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

by D. W. Fisher

Before the end of her first year in China she look an active part in opening the little school which ultimately grew into the Shantung College. To this school she gave the best energies of her life, and to her in no small degree is due its continued success. She was an accomplished teacher, especially of young boys.... She did far more than teach, during the earlier years of the school; she did fully two thirds of the work involved, giving her time day and night to every detail. She kept the accounts, looked after food and clothing and a hundred nameless things. To the end she was the confidante and adviser of all, in their troubles, trials, and plans, in their marriage alliances, and in their spiritual exercises. The thoughtful care she gave to all her pupils when they were sick endeared her to the hearts of all who were in the college. She studied medicine on her own account, and had no mean skill as a physician. All the sick in the native church, and all the sick in her own neighborhood, heathen and Christian, came to her, and she never refused a call. There is no graduate of the Tengchow College who does not have a place for her in his heart, close by the side of that of his own mother. During her illness there is probably not one of these young men, scattered as they are over all north China, who did not pray earnestly for her, many of them in public as well as in private; and many of them have written her the most anxious and affectionate letters. On her sixtieth birthday, last July, the students of the college and graduates with their most imposing ceremony presented her with a decorated silk gown, and placed a large title, or sign, in gilt letters over the front door of the house, “Character-nourishing aged mother.” It was the proudest day of her life when these young men presented her with this most fitting token of their loving reverence and esteem.

In view of the hatred and prejudice which confronted her and her husband when they arrived in Tengchow nearly thirty-five years before, it must have almost seemed to her like the illusion of a dream.

We have previously seen that Dr. Mateer’s brother John became the superintendent of the mission press at Shanghai in 1872. He continued in that position until 1876, when he returned home. For a good many years he was in business in the United States, and then he returned to China and took charge of the mission press of the American Board at Peking. In April, 1900, Dr. Mateer was called by telegraph to come to that city as quickly as possible, on account of the dangerous illness of his brother; but John died the day before his arrival. In a letter to the surviving brothers and sisters Dr. Mateer, after describing the funeral services, added:

It is evident that his work here in the press was highly appreciated. He was also held in high esteem by the members of the other missions, and was well and favorably known in the American legation. Several of the speakers said that John’s life was a well-rounded and successful one, achieved in the face of great difficulties. From the standpoint of worldly wisdom his life could scarcely be called successful; but from the spiritual, it certainly was. In this regard he was probably superior to any member of the family. His mind was clear to the end and filled with confident hope. As his disease grew more serious he showed no fear, and to the last he faced death without a tremor. May God give unto each of us who remain grace to face the king of terrors with the same triumphant faith. We buried him in the foreign cemetery, just north of the city, in the most beautiful spot in that cemetery, and just by the side of Rev. Mr. Morrison of our mission.

It did not fall to the lot of Dr. Mateer to have any experience of perilous adventure and of hairbreadth escapes such as have come into the lives of missionaries in uncivilized lands, and even in China. Still he by no means escaped serious risks. In his earlier itinerations he was several times threatened with attacks from individuals or crowds, and sometimes he armed himself in order to defend himself from assault. The second year of his residence in Tengchow, because of negotiations going forward for the renting of a house near the south gate, a meeting of as many as a thousand people composing the most influential clan in the city assembled in one of the temples, and demanded of the officials permission to kill the man who controlled the house, and the foreigners; but the excitement passed away without any open outbreak. In the summer of 1867 there was a great scare at Tengchow over the approach of a body of “rebels.” These were in reality robbers, consisting of the dregs left behind at the suppression of the Tai-Ping rebellion, who burned and laid waste large districts of country, and mercilessly slaughtered the people. Their approach to Tengchow had so often been reported that nobody knew what to anticipate; but at length they, sure enough, made their appearance in the neighboring country. The inhabitants crowded into the city by thousands, bringing with them donkeys, cattle, and everything that could be hastily removed, so that not only the houses, but the streets and vacant places were crammed with them, the mission premises not being excepted. Julia found in the situation a fine opportunity to give the gospel to the women; and her husband was equally diligent among the men, though he was unfortunately hampered by the absence of his Chinese assistant. A British war vessel called early in the scare and offered to remove the missionaries to a place of safety; and later the “Wyoming,” a United States naval vessel, anchored out in the bay, where she could bring her guns to play, if necessary, for the protection of American citizens. Happily, after five days of this state of things the rebels again vanished, but not without leaving in their trail sickness and desolation. The missionaries do not seem to have been much alarmed at any time during the excitement, though no one could tell what might happen.

