.:=.■...: :■'■•.■-■.:':■ 
 
 B\M745S 
 .M95 
 
 

 I 
 
 LIB Pt A^R Y 
 
 Theological Seminary 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Shelf £>y3& 
 Book 
 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Princeton Theological Seminary Library 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/briefreviewoftenOOmull 
 
% §ricf 
 
 OF 
 
 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR IN INDIA 
 
 BETWEEN 1852 AND 1801. 
 
By the same Author. 
 
 BRIEF MEMORIALS OF THE REV. A. F. LACROIX, 
 
 MISSIONARY OF THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN CALCUTTA, 
 
 By his Son-in-Law, JOSEPH MULLENS, D.D. With Brief Memorials of 
 Mrs. MULLENS, by her Sister. 1862. 
 
 ALSO, 
 
 STATISTICAL TABLES OF MISSIONS IN INDIA, 
 CEYLON, AND BITRMAH, 
 
 At the Close of 1861. Compiled from Original Letters and Local Reports, 
 By JOSEPH MULLENS, D.D., 
 
 Missionary of the London Missionary Society, 
 1863. 
 
 Price One Shilling. 
 
OF 
 
 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 IN INDIA 
 
 BETWEEN 1852 AND 1861. 
 
 PREPARED FROM LOCAL REPORTS AND ORIGINAL 
 LETTERS. 
 
 JOSEPH MULLENS, D.D. 
 
 MISSIONARY OF THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY IN CALCUTTA. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JAMES NISBET AND CO. 21 BERNERS STREET. 
 
 1863. 
 
" Then said I, Whither goest thou ? And he said unto me, To measure Jeru- 
 salem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof. And 
 another angel said unto him .... Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without 
 walls, for the multitude of men and cattle therein." 
 
 "This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by 
 power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts .... For who hath despised the 
 day of small things ? " 
 
0? 
 
 PEIITCBTOH 
 
 ^ 
 
 v ; 
 
 
 A BEIEF KEVIEW, 
 
 Sfc. fyc. 
 
 Dueing the last ten years our Indian Empire has made a 
 gigantic stride on the path of real progress. Whether we look to 
 the production of its material wealth, the character and extent 
 of its trade, the machinery of its government, its internal com- 
 munications, or its intercourse with foreign lands, in each and 
 all of these elements of its position, we find solid and substantial 
 advance. It has added largely to the number of its subjects, 
 has provided increased resources for their material happiness, 
 and fresh endeavours have been made to secure for all the enjoy- 
 ment of those resources in honour, safety, and freedom. 
 
 The year 1852 opened in the midst of the Burmese War, 
 The month of April saw the capture by English soldiers of the 
 great Pagoda-Fort of Rangoon, followed in August by the 
 taking of Prome ; the Province of Pegu was annexed to the 
 English Empire : the sea-coast of Burmah in an unbroken line 
 from Chittagong to Mergui was placed in English hands ; and 
 the crushed population of the new province, Talaings, Khyens, 
 and Karens, relieved from the cruel oppressions of a hundred 
 years, found in the Chief Commissioner, Colonel Phayre, a 
 friend whose only study has been to make them forget the past, 
 and raise them to the position of free men. 
 
 In the following year, by a treaty with the Nizam, the 
 assigned districts of the fertile province of Berar were given to 
 the East India Company in payment of long-standing claims; 
 the valuable province of Nagpore fell into their hands for want 
 of a ruler ; and two years later the province of Oude, in con- 
 sequence of the alleged neglect of its native King, was annexed 
 to the Empire in Upper India. These additions of territory, 
 with the then-recent conquest of the Punjab, and the forfeiture 
 of the principalities of Jhansi and Sattara, in the brief space of 
 seven years added to the Empire four millions of annual 
 revenue, and brought beneath its sway with all the heavy 
 
 B 
 
2 TEN TEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 responsibilities of government, more than twenty-two millions of 
 subjects, a population equal to that of the newly constituted 
 kingdom of Italy, and one-third that of the entire Empire of 
 Russia. 
 
 In 1853, Parliamentary inquiry initiated several important 
 changes in the form of the Indian Government. Bengal, so 
 long neglected, obtained a Lieutenant-governor. The small 
 Council of India, with its written minutes and huge despatch- 
 boxes, gave place in legislative matters to a Council of Twelve, 
 including two English judges, with representatives from all the 
 Presidencies of India, holding its debates in the presence of the 
 public, and publishing an official account of its proceedings. 
 To this Council, which sat for six years, the country is indebted 
 for some of the most valuable laws ever passed in India, amongst 
 which, prominent above all others, stand the Penal Code, and 
 the Codes of Civil and Criminal Procedure. The Codes of Pro- 
 cedure, intended to cure in some measure what has been from 
 the first the great reproach of the Company's Government, the 
 utter inefficiency of the Courts of Law, were prepared by the 
 Law Commission appointed in London in 1853, and are one of 
 the valuable fruits of the Parliamentary inquiry of that year. 
 The three Codes are an enduring monument of the wisdom and 
 skill of the able and experienced men by whom they were 
 elaborated ; they are a gift of the highest value to our Indian 
 subjects ; and would have received far greater praise than was 
 accorded them, had they not come into operation when other 
 measures of the highest importance also claimed ]mblic regard. 
 
 During this brief period the internal administration of the 
 Empire has been revolutionised. That the Civil and Medical 
 services, instead of being filled up by nominees, should be sup- 
 plied by a competition, which sends from home the best men that 
 the universities of London, Edinburgh, and Dublin, can supply, 
 is a trifling fact compared with the changes which all depart- 
 ments of government have undergone in the country itself. 
 
 The great extension of the non-reuulation svstem of govern- 
 merit; the abundant scope given to the energy, self-reliance, and 
 judgment of the able officers, the choicest men of both services, 
 by whom it was carried out: with the vast sums from the 
 Imperial Treasury placed at their command; and the stimulus 
 produced by the personal example and weight of Lord Dal- 
 housie, proved most powerful instruments in supplying to the 
 Presidency of Bengal a larger number of earnest, sagacious, and 
 successful administrators, than had previously been formed by 
 tbe quiet routine system of other years ; and imparted a tone 
 and spirit to the official classes generally which were felt over 
 
IN INDIA. 6 
 
 the entire range of the Bengal Provinces from Peshawur to 
 Mergui. 
 
 Under the same Governor-General all officers of government 
 in civil employ were divided into grades ; and a system of 
 examinations was instituted by which the fitness of all might be 
 tested; in order to ensure, so far as knowledge of regulations 
 and of the native tongues can do, that the highest responsibilities 
 in the administration of justice shall be devolved only upon the 
 men most competent to fulfil them. Few things have been so 
 perseveringl v pressed upon all officers of government in recent 
 years, as the necessity of knowing well the language of the 
 people over whom they rule. The principle of divided respon- 
 sibility also was in important cases set aside by the breaking up 
 of the Military Board, and the consolidation of the Boards of 
 Revenue and Opium. With a view to secure privileged enjoy- 
 ments for the services thus improved, the regulations for leave 
 were adapted to the times, and to the increased facilities fur- 
 nished by steam- voyages for making brief visits to our native 
 land. 
 
 In certain social questions the Government continued to press 
 forward the reforms advocated and commenced in previous years. 
 Systematic murder by the Thuggee system was attacked with 
 great energy in the Punjab, where it extensively prevailed, and, 
 as in former days in Upper India, was successfully put a stop 
 to. Gang-robbery by organised bands ; the slavery system in 
 the Hindu kingdom of Travancore ; occasional cases of Suttee 
 in native states ; the sacrificial murder of children among the 
 Khonds, have all been steadfastly opposed — the last even at the 
 expense of the lives of valued officers, whose visits to the feverish 
 tracts of Orissa, where the evil flourished, were invariably fol- 
 lowed by illness, and not seldom by death. No measures of this 
 class were more remarkable than the earnest efforts of the Pun- 
 jab officers to stay the fearful infanticide prevalent among the 
 Rajpoots; and the great meetings held at Amritsir in 1853, when 
 the chiefs of Rajpoot society, there assembled, engaged to save 
 the lives of their female infants, and to reduce the marriage 
 expenses by which the infanticide was fostered, will long be 
 remembered as an important era in the cause of humanity among 
 that powerful race. 
 
 It is specially during this important decade that measures 
 of the largest kind have been taken for drawing all parts of 
 India much nearer to each other, and for bringing the empire 
 Avithin a shorter distance of home. Till recently railways were 
 unknown in India ; but the great minute of the Governor- 
 General secured for them an extensive introduction into all the 
 
4 TEN YEARS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 most important routes of the empire, and a vigorous prosecution 
 by authorities competent to make them complete. More than 
 4600 miles of trunk-lines have been planned at a cost of 
 55,000,000/. sterling, of which the great line from Bombay 
 to Calcutta, across the hitherto closed tracks of Central India, 
 will bring the capital of the empire at least five days nearer to 
 England than it has ever been. By these great lines, when 
 fully completed, and fed by branch railways, tramways, and 
 roads, a compactness and unity will be given to the Empire, and 
 to its numerous wide-spread provinces, of the most surprising 
 kind. 
 
 The first section of line was opened at Bombay in 1853 ; 
 forty miles of the East Indian Railway near Calcutta speedily 
 followed. But the first line completed from end to end w r as the 
 the South- Western of Madras. By May 1862, 1630 miles 
 were opened, to which 1300 miles have just been added in the 
 cold season at the end of the year. The remaining 1800 are 
 in process of construction, and will (it is believed) be completed 
 within two years. It is not improbable that at the close of the 
 present year the line from Calcutta to Delhi, the trunk line of 
 the Gangetic Valley, will be traversed from end to end, except 
 at the river Jumna, where a steam ferry will, for the present, 
 occupy the place of the unfinished bridge ; while, at the same 
 time, the Bombay line will be completed to the city of Nagpore. 
 The natives are enthusiastic in favour of railway travelling, 
 especially in the Presidency of Bengal. They readily adopt it 
 wherever it is available; and their caste, about which much was 
 feared, has accommodated itself to the demands of the railway 
 system with scarcely one grumble of opposition. 
 
 The telegraph immediately preceded the rail, and has been 
 laid along all the great lines of traffic. Notwithstanding many 
 difficulties, 3000 miles of wire were erected above ground in the 
 course of two years, at a cost of 200,000/. The lines had to 
 cross, by cables, seventy large rivers, to traverse tracts of rock 
 and mountain, sand and loam ; to pass through miles of dense 
 jungle, where wild animals and deadly fevers had their haunt. 
 But the work was prosecuted with energy and success, and the 
 lines now embrace all the great towns of the empire, and stretch 
 over all its provinces, from Galle to Peshawur, from Peshawur 
 to Rangoon. 
 
 Within the same period the postage system has been adapted 
 to the wants of the country, and the general improvements of 
 the times. The old system of heavy charges and varying rates, 
 paid in bulky Indian cash, gave place, in 1853, to light charges, 
 uniform rates, and postage-stamps. In 1855 the steam postage 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 to England was reduced to sixpence the half ounce, by way of 
 Southampton, and a shilling vid Marseilles. The great boon of 
 book-post was also added, both inland and abroad; so that in the 
 present day literature is conveyed to every part of India at three 
 halfpence for seven ounces, and to England at fourpence for 
 every quarter of a pound. In 1858 the English mails were 
 increased to four every month each way, while improved vessels 
 and increasing experience have gradually reduced the length of 
 the outward voyage to Calcutta to thirty-one days by the 
 Marseilles route, and brought both letters and passengers with 
 great regularity. The comfort and speed of the steam passage 
 to England have been so largely increased as years go by, that 
 visits home are rendered exceedingly easy, and many persons 
 travel to India and back for purposes of trade almost every year. 
 Nothing but the heavy charge of 120/., made for the passage 
 by the Peninsular and Oriental Company, prevents many others 
 from doing the same. The partial opening of the railways 
 from Bombay has reduced the transit of letters by that route to 
 Calcutta to twenty-eight days during the present year; and when 
 the great trunk line between the two cities is completed, and the 
 Italian railways from Brindisi and Ancona are directly connected 
 with Paris and London, the dream of enthusiasts in former years, 
 that some day our letters could travel from London to Calcutta 
 in twenty-one days, is likely to be realised. 
 
 Roads in India have not been greatly improved till lately, 
 when, on the one hand, the demand for cotton compelled their 
 construction, and on the other the rapid completion of the 
 railways, began to give a definite direction to them as feeders 
 of the more rapid system. The great trunk roads in Bengal, 
 the North-west and the Punjab, the chief arteries of Indian 
 traffic, have been maintained and extended ; and have continued 
 to present to the English traveller, in the busy crowds that, 
 traverse them from morning to night, one of the most picturesque 
 exhibitions of Oriental life to be found anywhere within the 
 territories of the Empire. Steamers have been greatly mul- 
 tiplied on the river Ganges, and have made their appearance on 
 the Indus, the Godavery, and other principal streams. Within 
 the decade the Ganges Canal has been completed to a length 
 (with its branches) of nine hundred miles ; and its great success 
 lias led to the planning of other canals for the dry tracts that 
 border on the rivers of the Punjab, the Kristna and Palar in 
 Madras, and the Mohanuddy in Orissa. The value of the 
 Ganges Canal appeared in the most conspicuous manner during 
 the recent famine, when, though its supply was reduced by the 
 causes which produced the prevailing drought, its waters were 
 
TEN TEARS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 the means of diminishing much suffering and of saving manv 
 lives. 
 
 The trade of India during the last ten years shows, by its 
 vast increase, the abundance of the resources now available for 
 the comfort of its population. The following brief table will 
 show how steadily the trade has continued to grow during the 
 last thirty years : — 
 
 1834-5 the entire trade £14,342,000 
 
 1849-50 . . . 31,980,000 
 
 1853-4 . . . 45,246,000 
 
 1855-6 . . . 61,170,000 
 
 1860-1 . . . 89,074,000 
 
 The trade has thus more than doubled during our decade, the 
 increase being from about forty millions to eighty-nine. In 
 1861 Bengal and Bombay carried off the largest share, and in 
 nearly equal proportions : Bengal and Pegu having a trade of 
 thirty -six millions and a half; that of Bombay and Scinde 
 amounting to forty-one millions: the trade of Madras was 
 10,326,000/., divided equally between exports and imports. 
 Of the whole trade, produce of various kinds, especially rice, 
 silk, sugar, indigo, tea, jute, and cotton, was sent to England to 
 the value of twenty-two millions sterling. The cotton alone 
 despatched to England in 1861 weighed 3,295,000 cwt., and 
 was sold there for nine millions and a half sterling. So great 
 are the resources of this vast country, that in almost any diffi- 
 culty that arises with other nations, India is able at once to step 
 in and substitute its own goods for the failing supplies. A 
 notable instance of this occurred in the Russian war, when the. 
 Indian fibres rushed in to take the place of Russian hemp, and 
 have successfully maintained the ground they won. A grander 
 opportunity never was given to any country than that which 
 India enjoys for securing the cotton market of the future ; but 
 its best friends must mourn, that the dishonesty taught for ages 
 cannot withstand the temptation arising from high prices, and 
 supplies the famished market with bales weighted with bricks, 
 stones, and floods of water, instead of with the cotton which it 
 so largely needs. Partly from this increase of trade, chiefly from 
 the railway schemes, and partly from the English enterprise 
 which is striving to extend the cultivation of cotton and tea, an 
 enormous amount of money has been flowing into the country 
 from England: all native produce has increased in price; land 
 and labour have risen in value: and were the interests of all 
 classes rightly adjusted, the multitudes of peasantry by whose toil 
 this produce is raised would obtain a larger share of its enhanced 
 
IN INDIA. 7 
 
 value than they now enjoy. Nevertheless their gains have been 
 great ; and it is hoped that the future will advance their pros- 
 perity more largely still. A valuable illustration of these benefits 
 is seen in the fact that even under the ryot system of Madras, 
 since the reduction of the land-tax, the Government land revenue 
 has increased 1,000,000 J. sterling in five years, and the trade has 
 risen from 7,000,000Z. to 10,000,000^. 
 
 On the other hand, to the English in India the cost of living 
 has been greatly increased. The enormous rise in house-rent 
 in the Presidency towns, especially in Calcutta; the increased 
 wages of house-servants and of native artisans of all kinds, have 
 put a stop to the profits of former days ; and added to the heat 
 of the climate and the difficulty of managing natives, have in- 
 creased that dislike of the country and the people, and that desire 
 to quit both as speedily as possible, from which even Christian 
 people are not exempt. 
 
 Of the great event of the decade, the appalling Mutiny of the 
 native army, with its red tale of massacre and suffering, it is 
 unnecessary to speak at any length. The story is still fresh in 
 our memories ; many of its brave heroes still live before our 
 eyes ; its history remains to be written hereafter ; but that 
 history will show how the calamities which threatened to ruin 
 English usefulness in India, became the starting-point of a 
 stream of blessing which shall gladden the Empire and give pros- 
 perity to its nations for many generations to come. The native 
 army of Bengal was a spoiled and petted child, whose beloved 
 caste was watched over with jealous care, whose every wish was 
 gratified, and upon whom every Governor-general and every 
 Commander-in-chief feared to lay the hand of sound and healthy 
 discipline. Its deeds of bravery were lauded to the skies ; its 
 occasional delinquencies in running away from an enemy were 
 most carefully covered with silence. But suspicious of all, and 
 trusting none, the Sepoys carefully treasured up every item of 
 imagined injustice ; and every assurance given by the Govern- 
 ment that their privileges should not be endangered only con- 
 firmed their previous conviction that their caste was to be secretly 
 taken away. The greased cartridges blew the sparks into a 
 flame ; and in the early part of 1857, the fires at Umballa and 
 Agra, the plottings at Barrackpore, and the open mutiny at 
 Berhampore, gave warning that their dissatisfaction was un- 
 usually deep, and was most extensively spread. Suddenly, a 
 strange rumour passed from station to station, through all the 
 little bands of English society, that at Meerut they had broken 
 into open rebellion, fired their lines, marched off to Delhi, been 
 joined by the regiments there, and had set up a king for them- 
 
8 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 selves. With feelings of awe, it was whispered that, joined by 
 the rabble, they had murdered many officers, ladies, and children, 
 among the residents, so that only a few had escaped. From that 
 hour commenced a series of atrocities and disorders unparalleled 
 in the history of our colonial settlements. In numerous localities 
 in Upper India, the little societies of English, men, women, and 
 children, were exposed to trials and dangers of the most painful 
 kind, and were not seldom involved in one common ruin. For 
 many months, over hundreds of square miles, their houses were 
 heaps of blackened ruins; the highways were deserted, all traffic 
 ceased; riot, plunder, and murder, strode wildly over the land, 
 and the bodies of more than 1500 of our countrymen lay un- 
 buried upon the wastes, the food of dogs and jackals, and of foul 
 birds of prey. Of the endurance, the patience, the prowess, 
 called forth by these calamities, history will tell many a loving- 
 tale. Looking the crisis in the face, and nerving their energies 
 to meet its demands, the English communities set themselves to 
 fight, or planned to flee, as circumstances required. Here they 
 withstood overwhelming numbers by night and by day, and 
 never yielded to the last ; there they marched through inhos- 
 pitable foes for days and weeks with steady front, in scorching 
 heat and floods of rain. Even women boi*e the toil without a 
 murmur, and rendered hearty service in the midst of peril. In 
 Agra and Lucknow they cooked the food, or washed their dress, 
 or drew water from the well, with their own hands; and when 
 their defenders lay prostrate with disease or wounds, they tended 
 them in hours of sickness and sang pleasant songs at their bed- 
 side. Long will it be before the story of their endurance and of 
 their courage fails to rouse the spirit of their countrymen, and 
 call forth the admiration their deeds deserve. Long will it be 
 before the Christian heart shall fail to glorify the loving care of 
 their Divine Protector, who so marvellously saved their lives, 
 and brought hundreds safe through the appalling dangers which 
 threatened to engulf them all. 
 
 Nor is it necessary to tell of the military skill, the earnest 
 efforts, the patient suffering, the undaunted bravery, which in 
 two years enabled the English armies and their Sikh allies to 
 restore the land to order. To the future historian must be left 
 the pleasant task of describing as they deserve, and holding up 
 as an example to other times, the great services of the brave and 
 devoted men, civil and military, by whom cities were taken, 
 garrisons rescued, armies defeated, and rebels crushed; until the 
 tide of rebellion was driven back, leaders and followers alike 
 were scattered, and " the land had rest from war." 
 
 The immediate result of the restoration of order was the 
 
IN INDIA. 9 
 
 removal of the East India Company from their position of honour 
 as Governors of India. On the 1st of November, 1858, with 
 the consent of Parliament and the approval of the nation, the 
 Queen assumed the direct government of all the Presidencies of 
 India. In words of gentleness she proclaimed full amnesty for 
 all the lighter offences of rebellion to those who at once sub- 
 mitted ; and if the avowal of her own faith in Christianity and in 
 " the consolations of religion " was somewhat indefinite and weak, 
 not so were the assurances of her earnest desire to secure justice 
 for all her subjects, and allow none to suffer disabilities in con- 
 sequence of position, race, or creed. That proclamation in- 
 augurated a system of great measures, which have given an 
 entirely new spirit and tone to the operations of the Government, 
 have broken down the exclusiveness of the governing classes, 
 have conciliated the affections of the native population, and 
 largely secured the confidence and co-operation of Europeans. 
 
 With a view permanently to secure the confidence of the 
 great native princes, chiefs and landholders, once subject to the 
 King of Delhi, but now feudatory to the Queen, from the many 
 estates forfeited in the rebellion, a liberal distribution of substan- 
 tial rewards was made to those whose loyalty and assistance had 
 been specially conspicuous; all desire to annex their princi- 
 palities was repudiated ; the right of adopting heirs was solemnly 
 secured to the obedient; powers of Government were bestowed 
 on many of the wealthy landholders in Oude; an order of 
 knighthood, the " Star of India," now greatly prized, was 
 established, and its honours conferred on several of the princes; 
 and subsequently some were appointed members of the Legis- 
 lative Council. 
 
 The finances of the Empire, owing to the heavy expenditure 
 necessitated by the Mutiny, had meanwhile fallen into extreme 
 disorder. None seemed to know how great the expenditure had 
 become; and enormous loans were necessary to keep the state 
 from bankruptcy. Huge native levies had been gathered to aid 
 in suppressing disorder, and in 1859 the military expenditure alone 
 amounted to 24,000,000/., sterling. When at length able to 
 devote time to necessary reforms, Lord Canning bent himself 
 resoliuely to meet his difficulties. Doubling the customs, bring- 
 ing in a license bill, and rearranging the stamp duties, he pre- 
 pared the way for Mr. Wilson ; the latter by a clear budget 
 laid freely before the world the need of the Government, and by 
 the income and other taxes, endeavoured so to increase the 
 annual revenue that it might provide for the entire expenditure. 
 Under his successor, Mr. Laing, these improvements were 
 pushed to a more prosperous end. The huge native army was 
 
10 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 cut down to 120,000 men; the English army was reduced to 
 70,000; the taxes were again readjusted; and in May 1862, 
 while the expenditure had been reduced, the revenue was found 
 to amount to 43,000,000^ sterling (an increase of 9,500,000Z. 
 since 1857), and instead of the finances exhibiting a deficit, 
 there was a balance of 150,000Z. in hand. The recent budget 
 of Sir Charles Trevelyan shows greater improvement still. The 
 credit of the Government has therefore been thoroughly restored ; 
 all public, securities have risen in value ; an annual budget is 
 presented by the Finance Minister based upon carefully drawn 
 estimates in every department oi Government throughout the 
 Empire: and an audit office watches scrupulously that no depart- 
 ment exceeds the sums sanctioned for its use. 
 
 Among further vital changes in the form and spirit of the 
 Indian Government, it must be noted that the army of India, 
 native and European, has been amalgamated with the Royal 
 Army; that a portion of the barrier, which separated the un- 
 covenanted from the covenanted branch of the Civil Service, has 
 been broken down ; that the superior native courts have been 
 amalgamated with the supreme court, and now enjoy as one 
 high court the control and the revision of trained English judges; 
 that a large number of small cause courts have been established 
 in country towns and districts ; that many honorary magistrates 
 have been appointed in Bombay and Calcutta, and in various 
 parts of the country; and that an effort has been made to 
 bring the neglected provinces of Central India under a more 
 compact and efficient form of government than they have ever 
 yet enjoyed. 
 
 In the midst of these mighty changes, so calculated to render 
 English rule in India a wide-spread blessing, it pleased the God 
 of all wisdom to visit with the horrors of intense famine those 
 provinces of Upper India which had recently been desolated by 
 plunder, massacre, and war. In the early part of 1861, the 
 usual rains were withheld, but little snow fell upon the Himalaya; 
 and soon the empty reservoirs, and wells, the dried-up rivers, 
 and the scorched, burnt plains, warned the people that a time of 
 terrible suffering was coming on. The famine extended over 
 25,000 square miles; affecting chiefly seven districts, and par- 
 tially involving nine others. It held in its grasp 13,000,000 of 
 people ; of whom 5,500,000 suffered cruelly. Half-a-million 
 of people died. In cattle and produce the peasantry lost not 
 less than 4,000,000^. sterling. The famine was followed by pesti- 
 lence ; and the pestilence at a later period by heavy floods ; and 
 thus the " sore judgments " of God fell in succession upon 
 those devoted provinces, upon the soil of which much innocent 
 
IN INDIA. 1 1 
 
 blood had been shed. But man added not to these calamities. 
 The Government remitted 400,000£. due as land-tax; and gave a 
 donation of 250,0001. more. The Indian public contributed 
 45,0001. ; and the Christian public of England, 120,000Z., a noble 
 token of forgiveness to the people from whom they and theirs 
 had borne such bitter sorrow. One hundred and forty thousand 
 people were carefully fed for several months ; supplies of grain 
 were poured into the destitute districts until the roads became 
 ruined and impassable: the orphan schools were filled with children, 
 and ere long the pressure of the want was largely removed. In 
 many parts of the country, the largeness and generosity of the 
 English subscription produced a profound impression, and was 
 acknowledged with many expressions of gratitude. 
 
 It would be wrong to conclude this brief sketch of the general 
 history of India during the last ten years without adding one 
 word respecting the men, who either in India or their retirement 
 at home, have passed away from the scenes of their labour to 
 the other world. Apart from the great men, the Nicolsons, and 
 Havelocks, and Henry Lawrences, who were swept away by 
 disease, and wounds, and war, during the hard service of the 
 Mutiny, of late years many have died who have done the 
 state good service, and deserve grateful remembrance from those 
 who seek its welfare. In addition to the chiefs conspicuous 
 above all, Lord Dalhousie and Lord Canning — Lord Elphinstone 
 the Governor of Bombay, Mr. James Wilson, Sir R. Shakspeare, 
 and Colonel Baird Smith, Mr. Ritchie, and others, hold high rank 
 in general esteem. Nor will those who knew her remember 
 without regret those gentle virtues with which Lady Canning 
 adorned the high station which she occupied. Thus, as great 
 events in public life move steadily on, every step in this mighty 
 march is watered with tears of gushing sorrow ; and thus, while 
 the wondrous changes of these few years draw thought and 
 reflection to Him whose kingly government they carry out, w r e 
 are reminded that the chief actors are but mortal instruments in 
 His immortal hands. He is the wise and Almighty Master who 
 plans ; their lives help to weave the pattern He has devised ; but 
 the happiness of emancipated nations is the glorious picture 
 which shall at length stand out before the gaze of an admiring 
 world, and give him universal honour. 
 
 Pleasant, however, as may be the contemplation of such vast 
 progress in the recent history of the Indian Empire, to all con- 
 cerned to find it flourish under English rule; elated and thankful 
 as all hearts must be who desire to see the English Government 
 endeavour to fulfil its solemn responsibilities to the millions its 
 territories contain, it is with the progress of Christian knowledge 
 
12 TEN TEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 among its people, that we are now specially concerned ; and with 
 the enlargement of Christian efforts, and the increase of their 
 results that we have in these pages specially to deal. Length- 
 ened experience of Indian life must deepen the conviction, that 
 only the faith of Christ's gospel will prove a radical cure for all 
 the evils by which for ages the land has been afflicted. Surface 
 evils may be healed by surface remedies. Defects of ignorance 
 may be removed by knowledge; some errors in the public 
 relations of the people may be controlled by law ; material wealth 
 may be multiplied by machinery and steam. But those moral 
 evils of a diseased soul which underlie all others, which add to 
 the wanderings of a perverted intellect, which ruin faith, and 
 truth, and purity, which substitute Fate for God, and which 
 produce the great personal, social, and public forms of national 
 misery, must all be met by that Divine truth, applied by Divine 
 power, which regenerates nations by renewing their individual 
 people. He alone can make a new nation who can form a 
 " new man." 
 
 Ten years ago the writer of these pages undertook an inquiry 
 into the results attained by missionary labour in India, and 
 endeavoured to make, what was then new, a complete and con- 
 nected survey of the entire field of its operations, as well as to 
 estimate the position they had secured. The general survey was 
 based upon Statistical Tables, which exhibited the chief elements 
 of these operations at every missionary station in India and 
 Ceylon. Several efforts have been made in recent years by the 
 Madras Missionary Conference and others, to examine separate 
 portions of the field ; but ten years having passed since a com- 
 plete view was taken of the whole, the writer deemed that a 
 fitting time had arrived when his former effort should be re- 
 newed : that as the two surveys would cover the same ground, a 
 fair comparison might be instituted between them, and advance 
 or retrogression be distinctly ascertained. 
 
 With a view to secure materials of the most trustworthy kind 
 for this important object, at the commencement of last year the 
 writer entered into extensive correspondence with the secretaries 
 of Missionary Societies, and with individual missionaries, in every 
 part of India, Burmah, and Ceylon. A circular was prepared, 
 and 230 copies were sent, with nearly 300 private letters, to 
 individual missionaries, who, from their knowledge of the writer, 
 and their personal acquaintance with missionary work, were 
 competent to give valuable help, and likely to render it. These 
 communications were received in the kindest spirit, and called 
 forth a hearty response. One hundred and seventy-two letters 
 were received in reply, together with 280 printed reports. In 
 
IN INDIA. 13 
 
 many cases only statistical details were civen, with a few brief 
 notes. About eighty missionaries added information of a fuller 
 kind ; and to twenty-four of his brethren the writer is indebted 
 for long and able papers on the recent history, progress, and 
 present condition of the missions of which they are leading 
 members ; for which he has given them special thanks. It only 
 remained to combine together the information, authentic and full, 
 so kindly contributed from many quarters. This the writer has 
 done in two forms. On the one hand, he has formed a complete 
 set of statistical tables, giving the names of missionaries, with the 
 numbers of their catechists, native churches, and schools, at 
 every station in India : these tables are published separately. 
 On the other, in the present pamphlet the writer has endeavoured 
 to classify the principal facts that illustrate the recent history and 
 present position of Christian missions in India, and place them 
 side by side with the results which the statistical tables display. 
 While those tables give numbers, they do not represent the 
 quality, either of agents, converts, or schools. They show the 
 number of missionaries — perhaps, too, their nationality — but 
 are silent as to the varieties of their ability, their age, their 
 experience, their efficiency. They may show the number of 
 native missionaries, but give no sign of their education, their 
 knowledge, their training, their character or length of service. 
 They show not whether they come from the higher or lower 
 classes, whether by hard struggles and a martyrdom of spirit 
 they have torn themselves from the tenacious heathenism of 
 towns, or have with comfort joined their friends in embracing 
 Christianity in a quiet village. They may give the number and 
 general aspect of schools and seminaries, but are silent as to the 
 degree and quality of the instruction given. All these are 
 matters which lie beyond the range of mere statistical tables, and 
 belong to the discussion of the history, progress, and operation of 
 the various mission agencies in all departments. To them, with 
 other important questions connected with the missions carried on 
 in India during the last ten years, the writer desires now to draw 
 the attention of his readers. 
 
 Several months ago, after long-continued study, the writer 
 prepared a pamphlet, discussing these particulars, and enriched 
 with valuable quotations from the papers and letters communi- 
 cated by his missionary brethren. Two-tnirds of the manuscript 
 were, unhappily, lost in the wreck of the mail-steamer " Colombo," 
 and nothing whatever has been heard of it. Bitterly disappointed 
 at this termination of his toil, the writer hesitated long as to 
 whether the attempt should be renewed, but at length determined 
 to reproduce, as far as possible, from his notes, some of the facts 
 
14 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 which previous study had placed at his command. This lament- 
 able loss will explain the delay that has arisen in the publication 
 of a work which should have appeared several months ago. 
 
 I. SPECIAL EXTERNAL EVENTS. 
 
 While steady labour has been continued in the various Indian 
 missions, in preaching, pastoral work, and schools, in the forming 
 of Christian literature, and its circulation among old and young, 
 certain special events haA^e occurred in various parts of the field, 
 which give to the past decade a distinctive character. These 
 relate chiefly to the extension of the field, the full discussion of 
 missionary plans, and the way in which missionary stations were 
 involved in the dangers of the mutiny. 
 
 1. Enlargement or the Field. 
 
 Just as the last decade opened, the Punjab, pacified after its 
 annexation to the Empire, became for the first time opened to 
 missionary labour. So long as it continued under a native 
 government, especially amid the anarchy of recent years, the 
 settlement of missionaries was rendered impracticable ; and the 
 only effort that could be made to reach the Punjab population 
 was through the establishment of the American station at Lodia- 
 nah, which with its active press had, for a long series of years, 
 done something indirectly to circulate the Scriptures among the 
 Sikhs. Very soon, however, after the pacification of the Punjab, 
 under the advice of several able officials, and with their full 
 consent, stations were established at Lahore and Jullundhur, 
 which have been extended, in later years, to Amritsir, Peshawur, 
 Sealkote, Rawul Pindee, Kangra, and Mooltan: all towns of the 
 first importance, and centres of public influence. The great 
 province of Nagpore was at the same time opened to missionary 
 influence, and ere long the Free Church of Scotland established 
 a mission in its chief town. It is greatly to be regretted, however, 
 that Mr. Hislop and his colleagues have been the only mission- 
 aries despatched, during these years, to its neglected people, and 
 that its four millions, with millions more in the neighbouring 
 province of Berar, have had so few opportunities of learning the 
 Gospel of thfir salvation. In recent years, as we shall see, some 
 portions of Rajpootana, long neglected and forgotten, have been 
 occupied with spirit; but other large districts, opened like Jhansi 
 to the Gospel, for the first time, remain neglected still. The 
 province of Oude likewise, after passing under English rule, was 
 
IN INDIA. 15 
 
 justly regarded as an excellent sphere of usefulness. Four 
 stations were established in its principal towns (two of them in 
 Lucknow) before our decade closed, and two others are just 
 being commenced at Baraitch and Fyzabad. The new province 
 of Sattara was also occupied by a missionary of the American 
 Board. It is pleasant thus to see that the enlargement of the 
 Indian Empire has not been left unheeded, and that the claims 
 of new provinces, added to those of people long subject to English 
 rule, have led to a most important augmentation of the missionary 
 force in the country. It is only within a recent period that the 
 great provinces of Upper India were occupied in any strength. 
 During the past decade, however, not only have new stations 
 been established in those provinces, but they have been extended 
 to most influential towns among the people rendered accessible 
 to the Gospel for the first time. 
 
 The new province which has been most signally opened to 
 missionary effort, and has been most fully occupied, is the 
 province of Pegu. Until the annexation of 1852 the American 
 missions in Burmah had been confined to the narrow provinces 
 of Tenasserim and Arracan ; and it was among the green jungles 
 that clothe their rocky slopes that the earliest Karen churches 
 were founded. These provinces, however, with their scanty 
 population, were held as outposts to which the persecuted Christ- 
 ians fled, and from which stealthy visits were paid by the 
 missionaries to their Karen flocks in Bassein and the neighbour- 
 hood of Rangoon. Immediately after the annexation, almost the 
 whole body of missionaries entered Pegu, and within two or 
 three years rapidly took up their posts at Shwaygyeen and 
 Toungoo on the Sitang ; and on the Irrawaddy at Prome and 
 Kenzada, at Rangoon and Bassein. The imperial city of Ava 
 also has in part been occupied by a native missionary, though 
 his position among the proud Burmese is not exempt from 
 danger. 
 
 The whole field has by these additions grown compact as well 
 as vast. Almost without restriction missionary stations may be 
 established, and missionary work be carried on, in every province 
 and city of the Empire from the Himalaya to the sea. The 
 partial exceptions are found in the territories of feudatory princes, 
 like the Rajas of Cashmere, Gwalior and Indore, and the chiefs 
 of Rajpootana, with the internal government of whose states the 
 English Government does not interfere. These, however, will be 
 won without trouble, when the states and provinces by which 
 they are surrounded are so fully occupied, that Christian know- 
 ledge will find its way among the native subjects of those princes, 
 who continually visit English towns and observe attentively all 
 
1 6 TEN YEABS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 that is going on. Much yet remains of that work of detail which 
 alone will duly occupy the neglected provinces of Central India 
 and Rajpootana, in which very few missionaries have as yet 
 been placed. 
 
 2. Deputations to India. 
 
 During the past ten years an unusual proceeding, of great 
 importance to the management of our Indian missions, was on 
 several occasions adopted by the Committees of Missionary 
 societies. This measure, which circumstances have rendered 
 somewhat famous, was the despatch of several officers of these 
 societies as deputations to visit the missions under their control. 
 Two years after the annexation of Pegu, when an entire recon- 
 struction of the mission to Burmah was rendered necessary, the 
 American Baptist Missionary Union sent out to Burmah the 
 Rev. J. S. Grainger and the Rev. Dr. Peck to assist the 
 missionaries on the spot in effecting the rearrangement. In 
 1855, the American Board commissioned its Foreign Secretary, 
 the Rev. Dr. Anderson, and with him the Rev. Dr. Thompson, 
 to proceed to their three important missions in the Deccan, 
 Ceylon, and Madura, and the smaller missions in Madras and 
 Arcot, to settle certain questions of great importance in con- 
 sultation with the brethren. About the same time, E. B. Under- 
 bill, Esq., the accomplished secretary of the English Baptist 
 Missionary Society, spent nearly three years among the missions 
 of that Society in Ceylon and Northern India. The Rev. W. 
 Knight, of the Church Missionary Society, visited in a quiet way 
 their Madras and Upper India stations: while Dr. Graul from 
 Leipsic proceeded to the oldest mission in India, that at Tran- 
 quebar with its branches ; and Principal Josenhans of Basle went 
 over all the missions of the Basle Society in the South Mahratta 
 country and on the Malabar coast of the Indian Ocean. 
 
 Of these six deputations, one was scarcely more than a 
 friendly visit; two others were confined exclusively to the local 
 missions of a particular society ; but the remaining three, not 
 only examined with some depth the most vital questions con- 
 nected with the effective management of their own missions, but 
 endeavoured to make themselves acquainted with those of other 
 societies. They differed greatly, however, in their proceedings, 
 character, and spirit. A more mischievous deputation than the 
 one which visited Burmah cannot be well conceived. Filled 
 with theories formed on American soil, and failing to appreciate 
 the peculiar demands of the great crisis through which the 
 mission had passed, as well as of the wonderful openings it was 
 now called to fill, these brethren set themselves to frame regula- 
 
IN INDIA. 17 
 
 tions and carve out plans, which on many points threatened 
 utterly to destroy the efficiency of existing operations. They 
 insisted that all exercises in the English language should be 
 rigidly excluded from every department of the mission ; and 
 that, whether for high or low, wealthy or rude, it should be placed 
 on a purely vernacular basis. Not only should the sons of rich 
 Burmans not learn English in a city like Rangoon, but even the 
 pastors and students should be trained purely through the scanty 
 vernacular literature then available for their studies. All this 
 was insisted on with a rigour and a perseverance against which 
 the opposition of missionaries, who had experience but no 
 authority, was unavailing. The effect of these proceedings was 
 most disastrous. A desert was made, which was called peace. 
 Many of the missionaries resigned their connexion with the 
 Union ; and the remainder, divided in opinion, were compelled 
 to separate greatly from one another, to give up joint action, 
 and depend singly upon their committee at home. The con- 
 troversv, transferred to New England, divided the Union there, 
 made it for a time all but bankrupt, and threatened to ruin its 
 operations for ever. A great change was at length effected in 
 the committee, and the breach has been slowly healed. Nearly 
 all the missionaries who seceded have been received again into 
 the Union ; and it is hoped that the compactness and unity of the 
 mission will once more be restored. 
 
 Very different were the proceedings of Dr. Anderson and 
 Mr. Underhill, whether in their own spheres or when visiting the 
 missions of other societies. Their anxiety to learn the nature 
 and influence of all plans in operation ; their hearty sympathy 
 with missionary labours; their courteous manner; and their 
 readiness to do justice to every earnest effort to make known the 
 Gospel, rendered them welcome guests in every mission ; and, 
 with their long experience of missionary operations in many 
 parts of the world, under different stages of knowledge and 
 civilisation, rendered them most valuable counsellors to the 
 brethren who sought their aid. In all the missions of their re- 
 spective societies they gathered the missionaries in consultation, 
 made full and complete examination of every principle and 
 every plan in operation among them, suggested alterations here, 
 and improvements there, and endeavoured especially to adapt 
 their missionary machinery more fully and completely to the 
 claims of the present day. The effect of these consultations was 
 not only to impart new spirit and vigour to existing operations, but 
 especially in the American missions in Madura and the Deccan, 
 to throw into greater prominence certain principles to which 
 little attention had been paid: and if the introduction of some 
 
 c 
 
18 TEN TEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 changes was not accepted with perfect unanimity, it was because 
 the conservatism of age and habit feared even where it was con- 
 vinced. Time has shown that those fears were groundless, that 
 the changes introduced on certain points were decided improve- 
 ments, and a marked increase in the prosperity of both missions 
 has been the result. 
 
 These deputations were not regarded with much favour by- 
 missionaries at large. A feeling was abroad, not unnatural, that 
 the men who had spent years of exile in fighting with heathen 
 prejudices and the remains of heathen vices, were better able to 
 judge of the worth of missionary plans than those who had merely 
 studied them, however carefully, in the quiet of a mission-house 
 at home. The conviction, too, was strong that where the home- 
 committees desired changes in the mission-field, the missionaries 
 on the spot should at least be consulted as to the suitableness of 
 the time and the method of introducing them. And the indigna- 
 tion of all was excited not only by the havoc produced in Bur- 
 mah by the unreasonable proceedings of the Deputation that had 
 gone hither, but by the gross misrepresentations, to which one of 
 its members gave utterance, of the plans, the spirit, and the pro- 
 ceedings of missionaries in Madras and Calcutta who did not 
 sympathize with his views. 
 
 But even missionaries may be too sensitive to the friendly 
 criticism of men outside their sphere of labour. Rarely does it 
 happen that mere orders are sent from home which they are to 
 carry out without inquiry and without the privilege of remon- 
 strance. Perhaps, also, it is not generally believed that the secre- 
 taries of our Home Societies are, on the whole, better acquainted 
 with the general progress of a mission, and better understand its 
 condition, than many of the missionaries who are labouring on the 
 spot. Corresponding for years with men at work on different 
 fields, and in different parts of the same fields, personally ac- 
 quainted with the knowledge, power, resources, and position of 
 their various missionaries, while deficient on numerous points 
 of detail as to the manner, religious habits, and current opinions 
 of the people of certain localities, while uninformed of minute 
 particulars as to the views, feelings, and wants of missionaries 
 and their Churches, they are still able to form general views of 
 the field as a whole to which few missionaries can attain. Many 
 missionaries, labouring diligently and successfully in a foreign 
 field, know little of what is passing in districts not a hundred 
 miles from their own ; and to such the wider experience of men 
 outside their own sphere, and looking at several localities at once, 
 ought to be of peculiar value. 
 
 There were three or four points of great importance urged on 
 
IN INDIA. 19 
 
 Indian missionaries by Mr. Underbill and Dr. Anderson ; who in 
 regard to those questions only gave utterance to the convictions 
 of many friends of missions both in England and America. They 
 asked — Why have the native members of Indian Churches con- 
 tributed so little toward the support of the Gospel ? Why have 
 missionaries placed so few churches under the care of native pas- 
 tors, and ordained to work among the heathen so few native mis- 
 sionaries? Why are native converts content to remain in such a 
 state of pupilage ? Can they not enter on a course of more inde- 
 pendent action ? Questions of this sort were pressed upon mis- 
 sionaries both in private and in public; a great impulse was given 
 to their discussion; men who had been contented with the steady 
 course of old methods began to consider whether new plans might 
 not be introduced; and it will be shown that on these points more 
 than on all others, viz., on the subject of a native pastorate and the 
 self-support of native Churches, the opinions and practice of mis- 
 sionaries in India are now far in advance of what they were in 
 1852. For that advance we are greatly indebted to the earnestly 
 expressed views of the two Deputations that have been named. 
 
 3. General Missionary Conferences. 
 
 From the private gatherings of the American missionaries, 
 who had been called together by the Deputation from Boston, 
 there sprang the idea of gathering a General Conference of Mis- 
 sionaries of all Societies for consultation respecting the position of 
 their work and the value of their plans. Those meetings had 
 been occupied with an examination of all the operations carried 
 out in individual missions ; they had discussed, it is true, general 
 principles, but had added also a consideration of many minute 
 details ; and principles had been weighed in their special applica- 
 tions to the wants of certain localities. It was felt that there would 
 be special advantages secured by the discussion of these general 
 principles by men of different societies, residing in different locali- 
 ties ; and as doubt had been thrown on certain plans, and a fierce 
 attack had been made on others, it would be a public benefit to 
 examine them together, and after giving due weight to the ex- 
 perience and judgment, even to the weaknesses and prejudices of 
 men engaged in carrying them out, to arrive at a common decision 
 as to their real worth. 
 
 Four such General Conferences have now been held on Indian 
 soil in some of the principal centres of missionary operations. 
 The Bengal Missionary Conference was the first summoned. It 
 included fifty missionaries, and sat for four days in Calcutta, in 
 
20 TEN YEAES' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 September 1855. The Conference in Benares followed in Janu- 
 ary 1857, when thirty missionaries, belonging to seven Societies, 
 met to relate the special experience which belonged to the North- 
 west Provinces of India. The Madras missionaries met at Oola- 
 camund in the Nilgherry Hills, in April of the following year; 
 they were thirty-two in number, and spent a fortnight in discuss- 
 ing missionary operations in South India, amongst which several 
 questions of great importance arose from the peculiar relations 
 of native society in that part of the empire. The fourth Con- 
 ference met at Lahore a few months ago, in the last week of 
 December; and included not only thirty missionaries labouring 
 in the Punjab and in the higher parts of the North-west Pro- 
 vinces, but also a very large number of influential laymen who 
 have long displayed the deepest interest in missionary labours. 
 
 The proceedings of these General Conferences have in part 
 been published, and are records of great value to all who would 
 study the plans and results of our Indian Missions. No books like 
 them have ever been published before. Numerous works have at 
 times been written by missionaries detailing the history of particu- 
 lar missions, and the work carried on by individual men ; but 
 none had appeared discussing the nature, application, and influ- 
 ence of the great range of plans, varied in their kind, employed 
 throughout the field by men of many societies, and pointing out 
 such changes and improvements as are required by the advance 
 of years. The records of the Bengal Conference were published 
 in Calcutta ; and those of the Oolacamund assembly at Madras. 
 The papers belonging to the Conference at Benares were all 
 destroyed in the burning of the Allahabad Mission Press in June 
 1857. Those of the Punjab Missionary Conference are now 
 passing through the press. 
 
 These General Conferences will long be remembered by all 
 who enjoyed the privilege of sharing in them; they are decidedly 
 one of the distinctive features of the decade which has just passed. 
 They have had a powerful effect in confirming and increasing the 
 affectionate union which has long existed among Indian mission- 
 aries. Personal intercourse has for many years promoted har- 
 mony among them ; and in numerous cases the missionaries of 
 different societies have been close personal friends. But by the 
 mutual intercourse and the practical discussions of these Confer- 
 ences their union and co-operation have been greatly increased. 
 It was practically shown on a large scale, how men of different 
 churches and brought up under differing forms of ecclesiastical 
 organization, in striving to apply the same divine message to 
 young and old among the heathen and to build up native churches 
 among the converts they have made, have been led to adopt 
 
IN INDIA. 2 1 
 
 much the same plans and to employ very similar agencies. Not 
 only was this seen by brethren sitting in the same Conference, 
 but by those who attended more than one, and still more by 
 those who have studied the proceedings of the four. There is a 
 wonderful similarity about the Indian plans of the numerous 
 societies labouring throughout the country ; while at the same 
 time the diversity produced by the differing circumstances of 
 town and country, learned populations and untaught, wealthy and 
 rude, priests and devotv.es, is equally striking, and deepens the 
 conviction that those to whom' the work has been committed have 
 been made in their generation " wise to win souls." Little con- 
 troversy now remains among missionaries respecting plans : it has 
 been proved to demonstration that many are called for; that vari- 
 ous special measures, utterly unsuitable in one locality, are loudly 
 demanded in another; and that it is the part of wise men to see 
 that every agency is perfectly adapted to the place where it is 
 employed, and that, in its own way, in its own sphere, it carries 
 on the work of the Gospel as nothing else can do. 
 
 4. Influence of the Mutiny. 
 
 The Mutiny of 1857, and the disorders which it produced, 
 directly affected a large number of Indian Missions, and for a 
 time entirely suspended all their operations ; while it indirectly 
 affected the stations in all parts of Northern India, and even in 
 localities far from the scene of strife. Houses were destroyed, 
 churches and schools were burnt, and native converts scattered; 
 and in many places, for more than a twelvemonth, its effects were 
 to be traced in heaps of ashes and in broken walls, as well as in 
 the anarchy which prevailed on every side. Most of these in- 
 juries have been removed, but traces of its presence are not 
 wanting still ; and if it has left its mark on the church-towers at 
 Futtehguhr and Ranchi, it has written deeper lines upon the 
 character of the native converts, and instead of injury has done a 
 vast amount of good. 
 
 No less than twenty missionary stations were involved in its 
 calamities, some to a greater, some to a less extent. In several 
 cases the injury inflicted has been repaired at the cost of a few 
 hundred rupees, and all agencies have been easily resumed and 
 replaced. In others, the loss of life and property were very great, 
 and everything was swept away. At places like Nagpore, Jubbul- 
 pore, Mirzapore, and Benares, great alarm was felt from the near 
 approach of the danger, but neither life nor property was actually 
 injured. In others the injury was confined to property alone. 
 
22 . TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 At Loodiana, when the mutinous Sepoys marched through the 
 town, on their way from Jullunder, the riotous mob set on 
 fire the city church, the school, and the press, with its large 
 store of books and papers, and speedily reduced the whole to 
 ashes. At Mynpoorie the tide of rebellion ebbed and flowed, 
 leaving at length houses, school, and church in ruin. At Muttra, 
 in addition to the house and school, Mr. Evans lost his valuable 
 library. At Agra, two mission-stations were almost entirely 
 swept away : churches, houses, and schools, were injured almost 
 irreparably where they could not be set on fire. At Secundra, on 
 the west side of the city, occurred the greatest loss in all the 
 North-west Provinces, in the utter destruction of the great Mission 
 Press, which, with its eighteen presses, its type-foundry, and its 
 numerous founts of Oriental type, and its vast stores of paper and 
 Government books, was valued at 30.000J. The torn books 
 and papers after the day of plunder strewed the roads for miles. 
 At Agra were also destroyed the Depositories of the Bible and 
 Tract Societies, with all their contents. From Bareilly the 
 Mission families escaped safely to Nynee Tal and the hills of 
 Kumaon ; but Dr. Butler lost his library, and the mission-house, 
 with its furniture, was swept away. From Futtehpore the 
 native missionary, Mr. Gopinath Nundy, fled with his family, and 
 after suffering great privations and falling into the hands of the 
 rebels at Allahabad, escaped into the fort at that place. The 
 buildings of the Mission were all destroyed. At Allahabad both 
 branches of the American Mission were desti-oyed, chiefly by fire ; 
 including the valuable press, with all its stores and Mr. Owen's 
 biblical library, which he had been gathering for many years. 
 The Mission families found safety in the fort, but lost everything. 
 At Jaunpore, amid many perils, which literally brought death to 
 their very door, the families were preserved and safely reached 
 Benares. At Ranchi in the Chota Nagpore Mission, the mission- 
 aries were placed in great danger. Their wives had been sent 
 down to Calcutta, but they themselves remained to the last; 
 and when at length the Ramguhr battalion broke into open mu- 
 tiny, with the other English residents they fled, at a moment's 
 warning, with what, they had on. After several days' march, 
 often in heavy rain, they safely reached Raneegunje. At Seal- 
 kote, however, Mr. and Mrs. Hunter, of the Church of Scotland 
 Mission, but recently arrived in the country, were both killed. 
 At Delhi all the members of the two Missions lost their lives ; so 
 did also all the missionaries of Futtehguhr and Cawnpore. It 
 was one of the latter who, on that treacherous day, when the 
 gentlemen who had survived the attack on the boats were brought 
 out on the plain to be shot, begged a few moments' respite, that 
 
IN INDIA. 23 
 
 from the " little book" in his hand he might read a few words of 
 comfort for himself and his companions, as their last scene drew 
 on. 
 
 At these twenty stations more than two thousand native con- 
 verts were involved in the perils of the Mutiny, and a very large 
 number were compelled to flee for their lives. Some of them 
 suffered greatly from want ; others were beaten and plundered 
 by their boasting enemies ; and it is known that eleven of them, 
 with four children, were put to death. Amongst the latter, 
 Wilayut Ali, the well-known preacher at Delhi ; Solomon, the 
 catechist at Cawnpore; and Dhokue Persad, the excellent cate- 
 chist at Futtehguhr, stand conspicuous. Joseph, the catechist at 
 Meerut, was beaten and left for dead upon the ground. Raphael 
 and his fellow-Christians at Goruckpore were for three months 
 beaten, plundered, and abused, had their bullocks and other pro- 
 perty stolen from them, were driven about the country, and yet, 
 with a single exception, remained firm in their adherence to the 
 Gospel. The converts at Allahabad and Futtehguhr were driven 
 from their homes, and in some cases were much oppressed and 
 tempted by the rebels around them. Perhaps none suffered more 
 than the converts at Ranchi. Amongst the enemies whom their 
 conversion had raised up, and who had given them much trouble 
 in the days of peace, there was one who, on the mutiny of the 
 battalion, rose up with all his strength in rebellion against the 
 Government. For a time the Christians were only threatened, 
 beaten, and plundered. In village after village their chapels were 
 pulled to pieces and the wood-work stolen ; their houses were 
 forcibly entered, and their large rice baskets, stores of wood and 
 grain, their clothes and brass vessels, were all carried away ; they 
 were compelled to flee from home, and yet when they sought 
 to descend into the plains they found the passes guarded and the 
 roads all closed. At length, as they would not apostatize, it was 
 resolved by the rebel leaders that they should all be put to death, 
 At this juncture the English troops marched from Hazareebagh, 
 restored peace to the province, and saved their lives. Their 
 bitterest persecutors were hanged. 
 
 The behaviour of all the converts involved in the Mutiny 
 throughout the provinces excited the esteem and admiration even 
 of many who had viewed them with indifference. Among their 
 friends, judging from the apparent weakness of their character, 
 some had doubted whether in the day of trial they would stand 
 firm. But the grace of God was all-sufficient, and in the time 
 of need they exhibited a submission, a patience, a constancy, that 
 threw honour upon their profession. Wherever they were joined 
 with the English they not only sided heart and soul with the 
 
24 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 Government, but offered a willing service, both in public and in 
 private, of the most valuable kind. In several cases they served 
 as artillerymen and as police. In the fort of Agra, when the 
 house-servants deserted the English families to which they be- 
 longed, the native Christians supplied their places, and proved a 
 real and sufficient help. Everywhere their character received a 
 new impulse, and everywhere they rose in general esteem. Of 
 the two thousand involved in these troubles, not more than six 
 apostatized, and even they returned when the trouble ceased. 
 
 The saddest case of all, whether among English or native, 
 connected with the Mutiny, was that of the missionaries at 
 Futtehguhr. The whole of the mission band in Delhi were 
 killed, as also all at Cawnpore ; but most of them died early; 
 several knew nothing of the evil that was coming; but there 
 was from the first a hopelessness of relief in the case of Futteh- 
 guhr, which renders its story peculiarly sorrowful. A most 
 interesting mission had grown up at the station ; and no visitor 
 could see the neat mission-houses; the large boarding-schools 
 for boys and girls ; the long lines of houses in the Christian 
 village; the extensive weaving establishment; the large tent- 
 factory ; the handsome church ; the English and native schools 
 for heathen scholars ; and the bazar preaching chapels close to 
 the city-gates, without feeling, that here wad a light set up in 
 darkness to guide the heathen into the way of peace. 
 
 From the beginning of the outbreak, the brethren at Futteh- 
 guhr were placed in circumstances of peculiar danger. They 
 had rebellion around them on every side ; hope and fear rose 
 alternately before their minds ; they knew not whither to turn ; 
 it seemed impossible to find a place of safety. At length, with 
 more than a hundred residents of the station, the four mission- 
 aries, with their wives and two children, embarked in boats on 
 the Ganges, which passes the station, purposing (if it might be) 
 to go down to Cawnpore, and thence on to Allahabad. Un- 
 wittingly they quitted one scene of peril only to fall more 
 directly into the tiger's jaws. 
 
 Terror by night, the arrow by day, were their constant portion. 
 They were pursued, hindered, plundered, fired upon; but ran 
 the gauntlet as they best could, and at last arrived at Bithoor, 
 ten miles from Cawnpore, the residence of Nana Sahib. Here 
 their boat was anchored by an island, and they found to their 
 dismay that Cawnpore was in the hands of the Mabratta, and 
 that the bridge of boats prevented their further passage. Soon 
 the troopers of Rao Sahib, who held Bithoor for his uncle, 
 brought guns to fire on them, and they were landed and taken 
 prisoners ; but before they left the island, they knelt together for 
 
IN INDIA. 25 
 
 the last time ; and Mr. Campbell in the most affecting terms 
 commended them to God in prayer. After brief detention at 
 Bithoor, they were sent on by Rao Sahib to his rincle, the ladies 
 being placed on carts, and the gentlemen marching at their side. 
 They reached Cawnpore at sunrise, fearing the worst from him 
 on whose words their lives all hung. Their death was agonising, 
 but not delayed. An hour after they were led out on the plain 
 of Cawnpore, and were all ruthlessly shot. Peace be to their 
 unburied ashes ! May their precious names never be forgotten ! 
 May the turf ever be green upon the soil stained with their 
 honoured blood ! May the pearly dew and the refreshing rain 
 fall gently upon the sod; and .while the winds of heaven breathe 
 over it soft and low, may a voice ever rise before the footstool of 
 mercy: '''Father, forgive them; for they know not what they 
 do." 
 
 The losses inflicted on the different stations by the Mutiny 
 were heavy, both as to money and to men. Nine ordained 
 missionaries, three assistant missionaries, six missionaries' wives, 
 and three children, were killed. Eleven native Christians also 
 are known to have been massacred. The property destroyed at 
 the twenty stations has, on careful estimate, been valued at a 
 little more than 70,000/. Of these losses the larger portion fell 
 upon the Church Missionary Society, and the American Presby- 
 terian Mission ; the former of which lost about 32,000/., and the 
 latter, 26,000/. On the restoration of order in several cases, 
 especially those which fell within the jurisdiction of the Punjab 
 Government, full compensation was paid from fines laid upon 
 the towns where the loss took place. In other cases, however, 
 especially those within the North- West Provinces, the com- 
 pensation given did not amount to one-third of the loss that had 
 been suffered. 
 
