Romance without fiction...

Preface

JHESE sketches have been written at different times since 1853 ; some of them in Barbadoes, others in Paris, some upon the sea, and several in the Bahamas. They are not tales of fiction. All the persons mentioned in them were real actors on the stage of life, and all the events described were veritable occurrences. Should any hearts be moved to pity by reading these stories, it will not be pity wasted upon mere imaginary suffering. If tears of sympathy are called forth, they will not be shed over fanciful distress and ideal woe.

The narrative element possesses a subtle fascinating power, that accounts for the supremacy of the novel and the story above every other form of literary art. The omnivorous appetite that prevails in the nursery for such stories as "Jack the Giant Killer," "Little Red Riding- Hood/' and " Cinderella," is a silent acknowledgment of this power. Jack's insatiable love

6 Preface.

of yarns upon the forecastle is homage rendered to it. And the preference of Sundayscholars for story volumes, above all others that load the shelves of the library, is a tacit assertion of the enchanting influence. The story is at the bottom of the epic and the drama, and the most pleasing essays and disquisitions are those which embody brief stories for enlivenment and illustration. Even in the sacred volume the narrative element abounds, recognizing the fact that the taste for it has its basis in the depths of human nature.

It is hoped that this volume of truthful narrative will not only afford amusement and gratification to its readers, but serve also to deepen in many hearts an interest in the great work of Christian missions, by which the kingdoms of this world are to be subdued and won for the Prince of Peace.

Contents

Sketch Page

I. Prayer Answered 9

II. The Famine of the Word 38

II. The Famine of the Word

Sad are the sorrows that oftentimes come,

Heavy and dull, and blighting and chill, Shutting- the light from our heart and our home,

Marring our hopes and defjing our will. But let us not sink beneath the woe —

Tis well, perchance, we are tried and bowed ; For be sure though we may not oft see it below,

r HE eye that surveys Jamaica from the sea j^L\ rests upon a scene of surpassing grandeur. Clothed with perennial verdure, the range of mountains extending from east to west forms the great backbone of the island. Sloping gradually to the sea on either side, they tower to the clouds,' in which their summits are frequently shrouded ; while at other times their perfect outline, strongly marked against the clear, cloudless azure of a tropical sky, and seen through a calm, pellucid atmosphere, from a distance of forty or fifty miles, exhibits that beautiful, soft, dark-blue appearance which secured for them the designation of " the Blue Mountains.'' From the vast reservoirs which these majestic mountains embosom flow innumerable streams, often seen winding, like a silver thread, through the deep ravines, until their waters unite in a river of considerable magnitude, imparting unbounded fertility to the soil, and producing a luxuriance of vegetable life of which the denizens of more temperate zones can scarcely form an adequate conception. And it is always so. In these regions, where the icy grasp of winter is unknown and the evergreen cocoa-nut and cabbage-palms exhibit their lofty plumes in unchanging beauty, and the paroquet and tiny humming-bird flit about, where little change of temperature is experienced from January to December, we find the type of that better land — that uncorrupted paradise —

" Where everlasting spring abides, And never-withering flowers."

There stands in the center of Kingston, the commercial capital of this large and lovely island, a commodious place of worship, with a missionaries' residence under the same roof. It was originally the mansion of one of the city magnates. Partly through the contributions obtained by Dr. Coke in England and in the Island, and partly out of his own private fortune, which was never spared in God's cause, this convenient locality, with the buildings upon it, has been secured for the mission service, and adapted to the twofold purpose it is required to serve. The ground floor furnishes ample accommodation for a large family, with an extensive band-room attached. The upper part forms a commodious chapel, having a low gallery running partly around it. When completely filled this sanctuary receives fifteen hundred or sixteen hundred persons ; while the band-room, from which a broad staircase affords access to the chapel and a view of the pulpit and the preacher, will allow three hundred more from below to listen to the word of life.

God has hallowed this spot by making it the birthplace of many souls. Through his blessing on his truth nearly six hundred, in addition to those who have passed away to join the assembly before the throne, have been born to glory here, and now form a flourishing and increasing Church. Many of these are free colored and black people, formerly sadly ^debased by ignorance and vice. But not a few are slaves, who, while wearing the chains of an earthly owner, and degraded into chattels, have been brought, through the mighty energy of the Gospel, into spiritual liberty and elevated to the dignity of children and heirs of God. The blessed work still goes on, and souls, made wise unto salvation through faith in the crucified One, are being continually added to the Church.

