The life and journals of the Rev. Daniel West, Wesleyan minister, and deputation to the Wesleyan mission stations on the Gold Coast, West Africa

Front matter

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1^ PRINCETON. N. J. ^

BX 8431 .M5 W47 1857 West, Thomas,

Preface

Thjs writer of the following pages at first intended to do nothing more than edit the interesting " Journal " of his beloved relative ; but, on further reflection, it was thought that a record of some incidents in his life and ministry in England might be both interesting and profitable, and would fitly introduce to the reader of the " Journal " the person and character of its departed and lamented author.

It has also been his aim to make the book contribute to the still too small stock of Missionary literature, and to enlist the sympathies of the church yet more fully in sustaining and extending the important work of evangelizing Western Africa.

If these two objects are attained, the purpose for which the mournful task was undertaken Avill be accomplished, and God will be glorified.

London, August, 1857.

Contents

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Early Life and Call to the Ministuy 1

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Chapter I. Early Life And Call To The Ministry

Daniel "West was born at Glasgow, on the 30tli of Aprilj 1815. He was nursed in the bosom of a family at whose head was a father of no ordinary mind. He had passed through many strange \-icissitudes ; and his life at the time Daniel was born was one of devoted and useful piety in the church of God. His mother, too, was a woman of no common character; and in her history, as well as in that of the father, numerous and remarkable illustrations of the piwddence and grace of God might be found. Daniel, therefore, was trained in the ways of holiness from his earliest years ; and by tlie restraining grace of God he was saved from all those vices and follies which too often wither the blossoms

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and quench the bright sunshine of many youthful days.

It was likewise Daniel's high privilege to grow up side by side, for a time, with one who was emphatically of the " Father's right-hand planting." We allude to his brother Thomas, who was two years younger than himself, and who died at the early age of six years. Many no doubt will be disposed to smile incredulously when told of such an instance of infantile piety. Nevertheless, Thomas was a truly happy and heavenly child. When only four years of age, he could read and understand the Scriptures witli a clearness and apprehension far beyond his 1 tiny appearance and age. Next to the Bible, the hymns of the Sunday school were his constant delight and song. Many of these he committed to memory entire ; and, although but an infant, he did what he could, not only to please his parents and brothers around him, but to benefit others beyond the family circle. He might have been seen on many an occasion, sitting by the feet of a poor blind woman, whom he was in the habit of visiting for that purpose, reading to her from the book of God. But it seemed as if Thomas was of too pure and angelic material to mix with earth and earthly concerns. This precious and delicate flower could only flourish and unfold in the clime of paradise ; and therefore angel hands plucked it, and planted it in the " better land," where there is light and immortality. Little Thomas suddenly sickened, and the sickness was unto death. But child as he was, that death-bed scene was one of happiness and peace. Shortly before his departure, his faltering tongue repeated the whole of the beautiful hymn beginning,

" When little Samuel woke.

And heard his Maker's voice.

And knew the voice that spoke, O how did he rejoice !"

These, indeed, were the last words of little Thomas on earth. His spirit soon sped upward to see the face and hear the voice of that Saviour who said, while on earth, " Suffer little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not : for of such is the kingdom of heaven."

The benign and hallowing influence of such a scene was well calculated to rivet itself on the memory, and cling round the heart, of Daniel, who was then about eight years of age. No doubt, under God's blessing, it gave a tone to his futui'e character through hfe, of which he himself may not have been conscious at the time, although he was led to reflect upon it and speak about it in after years.

