Life in the forests of the Far East (vol. 2 of 2)St. John, Spenser, Sir
History
Life in the forests of the Far East (vol. 2 of 2)
St. John, Spenser, Sir
Borneo -- Description and travel; Natural history -- Borneo; St. John, Spenser, Sir, 1825-1910 -- Travel -- Borneo
T. Picken, lith.
Published by Smith, Elder & C^o. 65, Cornhill, London.
Day & Son, Lith^{rs} to the Queen.
LUNDU CHURCH.]
The Borneo mission has been fortunate in securing these men, as they
appear thoroughly to act on what should be the guiding principle of a
missionary--that once he has entered on the profession, he should not
be turned to other paths, or forsake his work on account of personal
fears or petty annoyances. Of the numbers who have joined this mission
but four remain.
Mr. Chalmers is the only one who has attempted the task of converting
the Land Dayaks, and also the only one who ever made the slightest
progress in their language. He was beginning to have a great influence
over the Quop Dayaks, even inducing the girls to attend his school, and
in a short time, I believe, would have brought to baptism the whole of
this section of the Santah Dayaks. I hear they sincerely regret his
departure; and well they may, as it will be difficult to find another
so suited to the work. He had an aptitude for learning languages, a
genuine kindliness of disposition, and with ability to have ultimately
influenced the whole Land Dayaks through his converts at the Quop.
His influence partly arose from his determination not only to live
among them, but to speak to them in their own language. Most of our
intercourse with these people is carried on in the manner in which a
Frenchman would speak to a Spaniard through the means of imperfect
English. It is impossible properly to explain religion through such a
channel. Some of the Dayaks, but comparatively few, speak Malay well.
I am afraid a summary of results will show that little has been yet
done towards christianizing the Dayaks of the Sarawak districts, and
this failure has, I believe, arisen from many causes: among others,
from the position of the head mission, and from a mistaken view of the
way in which it should be conducted.
I am not aware of the exact amount granted to the Borneo mission,
but it appears to a looker-on that the greater portion is expended
in keeping up the staff and disbursements for the head mission at
Kuching, which does not, in fact, much influence the missionary work.
Kuching is a town almost exclusively composed of Mahomedan Malays and
Buddhist Chinese; and the only effect of establishing the mission
among the former is to have rendered them more zealous Mahomedans.
Before the arrival of the clergy, the mosque was nearly deserted, now
it is crowded. The same effect followed the arrival of the Catholic
priests at Brunei. It may be better for men to be earnest in a mistaken
religion than lukewarm; but to arouse their zeal will not assist our
efforts to spread Christianity.
The Chinese are almost impassible to the missionaries’ doctrines, and
always must be so, while their teaching is through interpreters, or the
medium of a foreign language.
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