Rosario
Clemens, E. J. M. (Eliza Jane McCartney), b. 1841 | Willing, Jennie Fowler, 1834-1916, joint author
ci.r SItbrarg nf T "1 iipti 1<;^J '^^^. ROSARIO BY MRS. E . J . NP. CLEMENS, MRS. J. F. WILLING. library ^Boston IMivtf sity- CHICAGO : RAND, McNALLY & COMPANY 1882. 6i. F Beaton Unirtrsity Bcfeool of Sbeolegj Library CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Introductory — Hovr the Book came to be Written — Our School in Rosario — Our Missionaries there — 3[iss L. B. Denning — Miss J. M. Chapiu — Mrs. E. J. M. Clemens- Miss J. E. Good- enough — The Home in Rosario 9-31 CHAPTER II. Sailing from Xew York — Shipwrecked off the Coast of Wales — Taken by the -St (7 King to Liverpool — In Glasgow 3'-? -45 CHAPTER III. Waiting — Studying Spanish — Starting for Rosario — The Voyage — Stopping at St. Vincent — Rest- ing in Montevideo 46-53 CHAPTER IV. Montevideo — Streets — Parks — Temperance Work — The Baker- The Poultry Man — Miss Guelfi's School — Missionary Services — Sunday-Schools — Mat^ — The Bull-Fight — The Love-Feast . 53-70 ^5) CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. PAGE Buenos Ayres — A Steamer Dinner — Landing — Ex- orbitant Prices — The Siege — A Breakfast— Up the Parana 71-82 CHAPTER YI. In Rosario — The School — Order of Exercises — De- parture of the Missionaries — Prayer for their Safety 83-87 CHAPTER VII. Home like a Prison — Plan of the House — Cost of Building — Enterprise Stifled by the Papacy . 88-95 CHAPTER YIII. Rosario — The Custom House — Railroads — Streets — Taxes — The Sereno — Burglars — Siesta — The People — Dress — Beggars — The Methodist Church — Good Templars — Sunday-School Pic- nic 96-111 CHAPTER IX. Spanish American Politeness — Education of Women — Names — Patron Saints — Godmothers. . 112-121 CHAPTER X. The Washerwoman — The Conventillo 122-125 CHAPTER XL My Lady of Rosario — Image Worship — Censer- Swinging — Music — Prostrations . ... 126-130 CONTEXTS. 7 CHAPTER XII. PAGE All-Souls Day — Burial Places— "The Well"— The Potter's Field — Garlands for Tombs — Funerals — Mourning 131-139 CHAPTER XIII. Ohristmas — Parana — The Route thither — Pesebre — Christmas in the Cathedral 140 - 146 CHAPTER XIV. Blessing the Candles — The Altar of Indulgences, 147-150 CHAPTER XV. Carnival — The Pomo — The Douche — Burning Judas — Bible Bonfires — Marriage .... 151-164 CHAPTER XVI. The La Plata Valley — Soil — Woods — Minerals — Fruits — Timber — Inhabitants — The Gaucho — His Wife — His Dress — Languages — Money, 165 - 180 CHAPTER XVIL Our South American Missions — The Bible Society's Work — The Church in Buenos Ayres — The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society — Medical Work — A Plea for Help 181-189 CHAPTER XVII L South America for Christ 190-214 CHAPTER I. Huw the Book Came to be Written — Our School in Rosario — Miss. L. B. Denning — Miss J. M. Chapin — Mrs. E. J. M. Clemens- Miss J. E. Goodenough — The Home in Rosario. A missionary, under appointment to Rosario, and her Branch Corresponding Secretary sat together one evening, their thoughts busy upon the problem of interesting the Church in our South American missions. They went carefully over all the facts within reach. In that great southern continent free thought has risen to make the attempt at self- government. Except the empire of Brazil and two or three small colonies, it is all republican. It is a land of measureless possibilities, even. more richly endowed than the Northern America : and yet its conscience, and, consequently, all its interests are ground under the heel of Romanism ; North American Protestants are not awake to their duty to these great sister republics. Mrs. Browning said of her sad, beautiful Italy i (9) 10 ROSARIO. " It is stirring in its grave clothes " ; so South American thought is waking from its death sleep ; yet there is great danger lest through Jesuitical machinations and for lack of the help it ought to receive from Protestantism, it may fail to hear the voice of Christ bidding it come forth to a new, fresh, abundant life. Though the Methodist Episcopal Church has done as much as any other Protestant denomi- nation for South America, keeping up her work in the La Plata valley nearly fifty years, yet she has never taken its evangelization upon her heart, as she has her work in China, India, or Japan. There are reasons for this. The distance between the United States and the Argeiitine Republic is great, the best steamship lines being by way of England. It takes twice as long to go from New York to Ro- sario as from San Francisco to Yokohama, and six or seven times as long as to cross the Atlantic. Postal communication is consequently hindered, and, till within a few years, the postage on each letter was twenty-seven cents. The force at work in South America has always been small, and heavily bur- dened, with no leisure for writing. So the Church RG8ARI0. 