Gospel reniniscences in the West Indies...

Chapter I

In the year 1840, John Meyer arrived, with his no less devoted fellow -labourer and wife, our still surviving sister in the Lord, in Demerara, from Switzerland ; and it was the sultry clime of British Guiana, acting upon his already ardent temperament, which caused a periodical excitement of mind and feeling that often weakened his testimony, hindered his usefulness, and preyed upon his spirits ; yet (so marvellous are the ways of God), rendered him a fitter instru ■ nient for manifesting His own power, and

B displaying the fruits of this dear suffering brother's ministry more palpably to be " God's husbandry," " God's building."

Our departed brother was a man of much intellectual power, with great ability in acquiring languages : he was also deeply read in the word of God, upon which he relied as his alone directory of faith and action, as well as the inventory of his riches, hopes, and armour for the present strife ! But what most distinguished him, and reigned triumphantly over his infirmities to the last, was his confident enjoyment of that abounding love which had saved him, a lost sinner, — his implicit faith in the word and promises of our adorable Saviour, — his intense desire for carrying out the testimonies of His love to others, — and his delight in being a successful messenger of peace to poor sinners.

During his residence of nearly three years on the banks of Demerara river, and the east coast of the colony, he suffered much from repeated attacks of fever, but was energetically occupied in the instruction of black children, and preaching the gospel to hundreds.

His peculiar power was in proclaiming the love of God to sinners in the gift of His dear Son, with the free and full remission of all sin to every one who believed in the name of Him

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whose once shed blood maketh atonement ; and wherever he did thus preach, the hand of the Lord was with him, so that he has left proofs of his ministry wherever he has been thus used. The writer of these pages well remembers being exceedingly refreshed in spirit, when called by him to afternoon conversations with those whom God had just brought out from darkness to light through his ministry, by the evidently deep impressions made upon their hearts through conviction of their own wickedness, and the riches of that grace, which, by the efficacy of Jesus' atoning blood, pardoned and delivered from all.

As this is written expressly for the glory of God, not for the exaltation of man, the writer would not keep back the fact, that the Christian brother of whose ardent zeal, simplicity of faith, and sufferings, this memoir speaks, laboured under the pressure of eccentric sensitiveness and nervous irritability, which shortened, through unnecessary sufferings of mind and body, his brief but useful career.

Early in the year 1843, John Meyer left a settlement of blacks on the east coast of Demerara, — where he had resided five months, and had been already blessed to the salvation of a few souls who received the grace of God, — to reside at T — M — , on the Essequibo coast, for the purpose

LABOURS OF JOHK MEYEH of teaching a school and preaching the gospel in the neighbourhood.,

Some time previously, his mind had been much exercised about the benighted state of the scattered Indian tribes who inhabit the vast forests and savannahs of Guiana. These neglected people had been brought under his notice several times. Once, when residing on the east coast, on recovering from a severe attack of fever, he visited, for change of air, in company with a young brother in the Lord (now labouring among the blacks with much blessing) the inland portion of the Mahaica river, or creek, as it is generally called, at the head of which there are many Indians located. At another time he visited with a devoted Christian brother, — Mr. C — A — , of whom more hereafter, — the highest parts of Demerara river, where, also, are many Indians. Again, he resided a few weeks with a dear Christian minister at a mission to Indians of the English establishment, up the Essequibo river. Hearing, therefore, that Arrawack Indians had settlements on the edge of a lake not far from T — M — , he took the first leisure day to seek out these, his ignorant fellow-sinners, with the desire of laying before them their perishing, guilty state, in common with us all by nature, accompanied by the testimony that

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" God has so loved the world, as to give His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should never perish ! "

Being successful in finding several small Indian companies, of whom some knew a little English, particularly the chief and his sister, he prevailed upon the chief, after much conversation, to send his son, who bore the English name Robert, and upon his sister to allow an orphan boy under her charge, named Henry, to attend his school, himself engaging to give them food and raiment. From this time he felt such deep commiseration for these poor Indians, so ignorant of their true condition, I may say, of either their danger or privileges, as lost sinners — the danger of that wrath revealed against all unrighteousness of men — the privileges of that redemption revealed in Jesus Christ for the lost and guilty, even the forgiveness of sins through His blood, ; — that, constrained by the love of Christ who had caused him to triumph over his sins, and rejoice in his heavenly inheritance, he purposed in the strength of the Lord to do his utmost to make them acquainted with the grace of God that bringeth salvation.

