A corn of wheat, or, The life of Rev. W.J. McKenzie of Korea

Preface

The life of the Rev. William J. McKenzie is written in too many hearts ever to be forgotten, and the great work he has inaugurated in Korea speaks more than volumes of praise ; yet these facts seem to demand that the details of that life be recorded — a life that was a glorious message to his generation, not only from bleak Labrador and far-off Korea, but from the student’s desk and the home pastor’s pulpit.

The task of writing should be that of a master pen, and not of a novice; but in the long delay of others who could have done it worthily, I have been impelled to the attempt.

The courtesy of Mr. McKenzie’s family in placing at my disposal his treasured books of diary, has relieved me almost wholly of the burden of authorship, and made my work chiefly that of compiling and editing. Other material, such as personal letters and newspaper articles, gradually accumulated through the kindness of interested friends, among whom I am especially indebted to the Rev. Duncan

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McRae, of Korea, for valuable facts and for photographs, and to the Rev. George E. Ross, lately of Demerara, for untiring help.

The task of deciphering the closely-written, difficult pages of diary has been slow, but the deeper acquaintance thus gained with the writer’s inner life and thought has been a blessing which I would fain share, especially with the young people of our churches, as those on the eve of deciding their life-work for God.

May the secret of this heroic life, that has made glorious history for his Church and country, be discovered and applied by many other true hearts. May his absolute surrender of self and its interests to God be repeated in many lives.

He who touched the heart of McKenzie of Korea with “ fire from off the altar,” is able to kindle in others the same Christ-like spirit of love, even through this simple telling of his life-story.

That he may thus deign to use for His glory the work for which I have had “ no sufficiency ” in myself, is my one desire in presenting it.

Elizabeth A. McCully.

Truro, Nova Scotia, January, 1903

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. The Boy and the Student 9

II. Eighteen Months in the Ice 19

Chapter I. The Boy And The Student

No romance of life can begin without the most ordinary of facts regarding time and place, which must, at the outset, adjust the mind of the listener to the hearing of the story; for without some knowledge of the obscure days, the lights and shadows, of early surroundings, who can receive the true impression of the final picture of beauty, of manliness, of bold enterprise or patient suffering of a hero’s life?

William John McKenzie, the noble man whom the Canadian Church delights to honor, was of purely Scotch descent, born July 15th, 1861, in the island of Cape Breton, that easterly extremity of Nova Scotia, most like to Old Scotland in its wild and rugged beauty.

In the early days of 1800, when only the daring and adventurous came to her shores, Canada received a son from Scotland, William McKenzie, of Sutherlandshire, as a settler, who should influence in a marked degree her best and truest life for many years to come. With his brave wife and one child, he chose Richmond

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County as his home, and there, on the lovely West Bay of Bras d’Or Lake, with but' one cow as the nucleus of his possessions, he gradually won for himself the good things of life, turning the wild tracts of the hill country into beautiful farm lands, and building up the home so long to be held in honor for the sake of his posterity.

He was the grandfather of our missionary, and the one who, above all others, influenced that life in its choice of all that was best. His son, Robert, was born December 22nd, 1823, and inherited the homestead, as well as that better estate of Scottish piety and principle.

In March, 1854, Robert was married to Flora McRae, of Middle River, Victoria County, a woman of Scottish blood and faith, and of their six children William was the third. The grandfather’s namesake was also his chief favorite, and the warm friendship which grew up between the sturdy, energetic boy and the saintly old man lasted through nineteen years, when, in 1880, God called His aged servant home, and left the young man impressed for eternity by the rare beauty of his life. Through the childhood of the boy the grandfather would take him for long walks, when, especially on Sabbath days, they would pore over the Word of God, the old man’s faith and experience testifying to the reality of the Book of Truth, with its marvellous promises for “ the life that now is and that which is to come.” Whole books of the Bible would be read by these two while sitting under a shady tree, and who can doubt that

THE BOY AND THE STUDENT.

II the blessed Spirit who moved men to write it was even then instilling the truth and the power of its meaning into this young heart? With prayers and tears the faithful servant of God pleaded for the future of his beloved grandson, perhaps receiving by faith some of the harvest of his patient sowing, and seeing “ afar off ” the glorious service unto which his manhood should be given. The all-wise Creator, who counts the hairs of our heads and not less surely cares for all other details of human life, had evidently arranged the factors that should go to influence this one individual, and mould him as a chosen vessel to carry the “ Waters of Life” wheresoever He would.

