17 The First Session and the Last Voyage (1909)
Chapter 17 THE FIRST SESSION AND THE LAST VOYAGE
1909 THE United Training Institute, the evolution of which has been rather indicated than described in the previous chapter, was formally opened on March 15th. It is almost certain that Mrs. Lewis wrote to some of her friends an account of this interesting function, which marked at once the attainment of a goal and the starting of a new race; or perhaps it would be more fitting to say, the beginning of the last lap of a long race, run throughout in the spirit of St. Paul. But such account has not come to my hand, so I fall back upon that written by her husband, and printed in the Missionary Herald.
" When we arrived here in July last we had only one small grass-house for our shelter. The ground had to be cleared and laid out, dwelling-houses and stores as well as lecture-halls had to be erected, and before the work of teaching could be commenced nineteen two-roomed grass-houses had to be built for the accommodation of the students. This was a great work, and we are grateful to God for the strength given us to enable us to open the College for actual teaching within nine months of our arrival on the ground.
" March 15th was a memorable day with us, for it was the opening day of the first United Training College on the Congo. We had no great personage or any strangers to share in our festivities. My American colleague, the Rev. S. E. Moon, and Mrs. Lewis and myself had the students all to ourselves. The proceedings were very simple, and consisted only in an inaugural address from the Principal, in which he reviewed the work of the two Baptist societies on the Congo and the development of the native Churches and native workers. The importance of the College work was insisted upon for all the teachers and their wives, that they might be better equipped for the Master’s service in Congoland. Matters of conduct and discipline in the school were put before them and explained. Answering a question from one of the men, I told them that we were not going to make any rules or regulations, as we expected them in all things to conduct themselves as men of God, always mindful of the honour of the school. We started by trusting them, and we hoped there never would be any necessity to formulate rules and regulations for their personal conduct. At the same time we shall at the commencement of each session make it clear to all the students what is expected of them. " We have now had seven weeks of uninterrupted study, and are most pleased with our first set of men and women. We have this session nineteen men and fourteen women, making the total number of students thirty-three. We consider this an excellent beginning, and next October we shall receive several fresh ones. There are a number of applicants, but at present we cannot say how many we can receive.
"I undertook the work of this United College with considerable reluctance and only under pressure from my brethren of the two Missions. It has meant a great deal of hardship to Mrs. Lewis and myself. At our age rough work and poor accommodation in a country like this are very trying, but we have been wonderfully preserved through it all. For some months we were not in good health, but since getting into our new permanent house we have been much better. The anxiety about the successful issue of the College work was also great, and it is no small satisfaction to know that not only has the class work been started, but that everything has gone on smoothly with the students. Indeed, we have succeeded far better than I anticipated and are all very happy in the work.
" Much is due to the manner in which brethren from other stations have supported us, and I wish to record my deep appreciation of the confidence they have given me in this undertaking and of their brotherly love and sympathy. Moreover, the trustees of the Institution have taken the deepest interest in all the work, and we greatly appreciate the complete confidence they have shown the staff."
Two days after the opening Mrs. Lewis wrote to her niece stating that she was very well, notwithstanding the fact that the temperature nearly every afternoon exceeded 100°, sometimes reaching 103°, and this great heat a damp heat withal. Mr. Lewis has had another illness, not severe, and they are looking forward eagerly for the dry season, when life at Kimpese will be reasonably pleasant. In reply to congratulations upon the coming of many visitors she has to admit with regret that the joy of hospitality is sometimes a little burdensome, owing to imperfect domestic conditions and the press of constant work.
"April 6th.— I was glad to find from your letters that father [Mr. Hartland] was no worse and able to keep warm.... We have been sweltering here with the heat. I have been sitting in school with perspiration literally streaming from my face. We have been very busy, not only with our classes, which begin at 6.30 a.m. and go on all day, but in getting into our sitting-room and store. Hitherto we have only occupied dining-room and bedrooms. The sitting-room is painted with the pretty green enamel which Mr. Keep gave us, and when we get our pictures up and our curtains hung it will look very well. We have mosquito-netting for windows and door, so that we may sit there in the evening without being bitten all over." A tea-service, knocked about for months, has been unpacked with only one small plate broken. The use of it is a great luxury after the crude make-shifts of the building-time; and significant of the bigness of the Congo field is the following sentence, "We have met the William Forfeitts at last, after working twenty years together on the Congo. They were on their way down in the train, and as a truck got derailed they were detained, and we had nearly two hours of their company."