 The effect of these events upon. the native Church has been 
 most marked, and in a high degree beneficial. It has already 
 been mentioned that, in the hour of their trial, the faith of the 
 converts and their attachment to the gospel had imparted to 
 them a vigour and decision which they had never displayed 
 before. Drawn to a very large extent from the artificial hot- 
 house system of orphan and boarding-schools, helped from first 
 to last by missionaries, not only fed and taught, but in a measure 
 having employments created for them ; the community as a 
 whole had grown up in the possession of sound principles, but 
 weak in character, with little self-reliance, and a great deal of 
 the petulance of spoiled children. The Mutiny has driven all 
 this away, and they who were thrown headlong into the troubled 
 waters, and had to swim for their lives, without the aid of the 
 
26 TEN teaks' missionary labour 
 
 corks and bladders on which they had relied, gained health and 
 vigour in the process, and landed not only alive, but men. The 
 old system has been flung away for ever. When on the resto- 
 ration of order, the presses and factories were reopened, they 
 were not taken up as mission property. The great Secundra 
 Press was removed to Allahabad ; where the American Press 
 also again commenced its work. But in each case, the native 
 Christians started as proprietors and managers, and took the 
 work entirely into their own hands. In the same way, the tent- 
 factory at Futtehguhr was handed over to the converts of that 
 station, who with the compensation money paid for their houses 
 by the Government, purchased materials, and set the system once 
 more in operation. In all these cases the missionaries have 
 ceased to be troubled with secular matters ; the native Christians 
 are thrown upon their own resources ; they have prospered, and 
 are growing wealthy ; and pastors and people stand on a much 
 happier footing with each other. Thus has the wise government 
 of God brought to tlie little church in the provinces great blessing 
 out of great trial. 
 
 All traces of the rebellion are being rapidly removed. Every- 
 where dwelling-houses, schools, and churches, have been rebuilt 
 or repaired. Brick houses have taken the place of thatched 
 bungalows ; the Christian settlements have been restored, and 
 the stations look fairer than before. The schools of Secundra 
 have been reopened; the tent-factory at Futtehguhr, with its 
 long lines of houses, its pretty village, and handsome church, 
 once more challenges the admiration of the passing traveller; 
 and the mission-station at Bareilly, with its houses and schools, 
 has been recommenced on a larger scale than ever. Nor is it in 
 missions only that such life and vigour are being displayed. In 
 the restored public buildings throughout the North-west Provinces, 
 the numerous dwelling-houses, the large and lofty English 
 barracks at all the principal stations ; in the great roads that 
 connect them, and the massive railroad into which all traffic 
 flows; proofs are given that the hold of the English on the 
 country is firmer than before. And if the mind turns sadly to 
 Cawnpore, where treachery and violence inflicted such fearful 
 wrong, while the houses of death have been swept away and the 
 murderers have received their due, the massive monument over 
 the awful well, with its richly carved screen of stone, standing 
 conspicuously in the spacious garden, with its beds of turf, and 
 running waters, and gay parterres of flowers, declares that, 
 while we honour our countrymen who sleep beneath, and will 
 remember their sad sufferings for all time, henceforth there is 
 peace between us and the people by whom they were wronged : 
 
IN INDIA. 27 
 
 and that the work of Englishmen in India, of governors, merchants, 
 and missionaries, is to bless the nations among whom we are 
 placed ; by diligence, truth, and uprightness, to bring them pros- 
 perity in this world ; and by divine grace secure for them eternal 
 life in the world which is to come. 
 
 II. NEW SOCIETIES. 
 
 During the past ten years attention has been specially called 
 to the claims which India has upon the Church of Christ : and 
 on several occasions, both by the events of God's providence, 
 and by the efforts of individuals, it has uttered the Macedonian 
 cry, " Come over and help us." The general Conferences in 
 Bengal and Madras, as part of their proceedings, forwarded to 
 the Missionary Societies of Europe and America appeals for 
 additional help. Individual members of Christian Churches in 
 India, possessed of wealth and influence, have at times urged 
 the same plea; while the Mutiny profoundly impressed all 
 thinking men with the necessity of giving to the people of 
 India that gospel which alone can make them humane, and just, 
 and pure. These convictions were pressed home upon a not 
 unwilling people in numerous addresses, and sermons, lectures 
 and speeches, and by the public press. The result has been a 
 most gratifying increase in the agencies of older societies already 
 labouring in the country, and the entrance into India of no less 
 than five societies for the first time. We will speak of the latter 
 first. 
 
 The American Methodist Episcopal Church commenced its 
 important mission to India by despatching thither one of its 
 active and able ministers, Dr. Butler, at the close of 1856. 
 From the missionaries of all societies in Calcutta, and especially 
 from those of Upper India, present in the Benares Conference, 
 Dr. Butler received a most cordial welcome. Several large and 
 neglected districts of the country were pointed out as a suitable 
 sphere for the mission. Having weighed their character and 
 claims, and personally examined some that had been named, 
 Dr. Butler at length decided on the provinces of Oude and 
 Rohilcund. He found them wholly unoccupied, not a single 
 missionary having been placed in any one of the large towns 
 which these populous provinces contain. The field, also, was 
 wide enough for the amount of agency which the Church desired 
 to introduce and the number of missions they desired to found. 
 Lucknow and Bareiliy were chosen as the first stations of the 
 mission. Unable to obtain a house in Lucknow at the outset, 
 
28 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 Dr. Butler opened his labours in Bareilly; he was there when 
 the Mutiny occurred, and, though his own life and the lives of 
 his family were mercifully preserved, all the property of the 
 mission was swept away. Meanwhile the mission-board, accept- 
 ing the decision of the superintendent, began to send forward 
 his younger colleagues : first two arrived, in the year of trouble ; 
 then others : until, in the course of three or four years, the 
 number amounted to nineteen missionaries and assistants, most of 
 whom were married. Three others have recently arrived : and, 
 it is hoped and planned that the mission shall as a rule contain a 
 full staff of twenty-five missionaries, besides the superintendent. 
 As the brethren reached the country, station after station was 
 opened, until missionaries had been placed in nine of the large 
 and flourishing towns of the two provinces, including Lucknow 
 and Bareilly, Moradabad and Shahjehanpore, Seetapore, Budaon, 
 and others. 
 
 The field of labour lies north of the Ganges, and extends to a 
 length of 300 miles, with a breadth of seventy-five. Till now, 
 it has been entirely neglected, and has therefore been affected in 
 small measure by the varied influences which are gradually changing 
 the knowledge and opinions of the population in the more open 
 districts of even Upper India. Still a blessing has rested upon 
 the mission in its " day of small things." Buildings have been 
 completed at the different stations; and several small churches 
 have been gathered. Two large orphan schools have been 
 established at Bareilly and Shahjehanpore, the former containing 
 140 girls, the latter about eighty boys, taken from the famine 
 districts where they were cast on the world without friends. 
 Training schools will be established for teachers in connexion 
 with both schools. A printing-press in Bareilly, and a farm of 
 5000 acres in Oude, also form part of the agencies indirectly 
 bearing on the prosperity of the mission and its people ; and 
 Nynee Tal, in the hills of Kumaon, one of the sanatory stations 
 of the North-west Provinces, will be employed not only as a 
 station among the hill people of southern Kumaon and the 
 district at its feet, but as a health-station for the mission families, 
 and probably schools for their children. All who have mourned 
 for many years the religious destitution of Oude and Rohilcund 
 must wish for these new and energetic missions prosperity and 
 usefulness. 
 
 The Tibetan Moravian Mission was opened a few years 
 ago in the neighbourhood of Simla, in the very heart of the 
 Himalaya. It is on Indian ground, and its people are under 
 Indian government; but it was planned as a mission to Tartarv, 
 and the place was occupied as a frontier post until opportunity 
 
IN INDIA. 29 
 
 be given for passing across Tibet into the Tartar country. For 
 some years past the Moravian Church has tried to found a 
 mission among the Tartars, and, thwarted in their endeavours 
 to reach their country by Russia or Persia, two missionaries 
 were sent to India, in the hope that they might penetrate across 
 Tibet. These brethren, Messrs, Pagell and Heyde, commenced 
 their studies in Germany, under one who had been a missionary 
 among the Calmuks forty years ago. On arriving at Simla, 
 they proceeded to Ladakh, in Tibet, which is in the dominions of 
 the Raja of Cashmere, and thence endeavoured to enter Tibet 
 Proper; but the moment they crossed the border, the Chinese 
 officials drove them back, and interdicted all intercourse with the 
 villagers, even for the purchase of provisions. Again they tried, 
 and again were they foiled. In 1856, therefore, they settled 
 down in the great valley of Lahoul, near Spitti, and erected their 
 house at Kyelang, in its northern half, where a third missionary, 
 Mr. Jaeschke, joined them in 1857, having specially laid upon 
 him the charge to translate the Scriptures into Tibetan, for the 
 Buddhist population around them. Having secured the services 
 of a lama, they began to learn the languages, both polite and 
 common, necessary for their work, and with great patience have 
 succeeded to a considerable degree. During the next three years 
 several small works were written or translated, including Barth's 
 " Bible Stories," a " Harmony of the Four Gospels," the Acts, 
 a spelling-book, a reading-book, and a calendar, " with a few 
 useful remarks on the History of the World, of which, as well 
 as of its Geography, the Tibetans have no idea." All these 
 works were printed by Mr. Heyde with his own hands, on a 
 lithographic press purchased at Simla. At the same time Mr. 
 Pagell commenced preaching to the people — or, rather, convers- 
 ing with them — whenever he could gather a small circle of 
 hearers in the little villages, upon one of the flat roofs of their 
 houses. 
 
 It may be easily imagined that these villagers are exceedingly 
 ignorant and superstitious. Practically, their religion consists 
 in observing a few ceremonies, offering the incense of juniper- 
 berries, murmuring a prayer, and feeding their priests. The 
 lamas generally read fluently, but write very incorrectly, and 
 understand little. Those who know the theory and the observ- 
 ances of Buddhism well are very few in number. The people 
 are proudly satisfied with their own observances, and very indif- 
 ferent to the new religion brought amono; them. It is difficult 
 also to get among them, from the fact that various dialects (as 
 the Buran) are used, especially by the illiterate, though the 
 Tibetan is gradually displacing them. The Tibetan has an 
 
30 TEN teaks' missionary labour 
 
 extensive religious literature, and the missionaries are doing what 
 they can to help that language being spread among the people on 
 every side. They have scarcely been able to get any schools. 
 They have gathered a small girls' school, but though they teach 
 knitting to their scholars, public opinion does not allow them to 
 teach reading also. In these efforts to spread Christian knowledge 
 by conversation and by books among the thinly-peopled districts 
 round their grand Alpine valley, all friends of missions will wish 
 them God speed. 
 
 The United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, though long 
 possessing flourishing missions in. Jamaica and at Old Calabar, 
 on the Gulf of Guinea, till lately had no share in the mission- 
 work in India. Stirred up, however, by the Indian Mutiny, 
 several wealthy and influential members of the Church proposed 
 and provided for a separate mission in India ; and in 1858 inquiries 
 were commenced as to the best locality in which to place it. 
 Seven or eight separate spheres of usefulness were pointed out 
 as soon as it was known that they would occupy the country in 
 force; and their claims were set forth, in many cases, by men 
 who were personally acquainted with their character. After a 
 careful and most elaborate consideration of them all, the com- 
 mittee chose the English district of Ajmere, in the centre of 
 Rajpootana, containing 400,000 people ; and both the claims of 
 that neglected province, and the subsequent progress of the 
 mission, show that a more satisfactory choice could not have been 
 made. 
 
 It was a sad commencement of their undertaking, though one 
 that has often been met with in the history of Christian schemes 
 of mercy, that one of the brethren sent to commence the mission 
 died just as he reached his appointed field of toil. But, before 
 long, five missionaries, including one medical man, had arrived, 
 and three stations were commenced at Ajmere, Beawr, and 
 Nusserabad, all towns of great importance and influence. Apply- 
 ing successfully to the study of the language, the missionaries 
 opened schools, and began to preach, and soon found, as others 
 have found before them, that their teaching came into violent 
 contact with the caste prejudices of the people around them. In 
 that part of the country, as at Agra and in the Punjab, there is 
 found a large population of the " Sweeper" caste; and when the 
 first boy of this class was admitted into the schools, the Brahmins 
 and others left, asserting that it degraded them to have such a 
 boy sitting in their midst. How often has that battle been fought 
 in India, always on one principle, " God hath made of one blood 
 all nations of men," and always with one result, that Christian 
 kindness, with firmness in upholding right, conquers the tyranny 
 
IN INDIA. 31 
 
 of Hinduism. A special opening of usefulness lias been found 
 in Mairwara, close to the present stations, and amongst the 
 aboriginal tribe of Mairs, so long the object of Colonel ^Dixon's 
 care. Mr. Shoolbred's reception among this simple and once 
 oppressed race has been of the most gratifying kind, and he has 
 just been securing means and men for occupying, as a principal 
 station of the mission, their town of Todgurh. The claims of the 
 place and people are of the strongest, and could not be pre- 
 sented in vain. How often it happens that Christion missions 
 are called upon to maintain, in the face of proud and haughty 
 people and priesthoods, the right of the poor to the Divine 
 teaching of the Gospel ! How often, since the days of Him who 
 " preached the Gospel to the poor," and whom " the common 
 people heard gladly," has His truth been despised by "the wise" 
 and " the noble," while it has defended the right of the outcast to 
 the salvation of heaven, has enlightened their ignorance, quick- 
 ened their conscience, converted their hearts, and given them the 
 heritage of the sons of God ! Thus has it raised " the poor out 
 of the dust, and the needy out of the dunghill, to set them among 
 princes, and make them to inherit His glorious throne." Drawing 
 them from the degradation which they had themselves accepted 
 as their portion, it has said to them, " Though ye have lain 
 among the pots, yet shall ye be like the wings of a dove covered 
 with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." 
 
 The United Presbyterian Church of the United States also 
 entered the Indian circle of missions about the same time as their 
 Scotch brethren. They have occupied, however, only a single 
 station, at Sealkote, in the Punjab. The missionaries who ar- 
 rived were four in number, some of them men of age and 
 experience; and they secured the services of two native brethren, 
 whom they ordained. They entered upon missionary life in the 
 usual manner, preaching to the heathen, and establishing a 
 vernacular school, which soon had a hundred boys. It is known 
 to some that in America the Church of which these brethren are 
 ministers is very strict and close in its communion. Soon after 
 their arrival one of the missionaries, Mr. Hill, seeing the catholic 
 and genial intercourse that prevails amongst missionaries and 
 Christians generally in India, arrived at the conclusion that, 
 under the peculiar circumstances in which Christians in India, 
 and especially native Christians, are placed, some modification 
 of their practice of close communion was desirable. For this 
 expression of his views, the Sealkote Presbytery resolved that, 
 " in the view of this Presbytery, it is inconsistent with our 
 public profession to extend ministerial and Christian fellowship 
 in sealing ordinances to the Rev. R. A. Hill!" The Mission 
 
32 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 Board and the General Assembly decided that these proceedings 
 were irregular, and ordered the suspension to be removed. But 
 the Presbytery continued the correspondence, and, after three 
 years of worry and vexation, Mr. Hill lias been compelled to 
 leave the Mission. 
 
 The Reformed Dutch Church of America for five-and- 
 twenty years maintained no missions of their own, but carried on 
 all missionary work through the " American Board " in Boston. 
 Several members of the Church were missionaries of that Board, 
 and were stationed in Borneo, at Amoy, and in South India ; and 
 practically their missionary thought and zeal were directed only 
 to the localities at which these brethren were labouring. At 
 length, in 1857, both parties, in an amicable manner and with 
 expressions of mutual good will, severed the connexion which 
 had existed between them, and the missionaries of certain stations 
 together with the property at the stations, were, at their own 
 request, transferred to the separate agency of the Reformed 
 Dutch Church. Thus it is that the Church henceforth appears 
 as a missionary agency which has entered for the first time into 
 India during the last ten years. 
 
 The station of Arcot was commenced by two sons of the late 
 Dr. Scudder in 1853, as an addition to the American mission in 
 South India, and on the separation of the Dutch Church from 
 the American Board, passed over to the former. The little 
 church of thirteen members soon grew, new congregations were 
 gathered, and new missionaries arrived in the country, of whom 
 seven were sons of Dr. Scudder, and four were possessed of the 
 degree of M.D. Six stations have been established in the Arcot 
 district, with one exception : near to each other and bringing a 
 compact and combined influence to bear upon the country. The 
 exception is that of Konoor, a sanatory station in the Nilgherry 
 Hills. There are ten missionaries in the mission, of whom one 
 is a native pastor ; six churches ; six catechists ; and 232 com- 
 municants, in a community of nearly 800 native Christians. The 
 schools are small, but there is a seminary at Arcot, containing 
 twenty lads, to which the members of the mission look for the 
 supply of native helpers. It has already been in existence seven 
 years, and sent out six lads into service. The Mission has found 
 many friends among the English residents of the stations it 
 contains. 
 
 While these five societies entering India for the first time 
 have added nineteen stations to our centres of labours, with 
 thirty-five missionaries, a still larger number of the older 
 societies have also been making earnest efforts to increase and 
 enlarge the agencies they were previously carrying on. 
 
IN INDIA. 33 
 
 Among these societies, for the exertions recently put forth, 
 the stations established, the men sent out, and the expenditure 
 undertaken, the Church Missionary Society occupies the very- 
 first place. In 1852 it employed in India eighty European 
 missionaries and fifteen ordained natives ; its numerous stations 
 were placed in influential localities; its churches contained 
 5600 communicants, and its native Christian community amounted 
 to 39,000 individuals. While continuing to receive a blessing 
 upon its labours, the committee of the Society, appreciating the 
 greatness of their opportunity, have endeavoured very largely 
 to increase the existing agency. They have sent out to India 
 during the last ten years ninety ordained missionaries and ten 
 laymen; and the native clergy have increased from fifteen to thirty. 
 The present staff, however, does not exhibit these efforts as one 
 would naturally expect. Notwithstanding the addition of ninety 
 new men to the eighty previously in the field, the number of 
 European missionaries at work in India at the close of 1861 
 amounted to only 116. The losses of the Society during the ten 
 years have been unusually great. Out of the ninety men who left 
 England to commence missionary life, no less than twenty-two 
 returned ; four visited the Cape or proceeded to the Hills : and 
 four died. Of older missionaries, forty-five (that is, more than 
 half the European staff when the decade began) left India either 
 wholly or for a time; and ten died. Thus it is that these great 
 exertions resulted in adding to the previous staff of Europeans 
 only a net increase of thirty-six men, and raising it from 80 to 
 the 1.16 already mentioned.* These heavy losses have continued 
 since the decade closed; and during the last eighteen months 
 several valuable missionaries, especially in the Punjab, have 
 either died or been compelled to retire from their work. The 
 stations occupied during the decade have greatly increased the 
 power of missionary work in certain parts of India; they in- 
 clude cities like Lucknow, Amritsir, Mooltan, and Peshawur, 
 in all of which strong missions have been placed, while older 
 stations, like Benares, have been reinforced. The amount of 
 money expended by the Society on this enlargement of their mis- 
 sions must have been very great. 
 
 During the same period the Basle Missionary Society in 
 a very quiet, unostentatious way, has also enlarged its operations. 
 It has made its principal station at Mangalore very strong, has 
 increased its missions in the Canarese country, and established 
 
 * At the close of 1861 the East-Indian and native clergy had increased to thirty- 
 five. These being added to the 116 European missionaries, make atotal of 151 ordained 
 labourers in the Indian field at that time, being an increase on the ten years of fifty- 
 six. The communicants had risen from 5600 to 8744, being an increase on the ten 
 years of 3144.— Ed. 
 
 D 
 
34 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 new stations at Palghat and in Coorg. In 1852 it had twenty- 
 seven missionaries at work ; but during the decade it has more 
 than doubled its staff, and has now fifty-seven in the field, viz. 
 forty-five ordained missionaries and twelve laymen. Of the 
 forty-five, thirty have entered the country since 1852. The 
 Wesleyan Missionary Society has increased its missionaries 
 during the same period to an almost equal degree, both English 
 and native. Where in 1852 it had twenty-two English mission- 
 aries and fourteen natives; it now has forty Englishmen and 
 twenty-four natives ; thus raising the entire staff from thirty-six 
 to sixty-four. Of the twenty-four native brethren, twenty are in 
 the Island of Ceylon. The older stations of the Society have 
 been greatly strengthened, and a new station established in the 
 province of Tanjore. The society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel, has obtained a large increase to its staff of native clergy, 
 which has risen from six to twenty-eight, of whom a large 
 portion labours in Ceylon. Its English clergy have increased 
 from thirty-eight to forty-eight; and amongst its new stations 
 are to be found Delhi, Patna, and Roorkee, in North India, and 
 Maul main in Burmah. The Baptist Missionary Society has 
 once and again sent several new missionaries to India, but the 
 total increase is not very great It had thirty-nine missionaries 
 in 1862 against thirty-one in 1852; and its native missionaries 
 are now six in number. The two principal American Societies 
 during this decade seem to have been untouched by the influ- 
 ences at work in Europe, and to have fallen back where other 
 societies have advanced. The American Board had forty 
 missionaries in India in 1852, all Americans: it has now only 
 thirty-two, but with fifteen native missionaries and pastors, where 
 then they had none. The American Presbyterian Mission in 
 Upper India had twenty-six missionaries, and has now twenty- 
 four. The London Missionary Society also has fallen to a 
 position behind that which it occupied ten years ago. In 1852 it 
 had in India fifty-two English missionaries and three native 
 pastors; at the end of 1861 it had forty-six English missionaries 
 and seven natives. During the decade it sent out to India 
 twenty-three missionaries; but twelve died, and seventeen left 
 the country, of whom several had served their Master in the 
 mission field for more than thirty years. 
 
 The position of this Society, taken with that of the Basle and 
 Church Missionary Societies first named, illustrates clearly a 
 fact of the greatest importance to all Indian Missions. The 
 losses of these societies among the older missionaries amount 
 during ten years to very nearly half the number with which the 
 decade began. The greater part of these losses arise from the 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 35 
 
 retirement of those whose health breaks down. Thus out of 
 fifty-two missionaries, the London Society lost twenty-nine ; the 
 Church Missionary Society, out of eighty, lost about thirty-six ; 
 and the Basle Society, out of twenty-three, lost ten. It is clear, 
 therefore, that if the societies labouring in India would maintain 
 efficiently the missions which they establish, they must keep up 
 a steady supply of young men ; and that this supply must amount 
 in ten years to half the number kept in the field. Five per cent 
 a-year are required simply to maintain the staff at the existing 
 standard; all increase lies beyond that number. The London 
 Missionary Society, though making great exertions during the 
 last three years of the decade, sent less than half its number to 
 India during the whole decade, and consequently closed it with 
 a smaller number than that with which it began. 
 
 These facts may be briefly gathered into the following table, 
 which shows a valuable addition to the agencies of our Indian 
 Missions within the sphere of the eight principal societies. 
 
 Societies. 
 
 Jan. 1852. 
 
 Jan. 1862. 
 
 New Stations. 
 
 o 
 
 ci 
 
 a 
 _o 
 
 m 
 
 .— 
 > g 
 
 1.2 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 "S 
 
 Church Missionary Soc. 
 Basle Mission 
 Wesleyan Missionary Soc. 
 Gospel Propagation Soc. 
 Baptist Missions . 
 American Board . 
 American Presb. Missions 
 London Missionary Soc. 
 
 80 
 23 
 22 
 38 
 31 
 40 
 26 
 52 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 6 
 2 
 
 1 
 3 
 
 116 
 
 44 
 40 
 48 
 
 39 
 
 32 
 
 24 
 46 
 
 3° 
 
 1 
 
 24 
 
 28 
 
 6 
 
 IS 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 Lucknow, Peshawur, &c. 
 
 Coorg, Palgaut, &c. 
 
 Trivalore. 
 
 Patna, Delhi, Roorkee, &c. 
 
 Kokar, Melur, &c. 
 Roorkee. Rawul Pindee, &c. 
 Nundial, Vizianagaram,&c. 
 
 312 
 
 42 
 
 389 
 
 "3 
 
 Special Indian Funds. 
 
 One of the forms in which the newly-excited interest in 
 Indian Missions was displayed during the decade, was the forma- 
 tion of Special Funds to provide for a special and immediate 
 enlargement of those missions. All of them sprang into ex- 
 istence during the Mutiny. Deeply did religious society through- 
 out England feel, after the lamentable exhibitions of revenge and 
 cruelty which that mutiny called forth, that more than ever is 
 the gospel required to enlighten and sanctify those lawless 
 natures which have been trained under the influences of idolatry 
 and false religion ; and earnestly did Christian men desire more 
 completely to fulfil the duty devolving on the country generally, 
 but especially on its Christian people, to apply that remedy 
 which the Saviour has himself provided for healing the soul- 
 maladies, under which its nations have so long suffered. Special 
 
36 TEN years' missionary labour • 
 
 appeals, therefore, were issued by several societies, and enforced by 
 the facts and arguments of numerous missionaries to whom India 
 was practically known. In this important effort, the Bible and 
 Tract Societies also joined, purposing to make a special applica- 
 tion of the means at their command within their peculiar sphere. 
 The sums gathered in answer to these appeals, were as follows : 
 
 Church Missionary Society .... £67,000 
 
 London Missionary Society .... 22,410 
 
 Baptist Missionary Society .... 5,469 
 
 Wesleyan Missionary Society . . . 7,500 
 
 Propagation Society 40,000 
 
 United Presbyterian Mission .... 7,455 
 
 British and Foreign Bible Society . . 7,189 
 
 Religious Tract Society 2,605 
 
 Total £159,628 
 
 For these large and important additions made to the agency 
 of our Indian missions during the past ten years (and only the 
 most prominent items have been given above), the thanks of all 
 the friends of missions are largely due to the able secretaries of 
 our Missionary Societies. While Christian men on all sides, full 
 of zeal for India, felt anxious to do their share in establishing 
 new missions, it devolved upon the secretaries and committees of 
 the various societies to devise plans, to despatch deputations, to 
 arrange meetings, gather funds, and seek for men; and those who 
 have observed the proceedings of that brief but important period 
 of active benevolence which followed the Mutiny, are well aware 
 that in carrying out these measures the officers of our societies 
 occupied a foremost place. But it is not only on such special 
 occasions that India owes them gratitude: it owes them more for 
 that quiet, steady attention to its claims, which they have dis- 
 played year after year, and which has kept up a continually 
 increasing supply of missionaries sent forth into its fields. Such 
 thanks are also due to many Indian officers settled in and around 
 London, who, by their attendance on committees and the exertion 
 of their private and social influence, have done much in recent 
 years to promote its interests. And for the extension of the 
 missions already spoken of, special thanks are due to many re- 
 siding in the country, who by their pen and their personal service 
 have powerfully advocated its claims. Several such have in late 
 years devoted vast sums of money to the commencement of special 
 stations, amongst whom Col. Martin, Col. R. Taylor, Major Con- 
 ran, and Mr. Tytler of Ahmednuggur, deserve special mention; 
 and it is from such devoted men that the proposed mission in Cash- 
 mere has received such efficient advocacy and such liberal support. 
 
IN INDIA. 37 
 
 III. SPECIAL PROGRESS IN CERTAIN LOCALITIES. 
 
 The tables of Indian missions just compiled, when compared 
 with those of 1852, show that, as a whole, the Protestant missions 
 now carried on in India have daring the past ten years made a 
 solid and secure advance. Little has occurred to attract the eye; 
 no mighty wave of revival has poured like a flood over provinces 
 and cities, carrying all before it, and leading men by thousands in 
 deep conviction to cry, " What shall we do to be saved ? " No 
 sudden impulse has burst the bonds of caste and Hindoo idolatry, 
 and led the votaries of superstition to seek Gospel liberty and 
 Gospel light. " The kingdom of God cometh not with observa- 
 tion." Romance has little to do with Indian missions. A hard 
 field is being tilled in some portions by earnest labourers, and such 
 labour is not carried on in vain. All over the country impres- 
 sions are deepening, knowledge is increased, churches are en- 
 larged, and numbers steadily grow. But progress is not equable 
 in all localities. The soils are not alike. The obstacles at some 
 points are very great. In the cities which rule the public 
 opinion of Indian society, men have much to lose in forsaking 
 the religion not only of their forefathers, but of the neighbours 
 and companions by whom they are surrounded : Hindu punish- 
 ments for inquiry are prompt and sure; still more severe for men 
 who believe and accept the Gospel. Countiy churches grow 
 faster than those in towns, far larger numbers of the simple pea- 
 santry become Christians than of the wealthy and intelligent sup- 
 porters of Hinduism. Most numerous, most easily drawn of all, 
 are the converts from the Hill people, or the outside tribes, who 
 are only slightly Hindus, or are not Hindus at all. Thus it is 
 that while all have advanced, naturally enough attention has 
 been drawn to certain localities in which progress has been rapid 
 and striking. It is to be regretted that respecting these localities 
 enthusiastic friends at home have at times indulged the language 
 of exaggeration not warranted by a sober estimate of the real 
 facts of the case. 
 
 1. Mission among the Coles. 
 
 No mission has been so frequently brought before the public 
 of late years as that of the German brethren among the Coles. 
 It has seemed in a measure to satisfy that craving after Pente- 
 costal success, without a due amount of previous labour, which 
 the story of missionary conquests produces in compassionate but 
 
38 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 ill-balanced minds. A few facts will show how far this longing 
 may be satisfied, and how far the rule holds good in this portion 
 of the Lord's vineyard : " the husbandman first labouring must 
 be partaker of the fruits/' 
 
 About 200 miles from Calcutta, on the western borders of the 
 great plain of Bengal, and south of the neighbouring province of 
 Behar, lies the broad table-land of Chota Nagpore. Raised on 
 the shoulders of a long line of granite hills, on the east it looks 
 down upon the vast rice-fields of Bancoorah and Midnapore, 
 which its many streams richly fertilise, and on the west, buried 
 in its dense impassable jungles, lies the beautiful valley of the 
 Upper Soane. Though a table-land, its surface is far from level. 
 It presents to the eve an endless succession of undulations, a 
 rolling country, formed of gravelly hills with swampy hollows at 
 their base, while on every side lofty detached hills, covered with 
 brushwood to the top, stand sentinels, as if to guard the land 
 from harm. The province is richly wooded in every part ; all 
 the Indian trees are ftmnd in its deep jungles, w T ith the gigantic 
 creepers that mount the loftiest, but the mango-trees are pecu- 
 liarly fine. They appear at times in long avenues lining the 
 tracks, which form the only roads ; at others they are found in 
 vast shady groves, with enormous trunks and mighty arms: and 
 again they stand singly in wide open glades, and give to the 
 scenery the rich and peaceful aspect of an English park. The 
 coffee plant, the orange, the shaddock, and the citron, grow readily 
 in gardens, and tea has also been produced, while rice is grown 
 in all the swamps, and oil-seeds are most abundant. The ap- 
 proaches to Chota Nagpore are exceedingly interesting to the ob- 
 server of physical geography. On its east side a steep pass leads 
 up its hilly face from the plains of Pachete and Ramguhr. On 
 the north the traveller passes a series of broad terraces, the 
 earliest being several miles wide, and having in its centre the 
 healthy military cantonment of Hazareebaugh. Passing south- 
 ward from this station terrace after terrace, ridge after ridge, and 
 stream after stream, are crossed, till seven have been numbered, 
 and finally, after a steady ascent of five miles through shady 
 jungle, where birds of varied plumage are met with, where 
 monkeys swing from bough to bough, where at night tigers and 
 bears abound, we reach the undulating plain, with its great fruit 
 trees and broad fields of corn. The climate of the province is 
 more temperate than that of the Bengal plain. Spreading out at 
 a height of 2000 feet above the sea, though not in the dry 
 summer months, it is cool and pleasant in the rains ; while in the 
 cold season, with the thermometer at 44 degrees, and a cloudless 
 sky of pale blue overhead, there is a sheen in the atmosphere 
 
IN INDIA. 39 
 
 unknown to the heated plains, and at early morn the joyous lark 
 pours forth his song upon the dewy air. 
 
 The people of Chota Nagpore and the neighbouring districts 
 are not Hindus by birth, of the races that have filled the plains 
 around them, and form the inhabitants of their great villages and 
 towns. They are of various and apparently kindred races of 
 aborigines, amongst whom are the Sontals, who occupy the slopes 
 of all the hills of East Behar. The principal tribes are called 
 Coles or Khols, and it is very doubtful whether they are of a 
 single race. Scholars consider that they are older as aborigines 
 than any other race in India, and their own traditions imply that 
 they belong to different ages. The term Cole is a term of re- 
 proach, never used to designate themselves ; indeed, they have 
 no generic name for the people whom the English speak of as 
 one, but speak of themselves as three separate tribes, Uraos, 
 Mundaris, and Lurkas. 
 
 They are an active people, of strong make, not very intelli- 
 gent, slow to learn books, but by no means deficient in common 
 sense. They are good-tempered, light-hearted, and are intensely 
 fond of dancing and music. The whole people live by agricul- 
 ture ; many occupy farms of considerable size, and in their large 
 cottages with their stout mud walls, with their numerous well- 
 worked rice baskets, and their fat cattle, show signs of possessing 
 substantial wealth. But large numbers are simply farm-labourers, 
 and are poor in the extreme. Everywhere the rich landowners 
 lay on the people the hand of the oppressor, and it is this oppres- 
 sion, far more than any propensity to rove, which has driven the 
 Coles from their native province to be exiles in Mauritius and 
 Demerara. 
 
 Brahminism, with its common idols and vulgar festivals, has 
 made considerable progress among the Coles, but the native re- 
 ligion of the tribes is a simple devil-worship. They worship the 
 sun, and honour a kind of deity called Bunga; but practically the 
 religion of those who care to maintain a religion at all is a devil- 
 worship similar to that of Malabar and of the Shanars near Cape 
 Comorin. Of their demons they stand in great fear; to them they 
 attribute all current calamities, and to them they address the 
 longing cry, "Arise, and save us." The country possesses no 
 temples to these beings ; only a few " altars " are erected in the 
 largest villages, and when offerings are made the largest portions 
 seem to consist of broken pot-shreds and old brooms ! The mo- 
 rality of the people is very low. They are great drinkers ; they 
 have learned to be great liars ; though their marriage vows are 
 kept, almost unbounded license is permitted to the unmarried, 
 and thus principle is corrupted in very early life. There is a 
 
40 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 universal belief in witchcraft, and not un frequently that belief 
 produces murder. 
 
 The mission among the Coles was commenced in 1845. 
 Gossner had desired to establish a new mission in one of the 
 eastern islands, where the missionaries would both themselves be 
 free and not interfere with others. He found the men, and 
 having no definite plan, sent them in the first instance to Cal- 
 cutta. There they resided with the late Dr. Hceberlin. One 
 morning, taking an early walk, they observed a number of 
 natives with dark skin clearing the public drains, and struck 
 with their appearance they asked Mrs. Hoeberlin, " Who are 
 those people we saw, so low and so degraded?" She replied, 
 "They are Coles from Western Bengal." Their interest was 
 excited, and inquiries were pushed further. In that estimable 
 Christian lady these unexpected questions produced both wonder 
 and delight. She had long been deeply interested in that neg- 
 lected people; she was well acquainted with the early labours 
 among them of the late Mr. De Rodt, and with his affecting 
 descriptions of their degradation. She therefore pressed their 
 case upon the brethren, who were pleased with the field opened 
 before them; and after consulting Colonel Harnyngton, one of the 
 officers in the province, who promised them a warm welcome, it 
 was settled that they should proceed to Chota Nagpore. As it 
 was already late in the season, they went, in the first instance, to 
 Bancoorah, in the neighbourhood, and remained a year with the 
 late Dr. Cheek, who showed them great kindness, and treated 
 them as his sons. 
 
 Joined by two new brethren, in the beginning of 1846 they 
 took up their position at Ranchee, and began to build their sta- 
 tion. Colonel Ouseley received them kindly, and the Raja gave 
 them more than thirty acres of land. Building their houses with 
 their own hands, making them of small size, and incautiously ex- 
 posing themselves to the sun, like other pioneers, they paid the 
 penalties of inexperience. Within a i'ew years four of their number 
 died, and one of their earliest possessions in the province was a 
 "burial-place" for their Christian dead. Work, however, went 
 on: they learned something of the Urao tongue, but still more of 
 Hindustani, and began to preach in the latter, unaware that the 
 language which would prove their greatest help is the Hindi. 
 They also founded a small school with a few orphan children. 
 Four years passed away, and not a convert came; they grew 
 discouraged, and seriously thought of removing to the plains 
 among the Hindus, as if that would have mended the matter! 
 In 185^ the first inquirers visited them, and were baptized. 
 Then they learned how time is required in missionary work as 
 
IN INDIA. 41 
 
 well as in husbandry j how knowledge was quietly spreading ; con- 
 victions were deepening; and many were asking in wonder about 
 this new way; the seed was springing and growing up, they 
 knew not how. In that year they baptized eleven adults; in 
 1851, twenty-seven; in '52, thirty-eight; in '54, sixty-five; in 
 '56, ninety-six. Before the Mutiny they had baptized 420 adults, 
 of whom 180 were communicants, and their native Christian 
 community consisted of more than 800 individuals, young and 
 old, living in more than sixty villages. 
 
 There was nothing strange in all this. There was no striking 
 " revival" in the province; inquiry and profession were quiet, 
 steady, continuous. God's blessing from heaven was resting on 
 steadfast labours, prayerfully maintained by zealous hearts. They 
 were teaching simple men, who possessed only the most con- 
 temptible shadow of religion, who were unfettered by the caste 
 and family bonds which make Hinduism so strong, and who, 
 when invited by their believing neighbours to examine Christ- 
 ianity for themselves, and having examined and found it beau- 
 tiful and fitted to satisfy their simple souls, had no obstacles in 
 their pathway which should make them hesitate in at once em- 
 bracing it. They were not, however, left in peace. The Ze- 
 mindars of the province rose again and again in opposition to the 
 converts, and brought to bear against them all the social persecu- 
 tion they could command. False charges were brought against 
 them in the courts, .their houses were plundered by armed bands, 
 the large rice-stores carried off, the very roofs of their houses 
 taken away, and money and the women's ornaments forcibly 
 seized. Most patiently did they bear the outrages from which 
 they so deeply suffered; grace was given them to "take joyfully 
 the spoiling of their goods ;'' elders and people remained firm in 
 their faith, and the trial only gave tone and strength to the prin- 
 ciples which were so rudely tested. 
 
 When the Mutiny cast loose all the bonds of political 
 authority, these persecutions broke out with fresh virulence. 
 The Ramguhr battalion that held the country mutinied, and 
 every Englishman, civil and military, of all ranks, fled for his 
 life. Before many hours had passed, every bungalow was in 
 flames; the mission-houses, being tiled, were stripped of their 
 furniture and books; the church was gutted, and the organ 
 pulled to pieces; cannon-balls were fired into the tower, but 
 disfigured without harming it. The converts were hunted from 
 their houses, and lost all their property of every kind ; all their 
 "village chapels were unroofed and stripped; and at last, when 
 nothing else remained, a price was set upon the converts' heads. 
 They were compelled to hide in the jungles, and sought, though 
 
42 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 in vain, to descend the passes, which they found guarded, in 
 order to escape into the plains. Many stories are told of hair- 
 breadth escapes ; at times they met with singular kindness from 
 strangers, especially from women, nevertheless a few were killed, 
 and their persecutors had seriously planned to exterminate the 
 Christians from the province, when the English soldiers marched 
 up from Hazareebaugh, put an end to disorder, and captured the 
 rebel delinquents. Their chief persecutor was hanged in the 
 middle of Ranchee, and so bitter was the disappointment of his 
 party, that it was universally credited that he would rise again 
 from the dead. 
 
 The missionaries speedily returned; work was resumed, the 
 congregations were re-gathered, and a strange measure of pros- 
 perity was henceforth granted. New life seemed given to the 
 Christians, and their enemies saw with amazement that the 
 dispersed and despised race came forth more numerous than 
 ever. In 1858,247 were baptized; in 1860, 305 ; in 1861, no 
 less than 522, of whom 300 were adults. On one occasion, 
 106 were baptized in the church at the same time ; on another, 
 75. When our decade closed, there were in the mission 1900 
 baptized converts, of whom 400 were communicants ; and the 
 definite inquirers were about 600 more. The converts resided 
 in 173 villages. During the last fifteen months, however, a very 
 large addition has been made to the mission ; and its present 
 position may be seen from the following table : — 
 
 Chota Nagpore Mission, April 1863. 
 Missionaries ...... 7 
 
 Chief Stations < TT ' ! , 
 
 ( Hazareebaugh. 
 
 Village Chapels ..... 8 
 
 Elders 31 
 
 Catechists ..".... 8 
 
 Communicants ...... 790 
 
 Baptized Christians ..... 3401 
 
 Inquirers . . . . . . .100 
 
 Boarding . . . .91 
 
 Day . . . . .120 
 
 Scholars < 
 
 On one point considerable misapprehension has arisen in 
 Europe, and the mistake has been exaggerated by enthusiastic 
 minds. The number of adherents of the mission, " almost 
 Christians," has been spoken of as immensely large. One writer 
 says of them, " among a mass of professed Christians of several 
 thousands, .... living in more than 800 villages," &c " The 
 
IN INDIA. 43 
 
 brethren count at present in round numbers 2000 baptized ; 
 and a vast number of people have broken caste and thrown off 
 the fetters of idolatry altogether." When these words were 
 written, the inquirers, who had laid aside the marks of heathenism 
 and were in earnest to learn the gospel, amounted to 600 persons. 
 It is true that outside them there are in Chota Nagpore, as in 
 all great missionary fields, a number of people to whom the 
 words of the Gospel are pleasant and comforting, who have many 
 misgivings about their own religion and about their own position ; 
 who read the Scriptures and acknowledged them to be true. 
 The number of such among the Coles is large; men have at 
 times come and conversed with the missionary, from more than 
 500 villages, whose names are known: but such persons are not 
 converts in any sense ; they are asking, learning, gaining inform- 
 ation that may bring them to some decision, but no definite 
 decision has been reached ; and in hundreds of cases when it is 
 reached, it will be (as it was with the people who " ate the loaves 
 and were filled,") a decision to " go away," and remain in 
 heathenism. The Christians have been very active among their 
 neighbours; they have been the missionaries who spread the 
 Gospel outward, far more than the German brethren, who are 
 their instructors ; and through them some knowledge of the Gospel 
 has travelled to all the villages of the province. Everywhere in 
 the neighbourhood of their stations, the Coles are ashamed of their 
 devil-worship, and never allow a missionary to see it. " Who 
 taught you about Jesus Christ?" said a missionary to an intelli- 
 gent woman, who had come to Ranchee. " Who ! '' was the 
 reply; " why this teaching is all over the country." 
 
 A large number of the Christians come in from their villages 
 to Ranchee every week for the Sabbath services. They are so 
 numerous, that a special serai has been erected for their use, 
 which, with its broad verandahs and inner court, can accommo- 
 date 600 visitors. They bring all their food, and are merely 
 supplied with firewood at the expense of the mission. They hold 
 special festival at Christmas, and on the first Monday of the 
 year they gather to celebrate their harvest feast and hold an 
 annual missionary meeting. It was a pleasant sight last year to 
 contemplate the happy faces of the multitude, men, women, and 
 children, as they collected in the square near the mission-house, 
 with their offerings in their hands, prepared to march in pro- 
 cession to the station-house. As the gong sounded ten o'clock, the 
 procession moved off, headed by Mr. Brandt, with the boys' school ; 
 followed by Mrs. Frederick Batsch, with the girls ; the children 
 all singing a hymn of praise to the tune of Kiel- Next came a 
 number of women with large baskets on their heads, then the 
 
44 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 men, leading their children, or carrying other loads ; all marching 
 up the noble avenue of Pontianas to the church, which stands on 
 the slope at its further end. Arrived at the church, they passed 
 up the centre aisle, ascended the stairs into the deep chancel, 
 and inarched round the communion-table, which stood out in the 
 centre, every one presenting an offering. In the front, had 
 already been raised a small stack, about six feet high, of sheaves 
 of "first-fruits." Small boxes for money stood on the table; 
 but the rice offered, was poured upon the floor. None came 
 empty-handed, every one, men, women, and children, presented 
 money, but the chief gift was the cleaned rice, that had been 
 gathered in their fields. For half-an-hour the people came slowly 
 on ; old men and women, strong men and children, women with 
 children at their sides or slung upon their backs ; the prosperous 
 farmer, the poor day-labourer, all, and every one brought their 
 gifts. Some brought a handful in a cup ; a few brought large 
 baskets with half-a-hundredweight : others a more moderate 
 quantity. Meanwhile the children in the gallery sang a variety 
 of hymns, accompanied by an organ, played by the school-te >cher, 
 one of their own people ; and sang them with a clearness and 
 precision, taking the different parts, which it was most delightful 
 to hear. So the procession passed on, the money increasing in 
 the boxes, and the rice-heaps growing higher on the floor, till 
 all were seated in the church for worship. Those "heaps" 
 brought the old Temple to mind with the promises of blessing to 
 those who founded and maintained them ; and could not fail to 
 suggest the prayer, that, like the Jews of old, these temple-wor- 
 shippers might grow in faith, and love, and gratitude, and that 
 they too might receive showers of blessing from above. 
 
 A few Sabbaths after, in the midst of a full congregation, 
 forty-seven persons were baptized, of whom twenty-three were 
 adults. After a brief liturgy, the opening sentences of which 
 were made appropriate to the day, in which Psalm xxiii. was 
 beautifully chanted, and all the responses were sung, the candidates 
 were called to the front of the congregation. Mr. F. Batsch, the 
 senior missionary, then addressed them on their purpose to make 
 a public profession, and examined them at length both in regard 
 to the old faith they had cast off and the new faith they had 
 chosen. Their clear and ready answers show T ed that they well 
 understood the matter, and had been carefully instructed. As 
 they followed him up the steps of the chancel, the choir poured 
 forth, in that melodious tongue, the Christianised Hindi, in the 
 melody well known in England, the sad and plaintive wail, " I 
 will arise, and go to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, 
 I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more 
 
IN INDIA. 45 
 
 worthy to be called thy son." Gathered around the font, they 
 repeated the confession, avowed in words their rejection of the 
 works of Satan, and after prayer were baptized into the Saviour's 
 name. A sermon followed, by Mr. Ziemann, of Ghazeepore, on 
 Christ's turning the water into wine. 
 
 Blessed as the mission is, there are great difficulties to con- 
 tend with in the training of these numerous converts, find, in the 
 judgment of some, most serious defects in the form and character 
 of the missionaries' plans. Of these they are themselves deeply 
 conscious. Few in number, having as yet but few catechists 
 and preachers competent to the charge of congregations, it is 
 very difficult, it is even impracticable to provide for these 
 scattered converts the instruction that they need. Now they 
 come in to the station from villages, twelve, fifteen, and twenty 
 miles distant, for the Sabbath services, but that is an unnatural 
 and exceptional state of things. Hitherto Ranchee has been the 
 only station of the Cole mission ; but five other central stations 
 have been planned, of which the station at Itki, with its pretty 
 chapel and school, has been completed, and will at once supply 
 the wants of twenty villages. Education is very low, the scholars 
 are very few ; but the missionaries desire that the people them- 
 selves shall demand it and pay for it when it is supplied. The 
 work is growing faster than they find convenient ; and they 
 need great wisdom and great grace so to guide, instruct, and 
 organise their numerous converts, as to lead them in that path 
 of spiritual prosperity from which they shall never be turned 
 aside. 
 
 2. The Missions among the Shanaes. 
 
 Another body of flourishing missions that have made decided 
 progress during the past ten years, are those placed among the 
 Shanars, the great tribe of devil-worshippers in the neighbour- 
 hood of Cape Comorin. They are usually known as the 
 " Tinnevelly Mission,'' but in point of fact consist of three mis- 
 sions, part in Tinnevelly, and partly in the kingdom of Travan- 
 core. Similar in origin, carried on among a tribe of people with 
 similar traditions, practices, religious belief, and social customs, 
 though belonging to three different societies, they are conducted 
 on the same principle, adopt largely the same plans, are exerting 
 a similar influence, and are producing substantially the same 
 results. They form one of the most prosperous missions in 
 India. Their converts are more numerous than those among the 
 Karens, though they have passed over to the Gospel at a slower 
 rate. In natural character, in the stamina of that character, in 
 
46 
 
 TEN TEAKS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 the extent of their intellect, and in the degree of their civilization, 
 they are not unlike the Coles. Time was, when with even fewer 
 missionaries to teach them than the Coles now have, they forsook 
 their devil-worship in larger numbers than the Coles have done, 
 when even in a single year 3000 Shanars joined one single 
 mission. An oppressed race ; living on palm-sugar ; climbing 
 trees with hard, daily toil ; utterly untaught ; with scarcely an 
 idea about God ; fearing only the powers at work in the sky, 
 and air, and earth, close around them ; their only recreations the 
 wild dances of devil-priests, with the loud drumming, and the 
 rude feast that ever accompanied; who can wonder that they 
 were drawn by the loving smile of that Gospel, which, while it 
 displayed their errors, removed their fears, and showed them a 
 Father in heaven, and brethren on earth, to befriend and help 
 them ? They have been easy to win, but hard to raise ; and it is 
 in their low type of civilisation, and in the poverty of their mental 
 and moral stamina, that Christian men will find the great diffi- 
 culty of building them up into self-sustaining churches. The 
 stability and vigour of character which they need, it has cost 
 other nations ages of struggle to attain. Still these societies have 
 set themselves to the task ; and with energy are applying to 
 it the grandest instrument ever furnished for the regeneration of 
 a people, the moral power of evangelical Christianity. Great 
 attention has been paid to the instruction and organisation of 
 these missions during the last twenty years ; experienced men of 
 sober views, and putting forth steady and earnest toil, have 
 worked on this field of labour with wise and willing hearts. It 
 is but natural, that under that blessing for which they have 
 prayed, the last ten years have witnessed to special and solid 
 progress. The fact appears at once patent from the following 
 table : 
 
 Missions among the Shanars. 1852 and 1862. 
 
 Society. 
 
 Year. 
 
 Mission- 
 aries. 
 
 Ordained 
 
 Natives. 
 
 Cate- 
 chists. 
 
 Communi- 
 cants. 
 
 Native 
 Christians. 
 
 Contributions 
 
 in the last 
 three years. 
 
 Propagation ( 
 Society \ 
 
 Church Miss. ( 
 Society { 
 
 London Miss. ( 
 Society ( 
 
 Total [ 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 8 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 26 
 9 1 
 
 792 
 1792 
 
 10,528 
 16,667 
 
 6.000 
 18,000 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 10 
 
 17 
 
 7 
 14 
 
 75 
 226 
 
 2996 
 
 4722 
 
 25.280 
 33> 6 9' 
 
 15,000 
 
 30,381 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 8 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 105 
 
 189 
 
 658 
 1284 
 
 17.633 
 22,688 
 
 6,800 
 1 1,500 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 26 
 
 35 
 
 7 
 16 
 
 206 
 506 
 
 4446 
 
 779 s 
 
 53,441 
 73,046 
 
 27,800 
 59.881 
 
IN INDIA. 47 
 
 Without going deeply into these figures, the reader cannot 
 fail to notice several striking facts which lie upon their very 
 surface. A large and valuable increase is apparent in all these 
 missions, both in the agencies and in their results. Thus the 
 Shanar converts have increased by about 20,000, or 38 per 
 cent. Their contributions for religious purposes have at the 
 same time been more than doubled, having increased 118 per 
 cent. The proportion between the communicants and the Christ- 
 ians generally has greatly improved. In 1852, one person was 
 a communicant in every twelve; in 1862, one was a communi- 
 cant in every nine and a half; out of the 73,000 Christians, 
 the communicants, instead of being 6450, have risen to 7798. 
 This increase is specially observable in the communicants of 
 the Propagation Society, where the increase is 126 per cent : 
 while that of the native Christians is less than 60 per cent. It 
 is similarly conspicuous in the Travancore Mission of the 
 London Society: while the native Christians have increased 
 only 28 per cent, the communicants or " church-members," have 
 doubled. A great increase also is to be noticed, in the native 
 agency of the mission, in all the societies. Allowing that in the 
 first two cases the number of catechists and assistants in 1852 is 
 understated, still the increase cannot be reckoned at less than 
 180 men ; men, not like many of those who are gradually 
 dying out, imperfectly educated, and employed in the absence of 
 better men, but catechists well trained in the three institutions 
 maintained for the purpose, and much better furnished by know- 
 ledge and tested cnaracter for the responsible duties devolving 
 upon them. It may shock the sensitiveness of some minds to 
 imply that piety can be represented by statistics ; but the facts 
 above mentioned are plain. The increased native agency; the 
 larger liberality, increased not only in its amount, but in the 
 proportion it bears to the number of givers ; the greater propor- 
 tion of native Christians partaking of the communion ; all indicate 
 progress in character as well as numbers, and imply that know- 
 ledge is greater, principle more prevalent, feeling more active. 
 To these things the letters and Reports of missionaries bear 
 unequivocal and decided testimony. 
 
 "Every missionary district in connexion with this circle," 
 says Dr. Caldwell, " has made progress during this period in 
 numbers and efficiency. The only exception is the district of 
 Nazareth, which has suffered considerably from the effects of a 
 schism. It is, however, making up for its losses by accessions 
 from the heathen. The greatest increase in numbers has been 
 in the district of Puthiamputtur, newly established in the northern 
 
48 TEN YEAEs' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 part of the province. Placed under Mr. Kearns in 1855, it has 
 advanced very rapidly. 
 
 " The Church Missionary Society's Mission in Tinnevelly," 
 says Mr. Clark, " has, through God's blessing, made considerable 
 progress in various ways during the last ten years. In almost 
 every part of its operations traces of advance may be observed in 
 a greater or less degree. First, the number of inquirers, baptized, 
 confirmed, and communicants, has steadily increased ; intervals 
 of declension in numbers have now and then occurred, but they 
 have been limited both in locality and in time. Then the class 
 of agents, who are gradually superseding those of an earlier date, 
 is of an improved character, and continues to improve. Our 
 two institutions for the training of schoolmasters, and the prepa- 
 ration of catechists, are well accomplishing the object for which 
 they were established. They are supplying selected, intelligent, 
 and educated men for the service of the Church, of whose 
 superiority to their predecessors there can be no doubt. A third 
 mark of progress is the now widely recognised duty of self- 
 support. Though not prepared, nor able, to bear the entire burden 
 of the expenses now incurred on their behalf, the people acknow- 
 ledge their responsibility, and are willing, so far as their slender 
 means will allow, to fulfil their obligations. They are not yet 
 so alive to their dut}', nor so impressed with the vast importance 
 of spiritual things, as to come forward, in every instance, to the 
 full extent of their ability ; they need still to be guided and urged 
 to their duty. Nevertheless they have so far done well, and are 
 steadily making progress. The steady increase of their contri- 
 butions year by year, and the fact that they have recently 
 undertaken altogether various burdens (such as the building and 
 repair of churches), hitherto partly or wholly borne by the 
 Society, furnish clear evidence of this fact. 
 
 " Again, progress is shown in the growth of a missionary 
 spirit, leading them to contribute funds for the salaries of cate- 
 chists employed among the heathen, and stirring up some to offer 
 themselves for that special work. Many catechists have been 
 led to give themselves to missionary labours, both in Ceylon and 
 in the North Tinnevelly itinerancy, and one has gone to the 
 Mauritius. A fifth sign of progress is the gradual introduction 
 of the fee-system into our schools. The charges are at present 
 small; but they are as heavy as can be safely demanded, perhaps 
 as heavy as the people can bear. But borne, as they are, 
 willingly, they are indications of a happy advance in their state 
 of feeling, which we rejoice to see. There is advance in the 
 character and appearance of our buildings ; there has been con- 
 
IN INDIA. 49 
 
 siderable increase in our numbers; but, best of all, we have good 
 reason to believe that there has been some advance in the spi- 
 ritual and intellectual status of the people. That advance is not 
 so easily guaged as other evidences of progress, but we have 
 ground for thinking it real. Some improvement was effected by 
 the revival which happened two years ago. Much that then 
 appeared promising proved false ; yet some were certainly bene- 
 fited, and have since lived in the fear and love of God." 
 
 " The testimony of all the brethren," says Mr. Dennis, of 
 Nagercoil, " is, more or less, to the effect that our people are 
 decidedly growing in grace. They manifest greater regard to 
 the Sabbath, to the house of prayer, and to private devotion. 
 They exhibit also a far more liberal spirit than formerly. So 
 great, indeed, do we feel the advance to be, that most of us 
 seriously contemplate urging the people of some of the larger 
 congregations to try the experiment of self-support." In the 
 London Mission this advance has been made in the face of severe 
 drawbacks. During the decade the entire staff of the mission 
 has been changed. On two occasions the country has been 
 visited by severe famines, and on other two by cholera. In 
 1860 the cholera swept away 1500 of the converts, and many 
 thousands of the heathen. Immediately after the young rice- 
 plants were attacked by myriads of caterpillars, all over the 
 country, and the whole were devoured. These judgments, 
 especially the last, had the effect of leading the converts, and 
 many of the heathen, to listen more attentively to Gospel teach- 
 ing, and in three years nearly 6000 persons were received into 
 the mission congregations. 
 
 An arrangement in these missions which deserves special 
 mention was the commencement of a series of special efforts 
 among the heathen Shanars. It was felt by many that the 
 Christian work of the various districts so fully occupied the 
 missionaries' time, that aggressive work was all but relinquished. 
 In 1854 a district was specially taken up for this purpose in 
 North Tinnevelly by Mr. Ragland, who had long felt in it the 
 deepest interest. Joined by two other brethren, systematic 
 operations were commenced and maintained for visiting the 
 1200 heathen villages, markets, and festivals around them. 
 These were heartily aided by the brethren engaged more directly 
 in pastoral work. They devised a system for supplying cate- 
 chists to the itinerancy for certain periods, and partially support- 
 ing them. The congregations from which they were, in turn, 
 taken, were stirred up to deeper interest in missionary work — to 
 give, to feel, to pray for its success. The result has been more 
 constant work among the heathen in every district around the 
 
 £ 
 
50 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 Christian stations ; special catecbists are appointed to it ; and an 
 entirely new district has been formed, at which the itinerating 
 missionaries have their head-quarters. 
 
 The religious awakening which occurred in one portion of the 
 rinnevelly mission in 1860 scarcely deserves the name of a 
 revival. It was characterised from the outset, to such a grievous 
 extent, by pretended visions and miracles and wild excitement, 
 and by what people by a timid euphemism call 'physical mani- 
 festations,' that the missionaries in general felt bound to dis- 
 courage it. It proved, however, that the apathetic natives of 
 India could be as much interested in Christianity, as earnest and 
 enthusiastic about it, as ever Englishmen have been. Mission- 
 aries in the neighbourhood acknowledge it as having done good 
 also to individuals, while it increased the impulse given to special 
 endeavours for the conversion of the heathen, and to special 
 intercessions for the progress of the Saviour's kingdom. 
 
 Mission among the Araans. 
 
 Akin to these efforts among the Shanars.is a work of deep 
 interest, which during the entire decade has been carried on 
 among one of the Hill races of Travancore. That beautiful 
 province contains the most singular collection of low-caste tribes 
 to be found in any part of India. Sprung from the aboriginal 
 inhabitants of the soil, they are known by various names, and 
 occupy various stages of degradation ; some being so low as never 
 to live in houses or appear abroad during the light of day. 
 Oppressed for ages by the proud Brahmins and Sudras who live 
 on the fat of the land, they live in a state of appalling ignorance 
 and abject misery. About twelve years ago, Mr. Henry Baker, 
 while carrying on his work in the district of Pallam, found an 
 opening among one of these tribes, the Araans, living in the 
 dense woods that clothe the Ghauts along the eastern boundary 
 of Travancore. He visited their villages again and again ; 
 erected chapels and schools, baptized many, and set free from his 
 large diocese in the plains, devoted himself entirely to the 
 welfare of his new flock. Notwithstanding opposition, even from 
 the Travancore government, his work has greatly prospered; and 
 the little villages around his residence at Mundakayam now 
 contain no less than 800 Christians, of whom 217 are communi- 
 cants. No effort in India deserves more hearty support and 
 sympathy, and it is only want of space that prevents us writing 
 on it at greater length. 
 
 Towards the close of the decade a movement in favour of 
 Christianity commenced among the slave population of Tra- 
 vancore, which is making remarkable progress. 
 
IN INDIA. 51 
 
 Schism in Tinnevellt. 
 
