Calvin Wilson Mateer, forty-five years a missionary in Shantung, China

by D. W. Fisher

Just as soon as by evangelistic itineration and other means converts were made in the neighboring region, outside of Tengchow, it became necessary for the missionaries to look after these scattered sheep in the wilderness; and for a good while a large share of that work fell to Dr. Mateer and his wife. In fact, it had been partly through their labors, direct or indirect, that these converts had been won, and therefore they felt it especially a duty to care for their nurture. That, of course, involved a large variety of efforts. In the earlier years these frequently consisted in part of interposition, so far as it was wise and practicable to shield native Christians from gross wrongs to which they were exposed. The hatred of the rulers and of most of the people for foreigners and the foreign religion was bitter. Even at Tengchow the very tombstones in the little cemetery where the missionaries buried their dead were repeatedly broken,—an act regarded by the Chinese as the most gross and cowardly insult that can be offered to a living man; yet it was slow work to secure from the officials protection, or justice as to the criminals. The case of Miao, of Chow Yuen, a district capital situated fifty miles to the southwest of Tengchow, is specially notable. Early in 1869 the Mateers and Margaret Brown, with a Chinese assistant, went to itinerate, and on the way they visited him. When converted out in his native district of Tsi Hea, he immediately began to endeavor to win others to Christ. So he sent word to his clansmen and friends that he had important business with them, and invited them to come to his house. This occurred while the missionaries were there, and they witnessed what took place at the gathering. Miao made a reception speech, in which he said: “I have sent for you, and you have come. I said nothing in my letter, but for you to come, and that I had an important matter to tell you. It is this: I have led you in serving the Devil. There was nothing I would not dare to do, and nothing that you would not care to follow me in doing. I have now found something better. We have often engaged in doubtful enterprises. I have now found something that there is no doubt about: it is thoroughly reliable, resting on the strongest possible proof. I have left the service of the Devil, and I want you to leave it. As I have led you in his service, I want now to lead you out of it. I want to show you the way and to present you to the true God. Examine for yourselves; search to the bottom; and know that I am not deceiving myself nor you. This doctrine of Jesus is absolute and unmistakable truth.” In writing of this, Dr. Mateer adds: “These words were spoken with a fervor and an emphasis that brought tears to my eyes. I thanked God for them, while I prayed that they might not be in vain. Rice was then brought, and this young Christian sat down with his friends and asked a blessing,—the first they had ever heard,—praying for them directly and specifically. The whole village came to hear, with many from neighboring villages. Save the time occupied in eating, we preached to them nearly all day, keeping it up till far into the night. The ladies also had crowds to hear them all the time.” It was not long until Miao, partly of himself and partly at the instigation of other native Christians, came to Chow Yuen, with the determination to establish himself there as a preacher of his new faith. In August of the same year the Mateers again visited him, this time at his new place of residence, and did what they could to help him in his chosen work. His education and character were such as to promise well. Following the usual custom of a Chinaman when about to start a new enterprise, a feast was made; some eighteen guests responded favorably to invitations to be present, and at the close of the entertainment a sort of meeting was held, and Dr. Mateer made a brief statement of what Christianity is, what was the nature of this enterprise, and what was Miao’s relation to it. He told the audience that the mission would pay the rental of a small chapel, but that Miao would work gratuitously, except so far as he might be assisted by the voluntary contributions of his friends. All the Chinese present, with the exception of two members from the Tengchow church, were non-Christians, yet the guests subscribed a sum sufficient to meet the expenses of the feast and to leave a surplus to go toward the support of the preacher. Some of his friends had already promised to help to support him, and had presented him with a fine signboard to hang in front of the room he occupied as his chapel, and another for the back of the stand where he stood when speaking. All this was so exceptional and so hopeful that Dr. Mateer came away rejoicing in this apparent readiness even of the unevangelized to welcome the gospel. But here begins quite another turn of the story. Miao had continued but a few days at this work when a couple of constables seized him and the man from whom he had rented the room for a chapel, and hurried them to the office of the magistrate. The owner was accused of having rented a house to “foreign devils,” and was forthwith beaten most cruelly to the extent of two hundred blows. Miao was then called, charged with evil doctrines and practices, such as kneeling in prayer and calling on unseen personages. In reply he rehearsed the chief truths of the gospel, and in answer to a taunting question, whether Jesus could suffer for him, he said that he so believed. The magistrate ordered him to be beaten fifty blows with the large bamboo and sent him chained to prison. That evening he had a second hearing, and the next morning he was marched off, with a chain about his neck and his hands bound together, thirty miles away to Tsi Hea, but comforting himself in his weariness and suffering by singing Christian hymns. The morning after his arrival he was called before the magistrate and confronted with charges forwarded from Chow Yuen—such as being in league with foreign devils, using false pretense of preaching religion, seducing the people by artful works, being possessed of secret magical arts, taking forcible possession of a house, influencing the people to form combinations dangerous to the state, and a whole rigmarole of offenses, big and little. He was commanded to confess, and when he would not, he was first beaten three hundred blows with the small bamboo, and then he received a hundred more in the face. The second day he was recalled, and when he still would not confess he was again beaten. The magistrate being especially searching in his inquiry as to how Christians prayed, and as to what they prayed for, Miao as the best explanation he could give kneeled and prayed in his presence. At this stage of the affair Dr. Mateer, having been informed of the situation, arrived, and secured a promise from the officer that he would go no further until he heard from his superiors; and on his return to Tengchow he reported the case to the American consul at Chefoo, though with little hope that under the prevalent policy of the American government anything would be done. In an article in “The Presbyterian Banner” he said: “I shall not soon forget my feelings when I saw this Christian brother with a chain round his neck and his body disfigured with bruises for the gospel’s sake. I could not restrain the tears as I looked him in the face. It is one thing to talk of persecution a thousand miles away, and another to see it face to face. I assured him of our sympathy and unceasing prayers in his behalf, and that I would do my utmost to rescue him.... Numbers of the native Christians have boldly visited Miao in prison, and some of them even prayed with him. All have been stirred up to pray as never before, and made to feel that their only hope is that God will interpose on their behalf. This young Christian has been guilty of no offense against the state. The charges preferred by the officers are pure fabrications, the inventions of malice and hatred to the truth, and would never have been entertained by the officer had he not been only too glad of a pretext to get the Christians in his power.” So soon as possible Dr. Mateer went to Chefoo to see the American consul, and on his return home he learned that Miao had been released, under some restrictions as to his whereabouts; but no amends were made for the gross injustice done.