When God works in saving men Satan rages, and his agents also become active to hinder or destroy the truth. Attempts have already been made by the legislative authorities, who are all slaveholders, to place insuperable barriers in the way of the instruction of the negroes and harass their teachers, and, if possible, drive them from the land. But the vigilance of Dr. Coke and the tolerant spirit prevailing in his Majesty's councils have hitherto rendered these efforts abortive, or prevented them from producing more than ternporary embarrassment and injury, inasmuch as the intolerant enactments of the local Legislature have been uniformly disallowed by the home Government.

But during the time these persecuting laws were suffered to come into operation, pending the decision of the Imperial Government concerning them, several missionaries have experienced the rigors of a Jamaica jail, and some of them, with health broken by persecution, or to avoid the penalty of perpetual imprisonment incurred by preaching to congregations comprising slaves, have been compelled to depart from the colony. Mob violence has also done its evil work. But that has been considerably checked by a startling event, which, for a season, made a powerful impression on many thoughtless minds. A fierce opposer of the missionaries, named Taylor, notorious for his profaneness and profligate habits, made several unsuccessful attempts to break up the congregation and injure the preacher. At this time, the chapel not having as yet been obtained, the people were accustomed to assemble in a private house in the lower part of the city, which could contain only a small portion of those who flocked to hear the truth. Many, therefore, were compelled to sit or stand both in the front and at the back of the premises. The persecutor having one evening, with his vicious companions, been foiled in the attempt to break up the meeting and hinder the service from going on, took his departure, giving utterance to a profane oath that he would come next Monday with his companions on horseback and " gallop over the crowd till he had trampled the accursed Methodists down to hell. ,, But God was beforehand with the blasphemer. At the very same hour the following Monday, when the people, many of them with great fear and trembling, were gathering, as usual, to worship God, the corpse of the persecutor, followed by many of the abettors of his wickedness, was borne to the church-yard for interment. God had smitten him down with fever. For some years after this a salutary dread of the Almighty arm, which had been so impressively uplifted, modified the rage of the persecutors.

But the work is growing, and it must be stopped ; for, say some, " People cannot pass through the streets of the city without being annoyed by singing and prayer." "These Methodists are at it all night; the orderly inhabitants cannot rest in their beds without being disturbed." " It must be put an end to." How to accomplish this is the question. Mob violence will not do : that has been tried, and it only makes the matter worse ; for the more the Methodists are opposed in this way the more they seem to increase. And, through the representations of parties in England, the home Government disallow every bill passed by the local- Legislature to prevent " this preaching and psalmsinging and teaching religion to slaves." "What can be done ? " " How shall we silence or get rid of these troublesome Methodists, or keep our slaves away from them ? "

There is great perplexity among the religionhating clique. At length a bright and lucky thought suggests itself to the mind of one of the persecutors. " The Common Council can do it.-" True, the corporation cannot stop the preaching in the country parishes, for their authority is limited to the city, and the Government in London are sure to reject and neutralize any law of the island containing clauses to that effect. But the missionaries can be silenced in the city, which is the head-quarters of the fraternity. With this new light upon the subject there is soon to be observed great activity among the enemies of the truth ; frequent meetings are held, and rumors begin to circulate that evil is impending over the Methodists. The Common Council possess authority from their charter to frame such ordinances as they may see fit for the maintenance of order and good government within the city, and that authority (whether legitimately or otherwise it matters little) may be made to cover such measures as are necessary to put an end to " this nuisance of praying and preaching,"

At the next meeting of the City Council there is a large gathering of the members. Lawyers have left their offices and merchants have deserted their counting-houses to be present, for the purpose to be accomplished is felt to be one of great interest and importance. The missionaries have heard something of the conspiracy formed to deprive them and their people of religious rights, and they also are alert to meet the crisis. But it is in vain they present themselves with a petition, and request to be heard against the passing of the contemplated ordinance. In vain they endeavor to secure such a modification of its worst provisions as will leave the people, who love the truth, some small remnant of liberty to worship God and hear his word. A few of the members of the Board are somewhat dubious concerning their right to enact such a law; but only one gentleman has courage openly to resist the meditated oppression. He unhesitatingly expresses it as his opinion that " not only is it wrong thus to trample upon the consciences and restrict the religious liberties of the Methodist people, but the corporation possesses no legal authority for taking such a course." Intolerance and wickedness are, however, permitted for a season to triumph. Yet there is a boundless Wisdom at work in these things, accomplishing its own purposes, and bringing much good out of the apparent evil.