 One event of an unusual kind has occurred in the mission in 
 recent years, which must possess a special interest for all mission- 
 aries, not only in India, but throughout the world. Indifference, 
 the disobedience of an unsanctifiecl heart, religious declension and 
 decay, have in India, as elsewhere, taken away not only indi- 
 viduals, but small communities, from the missionary's care, and 
 at times raised up enemies vindictive and troublesome. A dis- 
 satisfied catechist has many a time gathered round him the 
 lifeless members of the Christian community, hoping to coerce 
 the missionary ; but such isolated efforts have been temporary, 
 the results of evil tempers, and have been cured by the absence of 
 funds. Nowhere have they advanced so far as in Tinnevelly, 
 where a distinct schismatic body has been formed. 
 
 " This schism," says Dr. Caldwell, " commenced in a large 
 Christian village in the district of Nazareth, and involved a con- 
 tiguous portion of the Church Missionary Society's district of 
 Megnanapuram* It owed its origin to a personal dispute between 
 the missionary then at Nazareth and a portion of his flock ; but 
 as soon as the leaders of the schism had formed their plans and 
 declared themselves, they took advantage of the strong caste 
 feeling which prevailed among the Shanar Christians of that 
 neighbourhood, and placed their cause on a caste basis. The 
 adherents of the schism number, it is said, more than 2000 souls, 
 and are Avithout exception Shanars. 
 
 *' They used many endeavours at first to induce the Shanars 
 generally throughout Tinnevelly to join their ranks, but without 
 success : and the schism will now probably continue to have a 
 merely local character, depending on the personal influence of its 
 two leaders, and dying with their death. 
 
 " They call themselves in their documents e The Hindu 
 Church of the Lord Jesus; ' but amongst their neighbours they 
 call themselves, and are generally called, the Ndttdr, or ' national 
 party.' In their zeal for caste and Hindu nationality, they have 
 rejected from their system everything which appeared to them 
 to savour of a European origin. Hence they have abandoned 
 infant- baptism and an ordained ministry. Instead of wine they 
 
 * The Rev. J. Thomas, the missionary of Megnanapuram, expressly states that 
 one congregation only of his district, that of Pragasapuram, sympathized with the 
 seceders of Nazareth, and that Irom no other congregation had the Nattar imt with 
 any sympathy, although every effort had been made to induce the people to do so. 
 — Ed. 
 
52 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 use the unfermented juice of grapes in an ordinance which they 
 regard as the Lord's Supper, and observe Saturday instead of 
 Sunday as their Sabbath. They appear to be drifting without 
 chart or compass no one knows whither. 
 
 u It is not greatly to be wondered at that a schism like this 
 should have taken place during the progress of the native church 
 towards maturity. The Primitive Christian Church had to 
 endure worse trials than this; and we have been expressly 
 forewarned, that ' there must be also heresies among you, that 
 they which are approved may be made manifest among you.' 
 
 " One good result at least has already sprung out of this 
 evil. It has often been asserted that if all European mission- 
 aries were withdrawn, and if European money ceased to circulate 
 in our missions, native Christianity would immediately disappear. 
 The experiment has been tried on a somewhat extensive scale 
 at Tinnevelly. The schismatics in the district of Nazareth and 
 its neighbourhood have cut themselves off as completely from 
 all European help in money and influence as if there were no 
 longer any Europeans in the country ; and yet they have sus- 
 tained their own religious ordinances, after their own fashion, 
 it is true, but (it must be admitted) with considerable* public 
 spirit and zeal, for more than five years; and I have not heard 
 it said, that any one of their number has returned to heathen- 
 ism." 
 
 Modern missions in India, and throughout the world, are 
 distinguished above those of earlier ages by their free and ex- 
 tensive employment of the Word of God. To whatever nation, 
 province, or city, they have gone, missionaries have endeavoured 
 as early as possible to provide a faithful version of that Word 
 in the vernacular tongue. Printed and published, given in 
 whole volumes, or conveniently divided into its own separate 
 books, it has been from the first extensively distributed; it has 
 supplied the best instructor for every man that can read, and 
 proved a stimulus of the most powerful kind to those who could 
 not — to learn to do so. It has been always appealed to as the 
 sole authority in doctrine and moral life; every convert has 
 been taught to study it for himself; the younger children in 
 schools, the older converts in Bible classes, have been encouraged 
 to master its histories, its precepts, its warnings, and its promises. 
 The native churches have been based upon it as their foundation, 
 and have been built up only by its teaching. Hence it is, that 
 these churches have been so simple, yet so sound in the faith, 
 and that so few vagaries of doctrine or practice have sprung up 
 among them. Hence it is that, unlike the Primitive Church, 
 the modern churches have retained, whether in opinion or in life, 
 
IN INDIA. 53 
 
 so few of the national errors from which they have been drawn 
 away. The caste system of India has proved the most tenacious 
 of those errors, and has done by far the greatest harm. The 
 schism in Tinnevelly has evidently derived its chief strength 
 from that error ; and while it is a phenomenon in Indian missions 
 exhibiting features of peculiar interest, it cannot fail to make all 
 missionaries cling more than ever to pure Scripture teaching, 
 and to desire that this magnificent heritage given to the world 
 by the modern missionary Church, the Bible in more than 150 
 languages of the present day, shall be applied only with greater 
 efficiency, not only to expound God-given truth, but to prevent 
 the rise of tenacious errors which it may take centuries of effort 
 fully to clear away. 
 
 3. The Missions hound Meerut and Delhi. 
 
 When the missions in Agra and Muttra, Meerut and Delhi, 
 were reopened after the rebellion had been crushed, a new 
 spirit was apparent among the people. It was evident, that in 
 a religious direction they had learned much from the struggle of 
 two years, that they felt their own religions had been in a 
 measure on trial, and had failed, and that they were anxious to 
 know more of Christianity. It is not improbable that much of 
 this sprang from fear, and that, with some undefined expectation 
 that the victorious government would compel them to become 
 Christians, they were rather wishing to prepare for the change 
 by calculating what they would have to profess. Whether the 
 motive were good or ill, it was plain, moreover, that the de- 
 meanour of the people had changed. Everywhere they were 
 willing to hear. Whenever a missionary stood up to preach, he 
 could at once gather a large congregation. This was especially 
 the case with Agra and Delhi. Crowds listened attentively who 
 had never cared to hear before, and large numbers of Scriptures 
 and Christian books were sold. In the village of Mulyana, 
 three miles from Meerut, there was quite an excitement produced 
 by some tracts and Scriptures left by a Christian during the 
 disorders of the Mutiny ; and after due inquiry, Mr. Medland, the 
 Church missionary in Meerut, baptized several converts. The 
 inquiry spread to Kunker Khera, and one or two other large 
 villages on the east of Meerut, and congregations have also been 
 gathered there. Quite new openings have been found for mis- 
 sion-stations ; and to the north of Meerut it is said there are 
 large numbers of people, willing but uninstructed, who, under the 
 Spirit's blessing on the labours of good native agents, may soon 
 be brought out of heathenism. 
 
54 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 In Delhi and its suburbs, Mr. Smith, the Baptist missionary, 
 gathered large congregations morning and evening ; and it was 
 strange to see men hanging upon his lips, and repeating their 
 attendance at his preaching-stands, in a city which Mr. Thompson 
 had found so deaf to the Gospel during his thirty-eight years' toil. 
 Whether in the broad Chandni Chouk, or in Dariaguiye, in the 
 suburbs on the south, or the villages east and west, his physical 
 energy and clear exposition of the Gospel drew hundreds to his 
 instructions, and the Scriptures and Christian books were sold in 
 large numbers. At length the people began to decide that they 
 would profess themselves Christians ; and group after group 
 came forward, until in the course of the year he had bap- 
 tized 94. The next year he baptized 108 ; the following 
 year his successor received 69 ; and last year, 26. In the 
 four years 300 new converts were baptized : while in the 
 first three years of the same period, 56 had been received in 
 Agra. Four churches were founded in Delhi, one containing 
 chiefly Christian peasants ; another, a large number of artisans 
 who make the Delhi shoes. A landholder, a member or two of 
 the royal family, and others also, joined these churches. 
 
 In all these events, however, marks of haste and want of 
 caution soon began to appear. Soon some absented themselves 
 from church; others, pressed by the famine then ravaging the 
 district, began to pursue their usual calling on the Sabbath ; and 
 at length many openly gave up their profession. Mr. Smith was 
 compelled by ill health to leave India; but his successor applied 
 himself with fidelity to correct the evil. Instruction, remon- 
 strance, reproof, were all tried ; the law of Christ was faithfully 
 expounded; and when these availed not, the pruning-knife was 
 applied with unsparing hand. In two years 150 members were 
 excluded from fellowship, and the nominal professors as far as 
 possible removed. It is hourly acknowledged that, " it is now 
 evident that the majority of the people came forward from 
 sinister motives ; and, finding after some delay that no worldly 
 advantage was gained, they fell back to their old habits." 
 
 It is a matter greatly to be regretted that between the two 
 Societies thus enjoying special prosperity, that very progress 
 should have given rise to a serious collision. In the village of 
 Mulyana several of the converts who were dissatisfied with the 
 missionary and with the small amount of gain their new profes- 
 sion had brought, made their way over to Delhi, and induced the 
 missionary there to re-baptize them. He believed them to be 
 conscientious and listened to their request. Not long after the 
 Delhi missionaries went over to Mulyana (though that village is 
 close to Meerut and thirty-eight miles from Delhi) and baptized 
 
IN INDIA. 55 
 
 twelve others. A chapel was soon erected in the little village, a 
 few yards from that of the Church Mission ; and by a most 
 unfortunate arrangement, a missionary who had formerly been 
 connected with the Church Missionary Society was put in charge 
 of the new chapel. His head-quarters being fixed at Meerut 
 where he had previously lived. 
 
 These things excited profound regret wherever they were 
 spoken of amongst all missionaries in Northern India, some mission- 
 aries of the Baptist Society included. There was but one opinion, 
 one verdict pronounced, by all who know what native converts 
 can (when they choose) profess. It was thought that a serious 
 inroad had been made upon that wise and holy practice of non- 
 interference with each other's converts, which has long been the 
 rule with Evangelical missionaries in India, and is felt to be a 
 security to all ; and hope was expressed that when the Committee 
 of the Home Society should be made acquainted with all the 
 facts of the case, they would decline to sanction these proceedings 
 and confine the Mission to its proper sphere. This hope has not 
 been disappointed. A few weeks ago, by an arrangement made 
 between the missionaries of both societies on the spot, the station 
 at Mulyana has been given up by the Baptist brethren, and har- 
 mony of action restored. 
 
 4. Baptist Mission in Burrisal. 
 
 Ten years ago, when reviewing the general results of Indian 
 Mission, notice was drawn to the special success which had been 
 granted to this mission, situated in the eastern part of the pro- 
 vince of Bengal. It was shown that amongst the simple, agricul- 
 tural population of those eastern swamps au earnest inquiry had 
 sprung up respecting the Gospel, and that a large number had 
 been received into the Christian Church. Wisely fostered and 
 lovingly treated, that spirit has never died away. If it has lost 
 in outward favour it has gained in steadiness, and its satisfaction 
 in the Gospel is more complete ; during the entire decade the 
 mission has continued to grow, and at the present time is the 
 largest mission of the Society on the continent of India. Only on 
 certain points is it excelled in numbers by the mission around 
 Colombo in Ceylon. Its present position is the result of quiet, 
 steady labour on a favourable soil. No special causes of increase 
 have been at work. The faithful preaching of Evangelical truth ; 
 the personal conversation of the missionaries ; the labours of con- 
 sistent native catechists ; the steady maintenance of a kind but 
 strict discipline; the observance and euqiloyment of all public 
 ordinances : these alone have been the instrumentalities employed 
 
56 
 
 TEN YEARS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 on this interesting field of labour. The progress has been steady 
 and most gratifying. It may be exhibited in the following manner : 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 Catechists. 
 
 Out-Stations. 
 
 Churches. 
 
 Communicants. 
 
 Native 
 Christians. 
 
 11 
 
 J 9 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 10 
 
 181 
 
 447 
 
 1250 
 
 3100 
 
 The total number of members (or communicants) added to the 
 Churches during the decade has amounted to 391. Discipline in 
 the same period has excluded from their fellowship no less than 
 124; a striking illustration of the ignorance and moral weakness 
 of native converts and of the tenacity with which heathen failings 
 still cling to them. Such discipline is a great benefit in building 
 up a sound public opinion in the community, and its exercise is 
 seen to give strength and tone to their character at large. The 
 majority of the excluded members were probably restored to 
 fellowship on proof of repentance and reformation. During eleven 
 years 400 members of the numerous congregations died, and in 
 departing many gave evidence that the Lord Jesus was "all their 
 salvation and all their desire." Yet the Churches were increased 
 to 17 in number, with nearly 450 members, and the whole com- 
 munity now numbers more than 3000 persons. Like the converts 
 in Chota Nagpore they have suffered greatly from persecution. 
 It is with no satisfaction that their Hindu landlords have seen the 
 people of fifty villages breaking from the thraldom of centuries and 
 refusing to pay all the illegal cesses to which idolatrous festivals 
 and observances hare given rise. At times, therefore, strong 
 attempts have been made to intimidate them by the violence to 
 which such enemies usually resort. Beatings, confinements, money- 
 fines, have been frequent. On one occasion eleven persons were 
 carried off and hidden for many days. The assault and abduction, 
 with all their attendant circumstances, created a great stir in 
 Bengal ; and the conduct of the judge who tried the delinquents 
 having called for a special rebuke from the Sudder Court, was 
 brought before one of the Committees of the House of Commons 
 in illustration of the character of the County Courts a few years 
 ago. On another occasion one of the native preachers was falsely 
 accused and sentenced to two years' imprisonment : him also the 
 Sudder Court released. It is a great relief to the converts that the 
 judge of their district has since exercised his office with justice 
 and integrity. 
 
 In one respect this prosperous Mission is exceedingly defec- 
 
IN INDIA. 67 
 
 tive, and it is not only right but kind to point out an evil which, 
 if allowed to remain, will greatly impair the efficiency of the 
 Mission and injure its people. Throughout the Mission there is 
 scarcely any education whatever. For some time Mrs. Martin 
 had a girls' boarding-school with twenty-five girls ; and two or 
 three adult classes with a few women. Shortly after the girls 
 dropped down to eight, and respecting the adults the Report was 
 silent. The boys at school numbered only sixty in three small 
 schools. Such is the education provided for the children and 
 young people of a native Christian community just emerged from 
 heathenism, and numbering 3000 souls. This is not altogether 
 the fault of the missionaries ; they have once and again appealed 
 to the Home Society for the necessary funds, but nothing has 
 been clone. " According to the census I made last year," says 
 Mr. Martin, " there are in the Christian community 592 boys 
 and 409 girls. Last year there were eight girls in the boarding- 
 school fur a few months, and about sixty boys in three villages 
 received a little instruction during a few months of the year. 
 That is all, absolutely all, so far as 600 boys are concerned, and 
 the girls fare even worse ! If something is not done without delay 
 we shall lose our influence over both parents and children." We 
 hope that the present decade will see the commencement of a very 
 different state of things, and we learn with pleasure that Mr. 
 Page has recently received authority from the Home Committee 
 to establish suitable schools throughout his district. 
 
 5. The London Mission at Cuddapah. 
 
 Another of those outbursts of religious feeling which indicate 
 the increasing power of the Word of God in India, and show it 
 telling not only on individuals but upon masses of the population, 
 has occurred during the decade in the district of Cuddapah in 
 the Madras Presidency. In 1852 deeper conviction and greater 
 earnestness began to manifest themselves in the congregation of 
 the London Mission in the town of Cuddapah, composed partly of 
 local residents and partly of villagers in the neighbouring out- 
 stations. 
 
 At the same time inquirers arrived from the village of 
 Paidala, forty miles away, where the Gospel had often been 
 preached and the Word distributed, asking for teachers and 
 Christian schools, avowing their want of faith in idols, and wishing 
 to learn more of the * new way.' In proof of their sincerity, the 
 people gave up their idol and turned their temple into a school- 
 house. By the end of the year more than fifty were baptized. 
 Quite a stir was excited all over that portion of the country. 
 
58 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 The missionary and the catechists, wherever they travelled, 
 gathered large congregations, especially from the villagers and 
 the intelligent artisans; and everywhere were assured of the 
 utter dissatisfaction which prevailed respecting Hindu idolatry. 
 Caste, however, was found to possess a most powerful hold upon 
 the people, and to hinder not only the growth of convictions, but 
 even sincere inquiry. Nevertheless many believed; idols were 
 brought, of brass and of stone, the property both of individuals 
 and of communities, and several temples were surrendered, to be 
 used as school-rooms and chapels. Next year 274 were baptized; 
 the year following, 200, of whom ] 16 were baptized on a single 
 day. The year following, 60 more were added. Work in- 
 creased greatly on the missionary's hands; a new station was 
 formed at Nundial ; and the out-stations were increased to thirty- 
 two, divided into separate circles for more convenient super- 
 intendence. For three years religious life and inquiry were 
 most active over a large district, during which nearly 800 
 persons were baptized. Opposition, too, was not idle, and in some 
 cases proceeded to violence. On several occasions converts were 
 beaten; but the delinquents found themselves within the grasp 
 of the law, and were imprisoned and fined. Since then the work 
 has gone on more quietly, but it has slowly continued to grow ; 
 and at the end of the decade the thirty stations of the London 
 Mission contained in all 1486 native converts, where, when the 
 decade began, there were less than 200. A neighbouring 
 mission of the Propagation Society included also 1805 souls, all 
 added (it is believed) within that period. It seems strange, 
 however, that in both missions the number of communicants bears 
 such a small proportion to the number baptized. They are only 
 134 in a community of 3200 Christians. Under ordinary cir- 
 cumstances this would indicate a very low state of piety in the 
 missions, so low as to be incredible in the case of men who have 
 just come out of heathenism, and some explanation of the phe- 
 nomenon is desirable. 
 
 6. The American Missions in Ahmednuggur. 
 
 It has already been mentioned, that on the arrival of the 
 deputation from the American Board in India in 1855, they 
 visited all the missions of the Board, and held counsel with the 
 missionaries which each circle contained. One important result 
 of these consultations was the reconstruction of the missions in 
 the districts of Madura and Ahmednuggur, and the endeavours 
 to make each mission more efficient in its influence on the people 
 at large. It was thought to be too concentrated at certain points, 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 59 
 
 and too weak in others. These defects were remedied; new 
 stations were formed on system ; and a few new men despatched 
 to occupy them. One object secured by the new arrangement 
 was the more exact and definite instruction of the village popula- 
 tions, and the careful organisation of village churches, in which 
 every new convert should find friends. Both districts have 
 greatly prospered, and large numbers of converts have joined 
 them, the result not of any special inquiry, such as that in 
 Cuddapah, but the fruit of diligent and prayerful labour wisely 
 applied to the winning of souls. The larger mission is that in 
 Madura ; that which has been most prospered, perhaps, is that in 
 Ahmednuggur. The following figures will show the contrast 
 between their position at the beginning and at the end of the 
 decade : — 
 
 Madura . . \ 
 Ahmednuggur -1 
 
 
 Out- 
 Stations 
 
 Native 
 Pastors. 
 
 Cate- 
 
 chists. 
 
 Communi- 
 cants. 
 
 Native 
 Christians. 
 
 Boys in 
 
 School. 
 
 Girls in 
 School. 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 
 H5 
 
 
 6 
 
 39 
 
 89 
 
 387 
 1127 
 
 3070 
 
 6372 
 
 2529 
 
 927 
 
 168 
 216 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 
 36 
 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 33 
 
 144 
 
 553 
 
 331 
 
 955 
 
 704 
 209 
 
 140 
 119 
 
 " Our mission has made great advances," says Mr. Ballantine, 
 "in several respects since 1852. Previous to that year we had 
 devoted much labour to boarding-schools, to English schools, and 
 to vernacular schools, with heathen teachers, with some attention 
 to vernacular preaching and tours, particularly in the region 
 round Ahmednuggur, and had gathered some precious fruit into 
 our mission Church. In 1851 we somewhat changed our plan. 
 Our schools were given up, and we devoted ourselves to the 
 preaching of the Gospel to a much greater extent than before. 
 Besides attending to this work at our principal stations, we made 
 frequent preaching tours to the villages in the vicinity, where 
 some religious interest was manifest. We made scarcely any 
 long tours. In general our labour was concentrated on parti- 
 cular points, and there we gradually gathered converts. At first 
 these converts all belonged to the one Church in Ahmednuggur. 
 
 " On the arrival of the deputation we expressed our desire 
 for the establishment of a superior educational institution in 
 Bombay, hoping it would be followed by similar institutions at 
 Ahmednuggur and the other stations in the Deccan. The 
 deputation pointed out the difficulties in the way of our proposed 
 plan, frankly stated that the Board could not bear the expense it 
 would involve, and urged us to pursue the labours we were 
 
60 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 carrying on in the villages, as of greater importance and promise. 
 They also showed us that when an English school or college for 
 preparing young men for the ministry should grow naturally out 
 of the wants of the native Christian community, it would be more 
 likely to work satisfactorily, and accomplish the end for which it 
 was proposed. We are now heartily glad that our previous 
 views were not carried out, for we are satisfied that our present 
 plan of operations is far superior to that which we had proposed. 
 " With the consent of the deputation, we at once determined 
 to send a portion of our missionary force into the villages around 
 us, and three new stations were soon established. The results of 
 these labours in the rural districts have been very encouraging. 
 We now have, in the collectorate of Ahmednuggur, twenty 
 churches, containing 545 communicants, residing in ninety-six 
 villages and towns. The average number of communicants 
 received into our Churches each year, during the last six 
 years, has been 74; in 1861 we received 82 converts, and 
 363 in the five years preceding. The whole number received 
 during the last ten years has amounted to just 500, of whom half 
 were connected with Christian families, and half were drawn 
 direct from heathenism." 
 
 7. The Muzabee Sikhs. 
 
 Much has been said, during recent years, of a religious move- 
 ment among the soldiers of one of the Sikh regiments serving in 
 the Punjab. Reports went abroad that the whole regiment were 
 in a state of sincere inquiry ; that they were in constant commu- 
 nication with missionaries ; that many had been baptized ; but 
 that, owing to the jealous interference of the Supreme Govern- 
 ment, the inquiry had been checked, and might possibly come to 
 an untimely end. These things were, to some extent, true ; the 
 real facts have been communicated to the Society most interested, 
 and the following summary has been kindly supplied by the 
 missionary best acquainted with the matter in its entire details. 
 
 " The Khairabad mission of the Church Missionary Society," 
 says Mr. Robert Clark, " a branch of the Peshawar Mission, 
 was commenced in July, 1860, in consequence of a movement 
 in favour of Christianity which had sprung up spontaneously 
 among the men of the late 24th Punjab Infantry, now the 32d 
 Native Infantry. The men of this regiment are Muzabee Sikhs, 
 who were enlisted during the Mutiny of 1857, in which they 
 proved themselves brave and faithful soldiers. An outcast tribe, 
 they no sooner found their position in society changed by their 
 daring gallantry, and their sudden acquisition of wealth, than 
 
IN INDIA. 6 1 
 
 they evinced a desire to shake off their present religious bonds, 
 ■which associate them with the very lowest class of Sikhs and 
 Hindus. Some of them, through the study of Christian books, 
 which they found at Delhi, and through the instruction which 
 they received at various places from missionaries who visited 
 their quarters, have in this regiment become Christians. Other 
 Muzabees, in other parts of the country, have become, and are 
 daily becoming, Mahomedans. The former are proving our 
 most steady friends, whilst the latter, whenever the opportunity 
 may offer, will prove our most dangerous foes. More Muzabees 
 have become Mahomedans than those who have embraced 
 Christianity ; and it still remains to be seen whether, as a class, 
 the whole body of Muzabees will become Mahomedans or 
 Christians. The Mahomedan religion holds out the more attrac- 
 tive worldly inducements to men of this stamp, for its converts 
 are well received, and in some cases rewarded ; few restraints are 
 imposed upon them, and their natural inclinations may be gratified 
 without let or hindrance. The strict morality of Christianity 
 obliging them to renounce all sin, the absence of all encourage- 
 ment of a temporal kind, and past discouragement in years gone 
 by, have repelled many from the religion of Christ. It is not 
 probable that the Muzabees, as a class, will remain many years 
 as they now are. 
 
 "There are now (1862) about sixty-five or seventy native 
 Christians connected with this mission, of whom twenty-one are 
 Sepoys. About 110 boys, in two schools, with the two wings of 
 the regiment, and twenty-three girls, are under daily instruction. 
 They are receiving a thoroughly Christian education. The boys 
 all come to church, and repeat the responses at the services. 
 They have also been taught to sing, and form the choir at church. 
 Many of their parents also attend the services ; most of the 
 native officers are present at least once on the Sunday. The 
 elder boys have had gardens allotted to them, in which they work 
 with their own hands, and for which they pay rent. The sum 
 of 330 rupees has been contributed by the natives alone during 
 1861, chiefly towards the expenses of the school, and has been 
 contributed in annas and pice. The congregations on Sundays 
 and Wednesday evenings vary from forty to 200, and the 
 attendance at daily prayers is about twenty. 
 
 "The Muzabees as a people are ignorant, and as adults learn 
 slowly ; but the children are quick, and in no way deficient. 
 They were formerly addicted to great crimes, and when not 
 enrolled for service, are still watched in their villages by the 
 police. Their energy, their recklessness of life, and powers of 
 endurance, will make their presence felt for good or for evil, 
 
62 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 wherever they may be. They require very peculiar treatment ; 
 but freed as they are from the trammels of caste, they have the 
 power to become, under good management, a most useful, and it 
 is to be hoped also, a religious class of people. The Khairabad 
 Mission is the only mission that has ever been established in 
 North India for the direct benefit of Christian Sepoys ; and as 
 such, claims the cordial sympathy of all who are interested in 
 the welfare of our native army." 
 
 i 
 8. The Educational Missions. 
 
 In the cases hitherto cited, the supporters of missions cannot 
 fail to observe that the large and rapid success described has 
 been attained among rude and simple populations. Whether we 
 look at the Coles of Chota Nagpore, the Mahars of the Deccan, 
 the Shanars of Tinnevelly, the peasantry of Burrisal and Cudda- 
 pah, the Muzabees of the Punjab, or the Karens of Burmah, it is 
 evident that they belong to the same stratum in society ; that 
 they are not the rulers who influence public opinion, or exhibit 
 the wealth of their country ; that they belong to a somewhat low 
 type of civilisation ; and that on the whole their moral stamina is 
 weak, and its resources are poor. Such classes from the earliest 
 times have in India been comparatively free from those terrible 
 caste-rules in which the public opinion of the upper classes con- 
 centrates its strength. Though influenced by them, and partially 
 involved in them, their position in the social scale has given them 
 comparative immunity from that system of bondage by which 
 the educated and wealthy classes are fettered. Oppressed in 
 opinion, oppressed in position, at the mercy of others, yet possess- 
 ing the cravings of humanity, they have found in the Gospel a 
 loving friend, after whom they have yearned. With little to 
 lose in giving up their errors, they have found the burden of 
 professing the Gospel easy and light. To the poor the Gospel is 
 preached; and with few obstacles in their path, even in India, 
 many thousands of the labouring population have listened to its 
 gentle and friendly voice. 
 
 But the middle classes of Indian society are also feeling its 
 power ; and facts plainly show that, during the last ten years, the 
 missions which bear more directly upon them, have produced 
 deeper impressions than before, have on occasions stirred their 
 religious feelings profoundly, have excited their deepest fears, 
 have aroused their active opposition, and yet again and again 
 have led some of their members captives to the truth. It is well 
 known that these classes are specially affected by English educa- 
 tion ; that their sons seek its benefits with a view to prosperity in 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 63 
 
 life; that large numbers attend missionary English schools for 
 this purpose, and that a considerable amount of Christian truth 
 reaches the middle, and even the upper classes of native society, 
 through the channel of these schools, which can reach them in no 
 other way. It is well known, also, that when converts are drawn 
 from the students of these schools, immense opposition is usually 
 aroused ; and the honour of all Hindu families, and the security 
 of the Hindu religion, are felt to be at stake. For many years 
 such influences have been brought to bear upon them ; and 
 nothing is more clearly demonstrable than the fact, that Christian 
 truth is exercising a more powerful influence over them every 
 year. 
 
 It is well known that there are several missions established 
 in the great cities of India which devote a large amount of efforts, 
 time, and money, to this special branch of missionary operations, 
 amongst which the missions of the Free Church of Scotland hold 
 the foremost place. Time was required to carry out the work, 
 and to test the theory on which the educational missions were 
 founded ; and as time goes on, it is proving in a very distinct 
 manner, that these missions, wisely conducted, in cordial co- 
 operation with other places and other efforts, have vindicated 
 their right to be regarded as one of the most effective means of 
 conveying the Gospel to the intelligent classes of Indian cities, and 
 of drawing from them into the native church men of thought, 
 character, stability, and power, which the rural populations as a 
 rule do not supply. During the past ten years several of these 
 missions have increased in the following; manner: — 
 
 
 1S52. 
 
 Communi- 
 cants 
 added in 
 
 1862. 
 
 Communi- 
 
 Native * 
 
 Communi- 
 
 Native 
 
 Calcutta, Free Church . 
 
 cants. 
 
 Christians 
 
 ten years. 
 
 cants. 
 
 Christians. 
 
 27 
 
 87 
 
 64 
 
 84 
 
 196 
 
 ,, Est. Church, Scotland 
 
 12 
 
 19 
 
 9 
 
 24 
 
 40 
 
 ,, Lond. Miss. Society . 
 
 28 
 
 92 
 
 44 
 
 45 
 
 168 
 
 Bombay, Est.Church, Scotland 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 H 
 
 16 
 
 ,, Free Church . 
 
 24 
 
 48 
 
 88 
 
 75 
 
 150 
 
 Poonah, Free Church 
 
 16 
 
 52 
 
 (40) 
 
 56 
 
 92 
 
 Madras, Free Church 
 
 28 
 
 46 
 
 (90) 
 
 113 
 
 150 
 
 ,, Lond. Miss. Society . 
 Total . 
 
 (not fo 
 
 uncled) 
 
 55 
 
 42 
 
 100 
 
 137 
 
 346 
 
 405 
 
 453 
 
 912 
 
 These missions are not exclusively educational, nor are all 
 their converts and members persons of well-cultivated minds. 
 There may be found among them orphan girls, Christian ser- 
 vants, and converts who have left their villages for business 
 employments in town. But still education, in one form and 
 another, occupies the most conspicuous place in their operations ; 
 
64 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 each mission devotes much time to its English Institution, and 
 the chief portion of their converts has been drawn from that 
 source. Those who have been baptized and received into mem- 
 bership from among the heathen are not fully distinguished from 
 those who have been admitted from Christian families and from 
 village churches. Frequently does it happen that when converts 
 are drawn from respectable families they do not come alone. 
 After a time a wife, a cousin, a brother, or widowed sisters, also 
 become Christians. Thus it has happened, that in the London 
 Mission in Calcutta, in eleven years, thirty-six young men and 
 ten women have become converts through the medium of the 
 Institution alone. The missions above named, however, are not 
 the only ones that have received a blessing on English Christian 
 education. The Wesleyan mission at Royapettah in Madras, 
 the Church Mission in Palamcottah, the Free Church Mission 
 at Nagpore, have been signally blessed in this manner : and 
 other missions in various parts of India, have on occasions 
 drawn single converts by the same influence. The number 
 cannot be given with exactness; but there is good reason to 
 believe that the number of educated young men, drawn from 
 these English schools, during the last ten years, falls little short 
 of 400. This number, small in itself, and small compared with 
 the masses of Hindus amongst whom we dwell, yet indicates the 
 growing power of Gospel truth, and shows that the seed long 
 sown is beginning to bear fruit. It may be added, that in the 
 three Societies above named, sixteen such converts have during 
 the past ten years, been ordained as ministers among their 
 countrymen. 
 
 9. Native Christian Princes. 
 
 For the first time in modern days the Church has seen in 
 India during the past decade two of the princes of India quitting 
 their native religions and casting in their lot with Christians. 
 The Maharaja Dhuleep Singh, on the annexation of the Pun- 
 jab, became a ward of the English Government, and was placed 
 by Lord Dalhousie under the judicious care of Sir John Login. 
 Residing at Futtehguhr, as he grew up he became acquainted 
 with native Christians, attended public worship on Sundays with 
 the English residents, and made a personal study of the Bible. 
 At length he expressed his wish to be baptized, and Lord Dal- 
 housie, having satisfied himself that the wish was sincere, and the 
 purpose well weighed, sanctioned the public profession of his 
 faith. During the period of his residence in Futtehguhr, and 
 his subsequent visits to India from England, the Maharaja has 
 always shown an interest in Missionary work, and continues to 
 
IN INDIA. 65 
 
 support several schools in the neighbourhood of his old residence. 
 One cannot but regret, however, that, whether from political 
 reasons or not, his influence as a Christian among the princes of 
 Upper India is lost to the country. When it has become the 
 policy of the empire to maintain great landholders and feudal 
 princes as supporters of the Government, it is to be regretted 
 that one so highly descended and possessing such great influence 
 should pass his days amongst the nobles of England, rather than 
 among those who might learn freedom from his example, and lay 
 aside their prejudices against the religion which he has em- 
 braced. 
 
 The Raja of Kapoorthala, who resides on his great estate 
 not far from Lahore, is one of the powerful Sikh chieftains who 
 during the Mutiny rendered signal services to the English gov- 
 ernment. Gathering his troops together he placed them at the 
 command of Sir John Lawrence, and with them greatly distin- 
 guished himself before Delhi and in Oude. At the end of the 
 war he was deservedly rewarded by titles of honour and substan- 
 tial lands from the confiscated estates. Having lost his wife, he 
 w r as led to marry a young lady, the daughter of the English 
 manager of his estates, and soon after invited the American Mis- 
 sionaries to found a mission in the neighbourhood of his own resi- 
 dence. Two missionaries at once accepted the invitation, one 
 being a medical man, and by their judicious management have 
 fairly set the mission afloat. Their houses have been provided 
 by the Raja with the dispensary and schools, and a church is 
 being built. The Raja himself and his brother are in constant 
 communication with them, attend their services, and the Raja's 
 sons are their pupils. All public work is stopped upon the 
 Sabbath throughout the estate, and thus the Raja's example is 
 brought to bear upon the people as well as the instructions of 
 the missionaries. Owing to the influence of near relatives who 
 are still Hindus, the Raja has not yet openly professed himself a 
 Christian, but his sympathy for Christianity is not concealed. 
 On a recent visit to Calcutta he openly attended public worship 
 in the Free Church, and was present at the meeting of the Bible 
 Society. Still more recently he took a decided part in the meet- 
 ings of the Punjab conference, and invited all the members to 
 an entertainment. The manly avowal of his principles, and his 
 sincere desire to serve Christ, claim for him the warm sympathy 
 of all friends of Indian Missions, and with it the earnest prayer 
 that he may not only himself be steadfast, but become a burning 
 and shining light in the darkness of his native land. 
 
66 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 10. Missions in Burmah. 
 
 The mission which of late years has attracted more notice and 
 excited more interest in the hearts of Christian people than any 
 other in the world, is the mission among the Karens of Burmah; 
 with a brief notice of its recent progress, this reference to special 
 and prominent successes among our Indian missions comes to an 
 end. In the census taken of these missions ten years ago, the 
 Burmah labours were not included. At that period only one 
 portion of the field was English territory, the province of Tenas- 
 serim. Arracan, another province, had Karen settlements and 
 churches only as an outpost of Pegu ; and the chief seat of the 
 mission, and of the tribes amongst which the Gospel had begun 
 already to find such warm acceptance, was entirely in Burmese 
 hands. All this is now changed ; the entire mission is carried 
 forward on English territory, and its converts are our fellow- 
 subjects. Justly, therefore, must a review of Christian missions 
 in India embrace the stations planted on Burman soil, as well as 
 those at which the various nations of India Proper are taught the 
 divine truth of the revealed word. 
 
 When the decade opened, these missions were in a strange 
 position. The missionaries were nineteen in number, scattered 
 in various directions; part were steadily labouring in the quiet 
 districts of Maulmain and Tavoy; some were struggling on in 
 the fever-swamps of Arracan, and a few occasionally paid flying 
 visits to the native churches near Rangoon and in the retired 
 jungles of Bassein. Both in Arracan and Pegu there were large 
 numbers of Christians, probably three or four thousand, young 
 and old, but in Arracan they were strangers, and throughout 
 Pegu they kept themselves as hidden as possible in order to 
 escape persecution. Only the 4000 converts of Tenasserim 
 were living in comfort and in peace. Copies of the Scriptures 
 were comparatively few ; Christian literature was limited ; edu- 
 cation was confined to a small proportion of the young; the 
 civilisation of the converts was low. Circumstances were hostile 
 to the growth of piety amongst the largest portion of the churches 
 and their people. Still the Karens had shown decidedly their 
 readiness to receive the Gospel ; it was manifest to the i'ew who 
 knew the facts, that they were a people " prepared of the Lord ;" 
 and the character of their traditions, their longing after teachers, 
 their need of helpers and friends, their freedom from idolatry, 
 priesthood, and systems of caste, their simplicity and sincerity of 
 character, had for several years been drawing them in a steady 
 stream into the Church of Christ. They had suffered bitter per- 
 
IN INDIA. 67 
 
 secution from their Burman rulers; they had been fined, had been 
 beaten, imprisoned, put in the "block," and made pagoda-slaves; 
 and it was to avoid these exactions and penalties, cruelly enforced, 
 that in 1843 thousands had forced their way through the dense 
 jungle and over the steep hills which divided them from Arracan, 
 and had found light, and freedom, and kindness under the rule of 
 Colonel Phayre, even in that feverish province. Still they pros- 
 pered and grew, even in Pegu itself, and under a Christian gov- 
 ernor, sent by mistake from Ava, the converts of Bassein had 
 enjoyed two years of delicious rest. But fear of the English, 
 whom they had provoked by their insolence, led the Burman 
 governors and magistrates of Pegu to pounce once more upon 
 the unoffending Karens; persecution raged for several months 
 with unusual fury; one of their pastors was crucified, and the 
 piteous cry rose daily from many thousand Karen hearts before 
 the footstool of Divine compassion, that the wrongs of a hundred 
 years might be avenged, and these merciless Burmans be expelled 
 the country. 
 
 The cry was answered speedily. After only three months of 
 suspense, on the 11th of April, 1852, the English regiments 
 landed at Rangoon ; three days later, the Great Pagoda, the 
 fortress of the city, was captured by assault, and the Burmans 
 driven away for ever; in August Prome was taken, and in the 
 following December, by proclamation, the whole of the ancient 
 kingdom of Pegu was annexed to the British empire. The joy 
 which that event brought into myriads of homes cannot be de- 
 scribed. " Oh ! how I wish I could see the Queen of England," 
 said an old sufferer, "how I would worship her!" " Before the 
 English took possession we could neither breathe nor sleep." 
 
 An entire re-arrangement of missionary labours was at once 
 required, and for the first time the mission in Pegu received the 
 attention and occupied the position which were its due. Within 
 three years stations of the first importance were established at 
 Rangoon and Bassein, at Henthada and Prome, at Shwaygyeen 
 and Toungoo, and were occupied by no less than sixteen mis- 
 sionaries. The Arracan mission was given up, the exiles re- 
 turned to their homes; Tavoy, with its narrow territory and thin 
 population, was compelled to yield to the superior claims of the 
 broad straths of Pegu, and the only station of importance left 
 outside the newly annexed province was the flourishing town of 
 Maul main. 
 
 This reconstruction of the mission, and the labours that have 
 followed it, both among Burmans and Karens, have been 
 attended with a signal blessing. In all the stations, native 
 churches have been founded, and in several the converts have 
 
68 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 been received by thousands. It should specially be noticed, that 
 this prosperity has been granted not to the Karen stations alone, 
 where scholars are willing, and their way is easy ; during the 
 last ten years, a large number of conversions has taken place 
 among the proud Buddhist Burmans, men full of prejudice and 
 puffed up by the consciousness of lofty merit hardly won ; and 
 thus the hearts of men who are toiling in the hardest portion of 
 the field have been greatly cheered. Of the important events, 
 however, by which this progress has been accompanied, and of 
 the incidents to which it has given rise it is not needful now to 
 speak. Much has been recently written on the successes of the 
 Karen Missions, and it will be sufficient simply to mention some 
 features of their progress. The founding of the Normal Schools 
 at Bassein, Rangoon, Henthada and Toungoo; the Theological 
 School at Kemmendine ; the consolidation of the presses at 
 Rangoon ; the additions made to the Karen translations, and the 
 publication of scientific and Christian books ; the ordination of well- 
 taught native pastors, now forty-six in number, and the appoint- 
 ment of more than 400 catechists ; the distinguished labours of 
 San Quala and his colleagues at Toungoo, by whom 2000 con- 
 verts were baptized in two years ; the extension of the mission 
 amongst the wild tribes of the Eastern mountains: the great 
 liberality and missionary zeal of the Karen Converts, especially 
 in Bassein; the visits of Mr. Kincaid to Ava; all appear in the 
 recent history of the Burmah missions both as indications of their 
 success, and as agencies for carrying progress still further 
 onward. Prepared of the Lord and willing in His service, the 
 Karens as a people have embraced the Gospel with joy as a long- 
 desired friend. Except near Toungoo, their reception of the 
 Gospel has been steady rather than rapid, and time has been 
 o-iven to organise, to instruct, and train the converts. Such 
 training they greatly need. Ignorant, half civilised, possessing 
 many of the vices and weaknesses produced by oppression, they 
 need to be taught, to be well supplied with Scriptures, to be 
 brought under law, that they may be holy instruments of spread- 
 ing the Gospel, and manifest its best spiritual fruits in their lives. 
 Such work is not to be accomplished by the twenty-two mission- 
 aries, now living among them. It must be done by the people 
 themselves, under the advice^ and instruction of the men who 
 have become their spiritual fathers. A more favourable oppor- 
 tunity has never been given in modern missions for illustrating 
 this great principle of missionary economy ; and in few places 
 lias it been so well acted on. Foreign missionaries can but 
 commence the work, it is the native churches and the native 
 ministers that must carry it on. It seems, then, essential to the 
 
IN INDIA. 69 
 
 future prosperity of the mission, that it shall receive under the 
 Spirit's blessing from the foreign missionaries a constant supply of 
 well-taught, well-disciplined pastors. By far the greater part of 
 the present converts have been brought in by such men ; amongst 
 whom a few have been distinguished by great ability and apostolic 
 zeal. While, therefore, it is pleasant to think of the many jungle- 
 churches with their little conereo-ations, scattered over the land 
 and reaching to the mountains by which it is bordered ; and of 
 the Christian families into which the Gospel has brought light and 
 love, the eye rests with peculiar pleasure upon the Normal 
 schools and on the mission press ; and it is for their increased 
 success that every friend of the mission should earnestly pray. 
 Well may it be said, " Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, 
 for they are white already to harvest .... Pray ye therefore 
 the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth labourers into 
 His harvest ; " " faithful men, who shall be able to teach others 
 also." The following is the present extent of the mission : — 
 
 Chief stations . . . . . 15 
 
 Out-stations ...... 382 
 
 Foreign Missionaries .... 22 
 
 Native Ordained Pastors and Missionaries 46 
 
 Native Catechists and Preachers . .411 
 Native Churches and Congregations . 352 
 
 Members and Communicants . .' . 18,439 
 Native Christians of all ages . . . 59,366 
 Normal Schools ..... 8 
 
 Scholars in them ..... 528 
 
 Population in Pegu and Tenasserim, 1,436,208 souls. 
 
 Indian Missionary work in general. 
 
 In the preceding pages, there have been brought under review 
 a few of the most striking features of missionary progress that 
 have appeared in India during the past ten years. The marked 
 advance both in numbers and in character exhibited by the 
 missions among the Coles, the Shanars, the Karens, the peasantry 
 of country districts, and the educated men of our Presidency 
 towns has been shown in detail ; but in a brief sketch like this, 
 by far the greater portion of the missionary labour and the 
 missionary success which the country has enjoyed, must be passed 
 over with a single word. It is impossible here to describe in 
 adequate terms the steady, quiet, unobtrusive labours of more 
 than 500 men; or to guage the wide-spread knowledge, the 
 deepening convictions, the mental struggles, the ripening resolves, 
 
70 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 which, as months and years flow calmly by, that steady labour 
 is producing throughout the country at large. That work is 
 continued from day to day through every week and every month 
 of our tropic year. In the fiery heats of summer, in the depress- 
 ing languor of the heavy rains, as well as under the brilliant 
 skies of the cooler season, it bears its constant testimony against 
 evil, and exercises its beneficial influence upon young and old. 
 It differs widely from the work of the ministry at home. Like 
 his colleagues in that ministry, the missionary in India has to 
 preach the Gospel, to instruct and govern churches, to seek after 
 a pure fellowship, and to stir up the zeal of his brethren against 
 all evil within and around them. But though he has the same 
 aim, and employs the same God-given instrument, his work 
 differs from theirs in the great variety of its forms, and in the 
 number of the agencies which he is compelled to employ success- 
 fully to apply the Gospel in all its fulness to the Hindu society 
 around him. All India is saturated with idolatry ; he has to 
 make all Christian. He has not only to gain converts, to gather 
 them into churches, to develope in them and in their families 
 a complete Christian life; he has to Christianise education, to 
 Christianise literature, to Christianise public opinion, to Christian- 
 ise public taste. Forms of labour, therefore, and modes of action 
 required by the peculiarities of his field, spring up and are sug- 
 gested on every hand ; and so wide is that field, so vast are its 
 opportunities, that every active missionary always has his hands 
 more than full : and, had he strength and time, he could without 
 difficulty treble his work at any hour. 
 
 Thus it is, that not merely on the Sabbath, but through the 
 week, — not merely in the formal pulpit, but in the school-house, 
 the market-place, in the private dwelling, and under the spreading 
 tree, a missionary is called upon to speak, to write, to preach, 
 and teach that Divine Gospel which he wishes to introduce into 
 many hearts. Thus it is, that at nearly 400 stations, fixed in the 
 great marts of traffic, and in the great centres of public opinion, 
 more than 500 European and American missionaries, with nearly 
 200 native colleagues, are steadily engaged in efforts to fulfil their 
 ministry. Some hold the pastorate of churches ; others preach 
 chiefly to the heathen ; some abide in a settled residence, others 
 are engaged in constantly visiting villages and towns in which no 
 Christian teachers reside. Some teach their village -schools 
 wholly in the vernacular tongues; others instruct the well- 
 trained students of English Collegiate Institutions. A few 
 engage largely in literary labours, compiling dictionaries, gram- 
 mars, and vocabularies ; editing translations of the Scriptures, 
 preparing school-books, or writing vernacular Christian works. 
 
IN INDIA. 7 1 
 
 Younger men study the language; older men superintend the 
 labours of numerous native preachers and schoolmasters. All 
 are more or less familiar with building; and all are more or less 
 applied to for the healing of the sick. 
 
 Every one who is familiar with Indian life, and with the 
 names and services of Indian missionaries, will find it easy to 
 call to mind the character and value of their plans. Here one 
 missionary, with plan and tape in hand, is laying out the founda- 
 tions of a church ; there another, a ripe scholar, is lecturing to 
 his theological class on the manners of Ancient India. Here one, 
 possessing great influence, is expounding to the Governor-general 
 the reasons for legislating on the re-marriage of Hindu widows ; 
 here others take a share in framing the statutes of the univer- 
 sities ; while yet another, well known in Cambridge, is instruct- 
 ing the " sweepers " of Agra, whom he has taken under his 
 especial care. Here Dr. Caldwell, seated in his church, is re- 
 ceiving the reports of his numerous catechists and readers, 
 instructing them in the Scriptures, listening to their sermons, 
 and advising them in their difficulties ; there Mr. Page, in his 
 swift canoe, traverses the narrow creeks of the Ganges Delta, 
 to visit the churches of Burrisal ; and here Dr. Binney, under 
 the great Pagodas of Kemmendine, and on the shores of its 
 wooded lake, teaches his Karen students to make sermons, and 
 stirs them up to self-denying zeal. Here Mr. Hebick presses the 
 claims of personal religion on two officers whom he has met in 
 the mission-garden ; there Mr. Walsh completes the labours of 
 many months by crowning with its gilt ball the pretty spire of 
 his Futtehguhr Church; and there Mr. Thomas adds another 
 edition of the Bengali New Testament to that stream of Christian 
 literature which for thirty years has poured from the Baptist 
 Mission Press. We see Mr. Wenger slowly producing that 
 most difficult of Indian translations, the Sanskrit Bible; Mr. 
 Drew, translating the Tamil classic of the ancient writer Aveyar ; 
 we follow Mr. Moerike into the Badaga huts of the Nilgherries; 
 and find Dr. Mason, seated on a fallen tree, explaining Scripture 
 to his young scholars in the jungles of Toungoo. There Mr. 
 Smith holds a tough discussion with the Brahmins of Benares, 
 and Mr. Lacey is derided by the shameless priests of Pooree ; 
 there Mr. Tuting is struck by a fanatic in the bazaar of Peshawur; 
 and Mr. Sargent and his people are pelted by rioters in the 
 streets of Pelamcottah. Here Dr. Glasgow completes the re- 
 vision of the Guzerati Bible ; Dr. Window writes the last word 
 in his Tamil Dictionary, the study of thirty years; and there, in 
 his little bungalow, surrounded by the people whom his plans 
 have won to Christ, Mr. Ragland lies down to die. Who is the 
 
72 TEN years' missionary labour in imdia. 
 
 lady seated in that pretty room, surrounded by so many neatly 
 dressed women ; while through the open window comes the 
 scent of roses and sweet-briar, and " the vines with the tender 
 grape give a good smell ? " That is Mrs. Mault of Nagercoil, 
 who came to India before we were born, and who in her lace- 
 school has found employment for the women and girls whom she 
 has long instructed in her schools. And who is that other lady, 
 standing in the verandah, weighing out calomel and quinine for 
 that long row of men and women gathered around her door? 
 That is Mrs. Lincke, who having given her school-oirls their 
 morning lessons, now turns for a couple of hours to assist her 
 husband's flock with that medical advice and aid of which they 
 often stand in need. 
 
 There is no monopoly there of character or zeal, of useful- 
 ness or success. Neither nation, nor church, nor society, can 
 claim pre-eminence in plans carried out, or in blessings realised. 
 If English Churchmen and Congregationalists maintain the Shanar 
 Mission, American Baptists have won the Karen ; German 
 brethren are bringing in the Coles ; and the Scotch missionaries 
 are first in educational usefulness ; the martyrs of the decade 
 were American Presbyterians ; and the palm in self-denial 
 must be given to the Moravian brethren buried in the Himalaya 
 snows. The labours of all are combined to accomplish but 
 one purpose, as they are called forth by one authority ; the 
 co-operation is loving and hearty; it manifests the same spirit of 
 self-consecration ; it asks for the same acceptance and the same 
 Divine aid. Looking at the basis on which it rests, and the 
 power it begins to exert, who can wonder that to earnest minds 
 missionary work appears the most fascinating beneath the sun? 
 who can wonder that, steadfastly pursued, its repeated blows 
 have begun to tell : and that, according to promise, the Word of 
 God, even in India, is beginning to appear, " like a hammer that 
 breaketh the rock in pieces?" 
 
 Summary of the Statistical Tables. 
 
 From the Statistical Tables of Indian Missions recently com- 
 piled, the following summaries are taken. It only needs to 
 notice, that as the Burmah Missions were not included in the 
 Tables of 1852, for purposes of comparison, a third column is 
 required in the Comparative Summary, which shows the results 
 of 1862 on the same held as that of 1852. 
 

 
 ti> 
 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 
 as 
 
 at 
 
 in 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 o 
 
 
 '"PHD 
 
 
 t-» 
 
 to 
 eg 
 
 © 
 
 TJ1 
 
 l-H 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 CM 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 
 
 CM 
 
 
 ■* 
 
 
 ■* 
 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 ffl 
 
 - S[OOqos 
 
 in 
 
 CN 
 
 U3 
 
 to 
 
 CO 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 T»l 
 
 CO 
 
 J5 
 
 
 o 
 en 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 © 
 
 l>. 
 
 XI 
 
 Tf 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 1-". 
 
 m 
 
 ■■<• 
 
 t}i 
 
 as 
 
 © 
 
 
 
 
 
 ' s l J !9 
 
 o 
 
 00 
 
 1— c 
 
 ~. 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 
 no 
 
 
 a 
 
 c3 
 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 iO 
 
 
 to 
 
 
 6 
 
 Q 
 
 •sjootps 
 
 o 
 
 
 «o 
 
 CN 
 
 m 
 
 © 
 
 t>. 
 
 CM 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 1—1 
 
 CO 
 
 
 eo 
 
 
 fa 
 
 
 © 
 
 00 
 
 «>. 
 
 CO 
 
 *>. 
 
 t--. 
 
 © 
 
 co 
 
 
 
 o "3 
 
 •sA*og 
 
 1—1 
 
 as 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 GO 
 
 in 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 © 
 © 
 
 
 
 5 a 
 
 
 ». 
 
 m 
 
 I — 1 
 
 o 
 
 i—i 
 
 CO 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CM 
 
 
 CM 
 
 
 
 
 •spoqog 
 
 © 
 CN 
 
 as 
 
 00 
 
 ■* 
 l^ 
 
 CO 
 CN 
 
 in 
 
 CO 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 © 
 
 CM 
 
 to 
 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 i—i 
 
 
 
 g 
 
 
 in 
 
 ■* 
 
 CN 
 
 m 
 
 ■* 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 00 
 
 o 
 
 03 
 
 •siog 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 u0 
 
 ^ 
 
 GO 
 
 CO 
 
 CM 
 
 CO 
 
 in 
 
 
 
 -a 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CM 
 
 
 CO 
 
 >< 
 
 co 
 
 fa 
 
 c3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 < 
 
 "i/3 
 >- 
 O 
 
 pq 
 
 •spoqog 
 
 CO 
 CN 
 
 ^* 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 00 
 
 O 
 
 t- 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 00 
 
 i^. 
 
 ,-H 
 
 to 
 
 CM 
 
 00 
 
 © 
 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 CN 
 
 a» 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 CM 
 
 
 »>» 
 
 © 
 
 1-5 
 
 
 3 "a. " 
 
 ■siog 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 
 "1 
 
 s 
 
 CM 
 
 © 
 
 t->- 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■^ 
 
 <* 
 
 CM 
 
 
 
 -* 
 
 co 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 rt £* o 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ol 
 
 
 ■* 
 
 
 ■* 
 
 < 
 
 
 EM'S 
 
 
 © 
 
 ~Y 
 
 _, 
 
 as 
 
 © 
 
 CM 
 
 © 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 >> 
 
 •siooqog 
 
 CN 
 
 © 
 
 l-H 
 
 m 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 
 o 
 
 CM 
 
 © 
 
 in 
 
 CM 
 
 CO 
 
 pq 
 
 Q 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 m CN 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 ■* 
 
 CM 
 
 < 
 
 
 •suoT^nqinuoQ 
 
 9JCO 
 
 as 
 
 CO 
 
 as 
 
 b0 
 
 m 
 
 00 
 
 in 
 
 © 
 
 in 
 
 © 
 © 
 
 
 
 9ApB^J 
 
 5^ 
 Ph 
 
 00 
 
 l-H 
 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 a 
 
 co 
 E- 
 Si 
 H 
 > 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 1—1 
 
 
 CM 
 
 
 ■* 
 
 ,_, 
 
 l-H 
 
 t^ 
 
 co 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 CM 
 
 (3 
 
 
 r^. 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 t^« 
 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 U 
 
 •SUBl^SUqQ 3ApBfJ 
 
 ©" 
 
 CO 
 
 CN 
 CN 
 
 OJ 
 
 © 
 
 CM^ 
 
 in" 
 
 oo_ 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 «! 
 
 
 (N 
 
 
 
 
 
 in 
 
 in 
 
 
 q 
 z 
 
 
 
 
 
 rt 
 
 
 1-1 
 
 
 CM 
 
 
 
 © 
 
 00 
 
 SO 
 
 X, 
 
 © 
 
 as 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 
 P 
 
 
 
 00 
 
 CO 
 
 
 in 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 z 
 
 •S^UBOlUTiraCUOQ 
 
 t-. 
 
 -tT< 
 
 as 
 
 cm 
 
 00 
 
 CM 
 
 ■"C" 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 ■>* 
 
 
 
 © 
 
 co 
 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 S3 
 
 o 
 
 fc 
 
 
 
 
 
 CM 
 
 
 CO 
 
 1—1 
 
 ■* 
 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 t>. 
 
 ■-T 
 
 >* 
 
 © 
 
 CM 
 
 CM 
 
 
 •saqojnqQ 
 
 -* 
 
 *» 
 
 CO 
 
 l^ 
 
 CM 
 CM 
 
 © 
 
 m 
 
 CO 
 
 m 
 
 co 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 © 
 
 00 
 
 co 
 
 CO 
 
 CM 
 
 in 
 
 l-H 
 
 © 
 
 ten 
 
 o 
 
 
 •s^stqoa^BQ aApBj^ 
 
 00 
 
 - 
 
 m 
 
 © 
 
 OS 
 
 © 
 
 to 
 
 CO 
 
 "* 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 © 
 
 =: 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 in 
 
 
 >< 
 PS 
 
 5 
 
 O 
 
 CO 
 CO 
 
 s 
 
 'F;ox 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 m 
 
 
 - 
 
 m 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 CM 
 
 
 to 
 
 ^ 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 OJ 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 
 •9Ai;B^[ 
 
 1-1 
 
 "• 
 
 ■""' 
 
 CO 
 
 -* 
 
 ■>* 
 
 th 
 
 co 
 
 •nSiaio^ 
 
 CO 
 
 p— 1 
 
 as 
 
 © 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 as 
 
 CM 
 CM 
 
 J3 
 
 
 
 <N 
 
 *>. 
 
 r-l 
 
 in 
 
 © 
 
 m 
 
 CM 
 
 !>. 
 
 
 
 •suoi;i3}s-ino 
 
 ^H 
 
 Tf 
 
 ■* 
 
 i^ 
 
 in 
 
 CN 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 CO 
 CM 
 
 
 
 ** 
 
 in 
 
 to 
 
 CO 
 
 © 
 
 ,_, 
 
 in 
 
 © 
 
 
 
 •snopB^s 
 
 *>. 
 
 to 
 
 <N 
 
 ■* 
 
 © 
 
 CO 
 
 1—1 
 
 CO 
 CO 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 H 
 
 
 a " 
 
 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 • 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 
 S n 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fc 
 
 
 PU =3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 Jo 
 
 
 fsPn 
 
 >i 
 
 to 
 id 
 
 •— 
 
 K 
 
 3 
 
 
 la 
 o 
 
 A 
 
 "e3 
 
 
 
 
 s 
 
 J3 m 
 "£ « 
 
 S u 
 
 s 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 H 
 
 C8 
 
 s 
 
 fa 
 
 3 
 
 fcH 
 
 
 
 
 cq 
 
 'A 
 
 m 
 
 o 
 
 
 PQ 
 
 
74 
 
 TEN TEAKS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 Comparative Summary. 
 
 
 India and Ceylon 
 
 India and Ceylon 
 
 India, Ceylon, and 
 
 Societies .... 
 
 in 1S52. 
 
 in 1862. 
 
 Burmah'in 1S62. 
 
 22 
 
 31 
 
 3 1 
 
 Stations. .... 
 
 313 
 
 371 
 
 386 
 
 Out-stations .... 
 
 unknown. 
 
 i>9 2 5 
 
 2,307 
 
 Foreign Missionaries 
 
 395 
 
 5'9 
 
 541 
 
 Native Missionaries 
 
 48 
 
 140 
 
 186 
 
 Native Catechists . 
 
 698 
 
 1.365 
 
 1,776 
 
 Native Churches . 
 
 331 
 
 1,190 
 
 1.542 
 
 Communicants 
 
 18,410 
 
 3M49 
 
 49,688 
 
 Native Christians . 
 
 112.491 
 
 153,816 
 
 213,182 
 
 Vernacular Day Schools 
 
 1.347 
 
 1,562 
 
 I,8ll 
 
 Scholars .... 
 
 47,504 
 
 44.61; 
 
 48.390 
 
 Boys' Boarding Schools . 
 
 93 
 
 IOI 
 
 108 
 
 Christian Boys . . . 
 
