Lot 76: Welsh Missionary in China “The empire is open! China’s millions are awake!”

JOHN, GRIFFITH. (1831-1912). Welsh Christian missionary to China and translator. Signed book. (“Griffith John”). 544pp. 4to. Yonkers, January 20, 1907. A 1906 copy of R. Wardlaw Thompson’s book Griffith John: The Story of Fifty Years in China, published by A.C. Armstrong and Son in 1906. John has written on the front free endpaper:

“Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim,” Isaiah 49.12

My missionary journey has been a long one; but I can say today that goodness and mercy have followed me right through. I have had my share of trials and disappointments of every kind. But, thank God, it has been given to me from the beginning to see much to encourage faith, and to strengthen every high and holy purpose for the good of the Chinese people. In no part of it has my life been one of mere faith in the future. It has been a life of great and constant thankfulness for present manifestations of God’s love and saving power. And now that it is coming to a close, my faith in God’s purposes of mercy with regard to China is stronger than ever. I look upon the Chinese as a great people, and a people whom God intends to save. I have seen great changes in that land; but there are greater changes coming. The whole empire is open! China’s millions are awake! The call from China is louder and more urgent than ever. When will the church awaken to her great opportunity! Yonkers, January 20, 1907.”

Also tipped into the volume is a 2-page ALS (“Griffith John”) dated Yonkers, February 4, 1907 to Mr. Stevenson reading:

“Will you accept my very sincere thanks for the sermon of yesterday morning. It is refreshing to hear such a sound, clear and eloquent statement of the truth as it is in Jesus these days. The New Theology is creating considerable stir in England just now; but it will soon pass away. Our best and most learned men are perfectly sound, and many of them are beginning to speak out. The New Theology won’t work. It would be powerless on the missionary field. A gospel without the incarnation, the atonement, the resurrection, and even without a God that transcends nature, cannot lift the heathen nations of the world. Turn the New Theology into Chinese and it vanishes into thin air. Whilst there are pagans to be converted, the Old Theology cannot die.

I congratulate you on the growth of your church & congregation. Your work, under the blessing of God, must tell. Yours sincerely...”

John began preaching at the age of 14. He prepared for the ministry at a Welsh Congregational college and was ordained in 1855. In the service of the London Missionary Society he went to China where he would spend most of the next six decades. One of the first missionaries in the Hubei, Hunan and Sichuan provinces, John established schools and hospitals while using his persuasive oratorical skills to convert the locals and train Chinese evangelists. He authored numerous tracts in Chinese and translated the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament into several dialects. During the course of his 60-year missionary career, John only left China three times, including a brief time around 1907 when our letter and inscriptions were penned from his home in Yonkers.

Our letter was published the year after John celebrated his missionary jubilee at Hankou and makes reference to the New Theology movement of 1907, the leading exponent of which was Congregationalist Minister Reginald John Campbell who authored a controversial volume entitled The New Theology that sought to reconcile the tenets of Christianity with modern criticism.

The letter is written on a folded sheet and is fine, though glued to the recto of the frontispiece portrait. The book shows significant wear to the spine, which is partially detached. Cover is bumped and sunned. In good condition only.