Many of these Indians appearing next Sunday, Meyer proposed, after preaching the gospel in the meeting-room, to give them all special

b 2 instruction in the English language, by which he also hoped to acquire the Arrawack tongue. Their numbers increased from Sunday to Sunday, until the attendance amounted to fifty ; and the two boys improved so rapidly, that, before the year ended, Robert could read and write well, Henry not being far behind. In the mean time they generally had about ten Indian children staying with them every week ; of which Meyer assiduously availed himself in acquiring their language, and soon progressed beyond his expectation. Taking from the children 25 words at a time, and retiring to some lonely place, he committed them all to memory. In his visits to the Indians at their habitations near the Lake, he w T as also unwearied, instructing them, and taking down their words ; and soon had he good hope that some were feeling their sin before God, and had their hearts drawn towards Him* through faith in Him whom He had sent to be the propitiation for our sins, through faith in His blood.

Thus far all went on happily, when a circumstance was suffered to happen which operated, we trust only for a season, in respect to some of their number, in drawing off their hearts from truth to error, — from the wheat to the chaff, by what Paul declares is not another

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gospel. The clergyman of the neighbourhood, who, most unhappily for himself and others, believed that salvation consists in rites and ceremonies, not in the grace of God received by faith in the precious blood of Christ, hearing of John Meyer's visits to the Indians, and their constant attendance on him, went himself to their abodes, bringing with him the highest authority the Indian's natural capacity was able to realize, both ecclesiastical and secular ; declaring their great error and folly in attending the instructions of a poor unauthorized man. He bade them mark who ever attended his ministrv — none, scarcely, but a few black persons ! He asked them, " By whose authority does he preach ? What has he yet done for you ? Has he made you Christians ? Are you baptized yet after all his teaching?" and added, "Now if you come to me, if you learn to repeat what I teach, you shall be baptized and made Christians ; I shall then baptize your children also, and join you to your wives according to law, and you will all be good Christians." Such kinds of persuasion were used, and at length successfully. The word of grace, by our brother Meyer, had not reached their hearts, perhaps through his deficiency of language. Thesfe appeals to their senses were more easily appreliended : and some, on repeating unintelligently in broken English, the Lord's prayer and the Belief, being admitted to baptism, gradually the whole of them left, and, with their children, became Christians according to the idea of him to whose teaching they had submitted. " But," remarks his surviving fellow-labourer, "he never thought of these poor Indians before my dear husband sought them out ; neither did he yearn over their immortal souls, as my husband did, more than for the common necessaries of life ! Oh, those dear boys, Robert and Henry, I can yet see ; the last Sunday one alone came, of whom we had great hopes. God grant I may meet him in heaven, I should know him at the first sight."

This was a severe blow to the sensitive mind of John Meyer. He was much cast down and perplexed at this unexpected end to his first labours in the gospel towards the Indians, solely from his concern for the souls of those who were thus abruptly taken away from hearing the truth ; for their everlasting welfare had been as much on his heart as his own ; and while it increased his already great abhorrence of that leaven of the Scribes and Pharisees which had corrupted and leavened the current Christianity, it determined him on immediately

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seeking another place among the Indians, where he might preach the grace of God in its Bible purity without interruption.

His labours, however, among these Indians thus decoyed from him, had not been in vain. He had acquired some knowledge of, and ability for speaking, the Arrawack language, and believing himself now called to spend the rest of his life among the Indians, he resolved, trusting in the help and blessing of God, to go forth on such a mission, depending on Him alone, and to seek the Indians far in their native forests. Thus purposed in his mind, he set off, with some changes of raiment, his Bible, and vocabulary of Arrawack words, which he had diligently acquired, and carefully arranged in a kind of tin knapsack, constructed under his own orders, strapped over his shoulders, and a few dollars in his pocket, leaving his wife with his two little children under the kind care of a dear brother and sister in the Lord, who resided at T — M — , where she still kept the weekly school.

Our brother Meyer now shaped his course for Demerara, at the head of which river he purposed to penetrate the forests in search of Indians, to whom he believed the Lord would enable him to impart the knowledge of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, and many of whom, though now afar off, he hoped soon to see " made nigh by the blood of Christ/' and become " fellow -citizens with the saints and of the household of God.' 5 It was not without much prayer and great confidence in God that he undertook this journey, believing that He in whom he trusted would show him a wide field for publishing the gospel of peace to sinners, into which He would cause him to enter, and find also an habitation for his wife and children.

