04 Eventide (Age 67-74)
PART III
EVENTIDE
Age 67 - 74 COMPLETELY SHUT IN WHEN Mrs. Forsyth ceased her visits to Paterson the only link she had with the outer world was snapped. She had been in the habit of going there every quarter for Communion, but latterly she began to feel that her strength was not sufficient for the long and rough pilgrimage. One of her last journeys indicated that the time had come when she must relinquish what had always been a pleasant break in her life and a stimulating spiritual experience.
She set out from Xolobe on Saturday afternoon. A strong wind was blowing and dark clouds were looming up in the sky. She had not proceeded far when a severe thunderstorm burst over the land, the rain lashing down in torrents and forcing her to take shelter in the nearest kraal. When she started again the long wet grass and the muddy paths completed her discomfiture, but she trudged steadily on until she arrived at the hut of a Christian woman with whom she had arranged to stay the night. Here she disposed of her soaked garments and was made comfortable. A little old native woman slipped in and lay on the floor. She was an invalid with a weak back who had also come to the hut to remain overnight on her way to Communion. " It is my first," she said, " but I am afraid the elders won’t accept me. I haven’t been able to attend the candidates’ class very regularly." ’Smoyana assured her that they would not take this into account, but in any case she would explain matters to them. Her first thoughts on the lovely Sunday morning were ones of hope and thanksgiving. The invalid and she set out early, walking slowly in and out of the mealie fields, the Kafir corn being sometimes a foot above their heads. Very pleased was the old native woman that her companion often paused to admire things and to rest, but she did not know that ’Smoyana, watching her with her deep kind eyes, noticed how trying the walking was for her, and purposely made occasion to linger for her sake. The sweet tones of the church bell were ringing out over hill and valley as they approached Paterson, and when they entered the building they found fourteen elders on the platform and a bright and happy congregation. Her thoughts went back to the year 1879 when she first saw the people, and she contrasted their clean and well-clad appearance now with their ragged clothes and uncouth demeanor then. Her old friend was received into fellowship with nineteen others. After the service many of the members came to greet her, and then she returned as leisurely as she had come, pondering over the solemn service, and recalling the words of a great Scottish preacher : " We are permitted to ascend to the gate of heaven that we may descend to the depths with the blessings received in order that we may bless others."
Isolated before, she was now completely shut in. Apart from the Aulds she rarely had a white visitor. Only once, in 1912, do we get a glimpse of her. This was when a hurried call was made by the Rev. Robert Mure, the missionary at Ross, Umtata, who writes :
" I started on horseback one bright hot summer’s day from Paterson in company with the Rev. William Auld. There seemed no direct cart-track, only a sheep -track. After an hour’s riding the path became too precipitous and difficult for horseback, and we dismounted and led our horses on foot for a quarter of an hour. Another hour’s riding brought us to Xolobe out-station. It is nothing to boast of, nothing to look at. The country round about is mountainous with patches of bush here and there. While not very picturesque it has a certain grandeur and variety of scenery. Xolobe itself consists of a tin school house, a few Kafir huts, and Mrs. Forsyth’s small two-roomed house, little better than many Kafir houses, though quite clean and tidy and comfortable enough in a plain way no amenities, no trees, no gardens, nothing but the veld and the Kafirs and the burnt grass and the glaring sun.
" We dismounted at the door and she was there to welcome us. The homely frankness, the honest truth-speaking face, the open, clear, direct discourse, all with a strong Scottish flavour, was most impressive and striking, especially in that spot full of subtle and too often false-tongued Kafirs.
" How direct the questions, how simple and to the point ! The exact place from which I had come ; my field of labour ; my health ; was I married ; how many children ? Then a few simple expressions of thanks for the privilege of a visit in this remote place from a minister, nay, two ministers. There was no talk of shop, no comparing of notes about conversions among the heathen.
