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THE GOSPEL IN GONDA: 
 
 BEING A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS IN CONNECTION WITH 
 
 THE PREACHING OP THE GOSPEL IN THE 
 
 TRANS-GHAGHRA COUNTRY. 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. S. KNOWLES, M. A., 
 n 
 
 MISSIONARY. 
 Author of " The Pseudo-Philosophy of Idolatry? etc., etc. 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 
 THE REV. J. W. WAUGH, D. D. 
 
 LUCKNOW : 
 
 PRINTED AT THE METHODIST PUBLISHING HOUSE. 
 
 1889. 
 

 • • • . • 
 
 • • * *. 
 
 ■ws-w 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Chapter T. page. 
 
 Introductory ... ... ... ... 1 — 7 
 
 Mr. Knowles's Secret ... ... ... 7—20 
 
 The Resurrection Bodies ... ... ... 20 — 25 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 Itinerating Tours ... 
 
 Notes of an Itinerating Tour in the Gonda 
 
 District ... ... ... ... 26— 
 
 From Gonda to Bahraich ... ... ,.. 36 — 42 
 
 Notes of a Tour to the North of the Gonda 
 
 District ... ... ... ... 42—148 
 
 The Gospel in Gonda ... ... ... 148 
 
 The Gonda Converts and Inquirers ... ... 148 — 153 
 
 The Gonda Converts ... ... ... 153—157 
 
 TheParshad 157—160 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 Preaching in Melds, or Religious Fairs ... 161 — 169 
 
 The Devi Patan Mela ... ... ...169—191 
 
 With the Gonda Band in the Ajudhiya Mela ... 191—208 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 Special work among the Thar us during April and 
 
 May of 1886 ... ... ... ' ... 209—242 
 
 The Thani Baptisms ... ... ... 242—246 
 
 Conclusion ... ,> ... ... ... 247—248 
 
 £51152 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The preaching of the Gospel among heathen peoples is at 
 once the most difficult and the most important work to 
 which man can be called ; the grandest and most blessed 
 calling to which he can devote himself. 
 
 The best method of preaching to the heathen, — of pre- 
 senting the truth in such manner as to attract and not repel, 
 to win the hearer, and make him desirous of hearing again 
 and yet again, — this is the great work of the Christian Mis- 
 sionary, from whatever side he may approach it ; whether as 
 an itinerant evangelist, or minister or pastor of a congre- 
 gation, a teacher in elementary schools, or a professor in a 
 Christian college or university, whether superintending 
 missionary operations, or with pen and press he prepares a 
 pure literature for the people, whether he ministers to the 
 physical wants of those about him, healing the sick and re- 
 lieving the poor, or perhaps better than all, or in addition 
 to all, lives a life so pure, so good, that the heathen seeing, 
 is won to Christ. This is his work, though not always satis- 
 factorily or even well done, — whether he sees little result of 
 his labors, or finds his efforts crowned with glorious success, 
 — it is indeed a work that altogether 
 
 " Might fill an angel's heart, 
 And filled a Saviour's hands." 
 Preaching, in its best sense is an institution, the origin of 
 which is synchronous with the introduction of Christianity. 
 The divine Founder of our holy faith, having "all power 
 in heaven and on earth " given unto Him, authorized and 
 commissioned his disciples, — not the few only whom he had 
 gathered about him, but in a broader sense the multitude of 
 his followers and believers in increasing numbers down 
 
VI 
 
 through the ages, — He commanded to "Go and teach, disci- 
 ple all nations, baptizing them," and said he, " As ye go, 
 preach" and the command to go was accompanied by the 
 promise, " Lo I am with you always." This is the Mission- 
 ary's great commission. What more does he want 1 Here 
 he takes his stand, confident and conscious that he is never 
 alone ; that amidst the most difficult circumstances, in the 
 most trying hour, help is always at hand, and " underneath 
 are the everlasting arms." 
 
 Preaching has come to be a peculiarity, a characteristic of 
 the Christian faith. Though there were preachers under the 
 Jewish system, and John the Baptist was especially com- 
 missioned to preach, to announce as a herald the coming of 
 Christ, and point out "the Lamb of God, that taketh away 
 the sin of the world," — he was " as the voice of one crying 
 in the wilderness." The anointed preacher's one theme, 
 varied as it may be in a thousand ways, to suit all classes, 
 and adapted to all circumstances and all conditions of men, 
 is this : God, manifested in Christ Jesus for man's redemp- 
 tion and salvation from sin. This central truth embraces 
 all other truths, natural and revealed, with which the 
 preacher is concerned. It is his great work to publish this 
 truth, " the truth as it is in Jesus." To do this efficiently 
 he needs not only " an intellectual grasp of its excellence, 
 but the consciousness of its power, as shown in the baptism 
 of the Holy Ghost, and of fire." When this baptism is pres- 
 ent in the heart of the preacher, water baptisms will follow, 
 as result follows cause. Let the method be what it may, 
 where there is spiritual life in the heart, it will surely be 
 manifest, if not immediately, certainly not many days 
 hence. 
 
 Dean Stanley in his Introductory Sermon to Professor 
 Max Muller's Westminster Lecture on Missions, uses the 
 following remarkable illustration as to how the best method 
 of reaching the heathen world may be found. He says : — 
 
Vll 
 
 " When the first Napoleon suddenly found himself among 
 the quicksands of the Red Sea, he ordered his generals to 
 ride out in so many opposite directions, and the first who 
 arrived on firm ground, was to call on the rest to follow. 
 This is what we may ask of all the various schemes and 
 agencies — all the various inquiries after truth now at work, 
 in all the different branches and classes of Christendom, — 
 1 Ride out amongst those quicksands.' — Ride out in the most 
 opposite directions, and let him that first finds solid ground 
 call out to us ! It may perchance be the very ground in 
 the midst of this quaking morass, where we shall be able to 
 stand firm and move the world ! " Very remarkable language 
 indeed for the learned and pious dean of Westminster. And 
 some doughty knights in England and in India have mounted 
 and "riding out" are now calling loudly that they have 
 found solid ground, or at least a via media, leading away 
 from this " quaking morass " of doubt as to methods, and 
 bidding others go in this new-found way, if they would have 
 success in this great work ! Thank God, there is no morass, 
 no quicksand, and no quaking other than in the minds of 
 those who seek for these things. Simple faith and earnest 
 effort, with intense desire and honest devotion, have satis- 
 factorily solved the problem, having proved all possible 
 methods, and chosen those best adapted to the end in view, 
 the successful preaching of the Gospel in India, and even the 
 ultimate conversion of the world. Nor had these more hum- 
 ble and devoted ones far to go in their search for the right 
 and the best way. The New Testament is a wonderful guide 
 to any who may be seeking for light on the pathway of 
 method or of duty. The Gospels and Epistles are full of di- 
 vinely inspired directions for all such. 
 
 When the Founder of the Faith came upon certain of Ms 
 disciples who had toiled all night at their nets, and taken 
 nothing, His simple command to them was, " Launch out 
 into the deep and let down your nets," On another occasion, 
 
Vlll 
 
 when they had caught nothing during the livelong night, in 
 the early morning He stood upon the shore and called to 
 them, " Cast the net on the right side of the ship and ye 
 will find." Obedience to the divine command will, with 
 fishers of men as with the toilers of the sea, meet with its 
 reward, in eventually " enclosing a great multitude." 
 
 The methods for the prosecution of this greatest work are 
 multiform, and very various, and the talents and equipment 
 of the workers are characterized by as great variety. The 
 success of all is not equal j but there need be no discourage- 
 ment, for the same divine master, knowing well the difficul- 
 ties of the work, tells his disciples by means of a parable, 
 that, of a certain quantity of seed sown only one-fourth part 
 may be expected to gladden the heart of the sower when 
 comes the reaping time. Or, as the sainted Bishop Edward 
 Thomson chastely puts the thought : " Christ divides the 
 seed sown into four portions, only one of which brings forth 
 abundant fruit." 
 
 The writer of the "Gospel in Gonda" has not planned, 
 nor even thought to prepare here a treatise on Homiletics, 
 to show how all preaching should be done, and yet he has 
 shown a plan or method of successfully approaching a simple 
 minded people, convincing them in a very brief time of the 
 superiority and power of the Christian faith, and bringing 
 them to accept its truths and receive the outward sign of 
 this change of faith, — by the simple, earnest, faithful preach- 
 ing of Christ. Preparation on the part of the Missionary 
 and his Assistants for each specific effort was always sought 
 in prayer, and the study of the Word ; prayer for divine 
 guidance and the divine blessing then and there on the word 
 preached. The preaching, the praying, the singing, all was 
 done in faith that God would hear and answer, that He 
 would be present and bless the means used, that the Holy 
 Spirit would convict and convince, and give light to see the 
 truth, and courage to accept it. This method was pursued 
 