11 has known comparatively little of the good work that has been wrought there. Not statistical reports, but individual cases inter- est every day, home people. Not the summing up of effort that few take time to consider, but the slipping into a hundred letters of the little items that show the need, and God's presence and saving power. A half dozen missionaries with a continent upon their shoulders can hardly find time for such writing. So, though there has been grand work done in South America, the Church has not understood its importance. The recent successes in Mexico and Italy have given the Methodist Church new courage for her work among Roman Catholics; but she does not yet seem ready to enter with strength the wide- open doors of that wonderful southern continent. In 1874 the Woman^s Foreign Missionary Society sent out two as faithful missionaries as ever sailed; but it has not yet felt able to build them a home. Homes, schoolhouses, hospitals, have been bought or built in other fields, but the Rosario ladies, in the midst of that Spanish American civil- ization, have had to carry their work in a poorly 12 ROSARIO. furnished, inconvenient, uncomfortable house, for which the society has paid an enormous rent. There have been only two to manage all the lines of do- mestic, educational, and evangelistic effort. The ladies at home have lacked enthusiasm for this mis- sion, because they did not understand its opportu- nity and actual achievement. " Somebody ought to write a book on our South American work," said the Secretary, after these facts had been carefully canvassed — " a book palpi- tating with the pathos of the need. It ought to be written under the inspiration of first impressions, while the thought is thrilled with the first touch of that South American civilization. Missionary books are apt to lack atmosphere: mere pages of dry, dull facts, with only now and then a rill of sentiment creeping through them, where cataracts of feeling ought to rush, and leap, and bound. Their authors waited too long before they struck pen to paper. They lost their enthusiasm under the drudgery, and wrote at a dray-horse pace, because they worked from a sense that something ought to be done in that line. So they have failed to arouse the chiv- alry of the Church to set lance in rest for the grand ROSARIO. 13 tournament — the conquest of the world for our Prince." "If I were to try," said the missionary, after a little thinking, "I'm afraid I should fail. One ought to be accurate, you know, and statements made from short observation may not be reliable." " I think we could take care of that. My friend, Dr, Goodfellow, lives only a few miles from here. He is a scholar — a thinker — as full of fervor for the conversion of the world as when he first set foot on that South American soil. I am sure he would be kind enough to pick from the book any little burrs that haste might drop upon its pages." " I believe I'll try," said the missionary, " that is, if you will promise to help me. I shall be pro- digiously busy, you know. I can not give the attention to literary execution that such a book demands, but my eyes are passably sharp, and I will jot what I see, if you will help put it in shape. You must add, subtract, multiply, divide; and get Dr. Goodfellow to put the result through his fanning mill; and we will hope that something may come of it all, that will rouse the women of the Church to see their duty to our South America." 14 ROSARIO. After a doleful look toward a desk tbat the post- man snows in every day, and that is as difficult to keep clear as a New England north and south road in winter, the Secretary consented to do her little part, and so the book was planned. As the fashion is in this workful missionary busi- ness, it must be made to do double duty — make its plea for the mission, and raise money to build the Rosario Home, The good lady whose zeal and faith had helped the missionary set her face toward South America, should, by that same token, get the money to pay the publishers; and the book should be given to the WoTuan'^s Foreign Missionary Society^ so that each copy sold should put its price, minus postage or transportation, into the fund for building the sorely needed Rosario Home. Then, lest after all it should fail of its main pur- pose, much prayer must be offered, that the Holy Spirit would give the chrism of His touch to the little messenger sent by the faith and love of " Mis- sionary Women," on behalf of their Spanish Amer- ican sisters. So the book goes forth as did the Hebrew shep- ROSAEIO. 15 herd boy, unable to carry the king's armor, with only a sling and smooth stones from the brook; yet it goes against the giant Anti-Christ, "In the name of the Lord of Hosts." OUR SCHOOL IN ROSAEIO. The missionaries in Rosario de Santa Fe, Argen- tine Republic, South America, had long been urging the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society to send some one to work among the women of that city. The calls from heathen countries were so pressing, and that need seemed at first thought so much greater, the ladies hesitated long before under- taking work among Roman Catholics. However, Rev. T. B. Wood continued to set forth facts that have since become patent, showing that the religion of South America, though nominally Christian, is as certainly idolatrous as that