Nothing further of a remarkable kind occurred in the youthful history of Mr. West, until he came under the ministry, and formed the friendship, of the Rev. John McLean. That honoured servant of Christ was the first who persuaded him to meet in Class ; and he was also the immediate instrument B 2

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in leading him to a personal trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation. To those who knew the facts of the case, there was an apparent appropriateness in the instrumentality employed. Several years before the period of Daniel's conversion, his imcle knelt by the side of Mr. M'Lean, whilst he was penitently seeking the Saviour, and rejoiced over him as over a son, when he found peace with God. From him Mr. MXean received clear views of Christ and His salvation, and the most suitable instructions at that interesting period of his useful life. Mr. M'Lean's interest, therefore, in yoimg Daniel's conversion was of the tendercst kind; and the friendship then begun between them was mutually continued through life. But perhaps it will be more pleasing to the reader if we supply an extract of a letter from Mr. M'Lean bearing upon this subject. The communication is important, on account of the light it throws not only on the conversion of Mr. West, but also on some of the characteristics of Scottish Methodism at that time.

" My first remembered conversation with Mr. Wcf^t was about the year 1828. He was then a half-grown boy, perhaps about thirteen years of age, with a pale, thoughtful countenance, and a .striking frontal development overhung by long white locks. I had been visiting his mother, then recently become a widow, and Daniel accompanied me to the door. My heart yearned o-\-er the fatherless boy,

EARLY LIFE AND CALL TO THE MINISTRY.

the son of my old friend ; and taking him by the hand, I persuaded him to make a speedy closure with Christ. Whether he did not at that moment embrace the Saviour, I will not take upon me to say; for he was brought up in one of the best schools of Wesleyan piety which I have ever known either in England or Scotland, and he must have been ready to make an intelligent use of whatever suitable words I was enabled to let fall. At all events the important transaction could not have been long delayed. Balmanno Street, or, as it used to be called in my younger days, ' Deanside Brae,' was then a consecrated street. A company of holy and intelhgent Wesleyan families had clustered together, — several of them in the same 'land,' — who never allowed any person with whom they had influence to rest until they had submitted to the ' righteousness of God j' and whose zeal was so tempered with knowledge, that they never pushed any one to a prematui-e profession, or presumed to supersede the Holy Spirit in His office of Comforter.

"For many years these excellent Scottish Wesleyans — most of them the fruits of Irish IMethodism — were, next to the Saviour, the comfort and strength of my own heart, both as a young Wesleyan, and subsequently as one of their ^Ministers. They are nearly all gone to their rest. But there were your uncle Ross West, a singularly clear and able theologian, with his seraphic wife, whose humi-

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lity, sanctity^ intelligent, loving, unwearied zeal, and faithful labours in the church would have done honour to the apostolic age ; — Mr. Kelley, too, and his wife; wise, grave, and devout, the one; strongminded, active, clear-headed, and of weighty and affectionate discourse, the other ; — Josiah Shields and his loving Baptist wife. All these lived, according to our Scottish fashion, in different flats of the same building, and went out and in before each other, exhibiting and emulating the perfect graces of the Christian character. There were also several humbler persons in the Society at that time, such as good John Duff and gentle Thomas Wheelan, — men who were mighty in prayer and full of the Holy Ghost. The Deanside Brae families were then the heads of our Society in Glasgow; but they never disdained the cordial and constant intercourse of their more lowly brethren in Christ Jesus. It was in this nursery that Daniel West was reared ; and it is not strange that he should have turned out so valuable a Minister.

" The week after the above interview, Daniel joined ray Class, and remained with me as long as I remained in the Circuit. I took occasion at different opportunities to put him on his guard against some of the errors into which all Scottish Weslcyans are in danger of falling, owing to the prevailing opinions and institutions of this part of the kingdom, and from which I had myself with difficiQty escaped. I have reason to think that in this I did not Labour in vain. He always acknowledged me as his spiritual father ; and I could not but rejoice in such a spiritual son. But if I was his father, the blessed Wesleyan church then in Glasgow was his mother ; and if we had such companies of believing families, as were then in that city, scattered over the tOMTis of England and Scotland, we should not lack numerous spiritual children of enduring vigour and of the loftiest stature."