There was still a long sequel to this affair. After the period which has since intervened the story seems to be unworthy of the dignity of a full recital here; though it might be interesting to some as an example of obstacles encountered by the work of missions away from places where foreign influences are commonly powerful enough to prevent them. A condensed account must suffice. It should be remembered that it was in August that the persecution of Miao occurred. The purpose of it, at least in part, was to shut Christianity out of Chow Yuen. To allow this would have been to inflict on that cause a blow that probably would encourage opposition of a like kind in other localities; and therefore it evidently was the duty of the missionaries to prevent it if practicable. Especially was it true of Dr. Mateer that he was too resolute a spirit to yield to such a violation of rights secured under treaty with foreign governments. Consequently late in November he went again to Chow Yuen, in order to secure a house that could be used as a chapel; for in the interval between these visits the room previously occupied for this purpose had gone into other hands and was no longer available. The magistrate also had been promoted, and another filled his place. Dr. Mateer soon found a house, rented it, and secured the approval of the magistrate. Then followed a series of chicanery, brutality, deceit, low cunning, and petty meanness running over several months, and compelling two more trips by him in the dead of winter. Once he took with him two other missionaries, and they went armed with pistols in order to defend themselves if attacked. The old woman who rented the room to him, and who in so doing had been animated by ill will to her relatives and by a desire for money, was seized and beaten by members of her own family, and likewise by the magistrate. The same gang beat the middleman who, according to Chinese custom, had negotiated the bargain. The whole rental was only about ten dollars. Petty and miserable as the affair was, it had its ludicrous features; as, for instance, when Dr. Mateer, in his determination not to be ousted from the house until some satisfactory arrangement was made, picked up the old woman and set her down on the outside, where she exhausted her strength in billingsgate. It was not until the beginning of March that the trouble at Chow Yuen was finally ended. The issue was a triumph in the main for the missionary; another acceptable room was, with the official approval of the magistrate, secured for a chapel, and the money that had been paid for the rental of the other house was refunded. The best of all was the fate that overtook the man who had been the ringleader in the long series of wrongdoings toward the representatives of Christianity. The magistrate did his best to shield this fellow, but at last he had to yield. He called the man into his presence, and this is what was done, as related by Dr. Mateer: “He was required to knock head to me; and then I took him in hand, and though he tried to evade, I compelled him to own up to his sin, and to make a distinct promise of amendment; and then the substance of what he said was put on record by the clerk, and a copy was given me.” It all illustrates what a determined man who has right on his side may accomplish even in an out-of-the-way city in China. It is characteristic of Dr. Mateer that in one place in his Journal during this wearisome affair he says that if it were not for his school he would go to Chow Yuen, and stay there until a settlement is reached. Perhaps in later years Dr. Mateer and his associates would have regarded it as inexpedient to go so far in the defense of a convert; but in those earlier days this was a battle for toleration of Christianity, and not a mere struggle to right the wrongs of an individual convert.

