The Jubilee Year
When, in 1897, the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of permanent work in Siam, the doctor was the only survivor of the group who met together in Bangkok half-a-century before. None of the workers in the field doubtless had greater rejoicing at that jubilee than Dr. House. The following letter of felicitation he wrote on that occasion to the daughter of his fellow missionary, herself born in Siam and from childhood knowing him as “Uncle Samuel”; it was a delicate tribute to the memory of his companions in labours.
“Waterford, New York, March 18, 1897.
“To Miss Mary L. Mattoon:
“My dear Mary:
“You will excuse the familiarity of my address when you learn why my heart just now goes out to you with affectionate interest. You are the child, the Siam-born child of the honoured, now sainted missionary couple who with my unworthy self just fifty years ago, March 22, 1847, after eight months of weary voyage, landed in Bangkok and founded the present prosperous mission of the Presbyterian Board in the Kingdom of Siam. Yes, the coming Monday, the 22nd, will be the fiftieth birthday of that mission, and 1897 is its jubilee year.
“How vivid are the memories of that never-to-be-forgotten day of our arrival, our welcome from the old missionaries of the other Boards, our first impressions of our strange yet interesting surroundings; and of the busy week and month and years that followed; and of work for the Master, with our full share of the peculiar joys and sorrows, trials and disappointments of mission life! How all the mercies come thronging into my mind.
“And what cause for gratitude that God has so honoured the humble beginning with such glorious results in these later days. ‘The little one has indeed become a thousand’; yes, thousands now of baptised converts from heathenism are rejoicing in Siam and Laos in the knowledge and the love of Christ who, had that mission not been begun and watched over and prayed over by those godly devoted parents of yours and their associate (would he had been a wiser and better man), would have lived and died without God and without hope, in the darkness of Buddhistic idolatry and atheism.
“To God be all glory given! Well may a jubilee be kept by all who know of the contrast between that day in Siam and the present. What wonders God hath wrought.
“Sincerely yours,
“S. R. House.”
Perhaps it was the celebration of this jubilee in Siam that reminded former pupils of the Bangkok boys’ school of how much they were indebted to Dr. House for the immeasurable difference between their Christian enlightenment and the paganism around them. At any rate in the following summer Dr. House received from a group of his former pupils a gift of one hundred and twenty-five dollars, accompanied by this letter:
“Sumray, Bangkok, June 15, 1898.
“The Rev. S. R. House, M.D.:
“Sir: We have learned that your old age coming to eighty-one on the 16th of October next. On the occasion we are glad to subscribe among your oriental scholars of Siam to offer you a small present, which we obtained for your birthday.
“We herewith request you to accept this small sum for your birthday present for the recognition of your Siamese scholars, and we beg to thank you for the knowledgment which we obtained from you when you were with us in our lovely country. And we noted you were the foundation of our knowledgment, and we will place your name on the stone of our hearts as long as we live.
“We pray God to bless you, to comfort and to help you in all circumstances; and we hope to meet you again in the Kingdom of our Father.
“We have the honour to remain, Sir, your affectionate scholars.”
(Signed by twenty-eight former pupils.)
But that birthday never arrived. Only a few days after the receipt of this affectionate token and grateful testimonial, Dr. House took leave forever from his friends of Siam and from his friends of all the world. On the thirteenth day of October, 1898, he reached Home At Last.
His affection for Siam outlived his days; for he had provided a small bequest for the Harriet House school in memory of his wife. Dr. House and his wife lie buried in the Waterford Rural Cemetery.