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The Lives of Robert & Mary Moffat

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The Lives of Robert & Mary Moffat ussell Street »N. W.C. I k4'^~ THE LIVES OF ROBERT AND MARY MOFFAT. "LIVES WORTIf LIVING" SERIES OF Popular BioaraDDks, Illustrated. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, Bs. 6d. per volume. ^"*^°^ Fourth Edition. ^ ^^' ^f « Golden Lives." 4. LABOUR AND VICTnT?v tj a Memoirs of Those ^"^^^^ .^- J^^^' ^^^.D. who DeSL^-reserved llSuccess Edition. and Won it. Third 5. HEROIC ADVENTrTT?-p . ni, l . „ and ^^' '"^ ^'°'''* Discovery. Third Edition Explorations 6. GREAT MINDS IN ART Wifi, nu . Artists. ^^''^^''' °" ^^t By William T^ucirw-.^-^ieebuck. and Frontispiece. With many Portraits, and 7. GOOD MEN ^^-^TRUE.AND TRTTir Byt> Alex.H.a ^ Edition. Japp.LL.D. Second '• ^S^e^oSd^fdS^^^^^ ^^^^OSERS. ByL..iAT. Moh.s. 9. OLIVER CROMWELL AND HIS TIMES. ByG.HoLo.. ''• ^^OWN ^''JotfnS? OF HARPER'S FERRY. '" '^S'^BtS?^H?.iL^p?.S^OHERS: Their Conquest of Lokook: T. FISHE~^^?^?^^^i^K;^3^^^ S.uah., E.G. <yZ^ ^.-^-^Ctr-^^^^t^ ^ 3557 THE LIVES OF Xiv ROBERT & MARY MOFFAT my THEI% so:Ni JOHN S. MOFFAT TWELFTH EDITION WITH PORTRAIT AND ILLUSTRATIONS T. FISHER UNWIN PATERNOSTER SQUARE [All rights reserved.} UNIFOBM WITH THIS VOLUME. Illustrated. Large Crovra 8vo, cloth, 23. 6d. not. The Life of Richard Cobden. By John Morley. The Life of Qirolamo Savonarola. By Professor Pasquale Villari. The Life of Niccolo MachiaveHi. By Professor Pasquale Villari. London: T. FISHER UNWIN. PREFACE. In issuing a Popular Edition of this work, the Editor repeats his thanks for the willing help rendered to him in the compiling of the First Edition by many friends, including the Directors of the London Missionary Society. Still more, old friends, whose con- fidence in committing to him the family correspondence of long years between their parents and his, furnished him with much that has proved of great interest. Besides these, he thanks the friends of later years, whose reminiscences are the more valuable as letters of that period became less copious. It was not till most of these pages were in print that the Editor had the opportunity of visitmg Ormiston, his father's native village, on the occasion of the unveiling of a monument to his memory, of which an illustration will be found in this work. The monument owes its existence to the zeal of a few friends in Edinburgh. They found an unwearied secretary in Mr. Thomas Fairgrieve, to whose hearty exertions much is due. The Editor is thankful that Mr. Stevenson has been successful in producing one of the best por- traits in existence of Robert Moffat, in so permanent a form as that of the bronze medallion which forms the chief feature of the memorial at Ormiston. Round that quiet nook in East Lothian cluster many associa- tions. Close by is the Hall, with its great yew-tree, one of the finest in Scotland, so closely bound up with the memory of John Knox —and of Wishart ; and from the old Hall—part of which still stands 'Wishart was taken by night, to be carried away to his martyrdom. At the entrance of the grounds stands the gardener's house, a substantial stone building in which Robert Moffat's mother spent her youth a hundred years ago ; and in the churchyard stands a vi PREFACE. stone to the memory of her parents, William Gardiner and his wife, erected by the Earl of Hopetoun of that date, in whose service they had lived and died. A short walk from Ormiston is the village of Tranent, where the first coal mines in Scotland were worked ; and a little further on is the field of Prestonpans, perhaps less remembered for its battle than for the fact that the pious Colonel Gardiner fell there within sight of his own house. Besides that of the monument, three other illustrations are given in this work. The first is the cottage at Carronshore, still stand- ing, Robert Moffat's home in boyhood. The second is the Kuruman street, with the house which was the home of Robert and Mary Moffat for nearly fifty years ! It is taken from the least picturesque side unfortunately, but no better view is available. The church is seen beyond, and farther still is the other mission- house. The third is Park Cottage, Leigh, where Robert Moffat's last years were spent, and where he died. Very little can be said to any purpose in a further issue of this book. The work has been appreciated far beyond the expec- tations of those who are responsible for its production. Most of the Reviewers have shown a generous willingness to understand that the Editor had no ambition to emulate the skill of those practised hands who can invest any story with a charm by an artistic arrangement of colour. In this particular case such paint- ing would have been beneath the dignity of the subject. The best tribute to the worth of the Lives and Letters is the fact that they have shone out and charmed their readers, all the more perhaps for the duller lustre of their homely