IX 
 
 whether the preparation was made just previous to standing 
 in the presence of one hundred or of ten thousand hearers 
 in the great melds of the cities and shrines, or seated on the 
 humble string charpai, addressing in simpler language a 
 small company of village people, in the more populous re- 
 gions of the garden of India, or in the jungles on the borders 
 of Nepal. Although all the good that was hoped for on the 
 part of the Missionary and those who have watched the 
 work with intense interest, may not have been accomplished, 
 and all the fruit may not have been successfully gathered, 
 it seems clearly demonstrated that the method pursued leads 
 to assured success when there are facilities for properly fol- 
 lowing it up, — when there is an organized force behind it suf- 
 ficient and ready to follow the work with the necessary after 
 work, and to conserve its results. "When a single individual 
 or a whole village receives baptism, having accepted the faith 
 of Christ, the real work is only fairly begun. Much teaching, 
 "line upon line, line upon line," will still be needed to carry 
 on the work so hopefully begun, to bring it to the most 
 successful conclusion, and to accomplish the highest results 
 of evangelism, of true gospel preaching. The much discussed 
 question of early baptism, or " instantaneous baptism " as it is 
 wrongly and sometimes invidiously called, is not nearly so 
 difficult a one as that of the immediately subsequent teach- 
 ing of the new convert, — the following up of the lessons 
 already given. The primary teaching must frequently of 
 necessity be limited, for there is often not time to do more 
 than give a discourse, followed usually by the simple gospel 
 teaching of one or more native assistants, and then the dis- 
 tinctive rite ; and the Missionary must move on to other 
 towns and villages. If those who seem most bitterly op- 
 posed, and honestly so, to speedy baptism, will look over the 
 churches or Christian communities with which they are con- 
 nected, and say they find no cases of falling away after 
 baptism on the part of those who have had months or perhaps 
 
years of previous instruction, then, and then only should 
 they feel tempted to "throw the first stone." Careful 
 observation shows that as large a percentage of the early- 
 baptized remain firm, if they have proper teaching, as of 
 those taken from their villages to the Mission compound and 
 taught there ; and in addition to this, their simpler manner 
 of village life as to food and drink and dress, runs less risk 
 of being injuriously affected by imitation of the habits of 
 some dwellers even in Mission compounds. The first great 
 step in winning souls is, to get hold of the people, to get 
 their sympathies, to get near them, and make them feel that 
 their interests and those of the Missionary are one. This 
 can be done in no way nearly so speedily and effectually as 
 by the rite of baptism ; then their hearts can be touched, 
 they can be taught at leisure, and may ripen into strong 
 Christian characters, and some even into earnest workers. 
 That church or society which is ready to follow up the 
 work of the baptizing evangelist by the effective teaching and 
 training of the new converts, giving them at once mental 
 illumination and soul -culture, will certainly be counted most 
 worthy to reap the rich harvest of souls surely awaiting this 
 work. For the solution of this problem, the carrying on to a 
 successful issue of a work so well begun, all Missionary 
 laborers, in short the whole Christian church, should be 
 equipped and ready. After that, the millennium. 
 
 J. W. WAUGH. 
 
 Allahabad, 
 7th August, 1889. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 THE following very brief history of Gonda will not be 
 here considered out of place. 
 Five hundred years B. C, when Buddha, the princely 
 mendicant, was wandering along the banks of the Rapti and 
 the Ghaghra thinking out his godless system of humanita- 
 rianism, the Ahirs, or Cowherds, were penning in their im- 
 mense droves of cattle in Gonda, then only a cleared space 
 in the great forest for miles around, to protect them from 
 the savage beasts prowling about. In fact Gonda was then 
 much what the Tharu country is now. But great material, 
 political and religious changes have swept over the country 
 since then, clearing the jungles, creating smiling villages and 
 beautiful suburbs, driving back the tiger, boar, and hyena to 
 their fastnesses in the Nepal Hills, and forcing the sturdy 
 cowherds back to form their cattle pens at the foot of the same 
 Hills. Hence Gonda is no longer a cattle-fold (Gontha), 
 but the chief town and administrative head-quarters of a 
 flourishing district ; situated 28 miles North-north-west of 
 Faizabad (abode of grace). The original jungle is now the 
 site of a very picturesque Civil station and growing town, 
 with a present population all told of nearly 18,000 souls, 
 and the largest District, except Bareilly, in the North- West- 
 ern Provinces, (Oudh having been amalgamated). 
 
 The large wide wooden bridge spanning a branch of the 
 river Terhi, and the beautiful shady avenue of various trees, 
 
 A 
 
) .. '^TUB-GOSPEL .JN'tJONDA. 
 
 both separating the Civil Lines from the city, form a very 
 pleasing picture ; while the handsome artificial lake, con- 
 structed by Raja Seo Pershad around an old Hindu monas- 
 tery embedded in a grove of flowering shrubs and trees, and 
 on the ornamental banks of which stands the Anjuman-i- 
 Rifah, or Literary Institute, presents a combination of natu- 
 ral objects which as a whole makes a beautiful landscape. 
 Hundreds of years ago, during the rule of the Gonda Rajas, 
 the place was celebrated for its excellent shields, which were 
 in great request ; but now, since the B. and N. W. Railway 
 has opened out the whole country from Gorakhpur to Nepal 
 Gunj, it promises to fast become the commercial centre of 
 the rice and wheat trade. If any of our friends will take 
 a map and look at Lat. 27° 7'30" N., and Long. 82° E. they 
 will see where lies the place Ave have briefly described, and 
 where we are labouring for the Great Master. 
 
 Gonda was opened as a Mission of the Methodist Episco- 
 pal Church in India, and in connection with the North In- 
 dia Conference, in January of 1865, by the writer of this 
 account. Some months previously the station had been 
 visited by Bishop E. Thompson, D. D., and Rev. W. But- 
 ler, D. D., and they wisely determined to give the Gospel 
 of Jesus Christ to the perishing millions of this vast Dis- 
 trict. So needy was this field, and so desirable a place for 
 work was it deemed, that if we had not taken up the Sta- 
 tion and District when we did, they would most probably 
 have been occupied by the late Rev. Mr. Ziemann of the 
 Lutheran Mission at Gazipur, in the North-Western Provin- 
 ces. This earnest and self-devoted Missionary had made an 
 itinerating tour on foot through a part of the District, preach- 
 ing the Gospel, and living on ddl bhdt, (cooked rice and 
 pulse). Besides making many inquirers, he baptized one 
 convert on this trip. This man was the zaminddr, or land- 
 holder, of a village situated between Tarab-Ganj (the store- 
 house of happiness) and Nawab-Ganj (the store-house of the 
 prince). He was baptized with the name Anand-Masih 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. i 
 
 (the content of Christ) and is now labouring in our out- 
 station Ellenpur. But Mr. Ziemann, seeing we were going 
 to take up the work in earnest, retired from the field, and 
 we have alone worked the Station and District since. On 
 our arrival in Gonda, after a most tedious journey from 
 Lucknow via Bairamghatby doli-ddJc, (a palanquin journey,) 
 we were most kindly received and hospitably entertained by 
 Major J. Ross, Deputy Commissioner, and W. Knighton, 
 Esq., L. L. D., Assistant Commissioner. The latter, a 
 member of the Church of England, generously gave 
 us a room in his house, in which we conducted an Eng- 
 lish Service every "Sunday afternoon for the benefit of 
 the European residents : there being many more English 
 officials and other residents in Gonda than there are now. 
 Soon, however, money enough was collected in the Station 
 alone to build a convenient and substantial Chapel, with- 
 out any expense to the Mission. The building was erected 
 in the north-west corner of our large and beautiful com- 
 pound, and the whole Station used to attend regularly 
 the Sabbath afternoon Service held therein. It is worth 
 mentioning just here, that it was in this humble place 
 of worship Doctor J. H. Condon began those earnest Christ- 
 ian labors which have characterized him from that time 
 both in and out of our Mission, and made his name a house- 
 hold word in every station in which he has so faithfully 
 served as Civil Surgeon since. And notwithstanding his 
 multifarious and very arduous duties as Civil Surgeon of a 
 large station, (Cawnpore) he is now the most intelligent, 
 earnest, hard-working, unpaid Local Preacher of our Church 
 in India. English education in the North-West of India, 
 for poor Eurasian and European children owes much to this 
 indefatigable Christian man. Not only was he mainly instru- 
 mental in starting the Boys' Memorial School in Cawnpore, 
 but after he was transferred from Gonda to Naini Tal as 
 Civil Surgeon, he was the means of establishing the first 
 school for boys and girls in the latter station, which has 
 
I TJ(E GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 since grown into the present large Diocesan Boys' and Girls' 
 Schools in that gem of a hill sanitarium. The reader, who 
 knows our worthy friend and dear Christian brother, Doctor 
 Condon, will readily pardon this apparent slight digression 
 from our subject, and will join with us in saying, what I 
 once heard a poor Roman Catholic woman, the wife of a 
 Railway Guard in Cawnpore, say of the good Doctor : " He 
 is a man one would like to stand by your bed when you die, 
 and by your grave when you are buried." She could not 
 have paid a higher compliment to her priest ! Any how, our 
 work in Gonda was the richer and better for our having the 
 Doctor at that time as our Civil Surgeon. He it was who 
 helped us to open our first vernacular school in the City, as 
 the quicker, easier, and cheaper way of getting at the minds 
 and hearts of the children. Out of this simple, unpretend- 
 ing Hindi school came two of our present Native Preachers, 
 Bihari Lai, and Kanhai Lai, two brothers from the Kdyath, 
 or writer caste, and who, during the last few years, have 
 helped us to carry on so successfully our evangelistic work 
 in the District. It was the Doctor also, who, humanly 
 speaking, aided us in sustaining and encouraging our first 
 Musalman convert, Rajab Ali, who gave up a salary of 
 three hundred and fifty rupees a month in the Oudh Com- 
 mission to become our Christian Munshi on a stipend of three 
 hundred and forty rupees less ; who afterwards rendered 
 such efficient service to our Lucknow Press, then in 
 charge of Rev. J. W. Waugh, as Translator, Composer 
 and Editor; and who is now editing the Punjab Review 
 in Umritsar, the holy-city of the land of the Five-rivers. 
 The Doctor it was, too, who assisted us with a pony and 
 other means to make our first itinerating tour from 
 Gonda to Bairamghat, via Colonel-Gunj, the old military 
 cantonments before the Mutiny of 1857 for the Trans- 
 Ghaghra Territory. In fact, during the five years we 
 had charge of the work in this station, our respected friend 
 was more to us than an assistant Missionary; for his 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 earnest piety and consistent example before the natives, 
 and in the position he held were worth more to us in our 
 work than a clerical coadjutor. 
 
