The Black-Bearded Barbarian : The Life of George Leslie Mackay of Formosa — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
The Black-Bearded Barbarian : The Life of George Leslie Mackay of Formosa
John Stuart Mill · en
But God had other and greater plans for Kai Bok-su. He came back from
Hongkong, and the first look at his pale face told the dreaded truth. The
shadow of death lay on it.
Those were heart-breaking days in north Formosa. From all sides came
such messages of devotion that it seemed as if the passionate love of
his followers must hold him back. But a stronger love was calling him
on. And one bright June day, in 1901, when the green mountainsides, the
blue rivers, and the waving rice-fields of Formosa lay smiling in the
sun, Kai Bok-su heard once more that call that had brought him so far
from home. Once more he obeyed, and he opened his eyes on a new glory
greater than any of which he had ever dreamed. The task had been a hard
one. The "big stone" had been stubborn, but it had been broken, and not
long after the noontide of his life the tired worker was called home.
They laid his poor, worn body up on the hill above the river, beside
the bodies of the Christians he had loved so well. And the soft Formosan
grass grew over his grave, the winds roared about it, and the river and
the sea sang his requiem.
Gallant Kai Bok-su! As he rests up there on his wind-swept height, there
are hearts in the valleys and on the plains of his beloved Formosa and
in his far-off native land that are aching for him. And sometimes to
these last comes the question "Was it well?" Was it well that he should
wear out that splendid life in such desperate toil among heathen that
hated and reviled him? And from every part of north Formosa, sounding on
the wind, comes many an answer.
Up from the damp rice-fields, where the farmer goes to and fro in the
gray dawn, arises a song:
I'm not ashamed to own my Lord, Or to defend his cause.
Far away on the mountainside, the once savage mother draws her little
one to her and teaches him, not the old lesson of bloodshed, but the
older one of love and kindness, and together they croon:
Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so.
And up from scores of chapels dotting the land, comes the sound of the
old, old story of Jesus and his love, preached by native Formosans, and
from the thousand tongues of their congregations soars upward the Psalm:
All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice!
These all unite in one great harmony, replying, "It is well!"
But is it well with the work? What of his Beautiful Island, now that Kai
Bok-su has left for a greater work in a more beautiful land? Yes, it is
well also with Formosa. The work goes on.