" A cup of tea was served to us. Then I conducted family worship. A handshake, and we were off into the veld again and she was left alone a white woman among the blacks." HER INDEPENDENCE
THERE were kind hearts in Scotland always solicitous for the welfare of the lonely missionary. The Greenock ladies never ceased to think of her and plan for her. Without the advantage of personal touch with the people in whom they took an interest, with nothing but quarterly statements of bare facts to stimulate them, they yet gave regularly to her work, not grudgingly but liberally and with enthusiasm.
Others also thought of her and sent her help many who knew nothing about her save that she was a lonely pioneer of the gospel bravely struggling amidst a heathen people. Gifts came from a band of young working women. Twelve shillings came from two poor girls " with real prayerful interest and love." A box of napery, blankets, and wearing apparel for her personal use arrived from the members of her old congregation at Cairneyhill. This wealth of effort, this outpouring of sympathy, so unselfish, so loyal, was in its way almost as wonderful as her own service. The Greenock ladies were but types of that great multitude of honourable women throughout Scotland who are continuously busy with the self-imposed task of ministering to the needs of missionaries abroad. Little is publicly made known about their gracious activities ; the work is accomplished quietly, almost privately, within the sphere of work parties, Sabbath Schools, and girls’ classes, and by families and circles of friends. It is all done in the spirit of Christ, gladly and lovingly, and for His sake who did so much for Women.
However generous the intentions of the ladies were they were often at a loss how to minister to her comfort. Whenever South African missionaries came home on furlough the first question put to them was : " What can we do for Mrs. Forsyth is she needing anything ?". They were well aware she would not accept money for her own use. On one occasion they sent her a generous gift and afterwards saw the amount acknowledged in the Record of the Church as a contribution from her towards a special missionary effort. " She is the most unselfish and independent person imaginable," said Miss Macfarlane. But now and again they endeavoured, almost surreptitiously, to send out little articles that might conduce to her well-being. When Mrs. Stewart was home she suggested a table-lamp, and this she herself conveyed out, though with more and more misgiving as she approached Kafraria. They also consulted Miss Auld when she was in Scotland, and on her recommendation resolved to dispatch a bath and an easy-chair to Xolobe. On Miss Auld’s return to Paterson she dropped a casual hint as to what was coming, whereupon Mrs. Forsyth reached hastily for pen and paper and wrote to Miss Macfarlane :
" We have excellent bathing facilities here, and an easy-chair would be a cumbersome thing to get here, as there is no traffic by wagon, so if you would not be offended I would rather not receive them. We have an excellent water-supply within five minutes’ walk of the house."
Later, however, when she grew feebler, and was unable to go to the river, she proposed to buy a bath. Miss Auld hurried one up from Paterson for her use until she could procure another, on behalf of the Greenock ladies, from the nearest store, and congratulated herself on at last having achieved a distinct victory over the scruples of her friend. And when she was actually permitted to sit beside ’Smoyana and darn her stockings she felt that the citadel of independence, hitherto so impregnable, had fallen at last !
Every penny received was accounted for. With the proceeds from the boxes of goods sent out she sold the clothing to the natives donations were given to needy causes in the neighbouring fields. When she left there was a balance of 25 to her credit in this connection, and she handed it over for repairs to Xolobe church. Once when she had a sum of 10s. in hand she was at a loss what to do with it, and then wrote to Miss Macfarlane : "I will get boots for Su-pi, a poor girl who is usually first at the early prayer-meeting, even on stormy mornings. All the girls have boots, Su-pi has none, and her feet are swollen with cold." Su-pi, it will be recalled, was the granddaughter of Taki.
She was latterly much troubled by the thought that she had accepted money from the Greenock ladies in support of her native servant. The understanding in her mind was that the servant was also to be a Biblewoman, and her scrupulous conscience now made it appear as if the disciple had obtained greater service than her Master. In distress she informed Miss Auld that she must pay back 51 to the ladies.
’ You must not do anything of the kind," exclaimed Miss Auld. " The first desire of the ladies is that you should have efficient help and be well served in your declining years. I know that this is their wish, and they will be very vexed if you offer to send them back any of their money."
" But I am sure that the pains and rheumatism I suffer from are God’s hand upon me for having taken this money under a mistake," Mrs. Forsyth persisted.