Doubtless there are many such holy and blessed families in our land. There are many Bethanys where Jesus delights to turn His sacred footsteps, that He may foster and bless the religion of the family fireside. The genial and sanctifying influence of family religion is one which in its very nature permeates the secret springs of life, and touches every relationship with the sympathy of a heavenly love. It clings tenaciously to the memory and heart of even those who may have wilfully stifled or striven against their convictions. Perhaps in no case is it totally erased from the mind. Often has the wanderer from the paternal home been startled in his dark and thoughtless moments, after years of folly and sin it may be, by a recoUcctive gleam of youthfid days, when his father's instructions and his mother's prayers have flashed upon him their vivid light and melting power. How many have felt the strong drawings of the Spirit of God acting

CHAPTER I, through such recollections^ when perhaps both father and mother have been for years gathered home to the world of spirits ! Who then but must pray that such families of faith, and love^ and prayer, as dwelt at Deanside Brae, may be abundantly multiplied throughout the world ?

It is to be lamented that an able and competent pen has not caught up and embodied the portraiture of some of the honoured dead, to whom such striking allusion is made in the above graphic reminiscence of Scottish Methodist piety. Their praise is still in the churches where they lived and died, as well as the continued savour of their wellremembered example ; but in another sense

" Their record is on high."

Perhaps if more had been written about the warm-hearted Methodists of Scotland, the cause of Methodism in that country would have been more valued and better understood ; and it would necessarily liave been much more successful than it has hitherto proved. The Methodism of Scotland is by no means that cold, frigid, and repulsive type of religion which so many suppose it to be ; nor have its fruits been so stinted and scanty as at first sight we are led to think them. We hesitate not to say that the soil has yielded an ample return, and in measure correspondent to the labour spent upon it.

It will 1)0 observed that reference has been made to the death of Mr. West's father. His call to

EARLY LIFE AND CALL TO THE JIIXISTRY. 9

another world was very sudden; but he was fully ready either for the duties of life or the struggle of death. In the midst of his usefulness in the church he was taken away, after an illness of about two days, in the forty-eighth year of his age. He left a family of six sons and one daughter; and another daughter was born five days after his decease. Of these children Daniel was the fom'th, and he was then in his thirteenth year. The tAvo eldest sons had depai'ted some time before their father's death for America, to settle there. Having been somewhat successful in their pursuits, and hearing of the father's death, they at once advised the removal of the family to their locality in the New World, with the intention of making the United States the country of their adoption. Accordingly arrangements were made, and the family sailed for New York in the beginning of the year 1830, followed by the earnest prayers of many warm and affectionate hearts. The fact that the safety and welfare of this family were made special subjects of public prayer in God's sanctuary every Sabbath day, from the time of their departure until the intelligence of their arrival " on the other side of the water " was received, speaks volumes as to the feelings of affection and Christian sympathy with which the separation Avas regarded by those tliey left behind.

To young Daniel the trial was peculiarly severe.

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He had, in the desolation of his own home, and in common with the rest of the family, become knit in love to his revered nncle and his saintly wife. Besides this, he had already bound himself by the ties of Christian fellowship to the church of his fathers; and he keenly felt and deeply mourned when these were severed at a stroke. Although so young, he was an active and most successful Teacher in the Sunday school. So highly were his services esteemed by all in the school, — although he was then only fourteen years of age, — the Manager and Teachers met together and presented him with a handsome Bible, with a suitable inscription expressive of their love to him personally, and as a lasting remembrance of the happy and useful hours he had spent among them.

Nor were the prayers and sympathies of God's people unneeded or unanswered on behalf of those on the mighty deep. A marvellous interposition of Di^^ne Providence marked the histoiy of the voyage. When about midway across the Atlantic, the ship took fire during the night. There were about three hundred souls on board. A great number were female emigrants, who occupied the fore-part of the vessel. Their shrieks and cries were terrific Avhen the alarm was given ; and the scene of confusion and agony, as witnessed by the widow and her children from the front ])oop cabin which they occupied, was most appalling.