"May 12th. (A circular letter.) — I am sending you a few lines with some photos to give you a little account of our work here.
"In one sense it is quite different to any we have been engaged in before, for except on Sundays all our teaching is for Christians and Christian workers. They are men and women who have a little knowledge — in most cases very little — but who wish to learn more that they may be fitted to help and teach their fellow-countrypeople. These students come from different parts of the Lower Congo, and have been sent here by the missionaries of the two Societies, our own and that of the American Baptists. They speak in various dialects, but are all able to understand us and one another, as the language is really one.
" In January the men came (nineteen of them), and soon a number of little two-roomed grasshouses could be seen springing up in the portion of ground set apart for them. They are arranged in three roads, and look quite a little town. When the houses were finished the men went back to their towns and in a fortnight returned with their wives and children. We have fourteen women here at present. Two or three of the men have not their wives with them this term, but hope to have them next, and one is a bachelor. Then there are about twenty-four children, some little ones, belonging to students; others the little nurses who take care of the babies while the mothers are in their classes. These children and our boys in the house have school each afternoon. " The days are all very busy, and go too quickly. The school bell rings at half -past six in the morning, when Mr. Lewis has the men to begin the day. After breakfast the men’s classes, taught by Mr. Lewis and Mr. Moon, proceed till noon, in which they study many subjects, such as Old and New Testament, Geography, Astronomy, Arithmetic, and Homiletics; also French and Portuguese languages.
"The men we have here seem very nice and intelligent, and all have been engaged in teaching at the various stations of the two Missions. The women, two or three of whom are old friends of mine, cannot give so much time to school as their husbands, as they have their children to look after; but we have three hours every day, one and a half hours in the morning, and the same again in the afternoon. This kind of teaching is quite new to them, but they seem really to enjoy it, and it is quite interesting to see how their minds begin to open to ideas that have never entered them before. Many could not even read when they came, and never tried to sew or write. But sewing they take to easily, and they are getting on very quickly with their reading. The writing they find more difficult, but that will come in time. Some can read and write well, and can cut out and sew both with hand and machine, but these are the women who as girls were on one of the Mission stations. We have these subjects in the afternoon, when my four girls join us. Also in Geography and Arithmetic they are most interested. On Fridays while they sew I read to them from ’ The Holy War,’ which has been translated by Mr. Phillips.
" In the morning we have two classes each day. Three mornings weekly we give to the study of the Old and New Testament; on one I am telling them how we got the Bible; and on Fridays we have prayer, and a talk about Christian living. Beside that they are learning a little about Natural History: our bodies, health, & etc., and also how different things are made. By all these means we are trying to teach them to see God’s finger in all His wonderful works, and to enlarge their thoughts. We finish the week’s work as far as teaching is concerned by a singing class, which I hold on Friday evening. All the men and as many of the women as can crowd into our diningroom, sing hymns for an hour. That is a hot hour, and you might see the perspiration pouring off my face as I play the American organ.
"On Sundays we all meet together — teachers, students, workmen, and children — for our morning service, which is conducted alternately by Mr. Lewis and Mr. Moon. In the afternoon the students have a service, which any one who likes can attend, and at the same time I have a class of all the girls on the Station. There are only eight of them, but with pictures and hymns and Bible stories we have a good time. After teaching the women all the week I am glad to have the children on Sundays.
" I have not mentioned the industrial classes which the men attend in the afternoons, or the gardens in which both men and women work.
Each couple has a piece of land, which they cultivate for food, and it is a pleasant sight to see husband and wife working together in these plantations.
"To us who can remember the conditions which obtained here when we came to Congo twenty-two years ago, it is indeed a source of encouragement and thankfulness to look at the faces of these young men and women, and to see that they are the fruit of the toil of the last thirty years. Many of the labourers have passed away to their rest, but their works do follow them. Just now we are at the beginning, and the Institute will grow both in the number of students and in their attainments. We are now anxious to lay good and firm foundations upon which others may build in the days to come."