" No ! no ! So far from being God’s hand of chastisement upon you, they are the natural outcome of a life spent strenuously in His service. At your age, and lacking all care and comfort, you cannot expect perfect health." By degrees Miss Auld’s practical wisdom prevailed, and assurance and peace came back to the gentle old missionary. THE SHOCK OF THE WAR IN view of her advanced age and the hard and strenuous life she had lived, her relatives in Scotland thought she might now very well relinquish her work and settle with them at home. The approach of the centenary of Dr. Livingstone, in which she took much interest, seemed an appropriate opportunity for persuading her to make up her mind on the point, and one of her nephews without her knowledge applied to the Foreign Mission Committee of the Church for a passage for her that she might return and be present at the celebrations. When she heard of this arrangement she canceled it.
" I am just like Miss Slessor," she wrote to Miss Macfarlane ; "I cannot tear myself away. Often in my dreams I am at home, and I invariably say, "Why did I leave Africa, how can I get back?’
Rheumatism crippled her, and she suffered from painful outbreaks on the feet and ankles, but she would not give in. The only concession she made was to stop her walks to the more distant kraals. She continued all her other activities, though she was noticeably much quieter and more meditative. Her Bible was her constant companion, and, as ever, her source of inspiration and strength.
Into the orderly calm of her days in 1914 came disquieting rumours of trouble in Europe, like the first tremors which denote a distant earthquake. The shock of the early news of the war told heavily upon her. She visualized the sufferings of the young men in the trenches, the greater agonies of the battle-field, their supreme sacrifice and wept. She thought of their splendid heroism and of the self-sacrifice and unity of the people and rejoiced. And her faith never wavered. " The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth," she said, " and He is able to restrain the wrath of man. However dark the outlook may be He can bring light out of the darkness and order out of confusion."
Comforting stricken ones at home she wrote : "I have heard it said that when a storm beats fiercely at sea and the billows rage, there are depths undisturbed beneath. May it be so with your souls in this time of trouble." As she read of the long lists of " killed in action," she said, " it was almost like the time in Egypt when there was not a house where there was not one dead." At first the work was not affected. The Inspector of Schools failed to appear but he was a German. The natives were quiet and unperturbed. As time went on, however, they grew a little restive and troublesome, and food-stuffs went up in price. She had to eke out her flour with mealie meal made from maize. " But," she said, " however long the war lasts, and however trying it may prove, the Lord will provide."
Despite her strong will-power the strain affected her waning vitality. In October she reached her seventieth birthday, and came to the realization that the end had come. " I have passed the allotted span," she told her friends, " and I do not think it fair to occupy a place without being able for the duties." She mentioned to Mr. Auld that she would like to retire, but he informed her that the Foreign Mission Committee of the Church wished all missionaries to remain at their posts until the war was over. " So," she said, " I will wait until God opens the way." The tragedy of the tremendous struggle entered her own life, her nephew, Lieutenant Moir, 1st Black Watch, being killed at Loos. " He was almost the only man I have seen," wrote out his sister, " who was really keen to go back to the front. His one fear when he was home was lest his platoon should get into action without him. He knew perfectly well, too, what he was facing. He did not consider he had the faintest chance of coming through alive in a regiment which was always in the hottest of the fighting, but he would not for a moment have wished himself elsewhere." The blow stunned and wearied her, but she fell back on the unseen source of strength which had never failed her yet. " She is a wonderful woman," said Mr. Auld, " and keeps bright and happy under all circumstances. She is a saint."
Another fragment of news affected her sadly. " So," she writes, "’ poor Miss Slessor has been called home. What a loss to our mission! I hope God will raise up some one to fill her place. I do not think there was another missionary in the world to equal her. Her heart was full of lovingkindness and tender mercy." When the story of Miss Slessor’s life by the present writer was published, Mrs. M’Laren sent her out a copy and she read it with delight. " I sat up all night until I finished it," she said. " I hope it will be an incentive to me to labour more abundantly and to endure hardness " and she was seventy years of age !
