16 CLOSING DAYS
Chapter 16
CLOSING DAYS
"GOD is good to let me come back and renew work here at headquarters." So wrote Dr. Phillips on December 19th, 1893, when he once again reached his office at Calcutta.
" The long journey from Bombay was relieved by meeting old friends at several points, and the energetic secretary of the Bengal auxiliary was at Howrah to welcome us. His Sunday Schools for the Hindu and Mohammedan children were the first I looked into, and the faces of these eager little ones seemed like a real benediction."
Six days later he was in his native land of Orissa, of which he says —
" Orissa has some beautiful Sunday Schools, and it is always a joy to look into one of them, as I did here yesterday. A missionary lady is the superintendent. There is a preparation class for teachers, which is largely attended. Mr. Jewson’s ’ Lessons on the Life of Our Lord ’ is used here. The Cuttack Mission Press prints this. At the request of the Oriya pastor, I occupied the pulpit yesterday, and spoke of the responsibility of parents and teachers. This evening the children and the friends have had their Christmas tree, and having looked in upon their merry joy, I must move on northward." To reach his next station at Midnapore two days later, he had to journey seventy-six miles in a palanquin, being carried by native bearers. So the broken year came to an end.
" Three-fourths of this year," wrote Dr. Phillips in his annual report, " have been spent away from our field. Only January, February, and December have been devoted to the pressing demands of our growing work in India. On returning from Europe, I found much for which to be thankful. The blessing of God has been upon this work for His little ones, and signs of progress are seen on every hand. May we all understand something of our Master’s words when He said, ’ It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.’ " The report goes on to speak of progress in all directions; of all the auxiliaries honest and gratifying work is recorded; and the statistics, which include only those schools connected with the India Sunday School Union, show that a gratifying increase had taken place.
Unfortunately, Dr. Phillips returned from his absence exhausted rather than refreshed. His diary for the closing weeks of December contains too many entries of this kind : " My head still swimming, so dizzy, so tired and weak " ; " My head still so weak and giddy " , " My head still suffering ", and similar expressions, which gave indications of that gradual undermining of his constitution which was to end ere long in his premature death. The year 1894 saw the " triangulation " of India once more accomplished by Dr. Phillips in his tours, which reached a total of 13,509 miles. We can give but occasional and fleeting glimpses of the untiring worker during these journeyings. We draw chiefly upon his " Jottings," published in the India Sunday School Journal.
"Calcutta, February 27th, 1874 -- There have been many happy, happy gatherings of children this month in Calcutta. The prize-giving anniversaries are, of course, popular. I was glad to be able to look in upon that of Miss Neele’s school, that of the Union Chapel, and that of the American Women’s Union Society. It is well to have special sermons for children, and for parents and teachers on such anniversary occasions. A pleasant hour was spent in Miss McDonald’s school for Bengali Christian girls, and the same Sabbath I was prompted to visit the Bengali Sunday School, Free Church of Scotland, and one of Miss Hunt’s schools for Hindu girls. Whenever I see these beautiful Sunday Schools for Christian children, I cannot repress the thought, ’ What helpers these boys and girls should become in our broad and promising field!’ The annual meeting of the Bengal Sunday School Union, combined with the regular social quarterly meeting, was held last evening at St. Andrew’s Kirk Hall, and proved an occasion of more than ordinary interest."
"Ludhiana, Punjab, March 12th. -- In the little graveyard of this mission compound, I found the names of quite a number of missionaries, and among them that of Joseph H. Meyers, one of those who came to India with me nearly twenty-nine years ago. His was but a short term of service of four and a half years, but he toiled faithfully, and his work abides. Of that party of ten who came round the Cape in a sailing ship, only five remain. Half our number have already entered into rest, but five of us are still in the field. In these days larger parties are coming out from home, for the passage has been reduced to but a third or fourth of its former length. Beside the grave of our comrade who gladly gave himself for our dear India’s weal, I prayed for all our workers now bearing the burden and heat of the day. God grant us all grace to be good ministers of Jesus Christ!"
