James Hannington of U Ganda Th E B Ishop W Ho Gave H I S Life Fo R Th E Evangelising O F Central Africa

JAMES HA NNINGTO N

THE MERCHANT’ S SON WHO ' WAS MAR TYRED FOR AFRICA

M ICH AEL CHAR LES D . “ A U TH OR m S LAVE A ND HIS CB A K P IONS

P IC KE R I N G 8c I N G LI S 1 4

22 BOTHWELL STREET GLA z 9 , SGOW, o B RI G HT B I O G RA PH I E S STIRRING LIF E STORIES O F CHRIST IAN ME N A N D W O ME N

ROBE R T MO R RI SON OF C H INA TH E P IONEER O F CHINESE MISSIONS A N D TRAN SLATOR OF TH E B IB LE INTO CHINESE

JAMES HANNINGTON OF U GANDA TH E B ISHOP W HO GAVE H I S LIFE FO R TH E EVANGELISING O F CENTRAL AFRICA

W OME N W H O HAVE WO RKE D AND W ON

MR S . CHARLES HADDON SP URGEON The Help meet of a World -wide Preacher

EMMA B OOTH - TUCKER The Amaz on of a World-wide Holy W ar

FRANCES RIDLEY H A VE R GA L The Poet ess of a Wor ld-wide Church

P ANDITA RA MA BA I A N D H E R WORK The Cause which had World -wide Sup port

Otker Titles in P rep aration

CROWN OCTAVO SI 'E ILLUSTRATED

4 6 3 7 1 P R E F A C E

ENJOY the uphill , struggling path most ” of of all . So wrote James Hannington himself ; and his whole life was a testimony t o the truth o f this estimate of his own character . Each achievement was but a stepping- stone to some fresh conquest ; and for all his striving had its obj ect , not personal glory and gratiﬁcation , but the glory of God and the good of others . In the following pages no attempt has been made to tell in full detail the story of Bishop ’ Hannin t on s g career , but merely to give in outline the principal facts and most prominent incidents in a life that was singularly rich in all those qualities o f heart and mind which make a man beloved o f those who live in close communion with him .

ﬁ nor A more unsel sh soul never breathed , on e whose personality was more attractive . His earnestness of purpose was evident in 6 PREFACE

in his all that he undertook . Alike home life , in his ministerial work , and in his brief but glorious missionary career , he proved himself capable of complete devotion to the interests of those who loved and trusted him and in the supreme sacriﬁce of his life on of an the threshold Ug da , he showed that

for it is possible a man who is consecrated , an d of heart soul , to the service God and humanity , to give up literally all that he hath in noblest surrender for the purpose to hi w ch he has dedicated himself .

James Hannington , Bishop and martyr , is

hi s - dead , but spirit lives ; and to day the story of his bravery and devotion has po wer to move the pulses and stir the hearts o f those who c an appreciate the highest at t ri

o f ou r butes human nature .

We leave the story to speak for itself . It is one of the most inspiring in the annals of missionary endeavour and achievement and

no t e it has its lesson , only for thos who hear the call to go forth to the ﬁelds that are

who own white unto harvest , but for all the supremacy of the Lord whom James Hanning t on loved even unto death . It only remains fo r the author to acknow PREFACE 7 ledge his indebtedness for many o f the facts contained in this volume to fumes Hawning ton A Histor o his Li e and Work y f f , by the l . . The Wo e u . nd r Rev . E C Dawson , M A f U an a t o d . . S or . y f g , by Rev J D Mullins ; and to Mrs . Hannington and the Church

t o Missionary Society , for kind permission quote from the Bishop ’ s diaries and from ’ the Society s journals .

C O N T E N T S

PA GE

I B R A N D BO OO . I TH YH D

II A GE E L RG E . NTL MAN AT A

III A O E O DE O . . M M NT US CISI N

IV OR O A N D CO R C R . DINATI N A UNT Y U ACY

V P R WORK H O E L E H U Rsr P IE R . A ISH AND M IF AT P OINT

VI T E C To SER E . H ALL VIC

VII T E F R O R O R E . H I ST MISSI NA Y J U N Y

VIII AD E RE BY E W A Y . V NTU S TH

I' T E SE O O R O R E . H C ND MISSI NA Y J U N Y

' T E GO V EW . H AL IN I

' I T E S OR F E R R O . H T Y O TH MA TY D M

LI ST O F I LLU STR ATI O NS

' DEATH O F BISHOP H ANNINGTO N Fron tz spiece

RACI NG P AGE BISHOP H ANNINGTON

A N AWKWARD SITUATI ON

’ A V W O ORD A N U LL E SO U AR O F IE F J N S AH , TH TH M TH E VICTORIA NYAN 'A

TRAVEL B Y H AMMO CK

BEWITCHED B Y THE BISHO P A CRITICAL MOMENT

A TRYING TIME WITH INQ UISITIVE NATIVES

’ THE BISHOP S BETRAYAL

J A ME S HA NNINGTON

C H A P T E R I

BI RTH AND BOYHOOD

AMES HANNINGTON was born o n rd 1 8 J 3 September , 47, in the pretty Sussex village Of Hurstpierpoint , about eight miles from Brighton . He was the eighth Of n child his father , Mr . Charles Smith Ha ning a ton , who owned large drapery business in l Brighton . The fami y had long been estab lished in the busy seaside town , and lived there until just before the birth Of James , ’ when they removed to St . George s , Hurst pierpoint , which henceforth became their home . 0 The foundation Of the family fortune was laid by the grandfather Of James , Of whom it is recorded that he was a man Of keen business instincts , who never wanted a holiday , and one never thought that other people wanted . no Thoroughly liberal , upright , and religious , ﬁrm man more so , a and strict master , greatly ” loved , but also greatly feared . His son James ’ s father— improved and extended the 2 1 4 JAMES HANNINGTON

business bequeathed to him , and thus was enabled to purchase the beautiful country home in which James was born . The house in which the future Bishop first saw the light stands at the entrance to Hurst -for S O the inhabitants shorten the some what cumbersome name Of their village and its charm n grounds form a perfect ’ di Al child s p ara se . most as soon as James could walk he familiarised himself with every nook and corner Of the place and the love Of exploration and the keenness Of nature study which so distinguished his later years w his were manifest in the zeal ith which , in baby days , he explored and collected fi ’ within the con nes Of his father s domain . ’ In the gr—ounds Of St . George s were two small lakes spacious enough , doubtless , to — the imaginative baby mind on whose placid surface grew wonderful flowers that his tiny fingers longed in vain to grasp and in whose fearsome depths lived strange creatures that now and then delighted him by coming near d the surface to isport themselves . There t oo were winding paths , , and shrubberies . What endless opportunities they afforded a for hiding from wild beasts , and lternately u personating those same savage creat res , to the j oyful alarm Of the brothers and sisters who joined in the fun Of make-believe And the nests in the bushes ; the haunts Of the beetle in the tree trunks the j ewelled web of the spider in the hedges ; the Chrysalis so BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 1 5

cunningly hidden , yet plain enough to eyes that are trained to seek it — what a Charm there must have been in these , and such as b these , to the child Of whom it has een said al that he was a born natur ist . TO the end Of his life the love Of nature was on e Of the most strongly marked char ac t eristic s o f James Hannington ; and no holiday or expedition was considered by him worth while unless it afforded opportunities for adding to his store Of knowledge Of the al t u re m of na re , and contributing to his l col ection Of rare and beautiful spe cimens . His passionate love Of nature was inherited who from his mother , encouraged it and e o help d to foster it in every p ssible way . Between her and her son there was always the most tender love and devotion— his

sweetest , dearest mother he called her and there can be no doubt that much Of the pleasure and proﬁt he derived from his liking for ou t -door pursuits an d interests he owed to her inﬂuence and training . In his early years his general education seems to have bee n somewhat neglec ted . He was allowed almost unbou nded liberty ; but a fault was visited with se vere punish ment . Apparently he was permitted to do S O very much as he liked , long as he did nothing wrong but his boyish transgressions were visited with a severity Of which he himself said that he was not sure it did not — destroy his moral courage a virtue which 1 6 JAMES HANNINGTON

he once declared he did not possess . But in this self-depreciation he did himself an in Of i abu nd justice . The story his l fe makes it an tly Clear that he was by no means lackin g in moral courage ; and if this was not natural for to him , then the greater honour is his having acquired it . As to his physical courage there can be his no question . Mr . Dawson , friend and biographer , records many incidents which prove that he knew nothing o f the meaning h W o f . O fear He tells , for instance , , at the of age seven , he clambered unnoticed up the ’ mast of his father s yacht , and was at last on discovered high aloft , suspended some projection by the seat Of his trousers

In his twentieth year , having sprained his ankle , and as nearly as possible fractured the ul d not fib a , he was or ered by the doctor to f walk or a fortnight . The same evening he went to the rehearsal Of a play he was to take Messiah part in , and also to hear the . A week later , unable to put his foot to the - ground , he hopped into a bath chair , and ou t went shooting , not without result . Having t e-r so icked his foot , that he was again unable to put it to the ground , he , next day , made Ofi on the saddle to a meet Of the stag hounds and while it was still impossible to on get a boot the bad foot , he made a brave figure with the single sound foot on the ic e ” at outer edge and threes . At eleven years Of age he was permitted BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 1 7 to make his first yachting trip alone with his ou t elder brother . On setting he had to pinch himself again and again to assure himself that the pleasure was a reality and not a dream . It was a glorious trip ; and one Of its chief glories seems to have been that everything on board was of the roughest description . The young voyagers waited own upon themselves , made their beds , and - did all their own domestic work . Sea pies - f and plum du f were their standing dishes .

All this only added to their enj oyment , and they were as happy and contented as the days were long . The owner and captain Of the yacht was a man named Redman . One night James was roused from sleep by an unusual noise and on own commotion deck . He formed his i bo opin on as to the cause and , y though he was , he went alone to investigate , without stopping to wake his brother . However ,

Sam had also been disturbed by the noise , on and insisted James returning to bed , n t bo feari g he might e hurt . The y was disappoin ted but e saw the captain on the deck in a state Of intoxication , and a woman on t o with him , while a man in a boat held the side Of the yacht . The outraged voyagers heard the woman deman ding from Redman what was apparently the only piece Of plate will they possessed . I have the silver h s e . spoon , Uncle Joe , said But here the d boatman , becoming impatient , declare he 1 8 JAMES HANNINGTON would wait no longer so the visitor had to leave the yacht , and the spoon was saved . who Next morning , Redman , had no idea his passengers were aware he had had a on guest board , was very much taken aback when eleven - year-Old James calmly asked him before everybody why his niece wanted ’ the ship s one and only silver spoon . In the end the captain was forgiven , and the cruise was continued to the end in absolute enj oy ment , the little adventure Of Uncle Joe l on y having added to the fun . S O much had the yachting trip been ap p reciat ed that James forthwith made up his mind to go to sea ; but his parents would not permit this . An elder brother , who had joined the Navy , had been drowned at sea , and the Hanningt ons had resolved no t to permit another Of their sons to become a ai s lor . His boyhood was as crowded with adven — tures as his later life an d as a rule he came to no harm . One youthful escapade was memorable , however , since it cost him the ’ hi s thumb Of left hand . With the keeper s ’ son i , Joe , he was try ng to take a wasp s nest and for the purpose he decided to use ” o r damp gunpowder squibs , blue devils . He had recently acquired the art o f making i these fearsome ﬁreworks , and , boyl ke , was anxious to use them . With a broken powder ﬂask he succeeded in preparing the squibs o and as so n as they were ready, he wanted

2 0 JAMES HANNINGTON The loss Of his thumb caused himvery i did l ttle actual inconvenience , and he not allow it to trouble him ; but for all that h e was , as a boy , keenly sensitive about it . On on i i e occasion , when travell ng by tra n , a of an d party noisy men , of rough manners an coarse l guage , got into the carriage beside him . They made the j ourney hideous to the bo y by cursin g and swearing most o f the time ; and they made it memorable to him e also b cause , much to his annoyance , one Of them noticed that he had lost his thumb , and commented rather brutally upon it . Long of years afterwards , mention this personal defect enabled Alexander Mackay in Uganda ” to identify the tall Englishman , who was reported by the natives to be approaching their country from the east . For the fir st thirteen years o f his life ’ James Hanningt on s existence was o f an entirely free and easy kind . As we have already hinted , his education during that fi an d time had been inde nite desultory , and he had been allowed to follow his o wn inclina n tions in the matter Of learni g . But whatever — he may have lost and necessarily be lost s much , through neglect Of the cour e Of study — usual to a boy of his age he gained greatly by the development Of that keen power Of Observation which he possessed in such a i um marked degree , and wh ch his almost limited liberty gave him such rare chances of using . The result was that , at an age BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 2 1 when most boys have hardly learnt to Observe properly the most obvious things that come within the scope of daily experience , James was a highly trained Observer ; and what he lacked in book lore , he more than made up by his wonderful knowledge of men and things . It would almost seem that from his very earliest years he was marked ou t for the work to which he ultimately gave his life ; nd for for this ability to Observe , a to think l so himse f , strongly and strangely developed his in boyhood , gave him a power which was Of immense service to him in the arduous and difficult tasks that Often confronted him in the course o f his missionary j ourneys through

African wastes and wilds . But however delightful from a boy ’ s point of v i iew, th s state Of things educational could ﬁ not be allowed to continue inde nitely , and ’ Hanningt on s parents had at last to face t S O the fac that something must be done . of the period uninterrupted home life , with occasional lessons from a tutor , and frequent excursions by land and sea with father o r mother , was brought to an end and it was decided that James and his brother Joseph must be sent to school . The tutor left to take a curacy , and the two brothers were , after much thought and discussion , sent to school at Brighton . The establishment chosen was the Temple — — School a private establishment and it was b e 2 2 JAMES HANNINGTON arranged that the brothers Should be allowed to go home every Saturday and stay till - Monday morning . These weekly home goings did not commend themselves to James when he was Old enough t o regard them dis passionately . His comment concerning them is brieﬂy but eloquently summarised in a

l . single word . A as he says — The home sickness that assails every bo y when he leaves home for the first time attacked the Hannington brothers in an aggravated form— they had been so long kept at home that they were bound to suffer more keenly in consequence ; but they soon accustomed t o of themselves the new order things , and settled down to the routine Of school life quite happily . At school James did no t distinguish him self by anything brilliant in the way o f scholarship . He declared in after life that he was naturally idle , and would not learn f Of himsel , and he deplored the fact that he was always sent to places where he was not driven to learn . But he more than main t ained the reputation he had already gained as a pickle Of a boy Naturally head ln strong and passionate , with a marked dividu alit nl y, and perfectly fearless , it was o y t o be expected that he would be constantly s hl in crapes . Sometimes he escaped scat ess — and sometimes he did not but at least in none of his schoolboy escapades was he ever c NO r of vi ious or ungenerous . better p oof BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 23 the genuine goodness of heart inherent in him could be found than in the fact that , despite a his prankish w ys and his love Of teasing , he soon became a prime favourite , alike with his - masters and his fellow pupils . But there is bo no denying that a y who earned , and deserved , the sobriquet Of Mad Jim , must at times have been a sore trial to the patience hi s and forbearance Of all school associates , old and young . One day he was reported to the headmaster as verging on insanity and the report c an hardly be regarded as unreasonable when it is applied to a boy who could find recreation in lighting a bonfire in l o the midd e Of his dormitory . S metimes , at any rate , he met the just reward Of his mis deeds ; for on one occasion he was caned more than a dozen times and , sorely smart o i ing in b dy and m nd , seriously contemplated running away from school . One wonders whether on e or more Of that dozen of canings was inflicted for his self- confessed sin of flinging his rej ected papers at the head o f a long- suffering German master e o f But , withal , James had a high s nse of t s honour , a love ruth , and a con cience that compelled him at all costs to keep his word . A striking instance Of the strength of his moral character , which occurred during di his school days , is worth recor ng . The bully of the school having incurred his dis pleasure , Hannington , with lofty disregard o f f t o fi probable consequences , O fered ght 24 JAMES HANNINGTON

u him. The b lly promptly accepted the challenge , and James received a severe thrashing . That might not have greatly - ul mattered ; but , as ill luck wo d have it , the day of the ﬁght was also the day on which he had to gO home for his usual weekly nl visit . He presented a most u ovely spectacle , E u n with both yes closed up , and many accustomed excrescences on his cranium and his mother was so shocked and concerned S at the ight Of him that she made him promise , t o before he returned school , that he would never ﬁght again .

Unfortunately for James , the fact Of that ou t o promise leaked amongst his scho lmates , and thenceforth his life was made a misery .

Boys who might otherwise have feared him , as well as others who need not have done so , vied with each other in teasing and p rovo k ing him ; and for a while , bound by his promise to his mother , he meekly submitted hi s to treatment that , to a boy Of nature , a must have been lmost beyond endurance . But at last there came a time when human nature— James ’ s human nature at any rate — Could stand no more . One day he had allowed himself to be bullied unmercifully own by a boy about his size , when suddenly , to the astonishment of the whole school , he k declared that he would ﬁght him . He quic ly gave his enemy a thrashing , and he was never bullied afterwards . Surely Hannington was justiﬁed in what he did yet for years after BIRTH AND BOYHOOD 25

wards that incident troubled him , and he could never remember without regret that , even under unbearable provocation , he had broken his promise to his mother . He left school when he was ﬁfteen and a — u se half , with to his own words as bad an education as possible . This misfortune , however , is not to be ascribed to any fault on ' the part Of his headmaster , who was a l capable , kind y man , but rather to the system , or lack Of system , in which he had been reared until , too late , he had been sent to school . In later years he had to work pain t o fully hard make up for What he had missed , and he probably never quite recovered the lost ground Of his youth . Yet the desultory nature of his early training was not entirely a misfortune , since it gave him opportunities , which he fully used , Of developing an inde endenc e - p Of character , and a self reliance which enabled him to overcome the difﬁculties of his later years in a way that Often surprised those who lived and worked with him . C H A P T E R I I

A GENTLEMAN AT LARGE

T the close Of his school career Hanning ton ’ s father desired himto enter the hou se Of business in Brighton in which two generations o f the family had already borne their part . But a business career had no f r attractions whatever o the boy . A count - ing house was , to him , little better than a did prison . Fluctuations in market values not interest him in the very least and the ordinary routine o f a commercial office was f a deadly dull a fair , in connection with which it was impossible to develop any sort of enthusiasm . at Not once , however , was he required to f transfer his energies from school to O fice . Perhaps his father foresaw the difficulty the lad would have in accustoming himself to the new and uncongenial surroundings Of a house of business ; and instead Of going straight from the school desk to the office stool , he was permitted to taste first the Of delights foreign travel .

hi s . . In the company Of late master , Mr W ’

H . Gutteridge , he left home for a six weeks

2 8 JAMES HANNINGTON glad that the Archbishop is dead ; we are in going to see him lying state . The trip to Paris was followed by a deter f mined e fort to settle down to business , and for six months James stuck manfully t o his duties but at the end Of that time another holiday was planned for him—whether as a or reward for his application , as a necessary relaxation after the strain Of uncongenial a m . c c o toil , cannot be said Again he was Mr anied . p by Gutteridge , and this time the travellers went farther aﬁeld . Brussels , Ant wer p , Luxembourg , and many other places — were included in twheir itinerary amongst them Wiesbaden , here the facilities for gambling greatly concerned him . Of the habitu's Of the gambling saloons he declared that those who seemed to be regular pro fessional gamblers were the ugliest set Of people he had ever seen in his life . A gambling table he considered a curious sight , and the memory Of the faces he had seen in the saloons remained with him for many a long day .

This trip occupied two months , and Mr . Gutteridge so arranged it that it was no t only a time of pleasure but of great value educationally to the young traveller .