He was brought on his way by the brethren in George Town, at Peter's Hall, and the Craig, at which several places he called on his way up the river, but it was the faithful brother and servant of Christ, C — A — , he sought as the one to whom he desired more fully to unfold the purpose of his heart, and whose sympathies and prayers he desired to enlist in the service before him.

Our brother C — A — , made acquainted with his purpose, entered into it with all his spirit, and desiring in every way to be his fellow-helper, especially by prayer, accompanied him, with several devoted and faithful negro brethren, three days' journey into the wilderness, where they remained with him many days, then leaving him alone with the Indians, returned to the river, and so to their homes. But I will give the account of this interesting journey in our brother C — A — \s own words.

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November 28, 1843.

" Our firm conviction was that we were led on by the gracious hand of Him who, having rolled off the sin of the world, commanded His servants to preach to every creature 6 repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ/ offering in His name remission of sins to all who will believe the gospel. At every stage of our way we sought in prayer together to know the mind of the Lord, praying that His will might be followed, and ours completely set aside : and, blessed be His holy name, we had no reason to doubt throughout our fatiguing journey of our being in the path where He could both go before, and be our rereward.

" On the evening of the 3rd of November we arrived at Berlin, from the Glasgow, and had a comforting time together with a few believers. Here we gathered strength and girded up our loins for what lay before us. On the 4th we reached Lucky Spot, and met believers again for prayer and comfort in the love of God. On the 5th, the first day, we broke bread with the Christians worshipping there, and proceeding on the 6th reached Urawly Cobra, an Indian settlement on the river side, upwards of 100 miles from George Town. The following days we travelled

LABOURS OF JOHN METER upwards, passing over the falls, and, having called at several small Indian settlements, reached at last one called Arawa, where we remained, and were hospitably entertained. I should have said that our brother John Meyer preached in the Arrawack language at each place, and was understood.

" On the 8th of November we descended the river to Urawly Cobra again, and spoke much to the Indians there of Christ. We stayed here the 9th to give all time for preparation to make our journey to the savannah. On the 10th, having made ourselves as light as possible, by laying aside all unnecessary furniture, either for our dress or hammock convenience, and feeling we were indeed under the protecting hand of Him in whose service we had set out, our guide, an Arrawack Indian, followed by his wife, led us into the forest. We started at 8 a.m. and walked till 4 p.m., with one short interval of rest. We had then arrived on the edge of a small open savannah, and, having a good supply of water at hand, thoroughly wearied, we hung up our hammocks to the trees and rested for the night. On the 11th we set forward at 7 a.m., and at 1 p.m., with blistered feet and well tired bodies, we reached a house in the midst of the burning sands, and rested for the day. On the morning

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of the 12th we set off once more, hoping soon to reach the Indian settlement to which we travelled. This we effected after four hours' painful walking without shoes (for by this time shoes had become intolerable), leaving our brother Meyer about five miles distant, having such a violent head-ache, that he could proceed no further. This was the only ailment he had the whole time I was with him, and it was but of short duration, for, in the goodness of the Lord, we had the pleasure of welcoming bim among us early on the following morning, with the black brother who had remained to serve him.

" Here then, being all together, we had many opportunities of preaching to these poor brethren, myself in English to those who understood it, Meyer in their native tongue, to whom they paid very great attention. One of them went so far as to tell me, 'They will believe it sir, them all shall believe you.' Our heavenly Father supplied us at this place with fresh meat every day through the Indians, as they were always successful in hunting during my stay.

" The readiness these, in general, apathetic beings evinced to hear the gospel on this occasion was remarkable. Fearing to annoy by calling them together too often, we limited our invitations to every second day, but they came

c themselves, and entreated us to preach the gospel every day while we remained.

" Having been now together here for eight days, at the earnest request of Meyer, and both of us concluding it to be of the Lord, I left him with the Indians on the 20th of November, and, with the three black brethren and sister, set out to return by the way we had come.