Other incidents of the dark side to the work of caring for the native Christians might be given, but I have thought it best to turn chiefly to the brighter phases of the subject. Of these there were many, and they were of many kinds; but they were of so unsensational a character as not now to be likely to awaken much interest in the reader. They belong to the day of small things for the gospel in China; but let them not be despised; by and by they will be treasured, if the record of them is preserved, as the beginnings of the evangelization of Shantung. When they occurred they brought the joy of approaching harvest. For example, in connection with that last trip out to Chow Yuen, Dr. Mateer wrote:

As it was Saturday, however, I felt I must try if possible to get home, so that the Sabbath service should not be neglected, when so many inquirers were waiting to hear. I found not only the ten who had come from Ping Tu, but some seven or eight from other places. I had, of course, to commence teaching them at once. I gave the half of each day to them, and continued it without interruption for three weeks. They gave diligent attention to the business of learning. At the same time Mrs. Mateer had a class of women who were seeking admission to the church. Last week all who were considered ready were examined by the session and passed upon. Twenty were received,—fifteen men and five women. They were all baptized together yesterday. It was a new sight in Tengchow, to see such a number standing up at once to profess the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that we are all grateful as we should be for such a signal token of God’s presence with us. Our hearts are enlarged to look for still greater things in the future. Our schoolroom was packed to its utmost capacity, so that when the twenty rose up to present themselves for baptism, it was with great difficulty that room could be made for them to stand. Let us hope that the day of small things is past in this part of China. Chinese officials may persecute us, and foreign governments ignore us, but they cannot restrain God’s Spirit. There are still a number of inquirers.

In the earlier part of his missionary life he frequently made trips of greater or less length to various places in the province to help the native Christians by organizing churches, assisting their pastors, holding services, stimulating to work for the gospel, administering the sacraments, and in every other available manner forwarding the cause of Christianity. Hospitality was gladly extended by the people; and it was as gladly accepted, though not infrequently it introduced to quarters that were odd and even uncanny. Dr. Mateer described guest rooms in which he was entertained, and which were a strange combination of granary, receptacle for lumber, bedchamber and “parlor,” crammed with all sorts of corresponding articles, not excepting a coffin conspicuously displayed in a corner. However, in his own home he lived without ostentation; and on his journeys he did not find it hard to adapt himself to the customs of his native entertainers.

In later years, though for the most part he left itinerations to the younger members of the mission, yet he did not entirely discontinue them. In February, 1896, for instance, he wrote to the secretaries of the Board of Missions:

Three weeks ago Mrs. Mateer and I returned from a trip of seventeen days to the district of Lai Chow, eighty miles distant. Our friends protested against our taking such a trip in the winter and in our state of health. We acted on our own judgment, however, and went, and are benefited rather than otherwise. The trip was exceedingly profitable. We confined our visit to two stations, holding special services each day—morning, afternoon and night. I received eight to the church. At one station a new church was organized, with twenty-six members, a branch from the older station. At this older station there are many inquirers, and the work is in a very hopeful condition, very largely as the result of the influence of a young man, an undergraduate of the college, who has been there teaching a day school for three years.

One of his last journeys of this sort was made not long before his seventieth birthday, and the following is his record concerning it:

From Tengchow we came overland to Wei Hsien in shentzas. I made it a point to spend the Sabbath at Lai Chow fu, and went out and preached morning and afternoon to our little church at Ning Kie, which is three miles from the city. Dr. Mills and I were instrumental in founding the station some thirty-six years ago. It has grown very slowly. Mrs. Mateer had visited it frequently in subsequent years, and had taught the women, and there are now a goodly proportion of women in the church. In the earlier years evangelists were sent to labor in the region, and to preach to and teach the people. In those days opposition to the gospel was very great, and progress was very slow. In later years, owing to change of policy, evangelists were not sent, save on an occasional visit, and the church declined, though it still lived. A few years ago special efforts were made, and the church increased somewhat, and finally a native pastor was settled over this church, in connection with another about fifteen miles away. Before the expiration of the first year the Boxer uprising brought the arrest and beating of the pastor and much persecution to the church. The pastor did not return. The church was discouraged, and the pastor was called elsewhere. If we now had an available man, he could be located at Lai Chow fu; but there is no man.