Soon after his return home , to his great delight , his parents acquired a yacht . Many a j ourney he made in it between Portsmouth , where it was often berthed , and Brighton ; and his Chief interest at this time seems to A GENTLEMAN AT LARGE 29 have been centred in the new pastime Of - yachting . He was no mere fair weather sailor . The rougher the weather , the better pleased was he . On one occasion he and his mother were caught in a tremendous squall when returning in the yacht from church at Mrs Portsmouth . . Hannington insisted on going to church in almost all weathers , and the young yachtsman was Often in fear lest their little craft should capsize during some ’ Of the stormy j ourneys he made in his mother s company . sea His love Of the , and his natural liking for adventure , made the yacht a perpetual pleasure— although sometimes the dangers encountered must have been more than a on e little startling . On occasion , he and his father were nearly run down by a large steamer under Circumstances which did not reflect much credit on the commander Of Hannin t ons the latter . The g had for more than an hour watched the steamer gradually gaining on them ; but as they were beating on up the right tack , and every foot was Of u m importance to them , their captain not naturally concluded that the larger craft would give way to them . Events proved , however , that the steamer intended to do nothing of the kind ; for she kept straight on she her course , and it looked as if intended i del berately to run down the yacht . As a matter Of fact , the great Ship passed by within a few feet o f them and so narrow was 3 30 JAMES HANNINGTON the margin Of safety that the crew Of the yacht shouted in alarm as the steamer ap tl p aren y headed straight for them . 1 86 I st In 4 , Hannington j oined the Sussex Ar tillery Volunteers ; and he threw himself into his new hobby Of soldiering with Char a t rist ic c e energy . It was a proud day for himwhen he donned his uniform for the first time but that he had not become a soldier merely for the look of the thing is Clear from the fact that within three months Of the first day on which he had arrayed himself in his regimentals he had made such rapid progress in soldiering that he had command Of his company on the occasion Of an inspection of the battalion . Hannington was now eighteen years Of age ; but although he had long left school , no arrangements had yet been made for him his o f to commence career as a man business . l own He was stil allowed to go his way , his parents having apparently decided that it would be better for hi s ultimate happiness not to force the claims Of business upon him him own , but instead to let follow his S O di inclinations , and scover for himself the direction in whi ch his abilities could be most profitably employed .

Up to this point , too , there is little to indicate that he took any particular interest l in re igion , and he seems to have been entirely unconscious Of the great Change that was al his later to ter the whole current Of life . A GENTLEMAN AT LARGE 31

not diff But he was wholly in erent , and by almost imperceptible degrees he was be ing guided towards that dedication of himself which marked the beginning Of his work for

In the beginning Of 1 86 5 he was somewhat an attracted to Rom Catholicism , the exciting cause having been the death of Cardinal Wiseman ; but he soon found that the doctrines Of the Romish Church could never was satisfy him ; and , strangely enough , it ’ partly Cardinal Manning s funeral sermon for Wiseman that caused himto give up his idea of j oining the Church Of Rome—and partly Wiseman ’ s own last words Let me have h for all the Churc can do me . He came to the conclu sion that if on e Of the highest ecclesiastics stood thus in need Of external on -bed rites his death , there must be some thing wrong with the system and so strongly was he convinced o f this that he ﬁnally gave up all idea Of forsaking the faith Of his fathers .

A year or two later occurred an incident , trivial in itself , yet Of utmost interest as ho w mi was u nc on showing his nd , almost sciou sl y to himself , beginning to take into u n account , albeit at ﬁrst in a strange , reasoning way , the inﬂuence of the Unseen d f over the most trivial of worl ly a fairs . He was ou t shooting one day when he lost a ring whi be al ch greatly v ued . He had very little hope Of ever seeing it again , but he told the 32 JAMES HANNINGTON

of keeper his loss , and Offered to give him

l . ten shil ings if he found the ring Further , he was led to ask God that the ring might be found and that the ﬁnding of it might be to him a sure Sign o f salvation . At once he seemed to feel certain that the ring would be found— as certain as though he had it again on his ﬁn ger ; and it therefore did not surprise him when , soon after , the keeper brought it to him . He had picked it up in the long grass— just where it would have for seemed most hopeless to look it . A ' miracle he said . Jesus by Thee alone c an ou r we Obtain remission Of sins .

Truly a remarkable story . Hannington himself , when referring to the incident years afterwards , said it had occurred at the most worldly period Of his existence and in this strange challenge and appeal to God in connection with so triﬂing a matter as the of c an ﬁ loss a trinket be seen , surely , the rst o f ai faint traces that absolute f th , as Of a little Child , which was such a distinguishing feature Of his later life , when he had come to the knowledge o f the truth as it is in Christ

Jesus . At the age Of nineteen Hannington was ” still a gentleman at large , with no settled aim in life , and an untiring love Of foreign In Of 1 86 travel . the early summer 7 he started with his brothers for a cruise in the al of im B tic , and a visit to some the more portant Russian cities . The return journey A GENTLEMAN AT LARGE 33 had just begu n when the elder brother was on summoned home urgent domestic business , and the leadership Of the expedition then

l . fe l to James Nothing loth , he took Charge and during the voyage an incident occurred which showed that as a disciplinarian he knew o how to hold his wn . There had been trouble with the crew Of hi the yacht , and , t nking to take advantage Of the youth Of the passengers , the crew had shown a tendency to insubordination which f James , as soon as the control Of a fairs was in his hands , determined to bring to an end .

On assuming command , he told the men mi on his nd the subj ect , and gave them plainly to understand that in future any man break ﬁr ing leave would be discharged . The st so man to do , as it happened , was the captain , who own c on remained ashore , and , by his

fession o t . , g helplessly drunk The position k was distinctly aw ward . The captain , no doubt , considered himself indispensable , and thought therefore that he would easily be able to put the matter right . But James

Hannington thought otherwise . If the ’ or captain s lapse were overlooked condoned , all hope o f maintaining discipline amongst the rest Of the crew for the remainder of the S O c on voyage would be at an end . to the st ernat ion Of the crew , and the amazement of the captain , the latter found himself sum i mar ly dismissed , and ordered to convey 34 JAMES H ANNINGTON himself and all his belongings ashore as speedily as possible . There was no fur ther trouble on board the n yacht duri g that voyage . The crew re cognised that their leader intended to exact i him absolute Obed ence , and they regarded thenceforward with the respect that firmness al and justice ways command . Hannington was fortunate i n fin din g a capable man to take the place Of the disgraced capmtain , and though the voyage finished stor ily , the storm was Of the elements , and not amongst the crew . After this voyage Hannington for ever gave up all idea Of a business career . It was evident that he would never make a successful for business man , and it only remained now himand for those who loved him to try and discover some other sphere in which he might attain success . The story Of the ultimate discovery of that sphere is on e Of the most wonderful instances on record Of the Divine guiding by which men are led in the way

God Chooses for them .

36 JAMES HANNINGTON

of most eventful his life , for it was then that he ﬁrst entertained the idea Of Offering him o f self to the service God . Through the change o f his family from dissent to the o f Church , he got to know the clergy the parish and neighbourhood , and this greatly inﬂuenced him in his desire for ordination . His mother had more than once spoken t o him about it , and from what she had said he ul f felt sure that she wo d o fer no Obj ection .

Yet , with absolute frankness , he confessed his belief that it was his dislike Of the business at Brighton that chieﬂy led him to think about the ministry as a profession . Although it had become a ﬁxed idea with him that he was to be ordained , yet he felt all the time that the real motive that should have actuated him was entirely lacking . I was , I fear , a ” mere formalist , he says , and nothing more .

His whole life , up to this point , however , forbids ou r acceptance of this all - too - severe Of estimate himself . Such a man as James Hannington could never have become a - mere formalist . He was too full Of real love for humanity to permit that— altogether too enthusiastic and too full Of zeal . The season of Lent in 1 86 8 he kept with much severity , fasting twice a week . He interested himself in all the special religious functions held in the neighbourhood , and took advantage Of every opportunity Of hear ing the distinguished preachers who from time to time visited the district . He took as A MOMENTOUS DECISION 37 prominent and useful a part as he could in all the good works that were established in the V of icinity his home , and might fairly be described as an active Church worker . But not yet was he a man whose heart God had o l dl b t uched . Stil , he was undoubte y eing led towards what was soon to be deﬁn itely pointed ou t to him as the work Of his life ; and -o ne ultimately , when he was twenty e of y ars age , it was decided that after the necessary training he should Offer himself for ordination t o the ministry of the Church of England . di fo r Accor ngly , arrangements were made him l 1 86 8 to go to Co lege , and in October , , ’ was he entered as a commoner at St . Mary s n Hall , Oxford . It can ot be said Of him that lli as a student he was bri ant . The subj ects him that attracted he could , and did , master easily and thoroughly ; but they were not the subj ects to which he was particularly required to give his attention at the Uni al versity . His knowledge of natur history ,

Of botany , chemistry , and medicine was extensive , but it did not help him much ; o f and his lack interest in classical lore , and his natural aversion to the steady monotonous grind by which al one he could attain the proﬁciency necessary to satisfy his examiners , Fo r hi made his college work distasteful . t s the mistakes Of his early training were entirely t o blame . It was six years since he had left school ; during those years he had done 38 JAMES HANNINGTON practically no study at all and even in his school days his intellectual efforts had been all t o o o r e spasm dic . The wonde is , therefor , di u d not that his college career was un sting ishe , t e but that it did no end altogether in failur . But if Hannington the student was n ot a e marvel Of erudition , Hannington the fri nd and associate was a conspicuous success . Not that h e was hail -fellow- well -met with discrimin everyone . He was particular and i d ating in his friendsh ps , and such a keen ju ge of d character that he seldom , if ever , ma e a mistake about the men whom he admitted of to the privilege intimacy with him . And withal he was an inveterate tease . Nothing pleased himbetter than to shock the staid and proper element amongst his college asso ciates ; and hi s love Of practical jokin g found expression in ways that his victims must often have had reason to remember for t long af erwards . But his good nature was so Obvious and so sincere that it was impossible ever to be angry with him for long , and he never resented being paid back o wn in his coin . Let it not be imagined that because James Hannington did not distinguish himself as a student he was therefore an idler during the time he spent at Oxford . Always he lived nO the strenuous life , and he had sympathy with the loungers and shirkers who despised learning and wasted their own time and that

Of others . Every hour was occupied ; he A MOMENTOUS DECISION 39

dl allowed himself no i e moments , and though study Of the sterner sort was n ot entirely to no t his taste , he did permit himself to Shirk it in favour Of the hobbies and pursuits that were dear to him . The trouble was that he did not give the ' necessary p rop ortion of his time to such work as was absolutely essential to his own in t ellec t u al well - being ; and this trouble ﬁnally became S O acute that the Principal advised him to leave the college an d place himself in the hands o f a competent tutor living In a retired country place , where he would not have the many distractions Of the social life of r di an underg aduate to sturb him , and where he might therefore hope to make better progress with his studies . For this purpose the Principal recommended the Rev . C . Scriven , Rector Of Martinhoe , a remote Devonshire seaside village TO Mar ho tin e accordingly Hannington went . He found in Mr . Scriven an excellent tutor ; and amongst the Devonshire folk and the Devon coast and cliffs almost as much to interest , and distract , him as he had found l r amongst his col ege friends at Oxfo d . C H A P T E R I V

O RDINATION AND A COUNTRY CURACY

HE ou t - Of- the-way corner of North Devon in which Hannington now found fascin at himself was very beautiful , and very in t o Of g a lover nature , and he soon fell in love with both place and people . His tutor held at that time two livings— Martinhoe and o f Trentishoe , but the population the two parishes combined did no t exceed three ul hundred so s . The people were , however , so scattered over a wide area , that it took the new inmate Of the Rectory some time to make their acquaintance . But they quickly found that to know him was to love him ; so S O he was so genial , friendly , ready to identify himself with them that he was soon w a welcome guest every here .

The peculiar habits , and the strange manners an d customs Of the people greatly interested him , and he Observed and studied their ways most keenly . At a funeral at Martinhoe he noted that—doubtless in accord ance with the usage of the district— the bereaved made a great feast for all who were invited and any others who chose to attend ORDINATION AND COUNTRY W RACY 41 without invitation were provided with tea u and coffee . On the Sunday after the f neral he was struck by the fact that all the mourners t o came church in a body , and sat throughout the service with their faces buried in their - pocket handkerchiefs . Not once , so far as he

on e . could see , did Of them look up Of When the clerk Trentishoe lost his wife , he asked for a holiday a few days after the on funeral , and a borrowed horse he made a tour Of the neighbour hood in search o f a second spouse . Amongst other places he called at the Rectory , and Hannington noted with satisfaction that the maids there de lin d f c e . his O fer He was , however , successful at last in ﬁndin g a lady willing to wed him and we may hope that in this case the result did not belie the proverb which declares that happy is the wooing that is not long a doing . The people Of the district were steeped in l superstition , and nobody in the vil age , Old or young , would venture into the churchyard ﬁr on after dark . They mly believed that midsummer night the spirits of the departed moved about amongst the graves , and were to be seen by those who were bold enough t o look for them Some Of the villagers knew charms for di one Old various seases , and man , John

Jones by name , who could bless for e f diseas s Of the eyes , generously o fered to give Hannington his secret — generously 42 JAMES HANNINGTON

because , once he had parted with the secret , his power to bless would be gone , the gift Of healing being transferred to the new s o f for pos essor the secret . Power to bless ’ the King s Evil was commonly believed in ; but a man in Martinhoe who was supposed t o possess this power gave up the practice Of it , partly because he did not get enough ou t Of e his patrons , and partly b cause every time he

blessed , virtue went from him , and left him weak . Amongst these superstitious but eminently lovable people Hannington spent some hi did months , during w ch he a little more or less desultory reading . Then he returned O to xford and spent a term in residence . His fellow- students conferred upon him the highest honour in their power by electing him ” President Of the Red Club . In June , 1 8 0 7 , he passed his Responsions , and then suggested to Mr . Scriven that he should return to him as his curate and read for his degree afterwards ; but the Bishop refused to ordain him until he had graduated . After his term at Oxford he went back to of Martinhoe , and his discovery some remark able caves there greatly delighted him . The chief attraction Of these caves for him seems t o have been that they were almost inac c es sible ; and in order that his friends at the t o Rectory might be able explore them , he resolved to make a path for them from the t o top of the cliff the shore below . With the

44 JAMES HANNINGTON — The path a really perilous undertaking ﬁn on was ished without further mishap , and the formal opening day a party Of twenty visitors was conducted in triumph down the c path to the caves , the largest of whi h , in honour of the Rector , was named Cave

Scriven . The next few months were spent partly at e x Martinho and partly at O ford ; and then , 1 8 1 in 7 , Hannington was called upon to on e endure Of the greatest griefs Of his life . It has already been stated that between him and his mother there had always existed the deepest and tenderest affection and it was an unspeakable sorrow to him t o have t o face dl the fact that her health was rapi y failing . In September the doctor pronounced the ’ — Han in t on s dread decree no hope . Mrs . n g illness was declared to be o f such a nature im that recovery was , humanly speaking , son possible . For a time her James refused ’ i to accept the doctor s verd ct , and there was a bri ef interval during which it seemed that his attitude was justiﬁed . l But the rally was on y temporary , and it h soon became evident that t is dearest , t o sweetest mother , as he loved call her , was 6 th sinking . On 2 February he realised that o ff the end could not be far . She was almost

n . u conscious She kept dozing and rousing , and commencing sentences . Especially she would repeat again and again I will take ou t the stony heart Of their ﬂesh , and will BI SHO P HANN I NGTON

To l d“ Page 44 A N AWK WARD SITUATI ON Hannington h ad barely time to dodge t he boulder as It whiz z e d p ast his

e a ma e b a e ma e . P a e h ad , cco p ni d y voll y of s ll ston s ' g 43 ORDINATION AND COUNTRY CURACY 45

— I give them an heart of ﬂesh . I will take — ” will take the stony heart away away . In an agony Of grief James watched beside her— watched until quite quietly and peace fully she drifted away from the love that ul wo d fain have held her , and breathed her r last in the presence Of all her child en . k The others , after one last loo at the still , l beautifu features , moved softly away , but

James remained , kissing the loved face , and calling to her as though she could still respond c r f l to his y. It was with the utmost di ficu ty that he was persuaded at last to leave the silent form Of the mother he had loved S O deeply . His mother ’ s death left a great blank in ’ — Hanningt on s life a blank that nothing ever quite filled ; but perhaps it made him more ready to open his heart to that great love fo r Go d and human ity that was presently to possess and dominate him . After this sad w t o event he settled do n work in earnest , with ordination always in view as the goal Of on 1 2th 1 8 his ambition ; and June , 73, he hi s B took A . degree . i But before he was orda ned to the ministry , Hannington had to go through the ordeal ’ — Of the Bishop s examination and a terrible t o ordeal he found it . He went Exeter , and made his final preparations fo r facing the Bishop ’ s examining chaplain in a very de s d t pon en frame Of mind . He felt all unready

and , to make matters worse , he found the 46 JAMES HANNINGTON examination was to take place a week earlier hi than he had expected . T s greatly upset sat him , and he down to his papers with the l him fear Of fai ure strong upon . His dread nl ll - proved o y too we founded . Over anxiety , and almost frenzied study until the very eve

Of the examination , had their natural result . ill ai He became , and failed . His f lure was a grievous disappointment ; and , added to hl that , he felt that he had been hars y treated . It was probably one Of the bitterest moments hi s i Of l fe when Dr . Temple pronounced j udgment on his work in these words I am sorry to say that your paper on the Prayer fﬁ n Book is insu cient . If you will go dow to ou Mr . Percival he will tell y all about it . ” Good morning . It is not to be wondered at that this abrupt and not t o o kind dismissal nearly overwhelmed him with despair . NO more convincing proof Of his earnestness and sincerity Of purpose could be afforded than is found in the fact that in spite Of this rebuff he was as determined as ever to per severe . For it must be remembered that d s was his worl ly position was a sured . He al ready in possession Of a competence , and hi s there must have been , at the time Of failure , a strong temptation to relinquish all further thought of the ministry and give himself up to those pursuits which had always for had such a strong attraction him . But in all the records Of his life there is not one word to show that he ever for a moment ORDINATION AND COUNTRY CURACY 47

contemplated such a step . Though he o f shrank from the possibility further failure , he felt impelled by a power outside himself to go on in the way in which his feet had t di d l se . an been He dreaded or nation , wou d willingly have drawn back but when he was tempted to do so the words came t o him: his Whoso putteth hand to the plough , and Of looketh back , is not ﬁt for the kingdom t Go d and he felt he dare no withdraw . For such a man there was only one possible course For himthere could be no looking an d z O back . At all cost all ha ard he must g o n forward , and keep right in the path marked u t for S O on o him . he entered a further course Of preparation at Martinhoe , where , -who him amongst the people loved , he gained courage and strength for another attempt t o ’ was meet the Bishop s requirements . This at the end Of 1 873 and it is Characteristic Of him that , amidst all his anxiety , he could put aside his books for o ne night in order to accept an invitation from some Of his Devon h t o see . friends Christmas T is , he ex plained is Devonian for I am going t o a Party m 6 . . The party began at p , when a hot meat supper was ready after which , games n o n ll and danci g went ti midnight , when there was another ho t supper as substantially ﬁr S O provided as the st . the hospitable hearty Devon farmers kept Christmas in ’ Hannin t on s g day . 48 JAMES HANNINGTON

From Martinhoe at the beginning Of 1 874 he went to Oxford , whence he returned once more to Exeter , where , in great trepidation , he again presented himself for examination ’ at the hands Of the Bishop s chaplain . This time he was thoroughly prepared , and he knew his subjects perfectly ; but so great imo ssi was his nervousness , that it was an p ilit b y for him to do himself justice . The result was that although this time he did not altogether fail he was only partially su c c essful for . The Bishop passed him the ’ Diaconate ; but instead of taking priest s orders a year later , as he would have done in was the ordinary course , he told that he must remain a deacon for two years and come up for an intermediary examination . With char ac t erist ic gmffness Of manner the Bishop dismissed him . ’ see You ve got ﬁne legs , I , said his lordship , mind that you run about your ' parish . Good morning The young deacon did n ot forget that episcopal admonition I 1 8 The following day , st March , 74 , James Hannington was ordained in Exeter Cathedral ; and he felt very keenly the tremendous responsibility he was taking upon ” S O himself . , he said , when , the service of ordination over , he was leaving the Cathedral , I am ordained , and the world has to be ’ ' for cruciﬁed in me . Oh God s Holy Spirit He commenced his ministry the next

5 0 JAMES HANNINGTON

To his and thither in the mist . add to dis comfort it began to rain ; and at eleven o ’ clock— the time appointed for the service — at Challacombe to commence he was still in di trying vain to scover his whereabouts . At last he decided that it was useless t o an l make y further effort to ﬁnd Cha lacombe , ’ on so he threw the reins the pony s neck , ’ hoping that the animal s instinct would enable it to take them safely home . After a t o while he found a track and , determining follow it , he urged the pony forward , and came eventually to a gate which led him Off the moor . Still keeping to the track he arrived at last at a farmhouse , and met a man to whom he explained his predicament . The man Offered to go with him to the church . ou l For , said he , y will lose yourse f again ’ ” hl if I don t . This was hig y probable , and t h Hannington ank qy accepted the Offer .