of India or China, and the women, though the greatest suffer- ers from its superstitions, are its principal devotees.. The men, under the stimulus of free thought and better culture, have swung away from the faith of their fathers, and have fallen into skepticism, ration- alism, and all kinds of unbelief. The priests hold IG BOS ART O the women, through whose consciences, by the power given at the confessional, they manage the men, and insure the future by training the children in loyalty to the Papacy. " The women here," wrote Mr. Wood, " are as inaccessible to the instructions of male missionaries as are the women of India and China." At last his arguments prevailed ; and Miss L. B. Denning and Miss J. M. Chapin were sent, to Rosario to open work among the women. They sailed from New York Jan. 23d, 1874, and reached their field of labor after a voyage of nearly two months. It was an unpropitious season for sea travel, but the weather proved favorable, and the journey delightful. They immediately set themselves at work upon the language with energy, using every effort to get out of the cage of a strange speech in which one finds himself in a foreign country. In looking into the educational system of the city, they were impressed with the inefficiency of the teachers in charge of girls' schools. The princi- pal of the municipal girls' school could teach noth- ing higher than Las Tahlas^ (the tables of the four EOSARIO. 17 fundamental rules of arithmetic), yet she was the very best the city could find. These facts turned the attention of our missionaries to the need of establishing a school. In September, 1875, they began with five pupils ; and their number steadily increased. Their manner of conducting the school soon attracted notice. In other places of instruction the pupils always studied in a voice above a whisper, the teacher checking the superabundance of noise by an occasional hiss. In this school the older pujDils always told a new comer how to behave. The singing was such a novelty that it was always a source of merriment to begin- ners. The girls soon developed an aptitude for music, and it was a great pleasure to the teachers to note the change for the better that was evident in all regards. The mothers of the children seldom had any defi- nite notion of what their daughters ought to study ■except the catechism of the Romish church. The first child received into the school was but seven years old, jQt she had gone beyond her aunt and grandmother, who had both been teachers all their lives. 18 ROSARIO. A Rosario gentleman remarked to our ladies : *' The reason we Argentines are so far behind the people of the .United States, is that we have not mothers who are capable of instructing us in our homes." More than two hundred girls were under the instruction of our missionaries during their stay in Rosario, some of them under constant care in the Home ; and w^e can but believe that a work was wrought that must tell upon the future of the people. Some of them were clearly and happily converted. The school was opened each day with reading the Scriptures and prayer, and a weekly prayer meet- ing was established. The girls formed the habit of " leading in prayer," and of speaking of their Chris- tian experience. That religious instruction can but influence their lives for good. The ladies had much trouble to find a house that could at all accommodate their family. It was quite impossible to have their housework done according to North American notions of cleanliness and com- fort, and they were obliged to do a great deal of it. themselves. They spent much time in visiting the women in ROSARIO. 19 their homes, trying to lead them to Christ. Their school grew till it numbered a hundred day scholars, besides a family of boarders, orphans, servants and missionaries — twenty in all. When we remember that it was impossible for them to arrange their classes as it is done in our home schools, we wonder how two people with one assistant and what help they could get from their matron, could do so much work. We are not sur- prised that their health failed; but rather that it did not give wa}'' sooner. They were urged by their Secretaries to close the school and come home instead of staying there to die ; but they chose to fall at their post rather than that their work should be given up. They waited long and in great weariness for reir_- fc.rcements ; and, at last, Aug. 4th, 1880, Mrs. Clemens reached Rosario. She took the school off their hands the day after her arrival ; and ten days later they sailed for home, where they arrived in safety early in October. "When they went to South America, in 1874, they went out of our northern winter into one south of the equator ; and when they returned they came out of a southern winter 20 BOSARIO. into one here at the north ; making two winters more and two summers less than we have had who remained at home. At the time of this writing they are restored to health, and they are hoping soon to return to their old friends and pupils in Rosario, from whom they will receive a warm welcome. So constantly are our missionaries carried on the hearts of our home workers, living in their faith and love, it may not be out of place to acid a short personal sketch of each. MISS L. B. DENNING. Miss Denning was born in Knox County, Ohio, December 18th, IS-tO. Her parents were earnest, Christian people, and they brought up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. At the age of fourteen she was converted and joined the M. E. Church. In the spring of 18(39, in a meeting held in Bloomington, 111., by Dr. and Mrs. Palmer, she was led to consecrate herself fully to the Lord, and her heart was filled with light and love. Then she was ready for any service ; and, when the call was made for some one to go to South BOSARIO. 