 2,414 
 
 2,720 
 
 3^58 
 
 Anglo-Vernacular Schools 
 
 126 
 
 185 
 
 193 
 
 Scholars .... 
 
 14.562 
 
 23.377 
 
 23,963 
 
 Girls' Day Schools 
 
 347 
 
 37i 
 
 373 
 
 Girls 
 
 11,519 
 
 15,899 
 
 16,862 
 
 Girls' Boarding Schools. 
 
 102 
 
 114 
 
 117 
 
 Christian Girls 
 
 2,779 
 
 4.098 
 
 4,201 
 
 Translations of the Bible 
 
 Ten languages. 
 
 Twelve. 
 
 Fourteen. 
 
 Ditto New Testament 
 
 Five others. 
 
 Three others. 
 [ 
 
 Five others. 
 Twenty books 
 
 Separate Books 
 
 •• 
 
 :: 1 
 
 in 
 
 seven others. 
 
 Scriptures circulated in ten year 
 
 unknown. 
 
 
 1,634,940 
 
 Christian Tracts, Books, &c. . 
 
 unknown. 
 
 
 8,604,033 
 
 Mission Presses 
 
 25 
 
 
 25 
 
 Expenditure last ten years 
 
 £190,000 
 
 £285,000 
 
 £294,300 
 
 Local Contributions last year 
 
 £33,500 
 
 ^45.325 
 
 £46,800 
 
 Native Contributions last three - ] 
 years .... J 
 
 
 £13,000 
 
 About £18,000 
 
 
 
 
 Government Expenditure on Education in India, during 1860, .£298,004. 
 
 IV. MISSIONARY SOCIETIES IN INDIA. 
 
 The summaries now given show that India, in respect to its 
 evangelisation, cannot be regarded as a neglected country. It is 
 not occupied as its population deserves, as its vast extent re- 
 quires, or in proportion to its claim over other and smaller fields 
 of labour. Nevertheless, the Christian Church does employ 
 within its provinces a very large amount of agency and spend a 
 large proportion of its missionary funds. The comparison 
 between the beginning and end of the decade now past, shows in 
 mere figures a great increase in the agency ; while in point of 
 fact, the interest of the Church in the progress of Indian missions 
 has increased ten-fold. The following is a list of the Societies 
 now labouring in India: — 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 75 
 
 Baptist Missionary Society. 
 
 London Missionary Society. 
 
 Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 Church Missionary Society. 
 
 General Baptist Mission. 
 
 Welsh Calvinistic Mission. 
 
 Wesleyan Missionary Society. 
 
 Established Church of Scot- 
 land. 
 
 Free Church of Scotland. 
 
 United Presbyterian Church. 
 
 English Presbyterian Church. 
 
 Irish Presbyterian Mission. 
 
 Basle Evangelical Mission. 
 Berlin Evangelical Mission. 
 Leipsic Lutheran Mission. 
 Moravian Missionary Society. 
 
 American Board. 
 American Methodist Episcopal 
 Mission. 
 
 Presbyterian Church. 
 Baptist Missionary 
 
 Free-will Baptist. 
 United Presbyterian 
 
 Dutch Eeformed 
 
 Evangelical Lutheran 
 
 American 
 
 American 
 Union. 
 
 American Free Missionary So- 
 ciety. 
 
 American 
 
 American 
 Mission. 
 
 American 
 Church. 
 
 American. 
 Mission. 
 
 British and Foreign Bible So- 
 ciety. 
 
 Religious Tract Society. 
 
 Bible Translation Society. 
 
 Christian Vernacular Education 
 Society. 
 
 American Bible Society. 
 
 American and Foreign Bible 
 Society. 
 
 American Tract Society. 
 
 In this list appear the principal Missionary Societies of 
 Europe and America. Those which do not appear, as the Paris 
 Missionary Society, the Netherlands Missionary Society, and 
 some American Societies, have given all their limited strength to 
 other fields ; and a few, like the Turkish Missions Aid and the 
 Chinese Evangelisation Societies, have been formed for a special 
 mission in one special country. These twenty-four societies, 
 with the seven societies for literature and education, have sent 
 into India and now maintain 541 missionaries, and pay from 
 Europe and America annually 250,000/. These agencies will 
 be now examined in detail. 
 
 V. MISSIONARY STATIONS. 
 
 Bengal .... 
 North-west Provinces 
 Punjab and Central India 
 Bombay .... 
 Madras .... 
 Ceylon .... 
 Burmah .... 
 Total 
 
 1852. 
 Stations 
 
 89 
 21 
 
 8 
 
 19 
 
 121 
 
 55 
 
 6 
 
 319 
 
 74 
 34 
 3 1 
 26 
 146 
 60 
 15 
 
 386 
 
 Out-stations. 
 
 25 
 
 4 1 
 
 1575 
 
 150 
 
 382 
 
 2307 
 
76 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 The establishment of a missionary station is a question of the 
 highest importance from the great interests of many kinds that 
 are involved ; and it is well carefully to consider in what localities 
 these expensive Indian missions are carried on. " The friends of 
 Jesus," says Dr. Somerville, " in seeking to rescue the heathen 
 world from the dominion of Satan, and to bring it under the 
 benign authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, should manifest as 
 much care and wisdom in fixing on their points of conflict as the 
 men of this world do in conducting earthly warfare. It appears 
 to us, that in a vast country like India, where selection is unhappily 
 still easy, any field that may be chosen should have these six 
 qualities : — it should be accessible ; it should be central ; it should 
 be in the midst of an active and energetic race of men ; it should 
 not interfere with the doings of other societies ; it should be 
 salubrious ; and it should be distinctive : perhaps we should 
 add another, that it be a place where the missionaries will 
 enjoy the protection of the civil authorities." It will be found 
 on examination that, judged by this standard, a very large 
 number of the stations already existing must be considered to 
 be wisely placed. 
 
 The table above given shows a decided increase in the number 
 of chief stations during the last ten years. The gain in numbers 
 amounts to seventy-three ; but in fact the gain is greater ; some 
 stations ill placed have been given up for better ones, and by a 
 rearrangement of their strength some missions have been ren- 
 dered more compact and more efficient than before. The whole 
 number of stations still existing, that have been founded during 
 the decade, amounts to ninety-six. Of these eleven have been 
 commenced in Bengal ; thirty-eight in the North-west provinces, 
 the Punjab, and Rajpootana; seven in Bombay; twenty-seven 
 in Madras ; two in Ceylon; and eleven in Burmah. The facts 
 already given in reference to the large extension of the Church 
 missions ; the arrival of several new societies, and the opening of 
 Oude and Burmah, sufficiently explain this increase, though a 
 part is also due to the steady progress of almost all missions 
 and societies attempting to occupy the country in force. 
 
 The new stations include towns and cities of great importance, 
 and are a valuable addition to hitherto existing agency. They 
 include, in Bengal and Behar, the towns of Santipore, Gya (a 
 great seat of Hindu pilgrimage), Patna, and Ghazeepore. In 
 the North-west, the new Church mission station in Allahabad, 
 Lucknow and Seetapore, Bareilly, and Moradabad, with other 
 great towns in Oude and Rohilkund ; a second station in Futteh- 
 guhr ; the new missions of the Propagation Society in Delhi and 
 Roorkee ; the American stations in Dehra, Rawul Pindee, and 
 
IN INDIA. 77 
 
 Peshawur; the Church Missions in Amritsir, Peshawur, and 
 Mooltan, and the Rajpootana mission just begun ; all stations of 
 the first-rate rank, and fraught doubtless with stores of blessing 
 to the people around them in future years. In Bombay and 
 Madras, they include places like Aurungabad and Ahmedabad, 
 Trivalore and Palgaut, Vellore and Arcot, Bezwara and Ellore. 
 To the Burmah stations already mentioned, may be added 
 Shwaygyeen and Toungoo. 
 
 On only one of these stations will we offer remark. The 
 American Mission, established in Peshawur in 1857, was but the 
 renewal of efforts made among the Affghans of Loodiana many 
 years ago, and is especially designed for that people. It was 
 hoped that after a time, Mr. Loewenthal, might be able to leave 
 the English territory to reside in one of their cities, and devote 
 himself to their instruction. Government orders, however, 
 prevent all foreigners from passing the frontier, and he has en- 
 deavoured to search them out in the neighbourhood of Peshawur. 
 " The New Testament has been translated into Pushto, and re- 
 ligious discussions have been carried on in the city, in the vil- 
 lages of the Peshawur and Susufzai districts. The Affghans are 
 very disputatious, and reasoning with them is a work of the 
 greatest difficulty. The spiritual nature of the Christian faith 
 they seem totally incapable of appreciating. Still in a manner 
 certain unreasonable prejudices do seem to be giving way." .... 
 " Peshawur is a most important place in reference to the variety 
 of people with whom a missionary may come in contact. There 
 visited us Jews from Bokhara, Farsivvans from Affghanistan, 
 and Kafirs from the mountains north of Cabul. The Sia-posh 
 Kafirs seem to be a most interesting people; having but little 
 religion apparently, and being certainly free from those violent 
 Asiatic prejudices against the foreigner as such, which bar the 
 missionary's way among the Hindus and Mahomedans. At pre- 
 sent, however, there is no access to them/' 
 
 During the last ten years much information has been circulated, 
 especially among the committees and friends of missionary 
 societies at home, respecting the neglected provinces of India and 
 their principal cities and towns. Mr. Wylie's volume on " Bengal 
 as a Field of Missions," marked quite an era in missionary 
 appeals of this sort. It has been followed by others, especially 
 the earnest statements of the Missionary Conferences of Bengal 
 and Madras. More recently, the United Presbyterian Missionary 
 committee of Scotland published communications respecting the 
 neglected fields of India, received from such men as Dr. John 
 Wilson, Dr. Murray Mitchell, Dr. Leckie, Mr. Wylie and 
 others, who personally knew the fields for which they pleaded. 
 
78 
 
 TEN TEARS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 It is pleasant to think that many of the localities whose claims 
 were then advocated have been partially occupied during the 
 last four years. The committee chose Rajpootana as their own. 
 But the Irish Mission have since taken Ahmedabad ; the English 
 Presbyterian Church have founded one station at Rampore Bau- 
 leah, in the northern districts of Bengal; the London Mission at 
 Mirzapore is fixing a branch at Singrowlee, and the Wesleyan 
 Missionary Society has taken Bancoorah. Slowly, but steadily, 
 the little Christian fortresses are erected and the districts quietly 
 occupied. 
 
 In the position and influence of the missionary stations in 
 India lie both a gain of the past, and well-grounded hope for the 
 future. Foreign missionaries, however zealous, supported by 
 Societies, however wealthy, can hope only to commence the 
 work of regenerating the great Empire, and hence have to apply 
 their efforts in the best way in the most influential localities. 
 Looked at singly, our missionary stations certainly appear to 
 occupy all the best sites that can be found throughout the 
 country; and when viewed in combination, in the influence they 
 exert together on the country, as a whole, it must be acknow- 
 ledged that they are wonderfully well placed. They are found 
 in all the great centres of commerce, the centres of political 
 influence, and in the centres of religious opinion. From Peshawur 
 to Chittagong, across the whole of Northern India, along the 
 wealthy and well-peopled Ganges valley, almost every one of the 
 largest towns and cities has its missionary station, and some have 
 three or four. Along the chief lines of traffic in the Tamil and 
 Telugu provinces, in the Deccan and in Mysore, the same is 
 true; and the same is seen in Burmah, on the Irrawaddy, the 
 Sitang, and the Salween. " There remaineth much land to be 
 possessed ; " but a large number of the chief cities, and several 
 important provinces, have been well occupied in preparation for 
 the campaign. The following list gives a brief view of the agency 
 in some of these cities : — 
 
 
 Missionaries. 
 
 
 Missionaries. 
 
 Calcutta 
 
 . 34 
 
 Delhi . 
 
 . 6 
 
 Madras. 
 
 . 35 
 
 Bangalore 
 
 . 11 
 
 Bombay 
 
 . 16 
 
 Mangalore 
 
 . 8 
 
 Allahabad 
 Benares 
 
 . 4 
 . 13 
 
 Rangoon . 
 
 ( 5 
 
 " ^ 6 natives 
 
 Lucknow 
 Agra . 
 
 . 6 
 
 . 8 
 
 Maulmain 
 
 I ( natives 
 
 It must, however, be allowed that all missions arc not equally 
 
 well placed, nor equally well sustained. Some have been estab- 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 79 
 
 lisbed in very Isolated positions, and are almost struggling for 
 life. The wise system adopted by the American Board during 
 the decade, of so re-arranging their stations that each shall 
 support the others, and shall, by combination, effectively co- 
 operate in the impressions they produce, together with the signal 
 success which has followed that re-arrangement, indicates very 
 clearly a principle upon which other Societies may examine the 
 position of their own missions, with a view to secure the same 
 action and the same happy result. Carried still further, it should 
 lead all the Societies to co-operate with each other, not merely in 
 that spirit of mutual affection and confidence which has so long 
 prevailed, but also in so placing the stations of different Societies 
 that they benefit by their common action upon the country at 
 large. The Government has lately been reconstructing almost 
 the entire machinery which it employs, with a view to adapt it 
 more completely to the new state of things ; and, with the expe- 
 rience already acquired, and the cordial co-operation already 
 existing, Missionary Societies may well assist each other in such 
 readjustments of the spheres and stations they occupy, so as not 
 only to be more secure against undesirable interference with each 
 other, but to obtain more decidedly the full benefit of each other's 
 faithful labours. 
 
 VI. MISSIONARIES, NATIVE PASTORS, AND 
 CATECHISTS. 
 
 n i f 1852 
 Bengal . . . . { ]gfia 
 
 North-west Provinces . \ ," 
 
 \ 1 002 
 
 Punjab and Central India ] g , 
 
 TJ 1, J 1852 
 Bombay . . . { i862 
 
 Madras. . . . { J^ 2 
 
 r ! (1852 
 Ceylon. . . . ( }U% 
 
 Total . . ( l H 2 
 ( 1862 
 
 Burmah . . . 1862 
 Total . .1862 
 
 Missionaries. 
 
 Ordained 
 
 Natives. 
 
 Native 
 Catechists. 
 
 101 
 
 113 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 130 
 
 189 
 
 47 
 64 
 
 1 
 
 4 
 
 45 
 
 72 
 
 17 
 
 55 
 
 1 
 7 
 
 4 
 
 46 
 
 31 
 
 40 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 16 
 
 53 
 
 161 
 210 
 
 18 
 
 60 
 
 405 
 903 
 
 38 
 37 
 
 22 
 
 42 
 
 98 
 102 
 
 395 
 
 5'9 
 
 22 
 
 48 
 140 
 46 
 
 698 
 
 I3 6 5 
 411 
 
 54-' 
 
 186 
 
 1776 
 
80 TEN years' missionary larour 
 
 The Staff of Missionaries. 
 
 A mere cursory examination of this little table shows that 
 considerable changes have taken place in the missionary staff 
 during the past ten years ; and that change will appear more 
 striking still to those who are acquainted with their names. The 
 most prominent fact in these figures is the great increase that has 
 taken place in their numbers. In 1852 in India and Ceylon there 
 were 395 missionaries from Europe and America. In 1862 they 
 had increased to 519. Here is an addition of 124, or 31 
 per cent, a gratifying indication of the increased interest felt 
 in missionary work in India by the Churches which send and 
 support them. The increase is not uniform. In Ceylon the 
 numbers are almost the same, as they also are in Burmah. In 
 Bengal it is small ; in Bombay the proportion is large, though 
 the actual increase is trifling. The increase lies in those pro- 
 vinces in which the new missions have been founded. In Madras 
 the band has grown very large, and an increase of thirty per 
 cent has raised it to 210 missionaries among 28,000,000 of 
 people. In the North-west it has increased to sixty-four ; while 
 in the Punjab, Rajputana, and Central India, it has been more 
 than trebled, rising from only seventeen to fifty-five in the 
 hitherto most neglected parts of the Empire. 
 
 This large increase has taken place in the face of great and 
 continuous difficulties, of which the chief is the constant reduction 
 of the staff by death, sickness, and premature decay. The number 
 of missionaries who were labouring in India at the commencement 
 of the decade, and who died before its close, was fifty-eight, of 
 whom three suffered a violent death during the Mutiny, leaving 
 fifty-five for the ordinary casualties of the ten years. To these 
 must be added six missionaries, who died in Burmah, out of the 
 twenty who were living there in 1852, making a total of sixty- 
 one deaths out of the 415 foreign missionaries in the entire field 
 when the decade began. To these may be added a few younger 
 men, whose mission commenced daring that period, and who 
 were cut off before its close. Their number is about twelve. 
 The loss amounts to only 15 per cent in ten years ; and its 
 smallness is explained by a reference to the large number who, 
 when severe sickness overtakes them, leave the country, and 
 seek restoration in Europe. 
 
 The obituary of the decade includes the names of many men 
 distinguished for their character, their ability, and their useful- 
 ness, and whose removal is a great loss to their field of labour. 
 Some, like Dr. Poor of Jaffna, and Dr. Scudder of Madras, 
 
IN INDIA. 81 
 
 Mr. Mault of Travancore, and Mr. Taylor of Belgaum, were 
 patriarchs among the churches, and had laboured for their welfare 
 for forty years. Mr. Robinson of Dacca, who died after forty- 
 seven years' service, Mr. Fink and Mr. Carey of Cutwa, formed 
 a link between the present generation and the founders of the 
 Serampore Mission, while Dr. Schmid, Mr. Lechler of Salem, 
 and Mr. Schaffter, carry our thoughts back to the early days of 
 the Tinnevelly Mission and the labours of Mr. Rhenius, who 
 first brought it into shape. Great preachers have passed away, 
 like Mr. Lacroix of Calcutta, and Mr. Lacey of Cuttack ; and 
 diligent itinerators, like Mr. Hardey of Bangalore, and Mr. 
 Ingalls of Rangoon. Dr. Sutton, the translator of the Oriya 
 Bible ; Mr. Shurmann, the editor of the Urdu New Testament ; 
 Drew, the gentle pastor, the Tamil scholar and translator of the 
 Cural ; Thomas, the laborious superintendent of the Baptist Mis- 
 sion Press; Paterson, the patient editor of Bengali Christian 
 Literature ; and Hume, the active secretary of the Bombay 
 Tract Society ; will long be missed from the spheres of useful- 
 ness which they occupied so well. The Free Church has lost 
 Anderson, who founded, and with extraordinary energy and 
 devotion sustained, the institution at Madras; and Dr. Ewart, 
 whose imperturbable steadiness for one-and-twenty years im- 
 parted massive strength to the institution in Calcutta ; with 
 Johnston, Mr. Anderson's companion ; and the gentle Nesbit, 
 the loving pastor and teacher, for many years the colleague 
 of Dr. Wilson, of Bombay. The Church Missionary Society, 
 amongst younger men, has lost experienced missionaries like 
 Weitbrecht and Ragland, whose character and attainments made 
 them examples to their brethren. Conspicuous amongst the 
 dead stand also Mr. Mundy, the eloquent preacher, who la- 
 boured for thirty-four years : Mr. Denham, the able tutor of Se- 
 rampore College; and Mr. Vinton, the wise pastor and adviser 
 of more than forty churches in the districts near Rangoon. All 
 these were men of weight and earnestness, well endowed for their 
 peculiar service, and carrying it out with the experience ac- 
 quired by years of faithful toil. Long will it be before they are 
 forgotten in the scenes of their labour; through their characters, 
 their example, their works, being dead they yet speak. Nor 
 should we forget the loss of younger men who have also laid 
 down their lives on Indian soil, such as Leitch, who was 
 drowaied at the commencement of those medical labours which 
 were so needed in Travancore; Whitley, killed by the falling of 
 a wall ; Dauble, dying of cholera in Assam after two years' ser- 
 vice ; Whitaker, who won such esteem by his earnest labours in 
 Toungoo, and died of jungle fever; with those whose work had 
 
 G 
 
82 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 hut commenced when they were cut off by the Indian mutiny. 
 
 Nor may we pass by without a word some of those " holy 
 women" who have lived in India not merely as missionaries' 
 wives, hut as themselves missionaries, and have given hearty ser- 
 vice in their own peculiar sphere. Such were Mrs. Buyers of 
 Benares; Mrs. Lincke, the wise adviser, helper, and physician of 
 her hushand's flock; Mrs. Harris of Shwaygyeen, the devoted 
 teacher of its Karen schools; Mrs. Wood of Sattara, who, after 
 many years of usefulness in New England and in Smyrna, 
 finished her course among the converted Mahars of the Deccan. 
 Such, too, was the authoress of " Phulmani and Karuna," who 
 by her writings, translated into eleven of our Indian languages, 
 became the instructor of the female converts of all missions, and 
 wdiose death has been declared a loss to the native Church at 
 large. 
 
 Still further during the decade, Indian missions lost two de 
 voted and faithful friends in Bishop Wilson and Bishop Dealtry, 
 who for a long series of years had helped to sustain them by their 
 personal as well as official influence, by their large-hearted libe- 
 rality, by their wise counsel, and by the intimate friendship into 
 which they received the missionaries of the Church over which 
 thev presided, throughout their extensive dioceses. At times, too, 
 the friends of missions have had to mourn over the death of gene- 
 rous laymen whose sympathies and liberality were ever ready to 
 be exerted for the promotion of the missionary cause. 
 
 While Indian missions have lost by death, they have lost far 
 moi*e largely by the retirement of living missionaries to Europe 
 and America. Out of the 415 foreign missionaries in India and 
 Burmah in 1852, no less than 125 have been compelled to relin- 
 quish their service through the ill-health of themselves or their 
 wives. As before, a few must be added to this number, mis- 
 sionaries who have entered India for the first time during the 
 decade, and have remained but a short time in the country. 
 These losses cannot but be regarded with peculiar feelings. In a 
 few cases men have retired from a comparative indifference to the 
 special claims which the work presents. In others we see men 
 like Mr. Coemmerer, Mr. Hickey, and Mr. Addis, retiring from it 
 in old age after expending their lives in mission service. We 
 may be silent when Dr. Pfauder transfers his service to Constan- 
 tinople, and Mr. Mills to the Sandwich Islands. We sympathise 
 with Dr. Trumpp, Mr. Makepeace, Mr. Ilallett, and Mr. Tolman, 
 whom jungle fever, caught in the path of duty, has driven from 
 the country; but we feel deeply that the scholarship of Mr. 
 Wardlaw, Mr. Ilardey, and Dr. Gundert ; the ability and ex- 
 perience of Mr. Braidwood and Mr. Whitehouse; the pastoral 
 
IN INDIA. 83 
 
 zeal of Mr. Lewis and Mr. Pettitt, in the missions of India, can 
 ill be spared. 
 
 The total loss, therefore, by death and removal which our 
 missions have suffered has amounted to 185 in the course of ten 
 years, and the number that has laboured during the entire de- 
 cade amounts to 230. The changes amount to 45 per cent; 
 55 per cent remains. This shows very plainly what was 
 urged on a previous page, that in order to maintain any mission 
 at its present strength, half the number of its missionaries must 
 be sent out in the course of every decade, and all attempts to 
 enlarge a mission and take up new stations must be made in 
 addition to the despatch of such a number as is required to fill 
 up vacancies. Any mission containing forty men must send out 
 twenty in ten years ; if it send out less it will fall away. These 
 facts exhibit in a general way the length of missionary service in 
 India, and show it to be on an average about twenty-two years. 
 In some cases even the deaths alone show this. The twelve mis- 
 sionaries of the London Society who died during 'he period, gave 
 together a service of 291 years, i. e., an average of twenty-four 
 years and a quarter. Four of them, however, had lived in India 
 more than thirty years, and two upwards of forty years. Taking 
 their service with that of the seventeen men who retired, the 
 average will be about twenty years each. Perfect exactness in 
 these calculations is scarcely attainable. 
 
 Notwithstanding these heavy deductions, the whole staff has 
 greatly increased. Though only 230 remained throughout the 
 decade, the whole number engaged in labour at the commence- 
 ment of 1862 was 541, showing that 311 had arrived during the 
 interval. Adding to them the men who have both come and gone 
 during that time, the eight destroyed in the Mutiny, and the 
 twelve who have died, we learn the striking and most en- 
 couraging fact, that duriifg the decade more than three hundred 
 and fifty new missionaries were sent to India by the churches 
 of Europe and America. 
 
 Besides the ordained missionaries, there are engaged in several 
 missions a considerable number of laymen, who take part in the 
 teaching of schools, the management of industrial schools, the 
 erection of mission buildings, and the like; with some zealous 
 ladies, who, remaining unmarried, have devoted themselves to 
 various departments of Female Education. These faithful labourers 
 have come to India, in a true missionary spirit, to share in the 
 numerous occupations and employments to which its missionary 
 plans give rise; and it is only just to recognise their co-operation, 
 and to record how valuable is the service which they render to the 
 cause. Their number is somewhat above fortv. Medical mis- 
 
84 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 sionaries have been included among the ordained labourers already 
 mentioned. They are at the present moment five in number, 
 besides the four brethren in the Arcot mission who are medical 
 men, and bear the degree of M.D. Of late years an increasing con- 
 viction has sprung up that certain parts of India are peculiarly 
 suited to the work of such missionaries, and that they can render 
 very great service to the missionary cause. Few men can hope 
 for fairer opportunities of Christian usefulness than those which 
 are available to Mr. Lowe in Travancore or to Dr. Valentine in 
 Mairwara. 
 
 It only remains to add that the Missionary Societies at home 
 are anxious not only to provide a larger number of men for 
 India, but to secure from them on arrival a truly efficient service. 
 While collegiate education is secured to them before their de- 
 parture, rules are now strictly laid down for the attainment of 
 the native language at the earliest practicable period after they 
 arrive. It is felt that for all missionaries engaged in vernacular 
 work or resident in the country districts, a full knowledge of the 
 native tongue is absolutely essential, while even to those who are 
 engaged in English work, as the educational institutions, such a 
 knowledge is essential to their highest usefulness. The Church, 
 Wesleyan, and London Missionary Societies have therefore laid 
 it down for the guidance of their new missionaries that the 
 attainment of the native language should be the first object at 
 which they aim ; one year is secured to them entirely free from 
 other employment; and it is desired that by the end of two years 
 they will possess a competent knowledge that will enable them 
 without difficulty to begin vernacular work. If engaged in 
 education, an extra year is given them. By the Church Mission 
 Committee a scheme of study has been drawn out, and an 
 examining tribunal provided, for testing this knowledge ; and 
 thus their missionaries are subject to the same kind of tests as 
 the civil and military officers of the government, who can get 
 no appointment and receive no responsibility until those tests be 
 passed. " As to the desirableness of such examination, the mis- 
 sionaries generally fully agree." 
 
 Emphatically must it be observed that mere Statistical Tables 
 of missionaries, such as those from which our information is 
 drawn, can give but one view of their position ; they give figures, 
 but not character; they show numbers, but not ability or useful- 
 ness. Yet amongst Indian missionaries it will readily be imagined 
 that the same varieties exist as amongst ministers of all denomin- 
 ations at home. Here as there are found eloquent preachers, 
 able scholars, the Avise in counsel, the men of business, the 
 energetic men of action, the gentle, the spiritual. Experience, 
 
IN INDIA. 85 
 
 too, is not wanting. Scattered among the missions are 130 men, 
 whose service has already extended to twenty years or more. 
 Still they are few however able, a weak band however devoted. 
 As in ancient days "the Syrians fill the country," and the men 
 of Israel are but "two little flocks of kids" against them; but 
 " there is no restraint with the Lord to save by many or by 
 few." And it is specially when taught by the weakness of 
 men, the Gospel is made from above " the power of God unto 
 salvation." 
 
 Ordained Native Pastors. 
 
 During the last ten years the necessity of securing Native 
 Pastors for native churches, and in general of extending native 
 agency in the support and spread of the Gospel, has been much 
 discussed and strongly pressed on Indian missionaries from home. 
 Increasing difficulty has been felt in adequately supplying from 
 home the demands made by the vast territories of the Indian 
 Empire so completely open to the Gospel; and it would appear, 
 that beyond the point attained, and the annual expenditure 
 required for the maintenance of the present staff, an increase of 
 foreign missionaries to any very large extent is impracticable. 
 The churches and committees, therefore, in Europe and America, 
 look to the native converts, and ask that they shall do their part. 
 If at present they are unable to take a large share in the evangel- 
 isation of their native land, it is asked that they shall at all events 
 make a beginning, especially where converts have become 
 numerous, and that they must exhibit the principle and the 
 practical zeal manifested by Churches of similar size and resources 
 at home. 
 
 These discussions, which in the first instance were needed to 
 stir up missionaries, have borne considerable fruit. When the 
 decade began, a commencement had been made chiefly in Ceylon 
 and South India, where the largest native churches were found. 
 The number of ordained native ministers in all India amounted 
 to forty-eight, of whom there were twenty-two in Ceylon, 
 eighteen in the Madras Presidency, four in Bombay, and four in 
 all North India. Several of these brethren had attained their 
 honourable position in an unusual way. Turning to good account 
 the personal training they had received under able instructors, 
 and carrying forward their education to higher degrees, many of 
 them, apart from any system, had attained ordination as the 
 result of personal merit, which distinguished them from others. 
 Thus it was that men like Mr. John Devasagyarn, Mr. Goloknath 
 Chattargi, Mr. Bunter in the Deccan, with younger men at 
 
86 ten teaks' missionary labour 
 
 Madras and Bombay, all deservedly esteemed, had been received 
 into the native ministry before systematic efforts had been made 
 by any churches to build it up in all parts of India. The case 
 stands very differently now. Though a few have died, the 
 number has greatly increased, and on the old field of India and 
 Ceylon, reviewed in 1852, there are now 140, or three times the 
 number existing in the former year. There are also now forty- 
 six in Burmah, or a total of 186 on the entire field. A reference 
 to the little table already given will show that the increase has 
 taken place in all the Presidencies. Bengal has seventeen ; the 
 Punjab, seven ; Madras, sixty ; and Ceylon, forty-two. Is it too 
 much to hope that by the close of another decade the number 
 will again be trebled, and this important branch of our native 
 agency bid fair speedily to overtake the foreign element on which 
 so much has depended hitherto ? 
 
 In order to avoid misunderstanding, it must be noticed that 
 these native pastors differ "widely from each other in their intel- 
 lectual training and attainments. It has been a settled principle 
 with missionaries, that all candidates for such an office should be 
 men of proved piety and of decided zeal for the salvation of others. 
 They are not only the flower of the native Church, but the 
 choicest of that large body of native agents who are employed as 
 preachers and teachers. They are everywhere surrounded by 
 them, and are selected from them. This genuine piety and self- 
 denying zeal have been exhibited in the most practical way even 
 by the simplest. The pastors in Burmah have in general re- 
 ceived but a limited education, and are comparatively poor in 
 knowledge; but individuals among them have exhibited the 
 constancy of martyrs in times of persecution ; and in missionary 
 labours have manifested apostolic zeal. The attainments of the 
 heart are the ground of all usefulness ; they are the gift of the 
 Spirit, in answer to prayer, and may be acquired by the Churches 
 as well as by ministers. But allowing them to be the motive power 
 which directs the application of all other gifts, there can be no 
 question that the greater the endowments these native pastors 
 can obtain, the more secure will be their usefulness, and the 
 greater will that usefulness be. 
 
 Many of these brethren have been educated entirely in the 
 Vernaculars, in which unhappily the store of Christian literature 
 available for their instruction is by no means large. Others 
 have been trained almost entirely through English; others, 
 through the medium of both languages: and some can have 
 had comparatively little training at all. In Burmah, for instance, 
 the rapid growth of the mission after the annexation of Pegu 
 produced a great demand for pastors and missionaries ; and as in 
 
IN INDIA. 87 
 
 apostolic times, they were drawn from among converts and 
 Churches of recent origin, though without those special gifts ot 
 healing, tongues, and " prophecy,'' which would largely compen- 
 sate for natural deficiencies. Earnest zeal, a warm heart, and 
 sound sense, would prove the chief qualifications for that simple 
 service among a willing and prepared people, to which they were 
 then called. In Tinnevelly, the ordained brethren of the Church 
 Mission, now fourteen in number, were trained entirely in the 
 Vernacular Tamil. They were already known as men of char- 
 acter, and had been tried for years as catechists. For their 
 special use, their able instructor translated into Tamil various 
 standard works of English Theology (as Palei/s Evidences and 
 Pearson on the Creed), and gave them courses of lectures, and 
 readings which were spread over several years. A similar course 
 was adopted with the native pastors in the American Missions in 
 Jaffna, Madura, and the Deccan. In other cases, English was 
 employed almost exclusively in their theological training, in 
 continuation of the high general education they had previously 
 received in that language. Six men of this kind have been 
 ordained in Calcutta in the Free Church and London Missions, 
 after a five years' course of theological studies ; in the latter case, 
 all preaching studies were carried on in Bengali under the super- 
 intendence of Mr. Lacroix. The Free Church Mission again in 
 India possesses three native missionaries, whose studies were 
 completed in Scotland, and whose command of English is com- 
 plete. 
 
 Thus it is, that the native pastors and missionaries become 
 divided into three or four classes, according as they have received 
 an education of a higher or lower character. Those trained only 
 in the vernacular are about a hundred in number ; those that 
 have a partial knowledge of English in addition are about fifty ; 
 and thirty have enjoyed an English education of a high order. 
 It is frankly allowed that native pastors of high endowments 
 (like all possessed of many ' talents ') are placed under peculiar 
 and powerful temptations; that they are more open than others 
 to incentives to pride, self-seeking, and the love of gain. But it 
 is found on the one hand, that such temptations decrease with the 
 increase of their numbers ; and on the other, that where such 
 temptations are successfully met, and under wise advice and 
 with right views of their work, the graces of humility, hearty 
 consecration, and earnest zeal, are cultivated, such men make the 
 best pastors for even village churches, and deal as wisely and 
 as kindly with their native brethren, as any European mis- 
 sionary. 
 
 It is a very important question to missionaries, to settle the 
 
88 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 position in which these native ministers and clergy should be 
 placed. Some missionaries have seemed inclined to keep them in 
 a subordinate position, as when they were catechists or teachers. 
 But the majority of missionaries who have had to deal with 
 them, hold, that being in the first instance wisely chosen to their 
 office, independence of action in a special sphere is essential to 
 the development of their character; and to the growth of that 
 practical wisdom, that sound principle, and that affectionate zeal, 
 which lie at the root of their usefulness. In the early years of 
 their ministry, like young clergy at home, they may with advan- 
 tage share the labours of an older minister; who, while he gives 
 them a warm welcome to his study and his table, will advise 
 them kindly, assist them in their difficulties, and allow them to 
 gain experience even by their own mistakes. Having acquired 
 such experience, and attained ripeness of character, they may 
 well be left in sole charge of native churches, and thus commence 
 the establishment of that system which shall see Christianity fairly 
 taking root in India, and propagating itself by indigenous means. 
 On this point Mr. Thomas of Tinnevelly says : "You will be able 
 to gather what my estimate is of the native clergy from this letter 
 and my report, and that I feel quite satisfied of the success of 
 the system, if sufficient care be exercised in the selection of our 
 men. Undoubtedly some part of the success will depend upon 
 the European missionary with whom they are appointed to work. 
 A show of authority, with an habitual effort to make the men 
 feel that they are occupying a subordinate position, with little or 
 no responsibility attached to it, would I think be highly injurious. 
 ( My native deacons' is a phrase which I have heard; but 
 which I consider unbecoming, and one which indicates a course of 
 action on the part of the presbyters, which must prove fatal to 
 ultimate success. On the other hand, to regard them as brethren 
 and fellow-labourers in Christ's vineyard with much affection and 
 confidence ; to speak the truth in love to them when needed ; to 
 pray with them and for them ; is the course I have endeavoured 
 to pursue; and through God's blessing, it has proved quite 
 successful after a trial of eight years, during which I have had 
 altogether six of the native brethren labouring with me, and no 
 misunderstanding has taken place. To God be all the glory." 
 Similarly Mr. Clark of the same mission in his report for 1860 
 says: " In thus dividing the district between the two native clergy 
 associated with me, I believe I do right as well as cany out the 
 wishes of the committee, in committing the responsibility and care 
 of the congregations and schools, in a great measure, to them. I 
 wish them to act independently, as far as circumstances will allow, 
 and to feel that the state of the congregations under their charge, 
 
IN INDIA. 89 
 
 depends mainly on them. It is due, I think, to their experience 
 and age, to allow them this independence of action, and I think 
 that to do so will benefit the native church." 
 
 A few of these brethren have of late years begun to distin- 
 guish themselves in various works of usefulness, though their 
 appointments are too recent to permit such distinction to go far. 
 The zealous efforts of Sau Quala at Toungoo are well known. 
 Mr. Dhanjibhai Nowroji has performed a useful service in editing 
 the Parsi-Guzerati version of the New Testament ; while many 
 have proved themselves excellent pastors, thoroughly appreciating 
 their position and duties in relation to Christ's flock. Of only 
 one will we speak in detail, whose early removal the Tinnevelly 
 Church has had great reason to mourn. "The Rev. Paul 
 Daniel," says Mr. Thomas, " was for many years one of my most 
 efficient catechists, and has well earned, by his zeal and diligence, 
 the honourable position which he now occupies. I know that we 
 ought to be extremely careful not to exalt nor glory in any man; 
 but it is right that our friends and supporters should know, that 
 in this person the Lord has given us, without any exception, the 
 most able and eloquent native preacher of the Gospel that India 
 has. I have no hesitation in saying that if such sermons as are 
 generally preached by him were delivered in any pulpit in 
 London, the church would be crowded to overflowing. Nor am 
 I singular in this opinion, for several of my brother missionaries, 
 after having heard him, have expressed themselves in terms of 
 the highest admiration of his pulpit abilities. It is exceedingly 
 gratifying to see that the people also everywhere fully appreciate 
 his preaching, and listen to him with great attention and delight. 
 To me it is always a great pleasure to be among the hearers 
 while he occupies the pulpit. Oh, that the Lord would raise up 
 many more such men, pious, able, with a full knowledge and 
 appreciation of the Gospel scheme of salvation, and withal pos- 
 sessed, like this good man, of profound humility!" 
 
 After his death, which occurred in November 1860, Mr. 
 Thomas says, " I cannot tell you how much I feel the loss of my 
 dear friend. His affection, his simplicity, honesty, and straight- 
 forwardness, his amazing pulpit abilities, and profound humility 
 withal, endeared him to me more than I can describe. The last 
 sermon I heard from him was, without exception, the greatest 
 sermon I ever heard : ' Enduring the cross, despising the shame.' 
 Never did I hear Christ so exalted by human tongue. The effect 
 was perfectly overwhelming. His sun went down at noon. 
 Many more years of usefulness might have been expected. He 
 stood alone anions our native Christians." 
 
90 TEN teaks' missionary labour 
 
 Native Catechists. 
 
 While the native pastors have been trebled in number during 
 the last ten years, the agents next in importance to them have 
 nearly doubled. The native catechists, who were 700 in number 
 when the decade began, have in India and Ceylon increased to 
 1365. This increase is not uniform in all parts. In Ceylon they 
 are the same as they were ; but in the North-west and the 
 Punjab they have increased from 49 to 118, and in Madras 
 from 405 to 903. This progress is most gratifying. It accom- 
 panies (as we shall see) a large improvement, not only in 
 the numbers of native communicants, but in their character. It 
 springs from that improvement, and in reaction tends also to 
 increase it. The catechists form a most important body of 
 agents in the native Church ; without them missionaries would 
 lose their right hand. As preachers and expounders of the 
 Gospel, both among Christians and heathen, they spread over a 
 wider surface the knowledge which the missionary has brought, 
 and therefore multiply both his agency and its results. Testi- 
 mony to their usefulness is borne universally by missionaries all 
 over the country, especially in the districts where lar<j;e numbers 
 of converts have been under training for a long period. " Two 
 of our native preachers," says the last report of the Orissa 
 Mission, " have been employed in preaching for more than thirty 
 years, and it is our prayer that they may still bring forth fruit 
 in old age. Two others have been engaged for twenty years, 
 and still labour with commendable zeal and devotedness. Of the 
 others, eleven in number, it is sufficient to say that some are 
 more gifted and zealous than others; but, as a whole, we regard 
 them as workmen that need not to be ashamed, and are unfeign- 
 edly thankful to God for giving us such men. Their attachment 
 to the Gospel; their conviction that nothing but this can meet 
 the condition of their idolatrous fellow-countrymen, and their 
 desire, in season and out of season, to proclaim it, have often 
 called forth our gratitude and our joy." 
 
 " Our present race of teachers," says Mr. Thomas, " is vastly 
 superior to those whom I found when I first joined the mission. 
 Very many of them have been regularly educated for the work 
 from their youth, and at the boarding-school and institutions, 
 and all have been carefully instructed at the weekly meetings 
 held at this place for that purpose. The majority are intelligent 
 men, possessing a very respectable amount of theological and 
 
IN INDIA. 91 
 
 collateral knowledge, with a power, in most instances, of preaching 
 the Gospel in a manner acceptable and edifying to the people. 
 From among them two were ordained by the Bishop of Madras 
 last year, who are, I am thankful to say, giving every satisfaction 
 in the discharge of their duties. Our schoolmasters also are a 
 far more efficient body of men ; nor is there, I am happy to say, 
 a single heathen employed in that capacity." 
 
 " Our preachers have doubled in number," says Mr. Hobbs 
 of Jessore, " during the last ten years, and are now twenty 
 instead of ten. Their moral character is good, but I am not at 
 all satisfied with the amount of devoted ness they display. Some 
 of them are very self-denying, but the majority are grasping. 
 This may arise from their low salaries. What are ten rupees 
 a-month for a person of fair education, with three or four chil- 
 dren to support? I am grieved that, as a body, they are 
 not more highly educated. Some of them are afraid to accom- 
 pany me to the Jessore bazaar, where we encounter Deists, 
 because they know not how to defend Christianity against them. 
 If we had teachers of a better sort, our work would prosper 
 more." 
 
 " Our native brethren," says a Rangoon report, " are able 
 coadjutors, but, so far as we know, and we are acquainted with 
 some of the ablest, there is no one of them who even feels himself 
 competent to act as a leader. The opinion was expressed some 
 years since by a few, that we might soon resign this work into 
 the hands of our native brethren. An experiment to some extent 
 was made in Tavoy, our oldest station, and where the native 
 Churches have been most carefully trained and fitted for their 
 work. It was left for a time without any Karen missionary; 
 but, on the return of Mr. Cross from America, he bore the most 
 unequivocal testimony to the mistake which had been committed 
 in supposing that our native preachers are so far advanced that 
 they can be safely left to act as leaders without the counsel and 
 co-operation of missionaries. We repeat, our native brethren 
 are not yet prepared to take charge of the work. Let us push 
 the work of literary and theological training for another 
 twenty years, and we may then hope to have some competent 
 men to take charge of this work when we are dead ; but not 
 otherwise." 
 
 A great desire exists to increase still further this useful class 
 of agents ; but it can be scarcely expected that they will grow 
 more numerous, except with the growth of the native Church 
 itself. At the present time that Church, in all parts, numbers 
 49,688 communicants, of whom half are females. But the native 
 pastors and native catechists together number 1962 individuals, 
 
92 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 out of the 24,800 male communicants ; that is, one native Christ- 
 ian out of every twelve men and a half, is a preacher; and, as 
 Christian schoolmasters and teachers are as numerous as the 
 preachers, we learn the striking and gratifying fact that one male 
 convert in every seven is engaged in one of the forms of mission- 
 work. These men are the very best portion of the native 
 Church. 
 
 Systematic attention has been paid, in recent years, to the 
 education of both catechists and teachers for their important 
 work. We shall see hereafter, when treating of education, that 
 a larse number of normal schools and theological schools have 
 been maintained for this purpose, though the actual number of 
 students being educated directly for the ministry is small. 
 Nevertheless, in the wise selection of spiritual men to do spiritual 
 work, and in their proper training for the duties which that work 
 involves, lies all the hope of extending the native Church among 
 the heathen in future years. On this topic the Ootacamund 
 Missionary Conference thus speak. After pointing out that 
 these agents must be men of piety, and be specially trained for 
 their duties, they express their conviction that " the nature of 
 that training must depend upon their previous attainments, their 
 age, and the class of people among whom they are to labour; 
 but that, in every case, a sound biblical and theological education 
 is indispensable, and that, in many cases, a high degree of general 
 culture is of the greatest importance, in order that the different 
 classes of the people requiring instruction may each be furnished 
 with teachers suited to their circumstances." They add that, 
 " while in the present state of many of the missions in this coun- 
 try, a sufficient amount of human learning, in addition to Biblical 
 training, may be imparted through the medium of the Vernaculars, 
 yet, for the higher cultivation of those who are to labour among 
 their more intelligent countrymen, living in cities and large pro- 
 vincial towns, and especially of those who may be ordained over 
 native Churches in such places, the English language affords 
 facilities and secures advantages of great importance, not otherwise 
 to be obtained. Experience proves that such English training 
 is not necessarily attended with any injury to their character and 
 labours." 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 93 
 
 VII. NATIVE CHURCHES. 
 
 Presidency. 
 
 Tear. 
 
 Communi- 
 cants. 
 
 Increase 
 per cent. 
 
 Native 
 Christians. 
 
 Increase 
 per cent. 
 
 Bengal . . . . j 
 
 North-West Provinces . j 
 
 Punjab, &c. . . . j 
 
 Bombay . . . j 
 
 Madras . . . | 
 
 Ceylon . . . . ] 
 
 Total . . | 
 Burmah 
 
 Total 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 3,500 
 
 4.719 
 
 34'8 
 
 14,778 
 
 20,774 
 
 40- 6 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 584 
 983 
 
 68-3 
 
 1,742 
 
 3,722 
 
 113*6 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 94 
 
 5°5 
 
 416-0 
 
 290 
 hS79 
 
 444" 5 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 289 
 
 965 
 
 234-0 
 
 744 
 2,231 
 
 200 - 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 10,662 
 
 20,218 
 
 90^0 
 
 76591 
 1 10,237 
 
 44-0 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 3,281 
 3,859 
 
 17-6 
 
 18,046 
 
 15.273 
 
 Decrease. 
 
 1852 
 1862 
 
 1862 
 
 18,410 
 3^249 
 18,439 
 
 697 
 
 112,191 
 153,816 
 
 59,366 
 
 37-1 
 
 1862 
 
 49,688 
 
 
 213,182 
 
 
 The figures contained in this little table show that in their 
 results as well as in their agencies, the Protestant Missions of 
 India in 1862 stand on higher ground than they occupied ten 
 years ago. Reference to the circumstances of certain missions 
 has already shown that in some cases special progress has been 
 made; due, however, in larger measure to the facilities of the 
 field, than to the zeal ol the labourers or special favour from 
 above. Taking these facilities into account, the result over the 
 entire country seems to be the same, steady advance as the fruit 
 of steady labour. Missionaries are unanimous in this verdict, 
 and the tone in which their success is spoken of is everywhere 
 moderate and calm. The numerical progress is greatest in 
 Bengal and Madras ; in which Presidencies a very large increase 
 of converts has taken place, amounting to nearly 40,000. The 
 proportionate increase is highest in the North -West and 
 Bombay; in the former case it is more than quadrupled, in the 
 latter, the present converts are exactly three times what they 
 
94 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 were ten years ago- The original numbers, however, were small 
 in both cases. The increase in Bengal is 40 per cent; and in 
 Madras, 44. The increase on the whole field of India 
 and Ceylon is 37 per cent on the figures of 1852. The 
 converts in Burmah are probably five times as numerous as they 
 were. The only province in which a numerical decrease of the 
 nominal Christians has taken place is Ceylon ; and this is pro- 
 bably more apparent than real. The circumstances of the island 
 were peculiar. Since the clays of the Dutch Government there 
 has been an immense amount of nominal Christianity among the 
 people, and the missionaries scarcely know how to deal with it. 
 It is intangible, traditionary in families, is turned to political 
 account, but brings forth no fruits in piety. Large numbers of 
 the Singalese think it quite respectable to have their children 
 baptized, though they are themselves Buddhists at heart. For 
 this purpose they will attend church for a time on Sundays, and 
 when they have gained their end, will totally disappear. To 
 avoid mistakes as far as possible, the missionaries have tried to 
 winnow their congregations of such unworthy members ; and the 
 members now given represent the families that distinctly 
 acknowledge themselves Christians, that keep the Sabbath, attend 
 public Church Service, and make the Bible their teacher and 
 guide. It is possible that the roll of these nominal converts may 
 to a small extent be still further reduced: but it is pleasant to 
 observe that the number of communicants is greater than in 1852 
 by 578, or nearly 18 per cent. 
 
 This steady progress in the diffei*ent Presidencies may be 
 exhibited in detail by reference to particular localities ; and a few 
 illustrations are presented in the table on the following page. 
 Other examples have already been given in the Cole, Shamir, 
 Burrisal, and other missions which have been specially described. 
 
 The comparisons made apply principally to the nominal 
 Christian communities gathered in different parts of India by 
 missionary labours. But while they contain among themselves 
 the possibilities of new results, in the growth of Christian principle 
 and practice among both young and old who at present make no 
 personal profession, it is especially to the "communicants," or 
 " Church members," who are the nucleus and centre of these 
 communities, that the supporters of Protestant Missions look for 
 proofs of progress or decay. They make a personal profession 
 of faith, and by special and open acts declare themselves Christians 
 in principle and in habits of life. Here the increase has been 
 greater than among the nominal Christians, and in all India has 
 amounted to 70 per cent. If to these we add the communi- 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 95 
 
 cants of Burmah, who in 1852 were about 6000 in number, it 
 appears that the 24,000 adult communicants of that year have, 
 in the course of our ten years, more than doubled, as they now 
 amount to 49,000. 
 
 Place. 
 
 IS 
 
 52. 
 
 1S62. 
 
 
 
 
 Communi- 
 
 Native 
 
 Communi- 
 
 Native 
 
 
 cants 
 
 Christians. 
 
 cants. 
 
 Christians. 
 
 Orissa ..... 
 
 256 
 
 750 
 
 361 
 
 943 
 
 Assam ..... 
 
 36 
 
 119 
 
 84 
 
 194 
 
 Calcutta (city) 
 
 293 
 
 834 
 
 449 
 
 1,248 
 
 Madras (city) 
 
 671 
 
 2,572 
 
 1,786 
 
 3.577 
 
 Bombay (city) 
 
 61 
 
 149 
 
 '57 
 
 4'5 
 
 Benares .... 
 
 125 
 
 425 
 
 91 
 
 407 
 
 Columbo and Suburbs . 
 
 1139 
 
 3,800 
 
 1,100 
 
 6,391 
 
 Krisb.nagb.ur Missions . 
 
 455 
 
 4,520 
 
 3i3 
 
 3)719 
 
 Jessore ..... 
 
 213 
 
 470 
 
 J 75 
 
 500 
 
 Burrisal .... 
 
 181 
 
 1,250 
 
 447 
 
 3,100 
 
 Dacca ..... 
 
 25 
 
 70 
 
 107 
 
 205 
 
 Cherrapoonjee 
 
 23 
 
 100 
 
 45 
 
 j 84 
 
 Soutb of Calcutta (three Mis ) 
 
 1494 
 
 5,136 
 
 1,670 
 
 6,084 
 
 sions) . . . ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 Surat (town) .... 
 
 8 
 
 14 
 
 20 
 
 36 
 
 Nassik (town) 
 
 29 
 
 57 
 
 78 
 
 248 
 
 Nagpore .... 
 
 16 
 
 39 
 
 47 
 
 138 
 
 Bangalore (town, three Mis- ) 
 
 186 
 
 529 
 
 244 
 
 759 
 
 sions) \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bellary ..... 
 
 67 
 
 126 
 
 118 
 
 35i 
 
 Mangalore (town) . 
 
 150 
 
 414 
 
 375 
 
 695 
 
 South Mahratta (country) 
 
 91 
 
 166 
 
 142 
 
 405 
 
 Coimbatoor .... 
 
 40 
 
 250 
 
 75 
 
 233 
 
 Upper Travancore . 
 
 986 
 
 3.979 
 
 1,720 
 
 7,9 J 9 
 
 Jaffna Province 
 
 727 
 
 4,913 
 
 822 
 
 1,661 
 
 Burmah .... 
 
 6000 
 
 10,000 
 
 i8,439 
 
 59,366 
 
 Special Additions and Exclusions. 
 
 One item of the present inquiry was directed to the additions 
 of communicants to the native churches throughout the decade, 
 and to the number of members who in the exercise of Christian 
 discipline had been excluded from the body of communicants for 
 faults of which they had been guilty. An examination of the 
 published tables will show that the replies to these inquiries were 
 very incomplete: still fewer were the answers which showed how 
 many communicants in a given mission had been received into 
 
96 
 
 TEN YEARS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 the Churches from heathenism, and how many from Christian 
 families. These interesting and instructive topics must therefore 
 be left in abeyance. Several valuable returns, however, have 
 been forwarded as to the additions and exclusions of the last ten 
 years, and their results may be briefly summarised. The majority 
 come from stations supported by the English Nonconformist 
 Missionaries, in which discipline is carefully maintained. The 
 following are a few illustrations, with a summary of all the 
 returns that were received. 
 
 
 Communi- 
 
 Admitted 
 
 Excluded 
 
 Communi- 
 
 Stations. 
 
 cants in 
 
 in ten 
 
 in ten 
 
 cants in 
 
 
 1852. 
 
 ye;irs. 
 
 years. 
 
 1862. 
 
 Free Church, Calcutta . 
 
 27 
 
 64 
 
 3 
 
 84 
 
 London Mission, Calcutta 
 
 28 
 
 44 
 
 12 
 
 45 
 
 Baptist Churches, South of) 
 Calcutta . . ) 
 
 163 
 
 107 
 
 68 
 
 262 
 
 Burrisal .... 
 
 181 
 
 391 
 
 124 
 
 447 
 
 Dacca .... 
 
 25 
 
 96 
 
 36 
 
 107 
 
 Cherrapoonjee 
 
 23 
 
 58 
 
 10 
 
 45 
 
 Moozufferpore 
 
 21 
 
 24 
 
 12 
 
 44 
 
 Assam Missions 
 
 27 
 
 80 
 
 30 
 
 84 
 
 Cuttack .... 
 
 199 
 
 119 
 
 61 
 
 2 53 
 
 Berhampore, Ganjam 
 
 41 
 
 66 
 
 14 
 
 74 
 
 Allahabad (Presbyterian) 
 
 40 
 
 24 
 
 1 
 
 5° 
 
 Meerut (Church Missionary) 
 Society) ) 
 
 50 
 
 90 
 
 
 138 
 
 Ludiana .... 
 
 9 
 
 38 
 
 4 
 
 25 
 
 Nagpore .... 
 
 16 
 
 44 
 
 8 
 
 47 
 
 Surat ..... 
 
 8 
 
 22 
 
 6 
 
 20 
 
 Ahmednuggur 
 
 136 
 
 448 
 
 31 
 
 545 
 
 Bombay (Free Church) . 
 
 24 
 
 88 
 
 
 75 
 
 Vepery ( London Missionary ) 
 
 119 
 
 154 
 
 14 
 
 73 
 
 Society) ... J 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chiutadripetcah 
 
 29 
 
 67 
 
 5 
 
 75 
 
 Bangalore, &c. 
 
 166 
 
 250 
 
 32 
 
 226 
 
 Pareychaley and Neyoor 
 
 149 
 
 415 
 
 28 
 
 407 
 
 Madura ..... 
 
 387 
 
 792 
 
 160 
 
 1127 
 
 Jaffna ..... 
 
 363 
 
 280 
 
 61 
 
 453 
 
 Colombo (Baptist Missions) . 
 Stations . .51 
 
 416 
 
 244 
 
 70 
 
 381 
 
 3430 
 
 4289 
 
 998 
 
 6413 
 
 Several striking deductions may be made from these returns. 
 It appears that in the fifty-one principal missionary stations from 
 which the returns were received, the additions of communicants 
 received into the native churches for the first time amounted in 
 ten years to 125 per cent on the number with which the decade 
 commenced ; that the communicants excluded amounted to nearly 
 
IN INDIA. 97 
 
 13 per cent, or one person in eight, of the whole number 
 which those churches contained during the same period; and 
 that after all losses by discipline, by deaths, removals, and the 
 like, the native churches at these stations were nearly doubled 
 in size at the end of the ten years. The total loss to the 
 churches amounts to 1306 communicants; and as the majority 
 of those who are excluded for ill conduct, subsequently repent 
 and return, the greater proportion of that loss arises probably from 
 death. 
 
 The Chaeacter of Native Converts. 
 
 The character of these native churches and of the converts 
 generally has often been described in missionary reports; and 
 many controversies and discussions have been carried on amongst 
 missionaries as to whether they are worse or better than they 
 ought to be. It is difficult to decide such a question, where the 
 judges come from a society and an atmosphere of Christian 
 opinion, principle, and practice, which know scarcely anything 
 of the influence of heathenism. On the one hand, the native 
 brethren have been distinguished by the boldness which has 
 brought them out of idolatry and idolatrous connexions to con- 
 fess Jesus Christ as their Saviour. In making this decision, 
 which cuts them off from all their friends and relatives they 
 held most dear, some, even amongst the young, have exhibited 
 a martyr's firmness, and have borne a martyr's sufferings. On 
 the other, how often have individuals and communities shown 
 that there still cling to their Christian character the remains of 
 heathen vices, heathen habits, and the low standard of heathen 
 opinion. How often have words fallen from " unclean lips," in 
 foolish talking and jesting which were " not convenient;" how 
 often have breaches of the seventh commandment ; or malice, 
 hatred, and all uncharitableness, shown the lurking passions 
 which Christianity lias only controlled, but not expelled. How 
 often have the faults of the New Testament churches reappeared 
 in the churches of India, and been strangely mixed with un- 
 doubted excellencies. But they are on the way to better things. 
 Thev have quitted the swampy shores of idolatry; like the 
 rolling hill districts among the Ghauts, they exhibit great in- 
 equalities of character, lofty virtues by depths of sinfulness; but 
 they have only to press on amid the difficulties of their pilgrimage, 
 and at length they will emerge upon that elevated plateau of 
 settled virtue, which, as a Christian people, even Englishmen 
 have attained only after eight generations of Protestant teaching 
 and Bible influence. Well, therefore, may missionaries be pa- 
 tient and forbearing with those who were once heathen them- 
 
 H 
 
98 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 selves, and endeavour steadfastly to employ for their benefit all 
 the many instrumentalities now available for that end. Personal 
 weakness will reappear. How else shall we explain the strange 
 phenomenon of a distinguished preacher and sincere Christian 
 yielding to the inveterate habit of stupefying himself by smoking 
 hemp? A few testimonies to the growing improvement of the 
 native churches will be of value. 
 
 " Our most flourishing native church," says Mr. Scott, of 
 Galle, "is at Morotto, a place noted for its energetic and thriving 
 artisans. Here, and in the immediate neighbourhood, we have 
 321 members noted for their piety, intelligence, and liberality. 
 About four years since, they built a chapel almost entirely at 
 their own expense ; and during the last year they have done 
 much to support their native minister, to whose labours, under 
 God's blessing, the existence and the prosperity of his Church 
 must be attributed. At Pelliagodde, during the last four or five 
 years, preaching has been instrumental in raising up a number of 
 consistent Christians, and effecting a great transformation in the 
 habits of the people generally. Not a few of our members, for 
 clear religious experience, consistent lives, and peaceful deaths, 
 would do honour to the Gospel in any part of the world. 
 Generally, however, the piety of our people, though sincere, 
 is not over fervent or zealous. Christian knowledge varies 
 much with the position in life of the members and the locality in 
 which they dwell." 
 
 " There is without doubt piety in the Churches," says Mr. 
 Allen of Colombo, " but it is not very active, not very expensive, 
 not very aggressive. The members maintain their profession for 
 the most part, and their conduct contrasts favourably with that 
 of the heathen around them. They do very well under the 
 constant superintendence of the missionary, but there is no effort 
 on their part to go beyond their own boundaries. They do very 
 little towards supporting the ordinances of the Gospel, beyond 
 paying their own incidental expenses, and giving a trifle towards 
 the salary of their minister." 
 