The fire was in the after-part of the ship ; and the Captain therefore ordered all the women in the forecastle belovr, and fastened down the hatches. Under the circumstances, this was no doubt the most prudent course to adopt. The presence of so many women on the deck, frantic with fear, would have interfered with, and would, most likely, have prevented altogether, the efforts made by the crew and male passengers to meet the emergency. All these, young and old, were mustered at once, and instant measures were taken to master the fire. These, under the Divine blessing, proved successful. After several hours had been spent in hard and terribly exciting labour for life, the fire was extinguished. But how marvellous the escape ! A quantity of gunpowder formed part of the cargo; and when the ship's carpenter went below to examine the damage done, he found that the fire had stopped in one place within three or four inches of the nearest keg of powder. So it is that the lives and eternal destiny of hundreds often depend upon the issues of a single moment ; and there may be one amongst the number in jeopardy on M'hose account the swift and mighty hand of God works a silent and unseen miracle. Who will say that the deep and agonizing prayers of the widow and her praying children did not prevail with God, and save that living freight of human beings from the scorching flames and the devouring deep ? Twenty years

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after this events the steam-ship " Amazon " was burnt at sea with an awful loss of human life. Mr. West, at that time Secretary of the Methodist Tract Society, drew up a most touching and thrilling narrative of the event, in which he says, in allusion to the circumstances just related, " The compiler of the following account was himself, some twenty years ago, on board a burning ship in the midst of the stormy ocean, far from human aid; and, though a gracious Providence interposed to save, the occurrence is one never to be forgotten. The scene of alarm and confusion is indelibly printed in his memory, and the echo of those agonizing shrieks, and dolorous farewells, has not yet died away. He has thus been in some degree qualified to sympathize with the parties in this catastrophe, and to appreciate the thrilling interest of the scenes he here endeavours to describe."

The fire was not the only painful incident connected with the voyage. The crippled state of one of the masts, and a long calm on the banks of Newfoundland, lengthened out the period of the voyage so much, that for a considerable time before the arrival of the " Roger Stewart " at her destination, the passengers were placed on an exceedingly short allowance both of provisions 'and water.

At length, however, the family landed in health and safety at New York, and from thence began all the excitements and trials of a long journey of above four hundred miles into the interior of the country. In those days such a journey Avas full of romantic interest and adventure. The whistle of the locomotive had not then scared away the feathery inhabitants of the western forests to wilds still more remote. Populous towns and -s-illages now scattered along the route had then no existence, or were just beginning to start up. Slowly sailing along through the gorgeous scenery of the Grand Erie Canal, the traveller had ample opportunity for observation, and could feast his eye and mind on the beauties of the ever changing landscapes around him. All these scenes were riclily enjoyed by our young voyager; and being at that time exceedingly fond of and proficient in music, he spent many an hour in waking up the echoes of the overhanging cliffs with his plaintive performances on the flute. Indeed, the sprightliness and gentleness of his character made him a favourite with all his fellow-passengers, and his musical genius tended greatly to enliven the tedious monotony of the canal boat.

Having reached the town of Buffalo, an incident occurred quite illustrative of l\Ir. West's character in after years. At that time a large tribe of Indians were assembled in the town and its immediate neighbourhood, for the purpose of receiving their annual supply of blankets and other articles from the American Government. The house occupied by our

CHAPTER I.

family adjoined a field where numbers of the Indians were encamped during the night. Daniel, as was his usual practice, played his flute in the evening twilight ; but the Indians, hearing the sound, rushed to the house, and crowded round the doors and windows, to the great alax'm of his mother. She begged him to desist from playing ; but he only smiled pleasantly at her fears, and seemed greatly to enjoy the manifest wonder and excitement of his swarthy and savage-looking audience. Several unhappy collisions, however, taking place between the wild Red Men and the inhabitants of the town, the flute performances wei'e abandoned during the remainder of our stay in Buflalo.

Having arrived at their destination, a beautiful little village on the banks of Lake Erie, Daniel did not lose his religion nor his youthful zeal in the new sphere in which he now found himself. The following letter speaks for itself, and is the best index to the state of his heart at this period of his life.