21 America, though keenly alive to the sacrifice in- volved in such a work, she rejoiced that she was counted worthy to suffer for the sake of the T.ord Jesus. She says : " The hajDpiest moment of my life was when I received word of my acceptance by the Womcui's Foreign Missionary Society.'''' She sailed from New York for Rosario in company with Miss Chapin, Jan. 23d, 1874. The voyage, though long and monotonous, was very pleasant, and gave them a good opportunity for the study of Spanish. Its termination was somewhat rough, however, for, having stopped at Rio Janeiro, where the yellow fever raged, the steamer's passengers were put upon a dismantled ship when they reached Buenos Ayres, under quarantine regulations, lest they should bring the fever into the city. There was no provision for their comfort, and the prospect was anything but pleasant. A violent storm arose, and the authorities fearing that the old ship would drift out to sea, sent a boat to take them ashore. This was difficult and dangerous in the darkness and amid the dashing surges ; but they finally landed in safety. After spending a few days most pleasantly in Buenos Ayres in the family of the resident missionarj^, Rev. 22 ROSAJilO H. G. Jackson, they went on to Rosario, which city they reached on the 30th of March. After resting a while under the kindly roof of Rev. T. B. Wood, they began the work of teach- ing the little girls, and visiting the women, giving them religious instruction in their homes. Six years later the work had grown to such magnitude that Mrs. Clemens exclaimed, when she saw what burdens they had been carrying : " Why, here is work enough for six ! I can't see how you two have done it all ! " On the 13th of August, 1880, Miss Denning and Miss Chapin took steamer for Buenos Ayres, and on the 15th they sailed for home. When their South American friends bade them " good bye " they had much reason to fear that Miss Denning would find her final resting place beneath the waves of the Atlantic. But with the " surcease of care " her health rallied, and she reached New York, September 30th, some- what improved by the voyage. Under all her trials she had anchored to the promise, " Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." BOSAIUO. 23 MISS J. M. CHAPIN. Miss Chapin was born in Chicopee, Mass., June ■20th, 1842, and left motherless when only six months old. At the ao;e of fourteen she was awak- ened to a sense of sinfulness that filled her soul with anguish and gloom. Then she decided to fol- low Christ whithersoever He would lead, and His peace filled her lieart. After the usual probation she was received into full membership in the church by Rev. J. S. Bar- rows. She loved the prayer and class meetings, and she felt very anxious to learn something of books that she might be more useful. After many discouragements from domestic afflic- tions and ill health, she entered Wilbraham Acad- emy in 1865, where she studied for a number of terms; after which she engaged in teaching. Her interest in foreign missions was aroused by attending the monthly meetings of the auxiliary of the 'Wo7na7i's Foreign Missionary Society^ of which she was a member. In 1873 her father died, and her grief was ex- treme. In her depression she repeated to herself some lines that she had read: 24: MOSARIO. " I know thy burden, child; I shaped it; Poised it in mine own liaud; Made no proportion in its weiglit to thine unaided strength; But, as I laid it on thy heart, I said: ' While she leans on nie this burden shall be mine, not hers/ " An infinite peace filled her soul, and she felt as if she could follow the Saviour to the world's end. A call was made for some one to go to Rosario, and after due consideration she was sent thither. After six and a half years of faithful service, she returned to North America, in broken health, from which she has been restored by the blessing of God, MRS. E. J. M. CLEMENS. Mrs. Clemens was born in Trumbull Co., Ohio,. Sept. 5th, 1841. Her father. Rev. J. McCartney, w^as at that time pastor of the Scotch Church (Inde- pendent) in Gustavus. He had come from Lanark- shire, Scotland, two years before the birth of this child; and when she was six years old he removed with his family to Lawrence Co., Pa., where they remained till his death, a few years later. The mother died in 1853, after which Kingsville, Ohio, became the home of this daughter. She at- tended the academy there three years, and then ROSARIO. 