 During the five years we laboured in this field we did little 
 or nothing comparatively speaking, in the way of the higher 
 education of the Natives, for God sent us not to educate, but 
 to preach. We saw that the Government, under the able 
 direction of Mr. A. Thompson, now Principal of the Agra 
 College, wasdoing all we deemed necessary in that line ; but 
 we established a number of cheap vernacular schools in 
 Gonda, andin the three out-stations — Balrampur, Colonel- 
 Ganj, and Nawab-Ganj, which fully answered our purpose of 
 propagating and extending the knowledge of Christ among 
 the children and young people of the District. We were 
 never ashamed of confessing that our professed object in these 
 schools was to proselytize, 01 make converts from the young 
 for our Lord Jesus Christ. And if this is not the end di- 
 rectly aimed at in all our higher education by the Mis- 
 sionaries in charge of our institutions of learning, then we 
 fail to see how these Ministers are obeying and fulfilling the 
 grand commission they have received from their Great Cap- 
 tain. Outside of these modest schools our work was exclu- 
 sively preaching directly the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 in the bazaars of the city, on itinerating tours among the 
 teeming villages, and in the crowded melas, or religious fairs, 
 held from time to time in different parts of our extensive 
 District. On some of these tours we were accompanied and 
 very ably assisted by our then Presiding Elder, the Rev. 
 J. W. Waugh, D. D., and one of the best vernacular scho- 
 lars in our Mission. In 1870, we were transferred to Sitapur 
 by Bishop Kingsley, and the Gonda Station and District 
 were served successively and with much ability by the Revs. 
 S. S. Weatherly, H. Mansell, and B. H. Badley. By the 
 former our present Mission House in Gonda w r as built ; and 
 by the last a fine large school house in Golaganj in the city- 
 was erected. The Rev. B. H. Badley, like ourselves, was 
 
6 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 blessed with a dear Christian Brother to help and encourage 
 him in his work. Like Doctor J. H. Condon, Mr. H. \V. 
 Gilbert, Civil Engineer, will long be remembered in the sta- 
 tion and District for the bright example he set in Christian 
 character, and the good deeds he performed for his Great 
 Saviour. Mr. Badley, too, while he was enthusiastic in fur- 
 thering the cause of education, gave the most of his time 
 in the cold season to the grand work of preaching the Gos- 
 pel of Christ in the meld, the village, and bazaar. In the 
 direction of Tulsipur in the north of our District especially 
 we have found many encouraging traces of his successful 
 itinerating tours. Thus, for the first ten or thirteen years 
 of the opening of our work in Gonda and its District, was 
 there much precious seed sown broad-cast over this great 
 field of labour, and which was watered with a liberal hand. 
 So it is not surprising, if this vast field ploughed and sown 
 and watered so faithfully and bountifully, should bye-and- 
 bye burst forth into a rich golden harvest with the Hashing 
 sickles and the reapers' songs. In 1880 we were transferred 
 from Kanpur and re-appointed to Gonda. For the first 
 two years after our re-appointment we worked on the old 
 beaten track of praying and preaching and hoping ; but in 
 the third year a happy and hallowed change came over the 
 character of our faith and work for which we shall bless and 
 thank our Great Heavenly Father to all eternity. 
 
 2. The succeeding note, written by the Rev. J. M. 
 Thoburn, D. D., Editor at that time of The Indian Wit- 
 ness, now our beloved Bishop ; and the letter that follows, 
 which was published with the above note in the January 
 number of the aforesaid paper for 1885, will explain the 
 nature of this great change which came over the spirit of 
 our faith and the mode of our working. 
 
 "The work of the Rev. S. Knowles in the Gonda District, 
 which has attracted so much notice of late, was a subject of 
 frequent reference in the discussions of the Conference (held 
 in Bareilly, January, 1885, Bishop J. H. Hurst, our long-,to-be« 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 7 
 
 remembered President), and is evidently watched with in- 
 tense interest. A general conviction seemed to prevail that 
 the dawning of a better day was at hand, and that a more 
 vigorous evangelistic effort should be organized without de- 
 lay. We are glad to hear that not a few of the Hindustani 
 bretliern are deeply moved in reference to this subject. It 
 was also encouraging to a visitor returning to the Confer- 
 ence after several years' absence, to note that the Hindu 
 stani preachers had been growing in piety and knowledge, 
 and that they were animated by an affectionate and tender 
 spirit, as well as a holy and earnest zeal." 
 
 "MR. KNOWLES'S SECRET." 
 
 Sir, — As a number of persons have written and spoken 
 to me about the peculiarities of our evangelistic work in the 
 Gonda District, especially with respect to the time and mode 
 of the beginning of these apparent singularities, I think a 
 brief explanation, in the form of a letter to you, will be 
 the best and most appropriate way of answering all these 
 many inquiries. 
 
 I must premise that for a long time I expressed my 
 cherished belief of the impossibility of reaching the minds 
 and hearts of bond fide Hindus and Musalmans so as to con- 
 vince and bring them immediately to Christ, without a sure 
 ground-work of knowledge arising from a long course of 
 previous instruction in Historical Christianity ; but I was 
 wonderfully taught by God to see and grasp the truth that 
 the word of God, faithfully preached in any one place or at 
 any one time, is the only real medium of the Spirit of God 
 to convince the heart of sin and righteousness, and lead it to 
 trust in Jesus Christ for present salvation. 
 
 It was in the beginning of the year 1883 that I was en- 
 camped with all our dear Native brethren of the Gonda cir- 
 cuit in a place called Madhnapiir, on the Atraula road. As 
 our custom was, before going into a village to preach, we 
 
8 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 met together in our tent, to read a portion of Holy Scrip- 
 ture, and unite in prayer for inspiration for, and a blessing 
 upon, our evening's work. I read a part of the second chap- 
 ter of the Acts of the Apostles, and while reading, an in- 
 describable desire came into my heart for a baptism of the 
 Holy Ghost. I mentioned this to our brethern, and asked 
 why we, then and there, could not receive a rich Pentecostal 
 blessing. The brethren became very much interested in the 
 question, and we began to talk about and earnestly pray over 
 it. We soon became of one heart and mind in our increased 
 desire to obtain this promised baptism of the Holy Spirit. 
 I remember with glowing gratitude that while one of us 
 was leading in prayer, the great, unmistakable blessing came 
 down upon every heart present with melting sanctifying 
 power, and we rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of 
 glory. We then all arose and marched into the village of 
 Madhnapur withour lamps burning and our music playing. 
 We had given no particular notice of our coming, and 
 yet the head landowner had collected over two hundred per- 
 sons, mostly of the Thdkur caste, and had them seated on 
 the straw-covered floor of a large open shed ; so we had a 
 ready prepared congregation eagerly waiting for us. We 
 began service by singing a bhajan with music ; then a prayer, 
 and preaching. I noticed, while preaching, that each Native 
 brother was engaged in silent prayer, with head bent reve- 
 rently. There was a remarkable impression made ; such as 
 I had never seen made before. After the preaching of the Gos- 
 pel, brother S. Paul stood up and invited all who were convict- 
 ed and believed on this Great Pure Incarnation to declare 
 themselves by coming forward and receiving from our hands 
 the sign of discipleship. At once, the head man of the 
 village, his eldest son, two other Thakurs, and a Brahman, 
 came eagerly forward, before the whole crowd, and after 
 further instruction in this way, received baptism, and then 
 unshrinkingly partook of the prashdd, or food, with us. This 
 was an altogether new and blessed experience with all of us, 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 9 
 
 and we were inspired thereby with joyful hope for the fut- 
 ure. In fact, since that time we have never thus preached 
 in village or mela without men of all ages and castes being 
 so impressed by the truth as to openly confess their faith 
 in Christ, and boldly receive baptism before the astonished 
 crowd. 
 
 Of course, we have nothing to do with professional con- 
 troversy. We never directly argue against Hinduism or 
 Islamism. We simply preach Christ and Him crucified for 
 the salvation of those who believe on Him and accept Him 
 as their future Divine Teacher and Saviour; and we do 
 this, believing that God will honor His own Word there and 
 then, by saving the hearer and doer of that Word. Thus 
 some seventy persons, believing on Christ in their hearts 
 and confessing him with their life, have, since God gave us 
 this wonderful experience, been openly baptized in the vil- 
 lages and melas we have preached in. All our Native preach- 
 ers are ordinary men; but they have learned something 
 of the power of having faith in God, and expecting present 
 results. The baptism of power from on high, renewed again 
 and again, is, I believe, the secret of our success in the 
 Gonda District. We do, it is true, adapt our preaching to 
 the class of people whom we are addressing ; and we try to 
 apply special truths to the special fears and hopes of the 
 people ; as, for instance, the promise of eternal life on believ- 
 ing to the dread burden on the soul of transmigration, and 
 the promise of a resurrection into a glorified spiritual body 
 to the sad expectation of an endless continued materiality 
 with all the evils flesh is heir to clinging to it. Yet it is not 
 to the wisdom of men we trust for success in our work, but 
 to the sure and precious promise of God : " Not by might 
 nor by power, but by my Spirit, saitJi the Lord." 
 
 3. The following article was published in " The Harvest 
 Field" for April, 1888, at the request of the Editor, Rev. 
 H. Haigh, and will explain our position on the subject. 
 
10 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 IMMEDIATE BAPTISMS. 
 
 This heading carries with it to many a very ambiguous 
 meaning. What is meant by immediate baptisms 1 As this 
 term is generally understood, especially by some writers in 
 The Indian Witness, it means indiscriminate baptisms ; that 
 is, baptisms made in confusion and without distinction. Now 
 to charge any missionary with this want of discrimination 
 in baptizing native converts, is a very serious thing ; and 
 those who make it should be pretty sure of their ground be- 
 fore they venture on it. Certainly on the part of the native 
 workers in the Gonda District and of myself personally, I 
 must affirm distinctly that there is no such want of discrimi- 
 nation in baptizing our converts. Those who have worked 
 with us in melas and on itinerating tours, and have seen our 
 modus operandi know that this is true. We have no special 
 desire to swell our statistics, but simply to accept those whom 
 the Lord shall give us, as the result of the preaching of the 
 word and the exercise of faith. 
 