" May 21st. — There has been great excitement here to-day, we have been terribly busy and are very tired this evening. The Belgian Colonial Minister has come out to Congo, and is going to look at things in general. Yesterday he sent up a message saying that he was coming here to see us, so we had to fly round. We had already heard that he purposed staying at the Catholic Mission, and Tom had sent a note to say he would like to have a share in welcoming him. The head priest, who speaks English, wrote a very pleasant reply. So we had our road from the station cleaned, the Catholics had theirs cleaned, and each Mission erected a triumphal arch. Last night Tom and I were up quite late finishing a motto: ’ Congo Training College welcomes Colonial Minister.’ Of course to-day everything had to be swept and garnished, and after dinner Tom and Mr. Moon went down to the station followed by all the students, workmen, and children, bearing a banner with ’ Vive le Ministre! ’ inscribed. I did not see all this as I had to stay at home to receive the great man. The priests were there also with their contingent. We lent them our rickshaws to convey the Minister (Mons. Renkin) and his wife. They went straight to the Catholic Mission, and then came on here; not the lady, for which I was sorry, but the Minister and his Secretary, the Secretary-General of the Congo State, the attendant Doctor, and a priest. They came and had a cup of tea first. Of course I got out all my pretty things for them; then they went and saw everything. They were especially pleased and evidently impressed by the students’ quarters, and I hope this and other things M. Renkin may see will give him a good idea of Protestant missions. He seemed quite inclined to be friendly with the natives, and we hear that his sympathies are with reform, so we trust good may come of his visit. Prince Albert has gone through Katanga, and M. Renkin is going to meet him and bring him down the Congo home. He had seen Mr. Phillips and Dr. Sims at Matadi. To-morrow he will have a send-off from the station."
" May 25th. (To Mrs. Gamble, San Salvador.)— You asked about the lemon grass at San Salvador. We brought it from Matadi, and I suppose it came originally from Jamaica, but we do not know; neither do we know its proper name. I learned from an article by Winston Churchill in the Strand that it is extensively planted in Uganda and keeps off mosquitoes. We have some growing here, and if only it would render this service it would indeed be a blessing. But I doubt if anything will rid us of mosquitoes unless we could alter the whole place. We are longing for the complete cessation of the rains that we may have a few months’ respite from these plagues."
" June 10th. (To Miss Ethel Percival). — Since Monday — this is Thursday — I have been in bed with a nasty liver attack, severe headache, and a little temperature. I am better to-day, and we hope to go out this evening for a ride in our rickshaws. It will do Uncle good, too, to have a blow. My being in bed is very worrying for him with all his other work, and he has not been at all fit. Happily he is better to-day, and we hope that now the dry season has really set in we shall keep well. We have been much better lately, but the mosquitoes here are really dreadful." The next day, June 11th, Mrs. Lewis wrote to me, sending her own and her husband’s congratulations upon the completion and publication of " The Life of George Grenfell." The British Weekly was the most prized by her of all the papers which came from England, and its Editor was one of her oracles. She had received the issue containing Claudius Clear’s appreciative review, and told of her joy and pride in reading it, regretting that expanse of land and sea prevented her from dropping in to say what she felt with her own lips. She also wrote in affectionate terms of her gladness in the recovery of my little daughter Phyllis, who had lain for weeks in the valley of the shadow of death. It was my last letter, and abides a cherished possession.
" June 17th. — Next week we expect Mrs. Moon out.... Mr. and Mrs. Bowskill from San Salvador are coming to spend a week, and all the Trustees are coming for two nights. This will make a party of ten or eleven to provide for. In the middle of July the Institute breaks up for two months’ vacation, during which many things will have to be done which hitherto have been left undone." This meeting of the Trustees was much upon Mrs. Lewis’s mind from the date of the Colonial Minister’s visit. The instinct of the hostess was strong in her, and she must needs do all within her power for the comfort and good entertainment of so large a company of friends. When one remembers the exacting and incessant calls of every day, following the hardships and long strain of previous months, it is a matter of regret that this additional stress could not be avoided. Every week-end she was completely spent, but resting as much as possible on Saturday and Sunday she commenced again on Monday, kept the pace and would not be restrained. On June 30th, she wrote the following report of her work to be read at the Trustees’ meeting held the next day: —
"This session has been very encouraging, and gives good promise for the future; the women have attended the classes regularly, and shown much interest in their work.