The ordinance is passed by an overwhelming majority, and there is in it much of the subtlety of the old serpent. No religious service of any kind is permitted to be held in the city after sunset, or before six o'clock in the morning, under penalty of ^ioo for each offense, or three months' imprisonment in the common jail, the occupier of the premises used for such service being also liable to the same penalty. And at other times no person is to " presume to teach or preach, or expound the Holy Scriptures, or offer up public prayer, or sing psalms in any meeting or assembly of negroes or persons of color, not being duly authorized, qualified, or permitted ;" the city magistrates, who passed the ordinance, reserving to themselves the sole right of judging concerning such qualification, and of giving or withholding the required authority or permission.

The effect of this ordinance, which comes into immediate operation, is at once to cut off nearly the. whole of the unfortunate slaves from receiving any instruction whatever ; for there can be no religious service held, except on the Sabbath, between sunrise and sunset ; and the Sabbath is not theirs, nor a single hour of it, apart from the will of their owners. No law recognizes their right, or gives them opportunity, to keep holy the Sabbath day. They are absolutely under the control of their owners, and have no right except to labor, suffer, and die. The free colored and black people can assemble and join in the public worship of God, and hear words whereby they may be saved ; for as yet the attempt may not be prudently and safely made to deprive them of the Methodist services altogether. There are some among the city magistrates who do not heartily approve of the persecuting ordinance, and one who is strongly opposed to it. It will not, therefore, be good policy to push matters to an extremity too suddenly, lest inconvenient opposition should be aroused in their own body. But the purpose of the persecutors is to put a stop to the Methodist preaching and praying entirely; and assuredly it must be done. It is only a question of time, and the desired opportunity at length presents itself.

It is a day of gladness at the Coke Chapel Mission house. The hearts of the harassed missionaries, already in the field, have been cheered by the arrival of a fresh band of laborers from Europe, consisting of three missionaries and the wife of one of the number, after a long and tempestuous passage across the Atlantic. Such an event is always a gladsome one to the toil-worn ministers of the cross in a far-off land, especially when, as here, they have to prosecute their labors in the midst of great difficulties, and in the face of reproach and persecution. It is the evening of the day on which the new comers have landed, glad to be released from a tedious and uncomfortable confinement in the ship. They and the brethren who have welcomed them to the slave-land form a pleasant party. But little does it enter into the anticipations of any one among them that, within the lapse of a week, having only preached one sermon to the people among whom he hopes to prosecute a long and useful course of hallowed toil, that young missionary, whose countenance glows with the bloom of lusty health, and whose limbs are nerved with the vigor of youthful manhood, will, together with his young and lovely wife, be sleeping in the grave. Yet so it is to be. In the inscrutable arrangements of an unerring Providence, both of them, suddenly swept away from their labors, and from life, by yellow fever, before the week has elapsed, pass away in the same night, and enter with glorious triumph their Father's house above.

But no thought of this enters the mind of any of that happy group, which embraces all. the missionaries in the island. And it is well that a thick and impenetrable vail does conceal the future from our view, or how much more frequently would the enjoyments of life be marred !

The young missionary and his wife who are so soon to join the upper choir are found to possess voices of more than ordinary sweetness and power, and are well skilled in the beautiful melodies popular in the Methodist churches in England. It is with these delightful remembrances of home that the party is occupied, voices and spirits blending in sweetest harmony, and attracting many outside to listen to the pleasing sound. The evening speeds on, and they

" Forget All time, and toil, and care."

Not one of them observes that the dial indicates a quarter of an hour passed beyond those limits within which it is the will and pleasure of the Common Council that psalms and hymns may be sung or prayer offered in the district under their control. They are suddenly and disagreeably reminded of the fact by the unceremonious intrusion of a police officer, accompanied by one of the city magistrates, and a party of the town guard. By these rude and unwelcome visitors Messrs. Gilgrass and Knowlan, the resident missionaries, are taken into custody and marched off at. once to the cage. On the next day the younger of the two is released, but Mr. Gilgrass, as the occupier of the Mission house, being held guilty of violating the city ordinance, is sentenced to expiate the crime of singing Methodist hymns by a month's imprisonment in the city jail. The excellent wife of the culprit is permitted, as an act of special grace on the part of the civic dignitaries, to share her husband's punishment.

