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

by D. W. Fisher

“I expect to die in heathen China, but I expect to rise in Christian China.”—ANOTHER FAREWELL ADDRESS.

In the chapter on the Mandarin revision we left the committee on the Old Testament, in the summer of 1908, at work on Genesis and the Psalms, down at Chefoo, with the Goodrich and the Mateer family keeping house together. Dr. Goodrich had been the dean of the Union Theological Seminary at Peking, and so was thoroughly versed in the educational phase of missions, still occupying so large a place in the heart and mind of Dr. Mateer. These two men also had served together on the revision of the New Testament, from the beginning to the end. They were in many features of their character very different from each other, and yet in their common labors and in their convictions they were in thorough harmony. Mrs. Goodrich and Mrs. Mateer had come out on the same steamer in 1879, to join the forces of the American Board, as unmarried missionaries; and the subsequent years had served to cement their friendship. The house in which they resided at Chefoo during that summer looked out on a charming scene: the “island,” the bay, and the passage, with craft of all kinds, Chinese junks and sampans, and steamers, small torpedo boats, and big battleships of every nation, either riding at anchor or coming up into the harbor. From the back windows the eye rested on a jagged range of hills, crowned at the top by a curious wall, so like the views of the Great Wall shown in pictures that ignorant sailors imagined it to be that famous structure. One can easily understand that under such circumstances the two families greatly enjoyed the earlier part of the session of the committee. Dr. Goodrich, in the following quotation from the article which he published in the January issue of “The Chinese Recorder,” in memory of Dr. Mateer, had in mind his entire acquaintance with him, extending over thirty-five years, but it is tinged especially with the recollection of the preceding summer. He says:

Much of the time we have been together in the protracted daily sessions of the committee, as well as in the long evening walks, when we talked on everything between the zenith and the nadir; for then his thoughts were “ready to fly East as West, whichever way besought them.” If he were not widely read, he had thought widely and deeply, being at once conservative, progressive, and original. He had strong opinions, and was at times severe and stern in maintaining them. But he loved those of a contrary opinion with a true and deep affection. From first to last he was a royal friend. Dr. Mateer thought naturally in terms of logic and mathematics, but not without a side in his nature for poetry and sentiment.

Dr. Mateer’s character, especially during the later years, was constantly mellowing, and the past summer, which our two families spent together in our own “hired house” at Chefoo, must ever be remembered as one of the happiest periods of our lives, without a break or jar to mar its enjoyment. Was it a sort of unconscious preparation for the sweeter joys and more perfect fellowship in the dear upper home?

Dr. Mateer worked on with his usual untiring faithfulness, during the last summer, though not quite well at times. How he lived in the Psalms, upon which he bestowed loving labor! Sometimes he would look out from his little study to the room which held all too closely his beloved wife, who has followed the Bible revision with an interest scarcely less intense than his own, and consult with her on some difficult phrase, or tell her of some beautiful figure he had succeeded in translating.

In the early morning we took a dip in the sea—he was a good swimmer—and after he had “talked with Him,” at six o’clock he was ready for his teacher. In the evening his walks were less regular and shorter than in other years.

In explanation of one sentence of the preceding it needs to be stated that by an accident Mrs. Mateer was then so disabled that she kept her room.

During the summer he suffered from a chronic tendency to dysenteric diarrhea, yet it was not until well toward the close of the session of the Committee that he remained in bed for the entire day. At first he worked on there, upon the translation of the Psalms, which he was especially anxious to give to the people in such language that they could readily catch it with the ear, and that the Psalms might be to the Chinese church the rich heritage they are to the English-speaking race. At length it became evident that his case was fast becoming so critical that if medical aid under the most favorable conditions could save his life, the very best that could be had must be secured at once. So it was decided that he ought to go on a steamer down to Tsingtao in the German concession. It would require twenty-four hours to make the trip; but when asked whether he was able to endure the journey, he replied: “I must. I shall die if I remain here.”

The necessity for the change was not due to any lack of medical care or friendly ministrations at Chefoo; it was made in order to secure the superior advantages which a good hospital affords. Fortunately the voyage was quiet. His wife went with him; and Dr. and Mrs. Goodrich also accompanied them. It was Tuesday night when they reached Tsingtao, and friends were at the landing; and, supported in loving arms, he was carried at once in a carriage to the Faber Hospital, where Dr. Wunsch, a skilled physician, exhausted his efforts to save him. Dr. Hayes was already there, and at Dr. Mateer’s request spent each day in the hospital.

Friday of that week was the anniversary of their marriage, but it was impracticable for his wife to be brought to his bedside. Saturday it became evident that the end was not far away, and she was permitted to see him; and he seemed so comforted by her presence, though he was too weak to talk much, that they allowed her to stay. In response to a telegram, his brother Robert and Madge, his wife, came at once. Saturday afternoon his mind wandered, and seemed to run on the affairs of the college. Sunday morning he asked Robert to pray with him; and in connection with this one of the great passions that had long possessed him manifested itself. As on the journey down on the boat he lay exhausted, he had said to Dr. Goodrich: “They must do their best to cure me at the hospital, so that I can finish the Psalms. That is all I have to live for now”—meaning, of course, by this, only the work to which he had given himself. Now, when his brother in his prayer asked that the sufferer at whose bedside he knelt might be given an abundant entrance into the heavenly rest, Dr. Mateer cried out: “Raise your faith a notch higher, Robert. Pray that I may be spared to finish the translation of the Psalms.” Then he asked that Dr. Hayes be called in, and he requested him to pray for this; and when this was done he added, “O Lord, may this prayer be answered!”