When at length he reached the Church , he found the people patiently waiting , and wondering whether he would ever ﬁnd his — way to them for they had long ago c on

cluded that he was lost on the moor . He whispered to the clerk the story of his hours Of wandering in the wet mist ; and that

functionary responded in loud tones , and so mewhat unfeelingly : Iss : we reckoned ou y was lost but now you are here , go and su r les put on your p , and be short , for we all n wan t to get back to di ner . Dripping wet on as he was , he put the surplice as directed , ORDINATION AND COUNTRY CURACY 5 1

and gave them a shortened service . In the afternoon he got back in time for Church at

Martinhoe . It comes rather as a shock to ﬁnd that at any time in his career Hannington regarded missionary work with anything approaching indifference yet we have his own word for it that this special form Of religious activity did not 1 8 always attract him . On 3oth July , 74 , he attended his ﬁr st missionary meeting at w e . as Parracomb He made to speak , much against his will , as he confesses he knew nothing about the subj ect , and took little Old interest in it . An colonel spoke after him , and gave him such an indirect dressing that he wisely made up his mind never in future to speak on any subject until he knew something about it . In these early days Of his ministry Han nin gt on was conscientious and absolutely sincere in all that he did but n o t even yet could it be said Of him that he knew what it was to live in the knowledge that Jesus hri C st was his personal Saviour . His time , hi s talents , his money he gave freely and ungrudgingly in the service Of the people amongst whom he ministered but he could no t tell them from his o wn experience Of the transforming power o f the Holy Spirit Of God an in the hum heart . He was conscious of his ni something lacking in mi stry , and at times he became unhappy and depressed , because he felt that he had not the power he 52 JAMES HANNINGTON

d ought to have had in his work for Go . But light and knowledge came to him— vouch safed through the reading of a single chapter o in a little b ok that his friend Mr . Dawson had sent to him . The story of what may be called James ’ Hanningt on s conversion is one Of the most remarkable Of its kind that have ever been h recorded . T irteen months before the light h im came to , when he was preparing for hi s ordination , he had written to friend , bewailing his unworthiness and in his reply own Mr . Dawson had related the story of his him spiritual experience , and urged to give himself up in full and complete surrender to God For . more than a year that letter re mained unanswered and then , in his distress at his failure to realise the full meaning Of al person salvation , he wrote again to his

n . friend , beggi g him to come and help him

Mr . Dawson was at the time unable to leave his own work and j ourney into Devonshire but he wrote a letter that he hoped would be l helpfu , and with it he enclosed a little book

- a d T u th . Grace n r . , by Dr Mackay , Of Hull This book Hannington commenced to read but he got no further than the preface , where he found what he too hastily concluded to be an error in scholarship on the part Of the author . This was enough for him . He straightway threw the book aside and refused t Of o read any more it . For long the book remained neglected and ORDINATION AND COUNTRY CURACY 53

forgotten and then , when he was preparing for a j ourney , at the end Of which he expected to meet his friend , he suddenly remembered it , and it occurred to him that he would probably be asked whether he had read it . Rather from a desire to be able to give an affirmative answer to that question than from any particular wish to know what the book contained , he put it into his port fi manteau , and at the rst opportunity he read the first chapter . He found it so little to his taste that he made up his mind that not even for his friend ’ s sake would he read any more Of it and hi s feeling Of disapproval was S O vigorous that he flung the Offending volume across the room . Ultimately he put it back in his portmanteau , where it remained until his next visit to Hurstpierpoint . There he came across it again and resolving for his friend ’ s sake to make one more effort to overcome his prejudice , he started for the third time to o read it . He read straight n for three one chapters , and came at length to entitled DO you feel your sins forgiven ? and by f means O this his eyes were opened . I was ” in bed at the time reading , he says ; I ou t sprang of bed and leaped about the room , rejoicing and praising Go d that Jesus died for me . From that day to this I have lived under the shadow Of His wings in the assurance of faith that I am His and He is ” i m ne . 54 JAMES HANNINGTON His transition from the darkness Of doubt and uncertainty to the marvellous light and peace o f the Gospel was a fact for which he seemed never able sufficiently to express his n so thankful ess and gratitude . And great was i his his humil ty , and distrust Of self , that sometimes he feared lest even his joy might be a sin ; he felt that he had no right to — in own rejoice , because he was doing his —45 0 for esteem little God . He complained Of his own prayers and praise , that they were t oo cold and formal he was afraid he loved the world too much and Jesus Christ t oo little and he dreaded lest after all the peace that came to him from the knowledge o f sin s mi forgiven might be false . Could hu lity go further He reviewed the events Of the past few years of his life and in everything that had seemed t o him at the time an Obstacle and a hindrance to his progress in the sacred callin God he had Chosen , he now saw the hand of , lli di r u guiding , contro ng , and recting him . T ly his surrender was complete and absolute ; and from the hour Of his conversion to the last day Of his life he could say that he was a loyal disciple , a humble follower Of the

Master whom it was his j oy to serve . Up to the time o f hi s conversion Hannington had never preached an extempore sermon . His discourses had always been carefully his prepared and written , and then read to i congregation . Probably even th s was due ORDINATION AND COUNTRY CURACY 55 to that distrust of his own powers which was o him always s strongly characteristic of . But now it seemed t o be borne in upon himthat it was hi s duty not to preach from a manu ri sc pt , but to tell out , in such plain and l simple language as God shou d give him , the message Of salvation . Preaching Of this kind , t o however , though it may seem easy enough bearer the , involves not less , but even more preparation than is Often given to the dis course that is written before it is spoken ; and Of this Hannington had a painful reminder before he had accustomed himself to preaching by inspiration rather than by book . It was o n the occasion Of one of his rare visits to his father at Hurst that he was ’

ul . invited to occupy the p pit at St . George s When the time came for the sermon his nerve completely forsook him . He managed to o u t his give text , and that was all he could one do . Not word of the sermon was ever delivered , and the amazed and disappointed congregation was dismissed with a hymn . His friends charitably , and quite rightly , attributed his failure to his being run down ’ in health . A few days rest , however , him entirely restored , and a fortnight later he preached an excellent sermon in St . ’ i o f his George s , to the great del ght father , who heard him on that occasion for the ﬁrst time . Soon he was back again amongst his 56 JAMES HANNINGTON

i . Devonshire friends , work ng harder than ever The population Of the parishes in which he laboured was so widely scattered that visita tion involved many miles of travel over rough l An d moorland roads and brid e paths . he

“ never spared himself . Frequently he was sent for , to minister not to their spiritual , but to their physical necessities ; for as the people got to know him better , their faith in his power to heal their bodily diseases in creased ; but he never forgot for an instant that he was before all things an ambassador of his God and Often , when medical know him ledge gave entrance to houses where , as i a min ster Of Christ , he would have been u se denied , he was able to the Opportunity to a s y a word in season for his Master .

His father , who had always taken a great his al now interest in ministeri work , began to wish for his permanent return to Hurstp ier point , and proposed that he should come O back and take charge f the Chapel Of St . ’ George s . James , however , received the pro i lik n posal with someth ng e consternatio , He was very happy in his work at Martinhoe ; he had won the conﬁdence and affection Of the people and the results Of his efforts amongst them were visible in their increased interest in religious matters . Moreover , the place and his mode Of life there suited himexactly ; and he was not at all sure that he would ﬁnd his surroundings similarly congenial at St . ’ so - George s . Yet humble minded , so entirely

58 JAMES HANNINGTON the one who goes away who feels the parting most deeply . Not without reason do we ’ sometimes say , Alas for the left behind . r Still , he was genuinely so ry to leave North Devon and the many fri ends he had made there . But he found a solace for his grief in the heart y welcome that awaited him at Darley

Vicarage , and he soon made an enviable place for himself in the happy family life there . Amongst the people o f the parish he quickly became popular , and the few months he spent in Darley were crowded with useful work which was as helpful to himself as to those o n so whose behalf it was freely given . The experience he gained there proved invaluable t o him and when he entered upon his duties ’ at St . George s he was much better prepared ul hi s than he wo d have been but for brief , happy sojourn at Darley . rd b 1 8 On 3 Novem er , 75 , he went to Oxford t o M receive his A . degree ; and four days hi r later he preached s ﬁ st sermon in St . ’ - in - i George s Chapel as curate Charge . Th s was the beginning Of a ministry which lasted

seven years . On e reason why he had hesitated to accept ’ the charge Of St . George s was that he feared he might prove in his own experience that a prophet is not without honour save in his o wn own . country , and amongst his people But the event proved that he need have had no As misgivings on that score . at Martinhoe ORDINATION AND COUNTRY CURACY ‘59

so and Darley , at Hurstpierpoint he soon won the love Of the people . And the secret Of his popularity was that he made himself one - with them . At Darley a mill worker was all l once heard to say Of him , We ike Mr . so Hannington , and no mistake ; he is free like ; he just comes into your house , and sticks his hands down into the bottom Of his ” al S O pockets , and t ks to you like a man . at

Hurstpierpoint , without losing any of the li respect due to himself and his cal ng , he was o n terms Of personal friendship with all .

The working men and lads , over whom he had f an amazing inﬂuence , called him a fectionately

Jemmy , and reverenced him at the same time . The Children ran to meet him in the streets expecting a question on the catechism , di and a goo e if they answered correctly , and they were seldom disappointed in either

Of their expectations . was one Of He o the most generous Of men , but since he was Of those who do good by l stea th , and blush to find it fame , stories of his generosity are rare in the printed records i Of his life . They l ve , however , in the hearts and memories Of those who benefited by his loving helpfulness . all hi s One such story , which care to prevent his good deeds becoming kn own could no t ffi of su ce to hide , was the outcome his desire ’ o to obtain a mission ro m for St . George s . Such a room was badly needed ; but his friends had no idea that he was seriously 6 0 JAMES HANNINGTON

thinking Of providing it . He startled them all o ne day by announcing that he had sold O his horse , and intended henceforth to g on ac t about the parish foot . This was an -sacriﬁc e Of real self , for he was fond of riding , and enj oyed nothing more than exercise in nl the saddle . The o y reason he gave was fo r that he wanted the money other purposes . Wh at those other purposes were was evident enough when he announced his intention Of knocking his stable and coach - house into o ne and ﬁtting them up as a mission room . This was done and when the transformation was complete he had a Charming room , cosy and for comfortable , and just what he wanted his meetings . As a preacher he was no t considered eloquent , but he was forceful and convincing — l and popular , for his church was general y H ' t o o was . e crowded was outspoken , , and ot n afraid to call things by their right names . On on e occasion he gave notice Of a special temperance sermon in these words I intend to preach a temperance sermon next

Sunday evening . I am aware that the subj ect o wn is unpopular , but you know my views

upon it . I shall , no doubt , speak pretty so plain , if any Of you do not care to hear me ou y had better stop away . Of course , nobody did stop away He interested himself greatly in temperan ce

work , and he had not been many weeks at ’ St . George s before he accepted the Secretary

mi m Ce o m hu m ? C e P

M w. 3M ?“ a

T RAVEL BY H A MMO CK lP a e 1 2 0 ’ i e al . g sh humr us sk etches a try ng r Bi op H annmgt o n s o o of o d ORDINATION AND COUNTRY CURACY 6 1 ship Of the Hurstpierpo int Temperance Associa was tion . There great need at time for “that o hi such an ass ciation in the village , w ch contained no less than seven public - houses each with its quota o f what Han nington called l n o fudd ers . The publicans had reason t o him love , for he preached total abstinence ou t o f in season and season , and he was - h never without a pledge book in is pocket . t for He prac ised what he preached , too , he was himself a teetotaller about the only t . no one in Hurst , he once wrote He could have engaged in a more unpopular crusade than that against drunkenness but that only made him the more keen in the ﬁght , and many had reason to bless him for efforts own or which resulted in their reformation .

that Of those who were dear to them . As a churchman Hannington was a man Of r widest sympathies . He was ready to e cognise all of good in men Of every shade of l re igious thought , and he never permitted prejudi ce to blind him to the merits Of those on who , though differing from him points

of doctrine , were yet serving the same Master and trying to win souls for the kingdom of d TO Go . all such he was ever ready to Offer

the right hand Of fellowship . The troubles and adversities Of his parish ioners he made his own , and he never hesitated

to go to their help , even when to do so t o i involved risk h mself . He once discovered a boy ill with smallpo x in an outlying part of 6 2 JAMES HANNINGTON

r all see his pa ish . He c ed to him , and found him in a pitiable state . The family had been forsaken by their neighbours , and they could ’ no t on even obtain milk , which the boy s life he n did depended . T first thi g Hannington — was to get the boy the milk he needed a striking instance of the very practical nature o f — his religion and then he prayed with him . In her gratitude the mother made it kn own s e that Mr . Hannington had been to e and help her boy , and very soon the whole parish was aware that their clergyman had been so imprudent as to expose himself to the risk of infection , and for some time the more timorous o f them gave him a very wide berth in deed s when they met him . One lady went o far as to request him not even to speak to her husband in his carriage ou t of doors for three weeks The relieving Officer called upon him and forbade himto go near the place ; but he was not to be deterred from what he believed t o be his duty by any fear Of the law . He told the Officer that whatever the law might It no t be , he meant to do his duty . was long see before he called again to the boy , and he continued his min istry to him until he re covered . It is not to be wondered at that such service — his as this such proof Of readiness , at any t o risk to himself , give all the help and — sympathy in his power quickly wo n fo r him the love and devotion Of his people .

C H A P T E R V

PARI SH WORK AND HOME LI FE AT H URSTP IE RP OINT

1 8 6 N June , 7 , Hannington went to Chichester for his final examination ’ for priest s orders . The general tone Of the place was much more to his mind than that — o f Exeter he described it as much more a — spiritual . This time the ex miners there — were five of them all told him he had done on well , and complimented him his work ; and he had the gratification of finding that ou t he had come at the top Of the list . A di Of very fferent result this from that Exeter , for which he said , and with good reason , that he never considered he was to blame . Six months later he became engaged to k -Tu be married to Miss Blanche Han in rvin . and Of This was a great , to many his friends , hi s an unexpected , Change in life . He had made no secret Of the fact that he regarded celibacy as the most desirable course for a Of servant God and he was not , like many hi s men , unable to minister to own needs in ’ hi s domestic affairs . But work at St . George s opened his eyes t o the fact that a wife Of the 6 4 PARISH WORK AND HOME LIFE 6 5 right kind would be exceedin gly helpful to him -Turvin was . And in Miss Hankin he fortunate in fin ding a lady who became t o him in the truest sense a helpmeet . On roth February Of the following year they were a ri m rried , and the mar age proved an exceed ingly happy one . A delightful picture Of the home life of the Hanningt ons is given by a personal friend who was for many years resident near the

Bishop . We used often to go over and see ” him , writes this friend , and he and his wife used to visit us . Sometimes Mr . Hanning ton walked the three ruiles that lay between his home and ours , and came in after his trip across the Sussex ﬁelds as fresh as if he had just come in from a little saunter . The r i country around Hurst is ve y rich and fert le , and the undulating downs stretch away in lovely deep blue shadows . ’ Hannin t on s d Mr . g residence was a me ium - sized , semi detached house on the high road .

The gate opened upon a little front garden , well stocked with ﬂowers , according to the a of Old se son the year . His favourite black raven was ever to be seen hopping and cawing en about the premises . The front door op ed r into a rather na row passage , garnished with o assegais and other warlike foreign weap ns , arranged artistically against the papered - walls . The dining and drawing rooms were stocked with cases containing specimens of entomology and many other things recorded 6 6 JAMES HANNINGTON his delight in all matters relating to natural h t oo istory . There , , side by side with the l or parish magazine , wou d lie a new book , a fresh report from o ne o f ' those societies in oo which the family always t k such an interest . There was ever something on the tapis in — that useful home a parishioner who wanted help or advice ; their children to be placed out in the world o r a new plant o r insect which claimed attention ; and the sick and the whole to be cared for . He dined early , and there was a sort Of high tea about six ’ o clock in the evening , to which visitors were ever made hospitably welcome . He has told my father that ‘ if when calling he did not ﬁn d anyone at home he was to go to the di - ning room and ring the bell , and order up or dinner , anything else he wanted , and make ’ himself comfortable , and quite at home . was n o t Though he an abstainer , he did practically enforce his opinions upon his guests . ‘ At the evening meal little Mepp ie a son (James Edward Meoph m) , his eldest , en evidence was generally , and the writer has often seen the Bishop dandling his Children upon his knee . These Children appeared to be the happiest little creatures possible . set Their admirable mother had apart a large , o f light , airy room at the top front the house , an d I i here have seen Miss Carol ne , the ’ nl wtat Bishop s o y daughter , four , enveloped in a huge holland pinafore , and painting away PARISH WORK AND HOME LIFE 67

f nl as if her life depended upon her e forts , o y bestowing rather more paint on herself than she did on the picture ; and at a short ’ di son stance the youngest in his nurse s arms , a very quiet , good young man , numbering ill st fewer summers than his sister . Father was always welcome in the nursery , though he had funny ways of his own in showing his affection ; but those who loved him under t o stood how interpret his words . Many al other children besides loved him . He ways Of made a point giving sweeties away , and I , ’ t o o of , have Often eaten my share the Bishop s sweetmeats . Yet he has told me that he didn ’ t like children But that was probably of his fun part . At the picturesque old Rectory (Hurst pierpoint) , enclosed within high walls and ou t gates that completely shut the road , a clerical meeting used to be held on the ﬁrst

Thursday in each month . The programme was that a portion Of Scripture should be expounded after the Greek Testament had been read , and that later in the afternoon an adjournment should take place to the drawing f room , where tea , co fee , and cake were pro d d f vi e . The wives and daughters o the Clergy used to attend at the same time a sewing meeting , and then all would meet together and have a little chat with friends an d f neighbours at the time o refreshment . ’ The Rector s amiable daughters used t o act e did not as hostesses , as their moth r enjoy 6 8 JAMES HANNINGTON

‘ ' good health . The future Bishop not ih a meetin frequently attended these ple sant s , ever b and would move about , knowing y Y’ . and with a word to say to each . ’

. e St George s Church , or rather Chap l — for it was originally a Chapel was but a e short distance from this , and had b en rendered f a most beauti ully complete littmle ediﬁce . I have seen it thronged during ission time , and at all times the attendance was good .