25 taught in district schools, and studied alternate terms, till 1860, when she received the " Teacher's DiplortictP Then she engaged in teaching in south- ern Illinois, where her brother had established him- self in the practice of law. In 1863 she entered '-^ Lake Erie Female Se^n- inary^^ Painesville, Ohio, from which she graduated with the class of '65. In 1866 she was married to P. C. Clemens, of Pope Co., Illinois. He died in 1871, and her en- ergy prompted her to resume her work as a teacher, which she followed steadily and successfully, till she was accepted by the Woman^s Foreign Mis- sionary Society^ and sent to its work in Rosario. She was converted at the age of fifteen. A year later, after as careful a study of doctrines as she could give the subject, she united with the Meth- odist Episcopal Church — the Scotch Presbyterian granite in her character making a good basis for Methodist fervor. Her drawing toward foreign missionary work began with her conversion, if not earlier. She in- tended to offer herself to some society for service in foreign fields, but domestic duties hindered for a ^6 R08ARI0. while. There were no woman's societies then, and there was little to encourage women to take up this work, except as they became the wives of mission- aries; so the years slipped by, and she married a man in active business and public life. After his death she looked upon herself as too old to meet the requirements of the missionary boards. As many -another has done, she laid the leading jDurpose of her life away in its grave, and set herself resolutely -at filling up her years with minor activities. In 1877 she became acquainted with the doc- trine and experience of entire devotion to God. Then her courage for service revived, and under the inspiration and questionings of a friend whom she met at the Michigan State camp meeting, at Petoskey, she consented to offer herself as a can- didate for foreign missionary work. She was accepted; and sailed for Rosario by way of Liverpool, March 2d, 1880, on the steamer Mon- tana. The day after her arrival in Rosario, Aug. 4th, though far from familiar with Spanish, she took •charge of the school. Under the pressure of hard work her health has BOSARIO. 27 given away, and she has been obliged to come home on health furlough. MISS J. E. GOODEXOUGH. Miss Goodenough was born in Oakland Co., Mich., Aug. 3d, 1843, and at the age of ten she removed to Genessee county in the same State, which was her home till she was sent by the Wom- a7i's Foreign Missionary Society to Rosario. Her education was begun at home, under the care of an older brother, and continued in the district school till she entered the Flint High School. She taught for several years; and a part of the time she labored successfully among the freed peo- ple of the South. She was converted at the age of sixteen; and the first thought that entered her mind after the coming in of the Divine peace, was: " The arms of love that compass me Would all mankind embrace.'" That seemed an earnest of the work that lay before her. Later, when she came to trust Christ 28 ROSARIO. fully, she was led to offer herself for service in for- eign fields, and in 1880 she was accepted, and ap- pointed to the school work in Rosario. The ladies have long needed the help of A mattio:n-; and finally the Society has sent Mrs. L. M. Tur- ney, of Eaton RajDids, Mich., who goes out with a heart full of missionary fervor, as well as with abundant housewifely knowledge. We confidently expect that under her care the women of Rosario will get a notion of a model American home. THE HOME IN ROSARIO. As it is a part of the mission of this little book to help build the Hosario Home^ it must say a word on that behalf. When Victor Emanuel entered Rome, he said : " We are here, and we have come to stay." Nothing more certainly inspires confidence in any enterprise than an assurance of stability. Every one who has had charge of school work knows how important is a sense of permanence in an institution dependent upon public patronage. ROSARIO. 29 This is felt more certainly in Catholic than in Heathen countries. Notwithstanding this fact we have permitted our ladies in Rosario to carry on our work in a rented house, thus giving- their Jesuit- ical enemies the opportunity to declare that the school was only an experiment, merely a transient affair. We have paid a high rent, yet they have been extremely uncomfortable; their health has been seriously injured by the discomfort, and their use- fulness lessened by so much. Men groom most carefully the animals for which they have paid a great price, and from whose speed they hope to win large sums. We can not afford to be careless with such costly material as the consecrated lives of noble women, who have left all that they may win — not money — but the souls of the perishing. Miss Denning says : " Imagine yourselves in a brick house, brick floors under your feet, brick ceilings over your heads, vegetation growing on the dank walls, roofs, and even upon the matting over which you walk — no fire all winter, and