Читать книгу The Vintons and the Karens - Calista V Luther - Страница 7

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"Toil on, faint not, keep watch and pray; Be wise the erring soul to win; Go forth into the world's highway, Compel the wanderer to come in."

Mr. And Mrs. Vinton landed in Maulmain in December, 1834. By study at Hamilton and during the voyage, they had become sufficiently familiar with the language to admit of their beginning work at once. They left for the jungle within a week of their arrival; and, entering a district where the gospel had never been proclaimed, they continued for three months going about from village to village preaching Christ to the multitudes.

At first they travelled together; but they received so many invitations from distant villages, that they resolved to separate. Each took a band of native Christians, and, with them as guides and assistants, went from village to village preaching the wonderful story of the cross. This arrangement was found so effective, that it became the plan for their future work. For twenty-four years they carried out this idea of "dividing to conquer."

Mrs. Vinton would start in her little boat, accompanied by a few of her school-girls, and spend the entire season in travelling from village to village along the rivers, telling, in her own tender, womanly way, the story of redemption to the crowds who gathered around her.

With this work of preaching the gospel was combined the ministering to the sick, the manifold tender offices so necessary among a people without a single correct idea concerning the human body and its ailments, and also the inculcation of that most needful lesson that "cleanliness was next to godliness."

She also established female prayer-meetings in every direction, and at the most available points commenced village schools, placing them under the control of some of her own scholars.

Meanwhile Mr. Vinton would be pursuing the same plan of work among the mountain-villages, and places more difficult of access. Occasionally their paths would cross. In the depths of the jungle they would meet, travel together for a little while, perhaps visiting some noted Karen prophet or prominent opposer of the work; and then they would separate again, perhaps not to meet until the labors of the season were over.

CHRISTIAN KAREN GIRLS.

It does not seem to have occurred to Mrs. Vinton to think that she was, in the estimation of some wise theorists, "only a missionary's wife." She felt that she had as truly a vocation to preach the gospel as had her husband. Yet, withal, her work throughout her life was done with so much true womanliness and modesty, that we think St. Paul himself would have been satisfied that she did not "usurp authority over the man."

The long absences from each other were very trying in many ways; not only because of the intense attachment which continued to exist during all their married life,--an attachment which made their companionship an idyl,--but also from the fact that jungle-travelling, in those days, was far more dangerous and arduous than it is now. Tigers and other wild animals were very abundant, and Mrs. Vinton repeatedly speaks of narrow escapes from them. Several times she notes the fact that a tiger had come and taken cattle from under the open native house in which she was sleeping, and when nothing but the protecting hand of God prevented the ravenous beast from leaping upon the open veranda, and taking one of the unconscious sleepers.

Jungle-work was not all a triumphal procession. In many places the Burmans had so prejudiced the villagers by misrepresentations and frightful stories, that the missionaries found it impossible to obtain food.

One story, widely circulated, was that the white missionaries stole children to make slaves of them, or to eat them. Sometimes an entire village, on the approach of the missionary, would flee into the jungle, tying the grass together across the pathway, thus giving the missionary a significant warning that if he followed them it was at the risk of his life.

The country was in an unsettled state; and bands of robbers roamed about, attacking solitary boats and defenceless villages, carrying off the women and children into slavery. This rendered travelling, without a strong escort, unsafe. Mrs. Vinton writes, in a letter to Mrs. Baron Stow:--

"I cannot have time to describe all the interesting scenes of the past three months. We have been travelling constantly, and have been on a visit to the great Karen prophet, about two hundred and fifty miles from Maulmain."

"The Karens in general listen with great interest when we tell them of God, and frequently exclaim, 'That is what our forefathers told us! That is right! That is good!' I have endeavored to discover how their forefathers came by a knowledge of God; but they always answer, 'Our ancestors knew him from the beginning, but when they sinned against him he hid himself from them; and their descendants after them knew not how to worship him; and, as he did not protect them from evil spirits, they were obliged to offer sacrifices to them to appease their wrath.'

"They tell us of many attempts 'to return to the worship of the God who made the earth, and the heavens, and all things.'

"These efforts have sometimes been continued for months, and even years; but the poor Karens have invariably fallen a sacrifice to the brutal persecution of the Burmans.

