Just before the siege of Peking began Dr. Mateer had made his visit to that city, to bury his brother John. The earlier part of 1900 he remained at Tengchow quietly at his work, and sending his orders just as usual for supplies needed by the college and personally. In July, by order of the American consul, the missionaries were brought down to Chefoo on a gunboat. Dr. Mateer and Mr. Mason Wells, however, lingered behind for a while. It was vacation, and Dr. Mateer occupied his time with the Mandarin version. Among the Chinese a wild rumor gained some currency that he was leading an army of many thousand men to relieve Peking; and the fact that his fiancée was shut up there gave at least piquancy to the report. Later he went on down to Shanghai, and there spent six months on the Revision Committee; and so he did not get back to Tengchow until June, 1901, when the Boxer uprising was at an end.
In a communication which he published in “The Herald and Presbyter” later in 1900, he gave at considerable length his views as to the causes of that dreadful outbreak. These do not differ essentially from the ideas which have come to be generally accepted in the United Stales. The missionary propaganda he frankly acknowledges to have, by the very nature of its message, aroused the malignity of evil men; and this also to have been much aggravated by the habit of Roman Catholics of standing between their converts and the enforcement of Chinese laws; but he denied that this was the main cause. He holds that the outbreak was chiefly due to the traditional hatred of foreigners; to the territorial aggressions of the western nations in China; to the ill treatment of Chinese abroad and in their own ports by foreigners; and last, but by no means least, to the German operations in Shantung, consisting of their revenge for the murder of some German priests, the occupation of Kiao-chow, and the survey and building of a railroad through the province. The high-handed encroachment of Russia in Manchuria and the construction of a railroad through that province, and the guarding of it by Russian troops, added fuel to the flames. Summing up, he says: “The whole movement is anti-foreign,—against all nationalities and occupations, ministers of governments, consuls, merchants, missionaries, teachers, and engineers, railroads, telegraphs, churches, schools, and Christian converts,—everything in short that is in any way connected with the detested foreigner. It is the conservatism of old China rising up and bracing itself for one last desperate struggle to suppress the new China that is supplanting it.”
Another of the trials that touched deeply his heart was the contact into which he was brought with the sufferings of the people through famine. In 1876, 1877, and 1878 there was great scarcity in the general region of Tengchow, and consequently the prices for food rose so high that it was impossible for the poor to obtain the necessaries of life. Dr. Mateer, as also other missionaries, helped them to the extent of his ability, and became the almoner of charitable people who sent money from western lands to buy food for the famishing. But in 1889 he was brought face to face as never before in his life with destitution in China. The inconstancy of the Yellow River was one cause of the terrible disaster. Twice within about a third of the nineteenth century it had changed its bed; and as a consequence, finding its new channel too small to carry off the waters in times of heavy and protracted rain, it had repeatedly flooded vast districts, often to a depth of several feet, carrying destruction to the mud walls of the buildings and desolation to the cultivated ground. Drought also in a portion of northwestern Shantung had prevailed to such an extent as to prevent the growth and maturing of grains and vegetables. At last a climax was reached by these disasters; and it was recognized by missionaries and others as so awful in its character and so vast in its sweep that a Famine Relief Committee for Shantung was organized, and an appeal was made for help from Great Britain and the United States, and from the southern ports of China. At least two hundred thousand dollars came in response, and it was especially in connection with the distribution of this that Dr. Mateer was brought into direct personal contact with the suffering. Districts were assigned to missionaries and others, and a careful canvass with the aid of reliable helpers was made. They ascertained that many tens of thousands of the people had wandered away from their homes, either to seek food or at least to leave to the more feeble and helpless such sustenance as might yet remain. No one ever was able to form a definite idea of the number who had died from starvation, either on their wanderings or at their places of residence. The canvassers found multitudes trying to sustain life by eating the husks of grain, the seeds and roots of grasses and weeds, the bark of trees, and the blades of wheat. Some of those who had been considered rich had provided themselves with poison, so as to take their own lives when they must come to the point where to live would be to see their children perish from starvation. The allowance furnished by the relief fund to an individual was fixed at about a cent a day in all ordinary cases, and it was ascertained that on this allowance at least a hundred thousand lives were saved. On some old, faded Chinese sheets of paper, closely written with his own hand, the record of a part of Dr. Mateer’s experiences in the famine canvass, out in northwestern Shantung, has come down to us. As it is all now a thing of the remote past, there probably would be no good in recording the dreadful details here. It is a story of children reduced to skeletons, eager to lick up every crumb as big as a pinhead that fell from the bit of coarse bread given them; of men and women falling down on their knees and begging for food for their families, and bursting into tears at the prospect of relief; of the sale of wives and daughters to procure something to eat; of unburied corpses, and of graves just filled with those who have perished. He said under date of April 9, 1889: “It is the hardest work I ever did in my life. To look all day long on a continual succession of starving people, and to be beset by their entreaties to enroll more names than you can, is very hard on the nerves. There is no end to the starving people.” Again, May 17, he said: “After seven weeks and two days I am at last about to leave for Tsinan. We have now enrolled about thirty-three thousand, and the work of enrollment in this place is finished.” What as to the religious outcome? The impression made upon multitudes even in excess of those who received aid was most favorable to Christianity. One of the leading Chinese assistants in the work wrote to the people who furnished the aid: “This must be the right religion. If not, why is it that the followers of other religions do not do such things?” Thus they were willing to examine into Christianity, and the more they examined, the more they believed, until they were converted to Christ. As an ultimate outcome, several hundred were received into the churches.