SADNESS OF FAREWELL
WHEN, in 1915, Miss Auld returned from a visit to Scotland, she was grieved to notice the change in her old friend. She had aged perceptibly and was much thinner. Both she and her brother urged her to come and make a home with them at Paterson, where they would surround her with every comfort and bestow upon her the care and attention she needed. She would not hear of it. She preferred, she said, to end her life at Xolobe, in the belief that by her death amongst the people she would do more good than she had done in her life.
" She has led a primitive life among the heathen so long," reported Mr. Auld to the Greenock ladies, " that she dreads going back to civilized life. She has never had furlough, and is naturally reticent and shy and retiring, and there would have to be much sympathy of the silent kind shown for her, and due allowance made for her ways. She spends far too little on herself and too much on others. But that is just her all through ; her modesty, self-effacement, and Christlikeness make us feel less than nothing compared with her. She would require to be cared for instead of caring for others as she has done all her life. We would do anything for her, and count it an honour, but it is difficult to care for her under present conditions." All that Mr. Auld could do in the circumstances was to go to Xolobe more frequently. His visits increased to one every fortnight and latterly to one every week.
It was not to be expected that Nature would suspend its inexorable process. Though her moral energy was unimpaired her physical strength weakened. " I am breaking up," she wrote in 1916. An attack of influenza left her prostrate for a month and she recovered but slowly. She lost the use of her voice. " I must give up," she decided at last ; " but it will be a great wrench for me to leave my midday Sabbath class forty-nine dear girls were present last Sabbath."
She could not trust herself to live at Paterson so near the scene of her life-labours. " If," she said, " I cannot end my days here, I must go right away to Scotland." Her relatives, thankful to hear of her decision, at once arranged for her niece, Miss Mann, a nurse, to proceed to South Africa and bring her home. It was characteristic of her humility of mind that she wished to travel third-class in the steamer, but, needless to say, her friends would not hear of such abnegation, and the Foreign Mission Committee of the Church saw to the payment of her expenses.
It was pitiful to see her during the final days. Miss Auld says it was like watching a great tree being torn up by the roots. Several times she murmured with a quivering face, " It’s not the place, it’s the people I can’t bear to part with." To them the parting was equally sore. " ’Smoyana," said a deputation of women who came to see her, " you are not white, you are black. Your heart is black, you are just one of ourselves." It was the highest compliment they could pay ; it meant that she understood their real nature, and so was able to sympathise with and help them in their peculiar needs.
Messages of farewell began to arrive. From her old friend Mrs. Davidson came an affectionate letter :
" You have," she said, " always been a very dear and good friend, and have been a strength and help in trouble and sorrow. I can never forget your kindness to me and mine." The native pastor, the Rev. Candlish Koti, wrote :
" ’Smoyana and Xolobe are the two names that will be always associated together for many generations to come." A brief note addressed " Dear Mammy," and signed " Your loving child, Ida," intimated that her former pupil was hastening to Xolobe to say good-bye. There was no time for the missionaries of the Presbytery to do much, but they hurriedly collected a sum of money and asked her to accept it and purchase some article which would remind her of their affection and esteem.
Later, the Kafrarian Mission Council placed on record its high appreciation of her work:
" Her faithful service, her complete self -surrender, her utter self-effacement, and her devotion to her Master, have been the wonder and admiration of her fellow-missionaries and many others. She will live long in the hearts of her people." And from Scotland, from the ladies on the Clyde, came, through Miss Macfarlane, the kindest of communications : " You are," they said, ’ worthy of the D.S.O. of the highest rank in Heaven." Her last day at Xolobe was a trying one. A farewell meeting was held to which came every soul in the district, Christian and heathen, as well as many from other outstations. Mr. Auld explained how, owing to advanced age and failing health, ’Smoyana was compelled to go back to her own land and live amongst her own people. " Never let her life and work fade amongst you, let it ever be a beacon-light showing you the road to Christ." Several natives responded saying they would never be able to forget the love of their White Mother who had come amongst them as a girl and had grown old in the service of her Master.
