The Captain’s boat ran to an island for safety, and was, ere long, picked up, and he and all his men safely returned to Australia. The other boat had a dreadful voyage. More than once she was overturned, and left them all struggling in the Sea. For fourteen days and nights, without almost any food, without any possibility of rest, bareheaded in a broiling sun, the poor fellows endured suffering and untold distress; till, at length, by a well-nigh miraculous Providence, they ran ashore on the coast of Queensland, and were saved. Blessed be God, though our dear little Dayspring, with all her belongings, her Library, her Mission Harmonium, Lord Kelvin’s magnificent Compass, and the books, the furnishings, and the food of our beloved Missionaries, lay sleeping in the Ocean’s bed—no father’s or mother’s heart was wrung with the memory of some precious Son buried with her there. We were all spared that agony, and we continue to praise God that the wreck of the Dayspring cost not a single human life.
It does not need that I should inform the Reader of the preceding pages that this wreck was, in all the circumstances, one of the bitterest sorrows of my life. I am not ashamed, considering my views of its spiritual value as the Handmaid of the Gospel in completing Christ’s Mission on the New Hebrides, to confess that I showed as much emotion, though in a different way, when I heard the sorrowful news, as did the Christian Natives at Lenukel, when they rolled themselves in anguish on the sands, and set up a deathwail as if they had lost their dearest friend. It requires very little imagination to realize the scene, as the news was borne from Isle to Isle, and to hear one long, deep, and heart-breaking cry resounding throughout the New Hebrides—“Alas for the Gospel Ship! Alas for our dear little Dayspring! Alas for the white-winged Herald of the Cross!”
For one, though firmly believing that her loss was a great blow to all the higher interests of our Mission, I was able to say: “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away:”—but yet, God forgive me, it was very hard to add: “Blessed be the Name of the Lord.” But never, in my deepest soul, did I for a moment doubt that in His hands all must be well. Whatever trials have befallen me in my Earthly Pilgrimage, I have never had the trial of doubting that perhaps, after all, Jesus had made some mistake. No! my blessed Lord Jesus makes no mistakes! When we see all His meaning, we shall then understand, what now we can only trustfully believe, that all is well—best for us, best for the cause most dear to us, best for the good of others and the glory of God. Still, my tears would flow when I thought of the dear little Dayspring, the fruit of ten years of prayers and toils, the gift of God’s people throughout the world to our beloved Mission, tumbled from that reef and lying at the bottom of the Sea. And I felt comforted to think that He, who wept with the mourning Sisters at the grave of Lazarus, did not rebuke their tears, but soothed them by weeping with them—“Jesus wept.”
Wisely or otherwise, all parties seemed to embrace at once the conclusion that this Shipwreck should furnish the occasion for reconsidering the whole question of a Mission Vessel or no Mission Vessel for the New Hebrides. For the time, arrangements had again to be resumed for the services of the Trading Company; and the interval was to be utilized in consulting the Mission Synod on the Islands, and the Churches concerned, in the light of the experience gained, whether another Dayspring should be built or not. I must openly affirm that this policy never commended itself to my judgment, nor even yet can I see its wisdom. With the Insurance, though limited to the inadequate sum of £2,000 much against my will by the Committee at Melbourne, and with the other Funds for the Dayspring still on hand, besides the Free-Will Offerings that poured in on us from friends everywhere, we could have ordered and paid for a New Ship without one hour’s delay. We had the assent of the Churches and the approval of the Missionaries, and should have gone forward, as if the wreck had never happened. God seemed Himself to be clearly pointing the way. Within a few hours, after the disaster was cabled to Britain, a lady in London sent a check for £1,000 to my Home Committee, “to build or buy a new and larger ship!” Other generous offers were also pressed upon us; and the money is at this moment lying in the Bank awaiting a decision. We could then, and can now, present to the Mission another Dayspring, as a free gift from those throughout the world to whom God has endeared the Mission on the New Hebrides.