The breadth of vision from the hilly shores of the West Bay, which rise grandly to the north and south, with the beautiful Marble Mountain in well-defined whiteness opposite his homestead, and away to the east, in the distance, the magnificent Grand Narrows, leading into another superb “ Arm of Gold,” must have given a sense of great things and a thought of wide possibilities to the receptive heart of the boy. But the fire of old Scottish blood, that burned in his veins with glorious life until the last flicker of its flame died out on Korea’s soil, was by no means a small element in his moral make-up, nor in the magnificent physical life that carried him through all phases of future hardship. Nor are the inheritance of the truth and stability of generations, the saintly piety of the old grandfather, and the silent strength of the father’s uprightness, to be forgotten in estimating the forces that “ made this man

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strong.” But, above all, was it the awakening of the Christ-life that brought out in bold relief the rare qualities of this great nature, and rounded out the character.

Of great stature from his boyhood, his unusual physical strength demanded the balance of mental and spiritual power to give harmony and poise to his being. We see him as a Saul, towering over his fellows in bodily height; as an Abraham in faith, when he “staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief,” and “ went out, not knowing whither he went,” at God’s command; as a John, in the vehemence and tenderness of his love for the Master. But the latter traits were not early developed. Days of youth did not give much promise of future holiness of life, and some bitter years were passed before the Spirit of God gained possession of his heart.

Human nature was strong in him. His brightness and wit and love for others made him beloved. His giant strength gained its peculiar honors among his fellows, and made him the hero of many battles. But these natural endowments were as likely to be snares as helps, for the things that gave him fame among men were not always those to make him good.

The days of his boyhood were shortened by his rapid development, both mental and physical. At thirteen he looked a man, and had finished the course of study afforded him at a country school. He therefore ventured into public life at this early

THE BOY AND THE STUDENT.

age in the role of school teacher, near his own home. The people of the country-side, however, who well knew his youth and fun-loving nature, were cautious about committing their children to such immature care, and for the first week of the undertaking his energies were focussed upon the one scholar who had braved public opinion and enrolled himself as student with the boy pedagogue. Others then came in, and when six months had passed the room was overflowing with scholars, many of them older than the teacher, and a most successful term had expired. At fourteen he had obtained a “ B ” license as teacher; this was the highest accorded in the Province for Common School work, and commanded a good Government grant. He was then in demand in the school districts near his home, and until nineteen years of age worked most successfully as a teacher.

During this time some reckless deeds made him realize that it was possible for fun to end disas-. trously, and serious thoughts took possession of his mind. He felt he should give his life to God, and by way of preparation for service of some kind began to study Latin and Greek with his minister at West Bay.

The following winter, 1880, he begun study at the Academy, in the town of Pictou, well-known throughout the Province for the many men of fame who have passed out of its doors. Here, he says, he nearly became an infidel, but that he could not get away from his grandfather’s prayers. More than

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one influence for good was thrown about him while at study, whatever may have been the evil. Link after link was added to the chain of love with which God was drawing His child. The Young Men’s Christian Association of the town was one source of blessing to which some have attributed his conversion, while friends at home believe the friendship of a saintly man, a shoemaker, who took a deep interest in the bright young student, to have been the final cause of the change that now came into his life. May it not have been, also, that as centuries before “ God remembered Abraham,” and delivered Lot from doom, so now He remembered the grandfather who had prayed, and brought his beloved boy out into the liberty of a child of God ?

The grandfather passed away during William’s first year at Pictou, perhaps in the joy of assurance that his prayers had triumphed over the strong power of the enemy. Scepticism had gone for ever from the heart of the young man, and he came out of the conflict with doubt and unbelief made doubly strong at his weak point, and hereafter to be conspicuous among men for his faith in God.

We may never know just how, but the voice of God had made itself heard in this soul, and he had responded with the whole-heartedness characteristic of him, “ Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ? ”

After three years had passed at Pictou it was necessary to teach a year in order to enter Dalhousie College, at Halifax. A second great sorrow came to him here in the death of his father, but his studies were not interrupted. Ill-health, however, demanded his resting from mental exertion, and a summer was spent at sea, on a vessel doing business with the West Indies. A new experience was thus brought into his life that helped to equip him with knowledge that was to be useful, and help to tide him over hard days in the future.

After this interruption his college work went steadily on, the intervening summer seasons being spent in teaching, chiefly in High Schools, or at farm work on the homestead.

