Robert Moffat

Robert Moffat

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Title: Robert Moffat The Missionary Hero of Kuruman
Author: David J. Deane
Release Date: March 16, 2005 [EBook #15379]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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ROBERT MOFFAT
The Missionary Hero of KURUMAN.
BY
DAVID J. DEANE,
AUTHOR OF "JOHN WICLIFFE, THE MORNING STAR OF THE REFORMATION," "MARTIN LUTHER, THE REFORMER," ETC.
FIFTH EDITION. TWENTY-FIFTH THOUSAND.
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY
NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO
_Publishers of Evangelical Literature._
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PREFACE.
The record of a life like that of Robert Moffat, the South African missionary, can never be devoid of interest until all appreciation for noble deeds and patient endeavour becomes extinct in the heart of man. Till then, our pulses will quicken and our enthusiasm kindle as we read of dangers encountered and overcome, of the true courage that could undismayed encounter the king of beasts roaming on the African plain, and of passing the time with savage chiefs, beneath the spears and clubs of whose warriors thousands had been slain. Or our sympathy is awakened as stories of sickness and suffering, of hunger and terrible thirst, of trying disappointments, continued year after year, are related. Anon, gratitude causes the tear to start to our eye as we witness the love that prompts the effort to win the heathen to the Saviour, and see the once benighted ones clothed and subdued, learning in mind and heart the truth of the Gospel. Gratitude arises that we have men, heroic Christian men, who count nothing dear to them, not even their lives, that they may win sinners to the love of Jesus Christ.
Such an one was he, whose memoir we present to our readers, with the earnest desire that his strong faith may strengthen ours, that his quiet courage may excite us to perseverance in well-doing, and that his deliverance from manifold and very real dangers may lead us to place reliance upon Him in whom Moffat trusted, and who never forsakes those that trust in Him. May we all see, and especially the youth of our land, as we read the records of such noble lives, that true godliness detracts not from true manhood, but rather that it glorifies and ennobles it, until evil is overcome, and the wicked are put to silence.
In writing this brief sketch of the life of the Rev. Dr. Moffat, the author has been much indebted to those who have trodden the path before him; especially to the two well-known works, "Robert and Mary Moffat," by their son John S. Moffat, and to Robert Moffat's own book, "Missionary Labours and Scenes in South Africa." He also owes his acknowledgments to "The Missionary Magazine," "The Chronicle of the London Missionary Society," to the Reports of various Missionary Societies, "A Life's Labours in South Africa," and to other works from which information upon the subject has been gathered. To the two first named the author especially refers those of his readers who wish for fuller details than are given in this volume.
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CONTENTS.
I. PIONEER MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA, 9
II. CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH, 18
III. DEPARTURE FOR THE CAPE, 27
IV. MARRIAGE AND ARRIVAL AT LATTAKOO, 49
V. THE MANTATEE INVASION, 63
VI. VISIT TO MAKABA, 71
VII. THE AWAKENING, 85
VIII. VISIT TO ENGLAND, 101
IX. THE SECHWANA BIBLE, 118
X. CLOSING SCENES, 141
XI. CONCLUSION, 150
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ROBERT MOFFAT.

CHAPTER I.
PIONEER MISSIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA.
The history of missions in South Africa abounds in interesting facts and incidents. Stories of heroism, strange adventures, and descriptions of journeyings among savage tribes and through countries frequented by beasts of prey, form part of its details. Its theme is love to God and love to man, and its facts have been called into existence through the efforts of noble-minded and true-hearted men and women to bring their coloured brethren and sisters to the knowledge of the Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Many names are held in veneration in connection with these missions, names of those who, having laboured faithfully upon earth, have been called to their reward; among these none stands forward with greater prominence than that of Robert Moffat.
A brief glance at the development of the colony at the Cape of Good Hope, and at the early efforts made to evangelise the native races, may enable the reader better to understand the work carried on by Robert Moffat, and the success achieved; also to realise something of the position of affairs when he first landed in South Africa.
Discovered by the Portuguese in 1486, it was not until the middle of the seventeenth century that much was done in