 "The testimony of all the brethren," says Mr. Dennis, of 
 Nagercoil, " is more or less to the effect that our people are 
 decidedly growing in grace. They manifest a greater regard for 
 the Sabbath, for the house of prayer, and for private devotion. 
 They exhibit also a far more liberal spirit than formerly. So 
 great, indeed, do we all feel the advance to be that most of us 
 seriously contemplate urging the people of one or two of the 
 larger congregations to try the experiment of serf-support." 
 
 On this subject, Dr. Caldwell thus writes, " I do not consider 
 the present position of the majority of the native Christian 
 
IN INDIA. 99 
 
 congregations in Tinnevelly, with which I am acquainted, so 
 satisfactory as it appears to he commonly supposed to be, with 
 respect either to Christian knowledge or to Christian piety and 
 character. 1 think, however, that there is every reason to judge 
 hopefully of their stability, that is, of the permanence of their 
 intention to adhere to the profession of the Christian religion. I 
 do not think it probable that the majority of them will fall back 
 into heathenism under any circumstances whatever. They sub- 
 mit to be systematically instructed in the doctrines and precepts 
 of Christianity; they submit to a strict, perhaps a too strict 
 system of moral discipline ; they submit also, if not with pleasure, 
 at least with patient good-nature, to large and increasing demands 
 upon their means for the maintenance of their religious and charit- 
 able societies. All this, I think, sets the question of the stability 
 of the native church at rest. And so long as our people con- 
 tinue to enjoy the benefits of Christian instruction and the means 
 of grace, so long we have reason to hope that real Christian piety, 
 a real knowledge of God's word and ways, and of the mysteries 
 of salvation, and real purity and ripeness of Christian character, 
 will make progress among them. I have noticed a marked im- 
 provement in all these particulars amongst the people of my own 
 district during the last four years, especially connected, I think, 
 with i the week of prayer ' at the beginning of the year, an 
 arrangement which was suggested by the Ludiana missionaries, 
 and which has been acted upon with excellent results in almost 
 every missionary district of the Society for the Propagation of 
 the Gospel in Southern India. 
 
 " Though, however, the improvement which I have observed, 
 both amongst the native catechists and schoolmasters, and 
 amongst the people in the congregations, is a very marked one, 
 it is not by any means universally apparent. There are still in 
 my opinion very few signs of spiritual life amongst the majority 
 of our native catechists and schoolmasters, and the majority of 
 the people of our congregations. It is very rarely the case still 
 that one can safely rely on the perfect truthfulness of any native 
 Christian. I have seen, however, during the last four years, both 
 amongst people who had long been members of our congregations, 
 and amongst people who had recently been brought over from 
 heathenism, a larger number of what have appeared to be real 
 conversions from sin to God, accompanied by, and witnessed to 
 by love and zeal and by a consistent life, than I ever saw during 
 the previous sixteen years of my connexion with the Tinnevelly 
 missions. Though, therefore, there is much spiritual indifference, 
 and many moral and social evils, still to be overcome, I ' thank 
 God and take courage.' " 
 
100 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 Mr. Thomas thus describes the great change which has taken 
 place in Tinnevelly, and the instruments by which it has been 
 brought about : — 
 
 " It is now twenty-four years since I first landed in India, 
 twenty-one of which have been spent in Tinnevelly, and the 
 greater part of this period I have had the care of Mengnanapuram 
 district, and subsequently those of Asirvadhapuram and Satthan- 
 kulam. Upon the review of this period I see infinite cause for 
 gratitude, praise, and thanksgiving to the God of all grace for 
 what it hath pleased Him to accomplish in these parts. When I 
 first took charge, in 1838, Christianity might truly be said to be 
 in an incipient state. The places of worship generally were mere 
 hovels ; the congregations small in number, with little or no 
 order ; and the services of the church conducted without much 
 regard to the Prayer-book ; and many of the catechists were not 
 competent men for the work intrusted to them, but were rather 
 guardians of the congregations, to protect them against the per- 
 secutions of the heathen around. The schools were not numerous, 
 and many of the schoolmasters were professed heathen ; nor had 
 we a single girl attending our village schools, and it was a rare 
 thing indeed to meet with an educated and intelligent Christian 
 woman. But very few of the people could read, and the extent 
 of their religious knowledge consisted in learning by rote a com- 
 pendium of Christian doctrine drawn up by Mr. Rhenius. The 
 greater part were unbaptized, and the communicants necessarily 
 small. Now, however, not only have we a spacious and beautiful 
 Gothic church at the central station at Mengnanapuram, capable 
 of holding about two thousand people, but in every village, where 
 there is even but a small congregation, excepting those, indeed, 
 which have very recently come over, there are commodious, well- 
 ventilated, and suitable buildings erected, neat in appearance, and 
 all that could be wished under existing circumstances. Now the 
 congregations are numerous, the churches are well attended, the 
 people improved in cleanliness and order, and the services of the 
 church are performed, where there is a catechist, with propriety 
 and intelligence, so as to prove edifying to our people. Many 
 bring with them their hymn-books and Bibles, so that in most 
 places we are permitted to see what reminds us of a well-ordered 
 congregation in England. With scarcely an exception, all the 
 Christian children are made at present to attend our village 
 schools, until they have acquired a facility in reading the Holy 
 Scriptures, together with some acquaintance with arithmetic, 
 writing, and geography." 
 
 Mr. Tracy, speaking of the native churches in the Madura 
 district, says : " The absence of many of our church members on 
 
IN INDIA. 101 
 
 the coffee-plantations in Ceylon tends to keep the Church gene- 
 rally in a weak state, and to prevent the growth of the people in 
 both knowledge and piety. But we are encouraged by the evi- 
 dence given, that many strive, while away from home, to adorn 
 the profession they have made, and to make known the truths of 
 the Gospel to those with whom they labour. During the past 
 year God has manifested His special presence in several of our 
 congregations. The prevailing feeling manifested at such times 
 has been a very deep conviction of sin, — especially the sin of mis- 
 improving the precious blessings received through the Gospel, — 
 and the result of the work has been a more careful walk, more 
 desire after sanctifi cation, and more effort for the salvation of 
 others. Divisions have been healed in the churches, deep feeling 
 has been manifested in prayer-meetings, the spirit of benevolence 
 has increased, and many of our helpers have gone to their work 
 with new purposes and resolves, to devote themselves and their 
 property to Christ as they had not before done." 
 
 " Only a few in our native churches," says Mr. Pewell of 
 Bangalore, "are really satisfactory as to piety, the rest being 
 feeble and defective; their weakness arising chiefly, I believe, 
 from the frequent neglect of private and family devotions. The 
 women and older men are, most of them, deficient in Christian 
 knowledge ; but the younger men are generally well instructed. 
 Except in a few instances their character is not influential for 
 much good." 
 
 " Twenty-three communicants," says the Rev. G. Hall of 
 Madras, " have in ten years been received from heathenism into 
 this church, several through the education of the institution. I 
 think the present position of the piety of our native church favour- 
 able and encouraging. In addition to three public services each 
 week, they have two prayer-meetings among themselves. Their 
 Christian knowledge is excellent ; and a great number of them 
 are young men and women of good education, who will, we hope, 
 one day be pastors and pastors' wives." 
 
 Writing of the Jessore churches among the villages of Ben- 
 gal, Mr. Hobbs says : " Piety is in very many cases dwarfish. 
 Christian knowledge is extremely limited, first grasping enough 
 of the plan of mercy to be saved by it, but unacquainted with 
 details, or with the evidence by which the divinity of Christianity 
 is supported. Their moral character, if you except the prevalence 
 of covetousness and a want of independence, is tolerably good. 
 Upon the whole, in every particular, they are better than they 
 were ten years ago. Some few are intelligent and pious, and 
 quite an ornament to the circle in which they move." 
 
102 TEN teaks' missionary labour 
 
 Mr. Page, describing the Burrisal converts from different 
 points of view, amongst other things, says : — 
 
 " You ask what these people are like at home. Well, look in, 
 if you please. You will be welcomed with salaams, and by several 
 joyful countenances. You will be made to feel that you confer 
 an honour by your visit, instead of being told that you by your 
 white face defile a Bengali hut! Doubtless, you will meet with 
 people laborious or lazy, loving or quarrelsome, cleanly or dirty, 
 neat or untidy, as all even in England are. Still, think a little. 
 Here are facts. Women at home are no longer slaves. The 
 privileges of social or religious life do not belong solely to their 
 lords. Men address their neighbours' young wives by the word 
 * sisters ;' the elder wives, occasionally, by a word meaning 
 ' eldest sister/ implying respect ; the old women by the term 
 1 mother ; ' and, withal, there is intercommunication of a right 
 kind. At meals, though, mostly, for lack of servants (!), the wife 
 (as in Abraham's day) serves the husband, the two will not 
 object to eat together. And over twice two thousand meals every 
 day, ' the blessing ' is asked of the God of heaven by those who, 
 not very long back, never dreamed of any one greater or more 
 beneficent than the gods or goddesses, or the ' five elements.' In 
 hundreds of families, husband, wife, and children meet together, 
 once (if not twice) a-day, and have ' family worship ' — that 
 blessed ordinance of domestic life. In hundreds of homes there 
 is the Bible, so long unknown, unseen, unpossessed ; and this 
 precious volume constitutes the book of the family. The oft-ques- 
 tioned missionary will still be asked, 'How many real Christians 
 have you got?' 'Really, have you any true Christians?' We 
 are, I am bold to say, not wholly unprepared for such inquiries. 
 At the same time, I may be pardoned if I say that like questions 
 might be asked in other lands, and among more favoured com- 
 munities. Still, we can point you out some four hundred persons, 
 to whom we might use the words of the apostle : ' Ye are washed, 
 ye are sanctified ; ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus.' 
 And these four hundred men and women we would in charity 
 hope fear God, love Jesus, and understand why they love Him 
 who so loved them. It is not easy to get a complete view of them 
 in a hurry ; for they constitute fifteen different churches, each 
 having its own teacher. But their characteristic habits or customs 
 are alike. Every month they ' remember ' Jesus's death in the 
 ordinance of the Lord's Supper. They periodically hold ' church- 
 meetings,' and maintain discipline among themselves, excluding 
 the unworthy, bringing home the penitent, or encouraging the 
 inquirer. Their law is the Bible, and the Bible alone. They 
 
IN INDIA. 103 
 
 live, generally, in love among themselves, and in peace with all 
 men. They are often jealous of one another, lest any one should, 
 through temptation, bring dishonour on the name. They strive, 
 in some degree, to bring in their heathen neighbours to a partici- 
 pation of their own privileges, and many a whole night have many 
 of them sat up, or travelled from place to place, to encourage a 
 man to cast away Hinduism and become a Christian. They are 
 a marked people, strange, and differing. The heathen know them 
 to be not of their own ; and sometimes the heathen say of a 
 Christian, * He is a baptized Christian : why should he do so ?' 
 
 " Next, mark the end of some of those who were of these 
 people. In eleven years we have had, as nearly as I can ascer- 
 tain, four hundred deaths among us. Of many of those who have 
 died I can testify, either from personal observation, extending to 
 not a few cases, or from the evidence of truthful witnesses, that 
 they have died in the faith. Take half-a-dozen from among half- 
 a-hundred facts. A grey-headed man, whose long youth and 
 manhood had been spent in the service of idols, desires nothing 
 better in his last days than the consolations of the Bible ; conver- 
 sation of heaven and Jesus ; and sees nothing more in his last 
 moments than the Saviour of sinners extending His arms of pity 
 towards him. A feeble, worn-out, aged woman breathes her last, 
 talking of none but Christ ! none but Christ ! for He alone died 
 for sinners ! A mere lad, suddenly, in the freshness of yoiith, 
 laid low, speaks in most touching sentences, as life ebbs fast, of 
 Jesus, the friend of sinners, — nothing else. A man in the prime 
 of manhood feels he is dying ; begs that he may be taken out into 
 the verandah of his house, be surrounded by his brethren, and 
 helped up as he prays, and, praying, he falls into the arms of 
 death. A young woman, reclaimed from a bazaar, having learned 
 to read the Bible (and long she read it, poor thing !), learned, too, 
 of Christ. When she came to die, it was nothing but this — 
 e Call the teacher; let him tell me of Christ ! of Christ !' A child, 
 who had been taught to read the sacred Scriptures, in the awful 
 agonies of spasmodic cholera raises himself up to pray to Jesus, 
 and, in the midst of all his pains, forgets not Him who endured 
 still infinitely more cruel agonies for man ! These are but speci- 
 mens, not the sole instances. Many begun Christians, and were 
 sneered at : they ended Christians, and have been remembered." 
 
 Persecutions and Disabilities. 
 
 It is one of the peculiar blessings conferred on its subjects by 
 the government of India, that they all enjoy complete religious 
 liberty. The power of the Government is never directed against 
 
104 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 the native religions, and the followers of those religions are not 
 permitted openly and continuously to injure one another. In- 
 deed, in respect to freedom of every kind, personal, social, civil, 
 and religious, in forming their own convictions, and in carrying 
 them out without hindrance of any kind, the subjects of the 
 British Empire in India are not equalled, much less are they sur- 
 passed, by any nation on the Continent of Europe. They travel 
 everywhere without passports, worship as they like, and have a 
 free press. One code of civil and criminal law is provided for 
 all ; and so long as they leave the rights and the property of their 
 neighbours uninjured, all parties enjoy full liberty of movement 
 and full protection from the evil designs of others. The Pro- 
 clamation of the Queen in 1858, in respect to religious liberty, 
 created nothing new ; it merely repeated and confirmed a liberty 
 which had already been long enjoyed. True, the tone of the 
 Government, and of English official society, was adverse to 
 Christianity. The native religions were greatly feared, and they 
 were therefore courted, conciliated, patronised, and cared for; 
 while it was hard to get any favour, or even the exercise of rights, 
 for the native Christians. The " Liberty of Conscience Act," 
 which gave them the full religious liberty which others had long 
 enjoyed, was passed only thirteen years ago. Important acts to 
 regulate marriage and divorce among them, though brought 
 before the Council, have not been passed yet. Still, in all these 
 tilings, great improvement has taken place. The personal tone 
 of English society, including Government officers, towards Christ- 
 ianity, has wonderfully changed. It neither asks nor needs the 
 smallest amount of Government help. It has made all its con- 
 quests hitherto without Government assistance, and it can desire 
 only to be left in like freedom in days to come. The protection 
 afforded by the Government is a blessing of the highest value. 
 Indian missions are not liable to the covetous demands of some 
 savage chief, and the rapacity or cunning of his still more savage 
 people ; no fanatic queen can by edicts forbid their worship, or 
 burn their holy martyrs at the stake ; and amongst all classes in 
 India, least of all should missionaries and missionary societies ask 
 exemption from that taxation which helps to sustain the Govern- 
 ment by which they are protected. 
 
 All persecution in India is, therefore, confined to social life ; 
 to the opinions, friendships, and dislikes of families and neigh- 
 bours, not unfelt even in Christian England. The most frequent 
 cases of social annoyance and punishment, amounting at times to 
 severe agony, arise from exclusion from caste ; that is, from the 
 expulsion of converts, on caste grounds, from the families, rela- 
 tions, and friends, with whom they have been accustomed to live. 
 
IN INDIA. 105 
 
 Striking illustrations of this social persecution have been furnished 
 in many parts of India during the last ten years. Occasionally 
 riots have been stirred up, a missionary's house attacked, doors 
 and windows smashed in the uproar, and converts forcibly carried 
 oft". In other cases the heathen landholders have turned against 
 the peasantry, and have endeavoured to terrify them from be- 
 coming Christians, by beatings and exactions, by false charges in 
 the courts, by abductions and forcible imprisonment. The con- 
 verts at Burrisal have suffered grievously from this cause, as 
 also those in Chota Nagpore. 
 
 Apart from these more general troubles, three special cases 
 have occurred, during recent years in India, in which attempts 
 were made to place the native converts as a class under perma- 
 nent disabilities in consequence of their religion. They arose at 
 Palamcottah, in South Travancore, and at Ahmednuggur. Two 
 of them sprang directly from misconceptions produced by the 
 language of the Queen's Proclamation, which, dubious in English, 
 became trebly difficult to understand in the native Vernaculars. 
 In one of these cases, an attempt was made to debar the converts 
 from the use of the public roads ; in another, to prevent the 
 Christian women from adding decent improvements to their 
 former heathen dress ; and in the third, to deprive them of the 
 use of the public tanks and wells. The importance of the ques- 
 tions involved will be at once apparent, and it will be well there- 
 fore to give a brief outline of the facts, and show how these 
 questions were finally settled. 
 
 About two miles to the west of Palamcottah stands the town 
 of Tinnevelly, with its large pagoda and bigoted Hindu popula- 
 tion ; the highroad of the province runs through the centre of 
 both towns. The inhabitants of Tinnevelly are supported to a 
 large extent by the revenues of the temple, and the profits 
 derived from the pilgrims that attend its festivals. It will be 
 readily imagined that they had long looked with irritation on the 
 progress of Christianity around them^ though that irritation 
 might be diminished by the contempt in which the Shanars as a 
 people are held by the Brahmins, Sudras, and other members of 
 the higher castes. Still it existed, and increased by the Procla- 
 mation, only needed an opportunity to burst into a blaze. In 
 December 1858, an old Christian weaver, who had lived thirty 
 years in the town of Tinnevelly, suddenly died : and when Mr. 
 Sargent was making arrangements for removing the body to 
 Palamcottah, for interment in the mission burial-ground, he found 
 that the heathen people of the town had determined not to permit 
 its removal. The assistant magistrate advised that it should be 
 carried away, not on the highroad, but through rice-fields, but 
 
106 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 Mr. Sargent justly objected to the indignity, and resolved to 
 inter it on the school premises in Tinnevelly, close to the old 
 man's honse. Even had he agreed to the compromise, it would 
 have availed nothing, since the unreasonable fanatics had pre- 
 viously resolved that it should not be removed to Palamcottah by 
 any road at all. As it was, at the time of the burial, they 
 gathered round the school-ground in great numbers, and raised 
 paeans of triumph. On appeal to the judge, Mr. Sargent's claim 
 to have the body carried along the highroad was confirmed ; 
 that road being declared the property of all classes of the Queen's 
 subjects. Ten days after, another Christian died at the dispen- 
 sary in the same town, and his friends desired that he should be 
 buried at Palamcottah ; thus the question arose again. In the 
 interval, another magistrate, Mr. Levinge, had arrived, who, in 
 accordance with the judge's decision, assented to the removal of 
 the body as desired along the public road. Bat thousands of 
 people gathered to prevent it : two of the native authorities sided 
 with the mob ; the magistrate, who w r as present, was stoned ; 
 troops were called out, who were attacked by the rioters, and in 
 the fray six of the mob were shot dead, four died of wounds, and 
 nineteen were wounded, who recovered. Many of the ringleaders 
 were seized and imprisoned. The Madras Government upheld 
 the proceedings of the magistrate and judge, insisted on the 
 right of the Christians to use the public roads, and threw the 
 responsibility of these calamities upon the rioters. On the anni- 
 versary of the Queen's assumption of the Indian Government, by 
 a graceful act of clemency the rioters still in prison were 
 liberated. 
 
 Nearly at the same time a great outbreak took place against 
 the Christians of South Travancore. In this case, the ostensible 
 cause of the outburst was the addition to the dress of the 
 Christian women of articles to which the Shanars as a caste 
 w r ere not entitled. In the Hindu kingdom of Travancore, 
 still ruled by its native king under English advice, there has 
 prevailed for centuries a system of sumptuary laws, which 
 regulate the dress to be worn by the different classes of the 
 population. The higher castes are exceedingly tenacious of their 
 rights, and very determined in keeping down the poor; hence 
 the distinctions of dress have been rigidly maintained. Now, 
 the dress of the Shanar women, when in public, according to 
 these rules, came no higher than the waist, and left all the upper 
 part of the person bare. Of late years, however, the Christian 
 women naturally made innovations on this degrading custom ; 
 and adopted at least a jacket, and sometimes also a veil for the 
 head, like respectable women in other parts of the country ; and 
 
IN INDIA. 107 
 
 even the heathen Shanars, from their visits to Ceylon and other 
 places, the extension of education among them, and the example 
 of their Christian neighbours, had taught their women to do the 
 same. 
 
 The Sudras and Brahmins beheld these innovations with deep 
 dislike, and not seldom sought by violence to put a stop to them. 
 Slianar women were frequently stopped on the public roads, and 
 had the obnoxious articles of dress torn off in the open markets. 
 Just when they were greatly excited about the question, the 
 Queen's Proclamation arrived, and a version of it was circulated 
 among the high castes in Travancore calculated greatly to 
 increase their anger. It stated that the Queen was of a different 
 religion from the English (the East India Company) ; that she 
 was angry with them for allowing missionaries to disturb the 
 Hindu religion ; and her command was, that no Hindus should 
 become Christians. They rejoiced, therefore, that their ancient 
 rights were fully restored; and that the low-caste people were 
 once more to be put down ; and the native minister of the Tra- 
 vancore Rajah issued a Government order, that the dress- 
 customs of former days were to be strictly observed. Riots soon 
 commenced, sanctioned by the native authorities ; and for many 
 weeks the missionaries and their converts were exposed to lawless 
 attacks by night and by day, against which they had no pro- 
 tection. Seven chapels were burnt down, with portions of 
 villages ; and seven women were imprisoned for daring to dress 
 decently. Other chapels, and the missionaries' residences, were 
 saved only by the continued watching of the converts, who were 
 compelled thus to defend themselves. An appeal to Lord Harris, 
 the governor of Madras, put a stop to the riots ; and the decision 
 of the Secretary of State in London, in the matter, gave full 
 permission for the converts to dress as modesty required. 
 
 The third case assumed a somewhat different aspect. The 
 native church at Ahmednuggur, which was at first confined to 
 the mission premises, gradually spread to different parts of the 
 town ; and a question arose as to how the various Christian 
 families were to be supplied with water. In the Deccan, as 
 throughout the Madras Presidency, the higher castes are very 
 tenacious of their peculiar privileges, and very careful of avoid- 
 ing pollution from the lower castes. Llindu purity is very 
 closely connected w r ith water ; impurity may be contracted 
 through water more readily than by any other means; hence the 
 tanks, ponds, and wells, throughout the country, are divided 
 amongst the higher and lower castes; and those used by the 
 former are jealously guarded from the latter. Many of them 
 are public property. In September 1859, the case of the 
 
108 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 Ahmednuggur converts was laid before the magistrate, who at 
 once declared that all Christians who had a right to use the 
 public tanks before their conversion still retained it; and that he 
 would see the exercise of that right duly protected. Notice was 
 therefore given by the Christians to their neighbours, that hence- 
 forth they should resort like others to the public tanks. Lord 
 Elphinstone happened to be at Ahmednuggur at the time, and 
 privately expressed his approval of what had been done. An 
 uproar immediately ensued ; efforts were made to prevent the 
 Christians from drawing the water, on the ground that they had 
 lost caste and were now degraded ; and a petition was presented 
 to the magistrate and collector against their proceedings. A day 
 or two after that officer publicly read in the court his reply to 
 the petition ; arguing that, on their own showing, " the caste of 
 the ruler "was not to be despised but respected; that the peti- 
 tioners had spoken of it with contempt; and that they wished to 
 debar a person from the use of the public tanks, solely because he 
 was a Christian. " It was well known," he said, " that if a Mang or 
 Mhar (lowest castes) woman marries a Mussulman, she is allowed 
 to use the tanks, in right of her having become a Mohammedan. 
 Cattle, horses, donkeys, prostitutes, &c, all have access to the 
 public tanks, and yet this common and obvious right petitioners 
 seek to deny to a man whose high respectability they themselves 
 dare not and cannot gainsay : " he therefore dismissed the peti- 
 tion. 
 
 This decision of the magistrate was fully confirmed by the 
 Government of Bombay. The Government calls the petition of 
 the Hindus " absurd and insulting," and tells them frankly : 
 " You have perverted the declaration in the Queen's proclamation, 
 which expressly states that none should be molested by reason of 
 their religious faith, into an argument for molesting and insulting 
 those who profess the same faith which the Queen not merely 
 acknowledges, but of which she proclaims herself the Defender." 
 
 The native inhabitants all deserted the public fountains to 
 which the Christians resorted ; they also bound their priests 
 to perform special ceremonies in presence of their idols, to bring 
 about the discomfiture of the native Christians. Some of the 
 prominent native Christians were singled out, and commended to 
 the special wrath of the gods by name, but all in vain. The 
 British Government would not change its decision ; the native 
 converts did not die ; and severe fines were inflicted upon some 
 persons who assaulted the native Christians as they visited the 
 tanks. The matter being reported home, the Secretary of State 
 emphatically sustained Lord Elphinstone's decision : and stated 
 that the rule was applicable to all India. The Hindu party 
 
IN INDIA. 109 
 
 would not yield at once. At Poona, at Sattara, and other places, 
 they struggled against it, though in vain. The native pastor, 
 Mr. Haripunt, on removing to Sattara, was opposed in his 
 attempt to make use of the public reservoirs; but an appeal to 
 the magistrate confirmed his right to do so. Near Khokar, a 
 serious riot took place, and a catechist's wife was nearly killed. 
 Punishment, however, was prompt and severe. The two leaders 
 of the mob were sentenced to two years' imprisonment each, with 
 hard labour ; and eleven others to one year each. Things began 
 to settle down, and before long public opinion began to acknow- 
 ledge that the Christians were in the right. The " water ques- 
 tion " will long be remembered in the districts of the Deccan. 
 
 Thus it is " through much tribulation " that Christianity 
 holds on its way in India. The enmity it arouses as the great 
 destroyer of caste is very great. Nowhere in the world has its 
 coming so strikingly fulfilled our Lord's description, as the 
 bringer "not of peace but a sword." Personal dislike, family 
 opposition, priestly intolerance, social enmity, public violence, are 
 continually raised against its professors ; though the measure of 
 the trials is wonderfully restrained by God's overruling Provi- 
 dence, and His children have received strength to bear them. 
 To these trials is it due, that Indian Christianity is, on the whole, 
 in so healthy a condition. Not pampered by prosperity, it is 
 growing up a vigorous child, pushing its way among obstacles, 
 standing on its defence, pleading against wrong, exhibiting energy, 
 putting forth strength, until all the powers it possesses shall be 
 developed, and it shall grow up " to the full stature of a man in 
 Christ/' When involved in the details of existing persecutions, 
 both missionaries and converts suffer, and are indignant at the 
 wrong ; patience and faith are needed to bear them ; but the 
 after-benefit they have conferred in strengthening the Christians, 
 and giving the Gospel a firmer hold on the country, is unde- 
 niable. Singular has it been that the native Church should owe 
 so much to the Proclamation of 1858. Designedly cautions, so 
 as not to irritate the Hindus, the latter read it as on their side, 
 and left their commentary on the country in burnt chapels, 
 showers of stones, and insulting petitions. The official reply, 
 thrice required, has now given a clearness of exposition to the 
 original text, not in generalities but in details, which was at first 
 withheld : had the text at firpt been clearer, the Hindus would 
 probably have been silent. Small favour was denied to the 
 converts at the outset, they have now received a decided recogni- 
 tion, and have been thrown into a position of prominence, which 
 they never asked or hoped for. 
 
110 TEN TEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 Special Cases of Conversion or Apostasy. 
 
 The letters and reports of missionaries during the last ten 
 years, in exhibiting the progress of their stations, have not 
 confined their statements to mere generalities. In addition to 
 clear figures, again and again, year after year, they describe 
 individual cases in which the Gospel has been received, and has 
 triumphed over all the obstacles by which its appeals were met. 
 Those letters also contain faithful mention of those sad cases in 
 which, through the power of strong temptations, or through the 
 decay of seeming piety, men who once openly professed their 
 faith have fallen back into lamentable apostasy. The length to 
 which this Review has already extended sternly imposes silence 
 on the writer in respect to this interesting topic, though, had 
 space allowed, a large number of instances might have been 
 given, in which the power of faith has been conspicuously shown. 
 In some cases the Gospel has been embraced after long instruction, 
 quiet growth of conviction, and also imperceptible processes of 
 change. In some cases men of middle age and sober life have 
 listened to its call ; in others, very numerous, the young have 
 heard the voice, and yielded their hearts to the Saviour. In the 
 English institutions of the great towns, a larger number of young 
 men, from respectable families, have made a public profession 
 than ever before ; and that profession has been made in the face 
 of great social opposition. Had space allowed, Mr. Jenkins and 
 Mr. Hall could have described the thrilling story of the contests, 
 discussions, sore trials of feeling, affection, and principle, through 
 which several of their young converts in Madras have had to 
 pass, and of the grace given them in their hour of need. Mr. 
 Smith, of Benares, could have told us how an old wanderer, 
 the head of a sect, has laid aside all spiritual pride and trust in 
 his own righteousness, to receive salvation as a gift of mercy ; 
 or how a young scholar, well versed in Sanskrit lore, has found 
 the philosophy of India foolishness beside the wisdom of the New 
 Testament. Mr. Hobbs could have described the strange religious 
 history of the teacher in a Government school, who, after years 
 of inquiry, found Christ, and is now an ordained missionary of 
 his Church. And Mr. Ballantine could have related how, in a 
 country station of the Deccan, a young man, well taught, long 
 convinced, but, like hundreds, vacillating and afraid, when taken 
 with his last illness, receiving sudden light and sudden strength, 
 boldly confessed the error of his delays, mourned that he had 
 been ashamed of the Saviour, called in his neighbours and 
 friends, to avow his error and proclaim his faith, insisted that his 
 
IN INDIA. Ill 
 
 wife should baptize him in the name of Christ then and there, 
 and taking bread before them, took it and ate it in remembrance 
 of the Saviour, and dying, begged that he might be buried with 
 the Christians, and his widow henceforth cast in her lot with 
 them alone. These are bright spots in missionary history, and 
 scarcely a single report of any year fails to contain one or more 
 of them, to stir up the zeal, and encourage the faith, of Christ's 
 workers in this "day of small things." 
 
 But missionary work in India differs nought from that of the 
 Apostles in exhibiting "wanderers from the faith," as well as 
 faithful and bold disciples. In individual missions such cases are 
 not common, though in the aggregate, over the whole country, a 
 good number may be reckoned up in the course of years. A 
 careful reader of missionary reports will find them faithfully 
 detailed, and cannot fail to observe how similar the missionary 
 experience of one province is to that of another. Mr. Hislop tells 
 of a wretched fellow, named Sayud-ud-din, a clever counterfeit, 
 who, for some purpose that no one can explain, got baptized at 
 Nagpore, though afterwards it appeared he had been twice 
 baptized already. The Education Missions can tell of several, 
 who, led by affection for home, a hard trial to the young, have 
 gone back, often after loud professions and earnest entreaties that 
 they might be baptized : and many missions can describe how 
 some " who did run well" have " left their first love," have fallen 
 before temptation into drunkenness and vice, and have ended 
 their career in " blackness, and darkness," and dire despair. One 
 illustration, and one only, shall be given at length. Mr. David 
 Fenn writes from North Tinnevelly : " Of apostasies in con- 
 nexion with this mission, I can mention some sad instances. 
 There was a youth, taught in an English school, the only son of 
 his father, who joined us in the face of much opposition, and 
 continued for two years and a half to give us every satisfaction. 
 He was quiet and reserved ; but those who had the best oppor- 
 tunities of knowing him, including his native Christian brethren, 
 thought him truly pious. His father then died, and other rela- 
 tives succeeded in drawing him away. The hope of getting his 
 patrimony without molestation was one great temptation. Since 
 his apostasy he has been leading an immoral life, and his mind 
 has now taken a sceptical turn. No constraint of any kind has 
 been put upon him by his heathen relatives. Again, in a village, 
 where some twenty-five people placed themselves under instruc- 
 tion in connexion with Mr. Ragland, of three men who were 
 baptized, one immediately after practised a gross fraud upon Mr. 
 R., and from that time gradually grew worse, and at length died 
 a heathen. He was thoroughly acquainted with Christianity. 
 
112 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 Another of the three, though not so clever, gave every appearance 
 of earnestness in Christianity. We baptized him. All the while 
 he was living in sin, which, when it came fully to light, he 
 refused to give up ; and he now is an apostate. Besides these 
 cases, I have heard of two others in the south of the district. 
 An inspecting catechist, who had been twelve years in that 
 position, in 1860 apostatized, in order to marry his daughter to 
 a heathen. A head catechist, an old man, who in 1851 was 
 almost accepted for ordination, from the time of his rejection 
 gradually declined in piety; and in 1860, after being discovered 
 in a disgraceful plot against the character of a young school- 
 master, apostatized to the Church of Rome, of which his family 
 had for generations been members." 
 
 Native Christian Contributions. 
 
 Many years passed away in the Protestant missions of India, 
 during which large supplies of men, money, and other materials 
 of agency, were poured into the country from the Churches of 
 England and America, with scarcely any recognition of the value 
 of such service from the people whom they specially blessed. 
 The native converts received all, took the benefit of all, used all, 
 and did nothing in return. In too many cases they receive it all 
 still in the same spirit, and take no share in the work which this 
 agency is intended to accomplish. It is true that, in numerous 
 instances, they have been asked to do nothing; the duty of 
 themselves giving, working, feeling, and doing, like those whose 
 zeal founded and maintains Indian Missions, has not been ear- 
 nestly and continuously pressed home upon them. And with the 
 tendencies of the country, and the fondness of 1 the people for 
 receiving rather than giving, it was never likelv that they would 
 of themselves begin. The various missions are not alike in this 
 matter. Forty years ago, in the early days of the Tinnevelly 
 and Travancore Missions, Mr. Rhenius and his neighbours, with 
 large numbers of converts around them, induced them to com- 
 mence contributing toward the expenses of the work by which 
 they were benefited. The habit has been maintained; the 
 principle is more thoroughly adopted ; the practice has extended 
 more widely among the people; and the annual contributions 
 have continued to increase. During the last ten years consider- 
 able progress has been made, especially in the years just gone by. 
 The question has«been pressed on missionaries in many quarters; 
 and the converts have been taught more clearly than before that 
 contributions cannot be always reaching them from foreign lands 
 to maintain the religion they have embraced, and that, if they 
 
IN INDIA. 113 
 
 would retain their means of grace, they must maintain them for 
 themselves, and share in extending them to their neighbours. 
 This is not, however, done everywhere. Wheti 9r backwardness 
 arise from the missionaries, or from the poverty of the people, or 
 from the fewness of converts in numerous localities, or from any 
 other cause, certain it is that there are hundreds of congregations 
 in which no beginning has been made. 
 
 Yet Indian converts have many reasons, both general and 
 special, for which the constant exercise of Christian lilierality 
 should be practised. That liberality is a duty, appointed, laid 
 down by the law of the New Testament. It is as much a duty 
 as prayer ; it is a proof and sign of their affection to the Saviour, 
 " who, though He was rich, yet for their sakes became poor." 
 It should be exercised specially by them, because they know 
 what heathenism is — its hopelessness, its weakness, its degrading 
 tendencies ; and large numbers of them have been directly drawn 
 from it. It should be exercised specially by them in compassion 
 to the brethren, neighbours, and fellow-countrymen, who have 
 not been drawn from it yet, but are still " in the gall of bitterness 
 and in the bond of iniquity." Friends who have compassionated 
 them have sent there Christian agencies, have commenced them, 
 and are willing to help still ; but the expenses of Christian worship 
 and ordinances, the support of a native ministry, the Christian 
 education of their children, and the evangelising of the heathen, 
 they ought themselves to pay for. They are better able to do it 
 now than they were ten years ago. The value of labour, the 
 value of produce, has everywhere risen ; and, while the expenses 
 of the poor in towns have been increased, it is the agricultural 
 population, who raise the produce, who have specially benefited 
 by the change which townspeople deeply feel. 
 
 Perhaps missionaries have been hindered by the fact that the 
 great contrast between the general poverty of the few converts, 
 and the large supplies of money drawn with such ease from 
 Europe, is calculated to discourage them, and make them feel 
 that their own gifts are worthless trifles. They are few, it is 
 true, in many stations, and they are often poor. Nevertheless, it 
 is a duty. The poorest paid heavily to idolatry ; and, if the 
 duty is neglected when they are few, they show no readiness to 
 perform it when they are many ; while some Churches, which 
 began to give when small, now contribute sums which may be 
 fairly reckoned large. In India would be seen, in a clear and 
 most encouraging form, the advantage of systematic beneficence. 
 It is only by the systematic gathering of a fair proportion of their 
 earnings that the native Christians can secure the funds necessary 
 for the maintenance of their worship. And it is only as certain 
 
 i 
 
114 TEN YE ARS' MISSION ART LABOUR 
 
 expenses are pressed upon them — the repairs of chapels, school- 
 fees for their children, the support of their poor, with all the 
 incidentals expended in the maintenance of Church ordinances — 
 that they will learn, by degrees, to fulfil their duty, and by hearty 
 co-operation to bear all the pleasant burden which their profession 
 of the Gospel lays upon them. As they increase in number there 
 is no reason why they should not support their own ministry 
 entirely, and, beside it, spread the Gospel among their neighbours. 
 With these views the writer would express his cordial assent to 
 the following opinion of Mr. Spratt, one of the Tinnevelly Mis- 
 sionaries : — 
 
 " Until we beget in our Christian people some degree of 
 intellectual independence, we shall never see them undertaking 
 independent responsibility as regai'ds the Christian Church estab- 
 lished amongst them. It is my settled conviction that the time 
 is more than come when we should begin to take from under the 
 people that system of props and supports by which they have 
 been so long upheld, to the crippling of their own energies. 
 They need, not only to have pressed home on their attention their 
 duties to themselves, and to that Gospel which has been intro- 
 duced amongst them, but the time is come when they should be 
 gently, yet firmly and judiciously, led to undertake positive and 
 defined responsibilities — when they should be made to undertake 
 part of the burden of maintaining Christianity among them. I 
 think there are facts enough before us to show that, in proportion 
 as we have thrown the people back upon themselves, in such pro- 
 portions have they awoke to their duties, and manfully met them. 
 The yearly contributions by native Christians to various charitable 
 objects are very respectable and very creditable. It is a fact 
 worthy of note, that at the last anniversary of the Native Mis- 
 sionary Association, there was a balance in hand of 2000 rupees ; 
 and this is only one Society. What I think we ought to aim at 
 now is, to give a form and direction to native contributions, which 
 would serve to keep ever present before their minds that we are 
 eagerly looking forward to the time when they shall be able to 
 take on themselves the support of their own Church. Doubtless 
 the time is not near when the Christians of this province can be 
 left to themselves ; but if we never make a beginning, we shall 
 never reach the consummation. A beginning is being made, and 
 our first attempts are encouraging. I rejoice in the knowledge 
 that a large majority of those engaged in the work in Tinnevelly 
 not only adopt, as a principle, that native Christians must be 
 taught to rely more upon themselves, but are watching for every 
 opportunity of judiciously carrying out the principle." 
 
 Feeling strongly on this point, the compiler of these facts 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 115 
 
 endeavoured to gather special information on the position which 
 the question of native contributions holds at the present time 
 amongst the native Churches, and made it both a distinct item in 
 the Statistical Tables, and the ground of separate inquiries. 
 Though, in many cases, replies have been received of a most 
 satisfactory kind, yet in a vast number of others a painful 
 silence has been preserved, and no information on the subject 
 given at all. It is known that, in some of these cases, contribu- 
 tions have been given, which have not been reported ; but in the 
 great majority, it is feared, with good reason, that nothing 
 whatever is done. 
 
 The list of Churches and missions which are silent on this 
 matter is lamentably large, and includes stations which are now 
 many years old, and have a large number of professing communi- 
 cants. Besides small and new stations, it includes the follow- 
 
 The Church Mission : Calcutta 
 
 Communicants. 
 
 Native 
 Christians. 
 
 120 
 
 492 
 
 Baptist Mission : Intally 
 
 41 
 
 70 
 
 Propagation Society : South of Calcutta • 
 
 1284 
 
 3977 
 
 London Mission : ditto 
 
 74 
 
 641 
 
 Propagation Society : Hourah . 
 
 116 
 
 265 
 
 Serampore ...... 
 
 64 
 
 110 
 
 Burdwan : Church Mission 
 
 30 
 
 250 
 
 Krishnaghur Missions .... 
 
 313 
 
 3719 
 
 Jessore Churches ..... 
 
 175 
 
 500 
 
 Burrisal Churches ..... 
 
 447 
 
 3100 
 
 Dacca : Baptist Mission .... 
 
 107 
 
 205 
 
 Bhagulpore : Church Mission . 
 
 30 
 
 261 
 
 Ghazeepore : Berlin Mission . 
 
 25 
 
 70 
 
 The Orissa Missions .... 
 
 431 
 
 1123 
 
 Benares, Sigra : Church Mission 
 
 66 
 
 282 
 
 London Mission : Mirzapore . 
 
 22 
 
 118 
 
 Futtehguhr 
 
 93 
 
 242 
 
 Agra and Meerut : Church Missionary Soc 
 
 240 
 
 1243 
 
 Nasik and Bombay : ditto 
 
 121 
 
 456 
 
 Poonah and Bombay : Free Church . 
 
 131 
 
 242 
 
 Vepery, Madras : Propagation Society 
 
 124 
 
 622 
 
 Royapettah : Wesleyan Mission 
 
 61 
 
 100 
 
 Wesleyan Missions : Mysore . 
 
 210 
 
 447 
 
 Leipsic Missions ..... 
 
 4134 
 
 5119 
 
 Cuddapah : London Missions . 
 
 62 
 
 1486 
 
 The Basle Missions .... 
 
 1420 
 
 2857 
 
 " The most striking, and, I think, the least cheering feature 
 of our position," says Mr. Vaughan, of his village station near 
 Calcutta, " is the large outlay of mission money on so small a 
 
116 TEN TEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 mission, while the bare idea of contributing a single pice towards 
 the expenses seems never yet to have entered the head of any one 
 at the station. Like the horseleech, they are incessantly crying, 
 ' Give, give/ but they seem to think it positively absurd to be 
 asked to give anything themselves. The missionary must feed, 
 clothe, and educate their children free of expense, must pay all 
 the agents, must support the widows, and bear all costs of the 
 mission, great and small. All this being done, they are satisfied, 
 but, as might be expected, there is not the smallest desire or en- 
 deavour to spread the truth in the regions beyond." 
 
 "In the matter of self-support," says Mr. Hobbes, "the Jessore 
 Churches have made but little progress. One church is indepen- 
 dent at present, but whether it will permanently continue so is un- 
 certain. In some of the churches each member subscribes a pice 
 a month towards the support of the poor. I am not aware that 
 anything else comes out of their earnings for religious purposes. 
 I know this is a sad state of things to exist in churches that have 
 had the Gospel among them for half a century ; but I am not re- 
 sponsible for it, and secresy will not mend it, let it therefore be 
 known." 
 
 On the other hand, our Statistical Tables show a goodly number 
 of churches and missions in which the principles of Christian 
 liberality have been accepted, and efforts are being successfully 
 male to act upon them. This list is not confined exclusively to 
 populous missions, nor does the liberality it displays appear of the 
 same degree in all cases. In the Tinnevclly Missions and in 
 Burmah it has assumed a more definite shape, and has become 
 more settled in its exercise than elsewhere. In a large propor- 
 tion of these missions it is still new ; however, a good beginning 
 has been made, and it is hoped that during the decade now 
 running on, all the churches will make great advance, both in 
 the principles they adopt, and the practice by which those prin- 
 ciples are wrought out. 
 
 From the following table, it appears that in the last year of 
 the decade 50,000 rupees were contributed for Christian objects 
 by native Churches and communities, which included 22,000 
 communicants, and at the rate of two rupees and a quarter, i. e., 
 four shillings and sixpence each. It would seem that the 27,000 
 communicants of other churches contributed only 10,000 or 
 12,000 rupees in all. The Shanar converts, accustomed to give 
 for years, stand well on the list, as do the American converts of 
 Jaffna, and the Wesleyans of South- West Ceylon. The highest 
 position belongs to the converts of the Free Church Mission in 
 Calcutta, who are well off in the world, and the next to the small 
 church of the London Society at Bhowanipore, whose members 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 117 
 
 are in similar circumstances. Both these churches have now a 
 native pastor, and pay half that pastor's salary, with all the ordi- 
 nary expenses of worship. During his pastorate over the latter 
 church, the writer has endeavoured for a series of years to pro- 
 mote systematic liberality in the cause of Christ. Reminding the 
 members of their great obligations, he has urged them, both by 
 precept and example, to consecrate a tenth of all their earnings to 
 that cause, the rich giving more than that proportion, while the 
 poor might feel obliged to give less. Thus it was the contributions 
 of the native brethren grew, increasing every year. Many cheer- 
 fully adopt the principle, and faithfully carry out the practice; and 
 if every member of the church did the same, at the present time 
 the benevolent income of this little church would amount not 
 merely to 101. a-year, but to more than 2001. Still more, were 
 such a rule (so suitable to the general level of condition pre- 
 valent among the converts) to be carried out by all churches, 
 great and small, throughout India, the relief felt by the Home 
 Societies would be very great, and a sound basis be secured, not 
 only for providing the full maintenance of the means of grace 
 among the converts, but for effectively carrying them to the 
 surrounding heathen. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Average of 
 
 Mission Churches. 
 
 Native 
 Christians. 
 
 Communi- 
 cants. 
 
 Contributions 
 in 186X. 
 
 each Commu- 
 nicant. 
 
 
 
 
 Rupees. 
 
 Rupees. 
 
 Tinnevelly Missions: S.P.G. 
 
 16,667 
 
 1,792 
 
 6,760 
 
 3-77 
 
 Tinnevelly Missions: C.M.S. 
 
 33,691 
 
 4 ; 722 
 
 12,566 
 
 2-7 
 
 Travancore : L.M.S. . 
 
 22,688 
 
 1,284 
 
 4,936 
 
 3-85 
 
 Travancore: C.M.S. . 
 
 7,919 
 
 1,720 
 
 1,500 
 
 0-89 
 
 Madura Missions 
 
 6,372 
 
 1,127 
 
 1,291 
 
 11 
 
 Ahmednuggur . 
 
 955 
 
 553 
 
 673 
 
 1-2 
 
 Bassein Karens . 
 
 12,000 
 
 6,350 
 
 10,672 
 
 1-67 
 
 Shwaygyeen ditto 
 
 4,600 
 
 1,158 
 
 840 
 
 0-72 
 
 Ceylon South-West : Wes- 
 leyan M.S. . 
 
 | 4,131 
 
 1,661 
 
 5,186 
 
 3-12 
 
 Arcot Missions (special) 
 
 796 
 
 232 
 
 979 
 
 4-2 
 
 Jaffna: Amer. B.C. . 
 
 921 
 
 438 
 
 1,607 
 
 3-67 
 
 Colombo: Bapt. M.S. 
 
 1,100 
 
 381 
 
 500 
 
 1-3 
 
 Cotta, Ceylon: C.M.S. . 
 
 2,157 
 
 136 
 
 500 
 
 3-65 
 
 Vepery, Madras: L.M.S. . 
 
 183 
 
 73 
 
 240 
 
 33 
 
 Black Town, ditto: L.M.S. 
 
 100 
 
 42 
 
 122 
 
 3-0 
 
 Calcutta, South: B.M.S. . 
 
 1,200 
 
 262 
 
 200 
 
 0-8 
 
 Calcutta: L.M.S. 
 
 168 
 
 45 
 
 690 
 
 153 
 
 Calcutta: Free Church 
 
 196 
 
 84 { 
 
 1,133 
 
 13-5 
 
 
 
 ten months. 
 
 
 Total . 
 
 115,844 
 
 22,060 
 
 50,260 
 
 2-28 
 
118 
 
 TEN TEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 VIII.— MISSIONARY EDUCATION. 
 
 Bengal 
 
 1852. 
 
 1862. 
 
 Vernacular. 
 
 Boarding. 
 
 Anglo- 
 Vernacular. 
 
 Vernacular. 
 
 Boarding. 
 
 Anglo- 
 Vernacular. 
 
 m 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 m Boys. 
 
 "o 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 Boys. 
 
 Schools. 
 
 
 
 o 
 ,d 
 o 
 
 Boys. 
 
 3) 
 
 
 
 O 
 ■Jl 
 
 Boys 
 
 o5 
 
 
 A 
 
 Boys. 
 
 140 6,470 
 
 22 
 
 790 
 
 22 6,005 
 
 129 
 
 4,820 
 
 23 
 
 695 
 
 29 
 
 7. "9 
 
 N. West . 
 
 49 2,976 
 
 y 
 
 182 
 
 14 1,276 
 
 72 
 
 3 ,C29 
 
 IO 
 
 475 
 
 25 
 
 3,158 
 
 Punjab & 
 C. Prov. 
 
 } 12 731 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 8 478 
 
 32 
 
 1,369 
 
 4 
 
 89 
 
 24 
 
 2,820 
 
 Bombay . 
 
 70 3,480 
 
 2 
 
 21 
 
 7 1,144 
 
 5 1 
 
 2,107 
 
 1 
 
 112 
 
 8 
 
 1,787 
 
 Madras . 
 
 849 24,445 
 
 52 
 
 1165 
 
 41 4,286 
 
 1069 
 
 25,061 
 
 ■rt 
 
 1185 
 
 76 
 
 6,836 
 
 Ceylon 
 
 227 9,402 
 
 7 
 
 247 
 
 34 1,373 
 
 209 
 
 8,226 
 
 8 
 
 164 
 
 23 
 
 1,657 
 
 1347 47,504 
 
 93 
 
 2414 
 
 126 14,562 
 
 1562 
 
 44,612 
 
 IOI 
 
 2720 
 
 i8.5 
 
 23,377 
 
 Burmah . 
 
 
 
 
 
 249 
 
 3'77S 
 
 7 
 
 438 
 
 8 
 
 586 
 
 1811 
 
 48,390 
 
 108 
 
 3158 193 
 
 23,963 
 
 Missionary education in India at the present time can hardly 
 be regarded as in a satisfactory position. Unsettled in itself, its 
 relation to mission work undefined, inadequate to the wants of the 
 Christian converts, still more inadequate to the overwhelming 
 need of the heathen people of the country, it is a branch of 
 labour which requires the most anxious care of wise and ex- 
 perienced men, and demands thorough consideration at their 
 hands. During the last few years old controversies have been 
 partially revived, their discussion has assumed new phases, new 
 elements have been introduced, and in some cases practical 
 measures have been adopted, which have placed mission schools 
 upon a new basis. These controversies have not had reference 
 only to the subject of Anglo-vernacular Schools, though they 
 have occupied the most prominent position ; it is the Vernacular 
 schools that have been most concerned, and though the contro- 
 versy respecting them has been carried on quietly, the decision 
 is of far more vital consequence to the general interests of the 
 country than that of the English schools. These important ques- 
 tions will be better understood after a brief statement of the work 
 which is being carried on. The schools for boys, conducted by 
 missionaries, are divided into three classes, — Vernacular day- 
 schools, Boarding-schools, and Anglo-vernacular schools. Each 
 of these may be described in order. 
 
IN INDIA. 119 
 
 Boys' Boarding and Orphan Schools. 
 
 These schools have been favourite spheres of labour in certain 
 missions for a long series of years. Though carried on upon the 
 same plan, they derive their scholars from distinct sources. 
 Very large schools have been supplied solely with orphans ; the 
 rest have taken the children of the native converts with the view 
 of giving them systematic education, and constant, careful disci- 
 pline. The former have abounded chiefly in the North- West 
 Provinces and in Orissa, having been supplied from the great 
 famine of 1838, and from the efforts of Government to save the 
 Meriahs from sacrifice by the Khonds. During the last ten 
 years these schools have sent forth into life a large number of 
 grown-up scholars, and would have been nearly emptied, had not 
 the recent deplorable famine in the North- West Provinces se- 
 cured for them a large accession of orphans, thrown destitute 
 upon the world. 
 
 By far the larger number of these schools have been founded 
 for the better training of native Christian children ; with the hope 
 that being brought under systematic instruction, subjected to strict 
 discipline, and removed from daily contact with those associations 
 with heathenism in which their parents' lives are necessarily 
 passed, they might, under God's blessing, enter in youth that path 
 of holiness in which it was desired their whole lives should be 
 spent ; and that, in consequence of their Christian training, they 
 might turn out a higher race of Christians, possessed of know- 
 ledge, intelligence, and character, far superior to what their 
 parents and predecessors have attained. Tt was hoped, also, that 
 from amongst them would be raised up a considerable number 
 of well-qualified and useful agents to assist in and extend the 
 work of the mission. 
 
 Both these objects have been in a measure realised. There 
 can be no doubt that hundreds of Christian boys have grown up 
 in these schools, better acquainted with the Scriptures, possessing 
 larger general knowledge, and more fully disciplined to Christian 
 obedience than the Christians that preceded them. They have 
 given a new character to some missions in which personal piety 
 and Scripture knowledge stood very low. Many individuals 
 among them have given evidence of decided piety ; and many 
 have entered on mission work in various grades of service, as 
 readers, school-masters, and catechists. Still greater good might 
 have sprung from these schools, were not that good greatly 
 counteracted by an inherent deficiency of character so often seen 
 in this class of scholars. The majority of boys received into the 
 
120 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 boarding-schools, whether as orphans or the children of converts, 
 have sprung from the lower classes, and have inherited the 
 tendencies and tone of character belonging to them, with an 
 amount of moral stamina that could bear but a very gentle 
 strain. Even as boys, therefore, many have exhibited a readiness 
 to fall into degrading vices and sins of the most astonishing kind ; 
 and many who have attained a fair character as men have in a 
 few years yielded to temptation, and cast off their first faith. 
 Still as generations pass on, these classes are rising in character, 
 and never have the boarding-schools proved so efficient, or been 
 so blessed, as during the decade just gone by. 
 
 At the same time it has become increasingly evident that the 
 hot-house elements of the system have produced their legitimate 
 effect. The native Christian communities formed from the 
 orphan schools, and largely helped from the converts' children 
 trained in similar institutions, have proved a dependent race: 
 deficient in manliness, in self-help, and ever ready to look to the 
 missionary when a want or a difficulty arose. This was specially 
 the case in the North- West Provinces, where the native Church 
 had sprung to such a large extent from these schools ; and it is 
 a matter for congratulation and thankfulness, that in these com- 
 munities the effect of the perils of the Mutiny has been to draw 
 forth a strength from within, and to render them a far more 
 manly and independent people than they previously were. 
 
 These boarding-schools are scattered throughout our Indian 
 Missions, and, except in the North- West Provinces, where they 
 were originated by a famine in 1838, it is in the large missions 
 that they are chiefly to be found. The table above given shows 
 that no less than thirty-seven are maintained in Bengal and 
 Upper India, while Bombay has but three, and Ceylon, eight. 
 The Church Mission stations in Calcutta, Burdwan, and Krish- 
 naghur; the Serampore Mission; the Mission in Chota Nag- 
 pore; Bhagulpore and Gya; the Orissa stations of Cuttack, 
 Berhampore in Ganjam, and Balasore ; all possess them. The 
 three last contain the children saved from sacrifice among 
 the Khonds. In the North-west they are found at several prin- 
 cipal stations ; at Benares in the Church Mission ; at Goruckpore, 
 Lucknow, Bareilly, Futtehguhr, and Saharunpore. The largest 
 school of the kind in India is at Agra, in the well-known Church 
 Mission station at Secundra : it now contains 216 boys. There 
 is only one in the Punjab, at Sealkote. The three schools in 
 Bombay are the Church Mission Industrial schools at Nasik, 
 containing some East-African scholars, and the Catechist school at 
 Ahmednuggur. In the Madras Presidency, they are not Orphan 
 schools, but are supplied almost entirely from the communities of 
 
IN INDIA. 121 
 
 converts. The principal boarding-schools are at the London 
 Missions, of Bellary, Bangalore, and Cuddapah ; in the Basle 
 Missions at Mnlki, Mangalore, and Tellicherry; at Cottayam, 
 in North Travancore, in the Syrian Mission ; and in the London 
 Missions in South Travancore. There are sixteen such schools 
 in Tinnevelly, containing more than 300 boys, of which five 
 schools in the Society of the Propagation of the Gospel Missions 
 are new. There are others at Pasumalie in Madura; in Tanjore, 
 and in Arcot. In Ceylon, the chief schools are in the Jaffna and 
 Cotta Missions ; there are seven in Burmah. 
 
 In Bengal and Ceylon, the number of scholars has much 
 decreased below the point reached in 1852 ; and in Upper India 
 they would scarcely have amounted to a hundred, had not the 
 recent famine brought nearly 500 into several missions, and 
 caused an entire revival of the system which had gradually been 
 dying out. An entirely new school was founded at Bareilly. 
 As mere boarding-schools for the improvement of the native 
 Christian community, the tendency of recent years has been to 
 diminish, and even to close them : unless the native converts, 
 who send their sons, will pay something for the education they 
 receive. For this resolve there is good reason ; since undoubt- 
 edly in many cases, the kindness shown in giving a free edu- 
 cation was received without thankfulness, and was frequently 
 abused. 
 
 In another direction these schools have been greatly enlarged 
 and improved. In large missions the better boys have been 
 gathered into classes and seminaries taught with peculiar care, 
 with a view to draw from amoiF them well-taught agents for the 
 service of the Mission. Of the number above given, no less than 
 thirty-two schools, containing more than 800 scholars, have been 
 formed into seminaries of this kind. Nearly all the boarding- 
 schools in Burmah are conducted on this principle. The import- 
 ant missions in Ahmednuggur, Malabar, Upper Travancore, 
 South Travancore, Tinnevelly, Madura, and Tanjore, with the 
 missions of all Societies in Ceylon, have each one or more schools 
 of this high class. They are placed under wise management, 
 and are ably taught. Placed in rural missions, with the desire 
 to give their scholars a sound and large education without spoiling 
 them, these institutions seldom teach English to their scholars, 
 but give them as good an education as is available in the ver- 
 nacular tongues. They are the best specimens of vernacular 
 schools that the missions in India contain. Still they cannot be 
 ranked as seminaries for the native ministry. Many of them 
 take their scholars young, before their capabilities and their 
 personal wishes indicate that sphere of life for which they are 
 
122 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 fitted ; and only subsequent events show whether a scholar shall 
 become reader, teacher, or catechist. They occupy, therefore, a 
 border-land between mere schools and colleges for the training 
 of young men. The present tendency of things is to elevate them 
 and place them in a higher position. Some have already attained 
 it, and only receive scholars of some age, already well taught in 
 other boarding-schools, and showing signs of the ability and 
 character needed in missionary agency. If well watched and 
 improved to the utmost, year by year, from the best of them 
 there will spring strictly theological schools, taught only in the 
 vernacular, having at first, perhaps, but few students, but gra- 
 dually sending forth a succession of well-taught pastors and 
 missionaries, such as the rural districts need. A few such 
 schools have been established ; but it is naturally the aim of 
 missionaries to see one in every large circle of missions, intended 
 directly for the education of a native ministry — a permanent 
 institution, increasing in efficiency and usefulness as years roll 
 by. It is hoped that all these institutions, whether taught exclu- 
 sively in the Vernaculars, or educating their students in both the 
 English and native tongues, will make such advance during the 
 current decade as to occupy, in future statistical tables, a distinct 
 and important place of their own. 
 
 Anglo- Vernacular Schools and Institutions. 
 
 So much has been written, at different times, about this 
 branch of missionary labour, that little need be said in this 
 Review, beyond exhibiting the extent to which it is carried, and 
 quoting a few of the opinions and judgments recently pronounced 
 respecting its importance. It should, however, specially be 
 noticed that the mission-schools in India in which a good English 
 education is given, are not mere English schools. Probably there 
 is not one strictly and purely English school for natives in all 
 the Presidencies. These mission-schools are Vernacular schools 
 also ; they teach to all their scholars, from the highest class to 
 the lowest, the Bengali, Hindi, Mahrati, and other languages of 
 the several provinces. In the best the classical languages, Sans- 
 krit, and even Persian, are taught ; and it is an undoubted fact, 
 that the vernacular education given in them is far higher than 
 that given in purely vernacular schools, and aims at fitting 
 students for the vernacular branch of the university examinations. 
 Missionaries would be glad to see the attainments of their scholars 
 more complete than they are; but the hindrance is in the students 
 themselves. 
 