The controversies which he had with some of his fellow-missionaries in China were a serious trial to him. He was not by inclination “a man of war,” but in connection with the prosecution of the missionary work in which he was engaged in common with his brethren, questions of great practical and immediate importance arose, and as to some of these he had strong convictions that were at variance with those of other wise and able men on the field. It was best for the cause that these should be thoroughly discussed, and there was much that could be fairly and earnestly urged upon either side. All that could be rightly demanded was that the “fighting” should be open and honorable, and that it should be conducted in such a manner as not to hinder the missionary work or to descend into personal controversy. Dr. Mateer, as to ability and efficiency, stood in the front rank of those who were giving their lives to the evangelization of China. It was his duty to express his views on these questions, and to do this in such a way that no one could misapprehend them. If any fault could be found with him in this matter, perhaps it would be that he saw his own side so vividly that he was not always able to recognize the entire force of that which was said in favor of what ran counter to it. Those who knew him well and appreciated the greatness and tenderness of his heart waived the sting which sometimes seemed to be in his words; but perhaps some others who were not so well acquainted with him occasionally winced under its pungency. Everyone who was concerned in these discussions, long ago has come to recognize him in these as an earnest, capable man, trying to do his duty as he saw it.
By far the most protracted of these controversies was over the word that ought to be used in Chinese to express the idea of God. Under date of November 4, 1865, he made this entry in his Journal: “This week I had a note from Mr. Mills, saying that a proposition was current at Peking to get out a Union New Testament in Mandarin, and to use in it Tien Chu for God, and Sheng Shen for Holy Spirit, and that all but Mr. ⸺ had signed it. I cannot sign it at all; I am utterly opposed to any such a proceeding. I cannot conscientiously use these words.” That was his first gun in a battle that for him completely ended only with his life. His contributions to the discussion were sufficient to be in substance, as we have already seen, gathered into a separate volume. In 1907 his “Letter Book” shows that he was still remonstrating against a request to the Bible societies to employ for God and for spirit Chinese terms that violated his convictions. His very last recorded utterance on the subject was in a letter dated November 17, 1907. In it he expresses his gratification that in an edition of the New Testament for China, issued by an English Bible society, they were “to use the terms Shen and Sheng Ling for God and Spirit.” He added: “This suits me. These and these only are the right terms, and despite all appearances will ultimately win in the really orthodox and evangelistic church of China.” It is not improbable that the drift of opinion for various reasons as to this was against him; but it was in this faith that he died.
As to his part in the discussion concerning what came to be known as “Methods of Missions,” no more need be said here than that the men who took part in this were alike seeking the best solution of a difficult problem, and never wavered in unbroken fellowship and confidence as comrades in the larger work of giving the gospel to China. It was not until 1905 that Dr. Mateer published his book on this subject, and then only when urged by some of his associates.
In the battle as to English in the college, Dr. Mateer had to yield to the majority who came into control after the removal to Wei Hsien. He was great enough not to allow the new policy to chill his love for the institution, or to stay his hands from such help as, in addition to his occupation with the Mandarin version, it was possible for him to lend either by influence or money, or even by physical toil. In his final relations with the college he proved himself to be still its loyal and generous supporter.
It has often been remarked that one never meets a foreign missionary who has thrown himself or herself unreservedly into the work who is unhappy. They are human, and feel their trials often keenly; but their faces shine with an inward peace, and they rejoice over the one sheep, or the many, whom they have found in the wilderness and won to Christ. When Dr. Mateer advanced in age, and thought of what he had helped to accomplish for the evangelization of China, he must have felt a satisfaction such as seldom possesses a soul. In view of this supreme joy it almost seems out of place here to tell of the “incidents by the way” which ministered to his pleasure. One of these consisted of the signs of appreciation shown him by men or bodies of men whose commendation meant something worth while. We have seen how the missionaries on the field trusted and honored him by calling him to leadership in several most important enterprises looking toward large and permanent results. But others besides missionaries recognized him as worthy of their honors and trust. Hanover College in 1880 conferred on him the doctorate of divinity. In 1888 the University of Wooster, for his “attainments, literary and scientific, philosophical and theological, and for his success in his work as a Christian missionary and teacher,” gave him the doctorate of laws. At the centennial of his alma mater in 1902, Washington and Jefferson College also conferred on him the doctorate of laws, in recognition of his “distinguished ability and service as a scholar and minister of the gospel.” In 1894, the British and Foreign Bible Society by making him an honorary foreign member gave him an exceptional distinction. In August, 1898, his lifelong friend, Rev. Dr. W. A. P. Martin, who had been called to the headship of the new Imperial University planned for Peking, wrote to him, asking whether he would accept the deanship of the school of engineering; but in reply he declined, on the dual ground that he was under obligation to continue in his missionary work and in the translation of the Scriptures. In December of the same year he received from the “superintendent” of the new Imperial University at Nanking an invitation to become the “head master” of that nascent institution. Coming as this did directly from that high Chinese dignitary, it was an extraordinary mark of respect and confidence; but this also he declined, and for the same reasons as in the preceding case. In writing of these offers he said to one of the secretaries of the Board of Missions:
Both these positions offered me a salary much greater than a missionary gets. Though not now doing much active work in teaching in the college, I yet feel that my work and influence here are very important. Having embarked in the work of Bible translation, I cannot turn my back upon it, unless the conditions of the work itself constrain me to do so. Also I am anxious to preach,—especially to work in revival meetings amongst the native churches. I also value highly the opportunity I have to preach to the students of the college.