" Of the fourteen women who came into the Institute, only five could read, write, or sew. The others, with two exceptions, have made good progress in these subjects, and from among these, two have done so well that they should be reading in their New Testaments in a few weeks’ time.
" It is of the utmost importance that teachers’ wives should be able to read, and I would like to suggest that in stations where the men are receiving preparatory training some arrangement should be made whereby their wives should at least be taught to read.
" Four of the women are so far beyond the others that they ought to have been taught separately, but that has been impossible, owing to my being single-handed. I feel, however, that they are all benefiting more or less, and some seven or eight bid fair to make useful teachers when their term of training is over.
" One hour and a half in the afternoons has been occupied with ordinary school subjects — reading, writing, arithmetic, elements of geography, including the compass and maps of Palestine and Congo, and sewing, during which I am reading aloud from ’The Holy War.’
" In the mornings we have had two classes a day, in which we have studied the following subjects: Old Testament: first fifteen chapters Genesis. New Testament: first three chapters Luke, and life of John the Baptist. History of the Bible — till time of Wycliffe. Natural history of trees and flowers. Simple hygiene and physiology: cleanliness, prevention of disease, structure of the eye. Object-lesson: paper, cloth, slates, glass. These last three subjects, which were almost entirely new to them, have excited much interest, and I trust have been and will still more in the future be the means of opening their eyes and minds to the wonders of God’s universe.
" On Friday mornings I have given them a series of talks on the Christian life, taking as my subjects love, truth, purity, thankfulness, joy, peace, temperance, prayer. After which a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes have been spent in prayer, led by the women themselves; and it has been good to listen as they voiced their thankfulness to God for giving them this opportunity of learning more of His works and will, and asked for more grace and wisdom in the various relationships of life.
" In conclusion, I can only express my joy in the work, which has been a great pleasure to me personally, and my gratitude to God for health and strength, so that I have only missed one week’s teaching during the term.
" GWEN E. LEWIS.
"June 30, 1909." The much anticipated meeting was duly held, and all passed off well. The cares of entertainment were rather lightened than increased for Mrs. Lewis by the presence of one of her visitors, Mrs. Bowskill from San Salvador, for whom she had conceived a warm affection. More than once she had written expressing earnest desire that her friend might be able to come, and though grief-stricken by recent news of the death of her father, Mrs. Bowskill came, finding solace in sympathy and relief in service.
All passed off well, but the long tension proved to be too severe. The dauntless spirit was finally overborne by the now frail and exhausted body. A week after the meeting of the Trustees Mrs. Lewis collapsed, and in the four following letters, which contain all matters of moment, she brings her life-story to the verge of conclusion. When the fever struck her down she had just finished reading "The Life of George Grenfell," and when haematuric symptoms appeared she quietly remarked to her husband: " Haematuria killed Grenfell and it is going to kill me."
" KIMPESE, "JULY 22, 1909.
"MY DEAREST LILY AND ALICE, — I know you won’t mind another joint letter when you hear the reason. Thank you so much for your kind letters telling us all the sad details of dear father’s last days and funeral. You know how we loved him, and I cannot think of that armchair without him and the outstretched hands and kind smile with which he always greeted us. It is well with him! May you two dear ones be kept and comforted!