"Jallander City, March 15th. -- The new feature, and most cheering one, I saw here, is a nice little Sunday School for the servants’ children, conducted by Miss Carrie Newton and her brother Van. These missionary children, not yet in their teens, are working enthusiastically for the boys and girls of the compound. There were eleven pupils present, and they had made a good start in learning to sing and repeat Bible verses. Could such classes increase throughout the land, we should have more Christian servants and better, and there would be fewer complaints, I believe, of the untrustworthiness of those we have."
"Peshawar, April 5th. -- This is the very top of India, and on the Afghanistan frontier. I could not resist the repeated request of the veteran missionary of the C.M.S. that I should visit this frontier station, though I had not planned to do so on this tour. These brethren are more than a hundred miles from the nearest missionary station. Mr. and Mrs. Thwaites gave us a cordial welcome. Near their bungalow I found a hostel for Vasthu lads attending the high school of the C.M.S., which I had the pleasure of addressing. Three missionary families came in for a pleasant drawing-room service or Sunday School Bible reading, and this morning I have been putting the claims of this work for the children of the land before the Hindustani Church. There is an open door here for discreet and diligent effort in behalf of the little ones. Let this frontier station be faithfully remembered in our prayers ! "
"Almora, June 8th. , -- Why does not somebody say a kind word for the Dak Bungalow? We have found these very comfortable indeed, and well kept. It is pleasing to find that friends of temperance and others are supplying periodical religious literature to these rest-houses, maintained by the Government. Back numbers of standard periodicals judiciously placed would undoubtedly cheer many travelers who halt a day or two in these bungalows. Why may we not look for rich fruit from this seed-sowing ? "
"Chavagacherry, Ceylon, August 25th -- After thirty-five hours of continuous travel from Matele in the royal mail coach drawn by ponies and bullocks, I was glad to be here. It is a pleasure to say a few words to the native helpers here before going on for the night. How Ceylon needs railways! I am delighted to hear that the prospects of the Hindu-Ceylon Railway are brightening. It would be a boon indeed to this beautiful island."
Dr. Phillips’ " Jottings," valuable and interesting as they are, yet prove lacking in one particular as a true and faithful account of his work. They say practically nothing of results. His modesty did not allow him to tell either the amount of work he accomplished or the benefits which resulted from his efforts. It is fitting then at this point, in order to supply this deficiency, to insert one or two quotations from the reports of the local auxiliaries which he visited. In the report of the Bombay Sunday School Union, December 1894, it is stated —
" For some weeks prior to the arrival here of our bright, active, and big-hearted general secretary, plans were being formed to hold a general convention for the Bombay Presidency ; but despite many telegrams and pressing letters, despite influences and arguments, it was decided to drop the convention. One week after this solemn decision, Dr. Phillips arrived, and at once set to work to find out what could be done to get the Bombay Sunday School workers together. He worked quietly yet powerfully, and by that same evening he had gathered together a committee representing all the churches, who, guided and helped by the doctor, agreed to hold some special meetings, which were in reality nothing but a convention, and a truly delightful and profitable time it was. . . . We thank God for the Sunday School work, for the Bombay Sunday School Union, and especially for the gifted and fitted Dr. Phillips." From Moulmein it was reported that — " In all the schools there are at least 500 children that now receive some light of the Gospel, who were not cared for before Dr. Phillips came." From Poona came similar testimony : —
" Most people who are engaged as Dr. Phillips is, in advancing the interest of some particular cause, as that of Sunday Schools or temperance, are usually successful in arousing temporary enthusiasm on the part of those who listen to their appeals, and also in awakening and strengthening desires to do something to help on the good work ; but they either make no suggestions as to methods and plans by which these desires may be turned into actions, or if suggestions are made they are frequently impracticable, or in some way unsuited for existing circumstances, and hence little or no permanent good is accomplished ; but I think all who have attended Dr. Phillips’ meetings or conversed with him will admit that they are without excuse if they fail to act upon the simple and feasible plans which he so plainly points out to them." The records for the year 1894 show that he preached ninety-seven sermons, and delivered 305 addresses. The first entry in the diary for 1895 was this —
" Thanks for this bright beginning of the new year," an entry eloquent of the hopefulness and optimism of " a heart at leisure from itself." January 8th saw him busily packing up for a visit to Orissa, and next day he was encamped near Midnapore, having pitched his tent under some mango trees near a ruined indigo factory.