the ther- mometer from 50 to 35 deo-rees, and sometimes 30 liOSAMIO. below the freezing point. On a rainy day you have to put on waterproof and rubbers to go from the sitting-room to the dining-room, and from every room to the kitchen. " The walls of my sleeping-room used to be as wet as if they were drenched with water. My bed- stead was of iron, and I placed papers over the frame to protect the mattress from rust. In a few days the papers had absorbed so much water tliat it could be wrung from them. Such a bed was a miserable refuge for rest after shivering all day with the cold. The only fire in the house was in the kitchen ; and that in. a fur/on — a pile of brick with two or three small holes on the top and a little grate under them, over which the cooking was done. It could spare very little heat, and the room in which it stood was only large enough for the cook to move about in." It is certainly poor economy for us to permit our representatives in any mission field to work under such disadvantages. May God arouse our home workers to feel the need of contributing largely, that before another cold, damp winter, the Home may be built and occupied. ROSARIO. 31 Mrs. Clemens will now "take the floor" and tell the story of her journey, and what she knows about ROSARIO. J. F. W. CHAPTER II. Sailing from New York — Shipwrecked off the Coast of Wales — Taken by the Sea King to Liverpool — In Glasgow. There could not have been a more propitious day for beginning a journey than the 2d of March, 1880, on which the Montana steamed out of East River into the broad Atlantic. The sky was never more unconscious of a frown. The winds were never more at peace with each other and all cre- ated things. Never did steamer bear itself more proudly, or passengers trust themselves more confi- dently to the sport of the elements. The missionary party, in which we of this writ- ing are specially interested, was a hopeful trio: Mr. Hollett, of the General Missionary Society, going out to fight malaria and fetichism in " the dark continent;" Miss Michener, sent by the TFbm- ans Foreign Missionary Society^ Philadelphia Branch, to that same missionary burial ground, and the writer going to represent the Northwestern (32) BOSABIO. 33 Branch of the Society in one of the South Amer- ican republics. The school in Rosario de Santa Fe had grown to goodly proportions; but the teachers, Miss L. B. Denning and Miss J. M. Chapin, had failed in health, and they must be immediately relieved for rest. Well for us that beautiful morning, when we waved adieu to our respective Secretaries, and set our faces joyfully toward our work, that we could not see into the future. We w^ould have shuddered to know that the Montayia was going upon the rocks on that terrible Welsh coast, and Miss Michener, the gentle and kindly, would soon close her eyes for the long sleep, laid to rest in a Liberian cemetery. I think it would not have abated our determina- tion, however, for we were following the injunc- tion of the Iron Duke, and " obeying our marching orders." Fairly out upon the ocean swells, my circulation, never quite proof against sudden disturbances, fell into its usual unsailor-like confusion. Brain and stomach in one dread " torture blent " — a complete civil war — of most uncivil type, — in the jumble 34 ROSAMIO. and discords dire of which it was impossible to tell what was what; and all the time boiling lava flow- ing through my veins: the old experience of fear- ing the first hour lest I should die, and every fol- lowing one lest I should not be so fortunate. Surely I must have been resolutely set to be a missionary, for at almost any time during those purgatorial ten thousand miles if I had been asked how I was, I might have quoted with truthfulness the old jingle: "No better, thank you; almost dead, much obliged to you. I'm a great deal worse than I was, and I don't think I ever was any better." I was immediately consigned to the cooing atten- tions of the stewardess, who hourly repeated: " Please goodness, you'll not suffer like this to-mor- row." But the second day rough weather set in, and each to-morrow the waves grew more boisterous, each night the demons of the sea held more hideous revelry. Before we hailed the Irish coast one life-boat had been carried away, another had been stove, and, as the sequel proved, a third hopelessly disabled. Then the goblins of the deep retired to their caves. R08ARI0. 