 The number of schools and scholars of this kind in our Indian 
 
IN INDIA. 123 
 
 missions has very largely increased during the last ten years. 
 In 1852 there were, in all India and Ceylon: — schools, 126; 
 scholars, 14,562. In January, 1862, there were, — schools, 
 185; scholars, 23,377. The increase has been, — schools, 59; 
 scholars, 8815. The increase of scholars is 60 percent. The 
 principal increase has taken place in the North-West Provinces, 
 in which the scholars have been more than trebled. In Bom- 
 bay the increase is 56 per cent; in Madras it is nearly 60. 
 In Ceylon the scholars have increased by one-fifth, while the 
 schools have decreased by one-third — a sign that a better educa- 
 tion is given than before. 
 
 In Bengal the increase has taken place at certain stations. 
 In Calcutta the scholars have slightly decreased. But in Seram- 
 pore College, at Burdwan, in the town of Krishnaghur, and at 
 Bhagulpore, they have largely increased. At the Free Church 
 station of Mohanad, and at Ghazeepore, they have been opened 
 for the first time. Several of the small schools, containing less 
 than a hundred boys, have been wisely given up. The average 
 number of scholars in these schools throughout Bengal is 245. 
 Only three schools contain less than a hundred boys. The Free 
 Church Institution still stands at the head of the list, with its 
 1200 scholars. 
 
 In Upper India several of the older schools have largely 
 increased the number of their scholars ; as at Goruckpore, Alla- 
 habad, Futtehguhr, Agra, Ludiana, Lahore, and Nagpore. 
 Many new schools have been established in important stations — 
 Cawnpore, the Oude and Rohilkund Missions, Delhi, and Meerut ; 
 Amritsir, where a large school in a noble building has been 
 established; at Peshawur, Mooltan, in Rajpootana, and at Jubbul- 
 pore, where the missions are of recent origin. In Bombay the 
 new schools have been opened at Kurrachee and Surat ; and the 
 Free Church school at Poonah, and the Money school in Bombay, 
 have considerably increased. 
 
 In the town of Madras the scholars have been doubled, new 
 schools have been established by the London and Wesleyan 
 Missions (already greatly blessed), and the older schools in the 
 Scotch Missions have increased. At Bellary and Bangalore a 
 similar increase has taken place. Three new schools have been 
 opened in the Basle Missions, several also in Tinnevelly and in 
 the Tanjore Missions, and others in the Telugu districts, amongst 
 which the Church Mission school at Masulipatam now occupies 
 the principal place. 
 
 A most important change has taken place in the management 
 of some of the Anglo-vernacular schools in the chief towns of 
 Bengal and Madras, in the introduction of fees. This has been 
 
124 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 done during the last few years in the Free Church Institutions in 
 Calcutta and Chinsurah, the General Assembly's Institution in 
 Calcutta, and in the London Institutions, both in Calcutta and 
 Madras, The charge made in the first instance was four annas, 
 increased after a time to eight annas. At Chinsurah the fee paid 
 is one rupee, which is the rate for college students in the London 
 Society's Calcutta Institution. In all these cases the change did 
 no injury whatever to the school, while it greatly relieved the 
 pressure on benevolent funds ; indeed, in two cases it is known 
 to have introduced a higher class of students, and improved the 
 standing of the Institutions. A higher value has been attached 
 to the education received, and a better tone imparted to the 
 attendance of the scholars. How far the system has been adopted 
 in other schools, the writer is not aware. 
 
 The position and objects of these schools have been once more 
 the subject of controversy in some quarters, both in India and at 
 home ; but, as a rule, missionaries on the spot have taken little 
 share in these discussions. With the exception of a few, whose 
 opposition is strong, almost all missionaries in India recognise 
 Anglo-vernacular schools as an important missionary agency, 
 specially fitted to bring the Gospel home to the active and intelli- 
 gent classes of the large cities and towns. None advocate their 
 employment everywhere, without distinction of place and people. 
 All missionaries draw a clear line of distinction between city and 
 country missions ; all allow, too, that small English schools, ill 
 taught and little cared for, are worse than useless. It is a matter 
 for thankfulness, therefore, that, during the last ten years, many 
 of the smaller schools have, by care and attention, been greatly 
 improved, and have secured a larger number of scholars. 
 
 Important testimony has recently been given to the value and 
 usefulness of these institutions. On the general question of the 
 bearing of English education on the work which Englishmen 
 have to do in India, Dr. Wilson emphatically says : " The 
 greatest blessing of a social and political character ever enjoyed 
 by India, is found in its connexion with Great Britain, so mar- 
 vellously effected in Divine Providence. A most important fruit 
 of that connexion is the desire and attempt of hundreds and 
 thousands of the most influential classes of the natives of India to 
 acquire a knowledge of the English language, to fit them to have 
 their part in the business of the state, in the promotion of com- 
 merce, in the advancement of public works directed by European 
 enterprise, and in the enjoyment of the general blessings of 
 civilisation. It is impossible to over-estimate the facilities thus 
 afforded for their instruction, enlightenment, conversion, and 
 elevation. The English language is the grand storehouse of 
 
IN INDIA. 125 
 
 knowledge, in literature, in science, and in religion ; and if Mis- 
 sionaries are to have anything to do with the mind of India, as it- 
 appears developed in the most active and advancing classes of 
 society, they cannot shun the English language in their efforts to 
 advance the cause of Christianity, either by education, by the 
 press, by prelection, or by public preaching. With this convic- 
 tion the Mission has been deeply impressed ever since its first 
 establishment. Year by year this conviction has been strength- 
 ened by the experience and observation of all its members, and 
 that without either disparagement or neglect of any of the ver- 
 nacular instrumentalities which can be made to bear on the 
 advancement of our holy faith, and the grand triumph of grace 
 and truth in India." 
 
 On the value of these schools, both directly and indirectly, in 
 breaking up the prejudices of the educated classes, and preparing 
 them by sound knowledge, both of the claims and truths of the 
 Scriptures, for a reception of the Gospel, Dr. Duff recently 
 wrote : " If results of a preparatory kind be admitted as legiti- 
 mate, I must maintain that our schools of various grades, in so 
 peculiar a country as India, have been productive in the highest 
 degree. What multitudinous and gigantic difficulties and hin- 
 drances have we to contend with here ! Why should not an 
 effort be made, in justice to the Church at home and labourers 
 abroad, to realise these ? Now, in beating down all such enor- 
 mous preliminary obstacles, no engine has been found so effective 
 as properly-conducted Anglo- vernacular, or English schools, 
 especially of the higher grade. 
 
 " They tend to weaken, shatter, or destroy stereotyped and 
 inveterate national, moral, and domestic prejudices ; lay bare the 
 tyranny of caste, and expose the illimitable pretensions of a once 
 all-potent and domineering priesthood; nullify the reputedly 
 divine authority of Shastras, that have acted for ages with the 
 fascination of a spell on the national mind, and annihilate their 
 endless and egregious errors and fallacies in every department of 
 human inquiry, undermining the popular idolatry with its abomi- 
 nations. In these and other ways they act negatively, with 
 tremendous power, in battering down the ramparts, and clearing 
 away the piles of rubbish which a dominant Hinduism has been 
 rearing and accumulating for 3000 years. And is all this 
 nothing ? Even the most candid missionaries, who do not them- 
 selves engage in schools, have repeatedly, and in every form, 
 admitted the prodigious advantage of all this. 
 
 " But, positively, they are also preparatory in no ordinary 
 degree. By the free admission of all parties, they reach and 
 indoctrinate with Christian truth the minds of thousands, not 
 
126 TEN TEARS* MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 otherwise accessible to missionary effort, diffuse among them an 
 accurate knowledge of the Gospel plan of salvation; and sow, 
 in their hearts, before they are indurated by the ceaseless action 
 of an all-encompassing heathenism, the incorruptible seed of the 
 Word of God ; gaining confidence, softening hostility, conciliating 
 and producing good-will, and creating respect for Christianity 
 and Christian men, far and wide, through teeming masses of this 
 vast population. And is all this nothing? The wisest and most 
 candid missionaries, though themselves not engaged in schools, 
 have freely and fully admitted these inestimable benefits." 
 
 " I believe," says Mr. Barton of Agra, " we have results to 
 show, which are most encouraging. In the first place, we find 
 our older scholars thoroughly acquainted with both the doctrines 
 and precepts of Christianity, so much so, as almost to make one 
 blush at times for our own professedly Christian countrymen. 
 Secondly, what is far more important, we see that this knowledge 
 does really influence their outward life and conduct ; their whole 
 moral tone is raised to a striking degree ; they acquire a regard 
 for truth and honesty, and show themselves worthy of our con- 
 fidence. Some of our older scholars become so attached to us, 
 that they prefer to remain with us as Teachers on a far lower 
 salary than they could obtain in Government employ. Indeed, 
 with the exception of the one point of their being still unbaptised, 
 there is little or nothing in their outward profession to make one 
 realise that they are not Christians. It is sometimes said by 
 those who are opposed to giving secular education to Heathen 
 boys in our Mission schools, that our scholars only consent to 
 receive our Scriptural instruction as a distasteful pill in con- 
 sideration of the secular education which accompanies it. Such 
 objections as these only show how very little practical acquaint- 
 ance with the work of teaching Heathen boys those persons have 
 who make them. I have not the slightest hesitation in saying 
 that such ideas rest on no solid foundation whatever; our Bible 
 lesson is one of the most popular, if not the most popular lesson 
 of the day's course of study ; indeed, I often have to reprove 
 some of my pupils for listlessness or want of attention to their 
 secular studies, whose interest never flags during the Bible 
 lesson. Soon after assuming the charge of the college, I was 
 anxious to put this very opinion to a practical test, and accord- 
 ingly I invited any of my first-class scholars who might like to 
 attend to a Bible class to be held at my own house on Sunday 
 mornings. I told them plainly beforehand that I wished them to 
 come or not just as they felt inclined, and that my object in 
 having it was solely to benefit those who might wish to gain a 
 deeper acquaintance with the principles and doctrines of Christ- 
 
IN INDIA. 127 
 
 ianity. This class has from the first been attended by at least 
 three-fourths of the scholars in my first class, and half of them 
 have come most regularly." 
 
 " There can be no doubt," says Mr. Tracy, of the American 
 Madura Mission, a strenuous advocate for vernacular preaching, 
 " that a large amount of useful knowledge is imparted to the 
 thousands of youths assembled in these schools; and this know- 
 ledge must loosen the hold of superstition upon their minds, 
 while all acquire, to a greater or less extent, a knowledge of that 
 truth which is able, under the influences of the Holy Spirit, to 
 make men wise unto salvation. Probably a large portion of the 
 pupils could be reached in no other way. As a means of diffus- 
 ing light, and preparing the way for the future reception of the 
 Gospel in large cities, we would accord to these institutions a 
 high character." 
 
 " We consider," says the Conference of Bengal missionaries, 
 " that this plan of proclaiming the Gospel has spread the know- 
 ledge of it extensively among the educated ; has introduced it 
 into respectable families not otherwise easily accessible to its 
 influence ; has prevented greatly the spread of infidelity among 
 the young ; has greatly diminished the power of the Hindu 
 priesthood and of caste, and has also led, in not a few instances, 
 to the actual conversion of souls." 
 
 And the general conviction of missionaries throughout India 
 on the subject, is thus forcibly put by Mr. Kilner, of the 
 Wesleyan Mission in Jaffna : " Education, both in English and 
 Tamil, forms a prominent part of our plan. We are of opinion 
 that we cannot do without it. Whether we look at the days 
 that are to be, or at the deeds that have been, or at the effects of 
 labour that now remain, we see evidence of the importance of 
 this branch of our scheme. The fact is, that three-fourths of 
 our present Church in Jaffna are those who derived their 
 earliest religious impressions in our schools. It was my happi- 
 ness, a Sabbath or two ago, to baptize two fine young men. 
 They are members of what we call respectable (what you would 
 call caste) families, and they promise well. Much as we 
 believe in education, we do not thrust it into the place of direct, 
 intelligible, earnest preaching in the vernacular. I should think 
 that my colleagues and myself in the district, deliver weekly 
 some sixty or seventy sermons, exhortations, or addresses. I am 
 no advocate for planning a duel between these two modes of ope- 
 ration. Let them go on conjointly. Better friends never were." 
 
 To the large number of converts drawn from these Insti- 
 tutions during the decade, the place they have taken in the native 
 
128 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 church, and the number of pastors and missionaries who have 
 been ordained from among them, special reference has already 
 been made. 
 
 Vernacular Day-schools. 
 
 The number of schools carried on by missionaries in various 
 parts of India in the purely vernacular tongues at first looks 
 large. It seems at first sight an excellent thing for the enlighten- 
 ment of the native converts, and for the instruction of the 
 heathen, that our Indian missions should be carrying on nearly 
 2000 Vernacular schools, containing nearly 50,000 boys, and 
 the mind rejoices that at least this large number of the future 
 men of India are receiving a Christian education in their mother 
 tongue. But a few moments' reflection will bring into notice the 
 striking fact, that the number of scholars is strangely small for 
 the large number of schools ; the actual average of the whole 
 being twenty-seven boys in each school. Every missionary of 
 experience who knows these schools will soon calculate from this 
 fact the worth of the education they give. In point of fact, and 
 as a rule, the Vernacular schools rarely give any thing like a 
 good education. With poor, ill -taught teachers, frequently 
 heathen (because Christians are not to be had), these schools 
 give a little reading, writing, and arithmetic, with catechisms, 
 Christian hymns, a few of the historical books of Scripture, and 
 a little general knowledge; and cannot be reckoned as contri- 
 buting much to the real training, discipline, and enlightenment of 
 their scholars' minds. 
 
 The table given above shows that during the last ten years, 
 in India and Ceylon, the. number of schools has increased; that 
 of the scholars has decreased by nearly 3000. The principal 
 decrease has occurred in Bengal, Bombay, and Ceylon ; in the 
 North-west and in Madras, the scholars have increased ; but in 
 the former that increase bears no proportion to the increase in 
 the English schools. The value of education in India depends 
 very much upon the size of a school. Other things being equal, 
 a school containing a large number of scholars will give a better 
 education than a school which contains a small number; the 
 classes will be more numerous, the range of studies wider, and 
 the books read will be of a higher character. As a fact, it is 
 well known that the English schools give an education far su- 
 perior to that of the Vernacular schools. This fact is indicated 
 by the average number of scholars contained in each of these 
 schools. 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 129 
 
 North-west 
 
 5» 
 
 122 
 
 Bombay 
 
 >5 
 
 223 
 
 Madras 
 
 5J 
 
 90 
 
 Ceylon 
 
 J5 
 
 72 
 
 Burmah 
 
 J> 
 
 73 
 
 Vernacular. Anglo-Vernacular. 
 
 Bengal . average 37 boys. Bengal average 245 scholars. 
 
 North-west, &c. „ 42 „ 
 
 Bombay „ 41 ,, 
 
 Ceylon ,, 40 „ 
 
 Madras „ 23 „ 
 
 Burmah „ 15 „ 
 
 The average number of boys attending the Vernacular schools 
 is 27 ; and as we shall see in a large number of cases the 
 attendance is very poor, the masters are cheap, the books few, 
 the standard is low, and the attainments lower. But there are 
 exceptions to this state of things. There are some purely Ver- 
 nacular schools which give an education worth having, an educa- 
 tion which is really a lasting benefit to the boys on whom it is 
 conferred. The largest number of these better schools is found 
 in Upper India and Bengal. The following is a list of all the 
 Vernacular schools which contain more than seventy boys : — 
 
 
 Schs 
 
 . Boys. 
 
 
 Schs. 
 
 Boys. 
 
 Calcutta (C. M. S.) 
 
 . 3 
 
 250 
 
 Lahore 
 
 80 
 
 Thakurpukkur . 
 
 3 
 
 226 
 
 Sealkote (American) 
 
 1 
 
 100 
 
 Moh an ad . 
 
 1 
 
 80 
 
 Sealkote (Ch. Scot.) 
 
 1 
 
 80 
 
 Krishnaghur (town) 
 
 5 
 
 408 
 
 Surat 
 
 4 
 
 318 
 
 Kapasdanga 
 
 1 
 
 80 
 
 Poonah 
 
 3 
 
 297 
 
 Monghyr . 
 
 2 
 
 145 
 
 Bombay (Ch. Scot.) 
 
 1 
 
 80 
 
 Benares (C M. S.) 
 
 2 
 
 290 
 
 Madras (C. M. S.) 
 
 .}> 
 
 74 
 
 Bareilly . 
 
 1 
 
 72 
 
 Black Town 
 
 Almorah . 
 
 1 
 
 159 
 
 Guledagudda . 
 
 1 
 
 87 
 
 Mynpuri . 
 
 1 
 
 142 
 
 Trincomalee 
 
 1 
 
 101 
 
 Roorkee . 
 
 1 
 
 140 
 
 Baddagama 
 
 4 
 
 311 
 
 Dehra 
 
 2 
 
 155 
 
 Colombo (S. P. G.) 
 
 2 
 
 217 
 
 Kapurthala 
 
 2 
 
 156 
 
 Morotto . 
 
 5 
 
 353 
 
 1 iii el i ii niJ 
 
 1 
 
 88 
 
 
 
 J- J t_( l-l 1 il II (I • • 
 
 Julundhur 
 
 1 
 
 117 
 
 
 52 
 
 4606 
 
 Average in each school, 89.* 
 
 It thus appears, that out of the 1811 Vernacular Mission Schools 
 in India, only fifty-two contain more than seventy boys ; and 
 that of these, only two are found among the 1069 schools of the 
 Madras Presidency; only twelve among the 209 schools of 
 Ceylon. The largest schools are the London Mission Schools at 
 Almorah ; and the Church Mission School at Benares. On the 
 other hand, the number of such schools, that contain twenty boys 
 and under, is appallingly great, and puts vernacular mission 
 education in India in a most painful light. The list is as 
 follows : — 
 
 * Omitted— Tanjore (G. P. S.), 1 school, 233 scholars ; and Vepery (G. P. S.), 
 1 school, 100 scholars. — Ed. 
 
130 
 
 TEN TEAKS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 
 Schs. 
 
 Boys. 
 
 
 Schs. 
 
 Boys. 
 
 Bengal : 
 
 
 
 Madras (continued) 
 
 
 
 Tumlook 
 
 4 
 
 30 
 
 Nulloor . 
 
 31 
 
 620 
 
 Bollobpore . 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 Surandei . 
 
 24 
 
 324 
 
 Burrisal 
 
 3 
 
 60 
 
 Sivagasi . 
 
 13 
 
 225 
 
 Chittagong . 
 
 1 
 
 16 
 
 Puthiamputhur 
 
 26 
 
 520 
 
 Dacca 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 Madura District : 
 
 
 
 Jelasore 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 Usalamputty . 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 Cuttack 
 
 4 
 
 76 
 
 Tirupuvanum . 
 
 6 
 
 79 
 
 North-west : 
 
 
 
 Tirumungalum. 
 
 5 
 
 45 
 
 Lucknow . . 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 Sivagunga 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 Seetapore 
 
 3 
 
 51 
 
 Pulney 
 
 2 
 
 17 
 
 Delhi 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 
 Periacolum 
 
 15 
 
 182 
 
 Kyelang 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 Pasumalie 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 Jubbulpore . 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 Melur 
 
 6 
 
 58 
 
 Bombay : 
 
 
 
 Mandapasalie . 
 
 17 
 
 191 
 
 Bursud 
 
 2 
 
 40 
 
 Madura . 
 
 8 
 
 119 
 
 Aurungabad 
 
 1 
 
 19 
 
 Battalagundu . 
 
 7 
 
 93 
 
 Ahmednuggur 
 
 5 
 
 63 
 
 Tanjore Province 
 
 
 
 „ Khokar 
 
 6 
 
 31 
 
 Tranquebar 
 
 4 
 
 54 
 
 „ Wadale 
 
 2 
 
 20 
 
 Combaconum . 
 
 18 
 
 74 
 
 „ Rahoore 
 
 e 2 
 
 28 
 
 Vediarpuram . 
 
 10 
 
 192 
 
 ,, Seroor 
 
 . 1 
 
 20 
 
 Tanjore (Leip.) 
 
 16 
 
 261 
 
 Sattara 
 
 1 
 
 17 
 
 Amiappen 
 
 3 
 
 33 
 
 Madras : 
 
 
 
 Erungalore 
 
 9 
 
 158 
 
 Mulki 
 
 4 
 
 61 
 
 Trichinopoly 
 
 
 
 Merkara 
 
 . 1 
 
 15 
 
 (Leip.) 
 
 6 
 
 116 
 
 Kaity 
 
 . 9 
 
 114 
 
 Salem 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 Kannankulam 
 
 . 8 
 
 132 
 
 Cuddalore (Leip 
 
 •)1 
 
 17 
 
 Cottayam 
 
 23 
 
 438 
 
 Cuddapah (S. P 
 
 
 
 Mavelicara . 
 
 17 
 
 300 
 
 G.) . . 
 
 32 
 
 308 
 
 Mundakayam 
 
 7 
 
 44 
 
 Cuddapah (L. 
 
 
 
 Tiruwella . 
 
 12 
 
 199 
 
 M. S.) . 
 
 19 
 
 306 
 
 Mallapali 
 
 7 
 
 139 
 
 Guntoor . 
 
 4 
 
 56 
 
 Allepie 
 
 13 
 
 217 
 
 Palnaud . 
 
 8 
 
 45 
 
 Pallam 
 
 20 
 
 333 
 
 Rajamundry 
 
 2 
 
 30 
 
 Trevandrura 
 
 10 
 
 170 
 
 Masulipatam 
 
 7 
 
 80 
 
 Tinnevelly Distri( 
 
 it : 
 
 
 Bezwara . 
 
 2 
 
 25 
 
 Alvarneri 
 
 . 16 
 
 224 
 
 Ceylon : 
 
 
 
 Megnan a pu ram 
 
 35 
 
 535 
 
 Chavagacherry . 
 
 4 
 
 60 
 
 Asirvadhapurai 
 
 nl4 
 
 183 
 
 Putlam 
 
 1 
 
 20 
 
 Sathankullam 
 
 . 24 
 
 458 
 
 Manaar 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 Pragasapuram 
 
 . 4 
 
 52 
 
 Pusallawe . 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 Kadachapuram 
 
 . 11 
 
 176 
 
 Badulle 
 
 3 
 
 23 
 
 Suviseshapuran 
 
 l 48 
 
 581 
 
 Burmaii : 
 
 
 
 Dohnavur 
 
 . 23 
 
 431 
 
 All Stations 
 
 249 
 
 3,778 
 
 Pannivelei 
 Pannikullam 
 
 . 34 
 20 
 
 524 
 315 
 
 
 
 
 Total . 
 
 958 14,400 
 
 Average in each school, 15. 
 
IN INDIA. 131 
 
 This table shows that more than half of the Vernacular day- 
 schools — 958 schools out of 1811 — have less than twenty scholars 
 each, and as a natural consequence, impart to them little educa- 
 tion that is worth the name. Allowing that many of these schools 
 are intended as the commencement of a better state of things ; 
 allowing that both schoolmasters and teachers are few in number 
 and hard to be obtained; allowing that in rural districts, especially 
 in villages, parents do not appreciate education and are unwilling 
 to send their sons to school; allowing that the services of boys are 
 frequently required in farm-labour ; still the fact is plain that an 
 immense number of our mission schools are very small in size, 
 and their education of little worth. 
 
 It is also clear that a large proportion of these small schools 
 exist among the rural native churches, and are the ordinary 
 means of educating their children. These schools are most 
 numerous in the Madras Presidency, where converts are most 
 numerous ; and are so in districts where the converts most abound. 
 Nearly all the Church Missionary day-schools in Travancore and 
 Tinnevelly fall within the list ; nearly all the American schools 
 in Madura, and entirely all in Ahmednuggur; some of the Tanjore 
 schools, some of the Basle Mission, some in Orissa, some in Krish- 
 naghur, all in Burrisal, stand also within it. And many others 
 not in the list stand only just outside. 
 
 Are our rural native converts getting the sound, broad Christ- 
 ian education which they need? For instance, in the Missions 
 in the suburbs of Calcutta, three Missions, containing 3600 con- 
 verts, have 862 boys at school, but two others, with 2345 con- 
 verts, have only 217 boys; and two Missions, with 457 native 
 Christians, have no schools at all. In all these Missions there are 
 6600 native Christians, and the number of girls receiving educa- 
 tion at all is ninety! In Chota Nagpore, with 2400 converts, the 
 boarding-schools contain fifty-eight boys and thirty-three girls. 
 When the year 1861 ended there were no other schools in the 
 Mission. In Burrisal, containing 3100 native Christians, there 
 are sixty boys in school, and fifty-five women and girls. In the 
 Dacca Mission, with 205 converts, twelve boys and six girls ! 
 In Jessore, with 500 converts, 154 boys are under instruction, 
 but only seven girls. Other cases might easily be named. Out 
 of the 213,000 native Christians in all the Indian Missions, there 
 ought to be, at least, 90,000 Christian children at school : half 
 boys, half of them girls. Returns are not quite clear, but in 
 many stations a due proportion even of the bovs seems not to be 
 at school, and about girls there can be no doubt. 
 
 Several important questions underlie these facts, and in a 
 measure account for them. Desirable and all important as sound 
 
132 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 vernacular education is, who is to supply it ? Several Missionary 
 Societies will not pay for schools from their general funds, and 
 merely transmit the donations of individual subscribers. They 
 consider that the native converts ought to pay for their own 
 schools, especially in those Missions in which they have been 
 freely taught for many years. It is undoubtedly a fact that in 
 numerous Missions the converts, who have received freely for a 
 long period, seem to consider schools a right ; have not learned 
 to appreciate their value ; and will rather see their children left 
 without knowledge than pay a fair price for it. Such a state of 
 things cannot go on ; and many Societies have insisted that the 
 converts shall do their share. It would seem that the only mode 
 of meeting the difficulty is, that the Mission shall endeavour to 
 provide a good teacher or staff of teachers; that the value of edu- 
 cation should be pressed upon the people ; and that some fee shall 
 be paid by every scholar who shares the benefit of the school. 
 Every effort also should be made to gather such a number of 
 scholars as will ensure a good education. A few good Vernacu- 
 lar schools, thorough in their teaching, will be of far greater 
 value than a large number ill taught. 
 
 These convictions have entered many minds, and efforts are 
 being made in some localities greatly to improve the tone and 
 character of Vernacular education. The Chota Nagpore mis- 
 sionaries, unable to give their converts a large number of schools 
 for which the Mission shall pay, are endeavouring to place the 
 system from the first on a sound basis, by providing good teachers 
 and inducing their people to pay a good portion of the expenses 
 of their schools. Several such schools have been planned, and 
 one has been established during the present year. All through 
 the Madras Presidency great efforts have been made during the 
 past decade to secure better taught teachers than were formerly 
 available ; and defective as education still is, there is no doubt it 
 has been improved, and that the improvement will be pushed to a 
 higher degree. 
 
 " The statistical returns of the past year/' says Dr. Caldwell, 
 " compared with those that were published ten years ago, will 
 illustrate the progress that has been made in education. Every 
 missionary district of the Gospel Propagation Society in Tinne- 
 velly has now a boarding-school for boys and another for girls. 
 Four years ago there was only one boys' boarding-school in the 
 Mission; now there are five of this order. There are a'so five 
 girls' boarding-schools, where formerly there were only four, and 
 the number of girls in each has been considerably increased. 
 
 " Four years ago a Tinnevelly Special Education Fund was 
 established by a grant of 1000Z. a-year from the Parent Society 
 
IN INDIA. 133 
 
 •for this purpose. It is owing to the help derived from this fund, 
 that so considerable an increase has taken place in the number of 
 our boarding-schools, the most useful, but the most expensive of 
 all schools. By means of this grant, also, Vernacular education 
 has been improved and extended ; a complete system of school 
 inspection has been brought into operation, and nine Anglo-ver- 
 nacular schools have been established. These Anglo-vernacular 
 schools have been established in Tuticoreen, Alvar Tinnevelly, 
 and other towns and important villages, and are intended to reach 
 and influence the higher castes and classes in the district of coun- 
 try, which is included within the range of the Society's missions. 
 As they have been in existence for about three years only, it 
 cannot be said that the objects for which they were established 
 have as yet been accomplished. 
 
 " Perhaps the most important advance that has been made 
 in education in these missions, whether among Christians or 
 heathens, has been owing to the introduction of the Government 
 grants in aid. The pecuniary assistance obtained in this way, 
 though only to the extent of half the amount expended by us in 
 salaries, has proved a seasonable help ; but the chief advantage 
 of the introduction of the grants has arisen from the stimulus i t 
 has given to educational progress. The masters must obtain a 
 certificate of efficiency, founded upon an examination intended to 
 test both their knowledge and their teaching power, before they 
 are entitled to the benefit of the grants in aid. This rule has 
 produced a good effect ; and a still larger amount of good has 
 been brought about by means of the periodical examination of 
 aided schools, by inspectors extrinsic to, and independent of, the 
 missions. The Gospel Propagation Society has been so convinced 
 of the advantages flowing from such examinations, that it has 
 recently placed all its schools, whether aided or not, under Go- 
 vernment inspection." 
 
 " We have many difficulties in the way of progress," says 
 Mr. Tracy. " The smallness of our congregations, their scattered 
 condition, and the deep poverty of the mass of our native Christ- 
 ians, are great hindrances in our way ; but I trust that, in due 
 season, we shall be able to overcome them." 
 
 " The character of our Tamil Schools/'' says Mr. Pargiter of 
 Jaffna, " has been considerably improved by the appointment of 
 trained masters, and a better series of books. English education 
 has, within the past ten years, advanced a hundred per cent, and 
 more attention has been paid to female education, from the con- 
 viction that, in the evangelisation of India, it occupies a most im- 
 portant place. We are most anxious that the children of our 
 Christians, who are converts from heathenism, should have their 
 
134 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 minds set quite free from the polluting influence of their old 
 system. We wish, therefore, to extend this branch of our mis- 
 sionary labour as far as possible." 
 
 " We have no wish," says Mr. Ballantine, " to go back to the 
 system of schools with heathen teachers and of English schools, 
 which we had previous to 1851, as we think that our present 
 system is by far the most promising. We have now twenty-four 
 Vernacular schools in different places of the Zillah, all taught by 
 Christian teachers, and containing 275 scholars. Many conver- 
 sions take place in these schools ; whereas in our former system 
 of schools, with heathen teachers, not one scholar was known to 
 have been converted. One of our brethren reports this year, that 
 half the members in one of his churches were converted in his 
 school, and this is one of his out-stations." 
 
 Of the Christian schools in Krishnaghur, Mr. Lincke says: — 
 
 " The education and training of the children of our Native 
 Christians in our Vernacular schools cannot but have done good, 
 and is most certainly doing good still. It is, no doubt, a very 
 great pity, and a subject of much sorrow, that many of those 
 brought up in these schools show so little fruit in after-life, some 
 not the tenth part of what they might show and ought to show. 
 Such is specially, also, the case with the girls, many of whom 
 have, from their very infancy to the day of their marriage, been 
 in our schools. 
 
 " I could wish it was the law of the land, like in Germany, 
 that every child must be sent to school during the period specified 
 by that law. From the absence of such a law we have often the 
 greatest difficulty to get the parents to send their children to 
 school. We do all we can ; but, notwithstanding, cannot get 
 them all, specially boys, who are taken, when still quite young, 
 either to tend cattle, or to watch the crops from being injured or 
 destroyed by the beasts of the field or the fowls of the air : so it 
 happens, that up to this day, many of our young people are grow- 
 ing up as ignorant as their poor and benighted parents." 
 
 Of one important principle of school-economy, Mr. Vaughan 
 of the Calcutta Church Mission gives the following lively illus- 
 tration, which deserves careful perusal : — 
 
 " The principle of supporting none but orphans has been 
 steadily adhered to throughout the year. In every case where 
 a child has a father he must receive his clothes from home, and 
 if he eat in the school, a monthly payment for food has to be 
 made in proportion to the income of the father. In several cases 
 a sort of composition is agreed on, by which the child receives 
 everything from the school for a larger payment. I cannot help 
 looking back to the first attempt at introducing the pay-system 
 
IN INDIA. 135 
 
 with peculiar satisfaction. At that time the mere mention of the 
 thing was regarded as an outrage on all the principles of Mis- 
 sionary justice and propriety; the bare suggestion that a Christian 
 father ought to provide for the children whom God had given 
 him, was scouted as utterly heterodox by the majority of our 
 Christians. 'Are you not the ma-bap?' was the reply; 'and 
 were not we, and our fathers before us, fed and clothed ? What 
 new doctrine is this which is brought to our ears?' One man, 
 finding his pleadings unavailing, tried the effect of a fiery epistle, 
 in which he respectfully informed me that I was a wolf in sheep's 
 clothing, bent upon devouring the poor little lambkins, instead of 
 protecting them ; and that if I did not in quick time abandon my 
 project, a report to that effect should go up to the committee. 
 
 " Such was the state of feeling at the inauguration of the 
 principle. It is, thank God ! very different now. A long time 
 has passed away since I heard the slightest murmur of discon- 
 tent ; and I am persuaded that not only is the rule accmiesced in 
 as a thing that cannot be helped, but that gradually the people 
 are coming to see and feel it a right and proper thing too. I feel 
 strongly that too much stress cannot be laid upon the importance 
 of making our Christians bear their own burdens, not only with 
 respect to the Schools, but throughout the general machinery of 
 our Missions. Never shall we have a healthy, vigorous Christ- 
 ianity until that is the case." 
 
 Universities in India. 
 
 During the past decade, the three Universities of Calcutta, 
 Madras, and Bombay, have been established, in accordance with 
 the Education Despatch of 1854. A committee, appointed in 
 Calcutta by the Governor-general, and consisting of the principal 
 officers of Government, members of the Educational Department, 
 and five missionaries, sat for several months to devise a general 
 scheme for their Government; and in the course of 1857 all 
 three were duly commenced. In all three Presidencies, several 
 missionaries engaged in education were placed as Fellows on the 
 Senate, as representatives of the Institutions they instructed, and 
 of the share contributed by missionary societies towards the 
 education of the people at large. Following the plan of the 
 University of London, the three Indian Universities have been 
 constituted Examining Boards, to test the education and know- 
 ledge of those trained in the country, by certain standards, and 
 confer upon them various degrees. These degrees are given in 
 Arts, Law, Medicine, and Civil Engineering. In Bengal, the 
 standard of attainment both in general and professional studies, 
 
136 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 has been fixed high, so as to make degrees objects of real value. 
 In the branch of arts, in addition to literature (in two languages) 
 and mathematics, considerable knowledge of history (including 
 the history of the Jews), of Ionic, and of mental and moral philo- 
 sophy, are required for the B.A. degree. The degree of M.A. 
 can be taken, not in three branches, as in London, but in five: in 
 languages, mathematics, general science, history (with political 
 philosophy, political economy, and ethnology), and the moral 
 sciences. In the last case, five subjects are fixed, of which 
 natural theology is one ; and amongst a small range of subjects 
 given for the sixth, a Christian student is able if he likes, to 
 select Christian evidences, as contained in Butlers Analogy and 
 Paleifs Evidences. In Bengal, the presence of missionaries 
 on the Senate, with that of the bishop and archdeacon of the 
 diocese, has done much to keep the university as the property of 
 all the educators of the Presidency, and to prevens its becoming 
 simply the instrument and exponent of the system of Govern- 
 ment education. The influence of the university on education 
 generally, has been most excellent. The Senate have year by 
 year taken, both in poetry and prose literature, selections from 
 English writers, not only unobjectionable in morals, but of good 
 taste, and of an elevating tendency. These selections are annually 
 published. The university is most popular with the natives, who 
 are everywhere anxious to attain its honours. The works pub- 
 lished by the Senate have thus become the great guides and 
 standards of Anglo-vernacular education in all schools, even 
 those taught by natives themselves, and are producing an ex- 
 cellent effect. Missionary institutions and schools, while accept- 
 ing these books on certain points, of course superadd directly 
 Christian instruction, and give a Christian tone to all branches of 
 knowledge they take up. And in regard to their scholars and 
 students, even with the fees now charged, their position in the 
 university has decidedly increased their numbers, and given 
 them students of a more earnest tone of mind. For these suc- 
 cessful efforts to make the regulations of the university both 
 favourable to missionary schools and beneficial to education 
 throughout the Presidency, much is owing to the laborious zeal 
 of the Bishop of Calcutta and Dr. Duff. 
 
 At the close of 1861, 1260 students had passed the Entrance 
 Examination (out of 2928 candidates) ; 155 had passed at 
 Madras (out of 308) ; and 74 in Bombay (out of 254). There 
 were about 60 B.A.s in Calcutta, and 30 in Madras ; and in 
 Calcutta about thirty students had obtained the degree of B.L. 
 No native student has yet obtained an M.A. 
 
IN INDIA. 137 
 
 Education in General : Government Education. 
 
 The appalling ignorance of the native population of India at 
 large has often been the subject of inquiry and the theme of 
 eloquent appeals to benevolent hearts. A few facts to illustrate 
 it will show, on the one hand, the value of good missionary 
 schools, and on the other how inadequate is the present number 
 of such schools to meet the overwhelming need of the people. 
 In one of his recent earnest appeals on the subject of education in 
 Bengal and Behar, Dr. Duff says : " Looking at the authoritative 
 numerical tables, with which Mr. Adam has supplied us ; and 
 bearing in mind that under the term ' instructed ' are included all 
 that have obtained any hind or degree of instruction, however 
 humble, including even those who can merely decipher writing or 
 sign their names (and often even that very imperfectly), we 
 deduce this generalised result, that in Burdwan the most highly 
 cultured of the specimen districts visited, only 16 per cen> of 
 the teachable or school-going juvenile population do actually 
 receive any kind or degree of instruction; and in Tirlmt, the 
 least cultured district visited, only 2^ per cent receive any kind 
 or degree of instruction ; while the aggregate average for all the 
 districts visited is no more that 7| per cent, leaving 92 J 
 out of every hundred children of the teachable age wholly destitute 
 of all kinds and degrees of instruction whatsoever ! and taking this 
 as a fair, legitimate, and inductively established average for all 
 Bengal and Behar, with their many millions, how fearful, how 
 utterly appalling the aggregate amount of educational destitution! 
 Since there are, as we have already seen, in these two provinces, 
 upwards of six and a half millions of the school-going age ; and 
 since of these, only 7f in 100 receive instruction of any kind, it 
 must follow that only half a million receive any kind of instruc- 
 tion ; leaving six millions of children capable of receiving school 
 instruction, wholly uneducated! That is, a number of school- 
 going children in the provinces of Bengal and Behar alone, 
 wholly uneducated, greatly more than double the aggregate of the 
 entire population of Scotland, including men, women, and, children! " 
 
 Mr. Bowen of Bombay, writing to the Religious Tract 
 Society, shows that the number of persons in that Presidency 
 able to read can only amount to 2\ per cent of the population ; 
 that in Nagpore, it amounts to only 1 per cent ; and, that in 
 hundreds of villages, there is good ground for believing that 
 not a single person can read at all. 
 
 Mr. Reid, the able Director of Public Instruction in the North 
 West Provinces, in his report on education for 1859 and 1860, 
 has given information regarding those provinces similar to that 
 which Mr. Adam presented to Lord W. Bentinck for Bengal, 
 
138 
 
 TEN TEARS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 and perhaps even more complete. By careful inquiry, he ascer- 
 tained the number of scholars attending school in that year, in all 
 parts of the country. The number was as follows : — 
 
 Missionary Schools . 
 Government Anglo-vernacular 
 
 37 
 
 4,168 scholars 
 
 Colleges and Schools 
 
 8 
 
 1,758 
 
 Tahsili Schools (all Vernacular) 
 Halkabandi Schools (aided and 
 
 257 
 
 15,109 „ 
 
 inspected) .... 
 Common Native Schools 
 
 2,670 
 6,649 
 
 63,821 
 66,256 „ 
 
 Total Schools . . 9,621 151,112 „ 
 
 In these provinces, as at present arranged, there live, accord- 
 ing to the census of 1854, 28,045,000 people. According to 
 European statists eleven-thirtieths of this population should be 
 under fourteen years of age. And as the school-going age in 
 India commences at five years of age, one half of the juvenile 
 population should be at school. That is, out of this population, 
 10,000,000 (in round numbers) are under fourteen ; and of these 
 children half should be at school , i.e. 5,000,000 : 2,500,000 of 
 boys, and the same number of girls. Mr. Reid's calculation 
 shows that instead of 2,500,000, there were only 151,112 boys 
 receiving any kind of education, or six per cent of the whole. 
 Where 100 boys ought to have been at school, there were 
 only six. Of girls, instead of 2,500,000 at school, there were 
 just 1800. In point of fact, however, only three boys and a half 
 in every 100 were getting any education worth the name! 
 
 The number of scholars and students under education in all 
 India, so far as known, is as follows. The missionary figures 
 have been already given ; those of the Government schools are 
 taken from the latest administration reports, and in all cases but 
 one are those of 1860-61 : — 
 
 Anglo- Vernacular Education. 
 
 
 Missionary. 
 
 Gov 
 
 eminent. 
 
 Aided.* 
 
 Bengal 
 
 29 7,119 
 
 61 
 
 8,851 
 
 132 12,221 
 
 North-West 
 
 25 3,158 
 
 8 
 
 1,760 
 
 
 Punjab 
 
 24 2,820 
 
 30 
 
 3,164 
 
 
 Bombay 
 
 8 1,787 
 
 29 
 
 3,704 
 
 
 Madras 
 
 76 8,636 
 
 78 
 
 4,033 
 
 
 Ceylon 
 
 23 1,657 
 
 63 
 
 3,428 
 
 
 Burmah 
 
 8 586 
 
 2 
 
 136 
 
 
 193 23,963 
 
 271 
 
 25,076 
 
 132 12,221 
 
 Total : Schools, 596 ; scholars, 61,260. 
 
 * All aided missionary schools have been deducted from this item in both classes 
 of schools. 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 139 
 
 Vernacular Schools. 
 
 
 Missionary. 
 
 Government. 
 
 Aided 
 
 <fec* 
 
 Bengal 
 
 152 
 
 5,515 
 
 164 
 
 8,952 
 
 443 
 
 19,235 
 
 North- West 
 
 82 
 
 3,504 
 
 271 
 
 16,590 
 
 < 3,086 
 I 6,435 
 
 84,723 
 65,112 
 
 Punjab . 
 
 36 
 
 1,458 
 
 1820 
 
 40.666 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 Bombay 
 
 54 
 
 2.219 
 
 606 
 
 31,655 
 
 74 
 
 5,050 
 
 Madras 
 
 1122 
 
 26,246 
 
 156 
 
 5,383 
 
 113 
 
 3,298 
 
 Ceylon 
 
 217 
 
 8,390 
 
 43 
 
 2,379 
 
 27 
 
 1,658 
 
 Burmah 
 
 256 
 
 4,216 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 * 
 
 1919 
 
 51,548 
 
 3111 
 
 105,625 
 
 10,178 
 
 179,076 
 
 Total: Schools, 15,208; scholars, 336,249. 
 
 It appears from these tables that in all India, so far as known, 
 the number of scholars enjoying the advantages of an Anglo- 
 vernacular education amounts to 61,200. Allowing for the 
 numerous native schools of the great towns, which receive no 
 grants, the whole number may be fairly set down at 70,000. 
 The number of scholars receiving a tolerable, in some cases a 
 good vernacular education amounts (deducting the 65,112 of the 
 North- West common village schools) to 271,137; and thus in our 
 Indian empire, where sixteen millions of boys ought to be at 
 school, the entire number of boys and young men obtaining 
 any education, of any grade, that is worth the name, may be 
 reckoned in round numbers at 350,000. Including 65,112 
 scholars known to be registered in the common native schools 
 of the North- West, and 91,000 more in those of Bombay; esti- 
 mating Bengali village schools at Mr. Adams' rate, and giving 
 80,000 scholars to those of Madras, it is probable that there are 
 some 650,000 boys more receiving the poor and almost worthless 
 elements of knowledge, which these indigenous schools, taught 
 by ignorant, untrained masters, have been accustomed to give. 
 These last may help to swell the number of boys at school in 
 India to a million, but it is only on the 350,000 that any friend 
 of enlightenment can look with pleasure. 
 
 Simple village education in Burmah differs altogether from 
 that in India. Col. Phayre, in one of his recent reports, states: 
 " Indigenous schools are spread most plentifully throughout the 
 whole of the provinces. Every Buddhist monastery contains a 
 school, and it is a very rare thing to find a Burmese who cannot 
 read and write his own language." In confirmation of this state- 
 
 * All aided missionary schools have been deducted from this item in both classes 
 of schools. 
 
140 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 merit, it may be noticed that in the Pegu gaols 66 per cent of the 
 Burman prisoners could either read or write Burman, or both ; 
 25 per cent of the Karen prisoners, the same; and 58 per cent 
 of the Chinese. 
 
 Normal Schools. — The value of training Institutions for the 
 production of well -taught and competent school teachers, has 
 been increasingly felt of late years, and during the past decade 
 great efforts have been made both bj- the Government authorities 
 and by missionaries to secure them. Nearly thirty of the mis- 
 sionary Institutions, called Seminaries, or preparandi schools, con- 
 tribute more or less to the education of school teachers as well as 
 of vernacular preachers, and continue to increase the improve- 
 ment and elevation of the teaching staff year by year. Some of 
 these Seminaries, like those at Palamcottah, Sawyerpuram, Nager- 
 coil, Cottayam, Vediarpuram, Mangalore, and Madura, have 
 proved an especial blessing to the large missions of which they 
 form a part. No return is anywhere given of the number of 
 teachers sent forth in recent years. The Burmah Missions con- 
 tain seven such training schools. It is probable that from these 
 Institutions Normal schools, strictly so called, will gradually 
 spring up. It was hoped that the Christian Vernacular Edu- 
 cation Society for India would have done much for this special 
 object ; but hitherto, except in assisting to supply country schools 
 with good school-books, that Society has greatly disappointed the 
 expectations of its Indian friends. 
 
 Meanwhile the Directors of Government education are estab- 
 lishing Normal schools in all the Presidencies. In the North- 
 West there are three such schools at Agra, Meerut, and Benares, 
 which last year sent out 565 teachers. The Punjab has eight, 
 which last year gave certificates of proficiency to 273 teachers. 
 Madras has seven, but the number of teachers is not stated. 
 Bengal and Ceylon are also silent on the subject. 
 
 Government Expenditure. — Gbants in Aid. 
 
 The cost of mission schools is, in so large a proportion of 
 cases, mixed up with the other expenses of the mission, that it is 
 quite impossible to give even an approximate statement of its 
 amount. But the statements of Government expenditure for 
 education are clearly given. That expenditure in 1861 was as 
 follows: — 
 
 Bengal . . £105,142 
 North- West. 50,206 
 Punjab . . 41,851 
 
 Total .... £298,004. 
 
 Madras . . . £49,351 
 Bombay ('60) . 38,089 
 Ceylon . . . 13,365 
 
IN INDIA. 141 
 
 The total sum paid for grants in aid amounted to 1«,805/. 
 Of this sum, various mission-schools in the different Presidencies 
 received about 6500/. In the Punjab, 2160/.; North- West, 
 1665/. ; Madras, 2300/. The American and Church Mission 
 Schools in the Punjab, and the mission-schools in Tanjore and 
 Tinnevelly, received the largest portion of these grants. Little is 
 given in Bengal, and nothing at all in Bombay and Ceylon. In 
 the last two dependencies the directors and committees of public 
 instruction are fanatically opposed to mission-schools: and the 
 Director in Bombay, in describing his satisfaction that these insti- 
 tutions received nothing at his hands, cannot refrain from insulting 
 the schools to which, unhappily for his own equanimity, he is com- 
 pelled to refer. 
 
 It is right to add that public opinion among the European 
 communities in India respecting grants in aid of education 
 occupies a very different position to what it does in England ; 
 and that the whole matter is regarded from a very different point 
 of view. No class of persons, official or unofficial, seems to hold 
 it as a principle that the Government is bound to be the per- 
 manent educator of the people. So many lessons of the value of 
 self-help have been taught in India as elsewhere, that constant 
 efforts are made to stir up the people to seek education, and 
 to secure it for their children. But the present state of things 
 is but a preparation for better things hereafter: and, just as the 
 Government in the present poverty of the country, takes the 
 lead in making roads, whether of rail or stone, in establishing 
 dispensaries, and supplying educated native doctors : until 
 experience in municipal management (already commenced), 
 greater wealth, and greater intelligence, shall enable the people 
 to do these things for themselves: so in the present appalling 
 dearth of knowledge, the Government came forward to establish 
 Colleges and Schools, and by providing models (as they thought) 
 and preparing the way, affording facilities for education, and 
 giving grants to those willing to help it onward, it secures that 
 something useful shall be maintained until the people, appreciating 
 sound knowledge at its true worth, shall maintain its institutions 
 entirely themselves. The ultimate end is very far distant ; but 
 the principle still is here. Many in Indian society regard these 
 things as temporary helps for an initiatory stage of things. 
 Amongst the officers of Government engaged in education, two 
 of the most able Directors of Public Instruction the department 
 has ever had, Mr. Reid in the North- West, and Mr. Gordon 
 Young in Bengal, have strongly urged that in time, indeed 
 before very long, the Government should retire altogether from 
 direct instruction, give all its Schools and Colleges into private 
 
152 
 
 TEN YEARS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 hands, and confine its help in education entirely to grants-in-aid. 
 It is the logical conclusion to their argument, that when education 
 advances still farther, and the people support it well, those grants 
 shall be entirely withdrawn from English schools as unnecessary 
 — and (perhaps ages hence) from all Vernacular schools likewise. 
 
 Female Education. 
 
 Presidency. 
 
 Missionary Schools. 
 
 Government, <fcc, 
 D;iy-schools. 
 
 Day-schools. 
 
 Boarding 
 
 •Schools. 
 
 Bengal .... 
 
 North-west 
 
 Punjab .... 
 
 Bombay .... 
 
 Madras .... 
 Ceylon .... 
 Burmah .... 
 
 Schools. Schs. 
 40 1,031 
 34 694 
 10 185 
 
 26 1,157 
 
 151 8.988 
 
 110 3,844 
 
 2 963 
 
 Schools. 
 25 
 10 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 63 
 5 
 3 
 
 Schs. 
 946 
 595 
 124 
 
 269 
 
 2019 
 145 
 
 103 
 
 Schools. Schs. 
 16 395 
 15 260 
 38 812 
 5 8 1078 
 ( [private.] 
 
 20 882 
 
 373 16,862 
 
 117 
 
 4201 
 
 97 3427 
 
 One of the most satisfactory portions of Missionary education 
 is found in the boarding-schools for girls. There have never 
 been two opinions among Missionaries as to their great value in 
 the present condition of our native Churches. The women have 
 needed raising far more than the men; and valuable as boarding- 
 school training has been to boys, it has been far more beneficial 
 to the Christian girls. In the case of boys it has been frequently 
 abused; parents seeking it only that their sons might get better 
 situations in the world ; but with girls, whose proper sphere is 
 home, the object has always been to train them to be good 
 •women, good wives and mothers; and from the best to secure 
 such wives for the native preachers and teachers, whom the 
 Church has gradually produced. During the decade the number 
 of girls has increased from 2779 to 4201. This increase has been 
 great in the North- West and Punjab, chiefly in the collection of 
 orphans from the recent famine. In other parts of India it lias 
 taken place in missions generally. Every Presidency has a 
 larger number than before. In Tinnevelly and Travancore 
 great attention has been paid to these schools, and that with great 
 and increasing benefit to the churches with which they are 
 connected. In all parts of India where there are native converts, 
 
IN INDIA. 143 
 
 these schools richly deserve the support so kindly accorded to 
 them by Christian ladies and families at home. The following 
 brief description of Mrs. Rice's excellent school at Bangalore is 
 applicable to a hundred others: — "The design of the school is to 
 train up suitable wives for our native converts, and this object 
 has been already, in a good degree realised, in those who have 
 passed through the school in former years. Several of these 
 have been respectably married to catechists, school-teachers, 
 and private members of the Church, both here and at other 
 stations. Most of them have fulfilled reasonable expectations, as 
 to their general character and conduct. All are superior in 
 knowledge to the mass of their countrywomen; some are 
 sincerely pious, and a few are useful auxiliaries in conducting 
 female schools among the heathen. If to these, we add such as 
 have departed in the faith and hope of the Gospel, one of whom, 
 in particular, taken away in very early life, was a peculiarly 
 devoted and promising girl, one cannot but feel that the labour 
 bestowed on this school has not been in vain." 
 
 The progress made in the Missionary Day-Schools is even 
 more encouraging. During the decade increased attention has 
 been paid to their instruction, and efforts have been made to 
 extend their usefulness. The scholars have increased from 
 11,519 to 15,900, and the schools from 347 to 371. The increase 
 indeed is from 300 to 371, from the fact that in 1852 the number 
 of day-schools in Madras was overstated. The increase of 
 scholars in Bengal is from 669 to 1031 ; in Upper India, from 
 242 to 879 ; in Madras, from 6639 to 8988 ; and in Ceylon from 
 2747 to 3844. The Bombay scholars are somewhat fewer than 
 before. 
 
 A decided improvement also has taken place in the character 
 and tone of the schools. In former years it was a common thing 
 to pay Hindu girls with money and clothes to induce them to 
 attend school; the girls were of a common class; they learned 
 little, and were early removed from school (except in Madras, where 
 they were permitted to remain to a higher age). But public 
 opinion has greatly advanced among the educated classes of the 
 community on the subject of female education, and in the great 
 towns where these classes most abound and have most influence, 
 the girls attending school have both increased in numbers and have 
 been of a higher rank. Thus for some time past Mrs. Smith of 
 Sigra has had under her instruction three schools, with 150 girls 
 from most respectable families in the city of Benares. The Free 
 Church Mission in Bengal has had in the country stations eleven 
 schools with 275 girls, and in Calcutta Dr. Duff has opened two 
 schools, containing 156 girls from educated families. In Bombay 
 
144 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 and Poonah there are nineteen day-schools, with 987 girls in the 
 two Scotch Missions, and that of the Church Missionary Society. 
 In the town of Madras the subject has made a mighty advance 
 during the last few years; and now .the various missions have 
 under daily teaching twenty-three schools, containing 1864 girls, 
 chiefly in the two Scotch Missions. Here, instead of receiving 
 money for their attendance, the girls have begun to pay fees. 
 Their education is broad, and the attainments of some of these 
 girls are most astonishing. In Ceylon the Church Mission has 
 paid great attention to day-schools, as well for the heathen as the 
 children of the Christian converts; and in their three Singhalese 
 stations have maintained thirty-five schools with 1306 girls. On 
 the other hand, it should be said that many of the girls' schools 
 are small, have poor teachers, give little education, and are 
 unsatisfactory. The early marriage of girls amongst Hindus and 
 uncivilised Christians is the greatest drawback to the efficient 
 maintenance of this class of schools. 
 
 Of the whole number of day-schools, it is believed that 150 
 schools, containing nearly 9000 girls, are maintained for the 
 children of native converts, especially in the rural districts. So 
 that, with the scholars of the boarding-schools, 13,000 native 
 Christian girls are under instruction of some kind. 
 
 The number of heathen girls taught in missionary dav-schools 
 is about 8000. 
 
 For most efficient help in the maintenance of these schools, 
 both among Christians and heathen, thanks are justly due to the 
 Ladies' Societies of London, Edinburgh, and Geneva, which 
 make this work their special aim. The Government system has 
 done little for female education, circumstances and the state of 
 public opinion having been against it. But recently favourable 
 opportunities have occurred in certain localities, and such schools 
 have been opened. In the Punjab one officer has secured the 
 establishment of thirty-eight schools, with 812 scholars in his 
 district. In Agra, an active teacher of the college has secured 
 the opening of eleven schools among the Jats, with 205 girls, 
 taught chiefly by connexions of his own, whom he has trained. 
 In Bombay, both among Hindus and Parsees, educated native 
 gentlemen have set schools going, which they partly instruct, for 
 which they pay, and which contain more than a thousand girls. 
 All these things show that the tide has turned; among the 
 educated communities the days in which ignorance was defended 
 are passed ; and henceforth Female Education has a great career 
 among the long-despised women of India. Of the vast amount 
 of work to be performed some idea may be learned from the fact 
 that while in all India sixteen millions of girls might be under 
 educational training, not thirty thousand are at school I 
 
IN INDIA. 145 
 
 And yet for the middle and upper classes, it is almost certain 
 that the system of public schools is unsuitable. It breaks far too 
 obtrusively into the privacy in which Hindu households have 
 been shrouded: it brings the girls of native families into too 
 conspicuous a position. Hence, again and again, have native 
 gentlemen shrunk from committing their daughters to a school 
 like Mr. Bethune's. And it seems probable that for these classes 
 a quiet system of home education, in which instruction is carried 
 to them, will prove more suitable to their position and their 
 wants. With this conviction, some years ago Messrs. Smith and 
 Fordyce of the Free Church Mission in Calcutta, endeavoured to 
 set on foot Zenana schools : and a committee of ladies in London 
 and Calcutta at great expense set on foot the Normal School to 
 provide for it suitable governesses. Though based on a sound 
 principle, the effort proved somewhat premature. But public 
 opinion was advancing: the educated men in Calcutta were daily 
 growing a stronger body, while the old school were passing away ; 
 large numbers began teaching their wives, boys at school began 
 teaching their sisters, and at the present time, in almost every 
 considerable family in the city, it will be found that one or more 
 of the ladies are able to read. The way in which this wish of 
 educated gentlemen works is well illustrated by Mr. Taylor of 
 Guzerat: "A Nagar Brahmin," he says, "a caste corresponding 
 to the Kulin of Bengal, was the Munsuf, or native judge of the 
 district in which I laboured. He had received the benefit of a 
 fair English education. He felt the disadvantage and evil of 
 
 "... 
 
 ignorance in his family. With very commendable zeal he set 
 himself to instruct his wife and daughter. The latter was also 
 occasionally sent to our school, where she associated with Christ- 
 ian children, and some who were of very low caste. (We allow 
 of no caste distinctions in our schools ; high and low are admitted 
 on equal terms, and are all instructed together.) Among other 
 things the girls are taught needle and fancy-work. A report of 
 this latter was carried by one Brahminical pupil to her mother, 
 who sent a polite message requesting one of the girls to be sent 
 to her house, who might teach her to do crotchet work. As it 
 was not desirable needlessly to offend prejudices, should they 
 exist, the lady was informed that the girl who understood the 
 work best was one of the lowest caste, and we were willing to 
 send her in case her services should be acceptable. * By all 
 means send her,' was the reply. This created a little excitement 
 in the town, as the young person we sent was well known, and 
 had a number of relations and friends in the place. A remon- 
 strance from the Brahmins was sent up to the judge's wife. 
 She was, however, firm in her resolve, and replied to the ob- 
 
 L 
 
146 TEN years' missionary iarour 
 
 jections in so decided a manner as to prevent all further inter- 
 ference." 
 
 The late Mrs. Mullens had long desired to devote her time 
 and efforts entirely to this plan of female education, but before her 
 visit, to England in 1858, had been unable to find opportunity to 
 do more than establish two girls' schools, containing about fifty 
 girls in the houses of native gentlemen. On her return from 
 England in December 1860, she found that (as on many other 
 questions) native public opinion had greatly advanced on female 
 education since the Mutiny ; and as her friend, Mrs. Sale, was 
 leaving for England, she offered to instruct the ladies of two 
 native houses, which Mrs. Sale had been accustomed to visit. 
 The offer was received by all parties with pleasure ; and before 
 long a third family was added in the neighbourhood of the other 
 two. Thus commenced her labours in the sphere she had long 
 coveted, the Zenana Mission. Making arrangements for her 
 boarding-school, she prepared to give her entire time to this 
 important work, believing that in her perfect command of Bengali 
 and her long experience in teaching, the Master had given her 
 valuable qualifications, especially suited to its accomplishment. 
 A new effort was made in the neighbourhood of her own resi- 
 dence, and two houses were opened to her there. Very soon 
 letters arrived from native gentlemen near, asking for her ser- 
 vices ; and as the matter grew, she was able to settle terms 
 respecting books to be read, and a proportion of expenses to be 
 paid. No parade was made about the work ; it was scarcely 
 talked of; all was managed with the quietness and silence be- 
 fitting the position in which such work is placed. And before 
 many months had passed, she had under visitation and instruc- 
 tion eight Zenanas and three girls' schools, containing eighty 
 ladies and seventy girls. She had also as native assistants three 
 women, one a Christian, and two Hindus, who had been long 
 known to her as clever, instructed women. Her scholars were 
 taught reading, writing, wool-work, and crotchet ; and bundles 
 of wool, with patterns, canvas, needles, and cotton, were soon 
 despatched from England by kind friends who took a warm 
 interest in her plans. While the native assistants visited the 
 scholars daily to get them forward in the more mechanical parts 
 of their lessons, she visited every house once a-week personally to 
 give instruction. On these visits she was accompanied by her 
 
 friend Mrs. M , and by her eldest daughter, who took entire 
 
 charge of the work department. Her own time was thus de- 
 voted exclusively to hearing her scholars' lessons, or holding 
 conversations with them. For books, she gave them her own 
 Phulmani, What is Christianity ? and Daybreak in Britain. 
 