 Perhaps I had better describe our methods of work. First, 
 we call our native preachers in from our six out-stations y 
 and form them into a preaching-band. Then we spend a 
 week in earnest prayer and searching examination before 
 God, that we may be fully prepared for our work. This 
 right preparation can only be received by a personal baptism 
 of the Holy Spirit, through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 and we seek specially for the assurance of this. Thus equip- 
 ped, we go forth to a mela or on an itinerating tour. Arrived 
 at the mela or village we sing a bhajan to attract a crowd. 
 Then, as pre-arranged, a brother steps forward and offers 
 prayer ; after which another brother preaches on a subject we 
 have chosen beforehand and which is specially adapted to the 
 time and occassion. Another bhajan follows, and a second 
 brother preaches on the topic first expounded. The last 
 speaker is appointed to make the final appeal and invite in- 
 quirers to come out and openly declare for Christ. This 
 preacher lays special stress on the three things necessary to 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 11 
 
 become a disciple of Jesus Christ : true repentance, renunci- 
 ation of all others and sole trust in the Lord Jesus Christ 
 alone, and baptism as the outward sign of discipleship. 
 Baptism, both in its mode and signification, is patiently ex- 
 plained. After all this, if any present are convinced and, 
 accepting the invitation given, come out there and then, we 
 further question and instruct each one separately, praying 
 with them each in turn : then, and not till then, when we 
 are assured they are ready for it, do we, on their open con- 
 fession of faith in Jesus Christ, admit them to the rite of 
 baptism. Many come^out whom we do not at once baptize : 
 such we ask to our tent, investigate their cases, further in- 
 struct them, and only after all doubts are removed, do we 
 outwardly receive them as the disciples of the Great Master. 
 All thus baptized have their names and addresses carefully 
 taken down. If they belong to our own District the record 
 is handed over to the native worker who resides nearest 
 these new converts ; and if they live in another District, then 
 we give them, if possible, the address of the missionary in 
 that District. Thus we do the best we can to follow up and 
 instruct these new disciples of Jesus. 
 
 Now we respectfully ask, is this working at random ? Is 
 this baptizing in confusion and without distinction *? If this 
 is not a Scriptural way of seeking to bring home the truth 
 of the Gospel to the minds and hearts of the people, and try- 
 ing to make the religion of Jesus Christ an indigenous growth 
 in this land, in opposition to the exotie training of the padri's 
 compound, then will our kind friends, who seem to me to 
 write and speak so much at random on this important sub- 
 ject, tell us of a more excellent way *? 
 
 For twenty-five years I worked on the old lines of preach- 
 ing at religious fairs and making evangelistic tours without 
 expecting any immediate results. I took it for granted that 
 my work must be in the ploughed fields, always sowing in 
 hope of SGme indefinite future results. I never for a mo- 
 ment supposed it was my privilege to be sent by the Lord of 
 
12 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN GOXDA. 
 
 the harvest into the ripe-fields, and with the reapers sickle 
 and song, to gather in the sheaves for the Master's harvest- 
 home. Hence I never thought of inviting any of the peo- 
 ple, after preaching to them, to come out just where they 
 were, and, declaring their new-born faith in Christ, be bap- 
 tized openly before the on-looking crowd. But about four 
 or five years ago I was greatly impressed by reading and 
 studying the fourth chapter of John's Gospel and the Acts 
 of the Apostles. From this study I was led to see what 
 particular work as a missionary the Lord would have me do, 
 and how it ought to be accomplished. I plainly saw in John 
 iv. how our blessed Saviour went into a Samaritan city and 
 shewed his disciples what work to do, and how to do it. He 
 preached the word of life, the Holy Spirit applied it, and 
 immediate results followed. The heart of a woman was 
 first touched, then "many of the Samaritans believed on 
 him because of the word of the woman ; " and then " many 
 more believed because of His word." Thus after a few hours' 
 faithful service, " many" and "many more" Samaritans came 
 out before all their friends and declared their faith in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. Thus to win precious souls was " to do the 
 will of God, and to accomplish his work," (verse 34). The 
 disciples needed to be taught that their work was some- 
 thing more than sowing and waiting, and so by way of illus- 
 trating, how they should always look for present results, 
 through the divine agency at work with them, our Saviour 
 drew their attention to the spring-condition of the fields 
 around the city : " Say not ye, there are yet four months, 
 and then cometh the harvest." That is God's natural way 
 of working, and men's hopes and expectations rightly rest 
 on that. But the mistake that is made is to suppose that 
 God has no other way of working. It was this other way, 
 through the direct agency of the Holy Spirit, the Saviour 
 points out to His disciples when He says — u Behold, I say 
 unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they 
 are white already unto harvest." As I have reaped a pre- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 13 
 
 oious harvest of souls to-day in this city, so it is your privi- 
 lege, through the power I shall bestow upon you, to go and 
 reap also ; for " greater works than these shall ye do, be- 
 cause I go unto the Father." The same great lesson is 
 taught all through the Acts of the Apostles. The disciples 
 prayed and waited for the personal baptism of the Holy 
 Spirit that they might be endued with ever present divine 
 power; and after this conscious baptism they went, forth 
 and preached everywhere, "the Lord working with them, and 
 confirming the word by the signs that followed." In parti- 
 cular I observe that the special work of the Apostles was 
 to preach Christ and make disciples. Both went together. 
 They always laboured on this plan of preaching and imme- 
 diately baptizing. On the great day of Pentecost the com- 
 mand of Peter to convicted sinners was, " Repent, and be 
 baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ," and 
 those who " gladly received the word were baptized," (Acts ii. 
 38 — 41). Thus also Philip, (Acts viii.) under the direct 
 teaching of the Holy Spirit, " went down to the city of Sam- 
 aria, and proclaimed unto them the Christ ;" and "when 
 they believed Philip preaching good tidings concerning the 
 kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were 
 baptized, both men and women." Philip even baptized Si- 
 mon at that time on his confession of faith in Christ, (Acts 
 viii. 13), a man whom Peter afterwards declared to be "in 
 the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity ; " thus 
 showing that some unworthy cases of immediate baptism did 
 not stultify the whole. Again in that same chapter Philip 
 is sent under divine direction to meet the eunuch of Queen 
 Candace. This eunuch was as ignorant of the meaning of 
 the manuscript in his hands as a Brahman would be of the 
 copy of Scriptures just given to him in a mela ; for he knew 
 not whether the prophet Isaiah spoke of himself or of some 
 other person (verse 34). In fact he needed Philip to preach 
 unto him Jesus, just as much as any Brahman. But the 
 moment this eunuch heard of Christ and expressed his faith 
 
11 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 in fcdm, that moment Philip was ready and willing to baptize 
 him. And he did baptize him ; though immediately after 
 he went on his way, and Philip saw him no more in the flesh. 
 Again when Peter, conservative Peter, was directed to go 
 and preach to Cornelius, and this Roman soldier with his 
 kinsmen and friends believed and received the word of truth 
 preached to them, the Apostle at once asks, " Can any man 
 forbid the water that these should not be baptized 1" (Acts 
 x : 47). The same hour these Gentile converts expressed 
 their faith in Jesus Christ, that same hour they were made 
 disciples by baptism. When Paul and Silas " spake the word 
 of the Lord" to the trembling Philippi jailor, " with all that 
 were in his house," and this Roman colonian "believed on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ," ( the two Apostles baptized him 
 ' " and all his, immediately" (Acts xvi. 33). The Greek work 
 parachrema means literally, with the thing itself, i. e., on the 
 spot. It is a translation of the Hebrew word Jitom, very 
 suddenly. Hence to quote 1 Tim. v. 22. against immediate 
 baptism, is not very complimentary to the Apostle Paul. 
 Besides, the Apostle when he says to Timothy, "lay hands 
 hastily on no man," is speaking not of baptism, but of the 
 ordination of elders, (verse 17), and uses another Greek ad- 
 verb tacheos, which is the Septuagint rendering of mihar, to 
 do a thing hastily, without thought or preparation. From 
 all these and from ten or twelve other cases in the Acts of 
 the Apostles, I was led to see clearly that to baptize a man 
 On the spot after his conviction of sin and confession of 
 faith in Jesus Christ, through his hearing (Rom. x. 17) the 
 word preached, had the authority of Him who inspired His 
 Apostles to act as they did, and who distinctly commanded 
 to "make disciples of all the nations" (Matt, xxviii. 19). 
 But before we could do this kind of work effectively we 
 must, like the Apostles, be fully prepared for it. 
 
 About five years ago, therefore, when itinerating with my 
 native brethern, and while encamped near a village, Madhya- 
 pur, on the Mankapur road, I brought forward one afternoon 
 
TIIE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 15 
 
 the subjects of entire consecration and the personal baptism of 
 the Holy Spirit for serious consideration and earnest prayer. 
 As we read and conversed about the first and second chap- 
 ters of the Acts of the Apostles, we all seemed of one mind 
 to give ourselves unreservedly to the service of the Master 
 and receive by faith from the hands of the Lord Jesus this 
 precious gift of the Holy Spirit. It was while we were thus 
 consecrating our persons and powers to Christ, and believing 
 for the conscious baptism of the Holy Ghost that we each 
 became aware of a great change, a lifting up into greater 
 light and freedom and new experience of joyous courage, and 
 a wonderful shedding abroad of God's love in our hearts. 
 That night we marched, singing a bhajan, into the village of 
 Madhyapur ; and there a scene was witnessed which I, in all 
 my previous missionary experience, had never witnessed 
 among bona fide natives before. Over two hundred villagers 
 of different castes, with Mahipath Singh, the chief man of 
 the village at their head, assembled under a large shed to hear 
 us. We prayed and preached and sang in faith that the 
 blessed Holy Spirit was present to work with us and confirm 
 the word preached. The congregation seemed strangely 
 moved, and on our giving an invitation for those whose 
 hearts had been touched to come out and declare themselves 
 for Christ, the head-man, his son, two other Thakurs, and 
 some men of the Kori caste at once responded, and kneeling 
 down with us then and there sought for salvation in the 
 name of Jesus Christ. They then rose to their feet and said 
 they believed on this pure Incarnation Jesus Christ, and took 
 him for their future Guru. A vessel of water having been 
 brought, I at once, on this confession of faith in Jesus Christ 
 admitted them to the rite of baptism in the presence of all 
 their friends. Since that time this blessed work has con- 
 tinued, and wherever we have gone, to mela, village, or bazaar, 
 the power of the Holy Spirit has always been present to con- 
 firm the word in the hearers' hearts and give them courage 
 to come out and boldly confess the name of Christ before 
 
16 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 friend and foe. Others have been with us and seen this 
 wonderful work. The Rev. J. A. Elliott, of Faizabad in 
 Oudh, worked with us one year, in the trying month of May, 
 at the Saiyad Salar mela in Bahraich, and observed how a 
 number of natives of different castes, after hearing the faith- 
 ful preaching of the word, came out before the assembled 
 multitudes ; were prayed with, further instructed, and then 
 baptized. In writing of this afterwards Mr. Elliott said, 
 " All was clear and above board — a genuine work of the Lord." 
 The Rev. J. C. Lawson, of Sitapur, also writes, in his Re- 
 port published for 1887, of this work as follows : — 
 
 " Before returning to Sitapur from the District Conference at 
 Cawnpore, the Missionary and helpers went to the Ajudhya mela 
 with Bro. Knowles and helpers. That Pentecostal time will never 
 be forgotten. There we received the baptism of the Holy Spirit 
 afresh ; and there 47 Hindus came boldly out before the multitudes, 
 testified as to their faith in Christ, and received Christian baptism." 
 