Mrs . Hannington had a pew in the chancel - c on on a line with the reading desk . The gr egation was always remarkable for earnest and devout attention . Close at han d is the residence where the ’ c hot Bishop s father died , with magnifi ent u - -ou t ho ses , and well laid grounds . I re e it was i memb r that before Mr . Hann ngton , senior , died that Mr . James took me all over the place and showed me the corners where he played as a boy , the pool where he used fish to , and the meadows where he roamed ’ of In in search specimens . particular he pointed o u t to me a magnificent geranium grown under glass from a small seed , but i then atta ned to an enormous size , and trained up against the wall like a fruit tree . We remembered his exp laining to us about the loss of his thumb , and in his n Yes pleasant , ge ial way he said , , I blew it bo Off with gu npowder when quite a little y. ’ It was a wonder I didn t get loc kj aw through ’ it . PARISH WORK AND HOME LIFE 6 9 When the Bishop spoke he had a thought ful way of fingering his watch chain while s he enunciated his view in simple , forcible words that somehow reminded one of his so handwriting , neat and clear , yet withal marked with such original touches . Order and regularity were the watch hi s words Of household rule , upheld most ml one fir y and wisely by his wife . On occasion that lady declined to pass the in evening with the writer , say g that , much as so she she would like to do , yet was afraid it was impossible ; and when she saw how i she d sappointed we were , explained that the sweeps were coming at five O ’ clock the next ai morning , and consequently her m ds would be obliged to rise earlier than their wont ; and she would not like them to wai t up for her that evening , as they would be obliged to do if she gave herself the pleasure of re maining with us . li of Cal ng once , before ever the subj ect work was missionary . mooted as a personal one in that quiet , contented home , I could not help being struck by the immense amount Of interest displayed in the work of the

Church Missionary Society . Through hard i work , the parish oners , too , were induced in to become interested it , and subscribed their pence as c heerq y as their dear friend later subscribed his life . Even the children had their separate little money- boxes for the same cause , which were regularly called in , 70 JAMES HANNINGTON

Mep pie and little Caroline taking their share as with others , as far their allowance of - pocket money permitted them , in aiding the funds Of the Church Missionary Society . Hannington had not long been established at Hurst before he began to be in great request as a missioner , and the missions h w ich he conducted , or at which he assisted in various parts of the country , were most successful . But even in this work his natural modesty and distrust of himself were apparent ; difﬁdent he was always , always doubtful about the permanent good accomplished by his f e forts , and always chary about accepting those who professed to have been brought to a knowledge of the truth until he had ample proof of their sincerity . His experiences in connection with his mission work were very varied— and some

. one times a little trying At place , for instance , he found that practically nothing had been done in the way of preparation , and some of those who ought to have been most ready to help were the ﬁrst to hinder . He had held a good meeting one night , and was announcing at its closme that any who wished to speak with him ight remain behind , when the organist explained that this was r not possible , as the e was to be a choir ’ practice ' Hanningt on s indignation was great , and he did not hesitate to express it . But he never allowed the apathy Of others o wn to disturb his faith . In connection with

72 JAMES HANNINGTON way of a little harmless retaliation he went into the pulpit and began to test the sides of e t ho w it and the d sk , as hough to ﬁnd out dl much rough han ing they would stand . He observed with great delight that his investigations produced a feeling Of terror as to what he was going t o do when he an d preached , then followed further hints c an and instructions . One imagine his out ward gravity and inward mirth as he listened — and the amazement of the innocents whom he had allowed to deceive themselves , when they found that the real Hannington was not - i i a pulpit destroy ng emot onalist , but a deeply earnest , spiritually minded missioner , who had power to stir the hardest hearts , and - ar rouse sin h dened men and women , as few o f could do , to a sense their sin and their need of salvation . No man enj oyed life more than did James of Hannington . He had the happy faculty throwing himself into the pleasure o f the moment with complete abandon— and that is on e reason why those who sometimes had the pleasure of sharing a holiday with him found him such a delightful companion . hi s one With friend Mr . Scriven he spent holiday tramping in and about North Devon . When in the course of their wanderings they so reached Bude , they were dusty and travel ll di stained , and genera y sreputable in appear ance , that mine host of the inn viewed them ’ with su spicion ﬂ mu ch to Hanningt on s amuse PARISH WORK AND HOME LIFE 73 ment . During this holiday they visitmed Lundy Island , and were detained there so e ten days through stress of weather . In his bantering way Hannington attributed thi s and some other small misfortunes to the fact that he had with him a pair of Old nail ey boots which , he says , his father had given him to give away , but which he had appro iat d t u r e o se . p his own They leaked . They ’

l . got wet , and he cou dn t dry them They was r wer e slippery . When he ca rying them through a pool of water a wave came ; and s al in aving his boots he lost his b ance , and ﬁ al fell and hurt his knee . And , n ly , those misappropriated nailey boots were eaten by rats ' Who would have thought it '” he exclaims ; and , he gravely adds , Never defraud the poor of a pair o f boots again hi s 1 88 1 By the death Of father in , Hanning ’ t o f on found himself owner St . George s

Chapel ; but , although the building had him been bequeathed to , no monetary pro for vision had been made its upkeep . This ’ could not have been intentional on his father s part , but it was an oversight which caused him great anxiety . It mattered not at all , o f so course , long as he remained in charge fﬁ himself , since he had private means su cient for his own requirements but his successor so might not be fortunately circumstanced . No t for a moment , however , would he permit his father to be blamed for a state of affairs al which he felt sure was purely accident . 74 JAMES HANNINGTON

So he continued his onerous duties as o f unpaid minister the Chapel ; and when , f fo r the following year , he o fered himself ﬁ service in the foreign mission eld , he sug gested to t he Church Missionary Society that they should arrange , during his service abroad , t o supply the duty through missionaries who had retired or who were at home on leave Of absence: Just before his departure from on England his last journey to Africa , he left the chapel by will to his brother , Mr .

Samuel Hannington , who subsequently under w took all responsibilities connected ith it . C H A P T E R V I

THE CALL To SE RVICE

was 1 882 T not until the year , when he hi - was t rty two years Of age , married , of l with a family ittle Children about him , and apparently settled in life as a parish priest , that Hannington seriously thought of offering himself for service as a missionary abroad . But it must not be thought that his Offer was o f or the outcome a sudden resolve , a passing whim . Since the occasion eight years pre — viou sly to which reference has already been made in these pages— when he attended his

ﬁrst missionary meeting at Parracombe , and confessed that he knew nothing about the — subject and took little interest in it he had thought much of missionary work and especially during the latter part of that time .

He was deeply inﬂuenced by the death , in o f 1 8 o f Sher old the latter part 77, Lieutenant g ’ O Neill Smith and Mr . , whose work was crowned by martyrdom on the shore o f the

Victoria Nyanza . He realised how greatly the removal o f these two devoted men must have crippled the work and hindered the progress of missionary enterprise in Central 76 JAMES HANNINGTON

Africa ; and he longed then to give himself to this particular form of Christian service . s a It is , perhaps , not too much to y that the keen interest in the work Of the Church in Africa which culminated in his Offer to go there himself as a missionary dated from the day when he heard how these brave men had laid down their lives for Christ ’ s sake and the ’ Gospel s . At frequent intervals after that sad event he gave evidence in various ways o f the fact that the work of foreign missions was constantly in his thoughts and he was always eager to take advantage o f every opportunity that offered to publicly urge the claims of the Church Missionary Society .

In the course of an interview , in the early 1 882 — Mr part of , with a friend . Cyril Gordon — he mentioned that he had a strong desire to offer himself as a missionary for the foreign

field . Mr . Gordon reported this to Mr . o f Wigram , at that time honorary secretary the Church Missionary Society . A few days later Hannington received a letter from Mr . Wigram offering to give him the opportunity fir n he desired and so the st step was take , the fir st decisive indication given of that Divine leading which brought to the foreign missio n service of the Church one of the most f devoted O men . His decision to gi ve himself to the arduous and dangerous work Of a foreign missionary evoked a good deal of protest amongst his o f friends , many whom strongly opposed him THE CALL To SERVICE 77

i in the matter . They po nted out , and quite r reasonably , that he was al eady doing an excellent work in Hurstpierpoint that if he went away his successor might not be able to maintain his work at the high level to which he had raised it and that such service as he was rendering at Hurstpierpoint was as necessary and as honourable as work amongst or the heathen in Africa elsewhere . To all these criticisms and obj ections one did Hannin gton had but answer . He not attempt to minimise the value of the work he was doing at home but , he said , it was easier to ﬁnd someone else to carry on that work than to ﬁn d a man able and willing to under take the preaching oi the Gospel in heathen — lands afar . He felt and he did not hesitate — t o say so that there were plenty of men who would be glad enough to take his place at

Hurstpierpoint , but there were not many who would be prepared to sacriﬁce home and home prospects , and go into the dark places i of the earth . M ssionaries are not , he was t o wont declare , like other travellers , held in i h gh esteem . They are looked upon as a sort of inferior clergy , and generally live F m unnoticed , and die unrewarded . ew en see much attraction in such a career . When the Church Missionary Society appealed for more men , their need seemed to him as the i ? Master ask ng , Who will go And promptly and eagerly he answered , Lord , send me 6 78 JAMES HANNINGTON

F 1 882 In ebruary , , Hannington made a definite offer of himself to the Church Mis sionary Society for missionary work in the o f Nyanza district , for a period five years , on condition that the Society filled his place ’ during that time at St . George s Chapel and — he undertook to contribute twenty five pounds i quarterly towards his expenses , and to g ve fifty pounds towards defraying the cost o f his i outfit . In th s he was as generous as his duty to those dependent upon him allowed him to be ; and there is no doubt that he would gladly have borne all the expense of his mis sionar so y service if he could have done . The opinion Of the Society as to Hanning ton ’ s fitness for the work is evident from the fact that not only was his Offer accepted , but it was decided to make himthe leader of a party of missionaries who were about to go f o . . out to the assistance Mr A M . Mackay , ’ Flah rt G E . O e , and the Rev P . y, who were at that time working in the midst o f great f R u ba a di ficulty and danger at g . It will be interesting at this point to trace in outline the early history Of the Uganda hi of Mission , with w ch practically the whole ’ Hanningt on s brief career as a missionary was l wi i his so c osely connected , and th wh ch name l wi l be for ever identified although , strangely al and pathetically enough , he never actu ly entered the country for which he laid down i his l fe . The first effort for the evangelisation of

80 JAMES HANNINGTON infwhich he challenged Christendom to send missionaries to Uganda . In that letter he declared that there was no more promising field for missionary work in the whole pagan world than in Uganda , whose inhabitants al — c led Baganda are a Batu race , beyond question the most intelligent o f all the native o al races f Centr Africa . ’ The publication of Stanley s letter roused an immense amount Of interest in the work o f ri evangelisation in Central Af ca , and three it s Un rofit able days after appearance , An p Servant Offered the Church Missionary su mof 000 on Society the £5 , condition that it was used for the immediate and energetic organisation of a mission to the Victoria f Nyanza . The of er was accepted , and was quickly followed by another of a Similar amount on the same terms . Other generous contributions came in rapidly ; and in the course of a few months the sumof was placed at the disposal of the Society for this special work . The task the Society had undertaken was of diflicult fo r full y and peril , it involved a journey through hundreds of miles of country o f which little was known except that its was was ul climate unhealthy , and that it r ed by chiefs whose attitude towards strangers would probably be hostile and it would be almost impossible to maintain c o mmunica ’ tion between the Society s representatives an d their fri ends . THE CALL TO SERVICE 81

But in spite of the many and grave dangers t o hi be encountered , volunteers for t s pioneer work were quickly forthcoming , and a party of eight persons formed the ﬁrst missionary i an he e o f exped tion to Ug da . T memb rs the Sher old party were George g Smith , an ex of Lieutenant the Royal Navy, who was studying for the ministry o f the Church Of

England Alexander Mackay , a young Scotch engineer the Rev . C . T . Wilson , a Manchester ’

O Neill . curate ; Mr . T . , an architect ; Dr al John Smith , a qualiﬁed medic man from

i . . . . Ed nburgh G J Clark , an engineer W M

Robertson , an artisan and James Robertson , i a bu lder from Newcastle . Arrangements were completed as quickly 1 8 6 as possible ; and by the end Of April , 7 , the little band had all left England on their R obert son had adventurous journey . James t been rej ected by the doctors when he offered t o accompany the expedition but he was so eager to go that he went eventually at his l own risk and expense . He was hopeless y ill , however , when the party reached the coast , and he died before the j ourney into the interior had been commenced . Starting from the mainland opposite Zanzi old bar , the party followed an trade route , 2 0 proceeding westward for about 3 miles , then continuing for some 300 miles farther in - a north westerly direction , to the south Of the ri Victo a Nyanza . From this point it was the intention of the travellers to continue their 82 JAMES HANNINGTON

on j ourney the great lake itself , skirting the shores in canoes until they reached

Uganda . Some idea of the difﬁculties of the under taking may be gathered from the fact that the journey from the coast t o the shore of the — — lake about 530 miles in all o ccupied more ix s . . in than months The Rev J . D . Mull s ,

. . o The M A , in his intensely interesting b ok , Wonder ul S tor o U anda hi f y f g , gives a grap c account Of the discomforts endured by the brave little band of pioneers during their weary months of overland travel through

Central Africa . They suffered terrible ex haust ion and depression from the overpower ing hu mid heat ; they were continually of tormented with a plague insects , centipedes , and snakes they were in danger every day and every night from lurking beasts of prey .

Fever attacked them , and left them almost too weak t o travel and they were subj ect t o constant demands for tribute from petty i o r ch efs whom they were bound to placate , run the risk of personal violence . All their luggage and food , the goods they took with them as presents for the natives , and the Cloth that served the purpose o f money as a of o n medium exchange , had to be carried the heads of black porters , who were them selves a constant source o f worry and anxiety . i The long , straggling line wh ch wound its way along the narrow paths often comprised hundreds of men ; some deserting , some THE CALL TO SERVICE 83

i falling ill and dy ng , some attacked by robbers . 26 th u 1 8 — a Not until J ne , day for ever 77 — memorable in the annals Of missions was R u ba a g , the capital of Uganda , reached and then only two of the original party of eight — h r ol . arrived there S e g d Smith and C . T so Wilson . Of the little band who had bravely Offered to share in this splendid effort to carry the Gospel to the centre of Darkest Af one was al rica , ready dead Mackay , prostrate with fever , was ordered back to the 2 20 coast from Mpwapwa , miles inland Clark was left in charge Of the mission station at that place, but was afterwards , through ill - al . he th , compelled to return home W Robertson broke down shortly after the party e had l ft Mpwapwa , and had to go back . The i on remaning four went , ﬁghting their way through forests and swamps where malaria lurked , and across arid , trackless desert wastes until they reached the shores of the lake at o f last . There , when the most arduous part li their journey was accomp shed , Dr . John ’ Neill O . Smith died , and was left behind News of the arrival of the missionaries on the southern shore of the lake sp eedil reached

Uganda , and it was not long be ore they Mt esa received a letter from , urging them to come to him with all possible speed .

Accordingly, they made immediate pre p arations to continue their journey in a small Dais hi steam launch , the y, w ch they had 84 JAMES HANNINGTON

wi i i l brought th them in sections . In th s l tt e at vessel they made good progress until , tempting to land at an unknown place , the natives greeted them with showers of stones her old and arrows . S g Smith was nearly blinded with the stones , and Wilson was i wounded in the arm with an arrow . Th s , was nl however , the o y untoward incident that as al occurred during the journey , and , ready R u ba a on 26 th stated , g was reached June , 1 8 ri 77 . On ar val they were escorted with great ceremony through a double line of ’ i i i al sold ers , dressed in wh te , to the k ng s p ace — a wonderfu l structure with walls of reed Mt esa al and gave them a roy reception , ri r orde ng salutes to be ﬁ ed in their honour , and in honour of the name of Jesus .

Almost pathetic , in that it shows the eager desire for the Gospel that existed in the mind M t esa . of , is an incident recorded by Mr al Wilson , who tells that after the form recep was tion over , the king sent a message to say that he had one word which he wanted u s ai so to say to , but was afr d to do before S O the people in the morning . about four ’ he wanted to o clock we went up . He said kno — B le w if we had brought the Book the ib . Mt esa uil ordered a mission station to be b t , as hi Sher old and as soon t s was ﬁnished , g ’ mi t o O Neill S th journeyed south again rejoin , with whom he intended to go back to R u baga . ari But this was no t to be . The mission es al had had de ings with an Arab trader , from THE CALL To SERVICE 85

whom they had purchased a dhow . The Arab got into difficulties through a quarrel i with a native k ng , and fled to the mis sionari es for protection . The king pursued him him , and ordered the missionaries to give hi up . T s , however , they refused to do . The i k ng thereupon attacked their camp , and ’ h a n S ergold Smith and O Neill were both Sl i . It was on 7th December that this disaster occurred and , as previously stated in these of pages , it was the news of the death these two heroic men that first really roused in Hannington the determination to offer himself for missionary service . — 1 8 8 For nearly a year until November , 7 al Wilson remained one in Uganda . Then nl im Mackay , who had o y waited most of patiently for the restoration his health , started again from the coast , and this time he accomplished the whole o f the j ourney t o n Uga da in safety . h Meanw ile , the Church Missionary Society, concerned for the safety of the men who were so bravely striving to establish Christianity i ou t in th s deadly region , had decided to send di i another expe tion , and th s time it was li al resolved to uti se the Nile route . Gener ' at Govemor- al Gordon , that time Gener of i the Soudan , greatly interested h mself in the matter , and offered to help any men who might be sent that way . The new expedition consisted of four men specially chosen by the Church Missionary 86 JAMES HANNINGTON

ﬁ Society Pearson , who had been an of cer in

0 . the P . service Felkin , a young doctor Lit chﬁeld and and Hall , students of the Church Missionary Society College at Isling ton . They started from England in May , 1 8 8 - for 7 . Ill fortune soon overtook them ; — — o n e of their number Hall was stricken — with sunstroke on the voyage ou t in the — Red Sea and had to return . The others crossed t he desert from Suakin to Berber on ‘ camels , and continued their journey up the

Nile to Khartoum , where they were received by Gordon , who treated them with utmost his kindness , and sent them forward on own own steamers at his expense . So , with com arativel ffi the p y little di culty , they reached o f l frontier Uganda , and joined Wi son and 8 1 . Mackay early in February , 79 The little force of five soldiers of the Cross gained confidence and strength from each ’ — other s society and they needed it all . Mt esa d so l , although outwar ly friend y and apparently so favourably disposed towards all Christianity , had the while an eye to material advantage and he was easily moved from his allegiance by the wiles of Arab — traders who c hiefly because they knew their nefarious traffic in human flesh must suffer if the Christians once established themselves in Uganda— tried to turn the king from Christianity to the Mohammedanism which they had at an earlier date prevailed upon him to profess .

