WCP363

Letter (WCP363.363)

[1]1

Singapore

April 21st. 1856.2

My dear Fanny3

I believe I wrote to you last mail, & have now little to say except that I am still a prisoner in Singapore and unable to get away to my land of Promise Macassar [Makassar], with whose celebrated oil you are doubtless acquainted.4

I have been spending 3 weeks with my old friend the French Missionary,5 going daily into the jungle, & fasting on Fridays on omelet [sic] and vegetables, a most wholesome custom which I think [2] the Protestants were wrong to leave off. I have been reading Hucs6 travels in China in french, & talking with a french Missionary just arrived from Tonquin.7 I have thus obtained a great deal of information about these countries & about the extent of the Catholic Missions in them which is astonishing. How is it that they do their work so much more thoroughly than the Protestant Missionaries? — In Cochin China,8 Tonquin, & China, where all Christian Missionaries are obliged to live in secret & are subject to persecution, expulsion & often death, yet every province even those farthest in the interior of China have their regular establishment of missionaries constantly kept up by fresh supplies who are [3] taught the languages of the countries they are going to at Penang or Singapore.9 In China there are near a Million Catholics in Tonquin & Cochin china more than half a million! One secret of their success is the cheapness of their establishments. A Missionary is allowed about £30 a year, on which he lives in whatever country he may be. This has two good effects. A larger number of missionaries can be employed with limited funds, & the people of the countries in which they reside, seeing they live in poverty & with none of the luxuries of life, are convinced they are sincere. Most are frenchmen & those I have seen or heard of, are well educated men, who give up their lives to the good of the people they live among. No wonder they make converts, among the lower orders principally. For it must be a great comfort to these poor people to have a man among them to whom they can [4] go in any trouble or distress, — whose sole object is to comfort & then advise them; who visits them in sickness, who relieves them in want, & whom they see living in daily danger of persecution & death only for their benefit. You will think they have converted me but in point of doctrine I think Catholics & Protestants are equally wrong. As Missionaries I think Catholics are best, & I would gladly see none others, rather than have as in New Zealand sects of native dissenters more rancorous against each other than in England. The unity of the Catholics is their strength, and an unmarried clergy can do as missionaries what married men can never undertake. I have written on this subject because I have nothing else to write about. Love to Thomas10 & Edward.11

Believe me Dear Fanny | Your ever affectionate Brother | Alfred R Wallace [signature]

Mrs. Sims.

1
This side of the page bears two annotations. The first is in ARW's hand and is written in the left-hand margin to be read if the page is rotated: "I received yours & Thomas' letters of January", possibly a postscript referring to letters from his sister and brother-in-law. The second was added later in another hand, perhaps that of ARW's sister, written in ink in the right-hand margin to be read if the page is rotated: "This note from Alfred I thought would amuse Algernon", presumably referring to ARW's cousin (Wilson, Charles Algernon "Ally" (1818-1884)). The letter has also been later marked in places in red crayon, also on the final page in pencil, perhaps by ARW for publication.
2
There is another annotation under the date: "Singapore.", perhaps added later by ARW.
3
Sims (née Wallace), Frances ("Fanny") (1812-1893). Sister of ARW; teacher.
4
Macassar oil, a type of hair oil very commonly used in the nineteenth century (Oxford English Dictionary. 2000. Macassar, adj. and n. Oxford English Dictionary. <www.oed.com>).
5
Mauduit, Anatole (1817-1858). Missionary with the Missions Étrangères de Paris at the church of St Joseph, Bukit Timah.
6
Huc, Évariste Régis (1813-1860). French missionary traveller.
7
Tonquin, also spelled Tonkin and Tongking, now known as Northern Vietnam (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2018. Tonkin [Tongking], Colonial Region, Vietnam. Encyclopaedia Britannica. <https://www.britannica.com/place/Tonkin> [accessed 13 August 2018]).
8
Cochin China, a former French colony, now known as Southern Vietnam (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2018. Cochinchina, Region, Vietnam. Encyclopaedia Britannica. <https://www.britannica.com/place/Cochinchina> [accessed 13 August 2018]).
9
Penang and Singapore were the locations respectively of the College General Seminary, and a daughter seminary, now St Francis Xavier Major Seminary, places of training for Roman Catholic missionaries then in Malaysia (The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore. 2018. St Francis Xavier Major Seminary. History of the Catholic Church in Singapore. <http://history.catholic.sg/st-francis-xavier-major-seminary/> [accessed 07 September 2018]).
10
Sims, Thomas (1826-1910). Brother-in-law of ARW; photographer.
11
Sims, Edward (1829-1906). Brother of Thomas Sims, brother-in-law of ARW; photographer.

Editorial information

Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP363.363)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Bevan, Deniz [2012-03-13] Transcription checked by Knott, Peter [2012-05-14] Transcription checked by Catchpole, Caroline [2013-01-15] Transcription checked by Watt, Helen [2018-09-11]

Published letter (WCP363.5909)

[1] [p. 62]

TO HIS SISTER, MRS. SIMS

Singapore. April 21, 1856.

My dear Fanny,— I believe I wrote to you last mail, and have now little to say except that I am still a prisoner in Singapore and unable to get away to my land of promise, Macassar, with whose celebrated oil you are doubtless acquainted. I have been spending three weeks with my old friend the French missionary, going daily into the jungle, and fasting on Fridays on omelet and vegetables, a most wholesome custom which I think the Protestants were wrong to leave off. I have been reading Huc’s travels in China in French, and talking with a French missionary just arrived from Tonquin. I have thus obtained a great deal of information about these countries and about the extent of the Catholic missions in them, which is astonishing. How is it that they do their work so much more thoroughly than the Protestant missionary ? In Cochin China, Tonquin, and China, where all Christian missionaries are obliged to live in secret and are subject to persecution, expulsion, and often death, yet every province, even those farthest in the interior of China, have their regular

[2] [p. 63]

establishment of missionaries constantly kept up by fresh supplies who are taught the languages of the countries they are going to at Penang or Singapore. In China there are near a million Catholics, in Tonquin and Cochin China more than half a million! One secret of their success is the cheapness of their establishments. A missionary is allowed about £30 a year, on which he lives, in whatever country he may be. This has two good effects. A large number of missionaries can be employed with limited funds, and the people of the countries in which they reside, seeing they live in poverty and with none of the luxuries of life, are convinced they are sincere. Most are Frenchmen, and those I have seen or heard of are well-educated men, who give up their lives to the good of the people they live among. No wonder they make converts, among the lower orders principally. For it must be a great comfort to these poor people to have a man among them to whom they can go in any trouble or distress, whose sole object is to comfort and advise them, who visits them in sickness, who relieves them in want, and whom they see living in daily danger of persecution and death only for their benefit.

You will think they have converted me, but in point of doctrine I think Catholic and Protestants are equally wrong. As missionaries I think Catholics are best, and I would gladly see none others, rather than have, as in New Zealand, sects of native Dissenters more rancorous against each other than in England. The unity of the Catholics is their strength, and an unmarried clergy can do as missionaries what married men can never undertake. I have written on this subject because I have nothing else to write about. Love to Thomas and Edward. — Believe me, dear Fanny, your ever affectionate brother, | ALFRED R. WALLACE.

Editorial information

Status: Draft transcription [Published letter (WCP363.5909)]

For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon

Revision history

Transcribed by Congerton, John [2019-12-17]

Please cite as “WCP363,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP363