Robert Moffat One of God’s Gardeners

Robert Moffat [1795-1883] was a Scottish Pioneer missionary in South Africa. Edwin Smith’s biography on one the standard biographies, which I am able to upload thanks to the kind permission of the Church Missionary Society.

Edwin W. Smith [1876-1957], Robert Moffat: One of God’s Gardeners. London: Church Missionary Society, 1925. Hbk. pp.251. [Click to download in PDF]

Contents

Author’s Preface

1. Early Life
2. South Africa a Century Ago
3. The Bushmen and the Hottentots
4. A Severe Test
5. Builders of Hope
6. The Bechuana
7. Wars and Rumours of Wars
8. Kuruman
9. Journeyings Oft
10. The Translator
11. Kuruman Again
12. A Troublous Time
13. The Crowning Act
14. Pioneering at Sixty-Five
15. The Final Years

Map – South Africa in Robert Moffat’s Day
Index

Author’s Preface

MY object throughout this volume has been to place Moffat in the historical and ethnological setting of South Africa-a country that has changed so much during the last hundred years that it is difficult for the present generation to realize the conditions under which he worked. For the facts of Moffat’s life I have relied chiefly upon his own book, Missionary Labours and Scenes in South Africa (published in 1842), and the biography by his son, the late Rev. J. S. Moffat. Much information has been gathered from the works of the early travellers, some of which are named in footnotes, I would express my gratitude to the London Missionary Society, which gracefully placed its records at my disposal ; and to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society who allow me to use letters which have never before (so far as I am aware) been printed. My best thanks are also due to the Rev. J. Tom Brown, late of Kuruman, who most generously allowed me to read, and make use of, his manuscript on the history and customs of the Bechuana, which I hope will before long be published. My own experiences as a pioneer missionary in South Central Africa, and a visit I made to Kuruman in 1912, have helped me considerably in appreciating Moffat’s work. [Click to continue reading]