"One village of nearly a thousand inhabitants worshipped God in this way for some time, unknown to the Burmans; but, when the latter learned the fact, they sent an armed force to destroy the village. Some of the Karens inquired of their leader if they should fight. 'No,' replied the chief: 'it is inconsistent with the worship of our God to fight. We will cast ourselves upon his protection.' They then opened their gates, brought forth their weapons of defence, and laid them at the feet of their enemies. Thus defenceless, they were immediately slain by their cruel oppressors, the Burmans."

KO-THA-BYU MEMORIAL HALL, BUILT AND PAID FOR BY THE KARENS.

This record seems incredible; and yet in the year 1851,--even so late a date as that,--the Burmese viceroy of Rangoon told Mr. Kincaid that he would instantly shoot the first Karen whom he found that could read.

The eagerness which the scattered communities of Karens manifested to hear of the "long-lost law of their God" was most gratifying; but it made the hearts of the lonely laborers ache to see how little they could accomplish among so many. Wherever they went, they were urged beyond measure to go to other villages, and tell the "good news" there; and so deeply did the magnitude of their labors press upon them, that Mrs. Vinton writes:--

"Oh, could we be divided, and go a thousand ways at once, then might the poor Karens hear the gospel. When I reflect upon the earnestness of this dear people to receive the gospel, while so few can hear it from our lips, my heart sinks within me.

"A large party of Karens have just been here; and when they were told that Mr. Vinton had gone by land to Newville, and that I had gone down the river, they said they feared they would never see us. They told Ko-chet-thaing that they had heard that God had shown mercy to the Karens, and had sent them his word and teachers; and they had long been inquiring where we were. Sometimes they would hear of us at Maulmain, sometimes at Belu-Gyun, sometimes at Chummerah, sometimes at La Kee's village; but they never could find us. Their 'younger brother, the white man,' had come, and had brought the long-lost law of their God; but to them it was all in vain. They remained in their sins, poverty, and wretchedness, and should go down to hell if the teachers did not pity them. They begged Ko-chet-thaing to intercede with us, that we would remain in one place, that they might all come to us.

"Ko-chet-thaing was much moved as he told me the sad tale; and I could not refrain from tears. A chief on the Burman border is praying morning and evening that God will send the teachers that way, that he may be baptized. Lord, what are we among so many? Send, oh! send more laborers into this harvest!"

In an account of a journey taken shortly after, she writes:--

"We had scarcely set our feet upon the shore, before an intelligent-looking woman asked me where we were going. I told her I was going to a village eight miles inland, to tell the people there about God. She inquired why we did not tell the villagers present about God.

"I told her I could not stop then, as I had appointed to be at the inland village, and must reach there before the heat became too great. Her countenance fell, but she immediately passed on before us. And, when we had proceeded about a mile, we reached a village, and found all the inhabitants standing in the road to receive us. As we drew near, they cried out to us, 'Tell us of the law of God! Tell us of the law of God!' "Such was their entreaty, that we were compelled to stop about half an hour, and preach to them, promising that we would come back to them at some future time. At the next village the people gathered around me with intense interest to inquire about the new religion. After talking to them some time, I spoke of prayer. With great earnestness, they asked, 'How shall we pray?' I called on one of the assistants to pray; and, as he commenced, the head man followed, repeating word for word. They plead with great earnestness that we would remain with them during the night, that they might call in the inhabitants of the surrounding villages, that they, too, might hear of God and heaven... "Two miles farther on, we came to a Pwo Karen village. We went at once to the house of the chief; but his wife, who had never before seen a white person, would not permit us to enter. As soon, however, as the villagers learned who we were, they flocked around us, and listened attentively to the word of God. The assistants were so moved by their pressing invitations to remain, that they began to plead with me to remain over sabbath. In vain I told them of our many engagements, of the much we had to do before the rains. "It was not until I told them that I thought Mr. Vinton would travel there during the rains, that I could persuade them to proceed. That evening we visited another village, and spent the night at the house of the chief. "We had a large and deeply-interested audience; and although I closed the service at nine o'clock, yet the assistants continued preaching till after midnight, and began again before light. "Although we had to return to the boat that day, and much of our way lay through burnt-over forests, yet it was impossible to force ourselves away from the people before the sun had become quite hot. On our return we met several companies of people, who showed such an anxiety to hear the word, that, when the assistants were once seated, they seemed chained to the spot. "On reaching the boat, I found that one of the two men I had left to watch it had gone off to a distant village, preaching. It appeared, that, the night previous, several men had listened to the gospel, and they would not be content until their friends should hear it also. So they over-persuaded this man to return with them, and spend two or three days. We proceeded up the river some distance, and found him there preaching to the villagers. A number said that they believed in this religion, and would worship God. "I was feeling so exhausted from over-exertion, that I felt it was necessary to return as soon as I conveniently could to Ko-chet-thaing's village, not only for rest, but for necessary medicine. I had also in the boat a sick Karen woman, who needed attention and medicine at once. However, we felt compelled to stop at another village, where the people had been having a great '>nat feast' (a feast in honor of the evil spirits, whom the Karens believe to be the cause of sickness, misfortune, etc., if angry; and of good fortune, if appeased). "Hearing of my arrival, they gathered around me; and although I could scarcely stand, or even sit erect, yet I contrived to talk to them; and they listened during the whole day, each one assuring me that they would never again eat to the nats, but, as they had now heard of God, they would with one consent worship him. Not only so; but they would return to their respective villages, and tell their friends what they had heard, and persuade them to worship him too."