" Thank God," he writes, " for the quiet and rest of this spot on the skirt of a jungle in which herds of wild elephants are now roaming " ; and again, " Thank God for this sweet, heavenly, quiet camp. It is so restful and healing to my sore and tired head."
Thus some days were passed in the solitude of the jungle; the much - needed rest being only broken by a little missionary work among the Santals. Here Dr. Phillips spent his fiftieth birthday, and on the 27th of the month he was back in Calcutta once more, absorbed in his official work. Seven days later he set out on a long -projected visit to Assam, with the characteristic remark, " It seems good to be on the warpath again." The experience was a new one to Dr. Phillips, and he was now quite out of the beaten track, traveling from place to place on elephants, and living in huts of bamboo and straw. Isolated missionaries were visited, and in many cases vaccinated as well. Numerous addresses were delivered through interpreters, and the Sunday School work generally was organized and extended.
"Kasikhagka, Assam, February 4th, 1895. -- For four years I have been looking forward to seeing the work in Assam. Besides the calls and claims of other parts of my broad field, perhaps the reputation of Assam for fever has had something to do with keeping me out of it. But this is a good month here, and I could not longer postpone my visit. . . .
" The assistant commissioner’s elephant was our beast of burden; but being old, and having a sulky driver, it made hardly two miles an hour. This three days’ meeting has been one full and refreshing. These Garo Christians seem so intelligent, so independent, and enterprising. More than 800 have come from distances ranging from ten to seventeen miles. We met or overtook several parties coming to the meeting, walking single file through the open fields or the tall grass of the jungle, the infants bound to the women’s backs and the older children strapped to the men’s backs. All these visitors, wonderful to say, are entertained by the local church, which provides both shelter and food. I have seen nothing to match this hospitality in any land. One day seventeen maunds of rice were distributed, with a corresponding amount of meat and vegetables, and fuel for cooking. The meetings have been most enthusiastic. The Garo singing of our English tunes is remarkable. I could not discover one native tune of their own jungle life. It seems a pity to have all these wild native melodies lost by the Karens and others. Some of those retained by the Santals and other jungle tribes are really beautiful. Cheering reports came in from the churches. The number of baptisms during the year in this Garo Association was upwards of 200, making the present number of communicants nearly 2400. There are 13 churches in this association, with over 30 Sunday Schools, containing more than 1600 pupils. . . . Like other hill and jungle tribes, the Garos exhibit independence and manliness in providing for their own pastors and teachers. The churches are mainly independent of foreign aid, and more than half of the evangelists are supported by the churches. These men are models of self-denial. One of them came to the missionary in charge only yesterday, saying, ’ I have a bit of land, and can get on with five rupees a month now and six for coolie hire.’ He was getting nine rupees a month, besides the allowance for coolies, and voluntarily gave up four of his nine. Another illustration of the same spirit of disinterestedness was told me by my good host. A young Garo, who had studied in America several years, held a post in the Normal School at Tura at thirty rupees a month. This he voluntarily relinquished for the work of a traveling evangelist among his own people, on twelve rupees a month."
After leaving Kasikhagra, Dr. Phillips proceeded by elephant and pony to Golpara and thence by steamer to Ding Ghat, whence a journey of twenty-five miles in a bullock cart brought him to Nowgong. Here he found a good Sunday School and Sunday congregation. He then went to Shillong, a charming hill station 5000 feet above the sea. On his way he stopped at Gaupati for a few hours’ rest, and seized the opportunity to talk to a few native Christians about Sunday School work. At Shillong he gave many addresses to the Kasi Christians, and was delighted to find a capital Sunday School, with an attendance of over 300 children in seventeen classes. As an illustration of his common sense, it may be mentioned that he notes with great satisfaction the lowness of the benches for the infant class. On other occasions he frequently urged the cruelty of placing small children upon high and uncomfortable benches. After thirty-two miles’ travel he reached Cherrapunji, where he found a native theological school and a well-equipped hospital with a medical missionary in charge. All these were in connection with the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Mission.