 It was in this way we worked among the Tharus in the 
 Chandanpur jungles during the hottest time of the year and 
 amid the deadly malaria of the forests, when some seven vil- 
 lages, numbering over 600 souls, were converted and baptized 
 in a single week. 
 
 A few more words as to results. In this world of economy 
 and science everything is judged by known results ; but in 
 the special work in which we are engaged there are many 
 vast results which will never be known till the all-revealing 
 light from beyond the grave begins to dawn upon our dis- 
 embodied spirits. I pass over the blessed results upon my 
 own experience and that of many of my dear native brethren 
 in an enlarged faith, brighter hopes, and an increased love 
 for the perishing souls around us, and will only speak of the 
 known results as connected with the natives at large in our 
 district ; and then with those whom we have been privileged 
 to baptize. In regard to the natives who see and hear of our 
 methods, they now know how a man may be outwardly saved 
 at least. When they see with their own eyes a man convinc- 
 ed of the truth preached coming out, kneeling with us in 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 17 
 
 prayer, being taught how to exercise faith in the unseen 
 Saviour, and openly making his confession of faith, they gain 
 a knowledge which helps to relieve their superstitious minds 
 of all foolish dread of us. This is a great point gained, for a 
 native only fears the unknown ; and when he finds our modus 
 operandi leaves him a free agent to accept or reject, his un- 
 worthy fears are quieted, and he becomes more approachable. 
 Then they learn exactly how we outwardly make disciples by 
 water-baptism. They knew how their own guru would ini- 
 tiate a chela, but their ignorance of how the padri made dis- 
 ciples led them to accept as truth many foolish stories. But 
 when they see in a clean brass vessel the clear water from the 
 well near, and when they see the missionary take that water 
 in his hand and simply place it on the head of the convert, 
 they at once lose all those silly notions of our making disci- 
 ples by feeding them with swine's flesh and pouring intoxicat- 
 ing liquor down their throat. On this account we find the 
 natives are far less afraid of us now than they used to be in 
 past years. 
 
 With respect to those whom we have baptized, we can not 
 do better than quote from our Report for 1887 just publish- 
 ed, which contains the latest account we are able to give : 
 
 " We have been much encouraged by the reports which have con- 
 stantly come in from distant villages of our baptized converts. In 
 Kan-Bhari, near Utraula, those whom we baptized on an itinerating 
 tour are standing firm and true to their convictions. They have been 
 frequently visited by Jhandula Masih. In Mahadeva, near Balram- 
 piir, all are faithful to their first call. These, with Jhandula Masih 
 and his wife at their head, first heard the word that brought light to 
 their minds and hope to their souls at the Devi-Patan mela. They 
 have a Fray School at work among them, and the children and adults 
 numbering twenty, are under regular Christian instruction. Many 
 more in this place are waiting for baptism. In Naraura, on the 
 Bahraich road, Jiwan-Masih, his wife and three sons, are all suffer- 
 ing some persecution for the name of Christ ; and they have grace to 
 endure and remain faithful under it. Jiwan Masih was baptized at 
 the Manu Rama mela, and then his wife and sons in their village 
 afterwards. At Nabi-Gunj, on the river Ghaghra, Dulan-Das, a Kabir 
 Panthi, whom we baptized two years ago in the Ajudhya meld, is re- 
 
18 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 siding with his mother and brother. He is now clothed and in his 
 fight mind ; and has found in Christ a greater than the sage Kabir. 
 This family is visited regularly by the native preacher in Nawab-Gunj. 
 Both the mother and brother are favourable to Christianity." 
 
 These are a few cases of many which we could report to 
 show that the results of our special work are as encouraging 
 as the results of a similar work of revival would be in Eng- 
 lish. All the converts who come out and profess conversion 
 in an English revival, where there is the basis of nominal 
 Christianity to work on, do not stand firm and true to their 
 assurance of truth and their change of heart. But for some 
 thus to fall away does not discredit the genuineness of a 
 work of revival, any more than a few patients dying in a 
 hospital should injure the reputation of the medical profes- 
 sion, or bring reproach upon the individual surgeon. We 
 must never forget that in this important work we have to 
 deal with that uncertain factor, the human will. Thank 
 God many are saved, and that thought should inspire us with 
 courage to go forward in this good work. It is true that 
 many whom we have baptized in the Ajudhya meld have 
 gone, like the eunuch of Candace went from Phillip, beyond 
 our supervision, so that we can only express our hopes that 
 in their several villages they are trying to act up to a light 
 and knowledge they have received. Some years ago the 
 Kev. Dr. Waugh and myself made an itinerating tour from 
 Gonda to Bahraich. One day, after preaching to the inter- 
 esting crowd of people in a village, we asked them if they 
 had ever heard this Gospel before. Yes, they said, they had 
 heard it. Had any other missionary visited them? No; but 
 a few years before a pandit came to reside among them, who 
 used every night and morning to gather them about him, 
 and tell them of the same spotless Incarnation who came 
 into the world to save sinners, that we had been telling about. 
 He had heard the blessed story from a missionary preaching 
 at a meld ; and -w hat he had heard and treasured up in his 
 memory there, he repeated day after day to his simple hearers 
 
TUB GOSPEL IN GONDA. 19 
 
 until he passed away in death. New if a man could be so 
 impressed, after simply hearing the Gospel proclaimed in a 
 meld, as to remain faithful to it all through his life, and make 
 it at the same time a great blessing to those among whom he 
 settled, may we not reasonably expect that some of those 
 dear souls who have not only heard it in this simple way, 
 but have had the Gospel doubly fixed in their minds and 
 stamped upon their hearts by the special services in which 
 they had engaged, and by the solemn manner in which 
 they had been instructed and baptized before they left us, 
 will remain, by the Spirit's help, faithful to their calling and 
 the light they have received, though they may never see a 
 missionary's face again this side the grave ? Anyhow, we have 
 searched in vain for the authority of God's word to keep any 
 man waiting for baptism after he has believed on the' Lord 
 Jesus Christ in his heart and confessed Him with his mouth. 
 (Rom. x : 10). The solemn words of Christ imply that im- 
 mediate baptism is as much a man's right as to believe on 
 the Lord Jesus Christ. " He that belie veth and is baptized 
 shall be saved ; " (Mark xvi : 1 6) and unless we can prove 
 that the latter clause of this text is of no importance what* 
 ever, then, by refusing this right, do we not stand in the way 
 of a man's plain duty 1 The Great Master has spread out; 
 before us in this land of idols and false worship the fields 
 ripe unto the harvest. Many faithful sowers we have, and we 
 need them too ; but where are the reapers ? Let us pray every 
 day to the " Lord of the harvest," to speedily send from every 
 mission in the country labourers for the reaping of these 
 ripened fields ; so that with the reapers' strength and faith, 
 with glad songs of triumph, they may put in the sharp gleam- 
 ing sickle of the word, and behold a glorious ingathering for 
 the Lord this and every year in the future, till the nations 
 shall see the salvation of our God in India. 
 
 4. To show how we try always to adapt our preaching to 
 the class of people whom we are addressing, and how we en- 
 deavor to apply special truths to the special hopes and fears 
 of our Hindu hearers, we give the following letter published 
 
20 THE GOSPEL IN OONDA. 
 
 in one of the May numbers of The Indian Witness for 1885, 
 "THE RESURRECTION BODIES." 
 
 Sir, — Under the head of " Correspondence" in your issue of 
 the 3rd of May, the question is asked : " What is to be the 
 nature of our spiritual or resurrection bodies?" As I find 
 this to be a very important subject for inquiry among intelli- 
 gent Hindus in connection with our work here, I should feel 
 obliged by your allowing me to present my view of the ques- 
 tion, as I think it ought to be propounded to the Hindu 
 mind. 
 
 As you justly say, "the Bible gives us very little informa- 
 tion on the point. Nearly all we know is contained in 1 Cor. 
 15 : 35, 44;" still I think the Apostle Paul has given us 
 enough information, especially in the 44th verse, to enable 
 us to meet the Hindu's objection to our doctrine of the re- 
 surrection of the body. For if we seriously inquire why the 
 doctrine of the resurrection of the body is so repugnant to 
 the Hindu philosophical mind, we shall find that it is be- 
 cause this doctrine seems to be directly opposed to the great 
 common end which all the Hindu philosophical systems set 
 before the devotee, viz. : successful deliverance from materi- 
 ality. In the SdnJchya Kdrikd one great proposition put be- 
 fore the mind is the ascertainment of the means by which 
 perpetual exemption and liberation of the soul from its con- 
 nection with matter, or materiality, may be successfully at- 
 tained. This is really what the doctrine of metempsychosis, 
 or repeated births, amounts to. Now when we speak to the 
 Hindus of the resurrection of the body, they at once connect 
 with it the idea of another birth, or connection with another 
 kind of material form, in which they will again be subject 
 to the imperfections, infirmities, changes and accidents of a 
 bodily condition. Now if the Apostle taught that the state 
 of the soul after death was the expectation of being joined 
 to a resurrected sensational materiality, to abide for ever in 
 it, then this Hindu objection would have great force ; for it 
 would imply a life uniformly regarded by the Hindus as a 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 21 
 
 condition of pain and suffering, a state of bondage and misery, 
 escape from which finally and for ever is a consummation de- 
 voutly to be wished. But the Apostle taught no such absurd 
 doctrine. He taught the resurrection of a " Spiritual body" 
 with all the imperfections flesh is beir to forever removed 
 and made impossible. 
 
