FORTUNE RENOUNCED

Wairarapa Age, 11 April 1929, Page 7

FORTUNE RENOUNCED

Mission Field Romance. MAN’S HIGH SENSE OF DUTY. BEFORE LOVE AND RICHES. The recent death of Mrs C. T. Studd 1 , sister-in-law of the Lord Mayor of London while on a visit to, a mission! station at Malaga, Southern Spain, reveals the romance associated with the Efe of her husband, who renounced greut wealth to live in a hut ini the great Ituri Forest, in Central Africa. Mr. and Mrs. Studd, although devotedly attached to earih other, had been parted for years. Mrs. Studd could not stand the African climate, but her husband felt that he could, not leave his mission field.. Mr. Studd, who is an old. Eton and Cambridge man, was a member of the Hon. Ivor Bligh’s team, which brought back “the Ashes” from Australia 46 years ago. He was a great ‘ ‘ all-round-er.” Mr. Studd s iafe since he graduated at Cambridge has been devoted, to the mission field. .'So, too, has his private fortune, for he gave every penny he inherited to evangelistic work. His first experiences.were ini 'China and India, though during a period of convalescence he worked and lived in the slums, at Atcoats, Manchester. ■A few years ago Mr. Studd penetrated into territory in the Belgian Congo, which no Protestant missionary has ever visited. With one friend he gained the confidence of the savages and under the fierce tropical sun he continues his devoted service without rest. LIFE IN A NATIVE HUT. Mr. Studd Is permanent home on the equator is little more than the ordinary shabby little native hut. At first ho lived in a mud hut on the river bank; but his present abode has walls of mattee (elephant grass) and is thatched with leaves and: grasses. There this learned veteran, who might have had a heme in Mayfair and a elub in Pall Mall, occupies one room. He resolutely declines to move into a better house of stucco or bamboo. For the past twelve years Mr. Studd has cheerfully endured all the discomforts and difficulties of a pioneering missionary. The ground he selected was virgin soil, and some of his early struggles were against the* hostile forces of native witchcraft doctors. He is advancing in years ,anid. though his friends have often tried to persuade him to come home- on leave, he is so wrapped up in his work that all their pleadings have been vain. The story of how Mr. Charles Studd became a missionary, and how he made his decision to give away all he possessed bps been told to the Sunday News by an intimate friend' who has been closely asosciated with the Heart of Africa Mission, which Mr. Studd founded in 1913. This mission never appeals for funds, but donations com® in regularly, often from unknown sources, and never yet has it failed to settle its accounts month by month. FORTUNE OF £30,000 GIVEN AWAY “At the age of 23 Mr. Studd formed one of the famous ’Cambridge Seven,’ who left the University for the China Mission field. One of his colleagues was Mr. Stanley Smith, the rtroke of ihe Cambridge boat crew. He had been in the East for two or three years when he was sent to a station where there had been a riot and whore- every missionary’s house had been destroyed. Only the British Consul remained behind at his post.

“ Every gate or the city was guarded to prevent any ‘ foreign devil’ entering. but Mr. Studd managed to get threugh. The consul was surprised he saw him. He could scarcely believe his eyes, and he at once advised Mr. £tudd to> get out of the turbulent city as soon, as possible, asi no foreigners except the consul had any guarantee of safety. 1 •’Undismayed by the ominous- situation, Mi. Studd stopped and sonic time afterwardisi the mail, which camo only twice a month, brought him letters from a solicitor and banker, intimating that he had become heir to more than £30,000. There and then he became, to use his own phrase, ‘just ordinary honesi/ and decided to give all the money away. When he first tried to get the signature of the consul, giving power of attorney for the distribution of the money, he met with a ?urt refusal. The consul eyed the young man. severely. “You don’t know vzhat you are doing, 31 he declared. “I won’t sign. 33 Mr. Studd continued to press the point, but after a little- wrangle, he agreed to think the matter over for a fortnight. At the end of the- second week Mr. Studd was still of the same view, that he had no need of the money, and that it could be put to good use by Christian institutions and organisations such as the Salvation Army. He had another talk with, the consul, who had somewhat reluctantly affixed his signature and seal to th*e necessary papers. In that way Mr. Studd -saenificed the whole of his fortune, and to-day he works among the primitive tribes oh the same basis as the most humble of his staff. His father was a wealthy man. He made a fortune in. Indian and came to England to spend it. He was a great sportsman and was devoted to horses. He owned many good jumper.*; and won the Grand National with Salamander. H-* also made a racecourse. Then Mr. Studdcame under evangelistic influence and gave up his horses and betting and 10-st all interest in theatres, dances and cards. MARRIAGE IN MISSION FIELD Few men have* the wonderful vitality of Mr. Studd. Once he w feeling ill. His temperature w-as 103, and he was advised to rest, but in his zeal he dragged himself up from his couch and conducted a two-hour s service. When he was escorted back to his humble hut his temperature had returned to normal. Elach day, though he' is now on the verge of the allotted span of life, he rises at dawn. For three years at a stretch he worked from sunrise to sunset, very often without a- 'break for meals, trauwlating the Bible into one of the tribal languages. Day after day he labours among the natives and is happily content. The betrothal of Mrs. Studd was a romance of the mission, field. Mrs. Studd, formerly Miss Priscilla Livingstone Stewart, was working for the China Inland Mission when she met her future husband. They were married in 1888 and spent seven arduous years in the interior of North China, until Mrs. Studd was invalided home.

Mrs. Studd is survived by four daughters, all of whom, carry on the traditions of their parents. She spent some time in Africa, but her health was unequal to the climate and she very reluctantly had to leave her husband to “carry on*’ alone.