" Tokens of cheer," he wrote, " and signs of real thrift appear on every side, and I believe there is a glorious future before the faithful toilers of the Welsh Churches ; and now after three very pleasant weeks in Assam, I set my face Calcutta-ward again. The Bengal Sunday School Union may well be proud of this American and Welsh Mission constituency in Assam." On his way home he journeyed first on horseback, then in a basket on a man’s back, then by railway, next in a rowing boat, then by steamboat, and finally by the mail train, until he reached Calcutta, after six days’ traveling, just in time to take part in a united meeting of the English Sunday Schools, held at the Town Hall. An extract from his address may here be given, which will serve to show his bright and happy style when talking to children.
" Who was it that said, ’ Suffer little children to come unto Me?’ (’Jesus.’) Another name? (’Christ.’) Another ? (’ Son of God.’) Another ? (’ Emmanuel.’) Yes, that is the name I want. That is a name we do not hear enough about. What is the meaning of the name ? (’ God with us.’) I want to send you away with the word Emmanuel for this year’s motto. Remember it through the year, the name of Jesus — Emmanuel, God with us. I wish every boy and girl to feel that it is really so, that God is with him everywhere. If Jesus is with you, He sees everything you do.
" A naughty boy wanted some fruit growing in a man’s orchard. The boy waited till it was quite dark, and then looked carefully to see if anyone was looking on. Was anyone ? (’ Yes, he forgot to look up) Jesus saw him ; so Jesus looks on in your home at all times. Jesus, God with us, is our true pilot. Going down the Brahmaputra the steamer stuck in the river because a man thought he was a pilot but did not know the way. How many boys make wrecks of their lives by forsaking Jesus. Last night in the train I traveled with an old Sunday scholar. Poor fellow, how I pitied him as he swore and cursed! I was ashamed of him. He did not know who I was, or that I was watching him. Remember, that wherever you are, and when you are tempted, Jesus is Emmanuel, hearing all you say, willing to guide you in every trial. A speaker has referred to his brother in Bombay. When I went there, after having been in India ten years, I saw a great many people standing on the quay. I said, ’ I wonder whether I can make out one face.’ At last I did. It was the face of a very good friend, but that face was not there when I landed ten years later. But by and by the last journey will be done, and we shall have reached home. Then Somebody will be there who knows us. Jesus, Emmanuel, will be there. What a glad welcome we shall have ! "
Dr. Phillips remained at Calcutta a month, being busily occupied with his usual clerical and literary work. At this time he was in correspondence with Mr. H. G. Wilson, M.P., who was endeavoring to arouse the British conscience to a sense of the iniquities connected with the cantonment system in India. On March 23rd, Dr. Phillips set out upon what was to prove his last missionary journey. This time he went farther afield than usual, visiting the Straits Settlements and the Island of Java.
"Singapore, Straits Settlements, April 10th, 1895. -- More than four years ago, I promised Mr. Munsom of the American Mission here that I would embrace the very first opportunity for visiting Malasia in the interests of Sunday Schools. Plans for our work in North India so changed that I had a month for the Straits Settlements, and gladly took ship for Singapore, the headquarters of the British possessions in these waters. At this season the sea is quiet, and the voyage in the SS Lightning was very pleasant. . . . We sighted the Andaman Islands. Is anyone doing anything there to teach the poor prisoners of Him who came to set the prisoner free ? What fine Sunday Schools might be held in all the gaols and prisons of these Eastern lands, if only voluntary, eager, intelligent teachers could be found for the difficult task !