 The Apostle's phrase " spiritual bodies " appears at first 
 sight a contradiction, but his most obvious meaning prepares 
 us to find another sense which teaches a law which pervades 
 creation. It is that all external forms, whether sun, moon, 
 or stars ; whether beast, bird, fish, or seed, answer to the 
 quality of the inward life, and are adapted to it and to the 
 conditions in which that life has to act. The seed has, first, 
 the earthly, that which ferments and partly dies, and which 
 strikes its roots downwards, so that it doth not yet appear 
 what it shall really be in its new form ; and second, the aerial, 
 that which springs upwards to the light, in blade and ear 
 and full corn in the ear. The butterfly has first the earthly, 
 or the ugly crawling worm ; then the aerial, or the winged 
 splendour of the psyche. " First that which is natural, then 
 that which is spiritual" says the learned and inspired Apostle. 
 Whether this spiritual body, which the soul will possess after 
 she has thrown off her natural body, will have five or more 
 psychical powers answering to our present bodily sensations, 
 we cannot tell. " It doth not yet appear what we shall be." 
 The body we now have is for this earth, and it is wonderfully 
 adapted to all its laws ; the body or form we shall then pos- 
 sess will be for another world, and it will be as wonderfully 
 and fitly adapted to all its new conditions. We can easily 
 believe, however, that as the associations of the soul in eter- 
 nity will be inconceivably enlarged and increased, so, though 
 unimaginable to us now, the psychical powers of the new body 
 or form will be largely extended in quantity, and increased 
 in number and intensity. One new psychical sense the new 
 spiritualized form will certainly possess, and that is the power 
 to see and behold the grand secret of the universe — GOD, 
 
22 THE GOSrEL IN GOXDA. 
 
 Then, and not till then, when the soul has made its one and 
 only transmigration from "corruption" into " incorruption," 
 will it attain to its full capabilities of knowledge and psychi- 
 cal force to enjoy eternal happiness or endure eternal misery. 
 And we can well conceive, that though the disembodied 
 spirit is fully satisfied with its measure of happiness in Para- 
 dise with the Lord now, yet its bliss cannot be fully consum- 
 mated till after the resurrection, and it is joined to this per- 
 fect sjriritual body. Then, completely adapted to all the 
 laws of the spirit- world, and made more mighty to enjoy the 
 supremely pure and blessed home-life and service of heaven, 
 its identity and personality will be fully accomplished and 
 perfectly rewarded. Not that there is any deficiency in its 
 present state of rest and joy ; but after the resurrection its 
 capacities for blissful service and restful enjoyment, for con- 
 genial companionship and intellectual pleasure, will be in- 
 creased in proportion to the psychical forces or functions of 
 the new spiritual body received. This addition of an outer 
 pneumatic form to the personal intelligent soul, is that for 
 which, doubtless, disembodied, saved spirits so patiently and 
 yet so blissfully long and hope. They want no more connec- 
 tion with materiality and mutability ; they long to put on 
 their psychical garment of incorruptibility, and immortality, 
 and to see a deathless spring and life, and a joy eternal, 
 bloom over the dust and ashes of their far-off graves. 
 
 Hence the grand liberation which, according to Hindu 
 philosophy, is the great object of rational existence, is fully 
 and completely attained in this Bible teaching of the gift of 
 a " spiritual body " to the saved spirit, which can never again 
 be subject to any human infirmity or casualty ; but ruled by 
 the ever pure and happy spirit within, it will itself eternally 
 remain as spotless and exciting to all good as the Spirit of 
 God who gave it. It takes an eternity of painful migrations 
 to fit the soul for God under Manu's system ; it takes only a 
 moment of trust and faith under Christ's teaching : " He that 
 believeth on the Son hath everlasting life." 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 23 
 
 5. And so we treat the Hindu doctrine of transmigra- 
 tion. If a Hindu could be assured that there is such a bless- 
 ing to be obtained in this world as the assurance of eternal 
 life after suffering or passing through the ordeal of one 
 death, then he would lose his life-long dread of more births 
 and more deaths in the future ; for where there is eternal life, 
 or life infinitely prolonged without a single break or pause, 
 there Awdgawan, or coming and going, being constantly born 
 and as constantly dying, L e, transmigration, is as impossi- 
 ble as it is absurd. Now this is just the particular blessing 
 we offer the Hindus, ff they will believe on Christ. " He 
 that believeth on the Son hath everlastiny life" (John 3 : 
 36). " If everlasting life," then there can be no more births 
 or deaths and, therefore, must be mukti, or salvation. " The 
 gift of God is eternal life, in Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 
 6 : 23.), is the only true remedy for that fatal disease of the 
 Hindu mind, transmigration. To the Hindu, who thinks 
 about the future at all, the doctrine of transmigration ap- 
 pears like a night mare. It lies a leaden weight upon his 
 heart; it seems to him as hopeless a task as filling with 
 water the tub pierced with holes appeared to the eternally 
 doomed daughters of Danaus. Hence the doctrine, belief in 
 which will remove this burden, and relieve from such a de- 
 spairing task, ought to be constantly brought before the minds 
 of thinking Hindus by the Missionary in his preaching. It 
 is good to write books on the subject of transmigration to 
 show its utter want of proof and absolute impossibility, and 
 we ourselves have so written; but just as we do not argue 
 with a poor wretch stricken with the plague, but seek at 
 once to apply the known remedy, so in ministering to a mind 
 diseased with this false doctrine, it is better to directly bring 
 to it the only sure and safe cure — the doctrine of Eternal 
 Life through faith in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 One of the thousand names of 8iva is Mrityun-jai, the con- 
 queror of death. But when and where, did he ever overcome 
 the grim monster? But it is an historical fact that Jesus 
 
24 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 Christ did overcome death ; and, therefore, He alone is enti- 
 tled to this epithet, Mrityun-jai conqueror of death ; and, 
 hence, able to bestow Eternal Life. 
 
 6. In like manner we adapt our preaching to the Hindu 
 doctrine of the Shrdddha, or the funeral obsequies performed 
 by the son of a dead Hindu father, to help his said father's 
 struggling soul on through the never ending stages of trans- 
 migration. Hence the joy of a Hindu father when a son is 
 born to him, and the opposite feeling of sadness and desola- 
 tion when no son is born to him. In the first case the father 
 meets death with some kind of hope ; for does he not leave a 
 son, to perform the solemn rite that shall help his soul in 
 her infinite journey to reach Brahma ; in the last the father 
 passes from the flesh with the despair of never ceasing lone- 
 someness and helplessness darkening his soul and foreboding 
 evil to his mind. Hence the blessed prophecy which brought 
 inspired foretellings of joy to the Jewish people, and rings 
 out in peals of triumph from our Church steeples on Christ- 
 mas mornings, also brought a declaration of something more 
 than hope to Hindus of all castes and classes. The familiar 
 prediction of the Prophet Isaiah, that " Unto us a Child is 
 born, unto us a Son is given, (Isaiah 9 : 6.) ; and the grand 
 proclamation of Christ himself, that " God so loved the world 
 that he gave his only begotten Son," (John 3 : 16.) are under- 
 lined by a more subtle and deeper meaning, and have a far 
 wider application than commentators and preachers generally 
 realize and employ. Is not Christ emphatically called " the 
 Son of man;" that is, the "son" of every man, or the son 
 that every man can claim as his own ? And is he not also 
 called " the Son of man who gave his life a ransom for 
 many ? " (Matt. 20 : 28). Here then is a " Son " given us of 
 God to perform more for us than any Shraddha could do ; 
 who by his own death and funeral obsequies has given us 
 more than was in Eden lost — a heaven of immortal bliss ! 
 (Heb. 7 : 25 — 28); and who is the "appointed Son perfect- 
 ed for evermore" — to save to the utmost them ivho dvaiv near 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA, 25 
 
 to God through him" No need, therefore, now of the Shrad- 
 dha, or of a mortal son to perform it, since we have the Son 
 of God — the surety of a better Covenant" who " ever liveth 
 to make intercession for " us. 
 
 Thus we might treat of all the leading doctrines of Hin- 
 duism, assured that for every soul-destroying error a sure 
 panacea can be found in God's most holy word ; but we have 
 said enough to answer our purposes : — Ex uno disce omnes. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 ITINERATING TOURS. 
 
 1. In 1888, From Gonda to Nawab-Ganj via Parsapur. 
 
 With respect to this preaching tour, an account of which 
 was published in the November number of the Indian Wit- 
 ness of the above year, the Rev. Dr. Thoburn writes in the 
 same issue as follows : — 
 
 "In our present issue we publish another very interesting letter 
 from the Rev. S. Knowles, of Gonda, giving an account of a recent 
 missionary tour in his District. We have been over the same ground, 
 and know the members of the preaching band, as well as the class of 
 people among whom they went preaching the Word, and we have no 
 hesitation in saying of this, as of the tour in April last, that it looks 
 like the dawning of a new era in Missionary work. The reaping time 
 has come. There may have been in other parts of India events like 
 those recorded in this letter, but if so we have never heard of them. 
 The baptism of an ash-smeared devotee, in the midst of his disciples, 
 within an hour of his first hearing of the Gospel, is a most extraordi- 
 nary event in itself, but when followed by that Brahman on the same 
 evening, it shows that the conversion of Hindus, even of the highest 
 caste and of the most sacred character, is henceforth to be regarded 
 as an ordinary event. These conversions indicate what can be done, 
 and what may be expected in the immediate future ; but they should 
 also more than ever rouse Christians both in India and at home to a 
 renewed sense of their responsibilities. If the unbaptized people of 
 India have so strong a claim upou us, how much stronger still their 
 claims for help when they become members of the household of faith." 
 
 NOTES OP AN ITINERATING TOUR IN THE 
 GONDA DISTRICT. 
 
