John Urquhart, part 11: A Visit to London
Robert Morrison (1782-1834).
Pioneer missionary to China.
“Send me where the difficulties are greatest, and, to all human appearances, the most insurmountable.”
For a time during the summer, John thought that he might not go back to St. Andrews in the fall. Wisdom seemed to be pointing him to Hoxton Academy in London, where he could begin training for the ministry and study directly under Robert Morrison, the well-known missionary to China who was back in England for a few years. But circumstances prevented him from moving to London, and he made plans to complete one last year with his good and godly friends.
Yet as God would have it, he would get the rare privilege of meeting Robert Morrison and learning the rudiments of the Chinese language from one of the few who could have taught it to him. Morrison himself had grown up in a Christian home and by 17 had desired to enter foreign missions. But, like Urquhart, his parents did not prefer this vocation for their son. Morrison promised his mother that as long as she lived, he would stay in England to care for her. He was faithful to his promise, and waited until her death to apply to the London Missionary Society.
Morrison was undecided about his ultimate destination—should it be Africa or China? He prayed “that God would station him in that part of the missionary field where the difficulties were greatest, and, to all human appearances, the most insurmountable.” Before long, the answer came in the form of a clear call to China. In China he faced opposition and deprivation. He was opposed by the Chinese government, most of the citizens, and even by the Roman Catholic church. With difficulty he mastered the language, wrote a Chinese grammar, and began translating the Bible. Now, after 17 years in China, he had returned to England for a time. Is there any wonder that young Urquhart would want to learn from such a kindred spirit?
In September, John traveled to London to spend some time with John Adam before their school session resumed in November. Not only did this give him the chance to meet Morrison, but also the chance to see William Orme for what would turn out to be the last time. On October 20, John wrote to his father to let him know about his activities in London—
Mr. Adam and I called on Dr. Morrison a few days after my arrival. . .He spoke of missions calmly and rationally, and not with an unbalanced enthusiasm that I would have expected from a man who had spent seventeen years in a heathen country. Dr. Morrison very kindly offered to introduce me to his students at the Missionary Society’s rooms, in Austin-friars, where the he goes three days a week to give lessons in Chinese. I have attended there, with a few exceptions, every day since my arrival, and I’ve learned enough about the process of learning the language to enable me to do it on my own, should I wish to pursue it. Dr. Morrison has offered me a loan of the books that are needed, which are very expensive, (the Dictionary alone having been published at thirteen guineas;) and has also gifted me with a small work, which he has just published, entitled the ‘Chinese Miscellany.’ With these helps, I hope to do something at the language this winter, in St. Andrew’s, and should I never make any actual use of it, it will be a good mental exercise.
John fully intended to continue with the language studies once he returned to St. Andrews, and left behind evidence that he did so. As Orme later sorted through his papers, he found that John had made significant progress in Chinese, to the point where he even translated the first chapter of John. But this is as close to China, or any other foreign field, that John would ever be.