" On a very pleasant day we halted at Penang, and arrangements were made for special Sunday School services on my return trip. At this point scores of Sepoys from Upper India left us, but the deck was quickly filled again by such an eager crowd of Chinese bound for Hong Kong. The Christian workers here in Singapore have given our cause a very hearty welcome. Last Sabbath I had the pleasure of looking into seven Sunday Schools, the Anglican, Methodist, and Presbyterian missions, and of the Brethren. All these are, as compared with like schools in India, small and new, but a capital start has been made, and I look for sturdy growth. The cheerful courage of the teacher and superintendents is very promising, and with their peculiar difficulties to face they are pushing on well. The Anglo-Chinese school for boys is indeed a very bright spot, and I enjoyed visiting it. Over 500 lads are there, being trained for useful lives. The Chinese and Malay schools for girls are also doing a grand work."
During this stay at Singapore, Dr. Phillips not only visited the missionary day schools and Sunday Schools, but he preached in the churches, held drawing-room meetings in private houses, conducted a conference of Sunday School workers, and took a leading part at a public meeting held in the interest of the work which he had so much at heart. He found children being taught in four languages — English, Malay, Chinese, and Tamil. Some of the Sunday Schools were held in the streets through lack of buildings, and these never failed to attract scores, although the personality of the attendance varied frequently. On April 10th, Dr. Phillips embarked on board the SS Godavery, in route for Batavia, Java, which he reached in company with some German missionaries on the 10th. Here he found a welcome at the house of a Dutch schoolmaster.
"Batavia, Java, April 19th, 1895. -- Through the kindness of several Dutch friends, who speak a little English, and an Englishman engaged in Bible work, I have been able to sow a little seed here, and have promised to come again next spring and do more. The Dutch churches have Sunday Schools, but there is room for much growth, for improved methods, and for missionary enthusiasm. There are said to be about eighty English people in Batavia, but no regular service is kept up. The pretty little church, that I was told had not been opened for service since August, is sadly in need of a faithful caretaker, the pulpit, pews, prayer and hymn books being given up to the ravages of tropical insects. Owing to the zeal of the good Bible agents, we have had an English service this evening. Last Sabbath (Easter) this church could not be opened owing to the absence of the Standing Committee in the hills. Oh for one wide awake Christian in Batavia to keep the doors of this house open! How dare Englishmen shut up God’s house ? "
"Depok, Java, April 15th. -- The very brightest thing I have seen in Dutch India so far has been here, twenty-one miles from Batavia by train. A seminary for training evangelists is here, and I found forty young men studying the Bible under a German principal and his assistants. These men came from the islands of the broad and beautiful Malaysian Archipelago, viz. Borneo, Celebes, Java, New Guinea, Sumatra, etc. Before me on these forms were two men of a darker hue than their fellows, from Dutch New Guinea, several sons of the savages of Borneo, and quite a number of the descendants of the once cannibal Batuks of the western coast of Sumatra. All these men, who are to lift up the standard of our King, were seated beside each other."
Leaving Batavia on the 20th, Dr. Phillips reached Singapore on the 22nd, and on the 28th was able to pay his promised visit to Penang. Concerning this visit he wrote —
" Reaching here about noon on Sunday, I was able to visit the Tamil school of the American Mission, and in the evening to address its English congregation. Yesterday and today I have been looking into some schools, and am delighted to find an Anglo-Chinese high school like that at Singapore. Two special meetings have been held in behalf of Sunday Schools, and a Sunday School Union has been organized under encouraging auspices. There is a great and inviting field here for work among the young, and these American and European Christians are determined to occupy it. The languages, as at Singapore, are Chinese, Malay, Tamil, and English. English is bound to win, and is increasing rapidly."
Dr. Phillips left Penang on May 1st, and on the 7th was back again at Calcutta. After a very full week, occupied with much business, he set out on the evening of May 14th to rejoin Mrs. Phillips in the hills, reaching Missoorie after three days’ weary traveling on the railway. On the following day he was seized with the severest attack of fever that he had experienced for many years, the cold stage lasting three hours. For several days he continued very weak, though no grave effects were anticipated. The brief entries in his diary mention the visits of various doctors, and on May 25th he records the fact that he purchased a walking-stick : while the weakness thus hinted at is more than corroborated by the unusual brevity of his notes, and the feeble, straggling handwriting.