35 and the human hearts they had buffeted sent up a thanksgiving. At Queenstown the government inspector came on board, laughed at our dilapidated appearance, took a glass of grog, and climbed down the ropes into his boat. The pilot came on board, letters were sent on shore, and again we were moving on in high spirits. The land breeze inspired me with new life, and the faithful stewardess ejaculated: "Please goodness, you will be all right to-morrow! " Toward the next morning we were threading along in the fog, feeling for the clear waters, when the ship was suddenly raised up without noise. I compared it to the motion in canal locks, and vaguely ^yondered if such a motion accompanied the getting into port. There was a hush. Then I called, "What is the matter?" No answer came from the watchman who had kept his nightly beat in front of our rooms, so I crept out of my berth to investigate. As I reached the cabin the purser came rushing down. "Get on deck, quick! Tell them all not to wait for anything. On deck, quick! We are wrecked!" On deck was pitchy blackness, rendered more 36 ROSAPJO. intense by the glare of the tar lights and the lurid flash of the distress rockets, and more hideous by the boom of the signal gun. All but two of the firemen had deserted their post and were surging up and down the deck, panic stricken. "We were ordered forward, and in trying to obey were beaten back by this grimy, living wave. Owing to the careening of the ship and the twisting of its iron bars the first life-boat could not be lowered. Another ^vas let down, and the work of filling it was begun by tying a rope around the body of each of us imder the arms. Then Ave clambered over the railing, clung to the rope ladder, swung over the dark abyss, and were caught by a sailor who depos- ited us at his feet in the life-boat. The purser told me afterward that when the ship did not immedi- ately sink, and the firemen had deserted, a boiler explosion Avas averted solely by the heroism of the engineer and tAVO of his men, Avho worked AA'ith Avet cloths thrown over their faces, till their arms were literally baked. Before my turn came to be swung overboard, another boat Avas loAvered into AA^hich the gentlemen Avere peremptorily ordered. I Avas in the last boat RO^AIUO. 37 let down, and when the sailor let go of me I went to my knees in water. As speedily as possible another boat was brought around and we were picked up by strong arms and tossed over into it. All the little belongings that had thus far been clung to were lost in the transfer, as were also the blankets that had been thrown down for our protec- tion. It was immediately found necessary to begin caulking this second boat. Again came the frantic demand from the upper deck, " For God's sake push off ! " But whither should we go ? The boats spun round and round trying to go no one knew whither. At last the one in which Mr. Hollett was, struck off toward the dim outline of the rocky coast, and after long search found a small cove into which it entered. By wading through the surf nearly breast deep the men reached land. They were quite unable to move the pity of the cottagers ; and, seeing no better refuge, they returned to the wreck. Through all the weary hours, from three o'clock till day, no human being came out, on that thickly-settled coast, to offer help or raise a beacon light ; but when the sun rose they came in crowds to seize the booty of the relentless sea. Thanks to 38 ROSAUIO. ■^he vigilance of the officers and the faithfulness of the crew they were cheated of their prey. Under cover of the darkness and confusion, eleven firemen had slipped down the side of the wreck and hid themselves in our boat, making twenty-nine persons in a boat designed at its best estate to carry only fifteen. It stood sorely in need of caulking. That being utterly out of the question, baling alone remained. This the firemen refused to do, as also to help at the oars. Only three sailors had fallen to our lot, and the prospect was not flattering. Signs of mutiny were rife. For a few minutes harsh words were bandied between the infuriated men and the powerless officer. The pas- sengers began to sing. The rain was pouring upon us. The water lacked only a few inches of filling the boat and the revolving light in the dim distance seemed to come no nearer. There was no human probability that that boat would ever reach the shore. But no one spoke of danger or fear. Every one was in the most uncomfortable position, but no one spoke of discomfort. During all the hours from the striking of the 3Iontana to the landing in Liver- pool, not a groan was uttered. Each tried to keep ROSARIO. 39 from the others every known cause of fear. As the mutiny grew worse the voice of song rose, soft at first, but stronger as one tremulous tone after another joined in the refrain — " Nearer, my God, to Thee," " Jesus, lover of my Soul," " Rock of Ages." As we sung, creeping along in the darkness that seemed as though it never would grow light, the rebellious spirit died away, the men began to bale with a will, and to take turns helping at the oars. Finally, when the daylight struggled through the clouds, and we sung " Pull for the Shore," the seamen themselves joined in the song. Toward nine o'clock we neared the Holyhead lighthouse, and sung " Praise God from whom all blessings flow," with as true a feeling of thanks as has ever been known in all the years since Luther's grand anthem filled Germany. The Holyhead breakwater is one of the boasts of British engineering. The Holyhead lighthouse on this breakwater is one of her marine wonders. The Holyhead harbor is the best on the Welsh coast, and the town, the commercial emporium of the principality. As our boat neared the breakwater the keeper of the lio-hthouse stood on it with his hands