88 JAMES HANNINGTON

i causes , ch ef among them being the slanderous stories c irculated by the Arabs to their detriment , the caprice of the king , whom the Arabs never tired of trying to prejudice ag ain st the men of the Church Missionary — Society and alas ' that it should have to — be written the opposition of the French in priests . The position at length became Lit chﬁeld tolerable to and Pearson , and — 1 880 they left Uganda the former in June , , and Pearson in March of the following year . an d Before Pearson left , he Mackay man aged between them to set up a small

- printing press , and taught the natives to read . The novelty of the new accomplishment al appe ed to the native mind , and soon scholars of all ages were diligently learnn their letters and laboriously spelling out o f sentences and portions Scripture . The tablets on which the latter were printed were not given away but offered for sale , and they found ready purchasers . Mackay was no t left to work single -handed after the departure of his friend Pearson for in the same month that Pearson left , the Rev . ’ lah rt Philip O F e y arrived . He proved himself a man of great resource an d strong per nalit so y. He quickly adapted himself to the i cond tions of life as he found it in Uganda , and speedily learnt the language and with his splendid help Mackay managed to con , tinne and improve upon the work that THE CALL To SERVICE 89 — had been commenced teaching , translating , hi preac ng , and in various ways striving to civilise the natives . The missionaries described themselves as i bu lders , carpenters , smiths , wheelwrights , sanitary engineers , farmers , gardeners , ” ri p nters , surgeons , and physicians . Tmhey were , indeed , all things to all men and a id much to depress and discourage they were greatly cheered by evidence of the fruit of 1 881 their labours . In October , , a native boy camme to Mackay with a note , written by hi self with a pointed piece of spear grass , mi in which he asked that he ght be baptized , o f because he believed the words Jesus Christ . An d this was only one incident of many which showed that at least some o f the seed so care fully and painfully sown had fallen into good ground , and was destined to bear fruit in time t o come . In 1 882 the first Protestant baptism took li ad place , and five converts were pub cly — mit t ed to the Church the fir st five of a i Church wh ch two years later , at the end o f 1 88 o f - 4 , consisted eighty eight native members one of them bein g a daughter of a was Mt es . This a triumph indeed for the men who had laboured long and faithfully, and who now had the joy of knowing that the task which had at one time seemed so hope was in so foun da less accomplished , far that a ’ tion had been laid , upon which , in God s o uil of go d time , might be b t a native Church 90 JAMES HANNINGTON Christian people amid the heathen wilds of ri Central Af ca . l r So , very imperfect y and very b iefly , we have traced the history of Christianity in Uganda from the time when the first efforts were made by the Church Missionary Society to establish it there , until the day when i Hann ngton heard the call to service , and answered it . C H A P T E R V I I

THE FI R ST MI S SIONARY J OURNEY

’ HEN Hanningt on s offer of service had been deﬁnitely accepted by the Committee of the Church issionary Society — at a meeting at the ission House in on th 1 882— he Salisbury Square 7 March , went straight back to Hurstpierpoint , and the ﬁrst thing he did was to break the news to

Mrs . Hannington . They had often discussed the possibility of his engaging in missionary work , and Mrs . Hannington had expressed her willingness for him to do so if opportunity offered , so that his announcement did not come as an unexpected shock , and she gave him freely to the work on which his heart was set . The Committee had decided to place him in charge of the new expedition that they were arranging to send out to Uganda as a ’ reinforcement to Mackay and O Flaherty , who were so bravely holding the ground at R u a a i o f b g . The new party was to cons st six all— men in Hannington as leader , the A ’ l Rev . R . P . Ashe , B . . , St . John s Col ege ,

; . . Cambridge the Revs J Blackburn , Cyril 92 JAMES HANNINGTON

’ Hannin t on s Gordon ( g nephew) , and W . J . Edmonds (students of the Church Missionary

Society College at Islington) and Mr . C . Wise , an artisan . The party were to travel by the same route as that followed by the fir st Church Mis — sionary Society expedition to Uganda pro c eeding fir st for over two hundred miles due west from Zanzibar, and then in a north westerly direction until they reached the mighty Victoria Nyanza , that great lake , the surface of which measures twenty thousand i as square miles , and wh ch contains an island of large as the Isle Wight . From the southern shore of the lake the par ty would continue their journey by canoes , skirting the shore un til they reached Uganda . Not until the actual day of his departur e all his e had been fixed , and arrangem nts fin ally settled , did Hannington make known to hi s congregation at Hurst the fact that he was about to leave them . At first they seemed hardly able to believe that he was s really going away . He had become o much a part of their lives that they regarded him as their own and they could not be brought to t he see that it was his duty to go . At meeting hi a at w ch his decision was announced , m ny al of the people wept oud . But when they had realised that their friend and pastor had indeed determined to his go , and that nothing would now shake resolve , they made up their minds to help THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY 93

ul not himas far as they co d . Though by an y means rich , they subscribed amongst themselves the sumof £85 towards the cost of al his outfit , and in other practic ways testified him to their love for . It happened just at that time that public attention had been specially directed to Uganda by the issue o f a book dealing with of the affairs that country , by Messrs . Wilson lkin and Fe . The volume had been very favour ably reviewed In The Times ; and Hannington took advantage of this fact to appeal in the columns Of that paper for subscriptions towards the cost of a new boat in which to navigate the Victoria Nyanza— to replace the b Dais . su y, which had been wrecked He — scribed twenty five pounds himself for this purpose ; and the response of the public to his appeal was so generous that he was able to take out in sections a very good boat , which proved extremely useful to the mis io ari es s n . al l on 1 6 th A v edictory service was he d May , ’ l 1 882 . , in St James s Ha l , Paddington , — at which eleven missionari es Hannington amongst them— were committed to God ’ s care ; and in the evening he returned t o Hurst and preached his farewell sermon to his own people . To this day the memory of that sermon dwells in the minds Of many who heard it . One of his friends writes I was not at the vi his ser ce , but on return my father told me 7 94 JAMES HANNINGTON that it was one of the most effective addr esses hi to w ch he had ever listened , and that it evoked a thrill of emotion through the whole of the densely crowded audience . The text his 1 . 2 : was Sam . xxx 4 As part is that his goeth down to the battle , so shall part be that tarri eth by the stuff : they shall part i ’ li al ke . With characteristic humi ty Mr . Hannington spoke of the time when he first - inex came among them , hot headed and p eri enc ed ; told them things against himself which he had never laid to the charge of l all others , and said how kind y they had w o borne with him . And he added ords t — which time has since given signific anc e that if it should be that he lost his life in Africa no man was to think that his life had been AS wasted . for the lives which had been not already given for this cause , they were l i so lost , but were fi l ng up the trench that others might the more easily pass over to take the fort in the name of the Lord . It was some little distance to his home from the parish church , but the road was ri lined with a double row of f ends , who sought from him a last hand-shake on that memor Of 1 6 of able evening the th May . Such impromptu homage bespoke the love which he had won around hi s own home by the of nl workings his Simple , ma y , Christian

- character . His very hand shake bespoke the man . He grasped your hand gently, but v ml ery ﬁr y, and the pressure showed the

96 JAMES HANNINGTON

hi s for keepsakes , and a note written by i mother . Th s to the man whose vigorous ai temperance camp gn had , as he thought , made himthe publican ’ s enemy ' At the last moment a number of the roughest of who on rough men , were at work a building — men o f whom he says he thought they would have had a holiday to rej oice at his departure—left their work and crowded about t o x him e press their sorrow at his departure .

Some of them even went to the station , and he found them waiting at the train o n the - platform to bid him good bye . Then came the journey to London ; one s last hurried visit to Sali bury Square , and his the farewell to brother , who went with him to Gravesend , where he boarded the netta on a to S S . Q which he w s make the ﬁr st of his part journey , and where he was j oined by the other members of the expedition . With characteristic appreciation of the of t his merits others , and deprecia ion of o wn r o f , he w ote to the Secretary the Church Missionary Society during the voyage a letter in which he had a good word to say for everybody but himself . With exaggerated humility he wrote There’ s only one wretch if among the Six , and he is taken away it will be no great loss Until they reached Aden the p arty for Central Africa thoroughly enjoyed their netta was ﬁn e - bu voyage . The Q a , Clyde ilt 200 vessel , of 3 tons , well appointed in every THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY 97

way, but at the Red Sea port they had to leave their comfortable quarters and re embark in what Hannington descri bed as a o M ecca dirty ld vessel called the . It was

was . indeed more than dirty , for it verminous netta Less than half the size of the Q , it was t di packed wi h passengers , and the con tions on board were so atrociously bad that even ni Han ngton , seasoned sailor though he was , f r n al su fe ed from sick ess , when , to the gener discomfort and bad management , was added f the misery o rough weather and heavy seas . In a generally dishevelled condition the party at lengt h reached the island of Zanzibar and they were thankful indeed to see the last f M e h o the cca . It was on 1 9t June that they hi of completed t s stage their j ourney . Hannington admitted that he was rather — favourably impressed with Zanzibar not that was so it was by any means perfect , but it much less intolerable than he had been led to expect They dmid not remain long on the island , and the ti e they spent there was fully occupied with preparations for the difﬁcult an d dangerous journey overlan d that la y before them .

Before leaving for the interior , Hannington l i had an interview with the Su tan , Seyy d — Barghash the noble and energetic ruler of all him Zanzibar , he c ed . He had heard that the Sultan was becoming alarmed at the number of European mis sionaries who were passing thr ough Zanzibar ; but he had no 98 JAMES HANNINGTON

’ reason to complain o f the Sultan s attitude was towards him , for he received with the greatest kindness and courtesy . The pal ace is beautifully Situated in t he i n Grand Square and th ther , at the appoi ted al — time , arrayed in full academic s scarlet ’ — hood and Master s gown he made his way — escorted by the pro - Consul Colonel Miles l who , in the absence of the Consu , Sir John f . o Kirk , was to introduce him A guard w o f l honour , dra n up in front the pa ace , al l saluted upon their arriv , and the Su tan came down into the square to greet his guest , with whom he shook hands cordially, and then — invited him to follow him up some stairs so as steep , Hannington humorously observed , that they formed a perfect safeguard against any inebriated person who might wish to ’ thr ust himself uninvited into the Sultan s presence . The Sultan led the way into his reception room , and there his guests were regaled with l coffee and iced sherbet , whi e he plied them with questions through an interpreter, and showed himself keenly interested in their di was expe tion . Hannington surprised to

ﬁnd that the Sultan , though a man of great intelligence , showed an amazing credulity , for he believ ed ﬁrmly a report that had reached U o o hi him of a gigantic snake in g g , w ch was sk said to reach from the earth to the y, and to devour oxen and women and children whole '

1 6 6 JAMES HANNINGTON could not be prevailed upon to hu rry over their labour . was But at length the last load packed , and everything was ready for the crossing n nl from Za zibar to the mai and . Mr . Stokes, who was going with the exp edition in charge of the caravan , crossed ﬁrst to the little town of S edaani with the greater part of the 2 th luggage ; and on the following day , 7 i l s . June , the m ssionarie fol owed The channel between the island and the mainland is about hi wi his t rty miles de , and Hannington and fellow-travellers accomplished the crossing in — an Arab dhow a crazy Old craft in which they were packed S O tightly that they sc arcely had room to move . Q wben they arrived o ff S edaani it was high ul tide , and they co d not approach the shore nearer than half a mile and at that point the dhow grounded and bumped so alarmingly that the occupants expected every moment ul it wo d go to pieces . Mr . Stokes saw their predicament from the shore , and plunging through the breakers brought a small dug of out canoe to the Side the dhow . The was al canoe , however , h f full of water ; and though some o f the party decided to avail o f ri themselves it , Hannington , prefer ng , as he humorously said , a swimming to a foot R e bath , decided to jump into the water . ardl ess o f g the risk from sharks , and the di scomfort o f the sharp coral beneath his his feet , he stripped off Clothes , put them into THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY 1 01

lf a bag , and then , jumping overboard , ha waded and half swam to shore . At length the whole party safely reached al land , where their tents had ready been pitched and they were quite ready for the dinner which awaited them . But since the l of ri principa dish consisted an Af can goat , as al e so tough to be most uneatabl , it is doubtful whether any of them enjoyed the repast . The following day was spent in getting the porters into position , checking their loads and putting everything thoroughly into order for the march that lay before them and the next morning at dawn the long procession of seven white men and about ﬁve hundred

- porters , headmen , and tent boys set out on their j ourney into the interior . Their Way for a time lay through a beautiful di di strict aboun ng in rivers , and having the general appearance o f English parklike difﬁ scenery . The travellers had no special c u lt ies to contend with on this part of the i o route , except those wh ch ar se from the inclination of some of the porters to desert SO and return to the coast . long as near ness to the coast made desertion compara tivel y easy this danger was always present , and the trouble would probably have been o f much greater but for the p resence Mr . ' of Stokes , whose knowledge the natives ul enabled him successf ly to overcome it . The travellers made their way at ﬁr st 1 02 JAMES HANNINGTON

along a path which , but for the tropical Of i nature the vegetation surround ng it , might have been a way through an English wood . Through this beautiful , but by no means typically African scenery , amongst r - long g ass , umbrella like acacia trees , candle - shaped euphorbias , and long spined mimosas , they made their way until they reached their

first camp at Ndumi . Here they had their first experience of an an one hi Afric pool , and it was not w ch anyone need envy them . The surroundings l were beautifu enough , but the water itself n was unspeakably foul . Hanningto declared that an English c ow o r an Irish sow would have turned from it ; and it was scarcely an exaggeration to say that here and else where during his African j ourneys the only water available for all purposes was often so thick and black that it was diflicu lt to tell whether it came under the category of meat o r drink ' But he observes philosophically t hat it boiled well , and added body to the ' so tea No wonder that when , as Often happened , he was prostrated with serious

l . i lness , he avoided drinking any liquid at all one for On more than occasion , three and n even four days together , he drank nothi g whatever . 8th o f 1 882 On the July , , the travellers — reached the river Bu z ini the ﬁrst stream they had encountered on their journey . Theyi were all exceedin gly ho t when they

1 04 JAMES HANNINGTON

on footing a slippery rock , and down he went with his burden ﬂat into the water ' The consequences might have been serious , for

‘

Hannington was , of course , soaked from head to foot but happily he suffered nothing of more than the inconvenience the wetting , on hi and t s occasion , at least , the dreaded symptoms of fever did not show them selves . The travellers were soon made aware that , there would be plenty of diversity in their of e xperiences African travel . The next day after their leader ’ s involuntary dip in the river was Sunday . Towards evening , while the others were resting after the services of the day , Hannington was tending some sick folk when he noticed smoke , and soon he found that the high grass round about the camp was blazing . The situation was dangerous , for the grass was as dry as tinder ; and unless prompt and effective measures were taken the whole camp would in a few minutes be on fire . Hannington shouted an alarm and almost immediately everyone was hard at work , some, fighting the flames while others struck the tents and carried the baggage to a place o f safety It was an exciting and anything but l peacefu ending to their Sabbath , but at last the danger was over , and the natives settled down once again to their interrupted rest .

At least , so Hannington thought ; but it transpired afterwards that the y were intent THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY 1 6 5

n o revenge . They had discovered that the ﬁre had been caused maliciously by the in ll habitants of a neighbouring vi age , and after a quiet discussion amongst themselves they s of had re olved , by way retaliation , to burn l r . that vil age to the g ound So , each man his his with weapon in hand , they departed O on their private mission f revenge . But news Of this unauthorised expedition of of vengean ce reached the ears Mr . Stokes shortly after the men had started , and in a great state of excitement he rushed round the camp shouting o u t the news and calling upon everybody to help him bring the rebels t o back . This they were fortunately able do before much actual damage was done , and when peace and order were once more restored the missionaries sat down to their dl ba y needed dinner . ex eri Even now , however , the exciting p c ucos of this eventful day were not at an end ; for they had barely commenced their “ ” meal when the cry of Fire ' was again i raised . And th s time the menace of the

flames was more serious than ever . Every man in the camp had to rush Off t o do battle with the fire which was blazing in the long The nl grass around them . o y way to fight it was to rush right through the blazing grass and beat it down . This struggle with ’ one of the most terrible of nature s forces was a severe one , and it taxed the strength an d endurance of the men considerably but 1 06 JAMES HANNINGTON

c am was it was successful , and again the pz saved from destruction . of But , terrifying as their experiences ﬁre must have been , the missionaries were soon to be attacked by a still more fearful enemy , for on 1 7th July almost every member of — — the party Hannington amongst them was o f attacked by fever , that dread scourge the traveller in Africa . Fortunately , the ’ w Hannin to n s attacks ere slight , but , in g f case , they were frequent , and their e fect was very distressing . z rst l Mamboia On Ju y they arrived at , where a ﬂourishing Church Missionary Society

Mission station had long been established . n The missio ary in Charge , Mr . Last , and his wife gave them a hearty welcome , and Hannington thoroughly enjoyed his brief mi di stay there , a d beautiful surroun ngs , the scenery being not unlike that of North Devon . Four days later they left for the next on i station , Mpwapwa and the way th ther Hannington had a narrow escape in the course one of his of excursions in search of game . He was walking along when suddenly he fell headlong into one of the hidden pits which the natives cleverly contrive as traps for wild animals . Usually these pits are staked - at the bottom with sharp pointed , upstand all ing spears , so that animals f ing into them are at once impaled and killed . But , by a merciful Providence this particular pit con ain ll t ed no spears . At the moment of his fa

1 08 JAMES HANNINGTON

Dr While he and . Baxter were hunting for eu specimens , they had the misfortune to a of counter great colony black ants , and did t o though they their best avoid them , they were severely bitten . Hannington de scribed the noise made by these myriads of ants when on the march as a kind of hissing roar and t he dry bed of the stream in which they encountered them was black with them as far as the eye could see . in There was considerable risk , too , in handl g of i unknown plants , some wh ch proved to of i be a malignant and h ghly dangerous nature .

One such was a beautiful bean , the pod of hi w ch was thickly covered with short , red hairs , which entered the skin , and caused s acute pain . When Hannington ﬁrst eized this tempting bait he was nearly driven mad , and was a long time discovering the source of the mischief for , unlike the nettle , which stings at once , this venomous pod does not develop it s evil effects until some time afterwards . But so enthusiastic a naturalist as Hanning ton is not easily daunted ; and in spite of this and other trials he managed to gather a valuable collection of birds and insects , plants and mosses , many of which are to be

- seen to day in the British Museum . After three days at Mpwapwa the expedi ’ tion travelled to Khambe , a day s march diﬂicu lt farther on . The march was a and trying one , through forest land and over the THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY 1 09 rough stony ground of a rugged and steep mountain pass . The men had been sent on set before to up the tents , and prepare the camp generally , and Hannington and his

- fellow travellers , toiling along in the heat , looked forward with pleasurable anticipa tion t o the rest and refreshment that they ’ hoped awaited them at their journey s end . But looking down from the summit of the pass towards their camping ground , no tents s o f were to be seen , nor any sign a camp . Feeling sure that some accident must have o f occurred , they hurried forward , full alarm . When they at length reached the place where the camp ought to have been , a scene of t r mend utter desolation met their eyes . A e ou s wind had arisen , scattering the camp

ﬁres , tearing down some of the tents , and raising huge Clouds of dust which smothered everything . The men in despair had taken c u t refuge in a deep , dry trench through the sandy plain by a mountain torrent . The whole scene was desolate and dis so heartening to a degree , and especially to the little group of tired and hungry men who had expected to ﬁnd food and rest and shelter was awaiting them . But there nothing to be gained by looking at it ; and by way of setting a good example Hannington seized a on - hammer , and set to work the tent pegs , and soon forgot his weariness . After a time the camp was to some extent re - established but the dust could not be excluded ; and 8 1 1 0 JAMES HANNINGTON with sand gritting their teeth with every mouthful of food , and almost smothering them as they slept , they were anything but o f comfortable . By way encouragement the natives informed them that they must expect this sort o f thing all through the last stage of their journey to the lake . Yet amidst personal discomforts and trials and vexations that would have irritated the average man almost beyond endurance , Hannington remained always cheerful and hopeful . Even amidst the sand storms of Khambe he could write this letter to the Church Missionary Society Committee We

- are resting to day . The reason for these rests is that we are waiting for the boat to gain upon us , and catch us up , in order to save hon o no t g (tribute) . But I do personally for or believe in rests , either masters men . We have now some very hard work before us ’ - - nearly twenty four hours march to morrow .