" Well, two weeks ago to-night I went to bed with fever, and yesterday I got into the sitting room for the first time. I am reclining on the couch writing this, so you must not mind pencil. On the Sunday hsematuria appeared, and all Sunday and Monday I was very seriously ill. On Sunday morning, as soon as was possible. Dr. Sims arrived, but I had just taken a turn for the better. He said the treatment was quite satisfactory, but gave me some fresh medicine and watched me carefully. The next morning he pronounced me out of danger, so was able to return to Matadi, leaving all directions with Tom. Since then I have been gradually but surely getting better. The kindness of every one has been beyond words, and indeed I cannot but feel that my life has been spared in answer to prayer, though, under God, I owe it to the careful and skilful nursing of my dear husband. He has been my only nurse night and day and has had strength sufficient. The Moons, Mr. Phillips, and Dr. Sims have done all they could in every way. Mr. P. sent up by the mail to San Salvador. Yesterday two men arrived post haste with letters so full of kindness and love that they nearly upset me. When the natives heard of my illness they arranged to send, and pay, a messenger with a loving letter of sympathy — had done it, indeed, before the missionaries were aware. Dr. Gamble wrote to say he was ready to come at once if Dr. Sims could not stay, and Mrs. Bowskill wanted to come and nurse me. Mr. B. said she was ’pining to be with me.’ Mr. P. sent to them a special messenger with the Doctor’s report that I was better, and part of the morning service was given up to prayer for us. I think it was lovely of them, now that we have been away for so long, and very encouraging; so I tell it you. I cannot write all these details over again, so read to Mrs. P. what I have written. I am so glad you were having a change, and trust you are getting over the strain a bit now. I am being fed up, only I don’t want to eat. This afternoon I had a ride round the piazza.
" Ever yours lovingly, " GWEN."
" KIMPESE, " AUGUST 13, 1909,
"MY DEAREST FANNY. — Many thanks for your long newsy letter. I am sorry I cannot send you one ditto. Possibly you may have heard of my serious illness — hsematuric fever. It is five weeks since I went down, and here I am still in bed with temperature 100o5. Tom had one of his gastric and fever attacks in the middle of it, so we had to nurse each other. Now he is up and about again. And if all goes well we hope to travel to England some time next month with Dr. and Mrs. Gamble. Of course we can only make provisional plans, and leave our future in God’s hands. But it seems the only thing to do. Please tell Mr. Hawker and any other friends. You will, I know, pray for us that we may reach England in safety. Love to all dear friends, especially your dear self.
"Yours lovingly, "GWEN."
" KIMPESE, " AUGUST 16, 1909.
"MY DEAREST BEE, — Your letters came on Saturday just as ours had gone. We hope to send this by French mail, and you will get it in the middle of September. I am afraid I have treated you badly without meaning to do so. Never mind, dear old Bee, we will make it up when we meet. On Saturday came very kind letters from San Salvador, and one from Dr. Gamble, in which he said the only thing to be done for us folks was that he and his wife should come to look after us, so they were packing up to go by the next mail, and would be with us next week to help us to pack, and then take us home with them. I suppose, therefore, it is pretty certain that we shall start by boat on September 5th, and arrive about the end of the month. There is no knowing where we land. We shall wire when we get somewhere. I am in bed now, but yesterday made some headway and was lifted on to a couch and hope to be again to-day. My temperature was normal, or below, this morning, but it rises a little daily. It is a relief to know the Gambles are coming. I am especially glad for Uncle’s sake, for although about he is not fit to do everything. Don’t try to get rooms: I like to see to that myself. We shall probably be at 66 again.
" Your ever loving Aunt, " GWEN."
PS. — Heaps of love to you all. I hope you will have a nice holiday.
" KIMPESE, "AUGUST 26, 1909.
"MY DEAR MRS. HOWELL, — I have wanted to write to thank you so much for your kind letters and for the lovely eggs, which I have greatly enjoyed. Your letter to-day is very kind, for I am sure you will have a busy time preparing for the Conference. I am thankful to say I am very much better. I have walked into the bedroom for the first time with my husband’s assistance. I daresay you have heard that both Dr. Sims and Dr. Cramble have ordered us home. Dr. and Mrs. G. have been here now a week, helping to nurse and pack, and we hope to go down next Tuesday to Matadi and home with them. They have hastened their homegoing by one mail so as to take us with them, and have been most kind, as indeed has every one. Mr. Thomas from Wathen was here for a week giving a hand all round. As probably you heard, Mr. Lewis was down for nine or ten days with fever and gastric attack, so we were both in bed together. Our children have been most good, indeed I don’t know what we should have done without them, especially two. Mr. Frame has kindly consented to take Mr. Lewis’s place while we are away. He has just been here for two nights arranging things, and left us this morning. You can understand how loath we were to go, but it seems the only thing to do, as we are neither of us fit to face another session’s work, Mrs. Moon will do her best for the women, but she is not free with the language. Still they will be able to join some of the men’s classes.