But I was powerless to resist the policy of delay, the consequences of which I cannot but fear, whatever the ultimate decision may be, as highly disastrous to our Mission. Should the vote be in favor of another Ship, the delay will have so damped the interest of supporters, that my British Committee may find it extremely difficult to revive subscriptions and secure the promised £1,000 per annum towards the Maintenance Fund. Should the vote be unfavorable, the dissension amongst the Missionaries and the Churches, and the seesaw policy in the Management of the Mission, will so shake the confidence of the Christian Public, that all our funds are bound to suffer, and the welfare of the Mission be seriously crippled. I do, therefore, most earnestly pray and hope that there may be unity, at whatever cost to my personal predilections; for the spectacle of a disloyal Minority, undermining and destroying the work of the Majority, is enough to bring on our cause the contempt of men, if not also the curse of God. And at the same time, I cannot but fervently desire that the mind of the Synod on the Islands and of the Churches in the Colonies, at Home, and in Nova Scotia, may be clear and decided in favor of a Mission Ship, for the highest welfare of the Church of God on the New Hebrides.[[2]]
[2]. The Synod on the Islands (May, 1897) have voted for a New Mission Ship by a majority of 13 against 2.—Editor.
Experience has demonstrated that a perfectly suitable Vessel can be constructed for, say £8,000, that is, fifty tons larger than the Ship we have lost. Experience has further demonstrated that she can be maintained for £2,500 per annum, or even less. Our opponents must therefore lay aside their speculative figures, and cease to say that her building may cost £10,000, and her yearly maintenance not less than £5,000. The Dayspring lived long enough to slay these two wild fabrications. Now then, let them be buried with her in the Sea! It is purely and simply a question of whether, in the interests of the Kingdom of God on the New Hebrides, and in order to cut off our work there from all degrading association with Sabbath-breaking and grog-selling Trading Ships, we should or should not accept the free-will offerings of the People at Home to build for us, and to help us to maintain, a Mission Ship of our own. I never can believe it possible to imagine any other answer but one—if that issue were clearly contemplated, and judgment pronounced, apart from all other considerations, whether personal, self-interested, or merely worldly.
Thus far, as part of my Life-Story, and that every reader may comprehend my aims, it seemed necessary to explain, to argue, and even to criticise. But all further reference here is needless. Ere this page is published, the final decision will probably have been announced. I can truly say that my Lord knows how sincerely I desire a clear and final decision, whether for or against another[[3]] Dayspring; and that, such having been given, I pledged myself beforehand to accept it as His will, and, under it, to do all that in me lies to promote during my remaining days, the true welfare of the Mission of Christ to the New Hebrides. Dayspring, or no Dayspring, these souls must be won for Jesus!
[3]. The General Assembly at Melbourne (November, 1897) resolved by a majority of one to delay for twelve months before deciding either for or against a new Dayspring.—Editor.
And now, since this in all human probability is the closing Chapter of my humble Life, so far as it shall ever be written by me, therefore ere I lay down my pen, let me dwell with unalloyed delight on a few pictures of facts that rise before me, illustrative of the work of God at large throughout the New Hebrides. In all my journeyings, and in all my talks and writings, though of necessity personal experiences bulked somewhat largely, yet every candid hearer or reader will bear witness that I was eager and careful to pay unstinted honor to all my fellow laborers on these Islands; many of whom, men and women too, I truly regard before God as amongst the noblest Servants of the Lord Jesus that I have ever known, or expect to know, on this Earth. God be with them, one and all; and though, on questions of policy and management, some of them may differ from me, I would gladly spend my last ounce of strength in promoting the spiritual interests of their work at every Station, and contributing to their personal happiness and prosperity, if it be in my power in any way to do so. All this, on both sides, we thoroughly know and understand, as becometh the Ambassadors of Christ to the Heathen World. I am never happier than when, as now, I try to picture the work of God on all the Isles of the New Hebrides, and show our friends and supporters in every Land some of the fruits of their money and their prayers.