Calvin Wilson Mateer, forty-five years a missionary in Shantung, China : $b a biographyFisher, D. W. (Daniel Webster)
Religion
Calvin Wilson Mateer, forty-five years a missionary in Shantung, China : $b a biography
Fisher, D. W. (Daniel Webster)
Mateer, C. W. (Calvin Wilson), 1836-1908; Missionaries -- China -- Biography
First, his personality. In the Conference of 1890, Dr. Wright,
secretary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, was
with us. He remarked that “of all the men present at that
conference, there were two whose personality most impressed
him.” One of these was Dr. Mateer. He bore himself like a
sort of prince among men, _facile princeps_. He was born to
lead, not to follow. Having worked out his own conclusions, he
was so sure of them that he expected, almost demanded, their
acceptance by others. Yet he was not arrogant and was truly
humble. Moreover, he could ask forgiveness for words that he
felt had been too hasty or too harsh, feeling much broken by
giving pain to a friend. In this he showed his greatness. He
could also forgive and forget. But he was still a leader by the
very force of his personality.
He had the quality of perseverance in a large degree.
Having undertaken a work, he held to it with unwavering and
unconquerable persistence to the end, ... and that not only
because he gripped the work, but because the work gripped him.
Had his life been spared, he would have worked steadily on
through the Old Testament till the last verse of Malachi was
finished, and the whole was carefully reviewed. Of Dr. Mateer’s
habit of working till the end was reached Dr. Hamilton writes:
“Not many months ago, at a meeting of the Shantung Board of
Directors, we had a considerable amount of unfinished business,
and the week was hastening to its close. No one had more work
awaiting him at home than the Doctor. Yet when the question
of the time of our dispersion was raised, he said: ‘I have
always made it a rule, when I attend meetings of this kind, to
finish up the business in hand, no matter how long it takes.’”
United to this quality of perseverance was a kindred quality of
thoroughness, that appeared in everything he attempted.
Dr. Mateer possessed a rugged strength of character. He was
almost Spartan in his ability to endure hardships, and in his
careless scorn for the amenities and “elegant superfluities”
of modern life. Yet “beneath a rugged and somewhat austere
exterior” he had a heart of remarkable tenderness. He was a
block of granite with the heart of a woman.
Rev. Mr. Baller also had been associated with Dr. Mateer in the revision
of the Scriptures since 1900. He says of him:
He has left behind him an example of strenuous toil that it
would be difficult to parallel; of iron constitution, he was
able to do an amount of work that would have killed most men.
His devotion to the cause of Christ was beyond praise. His
recreation consisted in change of occupation, and he made all
tend to the one end.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account