Part 17 (1/2)
CHAPTER LIV
FIRST PEEP AT THE ”DAYSPRING”
WE embarked at Liverpool for Australia in _The Crest o' the Wave_, Captain Ellis; and, after as then considered a fast passage of ninety-five days, we landed at Sydney on 17th January, 1865 Within an hour we had to grapple with a new and a_ cao and now lay in the stream,--that she had been to the Islands, and had settled the Gordons, M'Cullaghs, and Morrisons on their several stations,--that she had left Halifax in Nova Scotia fourteenat Sydney, he could not get one penny offor their pay, etc etc He continued, ”Where shall I get e the _Dayspring_ I fear there is nothing before us but to sell her!” I gave hiht hiht be done
Having landed, and been heartily welcomed by dear Dr and Mrs Moon and other friends, I ith a kind of tre_, like a sailor getting a first peep at the child born to him whilst far away on the sea Some of the irritated shi+p's company stopped us by the way, and threatened prosecution and all sorts of annoyance I could only urge again for a few days' patience I found her to be a beautiful two-antine, with a deck-house (added when she first arrived at Melbourne), and every way suitable for our necessities,--a thing of beauty, a white-winged Angel set a-floating by the pennies of the children to bear the Gospel to these sin-darkened but sun-lit Southern Isles To , the i love in the heart of thousands of ”shareholders”; and I said, with a deep, indestructible faith,--”The Lord has provided--the Lord will provide”
Since she sailed, 1400 had been expended; for present liabilities at least 700 e a sum to pay her way andlaid our perplexing circu ”spread out” all the details in His sy that the shi+p itself and the new Missionaries were all His own, not mine, I told Him that this money was needed to do His own blessed work
On Friday , I consulted friends of the Mission, but no help was visible I tried to borrow, but found that the lender demanded 20 per cent for interest, besides the title-deeds of the shi+p for security I applied for a loan froent for us too) on the credit of the Reforn Coive it without a written order from Scotland There were some who seemed rather to enjoy our perplexity!
Driven thus to the wall, I advertised for aat eleven o'clock, to receive _ I relatedthem and the results, and then asked for advice about the shi+p
”Sell her,” said some, ”and have done with it”--”What,” said others, ”have the Sabbath Schools given you the _Dayspring_ and can you not support her yourselves?”
I pointed out to them that the salary of each Missionary was then only 120 per annuave their lives for the Heathen, and that surely the Colonial Christians would undertake the up-keep of the shi+p, which was necessary to the very existence of the Mission I appealed to them that, as my own Church in Scotland had now one Missionary abroad for every six Ministers at home, and the small Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia had actually three Missionaries now on our Islands, it would be a blessed privilege for the Australian Churches and Sabbath Schools to keep the _Dayspring_ afloat, without whose services the Missionaries could not live nor the Islanders be evangelized
Being Saturday, the ed for, or advertised; but Dr M'Gibbon offered , and Dr Steel an afternoon Service at three o'clock, combined with his Sabbath School Rev Mr Patterson of Pier Service; but, as his was only a Mission Church, he could not give s I accepted, as from the Lord, howeverService I inforation hoere situated, and expressed the hope that under God and their devoted pastor they would greatly prosper, and would yet be able to help in supporting our Mission to their South Sea neighbors Returning to the vestry, a lady and gentleman waited to be introduced to me They were from Launceston, Tasmania
”I a at anchor opposite the _Dayspring_ My wife and I, being too late to get on shore to attend any Church in the city, heard this little Chapel bell ringing, and folloe saw you going up the hill We have so enjoyed the Service We do heartily sy to help you out of your difficulties”
The reader knoarmly I would thank them; and how in my own heart I knew _Who_ it was that made them arrive too late for _their_ plans, but not for _His_, and led them up that hill, and opened their hearts
Jehovah-Jireh?
At three o'clock, Dr Steel's Church was filled with children and others I told them in my appeal what had happened in the Mission Chapel, and how God had led Captain Frith and his wife, entire strangers, to sound the first note of our deliverance One ive 5” A third, ”I shall send you 20 to-” Several others followed their exa
In the evening I had a very large as well as syation I fully explained the difficulty about the _Dayspring_, and told the an address to which contributions ht s of God's people; and on Wednesday, when the adjournedthat the Lord thus intervened at a vital crisis in our Mission, I dwell on it to the praise of His blessed Name Trust in Him, obey Him, and He will not suffer you to be put to sha out from her sister shi+ps, then in harbor, the _John Willia_ sailed for Tasmania At Hobart ere visited by thousands of children and parents, and afterwards at Launceston, ere proud to see their own shi+p, in which they were ”shareholders” for Jesus Daily, all over the Colony, I preached in churches, and addressed public ave out Collection Cards to be returned within teeks
We received ranted to us free, and the harbor dues were re_ Still, after ave us only 227: 8: 11 clear for the Mission fund
Sailing now for South Australia, we arrived at Adelaide Many friends there showed the deepest interest in our plans Thousands of children and parents came to visit their own Mission shi+p by several special trips Daily and nightly I addressed reatly in the cause Afterail expenses while in port, there remained a sum of 634: 9: 2 for the up-keep of the vessel The Honorable George Fife Angus gaveto the Baptist Church But there was still a deficit of 400 before the _Dayspring_ could sail free of debt, andthe shi+p to sail direct for Sydney, I took stea there, sickness and anxiety laidto e, Dr and Mrs Morrison, and Miss Fraser, and threw ,” said the Doctor cheerily, ”and I'll introduce you to Mr
Butchart and one or two friends in East Melbourne, and we'll see hat can be done!”
I gave all infor led on in conversation by the Doctor, and tried to interest them in our work, but no subscriptions were asked or received Ere I sailed for Sydney however, the whole deficiency was sent to me I received in all, on this tour, the su_ once ratitude to the Lord and to His stewards!
CHAPTER LV
THE FRENCH IN THE PACIFIC
We went down to the Islands with the _Dayspring_ in 1865 The full story of the years that had passed was laid before my Missionary brethren at their Annual Synod They resolved that perements must now be made for the vessel's support, and that I must return to the Colonies and see these h which we had recently passed This, meantime, appeared to all of them, the most clamant of all Missionary duties,--their very lives, and the existence of the Mission itself, depending thereon The Lord seereat reluctance, ain turned away fro the Loyalty Islands, leftwith etting to New Caledonia, and thence to Sydney Detained there for some tih, of the London Missionary Society, all being cruelly undone by the tyranny and Popery of the French One day, in an inland walk, Mrs Paton and I ca each other, and reading the Scriptures which the Missionaries had translated into their own language, and which the French had forbidden them to use They cried to God for deliverance fro the Gospel to the Natives without the permission of France; their books were suppressed, and they theuard on the Island of Lifu Even when, by Britain's protest, the Missionaries were allowed to resue was alone to be used by them; and some, like Rev J
Jones (as far down as 1888), were marched on board a Man-of-war, at half an hour's notice, and, without crie, forbidden ever to return to the Islands While, on the other hand, the French Popish Missionaries were everywhere fostered and protected, presenting to the Natives as , as is the custom of the Romish Church in those Seas, in the wake of every Protestant Mission, to pollute and to destroy