At the end of the specified time the persecuted missionary comes forth from his prison cell to find that another and a heavier blow has been struck at the cause of truth by the heartless oppressors of the slave. Three years have elapsed since the last intolerant law enacted by the island legislative authorities ceased to operate, in consequence of its disallowance by the sovereign in council, and now another attempt is made to prevent missionary instruction being given to the slaves. In hope of being able to elude the vigilance of the friends of missions in England, the Legislature, sanctioned in their oppressive policy by Sir Eyre Coote, the governor, (such men deserve all the immortality which the press can give to their evil works,) have embodied in an act entitled " The Consolidated Slave Law," several clauses intended to shut up the negro in hopeless ignorance, by preventing the Christian missionary from approaching him with the word of life. This wicked law subjects " every Methodist missionary, or other sectary or preacher," who shall presume to instruct the slaves, or receive them into their " houses, chapels, or conventicles, of any sort or description," to a fine of " twenty pounds for every slave found to have been there," or " perpetual imprisonment until such fines are paid."

Such a persecuting enactment is not more likely to receive the approval of the king in council than others of a similar character which have preceded it, and have been disallowed, if its true character and tendency become known. It is not likely to escape the observation of the watchful friends of the slave, that this act is intended to impart greater intensity to the oppression that crushes him down, and the designs of its originators w T ill be baffled. But their evil purposes will be so far accomplished that the act will come into operation for some time, pending the decision of the home Government concerning it. Thus an opportunity and pretext will be given for working great annoyance and injury to the missionaries and their flocks during many months that must elapse before the fate of the bill can be officially made known. The result soon becomes apparent. It is not possible to keep the negroes out of the chapels when they are opened for public service, and to avoid the penalty of perpetual imprisonment — since it is not practicable for them to pay the fines imposed by the new law — the missionaries are compelled for the present to desist from their public labors. Excepting that in the city, all the chapels in the islands are closed, and cease to echo the voice of prayer and praise, and the proclamation of mercy and salvation to the peeled and plundered slaves.

Coke Chapel still resounds with the delightful exercise of Christian worship. This privilege, however, is secured to some of the free population only by the harsh precaution of placing persons at each door of the building to prevent the entrance of any unfortunate slave. It is often touching and heartrending in the extreme to hear the pleadings and remonstrances of these deeplywronged children of Africa, thus driven from- the footstool of God. They can scarcely be made to understand the cruel necessity that exists of excluding them from the holy place without such explanations being entered into as would lay open the person giving them to the capital charge of constructive treason. It is a capital crime to render slaves dissatisfied w r ith their condition or with the law. But thus it must be until the dawning of better times, or the sanctuary must be altogether closed. Nor is it long before this further great w r rong is also perpetrated, and the voice of the preacher is hushed, and there is silence in the house of the Lord.

The enemies of religion in the city have merely waited for the opportunity of conveniently accomplishing their evil purposes, and now the time has arrived. A few weeks only have elapsed since the infamous " consolidated slave law " came into operation, shutting up all the chapels in the rural districts, when the missionaries in Kingston are summoned before their old adversaries of the Common Council, to show their qualification and authority for preaching in the city. Exhibiting certificates which show that they have taken the oaths and subscribed the declarations required by the toleration laws of England, they claim to be duly qualified ; but are met with the inquiry, " What are the laws of England to us ? " They are then informed that they will be allowed to preach no more, under the heavy penalties specified in the city ordinance, until they are duly licensed by the magistrates of the city.

A respectful application is then and there made to the bench for such a license as the magistrates consider to be necessary ; which calls forth the peremptory response, " Indeed, you will not get one." Thus, by a godless, persecuting oligarchy, are ministers and people deprived of their religious rights as British subjects ; and the public worship of the Almighty is held to be a crime, and treated as such.

At the court of quarter sessions, held during the following month, a similar application is made. But care has been taken that the bench shall be occupied only, or chiefly, by those who belong to the faction opposed to religion and religious teaching. To the sorrow of hundreds, the missionaries are scornfully driven from the court, menaced with a most rigid enforcement of the penalties imposed by the persecuting ordinance, if they dare, in any way, to violate its provisions by preaching, praying, or singing among the people.

For a season, Satan has triumphed. Intolerance and oppression are rampant throughout the land, and. the enemies of the Gospel are every-where jubilant. There is sorrow in the habitations of the just; and a dense gloom has darkened the prospects of many a poor negro, who has been permitted to catch a glimpse of the distant immortality beyond this vail of suffering and woe, only, as it now appears, that it may be lost to him forever. From Manchioneal in the east, to Negril in the west, no Christian sanctuary now opens its portals where the poor slave can hear of Jesus and the cross, the pardon of sin, and the bright and better land where there is no curse, and the weary are at rest, and God himself doth wipe away the tears from all eyes. True, there are men in the land called rectors of parishes ; but troops of illegitimate mulatto children deriving their paternity from them, and their own mangled and murdered slaves, proclaim, in too many instances, that these are no ministers of Christ's pure Gospel ; and that for the injured, disconsolate negro to go to them for instruction or comfort would be like expecting to find grapes on thorns, or figs on thistles.

