen or heard of, asking for an interview. The letter filled him with gloomy forebodings. His knowledge of Methodism was almost exclusively American, and in the States. it was required of a man to obtain a licence before venturing to preach. He repaired to Macclesfield, expecting to be taken seyerely to task and soundly rated for daring to preach without permission ; but.

to his intense surprise, almost the first words Mr. Johnson spoke to him were: “ I want you to p:o to Buxton."

Why ? " asked the young preacher, in sheer amazement.

The minister there is ill," was the reply, ‘‘ and you must supply for him."

But I am returning to America very shortly," protested Mr. Roe,

‘‘ That is all right," said the Chairman with a genial smile ; but, nevertheless, you must go to Buxton at once."

And at the end of the week he went. So faithfully did he discharge the onerous duties that fell to him that the English Conference claimed him for her own, sent him to Didsbury College, and from thence into regular circuit work, where the opinions formed of him at the commencement of his career have been fully justified. Many of his charges have been in large centres of population, and for quite a number of years he has been labouring among the poorer classes in the east of London.

All this had a most important influence upon the minds of two of his brothers, who soon began to give tokens of the talents they possessed in the way of ready speech. Bryan, from the outset, was intensely in earnest, and had the sanie mighty power in prayer as his mother, of whom it was commonly said in the village that if she put any man’s name down on her praying list he would either have to give himself to God soon, or die. Of course, the language was very much exaggerated, but it proves what the people’s ideas of Mrs. Roe’s powers were, and many a sorrowing wife or mother besought her prayers on behalf of an erring husband or a wayward lad. I have been told that dying men, in the last hours of their mortal agony, have sent not for the parish priest or minister.

MRS, ROE.

but for Mrs. Roe, feeling that she could comfort them better than those, part of whose duty it was to administer consolation to the sick and suffering.

Bryan, at this time, was being educated at the

Eccleshall Grammar School, and his cheerful disposition and Christian spirit won for him the golden opinions of masters and scholars. Mr. John Hargreaves, the head master, remembers him distinctly, and writes : “It is more than twenty years since Bryan Roe was at school here, but I can imagine I see him now entering the room, and with bright smile wishing me good morning. He was always a thoroughly conscientious and painstaking pupil, who endeared himself to his teachers by his diligence and obedience, and to his schoolfellows by his eminent good-nature. Amongst the younger boys he was an especial favourite, never imposing upon them, but ever ready to champion their cause and take their part in any trouble.”

His first attempt at preaching was in a small Primitive Methodist Chapel at Breewood, in the Stafford Primitive Methodist Circuit. It was winter time, and the ground was thickly covered with snow, but, accompanied by James Simkin, he trudged cheerfully ten miles to his appointment, glad of the opportunity to do something for his Master. He was then just turned fourteen, and his text, appropriately enough was, ‘‘There is a lad here” (Johnvi. 9). The cause at Breewood was just about expiring at the time, but this service proved to be the beginning of better and brighter days, for a revival broke out, many prominent people in the village were converted, and the work has gone on flourishing ever since. Under Bryan’s sermon several men found salvation, and his call to preach was thereby attested. “ It is not the blessing of the Pope that gives men authority to preach in the name of Christ,” said Dr. Guinness Rogers in his reply to Mr. Gladstone’s letter on the validity of Anglican

A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS.

orders, but the fruit of their : labours.” This was, evidently, the view taken by the shrewd and godly Methodists of Staffordshire, for very soon after this initial effort,; the letters “ B. R.” appeared at the bottom of the Stafford circuit pjan in conjunction with H. R.,” which signified that the brothers Bryan and ITarvey, Roe were qualifying as Primitive Methodist local preachers.

It was simply circumstances, and not differences of opinion, that led Bryan later on to throw in his lot with Wesleyan Methodism, and up to. the day of his death he entertained the highest possible regard for the Church of his boyhood, in which he and other members of his family had received so much spiritual blessing, and in which, top, one of his brothers had become a prominent minister.

At the age of fifteen he. was sent out into the v/orld to fight the battle of life on his own account, and was apprenticed to Mr. M. Deville, a draper and zealous: Wesleyan in the quaint old town of Uttoxeter. It was here that he really first became acquainted with Wesleyan Methodism, and, joining the Church, he threw himself into active Christian work with characteristic energy and earnestness. Sunday Schools,. Bands. , of Hope, Mutual Improvement Cla3ses, and Tract Societies found in him an enthusiastic worker, while as • a local preacher and siqkwisitor he was held in universal esteem. He was soon in . great demand as a preacher, his fame having , spread abroad, and he became familiarly known as. the “ boy preacher.” His power even in those, early days was seen in the effect his words produced upon the congi^egations. Hardly a service passed by .^vithput spmp person being brought ta

Christ, and strong men, hardy miners and rough railway navvies, often wept as he faithfully declared the unfailing love and boundless grace of the Great Father, God. Just a year ago I attended the Uttoxeter foreign .missionary meeting as deputation, and Mr. Roe’s old master, singularly enough, was chairman. When it became known in the town that I had been Mr. Roe’s colleague in Africa, and had but recently returned from his sphere of work, great interest was aroused, and the old-fashioned chapel was thronged with men and women who had known him in those boyhood days, and had received good from his ministrations.

When his indentures were out, Mr. Roe removed tO‘ Northwich, and was warmly welcomed by the Church there, for his name was not unknown. Speaking of him at this time, the Rev. James Burton, Primitive Methodist minister of Torquay, says : “ He came for several years in succession to preach the anniversary sermons at the Morrilow Heath P. M. chapel. These visits were always eagerly looked forward to by the congregation, and without exception proved times of great awakening and blessing. It was no uncommon occurrence for the day to close with half-a-dozen precious souls brought into the Redeemer’s kingdom. I remember on one occasion he took for his text, ‘ And the Spirit and the Bride say come. And let him that heareth say come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will let him take the water of life freely’ (Rev. xxii. 17).. Methinks I see him now with a glow upon his face as he dealt with the universality of the invitation, repeating again and again the words: ‘Whosoever will, whosoever will ’ ; and as he did so the crowded con-

A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS.

gregation was filled and thrilled with a gracious sense of the Master's presence. That service was crowned with the salvation of many souls, two members, of my own family being among the number.,

“ While belonging to the Wesleyan Church,” adds Mr. Burton,/^ he had a deep-rooted love for Primitive Methodism, and was - ever ready to spend and be spent in its interests.”'

As the years went by, and his work was more and more owned of God, the conviction grew upon him that he. was called to give himself to the ministry,, and in 1881 he w^as unanimously recommended as a candidate by the Macclesfield District Synod. The Conference that year,, however, decided to accept few candidates, and Mr. Roe’s case v/as not considered. Nothing daunted by this he entered Harley College as a student under Dr. H. Grattan Guinness, and spent two useful years there, seeking to be more thoroughly furnished for the work which he confidently felt God had for him to do.

We find him in the summer of 1882 spending his vacation at Macclesfield in charge of the Newtown Primitive Methodist Church, his brother Harvey, who had just been appointed to it, havipg been ordered away on a sea voyage to recruit his broken health.

Newtown had long been regarded as a forlorn hope. The church was a magnificent building, but it had never prospered, and in 1882 its fortunes were at so low an ebb that the Primitive Conference hesitated between retiring from it and giving it another chance.. Bryan Roe’s brief ministry there, backed up afterwards by the energetic labours of his brother, proved to be the turning point in its. career, and it soon became one of the most flourishing causes in the Connexion. . ■ ; . •