Tárogató, 1940-1941 (3. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1940-10-01 / 4. szám
16 TÁROGATÓ the obstacles set in his path; against growing opposition and persecution, until one day he was brought before a Company court, charged with a terrible crime, and he was convicted. The Company immediately requested the Missionary Society of the Church in England to remove James Evans, and citing his trial as the basis for their request. One can scarcely begin to imagine the feelings of James Evans, amid these terrible trials he was called upon to face, but there must have been some comfort for him in the knowledge that he was innocent, and that the charges were entirely false. However, he was recalled to England, to give an account of his stewardship, so he and his family left Norway House and started on the long and hazardous journey across the sea. When he arrived in England, and came face to face with the officials of the Missionary Society, he met with but a cold reception, for they themselves had evidently found it difficult to believe that prominent and responsible people, such as Sir George Simpson, and officials of the great Co. might at least be “mistaken” in their charges. However, it is a well known maxim of British law, that a man must be regarded as innocent, until he is proven beyond any doubt, to be guilty. To make the story short, the thorough investigation that was undertaken brought to light the fact that the evidence upon which James Evans had been convicted by the Company’s court, had been secured through bribery and coercion, and eventually he was exonerated, and his name cleared of the stigma that had been so callously attached to it. However, Sir George Simpson had been eminently successful in accomplishing what he had set out to do, and that was, to get James Evans out of this north country. The whole sorry story became widely known in England, and after his complete vindication, he was in great demand as a missionary speaker, and he went about England speaking to great audiences, and telling them about his work among the Indians of Northern Canada. At Hull, the city of his birth, he spoke to a large audience for three hours. The following night, which was the 23rd November, 1846, he spoke at Keilby in Lincolnshire. After this meeting, while at the home of his host, they talked together about his work amid his hope to return to Canada to continue it. During the conversation, Mrs. Evans said to him, “Well, my dear, it is pleasant to think of returning to those dear people, but I have a strange presentiment all day, that we shall never see Norway House again,” and he replied, “Well my dear, Heaven is as near from England as it is from Norway House.” Shortly afterwards, while he was sitting talking to his host, the latter suddently noticed that James Evans was leaning in a strange attitude in his chair. He moved quickly to him to see what could be the matter, and found that the spirit of James Evans had fled. There ended, at the early age of 45 years, the earthly life of this great and good man. One hundred years have passed since James Evans lived and worked here at this mission, but the ending of his own personal contact did not mean the ending of the work he had so courageously started, and for which he had borne so much suffering. The work goes on to-day, and it will continue to go on. In this present Church, Sunday by Sunday, hymns are sung, and the Scripture are read, from books printed in the Syllabic Cree which James Evans so painstakingly invented; and not only here at Norway House but throughout this great north country, all the Indian missions, whether United Church, Anglican, or Roman Catholic, carry on their work of spreading the Gospel, upon the solid foundations so well and truly laid by James Evans. Others who were speakers in Thursday’s events were Dr. G. B. King, Winnipeg; Dr. J. A. Doyle, Portage la Prairie; Dr. E. M. Howse, Winnipeg and others. At departure time, when the delegation of church people left to return to Winnipeg, the dock was crowded with Indians, singing in their own language God Be With You Till We Meet Again.
