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Memoirs OF Eex)ohn]eighton\Vilson ^a^^ Rev. JOHN LEIGHTON WILSON, D. D. MEMOIRS Rev. John Leighton Wilson, d, d.. MISSIONARY TO AFRICA, SECRETARY OF FOREIGN MISSIONS. HAMPDEN C. DuBOSE, D. D., (For twenty-three years a Missionary in China,) AUTHOR OF [In Enc.lish] : " The Dragon, Image, and Demon; or. The Three Religions of China '' ; and " Preaching in Sinim." [In Chinese]: " The Rock oy Our Salvation" {tTaiis\ated) ; "A Sketch of the Life ' of Dr. Plumer''; The Street-chapel Pulpit" ; " The Illustrated Life of Christ" (with no picture of our Lord),- " Twelve Pictorial Sheet Tracts" : "Introductions to the Bible, the Gospels, etc."; " The Gospel 1,000 Character Classic," etc., etc. RICHMOND. VA.: Presbyterian Committee of Publication. 1895. COPYRIGHTED, 1 895, BY JAS. K. HAZEN, Secretary of Piiblication. Printed by Whittkt & Shepperson, Richmond, Va. TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS, FAITHFUL IN SERVICE, ECONOMICAL IN FINANCE, EARNEST IN PRAYER, FREELY GIVING BOTH TIME aNd Labor, AND FILLED WITH LoViNg SYMPATHY FOR THEIR FELLOW-WORKERS IN THE FIELD, THIS Volume is inscribed. PREFACE. AT the opening of the Synod of South Carolina in 1890, a memorial address was delivered on the life and character of Dr. J. Leighton Wilson, from the text, "King in Salem, priest of the most high God." Some members of his family requested that a brief memoir be prepared. For three years the subject was frequently on the mind, but during the last mission year, from Septem- ber to June, not more than twenty-four hours were given to the work at home. It was on boat trips and during three summers that the materials were collected and ar- ranged. In the language of China's sage, the writer can say of this biography of the missionary sage of the South, "I am an editor, not an author." In narrative portions, copying from missionary journals, frequently two sentences were condensed into one for the sake of brevity. Could he have visited the relatives, conversed with the friends, and sought information personally, in- stead of by epistle, no doubt the pages might have been enriched by many incidents. To compensate for this, ' friends have been kind enough to say ' they were glad " that Dr. Wilson's life was to be written by a missionary. A kind Providence watched over the pages that were sent to a distant land, especially over the old letters from Africa, yellow with age. When on the passage to China, during a storm, the baggage was immersed in lubricating oil, and one trunk was broken to pieces and the contents xvell soaked. The letters were in the other trunk, else they would have been illegible. 6 Preface. We are indebted to the venerable Rev. Dr. C. C. Bald- win, of Foochow, now nearing his jubilee, for the loan of the old volumes of the Missio7iary Herald; to our coni- pagnon de voyage, Mr. G. L. D. Paine, of Boston, for the gift oi Missions and Scie?ice ; and to the Rev. B. F. Wil- son for furnishing the portrait of his great-uncle. Valuable aid has been received from the Rev. J. B. Adger, D. D., Rev. J. J. Bullock, Dv D., Mrs. J. N. Craig, Mrs. Anna Eckard Crane, Rev. R. L. Dabney, D. D., Dr. Gary Gamble, Rev. E. M. Green, D. D., Rev. M. H. Houston, D. D., Mr. John J. James, Miss Alice Johnson, Rev. J. A. Lefevre, D. D., Rev. W. J. McKay, D. D., Rev. W. W. Mills, Mr. Leighton C. Mills, Mrs. John S. Moore, Mrs. Essie Wilson Price, Mr. Wm. Rankin, Rev. C. A. Stillman, D. D., Rev. and Mrs. J. L. Stuart, Rev. J. N. Waddell, D. D., LL. D., Rev. J. D. West, D. D., and Mrs. Jennie Woodrow Woodferidge. The two contributions received from Drs. Adger and Dabney were very touching, as they were written by amanuenses, as their eyes can no longer be- hold the light of the sun. With the exception of a few incidents, what they have written is indicated by quota- tion marks. Some of those who labor for the spiritual welfare of the colored people may elect to keep a volume specially for circulation among them, as the subject of this sketch was their friend and benefactor. We are indebted to the Rev. H. T. Graham for revis- ing most of the chapters, and to the Rev. R. E. McAl- pine for the revision of the others, and to the Rev. Dr. W. J. McKay and Rev. Dr. E. M. Green for correcting the sheets as they passed through the press. H. C. D. CONTENTS. i-AOB. CHAPTER I. Life in Salem, and a Godly Ancestry, 9 CHAPTER n. Home, School, and College, 20 CHAPTER HI. Spiritual Preparation, 29 CHAPTER IV. In the Theological Hall, 33 CHAPTER V. The Missionary Volunteer, 36 CHAPTER VI. Seeking a Helpmeet, 42 CHAPTER VII. The American Board and Western Africa, 45 CHAPTER VIII. First Voyage to Africa, 63 CHAPTER IX. Seven Years at Cape Pai.mas, 70 CHAPTER X. In Perils and with Cannibals, 