What would our pastors at home in America give to have the message they bring welcomed so thankfully, and embraced so readily! What would they give to know that every one of their converts became at once a preacher of righteousness, and carried the good news of salvation to some other waiting soul!

The work of preaching the gospel among the Karens was not, however, unmixed with discouragements. Mrs. Vinton in her journal speaks of some villages where the people refused to receive her, and where even the women retreated to the houses, and pulled up the ladders after them (a ladder or a notched stick being the usual mode of entrance to a heathen Karen house). One such scene she thus describes in her characteristic way:--

"We have just stopped at a Pwo Karen village where, for days past, multitudes have assembled to worship the pagoda." [Many Pwos and some Sgaus, the two main septs of Karens, had embraced Buddhism, at least nominally, before the arrival of missionaries.]

"The assembly was just breaking up. It was impossible to get even a hearing, for every one was busy about his own matters; and, besides, they did not like to hear, that, instead of getting merit, they had been sinning against God, and if unrepentant they would be lost. I went up to the village, thinking perhaps they would listen at their homes; but, seeing me coming, they pulled up their ladders, and set their dogs on me. On returning to the boat, I could not help inquiring if one of that vast number could be saved. They are far more hopeless than were Ezekiel's dry bones: for they would lie passive when prophesied over; but these, as if the Devil did not like to be attacked upon his own ground, were ready to burst with rage at us for trying to tell them 'a more excellent way." "Last night we were at a village where we found a widow whose husband was killed a few weeks ago in a trap set for wild beasts. Mr. Vinton and I had repeatedly urged him to accept of Christ; but he invariably told us that he was convinced of the propriety of worshipping God, and he even exhorted others to repentance; but, as for himself, he could not yet leave off drink. Only a few days before his death, Mr. Vinton, with his usual earnestness, urged him to accept of Christ immediately, reminding him of the uncertainty of life. He said he would repent by and by. A few days after, being urged by some of his relatives to go to a nat feast, he went, and was killed on the way. Those who set the trap offered the bereaved widow the price of her husband (about two hundred dollars according to Karen law); but she refused, and, strange to say, asks another husband in his stead. "The people in this region are in a very excited state on account of the depredations of robbers. "A buffalo came running into the village to-day with a spear six feet long sticking in his back. A band of about two hundred robbers from the Shan country have been lurking about the villages for several days past, in order to steal children, and sell them for slaves. They have obtained several little ones already, and the villagers are in great consternation about it. "Oh, my sister! you do not know how to appreciate your peaceful home. You do not know what it is to go to bed at night knowing that robbers are lurking around your dwelling, or that tigers are smelling your footsteps around the house, and waiting for their prey. They have become so bold at Newville that they will go up a ladder ten feet high, seize a man in the house, and carry him off. When I think of the ten thousand dangers to which we are exposed, I wonder that we are still alive."

MARTABAN AND ROBBERS POINT.