in his 40 ROSAMIO. pockets, leisurely surveying us without the formal- ity of an eye-glass. " Where is the best place to land the ladies ? " called out our officer. " Steps," was the laconic reply. " They are ill and faint. Can we land them any- where near a hotel ? " " Don't know." " Are there steps further up ? " " Yes." " Is the tide so we can get to them ? " " You can tell by trying," still without moving a finger to help, or showing even a flicker of awaken- ing sympathy. As the tide was ebbing it was thought best to land us there. We were all stiff from the cold and from sitting cramped in the water. One brave sailor lad, who had twice ven- tured into the sea to free the boats from the wreck, and who had had his shoes torn from his feet and his toe crushed when the boats ground against each other, and, during that five and a half hours, had rowed for our lives without relaxing a muscle, stood on the steps till each of us was once more safe on terra firma. ROSARIO. 41 " I think a few missionaries should be sent to this, coast," was his sententious comment upon the in- hospitalities. Now behold our little company, famished, chilled,, tottering through a gaping sidewalk crowd. Then imagine us sa7is shoes, sans hats, sans purse or scrip, with the coin thrust carelessly into an ulster pocket, trying to find in the Liliputian shops of that inhospitable town the outer integuments that would restore to us the appearance of Christian civilization. The tug Sea King took us on board with what luggage could be secured, and with hearty good will to make us as comfortable as possible, carried us to Liverpool. It was a strange looking company that went through the custom house near midnight, March 14th; but twenty-four hours at a comfortable cara- vansera, with food, sleep, clothing, and sense of safety, served to throw the dismal night, the danger- ous sea, the sinking ship, quite into the past. So^ does Nature take away the disagreeable things- that have gone by, saving for us from them only lessons for future hope and thanksgiving. We reached Liverpool ten hours after the Mon- 42 UOSAjRIO. rovia had sailed for Africa; so I was not yet to be separated from my good missionary friends. Mr. Hollett went to London; and Miss Michener spent the two weeks of her waiting with me among my Glasgow friends, where a warm Scotch welcome gave us good cheer. The days sped by; the good byes m'jst be said at last; the friendly grasp that had been tightened by our shared dangers, w^as wrenched loose; and I was left to wait till my Board at home could send the lady who was to take up with me the burden of the Rosario school. Strange notions did the Glasgonians entertain of my field of labor. When I was shopping my friend spoke of my mission to those with whom we dealt, most of whom were old acquaintances. "South America!" exclaimed the oculist, "you had better take a pistol." " South America! " ejaculated the stationer. " My advice to you, madam, is that you provide yourself with a good gun and knife. You are more like to have need of them than anything else. They are awful out there for killing folk." ROSARIO. 43 " South America! " The measure almost dropped from the draper's fingers. " They're muckle in need o' missionaries there. It's a dreadfu', dreadfu' pairt o' the airth. They'll no even let one lie in the grave in peace. Ye mind Geordie Allen, the gas man, Sam'l? Yon was where he gae'd ta. He was dain' weel in Glasgy, as weel as ane need wish, but he maun da better, sa he pulls up, an' awa ta South America. Weel, his son, Wattie, pined awa like, an' deed, an' when he had been buriet a week or mair, tha papists cam an' dug his body up, an' threw it out on the grun' for the beasts and varmin to devour. They would na suffer a heretic, as they cawed him, ta wait for the resurrection. It clean brak his mither's hairt an' the family is quite gane doon since. Ay, they've muckle need o' missiona- ries, an' I am thankfu' ta see ane willing ta gang ta their enlightenin', but ye ken, self-preservation is the first law o' nature, and my advice to you is ta gang prepared wi' a guid revolver, an' ken how to use it," " Na, na, lassie," said Mr. Melross, as we left the store, " you'll tak nae revolver, nor nathing o' the sort. You're no engagin' in a fleshly warfare. The advice is weel meant, but its no best keepet. They 44 ROSARIO. that hae na God to trust in, bid trust in guns an* knives. But you hae slippit your han' into the arm o' the Lord, strong an' mighty, an' he'll no let ye slip. You've committed your way ta his keepin', and he'll no let any evil thing come near ye. He'll no even let a hair o' your head perish. It looks like mistrustin' him ta fill your pockets wi' weap- ons. An' mair nor that, it has a tendency ta mak ane trust the weapons rather than the arm that is mighty to save. Na, na. Ye'U just gang in the name o' the Lord Jesus Christ, an' ye'll need nae ither protection." A few days later I sat in a cozy parlor in Biggar^ when an old farmer stopped at the door. He was in haste, and would not enter till told that a mis- sionary for South America was there. Then his. 