There are buildings called parish churches that might possibly contain one in five hundred of the population of the parish. But it is no uncommon thing for these to remain closed, without minister or congregation, for months together. Slight, indeed, is the loss sustained when it is so ; for, at best, the light in these sanctuaries is scarcely enough to make the darkness visible. Nor do these ministers even consider that any beyond the thinly-scattered whites of the population form a portion of the charge with which they are concerned. All the hopes of the sons and daughters of Africa, whether bond or free, so far as religious instruction and the joys and blessings of religion are concerned, center in the missionary. Now, alas ! he is silent ; and it is a dubious question whether the existing generation will ever be permitted again to hear, in public, the voice of the Lord's servant, pointing the weary, sin-burdened soul to the atoning Lamb of God.

The months roll on, and repeated efforts have been made to remove the restrictions laid upon the worship of God in the city, and afford the people the opportunity, so ardently desired by them, of hearing again the preaching of God's saving truth. The governor has been appealed to. But the man who could put his signature to the " consolidated slave law, and so pervert the power unworthily vested in him as the representative of the crown as to sanction and aid the wicked purposes of a persecuting slave oppressing faction, could have no disposition, even if he possessed the power, to interpose between the injured missionaries with their flocks and the municipal authorities. From him no help can be obtained. It is a case in which he has no authority, the city magistrates not being subject to his control. They do not, like the general magistracy of the island, receive their commissions from the crown, but from popular election. At several successive quarter-sessions the missionaries apply for licenses, such as the Common Council may consider sufficient to warrant them in the exercise of their ministry in the city ; but with no result, except a stern, indignant refusal.

A year and a half has passed away since the voice of any missionary has been heard in public within these shores. In the rural districts, the societies that had been gathered, with many prayers and tears, have been scattered. They consisted largely of slaves, and it has been impossible to hold among them religious services of any kind. The deserted sanctuaries in which they loved to hear of the things of God, and where they had often experienced the elevating, hallowing influences which threw athwart the dark gloom of their condition bright gleams of hope, and the only rays of comfort whereof their sad and wretched state was susceptible, now stand in silence and solitude ; serving but to remind them, when passing by, of their own utter desolation, and tempting them to believe that they are not only foully wronged by man, but abandoned of God. They no longer even look upon their teachers, for the silenced ministers, unable to gain any access to their people, have departed to other scenes of toil.

In the city it is somewhat different. The sanctuary is closed, the pulpit vacant, and the missionary's voice no longer heard in public devotion. But two of these servants of Christ remain at the post of duty assigned to them, until one is compelled through sickness to take his departure. They cannot preach or pray, or even sing a hymn, openly; but they can visit from house to house, among those who are not in bondage, and converse with them on the things of God. Now and then they can minister a word of comfort and encouragement to the down-cast slave as he crosses their path; and occasionally, when no malignant eye is upon them, they can kneel in secret prayer with their sorrow-stricken charge. Best of all, the Lord is working with them ; and they are not without many delightful proofs of his almighty power to save.

But the persecuting " consolidated slave bill ! " What has become of that? Measures have been taken in England, by the friends of missions, to expose the hypocrisy of its pretensions, and make known its real character and tendency to the members of the privy council ; and his majesty has been petitioned to disallow it, and give to the thousands of his slave-subjects in Jamaica the right to hear of and to worship God. But more than a year has elapsed, and no official intelligence has been communicated to the Government of the enactment of such a law. When inquiry is made, it transpires that the time-serving governor of Jamaica, Sir Eyre Coote, expecting that the unrighteous enactment will certainly be disallowed, has so far pandered to the evil passions and purposes of the planters as designedly to keep it back, and thus allow the longest possible time for the enemies of slave instruction to carry its oppressive clauses into effect, and break up and scatter the missionary Churches. This, however, can be done no longer. After being in operation more than a year and a half, it is at last duly presented to the privy council, from whom it receives its wellmerited fate. The gladsome news circulates through the land that his majesty in council has disallowed the vile law, and f it is no longer a crime, punishable with a heavy penalty, to preach the Gospel to slaves. Much injury has been done by the scattering of these poor sheep* but many of them soon gladly assemble together, and the people go up again with joyful hearts to worship Jehovah in his temples.