The summer of 1887 was passed at Cape George, where his first directly religious work was done as a catechist of the Presbyterian Church. Previous to this he had entered upon his affiliated course in the Theological College at Halifax and closely identified himself with its spiritual life. In the spring of 1888 he graduated in Arts, and was ready to devote himself to the studies he most deeply loved. He knew by this time where his life-work was to lie, and had determined to know nothing among men but “Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” His was not a spirit to be content with less than the best that life offered. Business life did not attract his heart, absorbed in the love of Christ ; nor could the choice of any other profession satisfy his great soul. He had not received salvation as a selfish possession, but as a trust committed to him for the blessing of others ; therefore, to pass on the glad tidings was henceforth his one ambition. Like Paul, he had said, “ This one thing I do,” for the experience of salvation had belittled all things earthly and temporal, and the things that had been coveted as gain he now “ counted but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus.”

“ A man of strong convictions,” he was termed by college-mates and fellow-students; but it was rather by deeds than by words that he so impressed them. What he believed he carried into action, and it was by the continual doing of those things that denote the follower of the Master, and by strict obedience to every command received from the Word of God that he best enjoined upon others the blessedness of. a Christian life. He recommended the doctrine of Jesus Christ by adorning it, winning from his college-mates admiration and love, as well as their true respect. The example of one who was so upright in all his dealings was a strong influence. His was no Pharisaical sanctity, but that true purity of life which has nothing to conceal or to pretend, and shows as truly in the free sparkle of its merriment and kindly fun, as in its more serious moods, the beauty of its divine source.

Mr. McKenzie was perfectly natural in any surroundings. He hated shams and pretended to nothing he did not possess ; but his innate refinement and instinctive love for his fellows clothed him with graces. One needs to hear the many stories treasured still by the friends of his old home to understand the high honor in which he was there held — of the boys who flocked about him in his short vacations, of the rowing and skating, the boxing and wrestling, the painting and singing, of which they were so proud.

At college, no less than at home, he was a famed athlete, especially in Highland sports, and a champion boxer, but disarmed all jealousy by a sparkling wit that made him irresistible; yet these were but minor traits, that emphasized the more that deep piety which all felt who came in contact with him.

Few men have been privileged to win the devoted love of as many hearts as did this man in his few years of college life. Few have been esteemed more highly or praised more widely, yet he was all-unconscious of his power. A man “ whose heart God had touched ” he surely was — a man to his own self true, and, therefore, never “ false to any man ; a man to whom the truth was glorious truth, who dared not withhold aught that he believed, or compromise his faith in what God taught. He believed in the absolute authority of God’s Word over all human opinion and never tried to evade it. A strong man, with the courage of strong convictions, what wonder that, when the Spirit of the Living God took possession of him, he should be a man of note?

Men who studied with him and knew him best speak of him as “ our beloved hero.” Tested by the close associations of college life, it' was no small tribute to his worth that, when the Missionary Association of Students proposed opening a work in Labrador, and desired a man of ability and courage as a volunteer, as one of themselves said, “ every eye turned to McKenzie.” His one summer i8

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of preaching had intensified his love for this work of winning souls and he gladly offered himself for the new service. As gladly was the offer accepted, and the pioneer work of the splendid Mission now carried on by the Church on those bleak shores was entrusted to a true spirit worthy to be its founder. For the unconscious hero this was but a step towards the “ larger room ” in which his feet should finally be placed, another opportunity for the great Master to work upon the vessel fitted for His use and mould him more perfectly into His own image. The lessons to be learned in that isolated land were to make the hunger for souls the very passion of his life.

Chapter II. Eighteen Months In The Ice

Fortunately for the completeness of our story, Mr. McKenzie, on the day of leaving Halifax for his mission in Labrador, commenced a diary, in which he faithfully chronicled each day’s doings. At the very beginning of this careful record, a secret of his magnetic power over men is easily noted. This is the deep interest in humanity, not en masse, but as individuals, which is manifested in his observation of the disposition and temperament, the varying moods, and especially the religious tendencies, of his most casual acquaintances. The captain and crew of the little schooner in which he left Halifax, the supercargo, and the few persons met in small harbors by the way, wejre all subjects of deep interest and prayer to this man who loved men.

As the slow voyage proceeded he spent much time in reading, confining himself chiefly to the study of missionary lives. This he believed to be a source of inspiration, as with Dr. Moffat, whose zeal was provoked for his great labors by reading of the self-sacrificing Moravians in Greenland and Labrador. Mr. McKenzie’s practical way of stimulating his own

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enthusiasm he soon found to be effectual, as he pored over a book on Korea. Upon this he comments: “ Found it full of instruction. The Presbyterians have taken the initiative there and translated the Bible into Korean. Jesuits suffered nobly for their religion. Why not go out there and do as Paul did. Get there some way, and grow into their life by some trade or labor, and also preach. Then stir up the Church, if need be, for assistance.” This is evidently a seed-thought regarding Korea, which, seen in the light of after days, is of fuller import than he perhaps knew, who incidentally dropped it into a diary.