In 1870 there was a cruel massacre of a large number of French Roman Catholic missionaries and of some others at Tientsin, and much valuable mission property was destroyed. The news of this spread rapidly over north China and kindled the animosity of the natives against foreigners to such a degree that the situation in many localities became very dangerous. At Tengchow rumors of plots to wipe out the missionaries there were frequent, and the native Christians and others who were friendly communicated to them information that justified serious apprehension. A meeting of all the members of both the Baptist and the Presbyterian station was called, and then another the next day, and by an almost unanimous vote it was declared that it was the duty of all to take refuge in Chefoo or elsewhere until the danger was substantially ended. Dr. Mateer in these meetings advocated brief delay and further inquiry, but when he found himself in a minority of one, he yielded his judgment to that of all the others. Just as soon as possible a message was sent to Chefoo for a ship to come up and take the families to that place, and a couple of British vessels promptly responded. All valuables that could be quickly packed and easily removed were shipped; and the premises at Tengchow were placed in charge of as trusty Chinese as could be obtained for the purpose, and a promise was given by the chief official of the city that he would see that constables watched the property. Dr. Mateer did not go on the ship, but remained a day along with a Baptist missionary in order to complete the arrangements required for the proper keeping of the houses and goods, and then he followed on horseback down to Chefoo. The prompt appearance of the ships in the harbor and the removal of the missionaries seem to have made a most wholesome impression on the people, and the excitement soon subsided, and a rather general desire prevailed, even among the non-Christian Chinese, that they should return. The American minister at Peking also greatly gratified the refugees and their fellow-laborers from the United States by the to them somewhat novel experience of his taking an earnest practical interest in their welfare. He advised them to return to Tengchow, and solicited the privilege of sending them back on an American warship. After an absence of about a month Dr. Mateer went thither on a preliminary trip, and was pleasantly surprised at the friendly altitude of the people. In due time the other missionaries and their families followed; but at the meeting of the synod which ensued a little later he was compelled, after a brief sojourn at Tengchow, to go down to Shanghai and remain there for a year and a half in charge of the mission press. Just how real was the danger that caused this temporary flight to Chefoo, and how imminent, is a secret that perhaps no man clearly knew, and which certainly the missionaries never ascertained. Writing in his Journal, just after his return, concerning his reluctant acquiescence in the vote of all except himself in favor of going, he says:

Nevertheless acquiescence was one of the hardest trials of my life. My mind was filled that night with a tumult of emotions; and I did not sleep a wink till the morning light dawned. I did not know how much I loved Tengchow, and perhaps I overrated the damage our leaving would do to our own cause here, especially to our schools. I am not sure, however, that I did. The future remains to be seen. God may, and I trust he will, turn it to be a blessing both to us and to the native Christians. Aside from the question of the actual amount of danger at that time I felt a strong aversion to going in any case, unless when my life was in such instant peril that there was no possible doubt.... I am not yet convinced, however, and though I do not wish to make any rash vows, yet I think that I will not fly from Tengchow again unless there is a great deal more imminent danger.

When, in 1894-95, the war between Japan and China raged, Tengchow being a port on the sea, and not far from Japan, was of course likely to be a place directly involved in the hostilities. The missionaries elected to remain at their post, and asked the consular agent of the United States at Chefoo to notify the proper military official of their presence, number, calling, and nationality, and to say that in case of attack they would hoist the American flag over the mission premises, and that if the Chinese found themselves unable to defend the city they would exert their influence to have it surrendered without loss of life. The Japanese did come, and they, as a diversion from the seizure of Wei-hai-wei, bombarded the place on three successive days. As to this, Dr. Mateer says in his autobiographical sketch for his college classmates, “I watched the progress of affairs from the lookout on top of my house, but escaped untouched, though eight shells fell close around the house, and one went over my head so close that the wind from it made me dodge.”

During the Boxer uprising of 1899-1900, though the movement originated in Shantung, the missionaries and native Christians of that province suffered less than in adjacent provinces. The reason for this is that after the murder of Brooks in 1899, the anti-foreign governor, Yu Haien, was at the solicitation of the missionaries and the Foreign Office removed. Unfortunately he was not deposed, but was merely changed to Shansi. This accounts for the terrible carnage there. The new governor of Shantung, the since famous Yuan Shih K’ai, did his best to hold the Boxers in check in his own province, and in the main was successful. The prompt and efficient action of Consul Fowler, of Chefoo, in removing the missionaries from the interior also helped to save life. Still it was bad enough in the western parts even of Shantung. The native Christians in many places were robbed, beaten, and so far as possible compelled by threat of death to disown their faith. The story of the destruction of the property of the mission at Wei Hsien, and the narrow escape of the missionaries, through the courage of one of their number, is about as thrilling as any that is told of that period of widespread burning and carnage. In the eastern side of the province, beyond ominous excitement at such places as Tengchow and Chefoo, there was no serious disturbance. Probably this was due in part to the wholesome respect which the Chinese living not too far from the sea had come to feel for foreign war vessels, and for the troops which they could promptly disembark.