Then for the last time she addressed them, indulging in no personal reminiscences or self-congratulation, making no reference whatever to herself, but reiterating with passionate fervour the message which it had been her duty and happiness to proclaim all these years, and inviting them to come to the Saviour, the only source of strength and peace in this life, and the only hope for the better life to come. With her usual hospitality she had provided a sheep and two pots of mealies as a parting feast. The crowd squatted on the grass in front of the church, and whilst they ate she walked in and out amongst them, shaking hands with each and saying kindly words of farewell.
Suddenly a storm gathered, the clouds broke in sheets of rain, and gathering up the fragments the people rushed into the church for shelter. Within an hour both streams were " down" and impassable. "I have never seen them rise so quickly or so fiercely," remarked Mrs. Forsyth. When the flood-waters abated the Aulds returned to Paterson, and a lonely woman spent the evening at Xolobe in prayer.
BACK TO CIVILISATION IN the clear light of the early morning Mr. Auld again rode over the hills to Xolobe to see Mrs. Forsyth comfortably installed in the wagon. She was conveyed to Paterson by a circuitous and less rough way, Bekiwe, her old scholar and helper, accompanying her, and arrived in the evening tired and shaken in body and mind.
Having lived the life of a recluse for thirty years it was not surprising that she shrank from re-entering the world. " You don’t know," she said to Miss Auld, " what an ordeal it has been for me to brace myself up even to come to Paterson." At first she was depressed and thought she would die ere she could reach Scotland, but the unobtrusive ministrations of her host and hostess soon made her feel at ease, and after a few days the shadow lifted and her spirits revived. The process of social acclimatisation was helped by a babe. The Rev. D. W. Semple, M.A., then of Emgwali, and his wife and child, were staying at the manse. Mrs. Forsyth was much taken with the infant who seemed always eager to come to her. This simple circumstance broke down the natural feeling of restraint which she experienced, and paved the way for pleasant intercourse with the parents.
One of Miss Auld’s devices was to place interesting story-books in her bedroom or leave them lying casually in the corners which she frequented. She knew that ’Smoyana cared no longer for light reading. Some time previously when up at Xolobe Mrs. Forsyth had given her a book then popular in Scotland, with the remark, " A friend at home sent this to me, but I am past caring to read anything but the Bible now." Miss Auld was therefore amused to come across her deep in the books she had left, with seeming carelessness, in her way. One evening she found her sitting close up to the window to catch the light of the setting sun in order to finish The Lady of the Decoration, which she pronounced " good."
There was a busy fortnight of preparation for the overseas journey; then came a farewell to the people of Mbulu. A meeting was held of the Women’s Christian Association, of which she was President. As already stated this society was affiliated to the Upward and Onward organisation, and she had just received from Lady Aberdeen, the President, a friendly personal letter. At the gathering a collection was made as umpako wendlela (food for the way) the usual native way of presenting a parting gift. It amounted to 3 pound 10s., one old woman, almost eighty, bringing threepence and one elder 2s. She was overcome by their kindness. When all was over she sighed, and then with the fine spirit of fortitude which had carried her through so many difficult years, she faced, with quiet and steadfast gaze, the dreaded plunge back into civilisation.
Leaving Paterson at 7 A.M. she and Miss Auld were driven down to the Tsomo River and across the drift in a wagon. On the other side stood a motor-car. She had never seen one before, but without hesitation and without remark she stepped inside. On the way her passport was secured. The filling up of this had caused her considerable amusement. " What is the shape of my forehead? What kind of nose and mouth have I got? " she asked helplessly.
Arriving at Blythswood, that " daughter of Lovedale," a large training and industrial institution, built largely by the gifts of the Fingoes, the motor stopped, and Miss Auld ran in and told the ladies of the mission that Mrs. Forsyth was outside. These went eagerly to greet her and endeavoured to persuade her to stay the night, but she was anxious to finish the first stage of her journey. At Butterworth the two friends put up at an hotel, and it was remarkable how quickly and without apparent effort the missionary dropped back into the methods of conventional life. Every one was interested in her, and she confided to her companion that she had not found the first step into the world so very dreadful after all.