 Monday, 12th Nov. — Left Gonda for Parsa, eight miles on the 
 Colonel Ganj road. Wife, little boy and self had a good 
 jolting in our buggy before we reached our camp in a beautiful 
 tope of trees. Marched into the village of Parsa after sun- 
 down, with our big drum and other larger musical instruments 
 sounding, and soon collected over two hundred people. After 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 27 
 
 our usual service we invited those whose hearts the Lord had 
 touched to come forward and be prayed for. Twenty-five per- 
 sons, composed of Brahmans and kahare, (palki-bearers,) re- 
 sponded to our call. We then explained to them what it was 
 to become disciples of Jesus Christ, and how to become such. 
 They all said they were now his disciples, and asked for his 
 chink, i. e. baptism. But just as a brother was drawing a lota 
 of water from the well, with which to baptize them, the head- 
 man of the village, a thakur, with a number of others, made 
 a great disturbance, and we were unable to perform the rite. 
 We took the names of as many as we could (some ten) ; but 
 next morning they had all gone into their fields to work, and 
 we did not think it prudent to stay, as the thakurs had deter- 
 mined to oppose us by force. Two young Brahmans came, 
 however, and said they would come to us in Gonda for the 
 chinli. These same thakurs attacked the servants of the Civil 
 Surgeon, Dr. C. Cameron, the day after we left. 
 
 Tuesday, 13th Nov. — Reached Colonel-Ganj, a distance of 
 eight miles on another heart-breaking road. In the afternoon 
 we marched into the bazaar with banner waving and band play- 
 ing, and soon gathered a very large crowd. We spread our 
 carpet, and taking our smaller and less noisy musical instru- 
 ments, ten of us began our service of song and prayer and 
 preaching, and then invited those who were pricked in their 
 hearts to come forward, and be seated in a space we had pre- 
 pared ; but, though a very strong impression had been appa- 
 rently made, no one responded to our call by coming forward, 
 though we could see and hear numbers in the crowd persuading 
 each other to go forward. Two Native soldiers, especially, 
 were heard to say, the one to the other : " This is the truth. 
 If you will go, I will go." " No," said the other, " let us go 
 to the sahib's tent afterwards." But they never came. 
 
 Wednesday, 14th Nov. — Being the Purn-mdsi meld, the 
 bathing fair at the full-moon in November, on the grassy banks 
 of the beautiful Sarju river, a mile out from Colonel-Ganj, we 
 marched out in the early morning, through crowds of village 
 
28 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 families in their gala dresses, singing their meld songs, on 
 into the thicfc of the fair crowded with 20,000 people. We 
 took up our position under the shade of two large mango 
 trees, and on the green slope spread our carpet, and began 
 our work in real earnest. Our modus operandi was the same 
 here that we use at all melds; that is, seated on our carpet 
 with the crowd seated in rows before us, we all ten brethren 
 joined in singing a bhajan to the sound of the sitar, triangles, 
 and small drum ; then we all stand, the crowd generally rising, 
 while a brother leads in prayer ; all seated again, another 
 preaches from a selected text, suitable to the occasion, for ten 
 minutes ; thus each in turn alternately prays and preaches. 
 Then we give our invitation to any present convinced of the 
 truth to come out and declare themselves. To-day those seat- 
 ed in our front remained from beginning to end wrapped in 
 the deepest attention. Many expressed themselves convinced 
 of sin and of the necessity of such a Saviour as we had pre- 
 sented. One young man of the kori caste came forward and 
 confessed Christ. We prayed with him, and then baptized 
 him before the crowd. After this a Parmhans devotee, with 
 a big chignon that would have outdone the head of any lady in 
 Regent street, and made up of his own hair and dyed sheep's 
 wool cleverly woven together, who had been listening most at- 
 tentively throughout, now came forward and most earnestly 
 intreated us to pray for him. This of course we did ; and 
 then on his confession of Christ we baptized him before the 
 astonished crowd. All that morning he had been worshipped 
 by his followers before they took their purn-masi, plunge into 
 the river near by. After his baptism this devotee untied and 
 shook out his mass of true and false hair, which reached to 
 his feet, and asked us to cut it all off ; but as we had no scis- 
 sors, and had never practised much in the barber's line, we had 
 to tell him to wait till we got to our tents. Two of his follow- 
 ers came to us when we reached our tents to inquire, and said 
 they would come to Gonda and bring others with them. As 
 they were leaving they tried to give their old guru his usual 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 29 
 
 pranam, or salutation, but he cried out, " Ycu must not worship 
 me now, but Jesus Christ." 
 
 In the evening we took up our position before our Native 
 preacher, Bihari Lai's house, and began our service. Two stal- 
 wart young men of the chumar caste sprang out of the crowd 
 and cried, " This is the religion we want to save us from the 
 sins of our many births ! " We told them that though we did 
 not believe in awa-gawan, transmigration, yet this Christ, the 
 Saviour, saved from all sin. On their confession of Christ we 
 baptized them before the whole assembly. The former Parm- 
 hans, or ascetic, showed his sincerity by shaking hands with 
 these once low born, but now, we trust, high born chumars or 
 tanners, 
 
 Thursday, 15th Nov. — Marched through Colonel-Ganj with 
 standard flying and band playing, and then took up our posi- 
 tion of last evening before Bihari Lai's house. The crowd 
 which followed us stayed to the preaching. Another follower 
 of the Parm-hans devotee we had baptized, came out and said 
 he believed on Christ and wished to become His disciple ; but 
 we did not baptize him, as we thought it better in his case to 
 wait. This makes our fiftieth inquirer since we left Gonda. 
 
 Friday, 16th Nov. — Left Colonel-Ganj this morning for 
 BalmatJtar, five miles on the Paraspur road. It was a beauti- 
 ful drive in the warming rays of the rising sun, sweeping, as 
 we bowled along, the dew from the grass -covered road, and de- 
 lighted with the cheering sheen on the leaves of the noble 
 trees, and on the fresh spikes of the new barley and wheat in 
 the far-spreading fields to our right and left. Camped under 
 a tope of fine young mango trees, and over a carpet of green 
 sward, surrounded by villages and their Purwas or hamlets 
 enclosed by thick bamboos. Marched into Balmathar as the 
 full-moon shed her mellow light upon the early night scene. 
 The sound of our big drum and symbals reached the other 
 villages around, where previous notice had been sent, and 
 brought us a crowd of three hundred listeners. Our service 
 of song and prayer and preaching had a wonderful effect upon 
 
30 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 some Brahmans and Koris present, who manifested their desire 
 to accept Christ by responding to our invitation to come for- 
 ward ; but nearly the same thing occurred here as happened 
 at Parsa. A sepoy from Colonel-Ganj told them we used 
 somthing unclean in making them disciples, and though we 
 disproved this by saying the water we baptized them with was 
 water from their own well, and in their own lota, brass vessel, 
 yet the sepoy's word had frightened them, and they asked to 
 be excused receiving the chinh or sign. 
 
 Saturday, 1 7th Nov. — This morning we passed through the 
 large dusty town of Paraspur, with its popular Rani, and im- 
 mense newly dug tank, on into a garden-like camping ground. 
 The Rani or queen was away at Ajudhiya performing the Kar- 
 tik ashnan, but some of her men were in camp to supply us 
 with rasad, straw, wood, milk, grain, etc. In the afternoon 
 we marched into the town and through the bazaar, headed by 
 our banner, and music sounding forth an invitation to the 
 people. We took up our position in a wide and clear space, so 
 as not to hinder traffic, and commenced our work. There 
 must have been a thousand people seated, and standing around 
 us, who listened unflaggingly to our bhajans, our prayers, and 
 our preaching. Most of the inhabitants of this place have des- 
 cended from old Jotishi Pandit families ; hence the number of 
 painted faces in the crowd. When these really fine looking 
 men saw the impression we were making, and that many were 
 inclined to respond to our call to become the disciples of Jesus 
 Christ, it was wonderful how they began to speak with their 
 eyes and to restrain the actions of those about them. It was 
 reckoned by myself and native brethren that twenty at least 
 would have confessed Christ, and have been baptized, were it 
 not for the counter influence of these astrologer Pandits. Still 
 fifty persons came back with us to our tents, and said they 
 were convinced of the truth and wished to place themselves 
 under our instructions. Our Native preacher in Colonel-Ganj 
 will look after these people. 
 
 Sunday, 18th Nor, — Marched into a village near camp, and 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GOXDA. 31 
 
 gathered to the sound of drum and cymbal over a hundred 
 persons. A Kayath, or writer class, had his heart touched 
 by the word, and had his name placed on our list as an inquirer. 
 At noon we had regular Sabbath service for camp under the 
 trees outside our tents. A Jotishi priest, or teacher of astro- 
 logy, from the Rani's temple near, took his place among the 
 worshippers, and listened with quiet attention throughout the 
 service. This Hindu astronomer was greatly interested when 
 we read and explained to him the appearance of the "Star" 
 at Bethlehem, and how, it ushered in the birth of the Great 
 Incarnation, Jesus Christ. He was much struck by some of 
 our bhajans, and wanted us to give him a book in which they 
 were printed. He confessed if there was a Saviour at all, that 
 Saviour was Jesus Christ. We supplied him with some tracts 
 and book3 in Hindi. In the evening we marched into the 
 town again, and took up our position in the principal bazaar. 
 The people were much excited, and called us the "Christian 
 making Padris." Not less than a thousand people listened 
 with great attention to car service of song, prayer, and preach- 
 ing Christ. A number of Koris were kept back from declaring 
 themselves by the subtle influence of these so-called readers 
 of the heavens. But over a hundred people came back with 
 us to our tents. Many of them were those who came last 
 evening. We further instructed, and prayed with them. We 
 have the names of a hundred inquirers in this place. 
 