In the not too comfortable quarters of the little schooner he busied himself with practical dreams, learning lessons for his work from many teachers, and apparently forgetting the mean accommodations of a small cramped bed and poor fare. Keeping his mind fixed upon lives of rare spiritual beauty, he drank in their spirit and longed to be like them. The “ Memoirs of Harlan Page ’’ led him to say, “ I should learn to see what personal work will do. Lord, help me to see the unbeliever, whatever his lot here, as going down to hell and a hater of Christ ! Oh, give me clearer views of Christ’s love, and may I feel it more! Show me the sin of disbelieving Him.”

Of E. P. Hammond’s “ Conversion of Children,” he writes : “ Help me to preach so simple a Gospel that the child can see and know Jesus. Help me to keep before me that a new heart is needed, and God has promised to give it to those who ask.” Just

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here his longings seem near fulfilment, as he speaks of his liberty at the throne of grace “ on behalf of the captain and crew, and the destitute to whom we go.”

A little incident shows his child-like faith in God’s answer to prayer : “ Last night was the first time I prayed at worship for fair wind, and I was no sooner done than it came, beginning light, but increasing gradually all night, so that at four in the morning we sighted Anticosti, East Point.” This was a real bringing of need to God, for much precious time had been consumed in slow going, and the last hundred miles of the hitherto tedious voyage were now quickly made.

Two weeks after leaving Halifax, Labrador was sighted. Rocks as large as islands, multitudes of birds’ nests and eggs, an abundance of snow, and many handsome, swarthy Indians, were among the first objects noted on the coast. May 25th was the day when Mr. McKenzie and the crew went ashore. The missionary found a family belonging to the Episcopal Church, with whom he had worship and singing, a programme which he carried out whereever practicable in the months to follow.

The second stop was made at Harrington, a settlement of some importance, and one well-known henceforth to the Church which Mr. McKenzie represented. Here many subsequent visits were made, and here the missionary received very favorable first impressions in the religious services of the community. Old and young were eager to have part in

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the exercises, two often rising at once to speak. Both in the afternoon and evening of the first Sabbath here Mr. McKenzie found it difficult to close the meeting, that had already lasted two hours. Here he saw the need of training and guidance, that these enthusiastic spirits might retain their ardor and steadily grow in grace. Meetings of five hours’ duration he advised them to shorten, and gave some counsel regarding the children, who showed eagerness to testify of their love for Christ, as also to the adults, who knew but little of doctrine.

For a fortnight he reconnoitred about the coast near Harringtoij, enjoying keenly every phase of this new life as a preacher, coasting on the great banks of snow, twenty feet deep, with boyish delight; shooting, in spite of the danger incurred, among the great island rocks, where the loons and gulls were without number; but entering with keenest zest into the religious life of the people, to whom he came as a ray of glorious sunlight in the darkness.

Many of the people spoke only French, but everywhere they pressed upon him to hear the Word of God, especially the sailors from fishing schooners, and the more intelligent employees of fishing establishments along the shores crowded into the little services held in houses or huts or wherever a gathering was possible.

Some individual cases he mentions in his diary, such as a Roman Catholic, who did not know who Jesus was; an old Englishman, who had left the

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Mother-land when there was but one railway in the world; and an old Indian, whose mind refused the idea that God’s love demanded ours in return.

During the two weeks thus busily spent in a first study of the situation, he was entertained free of charge on board the little vessel that carried him; but with the independence characteristic of his nature, he purchased a boat for himself for eighteen dollars, and on June 21st proceeded on a solitary tour to find out the most desolate places, and carry temporal and spiritual help to those most needy on these forsaken shores.

At Bonne Esperance, he embarked in his new boat, and at Fort Island, his first stopping-place, he says he was “ entreated to stay on account of the whaling-men, but could not for lack of time.” Here he left trunk and boxes and procured boat supplies.

The following Sunday found him at Braddore Bay, where was a family whose history took a great hold upon him. He records in detail what was told him of them in the days of their wealth, when with an income of thousands annually, derived from seal fishery, they employed among their servants, a hunter, a fiddler, and a butcher, built a carriage road solely for their pleasure, and educated their sons abroad. Then of the strange contrast brought about in their condition by profligacy, which had reduced them to a stupid, illiterate people, hardly fit for servants, idly using the fine wood of the old oil vats and other parts of the great mansion for firewood, while they found a commodious dwelling-place in the pantry of

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their former magnificent house. Deploring their sad state, he gave books to the women, who seemed anxious for learning, but he saw no prospect of the men ever having energy to remedy matters.