There was shopping to be done. The boots she wore were still an offense to Miss Auld, and even more so after the remark a lady made when they were put out to be cleaned. " Surely, Miss Auld," she said with a twinkle, " you have a very large husband hidden away somewhere! A neat comfortable pair was procured, and Miss Auld felt a thrill of triumph when she noticed the flicker of feminine pride which the staid missionary evinced in the improved appearance of her feet.
Next morning a lady walked suddenly in upon them. It was Miss Mann. Aunt and niece met for the first time, and Miss Auld, watching the loving greeting, thanked God that all was well.
" I have motored up from East London," said Miss Mann, " as the train service cannot be depended upon because of troops, so you have only an hour to spare." But all that the two friends had to say to one another had been said long before. When the parting came the younger woman stood and watched the brave strong figure pass out of her life, her fluttering bonnet- strings being the last she saw as the car sped swiftly down the street. And then a picture came into her mind of those thirty lonely years at Xolobe, so quiet and filled with happy and fruitful service; and then another of the future, crowded with new faces and scenes and exciting experiences, and she put up a silent prayer that the aged saint might be dealt with very tenderly and be kept safe and at peace. WAS IT WORTH IT? As we watch her passing from the scene of her thirty years’ toil, one inevitably asks the question, what does such a life and such a service as hers amount to? Were they, as some might think, too restricted in scope? Was it worth spending so long a time wrestling with a few hundreds of heathen? What she accomplished did it justify the expenditure of so much thought and energy? So far as visible results are concerned they were neither meagre nor unimportant. Though progress is steady, South Africa is not, perhaps, so fruitful a mission-field as other parts of the continent. A revival is seldom experienced; converts are, as a rule, few; the level of spiritual life is not high. But Mrs. Forsyth had no reason to be dissatisfied with what was achieved in her thirty years’ sojourn at Xolobe. When she arrived the people around her were pure heathen and as wild and hopeless as any tribe in Africa. Xolobe is now a fully organised mission- station with a fine church building, a day school with four teachers and an attendance of about 140, Sunday services, a Sunday School, a young women’s class, and a week-day prayer meeting, all carried on by the office-bearers she trained. There is also a branch of the Women’s Christian Association, the members of which visit the sick and aged from kraal to kraal. Mrs. Forsyth, in short, civilised the district, gave the people a knowledge of God, and brought many scores to the feet of Christ. She had been true to the significance of her Kafir name. " Come . . . O breath," said the prophet, " and breathe upon these . . . that they may live. . . . And the breath came . . . and they lived." But neither figures nor organisations present a true estimate of what she performed. Miss Auld sums up the matter rightly when she says : "I think we will never really know the true extent of her work and prayer till that day when all shall be revealed." For the results attained Mrs. Forsyth herself took not an atom of credit. She held that she was only an instrument; the power and the strength came from above. " I desire,"she says," to give all the glory to God for what He has done. Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but to Thy name be all the glory." The chief value of her story to those who look on from afar is the example it gives of a life utterly consecrated to the service of Christ. Her abandonment of self, her sacrifice of everything which makes life enjoyable, her humility of spirit, her faith and hope and courage which never failed in the face of the most baffling obstacles and worries, her undimmed freshness of soul amidst the spiritual loneliness and desolation of heathen Africa all make her stand out as one of the rare and attractive personalities who move and uplift hearts out of the common rut into higher and nobler planes. Her influence cannot die with the cessation of her work ; it will live on and spread beyond the confines of Xolobe; it will inspire other wayfaring and struggling souls; it will stimulate and nerve her sister-workers toiling in the mission-fields; and it may bring into a like vocation and sphere some, at least, of those who are, in these new days, dreaming of heroic service. AN ESTIMATE FROM THE FIELD BUT a missionary in the field has perhaps the best right to estimate the worth of her character and service, and here is the reasoned opinion of the Rev. Robert Mure of Ross Mission :
" In one sense the contrast between Mrs. Forsyth and other missionaries in the South African field was very great. She had the smallest sphere of any of us just one station, and even that was under the care of her minister. We missionaries have many stations fifteen, twenty, even thirty or over. We are superintendents. We ride about like bishops, ordaining, ordering, giving charges, working late and early. No one can call it easy work and in a sense we are great men in our districts. She was different, a humble figure without charge or function or office in any ecclesiastical sense, ranking as an honorary lay missionary. She had no house to speak of, only a but and a ben, no horse or trap. She simply walked on foot and visited the heathen in their houses close by, and spoke to them of the way of salvation. How different from the missionaries with their large dioceses and much organisation and much traveling and heavy correspondence. Yet, no doubt, she was the most apostolic figure amongst us carrying on a more apostolic work.