" I am writing this on the couch, so please excuse pencil. This must be to say goodbye. May you all be kept in health. We are so sorry to hear of the bad colds. God bless and keep you in all your goings and comings. Kindest regards to your husband and Mr. and Mrs. Stonelake, and love to yourself, from " Yours affectionately, " GWEN E. LEWIS." This was the last letter Mrs. Lewis ever wrote. The rest may be told in a few words. The railway journey was accomplished with comparative comfort. The authorities reserved a compartment for her and she travelled in bed. On September 5th the party sailed from Matadi. The unremitting and skilled attention of Dr. and Mrs. Gamble was of greatest comfort to the patient and her husband, and during five days there was hopeful improvement, and happy intercourse was enjoyed. Then haematuria suddenly returned and hope was relinquished. She said quietly to her husband: " Tom, we know as much about this as the doctors; I think I am dying, don’t you? " And he had to reply, " Yes, my darling, I do." Then she concerned herself with messages to her friends, some of whom she saw with the clearness of vision, and much was said of Camden Road Church, and even of its Sale of Work, which she had hoped to attend. She was especially concerned for her sister and her nieces, saying simply, " They will be grieved "; and begged that Mr. Myers, who, five-and-twenty years before, had brought her news of John Hartland’s death, might bear the heavy tidings to them. The words " They will be grieved," became a kind of refrain which she repeated after naming her friends. She could not bear gloom, and smilingly rebuked her doctors for looking grave, saying, " One would think it was a terrible thing to die." The Mission was more to her than life, and she said to her husband, "It is well that I am going. The doctors would never allow me to return, and that would block your work; now you will be free to go on with it." She lingered for days, calm and bright, often murmurously singing hymns, the tunes only when the words no longer came at call; and on September 17th passed away, holding tightly the hand of the man to whom she had been gentle wife, and gallant comrade, and perennial inspiration, for three-and-twenty years.
"Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail Or knock the breast; no weakness, no contempt.
Dispraise or blame; nothing but well and fair, And what may quiet us in a death so noble."
Every one on board had exhibited the kindliest concern during her illness. The captain and the stewards could not do enough for her; and the sorrow occasioned by her death was shared by all. Her funeral was reverently ordered. The officers attended in full uniform, and all the stewards and passengers were present. M. Renkin, the Belgian Colonial Minister, who had so recently been her guest, for whom she had set out all her pretty things, and from whom she hoped good service for Congo, walked in the procession to the main deck, immediately behind the chief mourner. The captain read the burial service, and as the day was dying her body was committed to the deep, off Cape Blanco. When Mr. Lewis arrived in this country he received nearly a hundred letters expressing sympathy with him in his great bereavement and appreciation of his wife. The following typical quotations are taken from letters written by four friends of Mrs. Lewis whose names are mentioned in this book. From Mrs. Edward Robinson, Bristol: " My thoughts go back to the time when she stayed with us before she was married, and I always retained such a loving regard for her, and thought her one of the finest women I knew. The loss to the Mission will be almost irreparable." From the Rev. William Brock, London: "I knew your dear wife when she was still Miss Thomas, and used to come over to Heath Street from the West Heath. How keenly was she then looking forward to work in Africa! Yours was an ideal union: both of you such ardent and far-seeing missionaries, and each so fitted to the other, as by the very hand of God. The new sphere, too, seemed made for you both, and you for it. Well, she must be wanted for some heavenly ministry." From Mrs. Jenkyn Brown, Birmingham: " It is little to say we all loved her — every one must — but we had the privilege of knowing her better than many, and I almost inherited love for her before we met, from my husband, who had known her longest." From Mrs. Hooper, of Kibokolo: " To me Mrs. Lewis has ever been a dear elder sister, honoured and loved unspeakably. My sorrow is too deep for words."