He remained at the " Midlands," the residence of his friend Mr. Parsons, unable to do much work, but enjoying short walks and occasional rides on the hillsides. On June 2nd he was sufficiently well to address a Sunday School, and to preach a children’s sermon at the Missoorie Union Church; and during the week he attended the meetings of the Christian Convention in the Baring Institute. On the next Sunday he gave an early morning address to the soldiers in their prayer-room, and also talked a little to the Sunday School children. The week that followed was spent quietly, taking short rides and reading in the woods ; and on Friday, June 14th, he wrote what proved to be his last magazine article. On the following Sunday he gave three short addresses to small gatherings of children, and on the next day, Monday, June 17th, he conducted his last public service.
It was a small drawing-room meeting, held in the interests of his much - loved Sunday School work. The rain was falling fast, so that comparatively few people came ; but he noted with satisfaction that the girls of the school were present. On this day the diaries which he had kept with such diligent faithfulness throughout his life reached their close, and the last feeble lines he was able to write before the pen fell from his trembling fingers form a worthy close to the long record —
" May God bless the Sunday School message to the young ! " A week of terrible physical suffering followed, and ten o’clock on the morning of June 25th, 1895, the untiring worker passed to his rest. A lady who visited him during his last brief illness writes —
" I was with him a short time on his last Sabbath here. He asked for the reading of a hymn which was inside the cover of his Bible. "
Lord, speak to me, that I may speak In living echoes of Thy tone ; As Thou hast sought, so let me seek Thine erring children, lost and lone.
" He was suffering greatly, and the noise of some children outside disturbed him ; yet when I proposed quieting them, he said, ’ Oh no, don’t ! They have been so good all day.’ He preferred their freedom to his own ease from pain." On the day following his death, the funeral procession passed along the mountain path between Landour and Missoorie. The children of the various schools in the neighborhood stood by the wayside, with uncovered heads, till the procession passed, and then joined it to the cemetery. Ministers of various denominations took part in the service at the Union Chapel. The rain was falling fast as the large gathering of friends stood around the grave into which the young men of the schools gently lowered the coffin of their greatest friend.
Before us lie many records of funeral sermons and memorial tributes in religious newspapers and magazines, together with a remarkably large number of letters of condolence from Christian workers of many denominations, and of localities far apart from one another. All with one voice speak of the saintly spirit and indomitable energy which characterized the India Sunday School secretary. One tribute here must suffice as a specimen of all the rest. It is by Senator Reed, late Speaker of the House of Representatives at Boston, and its eloquent words form a fitting conclusion to the present sketch of a noble and consecrated life.
" A great many years ago, when I was a boy in college, I used to read the Morning Star in the rooms of James Liddell Phillips. He was a true, earnest, devoted believer, as thoroughly without guile or self-seeking as any man I ever knew.
" How he fared and what he did to further the faith that was in him is well known to-day. I always held him in my heart as the one man I knew who, faithful to his belief, and without a desire for reward in this world, gave up country and friends, health and comfort, for a life unknown alike to fame and pleasure. I used often to wonder if there might not be as he grew older underneath that seeming content some of those vague longings for a different life which afflicted those of us whose paths from the cradle to the grave were unlike his. It is one of the pleasant recollections that I treasure, that I had the opportunity to find out if my vague conjectures were true or not. He came to my house with his wife, whose devotion to the same cause must have been to him a succor and much help, to stay with me during the meeting of the Churches of his denomination. On the evening arranged when he was to speak to a great audience, a violent attack of jungle fever confined him to his room for that night and several days after. His patience in sickness and his regret for the disappointment at not meeting his audience were without a shadow of self-regard. My tribute to his memory is my sincere admiration for his unselfish life of self-sacrifice and devotion —a life of self-sacrifice and devotion so deep and full and rich that to his dying day he never had thought that he was doing anything nobler than the simple duty which created beings owe to their Creator,"