I am very happy . Fever is trying , but it does not take away the joy of the Lord , and he i h lace keeps o ne low in t r g t p . The march to which he referred in the letter quoted above was a particularly trying one of forty miles across the desert o f Marenga

- — Mkali to Pero , their next halting place the o o frontier town of Ug g . It was late in the afternoon before a start could be made and ’ at about ﬁve O clock darkness descended , with that suddenness which is usual in the on tropics . They struggled for three hours

JAMES HANNINGTON

they all marched on with new vigour , and at a m . . reached Pero . When the excitement had subsided the old lassitude returned , and it was a matter of some difficulty to induce the men to start on the next stage o f the journey ; but after much persuasion and the promise of a short march , their reluctance was overcome , and the next camp was reached . The water here proved to be terribly bad . The only source o f supply was one deep hole into which all of — kinds small animals rats , lizards , toads , — and the like had fallen and been drowned . fil The water smelt abominably . No tering o r boiling had any purifying effect on it , and it flavoured everything . The natural result upon Hannington of drinking this horrible fluid was a Sharp attack f h o . was on 6 t fever It Sunday , August , that the dreaded symptoms first manifested t o themselves , and he resolved try to over come them by a brisk walk . The day before he had seen three lions , and had followed them into some dense bush , where he lost Now his sight of them . , accompanied by his nephew, Mr . Gordon , he turned steps in the direction which the lions had taken . He had not gone far , however , when the fever attacked him , and it was all he could do to his so stagger back to tent . He became seriously ill that for three days his life was t h despaired of . Even when e worst was his was over , weakness such that the mere THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY 1 1 3 fact of a headman coming into his tent to speak a few kindly words to himbrought on Bu t all a fainting fit . through the suffering and weakness his cheery optimism never left him - and indeed it was probably to i th s , in great measure , that he owed his recovery . o f The natives , though a source constant n t al worry , gave Ha ning on a good de Of amuse ment . In some of the places he passed through the people had never seen a white exc u s man before , and their curiosity , though able , must have been more than a little was i al embarrassing . It noth ng unusu for them to crowd round his tent in ranks five al o f deep . Their gener opinion him seemed to be that he was exceedingly ugly and his i cloth ng amused them greatly , the number and variety o f his garments causing them His was utmost astonishment . watch an unfailing attraction and hi s nose they c o m — pared to a spear it seemed t o them so Sharp and thin in comparison with the African variety ' His patience and good humour enabled himt o put up with all the inc o n venienc e of their curiosity without betraying the least resentment , though sometimes he must have found their scrutiny very trying . The most inquisitive of all the tribes he encountered were the Wagogo . These people not are considered friendly to travellers , but t Hanning on took a great liking to them . He thought there was something very manly 1 1 4 JAMES HANNINGTON

about them . They seemed interested in the of worship the white men , though they showed no disposition to take part in it and Hannington was hopeful that the Gospel it s wa message would win y to their hearts . The leader of the expedition considered he on 2 2md had achieved a triumph when , sa August , he was able to y that his party had passed through Ugogo without having paid — hongo always a heavy strain on the re f sources o travellers in Africa . It u ra On 3oth August they reached , where the Wa- Nyamwezi women entertained them with a national dance which lasted for hours . In return for this courtesy Hannington nu showed them an English doll , which he dressed before their wondering eyes and they were greatly amazed at the number and variety of the garments in which it was arrayed . The following day the travellers entered o n a stretch o f about eighty miles of forest o f su n desert . They found the heat the i 2md exceed ngly trying ; and on September , as was ll there a fu moon , they decided to try the experiment o f a night march . Hanning was at ton the rear , to prevent straggling and loitering , and was having some trouble with the men , when he heard Shouts and yells from those in front , and guns were ﬁred . Thinking that the R nga- rnga had again attacked them he hurried forward , and found that the cause o f was o the commotion a li n , which , calmly

1 1 6 JAMES HANNINGTON decided that he could not possibly proceed to the Lake , and he accepted their decree in o f a spirit rare humility and resignation . The decision was a tremendous disappo int t o ment him , but under the circumstances it did not surprise him , and he accepted it in a 1 spirit of calm resignation . On 5th Septem o n ber his party went their way , leaving their leader in the capable and kindly hands of

Mr . Copplestone , and his nephew , Mr .

Gordon . While he was ill he received a visit from hi o f Ngembi , the c ef the district , whom he was anxious to honour . During the inter view he sat in a draught and contracted acute rheumatism , which quickly developed into rheumatic fever , and with this complication o f diseases it seemed impossible for him to recover . Even when he regained a little strength temporarily , he had no hope himself o f ultimate recovery , and he chose a place own u near the mission station for his b rial . Through all his pain— and sometimes it was so severe that he would beg everyone to leave him , that he might scream and thus try — to relieve the agony he was wonderq y patient , and his trust and faith never wavered .

Mr . Copplestone wrote afterwards His stay with me was a real blessing . His spirit u ali t y was very deep . Oftentimes he would sa o ne o f y, Come , Copplestone , sing me your ’ consecration hymns . His favourite was , I ’ am coming to the Cross . Nearly every night THE FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY 1 1 7 we would have a sp ecial time o f prayer together before retiring to rest . Yes , those were hallowed times , never to be forgotten . Fo r six weeks Hannington hovered between as life and death , and then , almost much to o f his own surprise as that his friends , he began steadily to improve . Almost at the same time he was amazed by the totally unexpected return of his expedition . It seemed that Mr . Stokes , proceeding along the old road to the Lake , was stopped by the no t natives , who only demanded payment of hon o in g to an unreasonable amount , but sisted that part of the tribute should take — the form of guns and powder a kind o f hongo which the agents of the Church Mis sion ar y Society have always , and very rightly , refused . o f Mr . Stokes paid a portion the tribute , but decided not to proceed . He lodged a w o f who complaint ith the Chief the district , had guaranteed the safe passage o f the expedition through his country in return for i the tribute paid to him . The ch ef was very f angry with the o fending tribesmen , and while wa s . he adjusting his quarrel with them , Mr Stokes brought the whole caravan back t o

Uyui , intending to try to reach the Lake by another route . When Hannington heard o f their arrival “ ” a I ' he excl imed , shall live , and not die He felt that they had returned that he might — go with them and indeed this seemed to be 1 1 8 JAMES HANNINGTON

the case s Another consultation was held , and it was decided that when the party was ready to start again he Should accompany them— carried this time in a hammock until he was well enough to walk .

1 20 JAMES HANNINGTON this time Hannington spent resting under a tree . Presently his bearers arrived , and he go t into his hammock and began his journey — only to ﬁnd that instead o f the six men for whom he had stipulated , only four had o f been allotted to him , and these three were the very dregs o f the caravan and had neither power nor inclination to carry him properly . as They had not proceeded far when , he him expected, they dropped . Fortunately was for i t o he prepared th s , and managed S 0 break his fall and avoid serious injury . He gave them a long rest but that availed nothing , and at last in desperation , he got ou t o f the hammock and walked for two hours . This tramp of Six miles , after he had six been in bed for the best part of weeks , and , even at his best during the latter part of o ne that time , barely able to crawl from room to another , was a marvel even to himself . ’ He reached camp at eight o clock , and found everything in a state of chaos , and the — in of men the absence Mr . Stokes , who had gone with Mr . Copplestone to interview King — Mirambo sulky and insubordinate . Ill and as exhausted he was , he had to do that night without bedding and without food . The next morning he refused to start with less than six bearers ; but these proved as in competent as the four who had already failed him , and the experiences of the previous afternoon were repeated- with the added ADVENTURES BY THE WAY 1 2 1

aggravation of distress from want of food . At that day he had his first meal Since ui -five leaving Uy , twenty hours before , and it consisted of pea soup without stock , and fio u r- and- water dumpling without suet hardly an ideal dietary for an invalid The next day he declined to move until six good men were allotted to him and since his life absolutely depended upon his having reliable t o r him bearers ca ry , he was quite justified in making this firm stand . For about a fortnight the expedition con tinned to make fair progress and although Hannington was ill more o r less most of the i of t me , he found some amount enjoyment his - in ever Changing surroundings . His cheerf ulness amidst the most depressing n was f circumsta ces , and even when he su fer l ing considerable bodily pain , was marve lous . He was S O racked with rheumatism that he could only just manage to sit up for meals and he admitted that if he had been at home his doctor would have wanted to wrap him up in cotton wool ; yet he could write

This life is thoroughly agreeable to me . l And he added , If I had good hea th I l oo shou d be t happy . What wonderful u u s mercy s rrounds . Truly, underneath are the Everlasting Arms On I st November the travellers pitched their camp near the village of a great chief Shimami— s named great in pmos essions , stature , and power . He showed hi self to be friendly 1 22 JAMES HANNINGTON

disposed towards the strangers , and sent o f them a present a ﬁne goat , some milk , and two oxen . He followed up his gifts by a personal visit ; and , to his huge delight , Hannington presented him with a pair of

- blue spectacles and a wide awake hat . These he donned forthwith , and then led his new ’ friend to the village , where the chief s appear ance in his new ﬁnery created a great impres sion . Hannington was greatly amused , but his mirth gave no Offence ; for in Africa l laughter is seldom expressive of ridicu e . ’ After this date Hanningt on s health steadily improved and on 6 th November he felt so well that he attempted the ascent of a o f l mountain in search botanica specimens . on al While the mountain one and unarmed , he was suddenly confronted by three men , armed with pistol , bow, and arrows . He realised that he was entirely at their mercy ; on but, resolved to put a bold front the matter , he faced them , and in the native ” language wished them Good afternoon .

Then it transpired that , far from having hi s h designs on life , they regarded him wit himt o utmost respect . For they believed on be a great magician , whose purpose the mountain was to make a new well , and they had followed him simply to ﬁnd ou t where he intended to establish the new supply of

i . water, wh ch they badly needed He did his best to persuade them that his investigations of mosses and stones and the

1 2 4 JAMES HANNINGTON

It ai from heaven . set his heart pr sing , and ﬁlled himwith assurance that God had not forgotten those who , amid much discourage ment , were trying to carry the Gospel light ’ to some of earth s darkest places . On 9th November they went exploring wa . s again , and this time found the Lake It not a very imposing Sight at this point Msalala— was for it scarcely a mile wide , and i n - or appearance like a duck pond , a sluggish - English river in summer time . The voices of the natives were plainly audible from the ll opposite bank . Sti , they had at last reached the great Victoria Nyanza , an achievement which afforded them no little satisfaction .

Their advance was now checked for a time .

They were Short of cloth ; and , moreover , the porters who were carrying the sections of o f the boat , in the charge Raschid , were a long way behind . Obviously they could do on nothing the Lake without the boat ; so , as the rainy season was upon them , they decided to set to work at once and build huts in which to shelter until such time as they were able to proceed . Hannington also sent letters to Uganda , advising the brethren there of k his arrival , and as ing that canoes might be sent for his party , if their immediate presence were required . S O Mr . Stokes , who had efﬁciently guided di now ac c o m the expe tion thus far , having lished p his mission , made arrangements to return to the coast with a number of the ADVENTURES BY THE WAY 1 25

no porters who were longer needed . Han t o a ning n w s very reluctant to part from him . His unceasing kin dness had been a great an comfort , and his ability in m aging the men Wh a great advantage . en he was gone , o f loneli wrote Hannington , a slight feeling ness crept over us . We felt rather like men with empty pockets , turned adrift in the wide world , not knon exactly where we were , or what to do next . The unbounded influence which Hanning ton obtained over the natives who ac c om ani d p e him has often been commented upon . It was due in great measure to the personal bravery by which he saved himself and others al e in more than one most hop less situation , and which caused his men to regard him as ul possessed of mirac ous power . So convinced were they of his supernatural gifts that they al him were most afraid to oppose , and they looked upon him as having a charmed life . O of f all the recorded instances his courage , perhaps the most remarkable is that which on Msalala occurred one occasion at , when he was out with his gun-bearer on one Of his frequent expeditions for botanical specimens . He had wandered about a mile from the di o f camp , and was stan ng in the midst a belt of dense mimosa scrub when he noticed an animal moving at some little distance him wa - . s from It a strange looking creature , z S i about the si e of a heep , and of a k nd quite ili unfam ar to him . Thinking that he would 9 1 26 JAMES HANNINGTON l r ike to add its skin to his collection , he fi ed at it without hesitation , and killed it . The tragedy was over before his gun -bearer had t sa ime to interfere , or y a word ; but almost simultaneously with the firing of the Shot the bo ou t y screamed in terror . His better knowledge taught him that his master had done something which placed them both in deadly danger . Half mad with fright , the o so boy to k to his heels , shouting as he did , ” bwana ' be Run , , run Hannington was wildered for the moment by the boy ’ s sudden al t o arm , but he had not long wait for an of explanation . With a terrific roar rage and grief a pair Of lions came suddenly bound ing towards him through the scrub . He had killed their cub and they were intent on avenging its death l The lions were on y a few paces away , and escape by flight was impossible . It was a l terrible di emma , and in such a case most men would have given themselves up for lost . ni But not so Han ngton . Even in that an supreme moment Of d ger , when almost at a single bo und the enraged brutes whom he had deprived of their offsprin g could have him reached , his ready wit did not desert m a hi . He remembered th t sometimes even the king of the forest c an be frightened by an unexpected demonstration ; and on the in — spiration o f the moment an inspiration — which undoubtedly saved his life he sud denl his un y threw up arms , gave vent to

1 28 JAMES HANNINGTON

l prudent , he sudden y began to repeat his former tactics . The lions gazed for a moment at the strange , yelling , gesticulating creature that had again invaded their solitude , and cu b then walked away , leaving the on the ground . Hannington thereupon went for ward , and seizing the animal by its hind legs , the dragged it through scrub , and brought it in triumph to the camp . His arrival with his prize caused a tre mendons sensation in the village . The natives could hardly believe that he had dared — to kill the child of the lion a far more n dangerous thi g to do , they declared , than to kill the lion himself—and their respect for him increased accordingly . ’ But all Hanningt on s bravery could not keep the dreaded fever ou t of his camp and in addition to the trouble of sickness amongst his followers he had a good deal of anxiety on of to bear account Raschid , who had not i n yet arrived , and concerning whom d squieti g rumours were reaching him . It was ulti mately decided that Ashe and Gordon should of go in search Raschid , while Hannington R omwa sent messengers to interview , King of Uzinza , and ask him to assist the party to reach the head of the Lake . ’ Before Hanningt on s messengers had got back from Uzinza , Ashe and Gordon returned his with Raschid and caravan . They had found Raschid in an utterly dilapidated con dition . Both Ashe and Gordon were very ADVENTURES BY THE WAY 1 29 ill f , and Wise was also su fering from fever, so the entire burden of responsibility fell upon

Hannington , who was himself far from well . But he was much cheered by the hopeful report which his messengers brought back R omwa from , who had promised to help the of Mission party to the utmost his power , and supply them with canoes for the voyage up of the Lake . He decided on the strength ’ this report that he would visit R omwa s capital— some days ’ journey from the camp with Mr . Gordon , leaving the others in charge of Msalala affairs at .

- It was now past mid December , and the travellers resolved to postpone their departure ’ for R omwa s land until after Christmas . There is probably nothing more pathetic in ’ missionary annals than Hanningt on s account of the Christmas Day he and his brother missionaries spent on the shores of the ill Victoria Nyanza . Gordon was in bed ; Ashe and Wise were just recovering from a o f sharp attack fever , and Hannington himself was very unwell ; yet they had a happy celebration of the Holy Communion , and their thoughts were all of their dear ones at home who would , they knew , be praying for them . They explained to the natives that the day was a great festival amongst Christians , and gave them a kid , so that they might share in the feast and they even essayed to make a

Christmas pudding . It was hardly such as 1 36 JAMES HANNINGTON

for an epicure would have approved , the flour was musty and full Of dead beetles and a their larv , the raisins were fermented , and the poor , stodgy mass suffered woefully in the cooking ; but for all that , Hannington de c lared he could not remember ever to have al enj oyed a Christmas pudding h f so much . 1 88 On the first day of the New Year , 3, a of R omwa start was made for the land . And , indeed , it was imperative that a move Should be made , and help obtained ; for , owing to the rascality of Raschid , who had robbed the caravan right and left , the camp was bordering on destitution . t Hanning on secured a canoe , and obtained the services o f some of the canoe men in the of Mt sa t he employ e . These men were under f ni captaincy o a man named Mzee . Han ng ’ him ul ton s opinion of , after much painf experience , was that he was as degraded a ru fli an as ever lived . His conduct was ex asperating almost beyond endurance ; and the climax was reached when , after a few ’ days j ourney , Mzee calmly announced that he intended to take the whole party ashore and leave them there , declaring that he had ’ Hannin t on s had enough of the journey . g remonstrances were all unavailing , and at last he asked for his gun . Loading it deliberately ‘ a ard he pointed it at Mzee at ab“out y distant r Now ll ou fro n his chest , and said , , wi y go on ? N Mzee wisely decided that he would ; and

1 32 JAMES HANNINGTON

’ Hanningt on s journey back to Msalala was a f literal progress o pain . He fought against his weakness and suffering like the hero he — was sometimes walking with . his hands tied to his neck to ease the torture caused by of his every movement arms but when , in of the last stage exhaustion , he reached the ’ his Msalal a shelter of friend s tent at , he knew that his heroic effort to reach Uganda l had ended in fai ure , and that he must consent , at least for a time , to leave Africa and give up the work that was dearer than

l . u ife to him The bright , buoyant ﬁg re , the very Sight of which had so often been an inspiration to others , was now bent and of old feeble , like that a very man . He confessed that life had become a burden to dl l him , and he har y expected that he wou d me ' ever see England again . Forgive al he wrote . I am a practic failure . But as there is such a thing splendid failure , and if Hannington had not attained the desire of his e i “h art , he had at least failed splend dly and forgive need never be the plea of ha his the man who s done best . C H A P T E R I '

THE SECOND MI S SIONARY J OURNEY

ANNINGTON was back in England on r oth 1 88 June , 3, and he soon settled down to his Old work as though he al his had never left it . But ways in heart was the hope that some day he would be permitted to return to Africa . In the home dl land his health rapi y improved , and he did valiant service up and down the country as a preacher and speaker on behalf of the r Church Missiona y Society . At the end of a his Fa rer year , to great joy , Sir Joseph y , the

Climatologist , pronounced him ﬁt to return to Africa , with a good prospect of being able to live and labour there for many years . It was at about this time that the Committee of the Church Missionary Society had under reconsideration a plan for placing the Mission Churches of Eastern Equatorial Africa under of the care a Bishop . This immense tract of territory was rapidly coming under the of inﬂuence the gospel , and the increasing number of mission stations needed super o f vision . The position demanded a man one exceptional ability , and who combined 1 34 JAMES HANNINGTON in himself exactly those characteristics which al Hannington possessed in an unusu degree . He seemed to be specially marked out for

. was him the work The matter put before , and after much thought and prayer he accepted the responsibility , and hailed with thankfulness the prospect of being able to his resume labours in Africa . 2 th 1 88 He was consecrated on 4 June , 4 , in the Parish Church of Lambeth ; and the following four months were spent in organis his di l ing new ocese , in col ecting funds for the work , and in gathering about him a band of workers . The Archbishop of Canterbury com missioned him to visit Jerusalem and conﬁr m the churches on his way to Africa ; and he left England to commence hi s new work as h Bishop on st November . He spent about L md . 2 Six weeks in the Holy and On January , 1 88 — 5 , he started from Jaffa which he de — scribed as a complete sea of oranges for 2 th Africa . Mombasa was reached on the 4 and as soon as his arrival became known boats — set Off from Frere Town whi ch is divided from the island of Mombasa by a narrow channel about a quarter of a mile in width and conveyed the Bishop to the mainland . A crowd of about a thousand people had assembled on the Shore to greet him; and with a ﬁring Of guns and blowing of horns they gave him a hearty if rather a noisy welcome .

1 36 JAMES HANNINGTON the Work of the Church Missionary Society — at Taita then the most distant mission ou t — post along the western route claimed hi s on attention . The station , situated the mountain Ndara , and distant some two — hundred miles from the coast was in charge o f Mr . Wray . He was doing a splendid work ; but the little band o f learners and workers whom he had gathered round him d r were in anger, partly th ough a prolonged famine , and partly from the anger of neigh bou rin g tribes , who were inclined to blame the missionary and his adherents for the scarcity of food . Supplies had been sent at intervals from F rere Town but the distance to be traversed , and the fact that the greater part of the journey was across the terrible , waterless one desert of Taro , made the work of great l danger and difﬁcu ty . Hannington , there fore , resolved that he would place himself at o f the head an expedition to Taita , in order to make himself personally acquainted with ai i the state of aff rs prevail ng there , and to of devise measures for the protection Mr . 2 th Wray and his gallant little band . By s F on ebruary he was well the way , with a o f caravan of porters , and the evening that day found him at the mission station o f of Rabai , where news his coming had pre ceded him , and where the natives welcomed ’ al him with a four hours carniv of gun ﬁring , shouting , and dancing . To their great delight THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY 1 37 he j oined in one of the dances a kind of ' - in - - - - puss the corner drop handkerchief , is his description of it . In return for their hospitable welcome the

Bishop gave a great feast , at which he enter u m t ain ed about six hundred guests . An fortunate incident , which rather marred for of - him the pleasure the feast day , was the of detection of his boys in the act stealing . As a punishment all four Of them were tied Of up to separate posts in Sight the guests . It had been the Bishop ’ s intention to keep them prisoners for the rest of the day , but he relented before the feast was over , and released them . And they rewarded his leniency by stealing his sugar the next morning ' He spent one Sunday in this place , and preached to a crowded congrega tion from the text , What must I do to be saved

Nearly a week he remained at Rabai , and then the caravan started on the really of arduous part the journey . The party mustered about a hundred in all , as they had to carry with them a month ’ s food for Wa- the starving Taita , in addition to their own goods . The heat was overpowering , and the fatigue of marching in the scorching sun was at times almost unbearable .