IN INDIA. 147 
 
 She was in no haste to introduce the New Testament, wishing 
 first to conciliate her scholars' minds, to obtain their confidence, 
 and remove all lurking fears, well assured that they would soon 
 ask her about her religion, and desire to hear all she had to say. 
 And so it proved. Before long the Gospels were introduced to 
 all who could read ; and many were the conversations she held 
 with them, on the teaching and character of the Saviour, of the 
 most delightful kind. Having perfect command of their lan- 
 guage, and a heart filled with zeal, it was easy to turn any 
 circumstance to good account, to find " sermons in stones," and 
 make everything contribute to their enlightenment and profit. 
 
 Meanwhile, Miss Sandys and the ladies connected with the 
 Normal School in Calcutta, had with laborious zeal carried on a 
 similar work within the city itself, and had met with equally 
 gratifying success. But with the year the labours of Mrs. 
 Mullens came to an end. She had lived to enter on a sphere 
 so long desired, to draw attention to its capabilities, to give the 
 cause of Zenana education a new and powerful impulse, to 
 attract to it the regard of willing friends and coadjutors, to 
 secure for it henceforth a fixed place among missionary agencies 
 in India; and then, ripened in character, most consecrated in 
 labour, purified by recent suffering, suddenly she was called 
 from the toils of earth to the joyous rest of the " better country." 
 Her labours have been steadily continued by her daughter and 
 other kind friends ; and the sphere of usefulness grows larger as 
 time goes by. At the end of the present year, her own sphere 
 contained fifteen Zenanas under regular visitation, with four 
 schools for Zenana girls. Putting together the labours of the 
 Normal school, and of all engaged in Zenana teaching, it appears 
 that at the present time, in Calcutta and its suburbs, there are 
 from 25 to 30 Zenanas, and several schools under instruction, 
 containing together 200 ladies and 100 children. A brief extract 
 from a recent letter will show how the work is going on : " In the 
 last of our new houses we have two women most anxious to learn. 
 The day we first went they would hardly let us come away. 
 One of the women told us she had been longing to learn for 
 months, and had begun with her husband's younger brother. 
 She had done so well, that in three weeks she read through 
 the Gospel of St. John, and could answer any question upon it. 
 Another in the same house is reading the Peep of Day. We 
 
 have one very nice Zenana in B , containing five women, 
 
 most quick and attentive. The eldest worked the centre of the 
 mat that we sent home to Miss Webb. She is reading the Bible 
 right through. She told us that her husband likes her to hear 
 about Christianity. Another clever pupil of ours is the wife of a 
 
148 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 doctor. She not only pays for her wools and canvas, but sends 
 her own carriage for us every week. She reads and writes 
 Bengali very nicely, and her English is getting on capitally. 
 She is reading the Second English Instructor, and can write 
 short sentences. Her husband is anxious for her improvement, 
 
 and has helped her on greatly. The B school is flourishing. 
 
 G. C. and I, went yesterday unexpectedly, and found 27 child- 
 ren busy with their reading." 
 
 An unusually deep interest has been taken by missionary 
 friends in these efforts ; many inquiries have been made as to 
 their management, and many ladies have expressed a desire to 
 undertake similar work. Nothing can be more simple, when a 
 favourable opening is found, to a lady of wisdom, stedfastness, and 
 zeal. Commenced with quiet inquiries; growing from one 
 house to another, as opinion progresses ; managed with prudence 
 and with kindness; its details as to places and persons kept in 
 silence ; carried on with a full command of the native language, 
 and rendered interesting by friendly and familiar conversation, 
 the work can scarcely fail, under the Master's blessing, to find 
 acceptance, and to prove a lasting benefit. This was the course 
 adopted by her who has been called the Apostle of the Zenana 
 Mission ; and if any, copying her example, wherein it was right, 
 endeavour to follow up the labours she so warmly loved, it will 
 be true of her as of so many faithful servants of the Saviour, 
 " her works follow her ; " " she, being dead, yet speaketh." 
 
 IX. MISSIONARY LITERATURE IN INDIA. 
 
 The vast territories of India present a field for the circulation of 
 the Bible and of Christian literature generally, exceeding that 
 of all other missionary fields put together, excepting China. 
 Numerous local societies are at work in the spread of truth, 
 most ably and liberally sustained by the Bible and Tract Societies 
 in England. Missionaries and native preachers, by oft-repeated 
 journeys, endeavour to put Christian works into circulation ; 
 and if (as in China and in Burmah) a large proportion of the 
 people everywhere were able to read, Christianity would doubtless 
 spread with greater rapidity and secure a deeper hold than it has 
 done upon their hearts. The appalling fact, that of these multi- 
 tudes of people, in rural districts, only two or three per cent 
 can read, and that, scattered over those districts, there are 
 thousands of villages in which not one person can read or write, 
 proves a most formidable barrier to the extension of such efforts ; 
 
IN INDIA. 149 
 
 and as the funds for those efforts are freely offered, and the 
 missionaries on the spot, hindered by the wall of practical difficulty 
 in front, do not make the rapid advance desired, not a little mis- 
 understanding has arisen between them and the friends of Bible 
 and Tract Societies at home, which it will be wise speedily to 
 settle. A few facts regarding recent efforts in this matter will 
 enable all parties to review the position in which Christian 
 missions at present stand, and to determine what at present they 
 are able to perform. Regard must be had to the amount and 
 quality of the material provided, as well as to the extent of its 
 circulation ; whether we look at the pure word of God, or the 
 Christian literature which is based upon its truths. 
 
 Indian Versions of the Scriptures. 
 
 Candid inquiry will show, by clearest evidence, that the 
 work done by missionaries and Bible Societies in India during 
 the past ten years, in providing sound translations of the Scrip- 
 tures, has been very great. A large portion has been spent upon 
 the improvement of older versions in the principal languages, 
 in which they have long since been published. A considerable 
 amount has also been applied to the production of versions alto- 
 gether new. The particulars may be put in the following com- 
 pact form : — 
 
 Language. Work done. 
 
 Bengali Third edition of the Bible entirely revised, 
 
 completed and published. The New Testa- 
 ment is in its eleventh edition : a small pocket 
 New Testament published. Attempt made to 
 get an improved version by the Krishnaghur 
 missionaries: John and Galatians prepared: 
 the effort not followed up. Various portions 
 joined for circulation: Genesis, andxx. chaps, 
 of Exodus : Luke and Acts ; and single books 
 prepared in abundance. 
 
 Musalman-Bengali. The language familiar to Mahomedans in East 
 Bengal : the ordinary words are Bengali ; but 
 the religious terms are not those used by 
 Hindus, but are the technical words of the 
 Koran. The four Gospels and Acts ; Genesis 
 and Exodus ; Psalms and Isaiah, all published 
 
 Oriya An improved edition of the New Testament 
 
 in course of publication. The complete Bible 
 (by Dr. Sutton) still in use. 
 
150 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 Language. Work done. 
 
 Assamese An improved edition of the New Testament 
 
 published. Revision of the Psalms com- 
 menced. 
 
 Hindi Old Testament published early in the de- 
 cade : old editions and copies destroyed in the 
 Mutiny. Revised New Testament printed in 
 a large edition in London, in Nagri character. 
 
 Hindi-Kaithi Large editions of the Hindu Version in this 
 
 character, for the people of Behar and Oude. 
 
 Urdu Revision of the New Testament prepared ; 
 
 manuscript destroyed in the Mutiny, with 
 portions already printed. Entire Bible re- 
 printed in Urdu-roman in London. Gospels 
 and other single books reprinted. 
 
 Punjabi Version commenced for the people of the 
 
 Punjab. The four Gospels, and Acts, Gene- 
 sis and Psalms, published. 
 
 Pushto The language of the Affghans. Several 
 
 portions of the New Testament reprinted from 
 Carey's version, edition, 3000 copies; version 
 revised ; four Gospels and Acts ; Genesis and 
 Psalms, in manuscript, ready for the press. 
 
 Sindhi Language of Scinde. Version commenced. 
 
 Genesis, Matthew and John, published. 
 
 Mahrati The entire Bible revised. Revision pub- 
 lished complete. 
 
 Guzerati The entire Bible revised by Dr. Glasgow, 
 
 and published. 
 
 Parsee - Guzerati .. The Guzerati revised New Testament, 
 edited with the technical religious words in 
 the language of the Parsees ; printed to 2 
 Corinthians. 
 
 Telugu The Old Testament version of Gordon and 
 
 Pritchett printed for the first time ; a second 
 edition published; the New Testament revised 
 by Messrs. Hay and Wardlaw, and published : 
 later revision prepared by C. P. Brown, Esq. 
 and published. 
 
 Tamil The entire Bible revised : "Union Version" 
 
 published. Large editions printed for cir- 
 culation. Version not approved ; a reviser 
 secured, and revising committee ; new version 
 printed to 1 Corinthians. A pocket Tamil 
 Testament published. 
 
 Canarese Mr. Weigle's version completed and pub- 
 lished ; reprinted in later years as needed. 
 
IN INDIA. 151 
 
 Language. Work done. 
 
 Malayali The New Testament entirely revised and 
 
 published : the Old Testament reprinted from 
 an older version. 
 
 Tulu A language spoken on the Canara Coast ; the 
 
 New Testament printed by the Basle Mission. 
 
 Singhalese The New Testament entirely revised and 
 
 published, and now used in all missions : the 
 three separate versions of former days put 
 aside. The Old Testament reprinted with 
 slight corrections. 
 
 Dakhina-Hindustani. A corrupt form of the Urdu language spoken 
 by Mahomedans south of the Vindhya Moun- 
 tains. Genesis and John have been printed. 
 
 Badaga . .. The language of the aborigines in the Nilg- 
 
 herry hills. The Gospel of Luke has been 
 published. 
 
 Nepalese Version commenced by Mr. Start many years 
 
 since. Luke and Acts just reprinted. 
 
 Lepcha Spoken by the aborigines around Darjeel- 
 
 ing and Sikkhim. Several books of the 
 New Testament translated and printed by 
 Mr. Start. 
 
 Khassia Spoken by the natives around Cherra- 
 
 poonjee. The four Gospels and Acts published, 
 translated by the Welsh Mission. 
 
 Thibetan Matthew published by the Moravian Mis- 
 sion. 
 
 Sanskrit Translation of the Old Testament continued 
 
 by Mr. Wenger. Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, 
 and Luke, printed in the Bengali character ; 
 a diglot also of the Psalms, in Sanskrit and 
 Oriya, printed in the Oriya character. 
 
 Burman Dr. Judson's version of the entire Bible : 
 
 copies on hand : nothing done : preparations 
 for a reprint. 
 
 Sgau-Karen Entire Bible published previously. New 
 
 Testament reprinted. Reprint of the whole 
 Bible needed. 
 
 Talatng The New Testament reprinted. 
 
 Pavo-Karen Version commenced by Mr. Brayton. New 
 
 Testament completed and published ; also 
 Genesis and Exodus, Psalms, Daniel, and 
 Isaiah (the latter books by the Calcutta Bible 
 Society). 
 
 Bghai-Karen Near Toungoo. Version commenced by Dr. 
 
 Mason. Genesis, James, and Epistles of John 
 published; Psalms and Isaiah nearly com- 
 pleted. 
 
152 ten tears' missionary labour 
 
 From tliis table it appears that within the bounds of the 
 Indian Empire there are published fourteen entire versions of 
 the Word of God in separate languages, the principal tongues of 
 the empire; that the whole New Testament is published in five 
 others, and twenty separate books of the Old or New Testament 
 in seven more. Thus the Word of God, in whole or part, has 
 been put into no less than twenty-five living languages in India. 
 It appears also, that with the exception of the Burman, Sgau- 
 Karen, and Oriya, all the complete versions have been revised 
 and improved either in whole or part ; that the Bengali, Urdu, 
 Mahrati, Guzerati, Canarese, Tamil, and Telugu missionaries, 
 have given the whole Bible to the people in an improved form ; 
 that the Singhalese, Malayali, Hindu, and Assamese, have pub- 
 lished revised New Testaments ; that several new versions have 
 been commenced in Sindhi, Pushtu, and Punjabi: that others 
 have been completed in Tulu and Pwo-Karen ; and that other 
 languages now contain various books of the Bible published for the 
 first time. It appears also, that careful and successful attempts 
 have been made to fill up various defects which lay just outside 
 mission work, and to fit current versions to the people more 
 exactly by editions of Scriptures in the mixed tongues of Musal- 
 man - Bengali, Parsi-Guzerati, and Dakhina - Hindustani ; and 
 in the mixed characters of tongues of Hindi-Kaithi, Sanskrit- 
 Bengali, and Sanskrit-Oriya. All these things exhibit earnest- 
 ness of purpose, activity of intelligence, and enormous labour, 
 and place the labour of those missionaries who have devoted 
 time, scholarship, and toil to this important task in the strongest 
 light. Difficulties have been met, deficiencies have been supplied, 
 losses have been repaired ; and whatever causes of dissatisfaction 
 may be found in the application of the Bible to India, those 
 causes will scarcely be sought or found in these efforts to supply 
 in every language of the Empire a faithful version of the Word 
 of God. 
 
 Recent Circulation of the Scriptures. 
 
 The number of Scriptures, or portions of Scripture, put into 
 circulation during the last ten years may be seen from the fol- 
 lowing table. The returns in all the principal Societies are com- 
 plete ; in some of the minor Societies only partially so; and a 
 portion of their circulation has been estimated. It would have 
 been advisable to give the circulation by languages ; but there 
 were no means of discovering it in numerous cases, only lump 
 sums being given in published reports, though the elements were 
 known to be various. As it is the total is believed to represent 
 a near approximation to the circulation which has actually taken 
 place. 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 153 
 
 Society. 
 
 Languages. 
 
 No. of Copies. 
 
 Calcutta Bible Society 
 
 Calcutta Baptist Mission 
 Orissa Mission . 
 North India Bible Society . 
 Ludiana Mission 
 Bombay Bible Society . 
 
 Madras Bible Society . 
 
 Jaffna Bible Society . 
 Singhalese Bible Society 
 Burmah Missions 
 
 / Bengali, Hindu - Kaithi, , 
 Sanskrit, Nepali, Pwo, [ 
 * and Bghai- Karen . . ' 
 \ Bengali, Sanskrit, Urdu, and } 
 \ Hindi ... . \ 
 
 Oriya .... 
 ( Urdu, Hindi, Pushtu, &c, } 
 I about . . . . ) 
 
 Punjabi, about . 
 J Mahrati, Guzerati, Sindhi, ) 
 
 &c 
 
 J Tamil, Telugu, Canarese, ) 
 \ and Malayali . . . £ 
 
 Tamil .... 
 
 Singhalese, about 
 
 Burman, Talaing, &C . 
 
 396,534 . 
 
 217,603 
 30,500 
 
 132,000 
 75,000 
 64,994 
 
 592,883 
 
 37,251 
 28,000 
 60,175 
 
 
 Total Copies 
 
 1,634,940 
 
 The cost of these Scriptures it is not easily to calculate, owing 
 to the imperfect state of the returns. One thing, however, is 
 plain. To the British and Foreign Bible Society the obligations 
 of all the Indian auxiliaries are very great. No request is ever 
 made to its Committee, no aid sought, no counsel asked, without 
 the kindest consideration being paid, and the most liberal re- 
 sponse being given to these requests. During the past decade 
 the Society sent out to the Indian auxiliaries 30,000 reams of 
 paper, and made grants in money and English Bibles to the 
 value of 70,000Z. The Society's Indian Special Fund amounted 
 to 7189Z., and paid for the printing in London of 123,000 copies 
 of the different Scriptures needed after the Mutiny in Upper 
 India. Of the grants made by the Bible Translation Society and 
 the American Bible Society, no information has been published 
 in India. 
 
 With a view to increase the circulation of the Scriptures so 
 liberally supplied, various expedients have come prominently into 
 notice during the last ten years. On the one hand, the Bible 
 Societies in India and England have appropriated special funds 
 to assist the itinerancies of missionaries ; on the other, they have 
 endeavoured to secure the services of Bible-agents and Colpor- 
 teurs. In Bengal especially, year after year, several missionaries 
 have been able, through these grants, to increase the length of 
 journeys they had already planned, and to remain out a longer 
 period. Some have traversed the Eastern Provinces, where so 
 
154 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 few missionaries preach and the " famine of the Word ** is so 
 great ; others have passed along the great rivers ; others have 
 visited the broad districts of ignorant Behar, and preached and 
 given or sold Scriptures in the great markets and fairs on the north 
 of the Ganges, adding greatly to existing agencies and spreading 
 the Word over a wider surface. 
 
 The col portage system has also added to these agencies, 
 though qualified agents have not been found in sufficient num- 
 bers to set the system on a strong footing. The system, where 
 well watched, as in Madras, has been successful, and doubtless in 
 all the Presidencies will extend as years go by. At present 
 thirty-six colporteurs are employed by the Bible Societies: seven- 
 teen in Madras; five in Bengal; four in Upper India; four in 
 Kandy, and so on. It is not to be wondered at that more of these 
 men cannot easily be obtained for this service. The Indian 
 Church, out of its 16,000 male communicants, has contributed 
 to mission-work more than 2000 men as pastors and native 
 preachers, with some hundreds more as school-teachers. All 
 over the rural districts these men are the flower of the native 
 flock ; where shall we find (what all would like) a thousand col- 
 porteurs beside ? 
 
 The number of copies of Scripture circulated yearly amounts 
 on an average to 163,000, of which probably 23,000 copies may 
 be Bibles or New Testaments : the remaining 140,000 single 
 books of Scripture, chiefly Gospels. In face of the appalling 
 multitudes to be fed, who does not ask — " What are they among 
 so many?" To any thinking mind the remembrance of these 
 destitute multitudes, of whom so few can read, is an oppressive 
 burden. Still one ought to be grateful that among the seven 
 millions of readers contained in India, a million and a half of 
 portions of the Bible have been circulated in the last ten years, 
 besides (as we shall see) eight millions and a half of tracts and 
 books. 
 
 Several years ago, at one of the annual meetings of the Bible 
 Society in Exeter Hall, Mr. Arthur proposed that the Society 
 should endeavour to supply with a copy of the Bible every 
 village in which could be found one man who was able to read it. 
 That proposal did not meet with the attention which it perhaps 
 deserved. Perhaps some thought that the Exeter Hall platform 
 was not altogether the best place to bring up, for the first and last 
 time, a proposal the execution of which involved such vast ex- 
 pense and such enormous labour, spread over a period of many 
 years. Some there were who felt strongly that the most pressing 
 want of the country is the living preacher, rather than the written 
 book ; perhaps others at once set down the proposal as impracti- 
 
IN INDIA. 155 
 
 cable ; and others had far too much current work on their hands 
 to attend to it. Whatever be the cause, the proposal did not 
 meet with the attention that its author designed ; and yet in one 
 aspect it is a proposal of great value. Missionary work loses 
 much from the want of definite aims ; and in the present inde- 
 scribable ignorance of the population of India, spread over such a 
 vast surface, every effort that tends, by localizing labour, to 
 extend its force, must prove a benefit. It would be well for all 
 Missions and for all Indian Bible Societies, to review their efforts 
 for the circulation of the Bible, and intelligently aim at certain 
 definite objects in their own special localities. Several practical 
 suggestions have been made at times by missionaries and societies 
 with the view of increasing that circulation. For instance, Dr. 
 Duff suggested that for its spread among native converts, every 
 Christian child in every Mission-school should have a New Tes- 
 tament of its own. The Singhalese Society, on occasion of the 
 Jubilee of the Bible Society, presented every native Christian 
 family in the Singhalese part of Ceylon with a new Bible. The 
 Bombay Society, among special regulations for promoting an 
 increased circulation, suggested that all the Government colleges 
 and schools — English and Vernacular — be specially canvassed, 
 and the New Testament be offered for two annas ; that all classes 
 of Englishmen — lay and clerical — be urged to present copies to 
 all their native friends and acquaintances ; that copies be given 
 gratis to all visitors and inquirers. And, coming very near to 
 Mr. Arthur's proposal, they resolved, " that grants of Scriptures 
 (in whole or part) be made to villages, care being taken to gua- 
 rantee their safe custody;" and " that colporteurs (and others) be 
 authorized to present a copy of the Bible or New Testament to 
 the accountant or headman of each village." Mr. Orbison, of 
 Rawul Pindee, obtaining from his school-boys the names and 
 addresses of all the respectable inhabitants of the town, sent to 
 each one of them a copy of the New Testament ; and so well was 
 the effort received, that several, whose names he had not learned, 
 sent to inquire why they had been omitted in the distribution. 
 These and many other efforts and applications of holy ingenuity 
 might be adopted (by men who have the time) to make the circu- 
 lation of the Scriptures more definite in many localities, and to 
 secure, as far as may be, that every man in India, known to be 
 able to read, may obtain some portion of the Word of God. 
 
 One illustration of these endeavours to supply fixed lo- 
 calities with the Scriptures is thus described by Mr. Walton 
 of Jaffna: — 
 
 " In the parishes connected with this mission, under my 
 superintendence, there are upwards of 5000 houses, embracing 
 
156 TEN tears' mission art labour 
 
 a population of more than 35,000 souls. The colporteurs 
 allotted to me have been restricted to the ample field above 
 indicated, but the work has not been sufficiently long in opera- 
 tion to enable me to attempt an accurate estimate of the results. 
 I am very desirous that it should be continued for another year. 
 I hope the parent society will make a further grant for that pur- 
 pose. We have not effected many sales, nor is the total number 
 of volumes circulated large. It would have been very easy 
 for our agents to have distributed ten times the number, but I 
 deemed it advisable to impose some rather stringent restrictions 
 upon the colporteurs, to prevent, as far as possible, the Holy 
 Bible being applied to ignoble uses. The bread we cast upon 
 the waters we expect to find after many days. There is some- 
 thing peculiar in this part of India, and I trust the parent society 
 will allow us to do their work in our own w r ay, which, having 
 been adopted by experience, is probably the best. Our Ver- 
 nacular schools, male and female, have been supplied with por- 
 tions of Scripture with the same liberality as in former years." 
 
 Mr. Barber says: "Every boy in our English central school 
 possesses a copy of either the English Bible or the Testament, 
 and the first hour of each day is devoted to the study of the 
 Book of books." 
 
 One circumstance, which, in addition to large previous issues, 
 has somewhat checked the circulation of the Scriptures in recent 
 years, is the extent to which the plan of selling them has been 
 carried. The plan was much opposed at first, but it has grown 
 upon missionaries, has found much favour, and is being exten- 
 sively adopted all over India. The numbers circulated fall below 
 those given away in former years, but it is generally believed that 
 they fall into better hands and meet w T ith more profitable treat- 
 ment. As an illustration, Mr. Sternberg says : — 
 
 " Regarding the item of sale of ' Hindui Gospels,' it will be in- 
 teresting to you to hear, that we have commenced to take some little 
 money from the natives, for the volumes of the Holy Scriptures, 
 especially the new large-typed Kaithi volumes. The plan has 
 suggested itself to us at Siwratri fair, when we were somewhat 
 roughly applied to for books, and yet had no satisfaction in 
 throwing them away ; and now having acted on it for the last 
 eight months, we can say, that it answers the purposes for which 
 it was adopted, viz., first, to save our books from destruction, by 
 certain classes of natives, who take them for the bindings ; and 
 secondly, to induce the better disposed native readers to set some 
 value on the books, for which they have paid something. Should 
 it be found that this plan will prepare the way for something like 
 a regular sale of Scriptures, at, however, so much reduced prices, 
 
IN INDIA. 157 
 
 it will be still more advantageous. Hitherto, the demand for 
 books has in no wise decreased on that account, but rather in- 
 creased, and we have always had (at fairs especially) more appli- 
 cants than books. The brethren in Chuprah have adopted the 
 plan with equal success ; Brother Ziemann sold books at a fair in 
 Bullia, Ghazepore district, in the preceding month, for ten rupees 
 ten annas ; emptied three large boxes, and was obliged to send 
 many applicants with pice in their hands away because his stock 
 was gone. Mr. Smith, of Rajghat (Benares), who had visited 
 that fair with the late Mr. Bowley for twenty-five or thirty years, 
 could not refrain from expressing his surprise at the change in the 
 people ; he said to Brother Ziemann, ' Formerly they would not 
 take our books nor listen to our discourses; now they listen, take 
 books, and pay also for them.' He earnestly recommended the 
 brethren to carry on the plan, and some missionaries who attended 
 last Sonepore fair have also approved of it. I hope this explana- 
 tion will remove a fear, as if the dissemination of the word would 
 suffer from such a plan. Should it prove so we may easily alter 
 it." 
 
 Mr. Ziemann, of Ghazeepore, thus refers to the same place: — 
 
 " Ajodhya and Fyzabad fair in Oude. This fair, as far as I 
 could ascertain, had never been visited by any missionary ; there 
 were, I believe, more than half a million of pilgrims from every 
 part of Hindustan assembled to worship the monkey god Hanu- 
 man, and to bathe in the river Sarjoo, where Ram, their incarnate 
 god, had drowned himself. I can assert that I seldom found 
 people so attentive and quiet, and many of them expressed great 
 delight at what they heard of Jesus, the Saviour of the world, 
 and said that they had never heard such tidings before, and that, 
 in comparison with Jesus, their gods were all worthy of being 
 forsaken, and He alone worthy of worship, because He was holy, 
 whereas their gods had committed the greatest sins and im- 
 purities. They pressed upon me for books, and paid with plea- 
 sure three pice for each single Gospel, and made a salaam into 
 the bargain." 
 
 On the general result of the distribution of the Scriptures, 
 and the influence which they are steadily producing on the mind 
 of the .country, the late Dr. Campbell, of Saharunpore, thus 
 writes in one of his reports : — 
 
 " Our principal distribution of the sacred Scriptures during 
 the past year was made at the Hardwar fair, where some thou- 
 sands of portions of them in Hindi, Urdu, Persian, and Punjabi, 
 were given away to pilgrims who could read them, and who ex- 
 pressed a desire to carry them to their homes in different and 
 
158 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 distant parts of India. The Bible is a book which is now be- 
 coming well known to many of the heathen in this land, and it 
 seems now to be sought for, not so much as an object of curiosity 
 as in former years, but from a desire to find in it a more par- 
 ticular account of the truths which have been heard from mis- 
 sionaries, or through the reports given by those who have heard 
 of the truths of the Gospel in some way or other. Every year's 
 experience convinces us more thoroughly that the word of God 
 is not bound, but spreading rapidly among the masses of the 
 community. We find now but few men of common intelligence 
 who do not know something of the leading facts contained in the 
 Christian Scriptures ; and as but few have had an opportunity of 
 hearing the living preachers of the Gospel, whence could this 
 arise but by the general and extensive circulation of the word of 
 God, or of the important facts that have been learned from it?" 
 
 Mr. Sampson, of Serampore, thus describes a most interesting 
 fact in his own experience : — " While preaching, a shopkeeper 
 arrived, and having opened his shop came to listen, and after a 
 few minutes began talking with one of the preachers. I then 
 saw him go into his shop and show the preacher a book that had 
 evidently been left open from the preceding day, and which 
 looked to me like a Bible. I drew near, and found it to be a 
 Bible printed by the Calcutta Bible Society. We continued the 
 conversation, and in reply to my questions he told me that the 
 book had been given him about seven years ago by some person 
 unknown to him. He was in the habit of reading the Bible 
 daily. I turned to the conversation of Christ with Nicodemus, 
 especially to the passage, ' God so loved the world, that He gave 
 his only-begotten Son,' &c. I questioned him about it, and he 
 gave me a very good account of the plan of salvation through 
 Christ. He had not been educated in any mission-school. He 
 avowed his faith in Christ as the only Saviour of men. I said 
 to him, e If you believe in Christ you cannot worship idols.' He 
 replied that he did not. He had not conversed with missionaries, 
 but had received his notion of Christianity entirely from the 
 Bible. The man talked with a degree of modesty and intelli- 
 gence not often met with. It certainly was one of the most 
 pleasing cases I had ever met with. Alone in the midst of 
 heathen, he had acquired a head-knowledge, to say the very 
 least, of Christianity, and but for the pure accident of our being 
 somewhat too early for the Mela, and stopping to preach there, 
 we should have known nothing about him. Who knows but 
 there may be many such instances? Unknown as they may be 
 to us however, they are all known to God." 
 
IN INDIA. 159 
 
 The Madras Bible Society gives the following illustration of 
 the benefit of distributing the Scriptures among the emigrant 
 coolies: — 
 
 " A Hindu, whose heathen name was ' Moonisami,' but who 
 is now called 'Thomas Lawrence/ was converted instrumentally 
 by the reading of a New Testament, given to him when leaving 
 Madras as a coolie for the West Indies. He states that in reading 
 this Blessed Book he was struck with the difference of its teach- 
 ing, as to the immortality of the soul, acceptance with God, and 
 other topics, from what he had learned in Hinduism. On his 
 arrival in Jamaica he obtained further instruction, and was soon 
 after baptized into the Christian faith." 
 
 Of the increased willingness of the people to receive the Scrip- 
 tures since the Mutiny, the following testimony is borne by Mr. 
 Merk, of Kangra: — 
 
 " It may be interesting to you to learn, that with respect to 
 the willingness of natives to accept our Scriptures, or parts of 
 them, as well as tracts, a decided change for the better has taken 
 place since 1857. This place, as you perhaps may know, is twice 
 a-year visited, on the occasion of Melas, by natives of almost 
 every part of India for the purpose of paying their homage to 
 Kali. Not only Hindus, but also Sikhs and even Mahommedans, 
 visit this shrine, and that of Jwala-mukhi. On these occasions 
 there have always been a few people willing to accept our books. 
 A marked difference has, however, lately shown itself. Last 
 October Mela was the first well attended since 1857 ; and it was 
 very striking indeed to observe the eagerness with which many 
 natives of all three classes mentioned above asked for and re- 
 ceived books, after it had been ascertained that each applicant 
 could read the book he asked for; and it is no exaggeration when 
 I say that, during last October Mela, we have distributed more 
 books than during all the Melas for the four previous years of 
 my stay here. With this willingness to accept our books corre- 
 sponds the attention and civility we have met with when preach- 
 ing to these crowds." 
 
 One of the most pleasing cases which illustrate the benefit of 
 colportage, in searching out the readers to be found in retired 
 districts, is thus described by Mr. Hislop, of Nagpore : — " In a 
 small village named Yediluwada, our messenger was received 
 with great kindness by a woman of the Gwali caste. Possessing 
 a great thirst for knowledge, which she inherited from her father, 
 who had taught her to read, she heard with joy the report that a 
 man had arrived with a store of books. But she was poor, and 
 had no money in the house; how, then, could she obtain the 
 coveted treasure? Her only ornament of any value was a silver 
 
160 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 bracelet which she wore. This she carried to a goldsmith, and 
 causing- him to cut off a part, gave it in exchange for three por- 
 tions of the Telugu Scriptures. The colporteur she welcomed 
 to her house, furnished him with rice and ghee, and sat up half 
 the night reading, now in Matthew, and then in Psalms, and 
 asking cpuestions on the meaning as she went along. There is 
 good reason to hope that the books which she thus acquired will 
 be made generally useful, for the subject of this notice, though 
 humble, is a woman of great influence. Her husband chooses to 
 remain in unlettered ignorance, but she every day instructs a 
 younger brother of her own who lives in their house. As soon as 
 she had looked over the contents of her own books, she spoke to 
 a shopkeeper in the village commending them to his attention. 
 ' These books,' she said, ' are not to be had in this part of the 
 country. They give good advice about God and the soul, and 
 are not like the idolatrous works that are commonly found in the 
 hands of our people.' The shopkeeper, who had previously de- 
 clined to buy a single tract, now provided himself with a shil- 
 ling's worth, under the influence of the woman's example and 
 advice." 
 
 The case of our Bible Societies generally is thus put by Dr. 
 Wilson, of Bombay : — 
 
 " It is a very difficult matter in the instances of conversion 
 which occur in India, to adjudicate between the claims and influ- 
 ences of the different agencies and instrumentalities, ministerial, 
 educational, and literary, which are employed in the instruction of 
 the natives. As far as Christianity is concerned, however, they 
 all centre in the Sacred Scriptures, in furnishing which the Bible 
 Society is performing a great work of duty and philanthropy. 
 From year to year I am becoming more and more impressed 
 with the importance of its labours. During the past twelve 
 months I have witnessed, with much gratitude to God, their 
 hallowed effects on different classes of the community. In par- 
 ticular instances before my eye, I have found the Bible, with but 
 little tuition from man, originate or satisfy that inquiry which, 
 with the working of the Divine Spirit, issued in conversion. 
 This, to a certain marked extent, has been the case in connexion 
 with the Bombay students and others whose cases in connexion 
 with the Free Church of Scotland's Mission, have lately excited 
 a large degree of public attention. As an example, I would 
 mention that of Sayyad Hasan el-Mediniyah, now a candidate 
 for baptism. When assuming this position, he addressed to me 
 the following note: — 'I have under Divine Grace humbly to in- 
 form you, that by the perusal of the Holy Bible, a copy of which 
 was kindly presented to me by your respected lady, as well as 
 
IN INDIA. 161 
 
 some other Christian books, and by contrasting them with the 
 Koran, I am fully convinced of the divine origin of the former 
 and the imposition of the latter. Being, therefore, desirous, 
 under the Lord of infinite mercy and justice, of making a public 
 profession of my faith in Christ Jesus, the only Saviour of the 
 world, notwithstanding all the ridicule and persecution I shall be 
 inevitably exposed to thereby, I hope you will be pleased to give 
 me shelter under the mission-roof, as I think I should be unsafe 
 were I to do so among my relations and people.' This case, with 
 others, is of a most satisfactory and encouraging character. I 
 regret that my time at present does not permit me to enter more 
 fully into particulars." 
 
 Christian Tracts and Books. 
 
 Many agents are at work in India co-operating for the pro- 
 duction of a native Christian literature. This literature, how- 
 ever, is not one : it consists, in fact, of fourteen sets of Christian 
 works, in as many different languages. These works consist of 
 school-books, of works for the special help of native converts, and 
 others for the instruction of the heathen. There can be little 
 doubt that the position occupied by this literature at the present 
 time is far higher than that which it held ten years ago. Much 
 time, labour, and experience have been expended on its improve- 
 ment in every Presidency of India. The works now available are 
 far more numerous, exhibit greater variety of subject, have been 
 written in better style, have in many cases been embellished with 
 woodcuts, and are printed in better fashion than in former years. 
 In the educational branch of literature all conductors of Christian 
 schools and institutions will readily allow that, with the great 
 variety of books now imported from England, as well as locally 
 prepared, the schools are well supplied with abundance of works 
 suitable for their scholars' instruction. Good service has been 
 done in this department of effort by the Christian Vernacular 
 Education Society, which has thrown itself, with unusual earnest- 
 ness, into the production and circulation of English school-books, 
 and has made them easily accessible to all missionary schools that 
 like them, from the Himalaya to Dondra Head. Its services 
 would have been more acceptable to missions generally, had it 
 not become a competing book society, and evinced considerable 
 desire to drive out of the market all school-books previously 
 existing and standing in its way. 
 
 During the last fifteen years great efforts have been made to 
 produce a good vernacular literature. The Calcutta Tract So- 
 ciety led the way, soon followed by the Societies at Madras and 
 
 M 
 
162 TEN tears' missionary labour 
 
 in Upper India. These efforts, made at heavy expense, and 
 greatly aided by the kind encouragement and large - hearted 
 liberality of the Religious Tract Society, have borne considerable 
 fruit; and now all the principal languages of India, especially 
 Bengali, Tamil, Urdu, and Singhalese, possess the beginnings of 
 a sound Christian literature, available both for Christians and 
 heathens. It is very difficult to state, with any approach to ac- 
 curacy, the exact number of new works produced in these dif- 
 ferent languages during the last ten years; but it is known that 
 the works are numerous, and of great value. A recent report of 
 the Religious Tract Society stated that, in the ten years between 
 1849-1859, there were printed and published in India 834 dis- 
 tinct publications, of which 323 were books, and 506 were tracts. 
 The names of the books are given, and the lists show that the 
 stock in Bengali and Tamil is large. Among the Bengali books 
 are the Preacher s Companion, Companion to the Bible, Peep of 
 Day, Voyages and Travels of a Bible, Life of Newton, the Benares 
 Prize Essay, Hinduism, Malwmedanism, and Christianity Com- 
 pared, Bunyan's Holy War, Come to Jesus, and others. Among 
 the Tamil works are the Peep of Day, Barnes's Notes, A Com- 
 mentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews by Mr. Whitehouse, Todd's 
 Lectures, A Commentary on the Acts and Gospels by Mr. Sar- 
 gent, and Dr. Eadie's Bible Dictionary. Amongst the works of 
 this decade is the publication of Phulmani and Karuna, in eleven 
 of the Indian languages (Hindi not included) in editions amount- 
 ing to 18,000 copies. Copies were very freely given away among 
 the Christian women of South India and Ceylon. 
 
 In the preparation of these additions to their stock of vernacu- 
 lar Christian literature, all the Tract and Book Societies in India 
 owe a deep debt of gratitude to the Religious Tract Society of 
 London. Their special efforts have been seconded by that Society 
 with hearty encouragement and generous liberality. In the heavy 
 losses occasioned by the Mutiny, the Calcutta and Upper India 
 Societies almost received carte blanche to draw for any sums 
 necessary ; and the grants of tracts and books made to the Eng- 
 lish troops were numbered by hundreds of thousands. In the 
 course of the decade the Society has given to the Auxiliaries 
 in India about 19,000/. in money, 21,300 reams of paper, and 
 1,820,000 English tracts. 
 
 Recent Circulation of Tracts and Books. 
 
 It is probable that the circulation in some of the principal 
 lano;uanes during the last ten years is somewhat less than it was 
 in the previous decade. But in former days almost the entire 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 163 
 
 circulation consisted of tracts, which were given away with a most 
 liberal hand. At the present time a most important part of the 
 issues consists of books, and a great deal of attention is paid to the 
 sale both of books and tracts. It would seem, therefore, that 
 recent efforts exhibit a decided improvement, both in regard to 
 the materials issued and the people who receive them. The fol- 
 lowing is a statement of the issues of the decade from the nume- 
 rous societies and presses scattered over India : — 
 
 Society. 
 
 Calcutta Tract Society . 
 
 Orissa Mission Press . . 
 Assam Mission Press . 
 Tirhoot Mission Press 
 North Indian Tract Society 
 Lodiana Mission Press . 
 Bombay Tract Society 
 Surat Mission Press . . 
 
 Madras Tract Society. . \ 
 
 Bangalore Mission Press 
 Vizagapatam Society . . . 
 Mangalore Mission Press 
 Tellicherry Mission Press 
 Cottayam Mission Press . . 
 Nagercoil Mission Press . 
 Palamcottah Mission Press . 
 Tranquebar Mission Press . 
 South India S. B. Society, ) 
 
 1859 \ 
 
 Church Vernacular Educa- [ 
 
 tional Society, 1859-62 . \ 
 Jaffna Mission Press . 
 Singhalese Tract Society . . 
 
 Burmah Mission Presses. 
 
 Languages. 
 
 Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, &c. j 
 
 Oriya ...... 
 
 Assamese .... 
 
 Hindi-Kaithi 
 Hindi, Urdu, &c. . . 
 Punjabi, Persian, &c. 
 Mahrati, Guzerati, &c. 
 
 Guzerati 
 
 Tamil, Telugu, Canarese, \ 
 
 &c t \ 
 
 Canarese 
 
 Telugu ...... 
 
 Canarese, &c 
 
 Malayali, &c 
 
 Malayali 
 
 Tamil 
 
 Tamil 
 
 Tamil 
 
 English School-Books . . 
 
 Ditto, ditto . . . . ] 
 
 Tamil 
 
 Singhalese 
 
 Burman, Sgau, Pwo, and ) 
 Bghai Karen . . . \ 
 
 Total . . . 
 
 Number. 
 
 150,610 books. 
 1,117,282 tracts. 
 
 372,300. 
 Unknown. 
 
 330,000. 
 
 300,000 (about.) 
 
 112,800. 
 
 542,264. 
 
 170,000. 
 95,177 books. 
 1,206,076. 
 
 275.564. 
 
 171,000. 
 
 143,000. 
 
 63,600. 
 
 Unknown. 
 
 397,196. 
 
 328,425. 
 Unknown. 
 
 276,586. 
 
 385,653. 
 420,000. 
 623,500 adults. 
 295,500 children. 
 
 827,500. 
 
 8,604,033. 
 
 The number of mission presses in India amounts to twenty- 
 five, of which several are very large. Several of the country 
 presses, as at Bangalore, Palamcottah, and Nagercoil, not only 
 print for the Madras Bible and Tract Societies, but obtain grants 
 from England, and print tracts and books on their own account. 
 It is to the latter item that the figures in the above table refer. 
 The writer has endeavoured, as far as possible, to keep it clear 
 of repetitions ; so that the total may represent the number of 
 Christian publications actually issued. 
 
 An important attempt has been made to secure to the various 
 
164 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 Tract Societies of India the benefit of each other's labours, by the 
 publication in one volume of an English translation of thirty-five 
 of the best tracts, published in the vernaculars by different so- 
 cieties. The editor of the little volume is Mr. Murdoch, the 
 travelling agent of the Vernacular Education Society. Endeavours 
 are already being made to get them translated into languages, in 
 which they have not hitherto appeared. 
 
 The influence of the change from free distribution to a system 
 of sale by missionaries, colporteurs, and bookshops, is thus spoken 
 of by the Bombay Report : " From the time that a fixed price 
 was placed upon the Society's publications, they have assumed a 
 new importance in the eyes of the native population ; and the cir- 
 culation, instead of diminishing, has doubled and trebled during 
 the past four years. Many who would have received with in- 
 difference, and treated with neglect, books offered gratuitously, 
 have eagerly paid their money for these same publications when 
 converted into property, by being procurable only by purchase. 
 The very fact of their being offered for sale has awakened a 
 desire to possess and peruse them. And the purchase and careful 
 perusal of one has led to the purchase and perusal of another and 
 another. A new habit of reading is thus formed, and an in- 
 creased readiness to purchase books is engendered." 
 
 The tracts, and Gospels which are given away, may, in some 
 instances, be lost or destroyed ; but in many others they are 
 known to have been carefully preserved, to have been diligently 
 read — even to have been learned by heart — and to have been 
 kept for years. On this subject the late Mr. Lacey gave the 
 following testimony many years ago : — 
 
 " Many instances have come to our notice of much Christian 
 knowledge having been imparted, both by our ministry and the 
 perusal of religious tracts. The latter we have freely but judi- 
 ciously distributed wherever we have gone. Passages, and even 
 whole pages, have been repeated to us, and observations made by 
 the holders of them, which have clearly proved the possession of 
 much religious knowledge, and strong convictions of the truth of 
 Christianity. We have greatly rejoiced at these discoveries, and 
 feel increasingly persuaded thereby that saving light is making 
 progress among the heathen, and is fast bringing on the day, and 
 that particular state of feeling among the people, when, not in 
 solitary instances merely, but when, in comparatively large num- 
 bers, thev shall come together and inquire after the way of the 
 Lord. Many books are readily received, and have been carried 
 to the interior into the hilly regions." 
 
 Mr. Coles of Bellary notices the same fact: "The tracts 
 printed by your assistance find their way into villages and ham- 
 
IN INDIA. 165 
 
 lets far distant, where it may, perhaps, be long before the living 
 preacher will be able to penetrate. We have many proofs that 
 the tracts distributed are generally carefully read and preserved. 
 I have had tracts shown to me, which the owners said they had 
 had for many years in their possession, and the appearance of 
 the books has well supported the assertion. On all our tours we 
 go well supplied with them, and at the great festivals we put 
 large numbers of them into circulation. We, however, exercise 
 as much care in the distribution of them as possible." 
 
 Mr. Nicolson, of Colombo, in Ceylon, thus illustrates the 
 effect produced upon that part of the community which rules 
 public opinion, by the circulation of ably-written exposures of 
 the chief native errors. A similar effect has again and again 
 been produced in the great cities of India by similar means : — 
 
 " The Rev. D. Gogerly's work on the Evidences of Christian- 
 ity, and against Buddhism, was first published in 1847 ; a 
 revised edition of Part I., printed last year, has created a sen- 
 sation among the Buddhists of the island. As all statements 
 respecting Buddhist doctrines are supported by quotations from 
 the Pali authorities, none can deny them ; nor can they refute 
 the foolish and sinful conclusions resulting from those doctrines. 
 The priests have tried to prepare an answer to this book, and 
 intend to publish it shortly. For years there has been a death- 
 like stillness among the leaders of Buddhism ; but now the voice 
 of truth has reached them, and an alarm spreads widely amid 
 their ranks. A Buddhist festival has just been celebrated in 
 Colombo, and an unusual interest caused by the decided opposi- 
 tion shown towards Christianity. One priest has been delivering 
 lectures against the Bible and missionary operations, calling on 
 the people to stand firm in their faith, and have no connexion 
 with teachers of the new religion. He has obtained and read the 
 works of Tom Paine and other infidel writers, making use of 
 their statements in his attacks upon the Scriptures. 
 
 " Perhaps we should do wrong to ascribe this movement to 
 any one book or mission body, but rather look upon it as the 
 result of continuous effort on the part of all, and the stream of 
 pure Christian knowledge which has been long flowing in the 
 arid wastes. But in it we rejoice, and believe such things to be 
 good signs of the better day coming." 
 
 As one illustration of the effect of tract distribution in the 
 gradual enlightenment and conversion of individuals, we quote 
 the following story. It is one among hundreds which may, in 
 the course of years, be culled from the missionary reports pre- 
 pared in all the Presidencies of India. It is taken from the report 
 of the Orissa Mission, which has repeatedly met with such 
 
166 TEN YEAKS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 instances. " On our tour near the Chilka Lake we were deeply- 
 interested with a man, named Konai Das, of the weaver caste. 
 He came to us for a book, and we were amazed at the fluency 
 with which he read it off. The mystery, however, was soon 
 explained. He gives this account of himself. On his return 
 from a pilgrimage to Juggernaut, very dissatisfied with what he 
 saw there, and with his mind ill at ease about the worship of 
 images, he met with a tract called ' God is a Spirit.' This he 
 read again and again, with both surprise and pleasure. He then 
 visited a neighbouring village, where he heard some missionaries 
 had been and left books only a few months before. His object 
 was to beg, or buy, or borrow, some other tracts. He obtained 
 the loan of a bound volume of tracts, and a copy of John's Gospel. 
 He soon made himself acquainted with their contents, and at 
 once began to pray to the living God. He made no secret of 
 the change that had taken place in his mind, but openly renounced 
 his former idols and all connected with them. As he resided 
 fifty miles from the nearest missionary station, he met with no 
 one to whom he could fully open his mind, but continued reading 
 the Word of God and praying. In this way he gradually learned 
 the plan of salvation, and became a happy Christian. He soon 
 began to dispute with the people in his village, declaring that 
 caste was all a lie, and the invention of the devil; that the gods 
 they worshipped were all false, and the works which he and they 
 had performed in the name of religion were vain and wicked. 
 His gooroos and some Brahmins visited him, and tried to show 
 him that by reading our books, blaspheming the gods, and neg- 
 lecting their worship, he was ruining his soul, &c. He, however, 
 soon proved too much for them all, and they found it most to 
 their credit to remain silent, and let him have his own way. 
 After a while his wife became alarmed, and declared she would 
 burn his books, for he was always reading them. Shortly after 
 she was attacked with cholera. This, he told her, was a punish- 
 ment from God for threatening to burn his holy books. She 
 became so ill that little hope was entertained of her recovery, and 
 her friends came and began to repeat various incantations, and 
 call upon the names of their gods. Konai Das said, ' Why do 
 you call upon those vile gods? Hold your noise, hold your 
 noise ! I will not hear them ! My hope is in Him who com- 
 forted the weeping sisters, when He raised their brother Lazarus 
 from the grave. Even in Jesus is my hope, and His name alone 
 will I hear, for He alone can help.' And then, turning to his 
 wife, he said, ' Your punishment is from the Lord, for saying you 
 would burn His books. Repent of this your sin, and pray to 
 Him to forgive you, and then you will get better.' After this he 
 
IN INDIA. 167 
 
 said he fell clown, and very earnestly prayed to Jesus Christ, and 
 soon his wife began to get better ! Shortly after, his eldest child 
 was attacked, but Konai Das would have nothing to do with 
 any one, or any thing, but Jesus Christ; and the child recovered. 
 The poor man was very anxious to find the Christians, and once 
 came to Berhampore ; but, when he began to inquire for the 
 missionaries, the people derided him, and told him all sorts of 
 lies. He said that he had often prayed that we might go to his 
 village ; and now, says he, ' the Lord has sent you.' " 
 
 One other illustration of the same striking kind may be given, 
 from an entirely different mission. Dr. Henry Scudder says of 
 a Telugu Brahmin : — " The history of this convert is interesting. 
 His home is in Vizagapatam. There he heard a missionary 
 preach in the streets, and received some tracts. He became 
 convinced that Christianity was true. Commissioned by his 
 brothers, he journeyed to Benares with the bones of their father, 
 that he might cast them into the holy Ganges. He remained in 
 Benares two years ; and when he returned he brought with him 
 two ponies, laden with the sacred water of Gunga. Part of this 
 was used by his brothers and others to perform ablutions, and 
 with the remaining portion he set out on a new pilgrimage to 
 Rameswarum, that he might pour it upon the idol there. When 
 he commenced this second journey, he felt a desire to become a 
 Christian. His mother accompanied him, and died at Rames- 
 warum. On his way back, having reached Vel lore, he was going 
 to the bazaar, to buy some food, when he heard a bell, which he 
 knew must belong to a Christian church. He went there, and 
 asked for a book. There is no missionary at Vellore, but the 
 catechist directed him to me at Arcot ; and this is the way I first 
 saw him. 
 
 " Every one around us believes in his perfect sincerity. I 
 have never seen such a case, and can only praise and bless God 
 for His mercy. From the day he came to us he betook himself 
 to the study of God's Word. Of his own accord he completely 
 broke his caste, before I spoke a word to him on the subject. 
 Of his own choice he took his seat with pariahs, and knelt with 
 them in the church. I instructed him daily with great pleasure. 
 He sent to me his sacred string, the badge of Brahminhood, more 
 valuable to him than thousands of silver and gold. He said that 
 he had done with it. His childlike simplicity, earnestness, deep 
 humility, and eager desire after God's truth, were so marked, 
 that we were astonished and humbled. It was God's work, and 
 w r e could only stand and admire it, and glorify the Agent. Last 
 Sabbath week I baptized him. It is only a few weeks since a 
 Brahmin exultingly asked me, ' Have any Brahmins been con- 
 
J 68 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 verted?' Ah, our gracious Lord has wiped away some of our 
 reproach." 
 
 Missionaries do not forget, that while they are striving, by 
 means of schools and Christian literature, to contribute to the 
 enlightenment of the people of India, the native press is very 
 active also, not only in spreading works which are indifferent, 
 but many which are filled with error. In no part of India is it 
 so active as in Bengal. There are now about forty presses in 
 Calcutta alone; some of them very large. Ten years ago their 
 number was twenty-five. Several of the best are managed by 
 men who have enjoyed an English education, and now devote them- 
 selves to literature for their own support. A considerable number 
 of useful works have been printed by them in recent years — 
 Bengali dictionaries, grammars, and vocabularies, books for 
 schools, small works on scientific subjects, and the like. A large 
 number of the books produced are, however, puerile ; many 
 reproduce the tales and legends of Hinduism ; some are occupied 
 with the authoritative Shastres ; others are very immoral. Till 
 Mr. Currie's Act suppressed them, a very large number were 
 indescribably wicked. Undoubtedly the efforts of the school to 
 whom the best of these works are due, and with which the news- 
 paper press is connected, have greatly contributed to develope 
 the capabilities of the Bengali language, and make it an excellent 
 instrument for the conveyance of human knowledge. 
 
 The Hindi and Urdu native press is not so advanced as the 
 Bengali, though, owing to the activity of Mahomedan writers in 
 Upper India, the Urdu press is more forward than the Hindi. 
 In Madras, also, the press is becoming active, that town contain- 
 ing thirty-two native presses. In works springing from them the 
 old leaven is very apparent still. 
 
 The great importance of meeting all this indifference, all this 
 immorality, and all this error, by sound Christian literature, is 
 thus well illustrated and urged by Mr. French : — " Another cir- 
 cumstance which should induce us to be more on the alert is, 
 that if we are not sowing wheat, the enemy is assuredly sowing 
 tares. Our publications on the Mohamedan controversy, however 
 weighty, are far fewer than those written to throw doubt upon 
 the Word, and to depreciate the work, of Christ. The cheap, 
 popular, attractive treatises, which are issuing from the Cawnpore 
 and other Mussulman presses, urging to a reformed Mohammed- 
 anism, that is, a Mahommedanism in which the spirituality of 
 Christianity, and the pseudo-spiritualism of Soofeeism, are impos- 
 ingly and artfully combined, written with all that advantage of 
 style and phraseology which natives of this country, writing from 
 their own peculiar standing-point, and with the resources of the 
 
IN INDIA. 169 
 
 language perfectly at their command, must possess over men even 
 of linguistic attainments, who have acquired the language in later 
 life — such works render it imperatively urgent upon us that we 
 should help together, by contributions of works and of means, to 
 render the Society as efficient an auxiliary as may be in the cause 
 of truth and of God, remembering always, however, to accompany 
 every effort with the expressive prayer of Nehemiah, ' Remember 
 me, O my God, for good!' When preaching in Sabulgurh, in 
 the Gvvalior territory, last cold season, I was told by a pundit 
 that there was a rival of mine in the place, a Mohammedan, who 
 had come with a large bundle of Mohammedan pamphlets and 
 tracts to sell." 
 
 General Works on Missions, &c. 
 
 During this decade a large number of works have been pub- 
 lished in England and in India upon Indian topics — missions, 
 missionary questions, and the like — of not a little value to mis- 
 sionaries themselves. 
 
 On Missionary Work. 
 
 1. " Minutes and Proceedings of the Bengal Missionary Con- 
 ference." Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta. 
 
 2. " Minutes and Proceedings of the Madras Missionary 
 Conference : " Madras. 
 
 3. " Bengal, as a Field of Missions," by Macleod Wylie, Esq. 
 London : W. H. Dalton. 
 
 4. " The Urgent Claims of India for more Christian Missions." 
 London : W. H. Dalton. 
 
 5. " The Bible in India." London: W. H. Dalton. 
 
 6. " Missions in South India," by the Rev. J. Mullens. 
 London : W. H. Dalton. 
 
 7. " India and Indian Missions," by the Rev. E. Storrow. 
 London : Snow. Is. 6d. 
 
 8. " The Gospel in Burmah," by Mrs. Wylie. London : 
 Dalton. 
 
 9. " The Indian Church during the Rebellion," by the Rev. 
 M. A. Sherring, M.A. London : Nisbet & Co. 
 
 10. " The Tinnevelly Missions among the Shanars," by the 
 Rev. Dr. Caldwell. London : Bell and Daldy. 
 
 11. Memoirs — of the Rev. W. H. Drew, by Mr. Wardlaw; 
 of Mr. Weitbrecht, by his widow ; of R. Nesbit of Bombay, by 
 Dr. Mitchell; of Ragland, by Mr. Perowne; of Mackay of 
 Delhi ; and of Mr. Lacroix, by Dr. Mullens. 
 
170 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 On other Indian topics. 
 
 1. "Infanticide in Western India," by the Rev. Dr. Wilson. 
 Bombay. 
 
 2. " On the Dravidian Languages," by the Rev. Dr. Caldwell. 
 London. 
 
 3. " India Two Thousand Years Ago," by Dr. Wilson. 
 
 4. " Tamil and English Dictionary," by the Rev. Dr. Wins- 
 low. Madras. 
 
 On Hindu Philosophy and its Religious Errors. 
 
 1. " Christianity and Hindu Philosophy Contrasted," by Dr. 
 Ballantyne. London : Madden. 
 
 2. " The Religious Aspects of Hindu Philosophy," by the 
 Rev. Dr. Mullens. London : Smith, Elder, and Co. 
 
 3. " Dialogues on Hindu Philosophy," by the Rev. K. M. 
 Banarji. Calcutta. Bishop's College, &c. 
 
 4. " Examination of the Six Darshanas," by Pundit Nehemiah. 
 Calcutta Tract Society. 
 
 The writer may venture to add, that one special aim of all 
 the works last named is to provide missionaries and others with 
 materials for looking into the great errors of Hinduism them- 
 selves, by presenting them with the texts and passages upon 
 which those errors are based, and by which they are defended. 
 
 X. MISSIONARY ACTION ON PUBLIC QUESTIONS. 
 
 While the majority of missionaries are scattered over the 
 different Presidencies, and as a rule confine their labours to the 
 direct sphere in which they are engaged, it is well known that 
 for many years past these missionaries who reside in their 
 principal towns of Bombay, Madras, and Calcutta, take part 
 more or less in important public questions, and endeavour to 
 bring their combined influence to bear upon their settlement. 
 Their unions for this purpose are known as the Missionary Con- 
 ferences of these towns. Their monthly meetings are partly 
 devotional, and partly meetings for business. The Calcutta 
 Missionary Conference has met in this way for more than thirty 
 years ; and has generally contained between twenty and thirty 
 members. Members of these missionary unions have long felt 
 the benefit which their constant meetings secure. Their own 
 souls are stirred up and refreshed ; they join together in inter- 
 cession for common blessings needed by all missions around 
 
IN INDIA. 171 
 
 them ; cordiality, mutual affection, and confidence, are promoted 
 by their frequent intercourse ; the relation of their various 
 opinions, and varied experience on important questions connected 
 with their plans, is a valuable assistance to all ; and when 
 occasions arise in public matters on which it becomes their 
 duty to speak, they are able, after mutual consultation and the 
 formation of mature judgments, to give public utterance to their 
 views. 
 
 During the past ten years the three Conferences have thus 
 spoken on several important matters. No particulars have 
 reached the writer of the proceedings of the Bombay Conference ; 
 beyond the fact that several years ago they petitioned the English 
 Parliament against the continued connexion of the Indian Go- 
 vernment with the temples, mosques, endowments, and lands of 
 the native religions. The Madras Conference presented a 
 similar petition ; and sent also memorials to the Government of 
 Madras on the marriage and divorce of native converts; on the 
 influence of the laws respecting the sale of intoxicating liquors, 
 and on the right of Hiudu youths to change their religion when 
 conscientiously led to do so. They likewise conducted an im- 
 portant negotiation with Dr. Graul and the members of the 
 Leipsic mission, with a view to place on a better footing the pro- 
 ceedings of that mission with respect to caste in native churches, 
 and the readiness with which they take from other missions con- 
 verts who leave them on caste grounds. The effort was made in 
 vain. 
 