In spite of the fact that other college students have retraced his steps in the main and have made familiar many of the scenes which he records, the notes of this diary might be themselves amplified into a book of deep interest. In brief notes and sentences he makes vivid the needs of all classes of sufferers, over whom his heart yearned. For the ignorant little children he was very solicitous, and everywhere impressed upon their parents the need of education. In some places he was delighted to find how rapidly these little people had progressed where for two or three short summers schools had been held. Among the sick and the poor, whom he constantly met, he distributed medicine and clothing, sometimes performing surgical work, which, he says, “ had to be done as if I knew all about it.” But everywhere he proclaimed the Gospel.

Reaching the Strait of Belle Isle on July 1st, he found it full of ice, as it had not been for thirty years. The boats were all hauled up, and the outlook for the fisher folk was a hard one. Like Paul, he was “ pressed in the spirit ” on his first Sunday at this point, as he preached many times to the people and walked miles to reach some of them. Recounting the events of this crowded day, he says, “Yet I feel I have done very little for my Master.

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Oh, that I could be nothing, if only His glory could be advanced ! ”

Through the month of July he pressed on, past Red Bay and Henley, toward Cape Charles. Many of the day’s journeys were against heavy odds, ice and cold, rain, fog, and heavy winds, with swarms of mosquitoes and black flies ever accompanying. Drenched to the skin in spite of oildothes and long boots, or with feet galled by miles of weary tramping, hungry and worn, this messenger of the Cross pursued his way, unconscious of any heroism, and filled only with the thought of the destitute to whom he ministered.

Beyond Cape Charles, where he found chiefly people from Carbonnear, Newfoundland, the conditions grew worse. On the northern shore, the population was largely Esquimaux, among whom the suffering from poverty was extreme. Men had had but one meal in days, women were crying for food, and children were almost naked. First, the missionary said, “ Be ye warmed and fed,” and he distributed supplies, for which “ they danced with joy, and could hardly express their gratitude in words.” Then he held meetings among them, which brought out large numbers, even the half-naked, who eagerly drank in the Word of Life. The Esquimaux were usually able to read and very apt in learning. Their pitiful condition stirred the missionary to write home, as he says, “ in the hope it may arouse the people of Nova Scotia to action to save these people from starvation.” For their permanent relief his

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practical mind devised the scheme of appealing to the Canadian Government to take them off to the North-West, and for this he made strong efforts. One young Esquimaux woman he sent later to his own home in Cape Breton.

Amid the distresses and discomforts of this desolate region he looked for a steamship to bring letters, but none came ; and though two months had passed without a word from home friends, he utters no word of complaint. Two boats finally came, though without mail, and on one of these he started, July 30th, to return to Cape Charles ; but because of the ice blockade and the great commotion of icebergs breaking up and turning over, she had to be abandoned for a steam launch, in which he arrived at the Cape early in August. Here he was joined by a fellow-worker, with whom he had spent some weeks of the summer, and under whose escort he sent the Esquimaux to Nova Scotia by the steamship, which had finally come through the ice.

Mr. McKenzie then planned to go alone to Bonne Esperance. Storms, high seas, and discomfort had already entered into the experiences all along the coast, and this was a decidedly daring undertaking. The fishermen of Lance au Loup watched him embark, greatly admiring his courage, though fearful for his safety. Yet God was watching over His child, and he arrived without mishap at the next harbor.

He mentions here his first marriage ceremony, recording the names and the fact that he received;

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racquets (snowshoes) and tan and sealskin boots as the wedding fee. He gave to the pair a Bible, “ in memoriam of a great occasion.”

The return to Old Fort Island and Harrington, his first stopping-places in Labrador, was made at leisure, and no effort was spared to reach every available harbor and bay where men and women would listen to the Gospel. It meant much hardship; yet nothing could daunt this bold and tireless worker, as he walked for miles, often late at night, over rocks and cliffs and yawning precipices, to reach some forsaken corner with the Gospel message. Nor did he lose patience even with the strange extravagance of the ill-fed people, whom he found spending most' of their income on tobacco, or with flattering beggars, who sought to win his favor. There were those, too, who had been cheated and oppressed by clever traders and trappers, and for all he found sympathy.