" Dearest Uncle and Aunt,

" Your letter which we received this day has communicated to me, and to us all, the most unfeigned pleasure. You complain that you both feci so lonely and sorrowful ; but O, my dear uncle, how I lament there is no dear uncle to give us his kind advice, to gather us together and send up the song of thanksgiving to Almighty God for His mercies, and to take us to church, with all the appearance of a kind father ! O uncle, you are now far away from me, and from us all ; but though it is so, our heai'ts are knit to you by the most endearing ties. I trust we shall meet again. I feel the want of you both, and of my Christian friends. But I know God is here as well as with you, and He is mine. Remember me to Andrew Kelley, my only companion, — the only one, except ray relatives, to whom I could freely open my mind. I hope he continues in the work of the Sabbath school. I am going to one that is here on Sabbath; but as I know not how they proceed, I can tell you nothing of it, but I may at another time. Tell Andrew to remember me to the Teachers and Manager of the school, and to all my old friends.

" Yours in great love,

"Daniel West."

But the residence of the family in America proved to be of short duration. As neither the habits of the people nor the climate of the Ncav Country seemed to agree with the feelings or health of the beloved widowed mother, an immediate return to their native land Avas at once determined upon ; and another letter from Daniel to his imcle in Scotland will show the state of his mind, with the

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prospect before liim of a speedy return to his kind kindred and Clii'istian associates.

"Monroe, Jpril ISth, 1831.

" Dear Uncle,

" I AVAIL myself of this opportunity, being down at Monroe, of Tiriting a few lines to you, knowing it to be my mother's desire. The principal reason is to let you know that we cannot, in all probability, start from Ashtabula before the middle of May. The ice will not be off Lake Erie, nor will the vessels begin to run before that time. I am happy at the prospect of again seeing my uncle and aunt in my native country, with all those Christian friends whom I love. But yet when I look at the great dangers which lie in the prosecution of the journey, my heart would almost fail me. I look at the mighty ocean, its tremendous waves, from which I am separated only by a three-inch board ; — the advancing wave seems threatening to engulf our crazy bark. I tremble, but suddenly I remember the God of heaven and earth is everywhere present. I trust in Him, and my soul is calm on the tumultuous waves. My confidence is in Him. He can and will, I believe, conduct us safely across the Atlantic. Pray for us, and may the Lord bless you both ! Mother, as you may suppose, will feel a good deal at parting again with her two oldest sons. It will be a trial to her, but she considers she is in the way of duty. In my mother's name I give you her kind love and affection. May the Lord be with you and us! I long to see you all.

" Your unworthy

" Daniel West."

Such were the sentiments, and such the feelings, of a lad of sixteen. He was now beginning to act the part of a father to his younger brothers and sisters, and that under circumstances which required the grace and prudence of mature age.

The return to Scotland was accompanied by a simple, yet to the parties concerned an interesting, incident. Some time after the settlement of the family at Ashtabula, Mrs. West dreamt that she and her children should sail back to their native country in the same ship in which they had but recently arrived in America. There was at the time no intention or expectation of a return home. Nevertheless the dream literally came to pass. Returning to New York in due time, Daniel went along the busy wharves of the city, leading the writer by the hand, on the look out for a suitable vessel about to sail for the mother country. In the distance through the forest of masts, the wellremembered figure-head of the "Roger Stewart" was soon seen. She was just " laid on " for the Clyde, and was to sail in a week's time : cabins were immediately secured ; and once more the home c

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of the family was on the mountain deep, in the same ship, and under the same Captain, with whom they had voyaged before.