setting. " It has been well said by several Reviewers that the " Lives ought to be read along with the older work by Robert Moffat himself, the "Labours and Scenes." The Editor is once more back in the land his parents loved so well. He is there under changed conditions, but his desire is to be allowed to do something for the Bechwana. The problem is not a simple one as may be gathered from the diversity of opinions which have been freely expressed from opposite sides of a dividing line. Speaking as an official himself, he is bound to confess that political intervention on behalf of the natives has mostly ended in failure, at all events in South Africa. This sense of failure is pressing heavily on the truest friends of the natives among the official class at the present time. We see our efforts frustrated by some turn in politics, some party move at home. The missionary has no such misgivings, or ought not to have, in the presence of witnesses like Robert and Mary Mofiat. Ixis commission is clear, and he knows that no faithful labour it the PREFACE. vii name of Jesus Christ can be lost ; for the Lord of missions knows the end from the beginning, and is working all things according to one harmonious plan. No more impressive lesson is taught in this book than the lesson of faith in a Divine purpose ; and tliat it may go and teach this and similar lessons, the Editor once more launches his venture and bids it God speed I ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Portrait of Dr. Moffat Frontispiece The Cottage at Carronshore 3 Common Style of South African Farm House . 92 Ormiston, the birthplace of Robert Moffat. Showing the Monument erected to bis memory 257 Park Cottage, Leigh 273 CONTENTS. 01 CHAPTER I. PAGB EARLY YEARS IN SCOTLAND, I795-1814 .... .1 CHAPTER II RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS, 1815-1816 ..••.« lO CHAPTER HI. PREPARATIONS AND DEPARTURE FOR AFRICA, 1816 . 17 CHAPTER IV. JOURNEY TO NAMAQUALAND, 1817-1818 . .21 CHAPTER V. LIFE IN NAMAQUALAND, 1818 .26 CHAPTER VI. THE WIFE OF ROBERT MOFFAT, 1819 , , . ,34 CHAPTER VII. ROBERT MOFFAT VISITS THE CAPE, 1819 ..... 43 CHAPTER VIII. ARRIVAL OF MARY SMITH AT THE CAPE, 18 19 . .46 U X CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. PAGB JOURNEY TO LATTAKOO, 1820 50 CHAPTER X. SOJOURN AT GRIQUA TOWN, 1820 55 CHAPTER XL SOJOURN AT GRIQUA TOWN, 1820-1822 « , . .- .62 CHAPTER Xn. THE MANTATEE INVASION, . 1823-1824 . , . , 74 CHAPTER xnr WARS AND 1 RUMOURS OF WARS, 824 . .82 CHAPTER XIV. FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS, 1825 . • • 1 • • §9 CHAPTER XV, PROGRESS ON THE NEW STATION, 1826 . , . .93 CHAPTER XVI. LAST ATTACKS OF THE MARAUDERS, 1 828 • . lOI CHAPTER XVII. DAYLIGHT AT LAST, 1829 I05 CHAPTER XVIII. VISIT TO THE CAPE, 1830-1832 ,114 CHAPTER XIX. MARY MOFFAT TRAVELS TO THE COLONY, 1833-1834 , . 122 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER XX. PAGE A SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION, 183S I27 CHAPTER XXI. MOFFAT ITINERATES, AND HIS WIFE GOES TO THE COAST, 1 836 1 37 CHAPTER XXn. - DISTURBANCES IN THE INTERIOR, 1837 . t I46 CHAPTER XXni. VISIT TO ENGLAND, 1838-184I 152 CHAPTER XXIV. 161 THE MOFFATS RETURN TO SOUTH AFRICA, 1842, 1S43 . CHAPTER XXV. MARY MOFFAT VISITS CHONWANE, l844-l8»*". 17° CHAPTER XXVI. MARY MOFFAT JOURNEYS TO THE CAPE, 1847-1849 . I76 CHAPTER XXVII. DARK CLOUDS WITH A SILVER LINING, 1850 • « . iSo CHAPTER XXVIII. MOFFAT'S THIRD JOURNEY TO MOSILIKATSE, 1853 , . .199 CHAPTER XXIX MARY MOFFAT AGAIN JOURNEYS TO THE COAST, 1854-I056 . 2o8 CHAPTER XXX. rOUnTH JOURNEY TQ MOSILIKATSE, 1857 . .215 xii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXI. PAGE THE NEW MISSIONS TO THE NORTH, 1859 . .223 CHAPTER XXXII. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MATEBELE MISSION, i860 , . 23I CHAPTER XXXIII. FAMILY BEREAVEMENTS, 1862-1867 236 CHAPTER XXXIV. DEPARTURE FOR ENGLAND, 1 868, 1 869 242 CHAPTER XXXV. DEATH OF MARY MOFFAT, 1870-1872 250 CHAPTER XXXVI. MOFFAT REVISITS CARRONSHORE, 1 873 260 CHAPTER XXXVII. FAREWELL TO CHILDREN, 1874 266 CHAPTER XXXVIII. CLOSING SCENES, 1878-1883 272 CHAPTER XXXIX. FUNERAL, AND NOTICES OF THE PRESS 287 CHAPTER XL. A SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER 2fXt • INDEX . • 307 CHAPTER I. EARLY YEARS IN SCOTLAND. 1795—1814. Robert Moffat was born on the twenty-first of December, 1795, at Ormiston, in East Lothian. Of his father's origin and family little is known, but his mother, Ann Gardiner, came of ancestors who had lived for several generations at Ormiston in a lowly walk of life, their only distinction having been a steady and unobtrusive piety. It is uncertain what was the occupation of the elder Moffat at Ormiston for some years after his marriage, but in 1797, when the subject of this memoir was two years old, his father re- ceived an appointment in the custom-house at Portsoy, near Banff, and removed thither with his wife and young family.
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