The Bishop was accompanied by Mr .

Handford , who had had charge of the church at Frere Town ; and his knowledge of the natives and their ways proved very useful . 1 38 JAMES HANNINGTON

Episcopal dignity was at a discount on this journey across the desert . Gaiters , shovel all hat , and apron were laid aside ; and at the first camping- ground Hannington was as busy as— perhaps busier than —any Of his fire - porters rushing about for wood , lighting fir e n the , putting up his own tent , fixi g his bed a mysterious puzzle which entirely fi defies an African head , he found and nally retiring to his well - earned rest at eleven ’ O clock .

The rest was not of long duration . In order to take advantage o f the comparative coolness of the very early morning hours , ’ everyone was roused at two o clock , and by ’ four o clock the caravan was again on the move During the heat of the day they were obliged to halt and some idea o f what that heat must have been may be gathered from the fact that in what Hannington called the cool o f the evening his thermometer ° i 1 00 reg stered Fahrenheit . At seven o ’ clock the next morning they —a — an reached Taro beautiful spot “oasis in of the desert , with plenty water , if , as ’ ou Hannington observed , y don t mind toads of and tadpoles , and such like denizens ” i stagnant pools . At th s place the party — rescued eight slaves a woman and seven i — of ch ldren from a gang Swahilis , who had ’ run away as soon as some of the Bishop s porters raised the alarm , leaving their slaves behind in the bush . The Bishop took part

1 40 JAMES HANNINGTON reached the foot of Mount Ndara ; and a hard climb of two thousand ﬁve hundred feet ‘ over a steep , rugged road brought them at of last to the mission station Taita , where of they found Mr . Wray in a state semi Wa- siege . The Kamba had attacked and r ll him bu ned vi ages in sight of , and for two on days he and his people had been guard . He was greatly relieved at the arrival of the i w - B shop ith the much needed food . The situation was so desperate that Hannington decided the station must be abandoned . Arrangements were therefore made for the few families residing at Taita to be received at Rabai , and Mr . Wray accompanied the Bishop on a further expedition beyond

Taita . O 1 2 th his n February , Hannington had of Kilimand first view the mighty mountain , hi s j aro . The sight , w ch mu t have been a fi him magni cent one , impressed greatly, and ri ri he thus desc bed it As we topped a se , suddenly before our astonished gaze flashed Kilimandj aro in all his glory ' How lovely — the gr eat mountain looked all radiant with of the rays the rising sun . We had , by the hi of best fortune , arrived at t s point vantage of j ust at the hour sunrise , when the vast silver dome for a Short time shakes aside the mist wreaths which during the rest of the day so frequently enswathe his snow- crowned

summit . The sight was so surpassingly beautiful that it called forth long and loud BEWITCHED B Y TH E B ISHO P A CRITICAL M OMEN T

Hannington ran forward alone and unarme d to mee t t he warriors . 'P age 1 4 7

1 42 JAMES HANNINGTON

The caravan was now on the verge of the vast plain which stretches between Taita and

Taveta . Hannington had been warned that his party might be without water for at least on so two days this plain , he prepared for the worst . The plain abounds in game of all — f kinds zebra , hartebeest , eland , gira fe , and other wild creatures were to be seen on every hand ; and their presence gave an interest to the journey , which made the way seem short , and helped the travellers to forget their weariness and thirst . They were at l such an a titude , too , that the air was much — cooler at night it was even cold . one At place the party came upon a ﬁre , round which a group of starving people were

. seated . They had come from Taita , and were endeavouring to struggle on to the more Kilima ar fertile districts that surround ndj o .

They were positively destitute , and had al on ready abandoned e woman and child .

The mother was dead , but Hannington enabled them t o save the child by giving them food , and encouraging them to go back and search for the infant . The approach to Taveta was through a lu xuri magniﬁcent forest , honeycombed with of ant growths maize , Indian corn , and al banana trees . The caravan crept ong noise lessly , fearing lest the inhabitants Of the village should hear them and shut the gates against them until hongo had been paid . But they found after all that their fear was THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY 1 43

r vi g oundless . The llage was open to them ; conﬁdence in the white man had alr eady been established , and the people received them in n the most friendly ma ner . Hannington described the villagers as peculiarly gentle and attractive in manner

i . and conversat on The locality , however , is al very unhe thy for Europeans , by reason of the poisonous vapours which the rich , black vegetable so il exudes during the rainy season . hi For t s reason , the Bishop was uncommonly no twith glad to get away from the place , standing its many natural beau ties and although his stay lasted only three days , he was long enough there to receive what he of called a loud warning fever . During his brief visit he made a thorough inspection of the place , with a view to future missionary work there . The highland district on the southern and eastern spurs of Kilimandj aro is known as o f l Chagga . The chief the most powerfu of was the tribes inhabiting this district Mandara , and with him Hannington had some interest a ing experiences . As the carav n approached ’ Moschi , Mandara s capital , messengers arrived , bringing an ox as a present from the king ; and the Bishop ’ s party ﬁred the royal salute with which the potentate expected all his h visitors to greet him . T is was answered by a salvo from his two cannon and although it was quite dark when the expedition made n its e try into Moschi , the Bishop was , much 1 44 JAMES HANNINGTON t o i his surprise , at once ushered nto the presence of . the king . He was agreeably impressed with his kindliness and intelligence and although the interview was a brief one , it was very satisfactory .

The next morning , at dawn , Mandara , ’ Hannin t on attired in a red robe , returned g s visit . He was accompanied by a bodyguard of fin e l twenty warriors , , ath etic young men , looking very fierce and formidable . Mandara was presented with a box and uniform , hi w ch greatly delighted him ; and when , after breakfast , Hannington called upon him , f c ow he o fered his guest a goat and a . This interchange o f visits and presents having a been satisfactorily ccomplished , Hannington unfolded the real purpose of his visit—the establishment Of a Mission Station in Man ’ hi s dara s country . Throughout travels Hannington never forgot that his great obj ect was the establishment of a chain o f mission stations westward to the Lake ; and all his efforts were made with that one end in view . Mandara was not averse to Christian ahno teachin g for his people . Like st every other African chief whom Hannington met , he would have preferred guns and gunpowder but failing these , he considered the next best thing would be a white teacher to live in the land . Having completed his business with Man dara , and satisfied himself that any mission

1 46 JAMES HANNINGTON Of the Bishop ’ s condition may be gathered from the fact that on the way home he waded through a stream almost up to his neck without getting any wetter . He managed to Of secure a great number , mosses and plants but unfortun ately many of them were spoilt by the rain . Mandara maintain ed his princely bearing and his gentlemanly demeanour to the end ’ of Hanningt on s visit and the Bishop c on sidered that a Mission Station might be i successfully establ shed at Moschi . May God give Chagga to His Son was his prayer as he left that neighbourhood Of beautiful ll hi s and valleys .

After leaving Mandara , Hannington began of the descent the mountain , returning to ’ of Fu mba s Taveta by way country , where his stay was marked by a curious and not too ’ pleasant ceremonial . The chief s father in arrived the camp , bringing with him a sheep . Hannington and the old man had on first to spit its head , and then it was c u t killed . Next some strips of skin were off o i , f and made . into rings one wh ch was put ’ Hannin t on s one on g finger , while he placed ’ on of o o f a finger ne the chief s party . Then the liver of the sheep was examined ; and finally Bishop and Chief were freely splashed i with the entra ls , and the ceremony which made them brothers was completed . Having established himself on this friendly footing with the chief , Hannington began to THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY 1 47 converse with him ; but their conversation was Of no particular interest . It resolved itself into the endlessly repeated request for gifts which becomes so wearisome and mono tonous in the intercourse o f Europeans with

Africans . The journey down the mountain was l difﬁcu t and trying . Rain fell in torrents ; ’ and one night the Bishop s tent - carriers lost their way . For an hour after reaching the camping-place the Bishop stood in the i his drenching rain wa ting for tent , which never arrived ; and in the end he had to ni hi s spend the ght in the open in wet Clothes , and with nothing but a blanket between him o f and the wet ground . For the sake warmth , and in order if possible to avoid ll of his taking a chi , he made two boys lie one on o f him dl each Side and there , hud ed mtogether as close as possible , they lay till ommg .

At daybreak they were aroused , and their l f ll chil ed bodies e fectually warmed , by a shri - hi o f war cry , w ch heralded the approach a large body of armed men who sprang from the bushes and bore down upon them . It al was a critic moment . The least false move ’ on the part of the Bishop s men would probably have led to a general massacre , ai but he managed to restr n them , and ran forward alone and unarmed to meet the warriors . i Pick ng up a branch as he ran , he waved it 1 48 JAMES HANNINGTON

ambo ' as a signal of peace , and shouted , j Good morning Do you want to kill a white ? al man At this they suddenly h ted , and ’ NO ou replied , , we don t but we thought y ” were Masai . The explanation of the ex citing incident was quite simple . The attack ’ ing party , having heard the Bishop s men l ta king during the night , thought that a of group their Old enemy , the thieving , murdering Masai , were about to descend upon them , and they had arranged to take them by surprise and kill them all After another long and exhausting tramp through terrible rain , the Bishop brought his o caravan in safety t Taveta . Thence they as moved on as quickly possible to Taita , and made arrangements to take the starving natives on with them to Rabai . Here the Wa- Bishop left the poor , famished Taita in ; gomod hands , to be fed and cared for and hi self , without stopping , went straight through to Frere Town . ’ 80 ended Bishop Hanningt on s ﬁrst great missionary journey in his vast diocese . Enough has been set down in these pages to Show that this tramp of something like ﬁve hundred miles had not been accomplished of without considerable risk , and a great deal personal discomfort and actual suffering but all this was forgotten in the j oy of success . ” I have to praise God , the Bishop wrote ,

for one of the most successful j ourneys , as a j ourney , that I ever took . May its

C H A P T E R '

THE GOAL IN VIEW

AVING made up hi s mind to attempt the heroic task o f opening a road to Uganda through the midst of the Masai r count y , the Bishop lost no time in commencing his preparations for the great journey . The preliminaries occupied about three weeks ; and a very worryin g and harassing interval s this mu t have been . Not only had the

Bishop to gather about two hundred porters , of but he had to overcome their fear the Masai , ‘ with ext reme whom they regarded dread . He decided that he would not allow any him white man to accompany . He knew of of something the risk the undertaking , and he did not wish to involve any of his friends in the troubles and dangers that might await him ; so he u nselﬁshly resolved to forgo the comfort and help that a friend of o wn his nationality might have given him , and went forth with none but native helpers hi about him . C ef of these was Mr . Jones , a newly ordained native clergyman , who proved l of most usefu , relieving him many small responsibilities . THE GOAL IN VIEW 1 5 1

on a The journey was commenced Thursd y , 2 rd ul 1 88 3 J y , 5 , when the Bishop led the o u t of o f way Rabai , with his caravan two ul hundred so s , and began his march towards - of the far north west . The burning desert was Taro safely passed , and when Taita was o ff reached , the caravan branched northwards , and turned their faces towards the dreaded - Masai land . They had now left the beaten h track , and had to find their way t rough a i vast country , covered with th ck jungle , and was destitute of roads . The compass their nl the went o y guide , and y forward in as straight a line as possible . of St arva The perils the way were many . on tion , and desertion , and treachery the part of the porters were only a few o f the dangers that had to be faced . But the greatest of was of di danger all lack food . The strict through which they were passing had recently been in the grip o f famine and to fin d daily food for two hundred men in a country where gr eat tracts had been deserted by the natives thr ough fear of starvation was 5 a constant anxiety . But the Bishop would not allow li even this responsibi ty to daunt him , though of i he recognised the gravity it . If th s is ’ God s time for opening up this road , he said , we shall o e it u p n p . Truly he was a man ai of marvellous f th , as well as invincible courage . Personal discomforts soon became every da was y matters , but as his habit , the Bishop 1 5 2 JAMES HANNINGTON laughed at them even when they were of a kind that would have vexed and irritated on most men almost beyond endurance . At e point of the journey his watch went wrong candles and lamp Oil were forgotten and left l behind , and all the il umination he had at night was the light from the camp -fire then so his donkey died , that he was compelled to o f walk every step the way . Commenting on these annoyances he said , Well having ’ no watch , I don t wake up in the night to see ll if it is time to get up , but wait ti daylight ’ dawns . Having no candle , I don t read at night , which never suits me . Having no c an donkey , I judge better as to distances , and as to what the men c an do for many ill marches depend upon my saying , We w ’

or . stop here and rest , Sleep The letter from which the words above are quoted was the last the Bishop wrote . No thing more was heard of him until the tele gram received from Zanzibar on New Year ’ s 1 886 Day , , which prepared his friends for the of subsequent news his death . The telegram stated that the Bishop had been seized by ’ o f order the king , within two days march of Uganda and its last sentence conveyed the dread news that the latest report is that the king has given secret orders to have the

Bishop executed .

Fortunately Mr . Jones had kept a j ournal during the expedition , and had entered in it ’ careful notes o f each day s doings and

1 54 JAMES HANNINGTON more hongo than the Bishop considered they f had any right to expect . He o fered them of three doti cloth , which they accepted merely as an instalment , and then impudently asked for more . Instead of complying with their request , the Bishop , no doubt to their

amazement , immediately ordered the

to be taken from them , and then walked , away to his tent . This treatment was so entirely different from the deference and al most eager compliance with which their demands were usually met by passing caravans , that they hardly knew what to make o f it ; but when they realised that themBishop was not to be frightened into sub ission to their unjust demands , , they sent for the interpreter , begging him to tell his master not to be angry , and to return the — three doti to them which he did .

On a Similar occasion , at a later stage of the journey , the Bishop , rather than submit on to the imposition of the natives , moved hon o ~ into the jungle , taking the g with him . one In his surprise and bewilderment , who had been most insistent in his demands turned to Mr . Jones and explained that he ” had been only making fun . Mr . Jones retorted that the Bishop had been doing likewise and the difficulty was then quickly overcome by the payment of a moderate amount . The necessity for showing a firmfront to these greedy savages , and steadily resisting THE GOAL IN VIEW 1 55 their unreasonable demands arose very tre quently , and sometimes under circumstances which would have caused a weak leader to o f give way almost without protest . A mob armed men one day descended on the caravan with a demand for gifts , and threatened that they would fight unless presents were at once forthcoming . The Bishop simply ignored them and ordered the caravan t o proceed ; but their attitude became so menacing that the interpreter strongly urged submission ; otherwise he feared the whole caravan would be massacred . i t o o The porters evidently feared th s , , and the native who carried the Union Jack was al so terrified that he trembled as he w ked . Up to this point the Bishop had kept out of now his sight ; but , seeing that personal intervention was necessary in order to put an end to an unpleasant incident , he made his appearance . The effect on the bold band of would- be despoilers was electrical and ludicrous . Mr . Jones said that at the mere Sight of him they gave way like a cloud before the wind . They were all amazed t o him o f see , for many them had never seen a white man before . They stood thunderstruck him and gazing at . The Bishop made his of way through the crowd , and many them i resisted him with all the r might , but he k on dl of wal ed rapidly , quite regar ess their l yel in gs and ferocious cries . Twice they a our an d b rred way with a human fence , 1 56 JAMES HANNINGTON

twice we passed through them , to their great astonishment . The Bishop all this time was l quite ca m , and only smiled at all their gestures and menaces . At last we came to a stream which divided one district from

. s another They refused to let us pas , but the Bishop went straight ahead , and was ' ” b all followed y the caravan . was ﬁ The sequel to the incident signi cant . The very men who had caused all the trouble and made themselves so obj ectionable came later the same day to the camp , and in the most friendly and peaceable manner offered their goods for sale . When two hundred hungry men have sub sisted for days together on Indian corn , they hail with keen delight the prospect of a meal of fresh meat and there was naturally great ’ excitement in the Bishop s caravan when , after marching for three days towards - a- Ngongo Bagas , across a vast plain where is hi ; no food obtainable , a r noceros was sighted

The Bishop and Mr . Jones at once decided m u hi to stalk hi . It is a pec liarity of t s monster of the African jungle that although has di he extraor narily keen scent , he has very hi Short sight . So , by keeping be nd and to windward , they managed to approach to him within about twenty yards of . Then hif a w f of their scent seemed to reach him, for with a terriﬁc snort he bounded round . ﬁ The Bishop leaped to his feet and red , but the bullet made no impression on the tough

THE GOAL IN VIEW 1 57

of hide the creature , which calmly made off and after a short chase the disappointed hunters were obliged to return to camp without the rhinoceros steak which they had hoped to secure . Ngongo -a- Bagas is situated on the edge of a dense forest inhabited by a fierce and - as Wa . treacherous tribe , known the Kikuyu These people dwell in remote fastnesses of the forest and ‘from their safe vantage ground they shoot poisoned arrows at any strangers who venture near them . Yet it is from these people that food must be procured to replenish the empty larders of the caravans i that travel that way , for the pla n yields nothin g ; and so shy as well as fierce are they that a caravan is sometimes reduced to the verge of starvation before they can be induced to come out of the forest and sell food . This was what happened to the Bishop ’ s caravan and the camp resounded with the of u cries men made desperate through h nger . The Bishop did his utmost to persuade the natives that his intentions were friendly and honourable , but they had been so often li deceived in the past by the Swahi traders , who , on the pretext of barter had caught ul them and made slaves of them , that he co d not induce them to believe in his honesty of purpose and it was only after some days of diflicult delay, and much negotiation , that he was able to persuade them to part with a few I I 1 58 JAMES HANNINGTON

an d so sweet potatoes , avert what threatened al to be a re disaster . For many days the Bishop was only able t o buy sufﬁcient food for the immediate needs of his men and it was long before he suc c eeded in accumulating enough to make it prudent or indeed possible to continue the i ac c om j ourney . At last , however , th s was plished ; but it had taken a fortnight of anxious and arduous work to complete the a- task . And even then the W Kikuyu would not allow the travellers to depart peacefully for while the caravan was making its way down a deep deﬁle they swarmed ou t of the brushwood on either side and tried to cut off

ri . the sick , who were being car ed in the rear The noise of the attacking party fortunately Of reached the ears the Bishop , who was at the head of the column , and he rushed back in time to quell the disturbance and prevent the ﬂight of his men . But a volley from the shot guns of some of his followers was nec es ‘ sary before the troublesome Wa-Kikuyu were

ﬁnally dispersed . The only explanation of their behaviour is that they were so accustomed to the harsh ness and cruelty of the slave- dealing Arabs re who sometimes raided them , that they garded all travellers as their natural enemies di and treated them accor ngly . It was a disappointing endin g to a very unpleasant episode . The Bishop had greatly desired to prove to these poor , ignorant savages that

1 6 6 JAMES HANNINGTON

were extortionate , but remonstrance was useless and when the Bishop tried t o resist them they brandished their spears and threatened to kill the whole caravan . n Exasperati g as was their cupidity , their curiosity was almost worse . They insisted on seeing everything , and handling every thing ; and as it is their custom to anoint themselves freely with oil and daub their bodies “ liberally with red earth it may be imagined that their interest in the Bishop ’ s goods and in his person had results which were anything but desirable . They tormented — ai ul him mercilessly stroking his h r , p ling his beard , feeling his cheeks , and even trying on some of his Clothes . They had no idea , f however , that their attentions were o fensive , and as a matter of fact they greatly admired a nrno Kito I him , calling him which bein g interpreted means A very great Old man One day amongst these people was more than enough . When night came every man in the caravan was thoroughly tired out , and early next morning the camp was broken up and the caravan resumed its journey north ’ ward . The Bishop s experience with the

Masai had been very trying , but on the whole it was not so dreadful as he had been led to i expect , and he considered h mself fortunate so in getting away from them easily . The Bishop declared that his nerves were quite unstrung after his adventures with the THE GOAL IN VIEW 1 6 1

Masai ; but at any rate he had sufficient nerve and energy left to indu lge in an exciting of elephant hunt . He charged a herd these creatures in the hope of being able to provide the hungry caravan with a supply of fresh c ow meat . In return , a elephant promptly charged him; and while he was engaged i with the elephants , two rh noceroses , which he did not see , came along from another direction , straight towards him . Mr . Jones , standing on a high precipice overlooking the of i scene the confl ct , shouted to the Bishop to beware of the fresh danger that menaced him . But he was too fully occupied to heed the warnings ; an d so the extraordinary spectacle was seen of the Bishop Volleying the elephant , the elephant chasing the rhino c eroses hi , and the caravan men das ng down their loads and scattering in every direction before the great beasts . The excitement was his soon over , however . The Bishop secured of elephant , to the great joy the men , who hurried to the scene with their knives , and quickly cut the great beast in pieces . Some of the men ate the flesh raw, while others made great fires and sat round to enjoy their feast . After this adventure the party lost their way , and wandered about for two days before they discovered their whereabouts . The Bishop ’ s trust in God ’ s guiding hand led him to say of this incident , I seem to see now why we lost our way . We have been 1 6 2 JAMES HANNINGTON enabled to spend Sunday here in a beautiful spot , free from natives , and in peace and quiet ; otherwise we should have been in

Nj emps in the thick of worry and bustle .