It may be well to pause here, and mark the hand of Providence in all these movements. Most probably Daniel West would never have been known as a Wesleyan Minister, had he been settled down in the wilds of the American woods. To all human appearance, the rough work of forest life and agricultural pursuits, such as he must have engaged in to some extent had he remained in America, would have checked at once the unfolding of those principles and talents which he already possessed. At all events the churches of his fatherland would have been deprived of those valuable services which he rendered in after life. And, above all, had he become a " BackM'oods-man " of the far west, he had not won on the strand of Africa a Missionai'y's honour, he had not been buried in a Missionary's grave, nor would he have been decked with a Missionary's crown of victory and glory. God was now leading His servant " by a way he knew not." His purposes — all unseen by human eye and unknown to human mind — were ripening fast. The Lord had work for His servant to do, very different from clearing a forest or making a fortune.

The wide Atlantic, then, has been once more crossed in safety ; and having been thus restored to the sanctified intercourse of his pious relations

EAKLY LIFE AND CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 19

and frieuds at " Deanside Brae," it was not long before the subject of our memoir was called into various fields of usefulness. In a short time he began to exhort and preach in the numerous towns and villages then included in the Glasgow Circuit. Like his beloved friend and brother, Mr. jNI'Lean, he also was deeply indebted to the clear and powerful instructions of his uncle for his correct and discriminating \'iews of Divine truth, and of the doctrines and discipline of the Wesleyan body in particular. He well knew how to profit by the counsels of such a friend, and' they proved a lasting benefit to him, both as a Chi-istian and as a Wesleyan Minister. At length the openings of Pro- ^ddence seemed to indicate that he would shortly be called upon to act in the latter capacity. He therefore applied himself to earnest and assiduous preparation for his " high calling of God in Christ Jesus." He devoted a lai'ge portion of his time to the study of the Greek Scriptm-es and the acquirement of an extensive fund of biblical knowledge. He had a faculty of quick perception and- rapid as well as lucid condensation of thought; and this, together with tlie possession of a retentive memorj', enabled him to acquire and retain all the varied information whicli came within his reach. He did not, however, run before he was sent. He felt that a call to the work of the ministry was a most solemn c 3

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thing, neither to be rashly entertained, nor lightlyesteemed.

The following letter to his uncle fully discloses the working of his mind and the inmost feelings of his heart at this eventful period. At the time the letter was written Mr. West was not quite twenty years of age.

" Monday night, twelve o'clock, " March 2nd, 1835.

"Very dear Uncle,

" I WAITED in from the Prayer-meeting, and came down to your house, for the purpose of talking with you on a subject which has for a considerable time occupied my mind. I did not meet with you, and therefore I now write, because you are the only friend with whom I can communicate on such a subject; because I am persuaded of your concern for my true interests ; and because I think you are capable and will be willing to advise me in such a case. I shall be as brief as possible. I am calm and serious, and the matter has been a subject of incessant and earnest prayer to that God with whom I have to do.

" You are aware that when I began to preach, and for some time after, I was considerably perplexed in my mind as to whether I was in the way of duty. Mentioning this to you, you said I could not know till I tried. I did try, and am as satisfied of doing what God required of me in preaching, as that I di-aw the breath of life ; and I think I may venture to say to xjou that God has borne testimony to the fact. But to the point. For the last six or eight months especially it has been deeply and po^Terfully impressed on my mind, that God calls upon me to give myself wholly up to this great and holy work. This impression was made and renewed under various circumstances, as in the country places, while in private pleading with the Lord that He would bless my feeble labours, or while hearing some particular part of a sermon, or while studying at home, or in seasons of retirement and meditation : at each of these seasons a powerful con^dction was wrought in my mind that such was the will of God concerning me. Still I endeavoured to smother or to banish the thought from me. This I might accomplish for a short period ; but again it would recur with redoubled strength. I became uneasy and thoughtful. Still I mentioned it to no living soul, nor had any one spoken to me about the subject. I then made it a subject of earnest prayer before God. The purport of my prayer was, that if this impression was from Him, He might deepen it, give me some e^ddence of it, and open up my M ay accordingly ; or, if such was not the case, that He would be pleased to deliver me from the feeling and from the distraction of mind