84 CHAPTER XI. The Death of Colleagues, S9 CHAPTER XII. The Manumission of his Slaves, 97 CHAPTER XIII. The Itinerant Missionary 106 CHAPTER XIV. The Absent Wife; First Days at the Gaboon, 123 8 Contents. Page. CHAPTER XV. Life at the Gaboon 143 CHAPTER XVI. The French at the Gaboon, 159 CHAPTER XVII. The Naturalist ; Discovering the Gorilla, 171 CHAPTER XVIII. The Linguist, i8r CHAPTER XIX. The Author 190 CHAPTER XX. Suppression of the Slave-trade, 212 CHAPTER XXI. Secretary in New York, 228 CHAPTER XXIL Charles Hodge and Leighton Wilson, 242 CHAPTER XXIII. The Patriot, 247 CHAPTER XXIV. Secretary of Domestic Missions, 257 CHAPTER XXV. Secretary of Foreign Missions, 264 CHAPTER XXVI. Preacher and Editor, 280 CHAPTER XXVII. Residence in Salem, . 286 CHAPTER XXVIII. Love for Children 293 CHAPTER XXIX. Life in Baltimore 297 CHAPTER XXX. His Last Year, 309 CHAPTER XXXI. Character and Influence, , . 321 ' John Leighton Wilson, d. d. CHAPTER I. Cife in Salem anb a (Sobly Ctncestry. THE noble pioneers who carried the glad news of salvation to Asia, Africa and Oceanica, and laid the foundation of missionary work in reducing the languages to writing, translating the Bible, establish- ing schools, and organizing churches, have fallen asleep, and it is fitting that those who have entered into their labors study their lives and character in order that they may be incited to greater activity and more earnest con- secration in the Master's service. It is also due to "the ' generation to come ' that we tell of the ardent piety, heroic deeds, and manifold toils and trials of the early missionaries, that they, too, may have a strong faith in the power of the gospel to convert the world. The sweet ' ' psalmist of Israel, ' the anointed of the God of Jacob, sang: " Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us, We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And his strength, and his wondrous works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, And appointed a law in Israel, Which he commaded our fathers. That they should make them known to their children, That the generation to come might know them, even the chil- dren which should be born, ; lo John Leighton Wilson, D. D. Who should arise and tell them to their children That they might set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep his commandments." A large portion of the Bible is devoted to biography. The gospel in all ages has been exhibited in the daily walk and conversation of the true Israel. God has chosen the historical method of illustrating the precepts of the word ; and, selecting the holy men of Israel as the exponents of particular graces, has in the Scriptures given us the portraits of his saints. When we preach Christ, we preach him as manifestly set forth in the lives of his disciples. In comparing John the Baptist with the prophets who had gone before, and also with ' ' the ' little ones ' who understood the wondrous redemp- tion purchased upon Calvary, the Saviour leads us to infer that the saints under the New Testament dispensa- tion may, even while here below, rise from one plane of glory to another ; and that in the character of one disciple there may be exemplified the greatness of Abraham, the pathos of David, the wisdom of Solomon, the enthusiasm of Isaiah, and the consecrated statesmanship of Daniel. The reader can in these pages study the work of the Holy Spirit in its moulding influence as it brings one of the sons of the kingdom into conformity with the mind and will of Christ. The subject of this memoir could rejoice in the blessing of a holy ancestr}'. Ancestr'^ coveuaut In the year 1734 there came to America in one vessel a colony of Presbyterians, who settled in Williamsburg County, South Carolina. These were the Wilsons, Jameses, Gordons, Friersons, Wither- spoons and Ervins, and from these six families sprang Leighton Wilson, whose ancestry^ was wholly Scotch- . Life in Salem and a Godly Ancestry. ii Irish. In the early history of the republic, the sterling character, inflexible courage, perfect honesty and wise conservatism ofthe Scotch-Irish settlers rendered them pil- lars in the temple of state. But most of all, their constant appeal to the law and the testimony, their strict observ- ance of the Lord's day, and their rigid enforcement of family discipline, made them worthy citizens of the commonwealth The country which they settled as a home ^°^ themselves and their children Plains was per- fectly level ; not waving or undulating, but absolutely flat, save beside the water-courses, which flowed through the swamps, filled with the bay, the water-oak and the cypress, and beautified by the flower- ing dogwood, the hone3^suckle and the jessamine.

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