" Dear Meyer had, when I left him, two dollars, a hammock, a change of clothes, a pair of shoes, pen, ink, and paper, with his Arrawack vocabulary much enlarged, with notes for the construction of a grammar in that language, through which he hoped the Lord would enable him to teach these gentiles the riches of Christ. The shoes were of no immediate use, as neither of us could wear them after the second day's journey, from the soreness of our feet. With such provision, through the help of the Lord in whom he trusted, he hoped to find his way to the river Berbice, or, if not, to some of the small rivers or creeks that lie between, which would bring him to the neighbourhood of the Indians he had formerly seen at the head of Mahaica Creek. Having, however, already crossed a small creek which the Indians said flowed into the Berbice, we thought it probable this place might at some future time be reached from thence by water.

"We both thought that if our mission were generally known among the Indians, and their confidence obtained, though we had not jet seen many more than twenty, the Lord might draw together hundreds to hear the gospel of His grace, and oh, what a rich sheaf might be gathered by our Lord from among them at the time of harvest! Surely it must be for good that the Lord allows the spirits of his servants to be so fervent when praying for them. Our dear brother told me that he felt more liberty than he ever enjoyed in his spirit, and better health in body. He said, he would gladly spend his life in serving the Lord among these dear people (if it were His will,) and believed he could endure the climate and fatigue in the service. And who can say that the mission, however insignificant it may appear in contrast with others, is not the opening of a door by the Lord Himself to a people among whom the feet of those who bear the glad tidings never yet trod, the light of the love of Jehovah Jesus never shone? If the Lord open an effectual door, who can shut it ?

" After leaving our brother Meyer with the Indians as before stated on the 20th, we, through the mercy of God, arrived safe at Urawly Cobra on the banks of the Demerara, from whence we had started on the evening of the 22nd."

While C — -A — and his little party of blacks proceeded down the river to the Glasgow estate, and, gathering the church together, gave thanks to God and rehearsed these things in their ears, brother Meyer was kindly conducted from one settlement to another, at each of which he spake to the Indians in their own tongue,"of the ruin wrought by sin, and redemption through Jesus Christ. At length he reached a village on the banks of the Berbice river, called Kumaka, where many had been collected for a great feast: the feast was over the day before he arrived, and the Indians were taking a day's rest before breaking up their assembly. Meyer, arresting the attention of one principal man, declared " he had come with a message from God, that God loved them, that they were sinners against God exceedingly, but that God had given His Son to die for their sins — that He had now risen again, and opened the kingdom of heaven for all who, confessing their sins, believed on Him and His atoning blood for pardon." The Indian went round and told them that the white man was come with a message from God, and he repeated what Meyer had said. Upon this they all came to him, offering their hands, then brought up their children and made them offer their little hands to him, then they sat around, and he spoke to m BRITISH GUIANA.

them of Jesus and the resurrection. When he paused in his discourse the Indians at first would speak, till one of them said, " We must not speak, we must all hear," then they were all attention till he had concluded. Here he remained some days, speaking the word to all, and, having expended his money, they freely gave him all he needed for food, and asked him to come and live among them, which he desired to do, feeling very strongly that now God had given him a place of service among those over whom his heart had so long yearned.

Accepting the offer of a lad who was proceeding in his batteau a short way down the river, he was conveyed to a wood-cutting settlement a few miles below Kumaka, where a white man, with many blacks and a few Indians, resided ; here they were very kind to him. The white man allowed him to preach the gospel on his premises to the neighbours, and afterwards gave him breakfast. Our brother being now desirous of proceeding homewards by way of New Amsterdam, the town at the entrance of the Berbice river, from whence he might obtain a passage to Demerara in some coasting vessel, sought assistance in descending the river, and, having no money, looked up to the Lord. The white man showed him that if he took a batteau from thence

c 2 the river was so circuitous, that, after paddling many miles he would reach a small settlement only three miles from where he then was ; he advised him therefore to walk these three miles through the forest, and there seek assistance to proceed further down. To this Meyer agreed, and the white man, conducting him to a path which led into the wood, directed him carefully to follow it, and then left him to walk on alone. This the Indians had never done, knowing how very difficult it is for a stranger to keep the forest track. Meyer, with his hammock and pack on his shoulders, walked on, but soon must have left the path and wandered from the right course, indeed, he acknowledged that more than once he came upon his own steps again. It is exceedingly difficult, if once you deviate but a few yards from the faint track in these unfrequented forests, to recover it again, while the lofty trees so obscure the light of the sun that it is impossible to correct your course by that. He walked with little intermission the whole of that day ; when the sun set he hung up his hammock to the trees, and fell in that to sleep. At morning light he sought direction from the Lord, and pursued his journey, literally not knowing whither he went, without food or water. In the afternoon he came upon two pine-apples which