" She lived in a remote corner of Fingoland far from the railway and the road and the beaten track. There are tracks to her house, as there are tracks to everywhere in South Africa, made by the feet of savages and by their flocks and herds searching for food, but Xolobe is a dull and lonely spot for a white woman. To live there alone among a few black folk, in a house not much better than theirs, and sharing largely their simple life and simple fare it was an eccentric thing, perhaps, like that of the new Bush Brotherhood in Australia, but in her case there was no sense of spiritual pride because of ascetic distinction or connection with a great contemplative or historic Order in the Church. She was simply a lone woman, separated by no special function or training or qualification, or churchly ritual, merely a decided and sincere Christian with a great love of souls in her heart, and a deep yearning for the salvation of the heathen. They were in hundreds around her. Heathen men and women and children, likeable, even lovable, in many ways, but grossly ignorant of the best things in life, and without hope for the next life. To her this was a great chance to be free to live amongst them, and day in, day out, strive to teach them the better way.
" Few can endure such loneliness as hers for very long. Even the most isolated of our unmarried missionaries has a certain and unfailing social solace and variety, his itinerations, his constant dealing with churches and schools and mission agents, and persons in trouble, or needing advice, who visit him daily from one part or another of his district. The missionary’s life is really not dull or lacking in intercourse with his fellows by any means.
" But Mrs. Forsyth had none of those social opportunities. She lived at Xolobe for thirty years, month after month and year after year, and daily set her face gladly to the same hard work. She did not throw it up disappointed after five years ; she endured it until age and health compelled her to retire. It is unique in our South African mission-field. It is a unique case of the triumph of the soul over a comfortless and heathen environment."
REST TIME BY devious ocean ways and through submarine-infested home waters Mrs. Forsyth came back to her own land and her own city, and looked upon friends and scenes she had not seen for thirty years. From Glasgow she went to Edinburgh to be received by the Foreign Mission Committee of the United Free Church, of which Sir Andrew H. L. Fraser, K.C.S.I., is Convener. That quiet book-lined room has seen many a missionary welcomed home from the ends of the earth, but it is doubtful whether a more interesting figure ever appeared before the Committee than this old lady of Xolobe, with the loneliness of her self-imposed exile clinging to her and giving her a curious air of aloofness. On a subsequent occasion she was convoyed from Glasgow to Edinburgh by the cousin mentioned in the first chapter, now an active lady of eighty years of age. They missed one another on returning and Mrs. Forsyth went back alone. In the long dark tunnel she heard a small voice singing softly what seemed at first like some childish rhyme, but by and by she caught the words, " Lord, bless Thy little lamb to-night." It was a little girl who was afraid of the darkness and was singing to comfort herself. Such ingenuous faith touched the heart of the African missionary, and she too comforted herself with the words.
She had much to learn and witness of what had been achieved in the arts of life during her long absence, so that her interest in things was kept fresh and keen. But often the kaleidoscopic scenes about her grew dim, the multitudinous sounds drifted into silence, and she was back in Xolobe with the African sun blazing overhead, the bronze forms of the Fingoes moving about her, and the hum of the children in their wattle - and - daub school murmuring in her ears.
’ ’Smoyana," said the writer to her one day in summer when she was sitting looking out upon the beautiful sunlit hills of the homeland, " if you had the chance would you go back and live these thirty years over again at heathen Xolobe ? "
" Yes," was the quick but quiet reply, " I should like to do better than I have done."
"But you have done a tremendous lot." Her eyes filled with tears. "I have done very little," she said simply. " I should like to do much more before I die."