98 Kenneth S. Latourcttc, 



"Roberts Fund and China Mission Society" and turned over to it 

 his property, his hope being that it would attract additional aid 

 as the years went by.**" Under this society he sailed from home, 

 in 1837,^^ and on his arrival at Macao took vip his residence 

 with Shuck. He worked in Macao for several years, preaching 

 for a time to a colony of lepers. ^- 



In addition to the arrival of Roberts the year 1837 was 

 marked by one other incident of importance, the visit of the 

 "Morrison" to Japan. This voyage, significant in history as 

 one of the early attempts to open that empire, was an American 

 undertaking from Canton, entirely pacific and largely philan- 

 thropic in its motive. Its primary purpose was to return to their 

 homes seven shipwrecked Japanese. Three of these had been 

 driven across the Pacific, 'wrecked on the Northwest Coast of 

 America and sent by the Hudson Bay Company via London to 

 Canton; and the other four were rescued from a wreck near 

 Manila;-^ In July, 1837, Olyphant and Company, who had taken 

 care of them for some time, dispatched the "Morrison" to 

 return them to Japan. With the ship went C. W. King, Parker, 

 Williams, and Giitzlaff.** The party stopped at the Lew Chew 

 Islands, where they were well received, and instead of going to 

 Nagasaki, the only Japanese port where any foreign trade was 

 allowed, sailed directly for Yedo Bay. Here they anchored 

 for three days, holding some communication with the Japanese, 

 but were fired on at the end of that time and withdrew. They 

 went next to Kagoshima Bay, and were at first fairly well 

 received, but later they were again fired on, and left without 

 landing their refugees. They reached China, August 29th, their 

 primary aim unattained. Through these same refugees, how- 

 ever, some acc|uaintance with the language of their country was 

 obtained by W^illiams, who later (in 1853 and 1854) acted as 



®° Corres. of A. B. M. U., Circular letter of Roberts to the Society, 

 Feb. 18, 1841. See also, Wylie, Memorials, etc., p. 94, Hervey, Baptist 

 Miss., p. 512. 



^' Corres. of A. B. M. U., Roberts to Bolles, Jan. 25, 1837. 



*" Hervey, The Story of Baptist Missions, p. 513. 



*'Ch. Rep., 6:209-229, 353-380, narrative of S. W. Williams. 



**They took with them an assortment of articles of trade for use in 

 case it should be found possible to open commercial relations. 