 In the Calcutta Missionary Conference, there have been held 
 many most important discussions on the principal topics con- 
 nected with the economy, operations, plans, and agencies of 
 Indian missions ; amongst other results there was published a 
 valuable report on the principles which should determine the 
 salaries of native agents, and a flourishing native Christian 
 Widows' Pension Fund was successfully established. On several 
 occasions, the Conference renewed the efforts made in former 
 years specially to get rid of the monthly payment to the Temple 
 of Juggernath, and in general to secure a cessation of the con- 
 nexion still existing between the government and the native 
 religions. Both petitions to Parliament and memorials to the 
 Indian authorities have been several times presented on these 
 subjects. In 1859, on the motion of Sir H. Verney, the House 
 of Commons received from India and published a full statement 
 of all sums of money paid for these religions from the public 
 treasuries, with the grounds on which they are paid. These 
 efforts have not been made in vain. The connexion with Jugger- 
 
172 TEN teaks' missionary labour 
 
 nath has been finally severed; the money payments which belong 
 to the Temple as of a right, have been exchanged for land, hence- 
 forth to be managed by the Temple authorities. And it is 
 understood that all sums of a similar kind paid to temples all over 
 India are to be commuted in a similar manner. Efforts have 
 also been made by the Conference to obtain the repeal of the 
 regulations in Madras and Bengal upon which these idolatrous 
 trusts are based; but hitherto without success. It is believed, 
 however, that ere long that repeal will be secured, and all 
 temple trusts will, like other trusts, be committed to the ordinary 
 operation of the civil law. The Charak Pnja, the Re-marriage 
 of Hindu widows (now allowed by law), and a divorce law for the 
 native converts, have also been the subjects of memorials to the 
 Legislative Council. 
 
 The most important public question in the discussion of which 
 they have taken a prominent share, was that of the social con- 
 dition of the peasantry of Bengal. Whatever might be thought 
 of the village system of the North-west, or of the ryotwaree of 
 Madras, one thing was clear to their own minds ; that in the rich 
 and thickly peopled province of Bengal, containing more than 
 25,000,000 of people, the peasantry of immense districts were in 
 a state of misery and degradation indescribable. This misery 
 was due in a great measure to their idolatry and its influence 
 upon their personal, social, and public life. But there were 
 many elements in it winch were directly due to the fact, that 
 they had no redress against many forms of oppression. Owing 
 to defects in the perpetual settlement, they had been gradually 
 brought more and more within the power of their zemindars, 
 who could summon them at any time to their rent-courts, and 
 even put them in prison. While the country had been flourishing 
 and growing wealthy, all increase in the value of property had 
 been secured by the landholder, and the peasant had obtained 
 nothing. Oppressed by the landholder ; oppressed in large districts 
 by the forced system of indigo-planting ; fleeced and punished by a 
 corrupt police ; their tenures growing more insecure, their rights 
 steadily trampled under foot, and from the utter corruption of the 
 local courts, unable to obtain redress, who can wonder that these 
 degraded peasantry were sullen and despairing, and considered that 
 the Government cared nothing for their wrongs ? These facts were 
 again and again brought to the notice of the public authorities 
 by the Calcutta Missionary Conference. They are stated in their 
 petition to Parliament in 1852 ; in their farewell address to Lord 
 Dalhousie in 1856; in their memorial to the Lieut. -governor in 
 the same year; in their petition to Parliament in 1857; in their 
 
IN INDIA. 173 
 
 petitions to the Legislative Council in behalf of the Rent and Sale 
 Bills; and in their memorial to the Lieut. -governor in 1861. 
 In 1856, they asked for special inquiry, as the basis of wise 
 legislation. That inquiry was refused. But facts have proved 
 that their position was a correct one, and their requests wise. 
 By the Rent and Sale laws, several important defects which they 
 had pointed out in matters of land-tenure, and the direct oppres- 
 sion of the landholders, were set right. In the Indigo Riots, the 
 sullen discontent of which they had spoken burst out in violence. 
 And just before the late Lieut. -governor resigned his office, he 
 had proposed, in accordance with their last memorial, to depute 
 Col. Baird Smith, on a special mission of inquiry into the con- 
 dition and wants of the province when the purpose was frustrated 
 by that distinguished officer's death. 
 
 When their colleague, Mr. Long, became the subject of a vin- 
 dictive prosecution by the Indigo-planters' Association, the Calcutta 
 missionaries gave him a clear and decided expression of their 
 sympathy under the wrong which he was suffering. If by mis- 
 take in judgment he had laid himself open to the technical 
 condemnation of a harsh law, which no longer prevails in England, 
 they felt that that was not the real ground of the proceedings 
 taken against him.' To their minds the speech of the prosecuting 
 counsel and the violent language of the planters' press proved 
 unmistakably that the interference of missionaries in these 
 social questions was resented, and that the prosecution was an 
 effort to compel the friends of the peasantry to be silent in their 
 outcry against wrong. Deserted almost entirely by the English 
 press, the unhappy millions of these degraded peasants had 
 scarcely any friends but missionaries to plead their cause and 
 ask public attention to the sufferings which they had so long 
 borne. The redress of injustice was their only aim, and the 
 course they adopted they have seen no reason to regret. 
 
 Missionary Expenditure. 
 
 It may be well to note here, even in a single line, that the 
 total amount spent upon these India missions during the last year 
 of the decade was 294,300/. At the commencement of the 
 decade, in 1851, it was 190,000/. At that period the contri- 
 butions of the local church in India (almost entirely English), 
 amounted to 33,500/. Including the contributions of the native 
 church, which now amount to about 6000/. a-year, the local con- 
 tributions of 1861 amounted to 46,b00/. The expenditure in- 
 
174 TEN teaks' missionary labour 
 
 eludes the expenses of all missionary societies for all Indian 
 objects ; the expenses of the Bible and Tract Societies ; of 
 School-book Societies, and mission presses. 
 
 XL THE FIELD UNOCCUPIED. 
 
 Should the foregoing facts, respecting the missionary labour 
 carried on in India, and the progress it is making, lead the friends 
 of missions to suppose that large success has been attained, and 
 exertions may be relaxed, they would produce an altogether 
 erroneous impression. Taken together, looked at side by side, 
 the native converts may seem numerous, the expenditure large, 
 the missionaries many, the circulation of Christian literature 
 great, the schools and scholars powerful for good ; but regarded 
 as they really are, scattered over the Empire, many perhaps in 
 a few localities, but very few in all others, they are in truth lost 
 amid the sea of population which the Empire contains, and in 
 many, many cases, utterly fail to attract the eye of the stranger, 
 who wishes to learn what objects of interest the cities and 
 provinces contain. This important fact may be illustrated in 
 two or three ways, which will show the vastness of the sphere of 
 labours opened to the Church's efforts, the favourable circum- 
 stances under which it may be occupied, and the small amount 
 of agency employed in proportion to the greatness of the field. 
 We may consider the population of the Empire as a whole ; the 
 extent to which great cities, and towns, and districts, are occupied; 
 the small number of converts made even where numerical success 
 has been greatest; and the resources which the systems of error 
 to be destroyed still have at their command. 
 
 The population of India has not yet been ascertained with 
 any great exactness. While the returns from those provinces 
 which are under the direct government of the English are 
 growing clearer and more exact year by year, the enumeration 
 of the people inhabiting the native states, indirectly placed under 
 that government, has only been made in the loosest way, and 
 has been roughly estimated rather by comparison with other 
 portions of India, than by any exact calculation within their own 
 boundaries. For our purpose, however, the statement of the 
 population in the settled provinces, in which missionaries chiefly 
 reside, will be sufficient. The numbers given have been drawn 
 from the latest and best authorities at the writer's command, 
 — the Administration Reports annually published by the Indian 
 Government. 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 175 
 
 Provinces. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Foreign 
 Missionaries. 
 
 Native 
 Christians. 
 
 Bengal, Behar, Orissa, and As- ) 
 sam . . . . ) 
 North-west Provinces 
 Oude . . . about 
 The Punjab, Delhi, &c. . 
 Native States under the Punjab . 
 Bombay ..... 
 Native States under Bombay 
 Central Provinces, Nagpore, &c. 
 Hyderabad State 
 Madras Presidency and Native 1 
 States .... J 
 Ceylon ..... 
 Pegu and Tennasserim 
 
 Rajpootana, Scindia and Hoi- , 
 kar's Territories, Bundel- , 
 kund, &c, &c. . . > 
 
 40,850,000 
 
 28,045,000 
 6,000,000 
 
 14,776,000 
 7,154,000 
 
 11,845,000 
 3,438,000 
 6,500,000 
 
 10,600,000 
 
 28,650,000 
 
 1,846,000 
 1,436,000 
 
 113 
 
 60 
 9 
 
 42 
 
 38 
 2 
 3 
 
 210 
 
 37 
 22 
 
 20,774 
 
 3,638 
 
 225 
 
 1,226 
 
 1,916 
 315 
 212 
 
 110,237 
 
 15,273 
 59,366 
 
 161,140,000 
 18,000,000 
 
 536 
 5 
 
 213,182 
 
 This table shows at a single glance the smallness of the gain 
 already secured, and the enormous disproportion existing between 
 the agency and the field in which it is placed. That certain 
 provinces are more fully occupied than others, arises from the 
 fact that some are placed directly under English rule, while vast 
 Native States still remain under their native kings, now feudally 
 subject to the English crown. Millions on millions of people 
 here have no missionaries to instruct them. The most destitute 
 provinces are those which cross the Empire from Orissa to the 
 Indus, and lie between Upper India and the Presidency of 
 Bombay. 
 
 An examination of the stations occupied by missionaries in 
 every part of India will show how how few the labourers are in 
 hundreds of the largest towns and cities which the empire 
 contains. We have noted on a former page that several of the 
 chief cities have a goodly band residing within them, as Calcutta, 
 Bombay, Benares, and others. But these are exceptions to the 
 general rule, which assigns but two or three missionaries to the 
 principal towns, often gives but one, and far more often has left 
 towns full of people without any missionaries at all. It would be 
 easy to fill whole pages with a list of such neglected and destitute 
 localities. 
 
 Perhaps no proof of the limited character both of agency and 
 success can be given, more plain, more convincing, or more sad, 
 than that of the provinces and districts in which the largest 
 success has been attained, and in which missionary labour is 
 
176 
 
 TEN YEARS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 more concentrated than elsewhere. We may take the following 
 instances : — 
 
 Population. 
 
 Converts. 
 
 Foreign 
 
 Missionaries. 
 
 Tirmevelly .... 
 
 Travancore .... 
 
 Madura ..... 
 Ahmedhuggur (city and district) 
 Chota Nagpore .... 
 Burrisal . . . about 
 
 South of Calcutta . . 
 Ceylon ..... 
 Burmah . 
 Basle Mission .... 
 
 1,270,000 
 1,280,000 
 1,750.000 
 100,000 
 4,000,000 
 1,000,000 
 1,500,000 
 1,846,000 
 1,436,208 
 4,250,000 
 
 45,361 
 
 30,607 
 
 6,372 
 
 245 
 
 2,400 
 
 3,100 
 
 6,084 
 
 15,273 
 
 59,366 
 
 8,497 
 
 24 
 
 16 
 
 13 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 37 
 
 22 
 
 43 
 
 These illustrations are well known by the readers of Mission- 
 ary literature. Often have the supporters of missions pointed 
 with thankfulness to the progress made by the Gospel among the 
 devil-worshippers of Tinnevelly and Travancore, the Coles of 
 Chota Nagpore, and the Karens of Burmah. And it is true that 
 amongst these simple races, not chained to any great extent by 
 the bonds of caste, not swayed by a powerful system of idolatry, 
 or trampled down by an oppressive priesthood, the loving words 
 of Christ have won many hearts, and whole villages and districts 
 may be found, in which upon the Sabbath-day His disciples meet 
 for worship, and honour His divine name. Nevertheless, though 
 work among those races has been simple, though the labourers 
 have been many, and the obstacles have been few, still we must 
 allow that " there remaineth much land to be possessed." While 
 we look at the 59,000 converts in Burmah, we must not forget 
 the 1,370,000 who are not converts, but heathen; of whom a 
 very large proportion are not simple Karens, but are proud 
 Burmans, satisfied with their works of merit, and very unwilling 
 humbly to seek salvation through the merit of another. If we 
 think with pleasure of the 45,000 Shanar Christians in Tinne- 
 velly, it must not be forgotten that the district contains 
 1,225,000 inhabitants who are not Christians; of whom many 
 are not of Shanar birth, but are Hindus, rigid in their per- 
 formance of idolatrous ceremonies, and devotedly attached to 
 their system. If the Cole tribes have begun to receive the 
 Gospel, still it is but a beginning; and of the 4,000,000 of 
 people which the rolling plateau of Chota Nagpore contains, how 
 few have heard the Gospel so as to understand and to embrace it! 
 Ceylon, with thirty-seven foreign missionaries and forty-two 
 
IN INDIA. 177 
 
 ordained natives, has yet given only 15,000 converts to Christian 
 Churches. An island, possessing a separate Government, a Legis 
 lative Council, a Chief Justice, and thirty English judges and 
 magistrates; 500 English planters producing coffee to the value 
 of a million and a half sterling annually ; with a large system of 
 education, and a valuable Christian literature, all concentrated 
 in a population of 1,846,000, has yielded only a small portion of 
 its privileged inhabitants to the Church. What, then, can be 
 expected of Indian districts containing as large a population 
 which are governed by a judge and four magistrates, with 
 native assistants, and contain, perhaps, only three missionaries 
 and a few schools ? None speak more soberly of attained success 
 in the favoured districts than the missionaries, who live in the 
 midst of it ; and few missionaries have shown a greater earnest- 
 ness of desire and effort to go out to " the regions beyond." One 
 or two illustrations will suffice. Mr. D. Fenn, who has lonsc 
 shared in the labours of the Itinerating Mission in North Tinne- 
 velly, thus speaks of the heathen portion of the field : — 
 
 "The population of Tinnevelly is 1,270,000; the number of 
 Christians and unbaptized adherents is under 50,000. As these 
 are scattered about over the whole province of Tinnevelly, 
 (thickly in the southern portion, and more thinly to the North), 
 and as there are among them catechists and schoolmasters, and 
 they are also periodially visited by missionaries and native clergy, 
 there is in this sense no part of the population of Tinnevelly 
 which is not influenced by the efforts of the mission. Besides 
 this, in each of the twenty districts into which Tinnevelly has 
 been parcelled out, efforts of one kind or another are made to 
 reach the heathen of the district. Generally each catechist is 
 required to spend at least one day in a week in preaching to the 
 heathen. In some districts all the heathen villages are allotted, 
 a portion to each catechist. While all the missionaries, in their 
 periodical visits to their congregations, of course preach to the 
 heathen, there are two of us whose sole work is to go about 
 among the 1200 heathen villages and hamlets, preaching the 
 Gospel. 
 
 "The openings for extending our work are to be found (1), 
 in the infusion of a more aggressive spirit into the professing 
 Christian body; (2) in greater efforts to bring the Gospel home 
 to those castes which, though numerous, have as yet afforded 
 very few converts to Christianity — such as the Naiks, Retties, 
 and Maravers ; (3) in visits to the periodical heathen feasts. 
 These are held at different times in many different localities ; 
 great crowds assemble ; and if catechists and intelligent members 
 of the congregations, as well as missionaries, were to seize these 
 
 N 
 
178 TEN teaks' missionary labour 
 
 opportunities of preaching the Gospel, much good might, with 
 God's blessing, result. In each of these respects, it seems to me, 
 that an advance is being made: and there is abundant encourage- 
 ment for attempting much more. 
 
 " The mass of this population," says Mr. Clark, " though, to 
 some extent, made acquainted with Christianity, by report, or by 
 the occasional reading of tracts, or intercourse with Christians, 
 or the ministry of itinerating preachers, are still deeply ignorant 
 of its nature, claims, and object, and are filled with prejudice and 
 suspicion regarding it. Having no sense of sin, and unwilling to 
 conform their lives to its holy precepts, they feel no desire to 
 embrace it. We have, therefore, only to continue preaching, in 
 faith and patience, entering into the many openings by which we 
 are surrounded on all sides." 
 
 " The city and Talook of Ahinednuggur," says Mr. Ballan- 
 tine, " contain 100,000 souls, of whom rather more than a fourth 
 reside in the city alone. All parts of the city, and all the villages, 
 are open to our efforts. They have been visited many times, 
 and the Gospel has been proclaimed in the streets, rest-houses, 
 and shops, to all classes. But, though we are well received, it is 
 still true that but few of the heathen are sufficiently interested to 
 attend our religious services with any regularity. The Gospel 
 must be carried to them, and urged upon them. And we need 
 many more men — earnest men, men of faith, and men of prayer 
 — to carry the w r ork on." 
 
 In addition to the vastness of the population, the extent to 
 which the Empire spreads out, the multitude of cities, towns, 
 and villages which it throws open, in the fullest manner, to the 
 Gospel — and hence the vast amount of toil required, ere the 
 people can be reached, still more vast ere they will be won — 
 every friend of Indian missions should remember that the greater 
 part of the population are already preoccupied with the religions 
 transmitted to them by their fathers. It is not as if they were a 
 simple race, open to conviction, anxious to learn, and willing at 
 once to receive the truth. They have religions of their own ; 
 they are bound by social customs and public observances, steeped 
 in idolatry ; they are bound by that dreadful, tenacious system 
 of caste, which gives a Hindu aspect to every, the most endeared, 
 relationship, and rule, and custom of human life, and makes the 
 entire man, the entire society, Hindu to the very core. They 
 are ruled by ancient books, by numerous priests ; and all their 
 superstitious fears respecting another world are dependent upon 
 the favour and the verdict of these proud and lordly tyrants of 
 their souls. The wealth of the temples is enormous ; the number 
 of the priests enormous. The vested interests of Hinduism 
 
IN INDIA. 179 
 
 alone, apart from other considerations, place barriers of tremend- 
 ous power between the souls of the people and the entrance of 
 that truth which comes, not with peace, but with a sword. To 
 take but one illustration, Mr. Hutcheson says of the town of 
 Mysore: — "The annual grants to the Petta temples amount to 
 4,268-5-9 rupees, and the known voluntary subscriptions by the 
 different castes to at least 3000 rupees more. The cost of build- 
 ing the five temples which we have mentioned is about 28,500 
 rupees ; and during the last fifty years there have been at least 
 other five or six temples built, which must have cost perhaps 
 12,000 rupees. This would bring the sum up to 40,500 rupees 
 for building alone. If now we add the annual expenditure of 
 the Fort temples to those of the Petta, they amount to 
 32,813-6-11 rupees, or during fifty years to 1,640,671-5-4 
 rupees; and the total for building will be 718,500 rupees. But 
 these sums, although very great, only form part of the cost of 
 idolatry in Mysore. In no part of the country are feasts cele- 
 brated with such pomp, and at so great expense. In fact, it 
 almost seems one continuous feast. Hence, when it is re- 
 membered that a very poor feast, in connexion with a small 
 temple, will cost about 40 rupees, what amazing sums must be 
 spent on those great occasions, in which thousands of people take 
 a part! Think also of the money realized in the way of presents. 
 There you see the rich man with his gift of 50 rupees, the 
 merchant with a cloth, the father with his votive offering, the 
 mother with her thank-offering craving blessings for her children, 
 the poor with their little cup of oil, seer of rice, or a few duddus, 
 and the youth of both sexes with their fruits and flowers. Again, 
 in such a place as Mysore there are perhaps 300 or 400 astro- 
 logers ; and not one of them will prepare a Jataka, or horoscope, 
 for less than 20 rupees, and many of the rich people give much 
 more. Now, if only a few hundreds are purchased, what a sum 
 must be given every year for fortune-telling! These horoscopes 
 are very elaborate and minute, for they contain an account of all 
 the events of one's life to come ; and, notwithstanding their being 
 falsified every day, the people continue to believe in them. 
 There are, moreover, 10,000 Brahmins in Mysore ; and the 
 amount of money spent in feasting, and bestowing presents upon 
 them, is a considerable item. To all these facts must be added 
 the amount expended in building tanks, wells, and given to 
 beggars, in order to obtain merit. How amazing the total of all 
 these items in one single town! r ' 
 
 All these facts simply show the necessity of steady, continued, 
 laborious toil. " The Lord hath called us to preach the Gospel " 
 in the Indian Empire ;. and though year by year success is 
 
ISO TEN TEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 growing, the increasing population, the greater facilities, the 
 accumulating influence of the truth, demand that labours shall 
 be increased, new stations opened, new centres of influence 
 established, the native Churches more strenuously set upon the 
 evangelisation of their countrymen, and the aid of foreign 
 Churches more freely and more earnestly rendered than here- 
 tofore. The field is growing wider: exertions cannot possibly 
 be made less. 
 
 XII. PRESENT STATE OF NATIVE OPINION. 
 
 Are the difficulties of the field, then, so formidable as to 
 hinder substantial progress? Are the extent of its population, 
 the power of the ancient religions, the interests of the priesthood, 
 the force of custom, the habits produced by early, unsuspected 
 training, the binding of the entire framework of society by Hindu 
 bonds, obstacles so impregnable that the Christian army is stayed 
 on its march, and that not a foot of heathen territory can be won? 
 Ear from it. That real, steady, substantial progress has been 
 made during the past decade, we have proved by facts that 
 cannot be disputed. Agencies maintained, agencies enlarged, 
 the word widely preached; schools maintained, increased, and 
 year by year sending forth scholars Christianly educated; 
 converts increased by forty per cent, communicants in even 
 larger proportion : Churches growing in character, in liberality, 
 in missionary zeal ; converts drawn victoriously, and after hard 
 struggles, from the Brahminical caste, from wealthy families, from 
 amidst the compact and caste-bound heathenism of the great towns : 
 these all are proofs most gratifying and unanswerable, that steady 
 work is winning its way, and that already some results of the 
 best kind have been secured. 
 
 But there is another proof, which may be cited, which ex- 
 perienced missionaries contemplate with peculiar pleasure, and 
 to which wise and far-seeing men will look, as containing far 
 greater promise of a triumphant future than any success realised 
 hitherto. This proof is found in the deep, radical change of 
 views and life, which is slowly, but most steadily, coming over 
 all native society, in relation both to the old religions they profess 
 and the new religion which they are invited to receive. And 
 this change is of such vital importance; it has so close, yet so 
 powerful a bearing upon the immediate future, still more on the 
 future yet distant, that if we had had no direct success, had 
 founded no churches, and won no converts hitherto, this change 
 by itself would be sufficient to redeem missionary labours in 
 
IN INDIA. 
 
 181 
 
 India from all reproach of failure. The words of Christ to his 
 apostles may well cheer the heart of every Indian missionary, 
 who in the 'influence he is exercising on his own portion of the 
 field, can appreciate their hidden depths of meaning. "Other 
 men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. Her- 
 
 em 
 
 5 that saying true: one soweth and another reapetn. lne 
 successes of the Apostolic age sprang from the special outpouring 
 of the Spirit on fields that had been prepared by centuries of 
 culture on the part of men, prophets and teachers, and holy men, 
 whose names are almost unknown. So will it probably be m 
 India. It cannot be said that in India the fields are white unto 
 harvest. In some localities the seed sown in good ground sown 
 in prepared hearts, in hearts unprejudiced by strong attachment 
 to an ancient faith, has grown up vigorously, has ripened early, 
 and the harvest is being rapidly gathered in. But over the larger 
 portion of our scattered provinces, it is still the time of ploughing 
 and sowing. In many districts newly opened to missionary 
 labours, knowledge and impression are but small and feeble; but 
 in older stations, where such labour has been long sustained, 
 that knowledge has been spread widely, impressions are year by 
 year orowincr more deep: the earth has not only been sown, 
 but the blade is appearing, and in how many, many mmds the 
 tender ear begins to bud forth. Missionaries have often spoken 
 of this change going on in the minds of the people at large, 
 especially in localities and districts where the Gospel has been 
 preached for the longest time, or where efficient labour has been 
 most concentrated. But never have they spoken more clearly 
 than they speak now ; and at no period has sound knowledge 
 spread more widely, and impressions been made so wide and 
 so deep, as during the past ten years. A Christian man, knowing 
 what it imports, may well stand speechless in wonder and 
 gratitude, as he contemplates the vast change which has passed 
 through Hindu society in relation to idolatry; the great spread 
 of Christian truth; the decay of confidence in the old gods and 
 priests; and the increasing expectation on every side that 
 Christianity will entirely supplant the ancient faiths. Evidence 
 of this change may be gathered in abundance from the fetters 
 and writings of missionaries ; and, as the change is so important, 
 and in its influence on the friends of missionaries so encouraging, 
 the writer proposes to adduce several illustrations, and with 
 them bring to a close this already too-extended Review of recent 
 missionary experience in India. The extracts will be given in 
 order, so as to show the state of knowledge and feeling over 
 various parts of the country from South to North. 
 
 Writing of the state of native opinion in South Ceylon, Mr. 
 
182 ten teaks' missionary labour 
 
 Scott says: — "Nearly all the really educated Singhalese are 
 professing Christians, though probably in some instances this is 
 rather from love of respectability than of the truth. Most of 
 the Modliars and other leading Government servants profess 
 Christianity, but some are said to favour Buddhism in secret. 
 The class of young men educated in the superior government, 
 and in the mission schools, is drifting towards Christianitv. The 
 Buddhist priests, and their more zealous supporters, for the last 
 year or two have been making great exertions against the 
 Gospel ; forming associations against mission schools, ccc. ; holding 
 lectures, and establishing printing-presses. Their efforts, how- 
 ever, soon die out in place after place. 
 
 " While the tendency of the educated natives is undoubtedly 
 towards the Christian religion, the feeling of the mass of the 
 people (certainly in the Southern Province) is strong in favour 
 of Budhism They are fascinated by its ceremonies and fes- 
 tivals, and in time of sickness resort is general to devil-dances 
 and other superstitious rites. The women are usually the 
 most bitter opponents of the Gospel; but when converted, fre- 
 quently become the most decided and spiritually minded in our 
 churches." 
 
 Referring to the province of Jaffna, in the northern part of 
 the island, Mr. Pargiter writes : — " There has been a marked 
 change in the feelings and confidence of the people with reference 
 to idolatry within the last ten years, as education has made 
 progress. Idolatry may be said to be almost effete so far as 
 regards the confidence of the people in it as a system of religion. 
 Its festivals have assumed more the character of fairs than 
 religious observances. The educated natives generally are 
 indifferent both to Hinduism and Christianity, and are become 
 rather speculatists, than persons influenced by any fixed religious 
 opinion. We are looking for the movement of the Spirit, and 
 are anxiously expecting that when He shall be vouchsafed, there 
 will be a large ingathering into the church, where there has been 
 such a previous work of preparation. Both our present position 
 therefore, and our future prospects, are in the highest sense most 
 hopeful." 
 
 Dr. Caldwell, whose long experience and sound judgment 
 peculiarly qualify him to speak with authority on the subject, thus 
 describes in detail the state of things in Tinnevelly: — "In that 
 part of Tinnevelly, with which I am personally acquainted, the 
 Hindu section of the community, leaving out the adherents of our 
 mission, native Roman Catholics, and Mahommedans, may be 
 divided into three portions. One portion consists of persons who 
 have lost all faith in Hinduism, but who still practise heathen 
 
IN INDIA. 183 
 
 rites ftrough the force of custom, or whose convictions of the 
 truth of Christianity are not strong enough to enable them to 
 break through the intense conservatism of the Hindu nature, and 
 to become Christians. Another portion, by far the largest, inas- 
 much as it comprises almost all the women, besides a consider- 
 able number of the men, consists of persons who know nothing 
 of Christianity and are wholly uninfluenced by it, and who 
 believe and do, with an uninquiring, contented faith, whatever 
 their forefathers believed and did. A third portion consists of 
 persons who have been brought in contact with Christianity, or 
 at least with native Christians, who know what Christians mean 
 and aim at, and who are more or less intensely jealous of 
 Christianity and opposed to it. 
 
 " This third class is a peculiarly numerous one in Tinnevelly, 
 the native Christian community in Tinnevelly being the largest 
 in India. Most native Christians are mixed up with heathens in 
 the ownership or cultivation of land and other worldly business. 
 Most natives, whether Christians or heathens, have inherited inter- 
 minable disputes from their ancestors, and amongst so litigious a 
 people new disputes are sure to arise from time to time. When 
 disputes arise, heathens generally take one side and Christians 
 the other, without much consideration of the rights of the case ; 
 and this tends to intensify whatever dislike to Christianity the 
 heathens may have formerly entertained. It is an unfortunate 
 circumstance in Tinnevelly, that heathens often regard Christians 
 rather as the adherents of a political party or local faction than 
 as the followers of a religion, and also that Christians often charac- 
 terise as persecution the opposition they meet with in their secular 
 disputes. Some improvement in feeling in this particular has 
 become apparent within the last few years. Missionaries have 
 become more reluctant to have anything to do with interested 
 conversions, and more careful not to allow themselves to be 
 drawn into secular disputes ; and a race of native catechists and 
 schoolmasters is growing up, who are unskilled in the settlement 
 (to say nothing of the getting up) of disputes, but who are well 
 skilled in teaching and preaching. 
 
 " In consequence of this improved state of feeling, heathens 
 generally appear to be acquiring a better idea of the real nature 
 of Christianity as a spiritual religion and of the spirituality of its 
 aims and claims. 
 
 "I may here remark, that I regard it as a mistake to suppose 
 that the conversion of the higher castes to Christianity has in 
 anv way or in any degree been facilitated by the conversions of so 
 many thousands of Shanars. The higher castes are so completely 
 cut off from social intercourse with the lower, that even if the entire 
 
184 TEN TEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 tribe of Shanars were converted to Christianity, probably their 
 conversion would either have no effect at all upon the higher 
 castes, or it would have the effect of confirming them in their 
 determination not to become Christians. If the lower castes have 
 adopted or inherited any usage, that appears reason enough to 
 the higher castes why their usage should be totally different. 
 
 " A movement towards Christianity has recently commenced 
 amongst the higher castes and classes in Palamcottah, the me- 
 tropolis of the province. That movement, though only in its 
 rudiments at present, is an interesting and important one ; but 
 it has not arisen, as it appears to me, out of the progress of 
 Christianity amongst the lower castes, but is attributable to 
 English education and English influences. The prospects of the 
 spread of Christianity amongst the higher classes in Tinnevelly 
 depend very much on the success of this movement." 
 
 Of the same province Mr. Clark thus writes: — 
 
 " The heathen are to a great extent convinced of the folly of 
 idolatry, and some of them have left off the observance of its 
 rights. They are also much less subject to the fear of devils 
 than formerly. But from ancient custom, long-continued habits, 
 caste usages, fear of neighbours, desire of gain (on the part of 
 some of those who have the management of idolatrous feasts, &c), 
 love of sheer amusement and feasting, and some remains of the 
 fear of devils, which shows itself in times of sickness and 
 misfortune, they still as a people continue in, and prefer the 
 worship and service of idols. 
 
 "Their opinion of Christianity in the abstract is generally 
 favourable. Some make objections to its doctrines, and some to 
 the strictness of its precepts ; but all acknowledge its purity and 
 excellence. But with this they do not seem to feel that because 
 of that purity and excellence they are bound to receive it. They 
 do not connect moral obligations with convictions of the judgment, 
 nor admit the consequences of neglect. They seem, for the most 
 part, to have no moral principle at all. They approve of what 
 is good, but without compunction do what is evil. They so far 
 disapprove of evil as to feel keenly and resent indignantly any 
 injustice or deceit practised on themselves, but inflict injustice 
 on others without scruple. Lying, false complaints, and bribery, 
 are lamentably prevalent. The population, therefore, is not yet 
 as a whole prepared to embrace the Gospel ; either from a sense 
 of spiritual need or moral conviction. What influence other 
 causes may have in inducing them to become Christians cannot 
 be known. It is not likely, however, that in the absence of those 
 moral causes, any others will influence them to much extent. 
 But while this is true of the population as a whole, it is not true 
 
IN INDIA. 185 
 
 of every individual. There are some exceptions, though few, 
 and those exceptions, as the knowledge of Christianity spreads, 
 and becomes clearer and sounder, will increase. What we need 
 is the power of the Spirit accompanying the ministration of his 
 Word. 
 
 " The educated natives as a body hold aloof from us, regarding 
 the Christians with contempt as people of a lower caste: some of 
 them, however, have acquired a little knowledge of Christianity, 
 and have favourable opinions regarding it ; but are deterred from 
 publicly embracing it by the bands of caste. They seem to 
 regard the contempt and hatred to which they would become 
 exposed by professing Christianity, with terror. Their con- 
 victions, however, though favourable on the whole to the Gospel, 
 are neither strong nor deep, and exercise no material influence 
 upon their lives. Thus therefore, though progress has been 
 made in every way, very much remains to be done. There is 
 still need, and for a long time to come there will be need, of faith, 
 patience, and labour, in teaching and preaching the Word of God." 
 
 Similarly the Rev. D. Fenn points out how strong a hold 
 heathenism still has upon the minds of the people in the Northern 
 part of the district, notwithstanding all the efforts that have been 
 systematically made in Tinnevelly during the last forty years : 
 " It is not easv to say exactly what is the tone of native society 
 in regard to idolatry or to Christianity. It is seldom they 
 really speak out their mind, and a foreigner can hardly know 
 when they do so. I have propounded the question, however, 
 to each of the three native clergy associated with us in North Tin- 
 nevelly, all of them able men, and who have been in this part of 
 the province several years. One said, his general impression cer- 
 tainly was that the attachment of Hindus to idolatry was much 
 on the wane; but that this impression had been somewhat 
 weakened a short time ago by the exhibition of zeal and devotion 
 showed at a large heathen festival by some of the most respect- 
 able people of the neighbourhood, including the wealthiest 
 Zemindar of Tinnevelly, and the Tahsildar of one of its Tahsils. 
 Another of my native brethren said he attached little to this, as 
 it might be merely got up for the occasion and to please the 
 crowds ; and he adduced the following fact in proof that idolatry 
 is greatly losing its hold. The catechists under his superintend- 
 ence were lately reporting the result of the previous six months 
 visitation of the heathen villages of their respective neighbour- 
 hoods ; they remarked with surprise that in the villages five miles 
 round his residence, they now meet with almost no objection of 
 any kind from the heathen. There seems to be (they say) a 
 sort of persuasion that Christianity must ere long prevail. My 
 
186 TEN tears' missionary labour " 
 
 third native brother takes the same view, and says that a very 
 intelligent and influential young man, a Brahmin, an officer in 
 one of the courts, told him the other day, that he believed that 
 in a hundred years Christianity would be the religion of India. 
 This testimony is the more important, as he is a man with no 
 predilections in favour of our religion. 
 
 " To my own mind it seems clear that the attention paid to our 
 preaching is greater than it was three or four years ago ; and 
 that there is more readiness on the part of our hearers to contem- 
 plate the possibility of themselves becoming Christians. The 
 number, who from sundry motives (almost all very unworthy ones) 
 have placed themselves under instruction in North Tinnevelly 
 during the last twelve months, has been very great, amounting in 
 all to little less than a thousand ; and they have been, in some 
 instances, from the higher classes of agriculturists. Perhaps 
 many axnong them have a persuasion that Christianity is the true 
 religion, but are prevented from looking at it more closely, by 
 the tenacity with which they cling to their caste prejudices. 
 The women cling to caste even more firmly than the men." 
 
 Of the Madura province, Mr. Tracy speaks as follows : — " A 
 great change in the attitude of the people towards Christianity 
 is very manifest, and we cannot but hope that the Lord will 
 shortly bring many of them cordially to embrace the truth. A 
 considerable number of the influential natives in Government 
 employment here were educated in our English school. They 
 stand aloof from Christianity, but without making any special 
 opposition to it. A small party of educated young men have 
 recently established a native female school, which seems to 
 prosper. Like the educated natives in other parts of India, they 
 appear inclined to simple Deism in their views, while in their 
 practice they differ but little from their idolatrous countrymen." 
 
 Mr. Sewell, of Bangalore, thus speaks of native opinion in the 
 province of the Mysore: — "We believe that the prevalent 
 idolatry has lost much of its power over the minds of the natives 
 around us, and that a great work of enlightenment and convic- 
 tion has long been, and still is, preparing the way for a widespread 
 apostasy from the popular faith. Still we see but little disposi- 
 tion to embrace Christianity, or to thoroughly examine its claims 
 as the only true religion God has given to mankind. Young 
 persons educated in mission-schools evidently feel its power over 
 their consciences, as well as their understandings, and often seem 
 to be not far from the kingdom of God. Their influence is very 
 considerable among their countrymen, in the direction of moral 
 and social reforms. The change that is gradually coming over 
 the native mind in reference to female education and the elevation 
 
IN INDIA. 187 
 
 of the social position of women, is one of the most hopeful signs 
 of the times. 
 
 " The movement of large masses is difficult to begin, but 
 when once commenced it steadily acquires increasing force, until 
 no ordinary obstacles can impede their onward progress. The 
 movement of the great mass of Hindu society has certainly com- 
 menced from Hinduism to Christianity. Slowly, as yet, the 
 ponderous mass advances ; but it is quickening its pace, and in 
 due time our faith and patience will be abundantly rewarded." 
 
 Of the same province the Wesleyan Mission bears similar 
 testimony: — "Look, then, at what has been done. (1st.) Idol- 
 atry has, to a great extent, declined. This, we believe, is the 
 case to a far greater degree than most people imagine. Take 
 this feast as an instance. Twenty years ago the number who 
 attended this festival was reckoned to be 10,000 ; this year not 
 more than 2000 were present. Twenty years ago they carried 
 before Goobbe Appa the trident, the crescent, and the conch 
 shell, the exclusive insignia of their gods ; this year they had 
 only a decorated pole. Twenty years ago, when the image 
 descended, the assembled multitudes shouted, e Swami, Swami, 
 1 A god, A god !' this year not a lip moved with the title. Twenty 
 years ago the priest was employed till midnight, outside the 
 enclosure, breaking the cocoa-nuts, the offerings of the people ; 
 this year we did not see one offered outside the temple. Twenty 
 years ago the people rushed to drag the car; this year they were 
 obliged to use force in getting boys and coolies to pull the vehicle. 
 Twenty years ago the people defended his worship; this year 
 not an advocate for his pooja accosted the missionary. But we 
 have firmer ground to go upon than inference. The Poojari met 
 Mr. O'Sullivan a short time since, and complained bitterly of 
 the niggardliness of the people in not bringing their offerings to 
 Goobbe Appa. The missionary asked to what cause he attributed 
 this falling off. The priest replied, ' To you/ referring to the 
 labours of the missionaries in the town. 
 
 " (2.) Knowledge is increased and is being widely circulated. 
 The evidences of this are neither few nor uncertain. We met 
 with cases that cheered our hearts. From many instances we 
 select one. During the feast we held special services in our neat 
 little chapel. One evening a man was noticed giving the most 
 profound attention. Nothing diverted him from the subject of 
 the preacher's discourse. After the service he came up and 
 asked for a Christian book, naming a particular one that he 
 wanted. Our surprise at his acquaintance with the title of the 
 book led us to make inquiries. We felt much interest in him. 
 We invited him to our house. He came. The result of our 
 
188 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 conversation was, that we found this man possessed a full ac- 
 quaintance with Christianity as a religious system, with a belief 
 of its doctrines and precepts, and of the only Saviour Jesus 
 Christ. He repeated pages of Christian books from memory, 
 drew out arguments in defence of his faith in Jesus, and illustrated 
 his opinions in so homely and striking a manner, that we sat in 
 wonder, and listened. He lived where a missionary's voice is 
 seldom or never heard." 
 
 Mr. Douglas of Nellore thus writes of his sphere of labour : — 
 " As respects the impression made by the truth upon the great 
 masses of heathen around us, we may say that a great willingness 
 to hear is exhibited far and wide. Our audiences in the streets 
 and at festivals, and in our visits to the numerous villages around 
 us, have been very large, and, as a whole, respectful. Should 
 God in great mercy pour out His Spirit, as in Tinnevelly, we 
 believe that thousands would be found prepared, by a knowledge 
 of the Bible, to accept the offers of salvation, and to leave caste 
 and idolatry for the Church and service of the living God." 
 
 The Rev. P. Jagannadham of Chicacole thus speaks of that 
 retired corner of the Telugu country: — "The majority of the 
 Hindus around me are ignorant and do not think at all of the 
 nature and tendency of idolatry, but continue to follow it as their 
 fathers have done. There are some who are a little enlightened, 
 but when they are attacked on the subject they try to justify it, 
 declaring that it is the means of attaining to the knowledge of 
 the invisible God. Some see the folly and ungodliness of it 
 when it is pointed out, but they feel quite indifferent about it. 
 There are a few who are convinced of its folly, but they have no 
 courage to renounce it publicly. The number of those- who are 
 convinced of the truth and excellency of Christianity is gradually 
 increasing, not only in the town but also in the country; but the 
 Spirit of the Living God must be poured out upon them that 
 they may be enabled to follow the Redeemer." 
 
 For nearly forty years the Orissa missionaries have endea- 
 voured diligently to preach the Gospel in every part of the pro- 
 vince. Generally seven in number, year by year they and their 
 able native preachers have traversed its districts and visited its 
 market-towns, spreading an efficient Christian literature and 
 urging its million of people to forsake idolatry and accept the 
 Gospel. They have continued steadily to receive converts from 
 the heathen ; but it would seem that by far the greatest work 
 they have accomplished has been the extensive spread of sound 
 Christian knowledge and the preparation of the Province for a 
 great change in future. The last Report of the Mission thus 
 speaks on the subject : — " What has been the result, it may be 
 
IN INDIA. 189 
 
 asked, of these labours so widely pursued for many years ? We 
 answer. Much every way. The sun can no more rise with- 
 out dissipating darkness, than so much heavenly light be dis- 
 persed without dissipating much ignorance, and error, and sin. 
 Alas ! it may be feared, that much seed has fallen by the way- 
 side and on stony ground. Still a vast preparatory work has been 
 done. The confidence of thousands in their lying refuges has 
 been shaken or destroyed. The blessing of the Brahmin is less 
 desired and his curse less dreaded by many. The Scripture has 
 been fulfilled, which says, that "they shall be greatly ashamed 
 that trust in graven images." The character of the only true 
 God has been understood by thousands. Prejudices have been 
 diminished ; and many have been convinced that Christ is the 
 only Saviour. How many have been led savingly to trust in 
 Christ the day will declare ; but we cannot doubt that many will 
 be found at the right hand of the Judge, as the fruit of these 
 labours, whose names were never enrolled in the records of the 
 Church on earth ; and former reports show that a goodly num- 
 ber who have heard the Gospel and received books, even at 
 Pooree, where Satan's seat is, have been ultimately led to re- 
 nounce idolatry and embrace the Christian faith. Nor should it 
 be overlooked that in most cases of conversion from idolatry, the 
 desired result is not effected by one man, or by a single effort, 
 but by a variety of means. Some light is received from the 
 tract, and some from the inspired page, while the living voice of 
 the servant of Christ clears away error, strengthens good resolu- 
 tions, and expounds the way of God more perfectly ; and thus 
 the result in which all Christian hearts rejoice is, by the Spirit of 
 God, happily effected.'' 
 
 A recent Report of the Calcutta Tract Society thus describes 
 the mental and moral condition of great numbers in that impor- 
 tant and influential city : — "The present state of the native mind 
 is a very peculiar, I had almost said ominous one. Multitudes 
 have been educated ; but they are not thereby made Christians. 
 Many have been educated highly, and are familiar with the 
 literature of the West. Of course, Hinduism is falling on all 
 sides. It is still supported by domestic and social institutions, 
 and by the yet abiding race of orthodox Hindus ; who, as heads 
 of families, check the too great boldness of their dependants. 
 But the system is all rotten to its foundations, and it will soon, I 
 doubt not, become evidently ruinous as a religious structure. 
 This work has been done by missionaries and other labourers 
 from Europe. It seems a work easy to accomplish. But now 
 that we have cast down, who is there to build ? Who can impart 
 to these multitudes, whose former religious convictions have 
 
1 90 TEN years' missionary labour 
 
 been all destroyed, a hearty belief in a new revelation ? All 
 must feel that God alone can work here ; and we mourn that 
 His power does not appear to be with us, as it was with His ser- 
 vants of old. The tide of infidelity — not the ribald infidelity of 
 Paine, but that of the modern philosophy, intangible and intract- 
 able — is rising high, and who will stem it? Slay God help us 
 to do what we ought and bless our efforts to His own glory." 
 
 A peculiarly sad illustration of the way in which hundreds of 
 Hindus who have enjoyed great privileges and yet have despised 
 them, and who after full instruction in the Gospel have yet to 
 the last adhered to the system of their fathers, is thus given in a 
 recent Report of the Calcutta Baptist Mission : — " One of Mr. 
 Wenger's pundits was quite superannuated before he left, and in 
 August or July last he died at Serampore. He was first en- 
 gaged by Dr. Carey at the commencement of the enlarged plans 
 for translations formed by the three worthies at Serampore ; and 
 his whole subsequent life for more than half a century was spent 
 in assisting our brethren to make the Word of God accessible to 
 the pundits of India in an acceptable form. Yet to the last he 
 was a narrow-minded, bigoted Hindu, and has died, I fear, with- 
 out knowledge and without hope. What a deplorable fact ! The 
 burden and heat of his day were borne by him in close proximity 
 to the wells of salvation, the fountain of living waters, yet he 
 never slaked his thirst thereat, nor drank that he might live for 
 ever." 
 
 On the subject of general progress, Mr. Williamson, one of 
 the oldest missionaries in Bengal, thus speaks : — " The Gospel 
 seems to be gradually turning the people around us. Increase of 
 Christian knowledge and diminution of prejudice against Christ- 
 ianity are becoming more and more apparent. The preachers of the 
 Gospel are not now disliked and opposed as they formerly were ; 
 but are generally welcomed, courteously treated, and sometimes 
 invited to repeat their visits. Idolatry is evidently declining. 
 The religious festivals are not crowded as they once were ; and 
 the modern school have practically renounced them/' 
 
 In the Dacca Mission for some years past great attention has 
 been paid to the preaching of the Gospel over the scattered dis- 
 tricts of East Bengal, and long and laborious itinerancies have 
 been frequently undertaken for this purpose. A recent Report 
 thus speaks of the results of this important work : — " We are not 
 without evidence that an interest is being excited which may 
 ultimately lead to important results. Not long ago the people of 
 one of the villages that has been visited invited a number of their 
 friends from the neighbouring hamlets, and sent a deputation to 
 our native preachers in the city with the request that they would 
 
IN INDIA. 191 
 
 come and have a friendly discussion respecting religion. The 
 request was acceded to ; the preachers spent an entire day in the 
 village, and were most hospitably entertained. Of course they 
 could not be invited to join the people at their mid-day meal., but 
 a separate meal was cooked and served up to them, and every 
 attention was paid to their wants. On their departure the people 
 proposed another meeting at which all the most learned Brahmins 
 of the neighbourhood were to be invited to meet the preachers in 
 argument This second meeting, however, has not yet come off. 
 
 "An interesting feature in the attitude of some of the people 
 towards the Gospel, but one which is still but slowly developing, 
 is a disposition to examine its authority with candour." 
 
 Mr. Lawrence, long resident at Monghyr, thus speaks of the 
 province of Behar : — " With regard to the growth of Christian 
 knowledge and impression in Behar during the last ten years, I 
 am unable to give you much information. But from all I have 
 heard I should judge that a certain amount of knowledge regard- 
 ing Christianity has been more widely diffused than formerly ; 
 and that a more correct and favourable impression now exists in 
 the minds of the people generally than was the case ten years 
 ago. But while the people may appear better disposed than 
 formerly, let it not be supposed that they are ready to receive 
 Christianity. To all human appearance it will be long before 
 Behar will be ripe unto the harvest.''' 
 
 Mr. Sternberg, also long resident in the province, gives his 
 testimony as follows : — 
 
 " There are other fruits of preaching which, if less conspicuous, 
 are nevertheless full of encouragement. The mere fact that there 
 is no want of hearers, nor of those who take our tracts, and that both 
 hearers and readers seem to be more in earnest of late than for- 
 merly, is an encouragement to continue. Besides, one meets 
 constantly with such remarks and observations on the part of the 
 natives as show that a change is going on in their mind which, 
 sooner or later, must break forth. i Give me,' said a respectable 
 young man who came from Patna, ' give me a book which con- 
 tains much about Jesus Christ ; that our gods are false I know 
 already .' Another man asked what he should do to get through 
 the present distress. He was told to call on his gods. ' Ah,' 
 said lie with a smile, 'the gismat of our gods has now-a-days 
 gone down/ A Zemindar observed to our catechist in a very 
 confidential tone, ' Your religion will soon prevail.' ' How do 
 you know that ?' ' I know it from the fact that our Brahmins, 
 when they are among us, boast very much how they will refute 
 you and your padris, but when they come in front of you a panic 
 seizes them, so that they cannot utter a word in defence of our 
 
192 TEN TEAKS MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 religion. Thus, although we give them their fees as formerly, 
 yet "we do it not from the heart.' A Brahmin was talked to for a 
 considerable time, and when asked why do you not reply, said : 
 ' What shall I reply; the sun is up, who wants a candle?' Such 
 and similar expressions form no mean source of encouragement 
 to us, and strengthen us in the belief that we shall reap in due 
 time if we faint not." 
 
 The brethren of the Tirhoot Mission thus describe in one of 
 their late reports a fact which illustrates in a striking manner the 
 feelings of the people respecting idolatry: — 
 
 "Our brother Dodt made a short tour in November last in 
 our neighbourhood, on which he met with the following incident: 
 * On a Sunday afternoon,' he says, ' I went to a village to visit 
 the market held there in a tope. No sooner had I arrived than 
 the people surrounded me, and enabled me to commence speaking 
 to them. And surprising it was that in an instant about sixty or 
 seventy persons forgot all their business, and kept listening quietly 
 to my words. After I had spoken for balf-an-hour, I just touched 
 on the futility of worshipping idols, especially the idol Jaggar- 
 nath, when one in the crowd, a Brahmin (and there were about 
 twelve or fifteen Brahmins standing close to me) called out, but 
 in a very friendly manner, ' You are the lords of the country, 
 why, then, do you keep Jaggarnath? Does not your rule extend 
 to Puri? Then knock him down, and none will raise him up 
 again!' I replied, 'Shall we indeed overthrow your idols? 
 Will you not rise up against us?' 'Nahin, nahin,' he replied, 
 and others joined him, ' we shall be glad at it, and when he^ is 
 once down none will worship him any more.' I continued, 'You 
 know we do not make Christians by force, as you have also heard 
 in the late proclamation of our Queen.' Again they replied, 
 ' Sir, to make Christians is one thing, and to ease people of their 
 burden is another thing ; Jaggarnath is to all of us a great bur- 
 den!' 'It is hot our way to pull down your gods, you must do 
 it vourselves, and I trust that you will soon do it ; that your tem- 
 ples will be forsaken, and that your idols will rot.' ' ; 
 
 The report of the Mirzapore Mission speaks as follows: — 
 
 " There can be no doubt that the influence of these varied 
 labours upon the people is very considerable. Not that the 
 people have arrived at such a stage of earnest conviction that 
 multitudes are ready to avow themselves Christians, but never- 
 theless they are continually becoming better acquainted with 
 Christian truth and with the errors of their own creeds, and 
 therefore there is a strong reason to hope that they are likewise 
 continually becoming more prepared for the renunciation of the 
 one and the acceptance of the other. It is a general belief among 
 
IN INDIA. 193 
 
 themselves that they are all about to become Christians. Every 
 fresh measure of the Government, as well as of the missionaries, 
 only confirms them in this notion. Strange as it may sound to 
 persons unaccustomed to Indian modes of thought and of associa- 
 tion of ideas, yet it is true that the income-tax lately introduced 
 into the country is, I believe, regarded by man} 7 as a powerful 
 Christianizing project. But the idea, though singular, is not 
 altogether unnatural, inasmuch as, in the judgment of a Hindu 
 of the old school, whatever interferes with the antiquated cus- 
 toms of his race is a blow levelled at his religion. So that all 
 new laws, especially those based on European principles of legis- 
 lation, all inventions, all improvements, all new ideas of every 
 shade and colour, are, in his estimation, revolutionary and 
 wrong." 
 
 "I think," says Mr. Scott of Futtehguhr, " that idolatry is 
 fast losing its hold of the people. I almost think I can see a 
 change from year to year. The people generally admit that 
 their idols are nothing, and thousands of them confess that 
 Christianity is good, and will soon prevail. Very few of the 
 educated natives seem to take any interest in the matter." 
 
 " There is a wide difference," says Mr. Ballantine, " to be 
 seen between different classes and persons of the same class. First, 
 there are the Hindus of the old school, proud, bigoted, and 
 hating the light; they hold on to the gods and the ways of 
 their ancestors, caring little whether they are true or false. 
 Some of these are ready to battle with us whenever they meet 
 us; others hold aloof. Second, There is a large class of all 
 castes, whose confidence in their false gods is much shaken, 
 though they are not yet ready to abandon them. They see the 
 glaring monstrosities of their false systems and the superiority of 
 a pure religion like Christianity. But to break away from these 
 errors and be numbered with outcasts seems a dreadful thing to 
 them. Thirdly, There are great numbers in this city and in 
 many of the villages around us, where our native helpers reside, 
 who have entirely lost their faith in Hinduism. Many educated 
 young men belong to this class. Some of them have a kind of 
 Deism as a substitute for the system they have lost ; others are 
 wavering between this and blank atheism. But many of this 
 third class receive the truths of the Bible so candidly, and seem 
 so fully convinced of them, that we feel they are not far from the 
 kingdom of God. We are receiving converts yearly from this 
 class, but there is not among them any such general interest or 
 movement toward Christianity as we should call a revival of 
 religion. Worldly motives operate to keep them from following 
 their own convictions; but when the times of refreshing shall 
 
 o 
 
194 TEN YEARS' MISSIONARY LABOUR 
 
 come from the presence of the Lord, we may hope for large 
 accessions from those who occupy such a position." 
 
 " The most noticeahle indication," says Mr. Fairbank, " that 
 Hinduism is waning, is that gosains, and other religious mendi- 
 cants, decrease yearly. Their trade will not support them here, 
 and so they are gone to other parts of the country, or to other 
 occupations. As soon as the limits of the districts where Chris- 
 tians live are passed, swarms of these beggars again appear." 
 
 " The admissions to the Churches in this district/' says Mr. 
 Barker, " have as yet all been from the low-caste people. There 
 has been, however, a great change for the better among the higher 
 caste within the past six years. We have been gratified to find 
 them manifesting a growing friendship towards us as individuals, 
 and toward the religion of the Bible. Many of them have lost 
 all confidence in Hinduism, and have become convinced of the 
 truth of Christianity. The strong bond of caste is, in my view, 
 the chief obstacle in the way of their making an open profession 
 of the Christian religion." 
 
 More emphatic than that of any missionary is the testimony 
 of a native professor at Bombay, who, while anxious to defend 
 the system of his fathers, feels compelled to say, " Hinduism is 
 sick unto death. I am fully persuaded that it must fall. Still, 
 while life remains, let us minister to it as we best can/' 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 On the evidence now offered, no impartial mind will deny 
 that the missionary work carried on in India during the past ten 
 years has made secure and solid advance. It has realised sub- 
 stantial progress in the number of its agents, in the number of 
 its converts, in the improved character of the native churches, in 
 the enlargement and spread of its native ministry, and in the in- 
 crease in the number and efficiency of its catechists and teachers ; 
 it has realised that progress in the enlargement of its education, 
 in the improvement of all its Christian literature, in the occupa- 
 tion of new fields, in the ripened experience of its bands of 
 labourers, and in their more efficient application of their conse- 
 crated service to the mighty sphere they seek to occupy. An 
 expenditure of more than two millions and a quarter sterling, 
 contributed by the churches of Europe and America, and by 
 the local church, both native and European, in India, has 
 maintained during that period a staff of missionaries, now reach- 
 ing to more than five hundred in number, — a staff of native 
 pastors and missionaries that has risen to 183, with 1776 cate- 
 
IN INDIA. 1 95 
 
 cliists, and hundreds more of native school-teachers. Fifty- 
 one thousand boys are taught in its vernacular schools, and 
 twenty-four thousand others study English in addition to their 
 own tongue. Twenty-one thousand girls enjoy the benefits of 
 Christian female education under its care. That expenditure, in 
 addition to the salaries of these numerous and experienced agents, 
 has provided them residences, has maintained school-houses, built 
 and repaired churches for worship, provided facilities for preach- 
 ing journeys, has brought out large numbers of new missionaries, 
 has carried away the exhausted invalids, whom the climate has 
 destroyed, and has produced and scattered with liberal hand a 
 vastly-improved Christian literature in fourteen languages, in- 
 cluding, and thoroughly based upon, improved translations of the 
 Word of God. In a word, it has provided, maintained, and ap- 
 plied to the provinces of India, under the English crown, all the 
 elements, wisely gathered, of a religious and moral agency, which, 
 in obedience to Divine command, and in dependence upon pro- 
 mised Divine blessing, shall expose the folly and ruinousness of 
 false religions, shall expound the way of salvation, shall teach 
 a divinely-revealed morality, and shall stir up the minds of the 
 myriads, who listen to its words, to think, to weigh, to under- 
 stand, to follow, all that shall render earth's life a blessing, and 
 crown mortality with endless life. That agency has, during the 
 decade, rescued thousands of souls from death, has witnessed an 
 elevation of the tone, knowledge, and temper of native Christian 
 life, and has seen a large increase in the numbers of native con- 
 verts. 
 
 While the Government system of education in India now an- 
 nually expends a sum, as nearly as possible the equal of all the 
 money spent on Indian missions, and has, like those missions, ex- 
 pended during the past ten years two millions and a half sterling, 
 its results are not for a moment to be compared with the agencies 
 and the fruits which those numerous missions contain. Though 
 now commencing in its best governed provinces to promote ver- 
 nacular education among the many, it has for a long series of 
 years, especially in Bengal, chosen a few from the middle and 
 higher classes of native society, stimulated to a high degree their 
 intellectual activity, while leaving their moral nature, to a great 
 extent, untrained and uninformed, and has sent them forth into 
 the world more able (for good or evil), often full of intellectual 
 pride, not seldom disloyal in their hearts. Missionary agency 
 has not despised the wealthy or the middle classes; the many 
 scholars found among them it has trained in their whole na- 
 ture as immortal beings ; but it has wrought and found its 
 fruits most largely amongst the poor. The peasantry, often de- 
 
196 TEN TEAKS' MISSIONARY LABOUR IN INDIA. 
 
 spised and oppressed, have found no greater friends in the land 
 than missionaries and other Christian men ; and in the mission 
 churches, which they have helped to form, more than 200,000 
 worshippers offer each Sabbath the earnest aspirations of loyal 
 hearts to the living and true God, in the name of the one Medi- 
 ator, that their honoured and gracious Queen may increasingly 
 "enjoy the consolations " of that Christian religion, of which the 
 Proclamation spoke, and pray that the truth which they have 
 themselves embraced may be accepted by their fellow-country- 
 men throughout the empire. That truth, through missionary 
 agency, is yearly growing a greater power in the land. Every 
 year the knowledge of it is spreading more widely, its impressions 
 are made more deeply, it is moulding the opinion of all native 
 society, and is the one power that has increasing influences. 
 Neither of the false religions of India is making any way. Each 
 is more active at times ; for Christianity has compelled them to 
 activity, even in their own defence ; but each new effort shows 
 their character more clearly, and adds to previous defeats. Every- 
 where in the empire, in Ceylon, and Burmah, in North India, and 
 in the South, in the great cities, and in the open country, in the 
 seats of commerce, the seats of government, the centres of native 
 opinion, it is Christianity alone which makes real advance. It is 
 compelling opinion, making enemies more silent and sullen, and 
 winning numerous friends. Its agency was never more compact, 
 more judiciously located, more steady in its working, more calm 
 and quiet in its tone. The husbandmen have gone forth to their 
 toil, bearing the precious seed, and often sowing it in tears. The 
 forest has been cleared, the soil reclaimed, and everywhere the 
 fields are green with budding blade and tender ear. In sheltered 
 valleys, where the sunbeams lie, small sheaves of first-fruits have 
 been gathered in. The pine-tree has replaced the thorn, the 
 myrtle grows where the briar flourished, and the garden of God 
 is preparing to offer to its Master all fruits and flowers of im- 
 mortal beauty and undecaying bloom. " Behold, the winter is 
 past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, 
 the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the 
 turtle is heard in our land." Well may the Church of God pre- 
 sent the sacred prayer : " Awake, O north wind, and come, thou 
 south : blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow 
 out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his plea- 
 sant FRUITS." 
 
 London : Strangeways and Walden, Castle St. Leicester Sq. 
 
 ft