We had our two pleasant services , and the day passed in the most absolute rest and peace . I lay stretched on my back in quiet contemplation and Sweet dr eams Of dear ones at home , and often longing , often wondering e whether I shall be permitted to s e them . Alas he was destined never to see them in this life again . The next day the Bishop entered the l vi lage of Nj emps , and thence the caravan moved on towards the almost unknown o f country Kavirondo . All that they knew of it was that it was highly dangerous for strangers to traverse ; but retreat now was o f impossible , and the men the caravan fully realised that their only safety lay in pushing forward to Victoria Nyanza and thence to

Uganda . Hard work and tiring marches were now of the order the day . The Bishop did not spare himself , though often very fatigued . ” As one a Sign how tired can be , he wrote , on Friday last when going to bed I took a l bite from a biscuit , and fe l asleep with the ll ﬁrst mouthful sti in my mouth , and the rest in my hand . Much o f the country traversed was now very beautiful , and the Bishop would , doubt is of less , have enjoyed th part the journey

1 6 4 JAMES HANNINGTON was false that they had wickedly deserted the Bishop ; and he told the members of the caravan to inform the villagers that the ’ rumour of the Bishop s death was untrue . e Yet he was greatly distress d . Can it be true , he asked himself , that the Bishop is killed C H A P T E R ' I

THE STORY OF THE MARTYRDOM

in T is necessary , order properly to under

stand what had happened , to know something o f the events that had transpired ’ in Uganda since Bishop Hanningt on s previous visit to the Lake in 1 882 . Mt esa King , the enlightened and friendly chief who had ﬁrst invited the missionaries his - to visit country , and who was far seeing enough to appreciate the good that would result from their settlement amongst his people , was dead . He had been succeeded

his son . by , Mwanga , a lad of eighteen The new chief had received instruction fr om

Church Missionary Society missionaries , and also from Roman Catholic priests ; but it on him had made little impression , and he i dl showed h mself cowar y, weak , and passion li all l ate . Moreover , ke coward y people , he was cruel ; and he was dominated by the of — prevailing vice the African greed . all hi He hated Europeans , and t s hatred of i ui was born fear , wh ch sprang from q te int elli e him ble causes . News had reach d that e Germans were annexing large tracts 36 S 1 6 6 JAMES HANNINGTON

Of Afri can territory ; and although their operations were carried ou t at some consider di able stance from Uganda , he was convinced that eventually his country also must come of under the rule the hated European , unless he took energetic measures to avert such a hi catastrophe . For reasons w ch we have already explained (see page 87) the Arabs encouraged this conviction and Mwanga ri was advised to kill all the missiona es , who , hi s him the people about court assured , were of certain forerunners invasion . The vindictive and cruel young chief decided to adopt this policy and , as a pre i l minary , commenced a ﬁendish persecution of those of his own people who had adopted ri r of Ch stianity . Th ee boys , servants the i M ssion , were tortured with knives and then

Slowly burned to death . But these brave young martyrs bore their terrible sufferings with such fortitude that one of their execu t ioners , impressed with their dauntless heroism , came afterwards secretly to the t oo Mission and asked that he , , might be taught to pray . This martyr dom was followed by man y others but although Mwanga threatened to burn alive any of his subj ects who were found c o mmmc ation i in with the m ssionaries , and although he actually did on one occasion seize thirty- two converts and burn them in a on one al ll heap great funer pyre , sti there ’ e h w re many who , for C rist s sake , deﬁed him

1 6 8 JAMES HANNINGTON

Uganda , learned all the news of the Court through the Christian boys , and they were in deepest distress when they heard of the fate that awaited the Bishop . They tried to see Mwanga and intercede for their friend but the courtiers , doubtless fearing the inﬂuence of the missionaries over their vacillating ruler , refused to let them see him . So they could do nothing but await events in sorrowful n helpless ess . Meanwhile the Bishop was rapidly drawing nearer ; and here we resume the story at the point where we left himbidding farewell to

Mr . Jones at Kwa Sundu , and entering alone upon the last stage of the j ourney that was O to have S tragic an ending . When the Bishop left Kwa Sundu he was f hi su fering from an abscess in the leg , w ch gave himconsiderable pain but in spite o f ’ all Mr . Jones s entreaties he would not delay his 1 2th j ourney , and on October he started with his company of ﬁfty picked men , on the journey which ended in the tragedy of his saw death . No white man ever him again but the story of the last few days of his brave and splendid life is recorded in his own hi j ournal , w ch was unexpectedly recovered after his death . During the ﬁr st eight days of hi s j ourney the Bishop walked about two hundred miles and it was after this interval that serious trouble began . From this point we will ’ quote from the Bishop s diary , and let him THE STORY OF THE MARTYRDOM 1 6 9 tell in his own words of the events that led

to his death . 0th Oct er —I 2 ob . fear we have arrived in

a troublesome country . We have , however , ﬁne - made progress to day , and almost all in the right direction that Should bring us to the Nile , near about the Ripon Falls , and I ’ h ou t of don t t ink I am much my reckoning .

Here , at least , we seem to have peace for a i n ght . t October Wednesda - 2 1 s . , y About half ’ Lu bwa an hour brought us to s . His ﬁrst demand , in a most insolent tone , was for ten of guns and three barrels of powder . This , course , I refused , and when the same de mands were made I jumped up and said , I ’ go back the way I came . Meantime the war drums beat . More than a thousand soldiers not were assembled . My men implored me to move , but , laughing at them , I pushed them and the loads through the crowd and turned back . Then came an imploring message that I would stay but for a short i t me . I refused to hear till several messages had arrived then , thinking things were l turning my way , I consented , said I wou d give a small present , and pass . My present was returned , and a demand made that I one d would stay ay ; to this I consented , because I fancy this man can send me on in ’ 5 canoes direct to Mwanga capital , and save ’ a week s march . Presently seven guns were stolen from us at this I pretended to rejoice 1 76 JAMES HANNINGTON

rest ora exceedingly , since I should demand tion , not from these men , but from Mwanga .

A soldier was placed to guard me in my tent , and follow me if I moved an inch . I climbed saw a neighbouring hill , and to my j oy a o f l an splendid view the Ni e , only about half ’ hour s distance , the country being beautiful of deep creeks the Lake visible to the south . l o I present y asked leave to g to the Nile .

This was denied me . I afterwards asked my headman , Brahim , to come with me to the point Close at hand whence I had seen the ou r Nile , as men had begun to doubt its one existence several followed up , and , pretending to Show me another view, led me farther away , when suddenly about twenty fﬁa ru ns set upon us . They violently threw me to the ground , and proceeded to strip me of all valuables . Thinking they were robbers

I shouted for help , when they forced me up and hurried me away , as I thought , to throw me down a precipice Close at hand . I shouted ' again in spite o f one threatening to kill me with a club . Twice I nearly broke away st ru from them , and then grew faint with gg ling , and was dragged by the legs over the ground . I said , Lord , I put myself in Thy ’ hands , I look to Thee alone . Then another struggle and I got to my feet , and was then vio dashed along . More than once I was lently brought into contact with banana trees , some trying in their haste to force me wa t one yﬁzothers the other , and the exer ion

1 72 JAMES HANNINGTON

smoke , about twenty men all round me , and ad lib fearq rats and vermin y shaken , c on strained in every limb , great pain , and i i sumed w th th rst , I got little sleep that night . Pinto may cook my food , and I have been allowed to have my Bible and writing hi t ngs also . I hear the men are in Close con ﬁnement , but safe , and the loads , except a ’ one few small things , intact . Up to o clock

I have received no news whatever , and I fear at least a week in this black hole , in which I se can barely e to write . Floor covered with rotting banana peel , and leaves , and lice a smoking ﬁre , at which my guards cook and drink pombe ; in a ~ feverish district ; fear al fully shaken , scarce power to hold up sm l ? Bible Shall I live through it My God , i I am Th ne . Towards evening I was allowed to sit outside for a little time , and enjoyed the fresh air but it made matters worse when I went inside my prison again , and as I fell exhausted on my bed I burst into tears health seems to be quite giving way with the S - hock . I fear I am in a very caged lion of so frame mind , and yet strained and shattered that it is with the utmost diﬂiculty I can stand ; yet I ought to be praising His

Holy Name , and I do .

Not allowed a knife to eat my food with . The savages who guard me keep up an un oi or ceasing strain raillery , at least I fancy

u . they do , about the Mzung THE STORY OF THE MARTYRDOM 1 73

— I l a rd October Frida . 3 , y woke ful of so pain , and weak , that with the utmost diﬁ cult and sat y I crawled outside in a chair , and yet they guard every move as if I was a n gia t . My nerves , too , have received such a Shock that some loud yells and war cries arising outside the prison - fence I expected to be murdered , and Simply turned over and said : Let the Lord do as He sees ﬁt ; I ’ shall not make the slightest resistance .

Seein how bad I am , they have sent my g t tent or me to use in the day ime . Going l outside I fe l to the ground exhausted , and was helped back in a gone condition to my ’ hi bed . I don t see how I can stand all t s , ’ an al and yet I don t w t to give in , but it most seems as if Uganda itself was going to be forbidden ground to me— the Lord only knows . A ternoon — ri f . To my surp se my guards came kneeling down , so different to their t al ou . usu treatment , and asked me to come ou t an d I came , there was the chief and about a hundred of his wives come to feast their on in c eyes me cruel curiosity . I felt in lined n l to spri g at his throat , but sat stil , and presently read to myself Matthew v . 44 , 45 , ho and felt refreshed . I asked w many more days he meant to keep me in prison . He said four more at least . He agreed , upon my a t o e rnest request , allow me to sleep in my own tent , with two armed soldiers at each of o door . The obj ect his visit was t ask that 1 2 1 74 JAMES HANNINGTON

of I would say no bad things him to Mwanga . What can I say good ? I made no answer to the twice repeated request . He then said ul if I wo d write a short letter, and promise i u to say noth ng bad , he wo ld send it at once . I immediately wrote a hasty scrawl (I scarce know what) , but said I was prisoner , and a Go d asked M ckay to come . grant it may reach ' But I already feel better than I have ll done Since my capture , though sti very shattered . 2 t h October S aturda — 4 , y Thank God for own a pleasant night in my tent , in spite of ai a tremendous storm , and r n ﬂowing in on the ﬂoor in streams . Personally I quite forgave this old man and his agents for my - rough treatment , though even to day I can

nl o mf . o y move with the greatest disc ort , and ache as though I had rheumatic fever . I have , however , to consider the question in another light ; if the matter is pas sed over unnoticed , it appears to me the safety of all white travellers in these districts will be so e endangered , I Shall leave the brethr n , who know the country and are most affected , i to act as they th nk best . The day passed away very quietly . I amused myself with di Bible and ary . 2 th October S u nda — of 5 , y (Fourth day r n ll r imp iso ment . ) Sti a g eat deal of pain in my limbs . The fatigue of dressing quite knocks me over . My guards , though at e times they stick to me like l eches , and with

76 JAMES HANNINGTON

f one of a fectionate , and speaks me as My ’ whiteman . ’ Three detachments o f the chief s wives they say he has a thousand nearly— have - see been to day to me . They are very quiet - and well behaved , but greatly amused at the ’ prisoner . Mackay s name seems quite a

household word I Constantly hear it . ﬁ My men are kept in close con nement , '

except two , who come daily backwards and

forwards to bring my food . This they take

in turns , and implore , so I hear , for the job . 26 th October M onda — F , y . ( ifth day in f prison . ) Limbs and bruises and sti fness

better , but I am heavy and Sleepy . Was not al inclined to get up as usu , and , if I mistake

not , signs of fever creep over me . Mackay - fﬁ should get my letter to day , and su cient time has passed for the chief to receive an ﬁ answer to his rst message , sent before I was

seized , the nature Of which I know not prob

bably Whiteman is stopping here . Shall I send him on ? Waiting Your Maj esty ’ s ’ pleasure . If they do not guess who it is , al they will very likely , African fashion , t k ﬁ about it two or three days rst of all , and then send a message back leisurely with ’ M a a w ng s permission for me to advance . ’ About thirty-three more of the chief s Wives came and disported themselves with gazing at the prisoner . I was very poorly and utterly disinclined to pay any attention l to them , and said in Eng ish , Oh , ladies , if THE STORY OF THE MARTYRDOM 1 77

’ ou l you knew how ill I feel y wou d go . When my food arrived in the middle of the day I fi was unable to eat . The rst time , I think , since leaving the coast I have refused a meal . - To day I am very broken down , both in health and spirits , and some of the murmuring feelings which I thought that I had c on quered have returned hard upon me . Another of in party wives com g , I returned into the hut , and declined to See them . A third party on came later , and being a little better I came ou t and lay upon my bed . It is not pleasant mi 'o o to be exa ned as a caged lion in the , and yet that is exactly my state at the present time . My tent is j ammed in between the t o f so hu s and high fence the Boma , scarce of a breath air reaches me . Then at night , though the tent Is a vast improvement on the hut , yet two soldiers reeking with pombe and and other smells sleep beside me , the other of of part my guard , not far short twenty , laugh and drink and shout far into the night , and begin again before daylight in the morning , waking up from time to time to shout ou t to my sentries to know if all is li on al well . I fear all this is tel ng my he th tremendously . 2 th Octo ber Tu esda — 7 , y (Sixth day as c an r prisoner . ) All I hea in the way o f news is that the chief has sent men to fight those parts we passed through . I begin to doubt has i if he sent to Mwanga at all , but th nks I u am in leag e with the fighting party , and is 1 78 JAMES HANNINGTON

keeping me hostage . I begin the day better in health , though I had a most disturbed night . I am very low in spirits it looks so r dark , and having been told that the ﬁ st at the latest to-da messengers would return y . Last night the chief ’ s messenger said perhaps they might be here as soon as Thursday , but ’ seemed to doubt it . I don t know what to i ul th nk , and wo d say from the heart , Let the ’ Lord do what seemeth to Him good . If kept here another week , I shall feel sure no messengers have been sent , and if possible l of sha l endeavour to ﬂee , in spite all the property I must leave behind , and the danger of the undertaking . Only a few ladies came to see the wild - S O beast to day . I felt low and wretched that I retired within my den , whither they, t some Of hem , followed me but as it was too dark to see me , and I refused to speak , they soon left . The only news to -day is that two white men , one tall and the other short , have Ako t a h as arrived in , and the Sultan de t ained them . It is only a report that has followed me . I am the tall man , and Pinto , o ne my Goa cook , the short ; he is almost always taken for a white man , and dresses as such . I fear , however , with these fearfully

f . suspicious people , it may a fect me seriously

cr . I am very low, and y to God for release ’ 28th October Wednesda - , y (Seventh day s ﬁ prison . ) A terrible night , rst with noisy

1 86 JAMES HANNINGTON last he had waited and hoped for the return of the messengers sent to Uganda , conﬁdent that for they would bring instructions his release . Indeed it is probable that on the day of his death he was told these messengers had ri actually ar ved , and that the lie was used as an excuse for hurrying himfrom his prison of hut to the place execution . From the hut he was escorted through the forest t o a place at some considerable distance from the village . He was told that at the hi s end of the j ourney men would rejoin him , and buoyed up by this hope he endured a ’ toilsome two hours walk , which must have been a terrible strain on his enfeebled frame . Most likely he thought the worst was now over , and that with his men he would now be on h permitted to proceed is way to Uganda . But this hope was quickly and cruelly Shat r t e ed . He did indeed rejoin his men ; but u when he saw them , naked , bo nd , and dl k hud ed together li e Sheep , he knew that for him and for them the end had come . Yet even in that supreme moment his courage did — not fail him . His caravan men except of those who escaped , and carried news the — massacre to Mr . Jones were speared to death by the ﬁerce warri ors of Lubwa and then the natives told off to murder the Bishop him for closed round to do their work . But an instant he checked them . With uplifted i n hand , and that impressive manner which never failed to secure respect for him, even THE STORY OF THE MARTYRDOM 1 81

from the ﬁercest savage , he bade them tell their king that he had died for the people of

Uganda , and that he had purchased the road to their country with his life . Then the Signal was given ; and a moment later the soul of James Hannington was freed from the maimed and tortured body ; the release for i him which he had prayed had been g ven . His last words to his friends in England written , probably, by the light of some camp — fire were these If this is the last chapter of hl my eart y history , then the next will be the first page of the heavenly— no blots and smudges , no incoherence, but sweet converse in the presence of the Lamb When the men who had escaped the massacre reached Kwa Sundu with their l dread news , Mr . Jones cou d not at first believe it and for a month or so he remained al of there , hoping ways that the report the ’ i u Bishop s death m ght not , after all , be tr e . Uso a He would have tried himself to reach g , but the effort would probably have involved the sacrifice of the entire caravan , and even had it succeeded no good purpose would have of been served . So , reluctantly and full t o sorrow , he began to make his way back on 8 Rabai th December , and two months — on th 1 886— he later 4 February , reached his ’ journey s end . at sunrise The travellers reached Rabai C , and the little Christian community there were on their way to early service when the sound 1 82 JAMES HANNINGTON of of s guns heralded the coming messenger , who brought the news that the Bishop’ s v u cara an was approaching . Soon other g ns m of s announced the co ing the traveller , and the whole settlement turned o u t to meet the pitiful procession of tired and travel-worn one men . At its head was who carried a blue — pennon the Sign of mourning amo ngst — Africans o u which was sewn in white letters i the word Ichabod . Beh nd the standard ” ri bearer , w tes Mr . Dawson , amid a crowd of weeping and distraught women and of r friends , limped a straggling line so ry looking men , staggering beneath their di s— a minished (load feeble crew, lean and — weary and travel stained , most of them or i garmentless clothed in h des . Behind i them came a battered wh te helmet , and the ’ Bishop s friend and Sharer in his peril was grasping their hands , and taken into their of arms . None them was able to say much all were thinking of him who had gone out S O u was now hopef lly , and whose great heart ll ” sti ed for ever . And tod ay the hope that sustained James — Hannington the hope o f evangelising Central Africa—is being grandly fulfilled by those him who have followed . Ichabod is no f r fitting epitaph o him . The glory is not ‘ for which departed . The work he lived and died received a tremendous \ impetus by his i martyrdom . With n a few weeks after the t o fi f e news came England , fty men had o fer d

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P ICKERING ING LI S

14 P T N ST R o w L N N E C 4 . A ER O ER , O DO ,

22 BOTHWE LI. T T S 9 S REE , GLA GOW ,