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he ate, as also many berries. As the shades of night closed in around him again, he swung his hammock to the trees, and commending himself to the Lord who bought him, slept till morning. At break of day he cried unto the Lord for help, and besought Him not to let him die in the forest thus, if his death should discourage or stumble others, and cause them to think his humble mission to the Indians had not been of Him or for His name. He then set forth again, looking to the Lord for guidance, and in the afternoon, to his great joy, lighted upon the banks of a small creek or river, where also he discovered recent traces of people and the remains of a fire. Here, then, being very faint, leaves and berries his only food, he determined to remain, as, if he died here, his body was sure of being one day found, and, taking out his writing materials, he wrote down a journal of all that had happened since his brother C— A — left him, giving a full account of himself, with directions to whom all his papers and effects were to be conveyed. Then he hung up his hammock, and thus ended the third day, when, exceedingly happy in the Lord, though hungry and faint in body, Jesus gave His beloved sleep. The whole of the next day he lived principally on leaves, being afraid to search for berries in the wood

c 4 lest he should lose his way, and his body lie concealed in the forest ; for he thought it his duty to arrange if possible that his body and papers might be found, for the satisfaction of his wife and brethren. On the morning of the fifth day he was too weak to leave his hammock or to gather leaves ; persuaded that his hour was now come to leave his body, he commended his spirit to Him who had loved him and given Himself for him, who had given unto him eternal life, and would raise his body at the last day ; he felt that he had life in Him who was risen from the dead, that he could not die, but should rest in Him whom he loved and served, yea, that he should find life in thus losing it. While thus reposing his soul by faith in Jesus' bosom, he was startled by the report of a gun near him ; he listened awhile, when he heard a sound of voices on the water ; raising himself in his hammock, he perceived on the creek a canoe full of Indians approaching ; he then, gathering all his remain^ ing strength, shouted and waved his hand ; they came to the shore and approached him in his hammock ; he made the signs of hunger, and they brought from their canoe ready cooked fish for him to eat, from the creek also water to refresh his thirst. After awhile, reviving a little, he told them his story, and how he was lost in

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the forest when seeking his way by the side of the river Berbice. They told him he had wandered far to the Abarry Creek, by the banks of which he then lay (this is the boundary between Demerara and Berbice counties) ; they then took him with all his things to their canoe, and conveyed him safely down the stream to their own village, where every attention was paid to him by their women to restore his strength, and where he remained all the next day. The following morning the Indians took him through an old canal into the Berbice river, and brin^ino; him to a missionary station about 10 miles from the town of New Amsterdam, left him with the

missionary there. Mr. D , of the London

Missionary Society, and his wife, received him in the name of a disciple with much Christian love. There he soon recruited his strength and enjoyed Christian fellowship, exchanging his

thoughts freely with Mr. D on Christian

missions, on Committee management, on appointed salaries, and on the introduction of the arts and sciences as handmaids of the gospel, brother Meyer expressing his desire to be used of God in bringing the Indians to Christ, just as they were, and then the new life they would possess in Him would regulate their future manners and ways.

This kind Christian brother gave Meyer five dollars, and procured a passage for him to New Amsterdam, from whence he arrived safely in George Town on the night of December 17th, making the 27th day since our brother C. A. left him far in the interior with the Indians, alone. On the morning of December 18th he sailed for T — M — on the Essequibo coast, from whence he had set out six weeks before, and we may well imagine how our Christian friends resident there, with his own wife and children, joyfully received him.

Thus had the Lord indeed led him out and brought him back, giving him every earnest and encouragement that He would use him and sustain him as His servant in the gospel to the Indians, if he went forth in faith.

I particularly remark the dealings of the Lord with John Meyer after he had, in his destitution at the white man's place, sought unto Him for help. Had he reached his destination, which he might in an hour and a half at most, he might have been a beggar both for food and passage the whole way to Amsterdam. His character and mission unknown and unappreciated, he might have met with insult and neglect ; whereas, having sought unto the Lord, He led him certainly to all appearance out of the way many