We had gathered eight Burman youths together in this preparatory boarding school on the Mission premises. I had them regularly taught by a conscientious and faithful native Christian teacher. They attended Divine service regularly, and we took pains to give them, in the school, Christian instruction, together with the course of secular instruction that seemed adapted for them. One day I went into the school and found all ominously quiet.
“Where are the boys?”
“All gone but one.”
“Gone? Where?” The matter was soon explained. The newly appointed Sawbwa of Momeit, a semi-independent chieftain, ruling a mountain district a few days’ journey north of Mandalay, being in need of more followers, some of his men got at these boys of ours, and persuaded them that a career of prosperity would open up to them, if they elected to follow the Sawbwa. These visions of prosperity proved too much of a temptation for these lads, so without as much as “good-bye” they had taken their departure, in the usual Burmese light-hearted way; and by the time we discovered they were missing, they were on their way up the river by steamer, in attendance on the new Sawbwa. One of the youths, however, our most hopeful one, K. by name, had quite privately made a remark to the youth who did not go, from which there seemed reason to hope that, in spite of his yielding to the temptation to leave, there was the root of the matter in him, and some hope that it might still result in good. He told this lad that wherever he went he meant to preach Christ. That remark was a good sign, but our disappointment was great.
In due time the young adventurers found the wisdom of that counsel, “Put not your trust in princes.” The Sawbwa never made good his promises. No prosperous career opened out to them, nothing better than lounging about the dirty village of Momeit, which constituted his capital. One by one they left the Sawbwa. Most of them I never saw again, but K., the one of whom we had most hopes, came back to us, and is with us still. Notwithstanding this and other disappointments, we still hold on in this enterprise of training workers, and mean to do so. K. was the first convert I baptised in Burma, and we have good hopes that he will prove a useful preacher. He certainly has talents in this direction. From the first he has shown more than ordinary intelligence and aptitude for study, and a marked love for the Word of God. Finding in him this aptitude, I commenced to give him, in Burmese, systematic daily instruction in Bible studies and theology. I was surprised to find the progress he had already made, and his extreme aptitude for understanding and imparting it. With intelligence and abilities for study, and with the taste for it, and a good natural utterance, we have great hopes of K.; but knowing what we do of the immoralities so common in Burman society, and the temptations to which young men are subject, we have to tremble, and to exercise watchful care, and to pray that the grace of God in him may prevail. The late C. H. Spurgeon has well said, “To build cathedrals is a little work compared with building up preachers.”
A communication recently to hand, from my friend and colleague Mr. Bestall, gives gratifying news of the young men at present in this training school, and gives us good ground to hope that this work is not in vain. Describing the young men he says:—
“K. first heard of Christ in 1888. It would be difficult to find a more fluent speaker or more earnest student. He preaches well and thoughtfully, and we hope to have more to report of him in years to come.
“G. N. is with him. He is an ex-Buddhist monk. He left Buddhism, and for some months has been diligently studying the Scriptures. He preaches in a very different style from K. He is quite familiar with the Buddhist prayers in Pali, and usually prefaces his remarks by a short recital. Having gained the ear of all, he continues, ‘I don’t pray like that now. Why?’ and then he begins his address.
“T. follows. He has been studying for two years, and is developing into an intelligent believer in the Gospel.