 Monday, 19th Nov. — The younger son of the late Rajah, 
 who owns half of Paraspur, came to see us this afternoon. 
 We explained our work and motive to him, and he seemed 
 satisfied. The Thanadar, or police officer, came with him. I 
 told them it was time for our marching into the town. He said 
 he would march with us ; so we started with all the followers 
 of this Rajah armed with swords and spears. The Rajah, 
 Thanadar, and myself headed the procession preceded by our 
 banner, and followed by the crashing music. The whole of the 
 town seemed to turn out. When we took up our position in 
 another part of the town, the Rajah seated himself in our 
 
32 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 midst and paid the best attention to the word preached. After 
 the service was over he confessed that they had no Saviour 
 who could save from sin either in this birth or the birth to 
 come. We explained that a religion which could not save 
 from sin was a contradiction. He promised us to think more 
 about it, and took some of our tracts. Our inquirers fol- 
 lowed us home, and we held another service at our tent. A 
 good man must be sent to this place as soon as we return to 
 Gonda. 
 
 Tuesday, 20th Nov. — Left Paraspur this morning for Sisai, 
 six miles on the Tarab-Ganj road, and camped under a monster 
 pdkar, or India fig tree. There was ample room for three tents 
 under its giant outspreading branches. We found also a large 
 pipal and barhat tree growing out of this pdkar tree ; but this 
 is not to be wondered at, as they are all three of the same Jicus 
 genus. The villagers near believe this tree is haunted by the 
 spirit of an old faqir who lived and did penance for forty years 
 under its sheltering shade, and was found dead one morning 
 on his pallet of straw ; but all we heard that night was the 
 singing of the wind through the prodigious branches over us 
 and the barking and howling of the village dogs outside. In 
 the day we marched into a purwa, or hamlet, of Sisai, and had 
 our usual service for about a hundred people. Two young 
 Brahmans were particularly impressed, but were restrained by 
 a th&kur, the head of a tribe or village, who was sitting near. 
 They both came to our tents and received more instruction. 
 As the sun was setting we marched into Sisai, and found 
 the zamindar had made preparation for us, by getting out a 
 number of charpais, (bedsteads,) and covering them with 
 blankets. About three hundred brahmans, thakurs, and koris 
 sat, and gave good attention to all we said and did. 
 One or two of the brahmans and nearly all the koris were very 
 much convinced and moved ; but the thakurs present interfered, 
 and so they did not come forward ; all along this line of coun- 
 try the th&kurs seem particularly opposed to us ; but we are 
 not discouraged, as we believe the word of God, as was proved 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 33 
 
 last year in another part of the district, is able to save them 
 also. 
 
 Wednesday, 21st Nov. — Reached Tarab-Ganj this morning 
 after a severe pull through eight miles of cruel sand. Found 
 our camp in a very large tope of old mango trees, and on hard 
 and grassless ground. There is a Tahsil here ; and I am sorry 
 to say we found this Tahsildar, a tax-gatherer, to be the first 
 man on our whole tour who was uncivil to us. Marched into 
 the bazaar and gathered about a hundred persons, most of 
 whom we found to be Veddnti Pandits, the Pandits who teach 
 the theological part of the Vedas. These opposed us with 
 their subtle philosophy. Yet one of these philosophers cried 
 out that we preached the truth. When he was rebuked by the 
 others he said " Shall I not acknowledge the truth when I hear 
 it?" While we were urging him to accept Christ, he was 
 dragged away by his so-called friends. 
 
 Thursday, 22nd Nov. — Marched out into a village near and 
 found it full of our vedanti friends. They listened to our 
 bhajans, but they hardened their hearts against the word 
 preached. Two pasts, watchmen, and a wandering minstrel, 
 were impressed by the word, and responded to our call. The 
 itinerant minstrel tried to time his instrument to our songs 
 and the watchmen sat among us. A Brahman then came and 
 whispered something to the latter, when they rose and left us. 
 We found this brahman was their zaminddr and that fear of 
 him had kept them from joining us. The minstrel said he 
 would travel with us to Nawab-Ganj, and learn more of this 
 way. 
 
 Friday, 23rd Nov. — Reached Darjanpur ghat this morning. 
 It is on the banks of the clear and fresh Terhi river. This 
 camping place is good with one exception. The opposite tope 
 of mango trees is given up as a resting place to hundreds of 
 native carts, loaded with grain, on their way to the great corn 
 market at Nawab-Ganj. Here these hundreds of gariwans, or 
 cart-men, cook their food, and this brings hundreds of pariah 
 dogs, who make night frightful and sleep impossible by their 
 
34 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 combined barking and howling. Eighteen years ago this 
 place was three times the size it now is, but the excessive taxa- 
 tion of Taulukdar and Sirkar combined have brought it to its 
 present small dimensions. In the evening we sounded our 
 trumpet, and went into this village. We preached to a num- 
 ber of men seated round a fire, while a nu liber of women 
 looked at and listened to our proceedings over the mud walls 
 of their small courts. Seven Koris or low caste tillers of the 
 soil, and one cowherd, were very much impressed, and moved 
 to come forward on our invitation, but an enemy, in the shape 
 of some painted Brahmans, spoilt and destroyed our work. 
 The gwdld, or cowherd, came with us to our tent, and received 
 more instruction. He promised to pray and do everything 
 henceforth in the name of Jesus Christ, and vieit us in 
 Gonda. 
 
 Saturday, 24th Nov. — On our way to Nawab-Ganj this 
 morning, we preached to a number of devotees in a village 
 who were sitting round a nude and mud-besmeared mahadeo, 
 devotee of the god of Shiva, seated cross-legged on a tiger 
 skin, and paying him prandm or worship. The word preached 
 had such an effect upon this representative of the most unholy 
 god in the Hindu pantheon, that he rose up, and, to the as- 
 tonishment of his followers, threw himself at our feet, and 
 cried over and over again " Christ is the true and pure incarna- 
 tion ;" and to the still greater astonishment of his worshippers, 
 we baptized him, on his profession of faith in Christ. We 
 then partook of the prashad together, and our new friend 
 came with us into Nawab-Ganj to cleanse himself from all 
 filthiness of the flesh, and to clothe his person in garments 
 fresh and pure. In the evening we marched from camp 
 through the city in full regalia. An immense concourse of 
 people came and massed themselves around us. After our 
 first service of song and prayer and preaching, a young Brah- 
 man, from a village near, came clearly out and confessed Christ 
 to be the true and only Saviour of men. We baptized him 
 amid breathless silence, though we could see there was much 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 35 
 
 suppressed excitement. After one more service of song and 
 prayer and preaching, ten persons, some holding good positions 
 in the place, came out as inquirers, and had their names taken 
 down. 
 
 This closes the brief and imperfect account of our tour so 
 far. In the fifty miles we have thus travelled over, we have 
 preached in thirty towns and villages and one meld, and to 
 seventeen thousand people of all classes. We gained over two 
 hundred convinced inquirers, and baptized one Rori, a low- 
 caste cultivator, one Param-hans, an ascetic, or one who has 
 subdued all his senses, two Chumars, shoe-makers, one Mada- 
 deo-faqir, a Dervise of Mahadeo, one of the Hindu principal 
 deities, and one Brahman, six persons in all. These inquirers 
 are mostly Koris and Brahmans, who, with the baptized con- 
 verts, are placed under the direction and instruction of our 
 Native preachers in Gonda, Colonel-Ganj and Nawab-Ganj. 
 
 2. In 1884, From Gonda to Bahraich. 
 
 The narrative of this tour was given in the March number 
 of the Indian Witness for the above year. During our first 
 term in the District, and when the Rev. S. S. Weatherby was 
 in charge of Bahraich, we often made the tour of this road 
 both direct from Gonda, and round by Colonel-Ganj and Bai- 
 ram-Ghat ; once in company with Rev. Dr. Waugh,from Gonda 
 to Bahraich, and from the latter to Bairam-Ghat, when every 
 accessible village on these then most difficult routes was visited 
 and a full gospel given to it. On these tours we had as 
 native helper, Rajab Ali, spoken of in our brief history of 
 Gonda, and Didar Masih, a young Faqir of the Islam Chish- 
 tiya tribe, whom we had baptized a year before. At another 
 time we went over this same ground in company with Rev, S. 
 S. Weatherby, now in America. The great advantage of hav- 
 ing a good brother like this with us was, we remember, that 
 we were sure of lively agreeable companionship, and an ex- 
 cellent cuisine. And let me inform the reader, en passant, that 
 in arduous trying work like itinerating, when earnestly done, 
 a pleasing companion, and a good style of cooking, are bless- 
 
36 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 ing3 not to be despised. But times and manners and scenes 
 have greatly changed since 1867, as the following will reveal. 
 
 FROM GONDA TO BAHRAICH. 
 
 Since we made our last tour in the district, death has been 
 among us and removed two of our most efficient and beautiful 
 singers. Dharm Das, and Prabhu Das went for a few days 
 to see their friends in Ellenpur, were both seized with small- 
 pox, and a week after they both went up to their heavenly home 
 of eternal song and beauty. It is their everlasting gain ; but 
 our great loss. They were two brothers. One said just 
 before he died : " Christ calls me ; I am going home !" The 
 other answered : "lam going to sing with the angels." So 
 God lifted them up as high as Himself in glory. AncJ so we 
 had to go to Bahraich greatly crippled in our singing strength. 
 Piyagpur is our first stage, sixteen good hard miles from 
 Gonda on a first class Jcacha road ; but it was not on this 
 road, either in the tediously swinging doolie, or in the thump- 
 ing bumping dog-cart, we were to travel. A wonderful thing 
 has happened. We have been transported from the realms of 
 fancy and dreams, into the region of realities. We have a 
 railway ! A toy of a narrow-gauge, it is true ; but still a 
 railway. Yes, there, without a doubt, the two parallel iron 
 lines run gleaming in the light of day, through wood and 
 forest and fields rich and ready for the sickle and woman's 
 song, from Nawab-Ganj on by Mankapur, six miles from our 
 work in Ellenpur, by Gonda to Bahraich. What a splendid 
 and wealthy section of the country this " Bengal and North- 
 West Railway" will tap between Nawab-Ganj and Bahraich ! 
 Yes ; we poor benighted individuals, so lately imprisoned by 
 the snow-capped hills and tiger-infested jungles of Nipal, and 
 the rushing, treacherous waters of the great Ghogra, are now 
 set free to reach Calcutta via Patna in a few hours. 
 
 When we started on this tour the plate-layer with his trollies 
 and gangs of workmen had only laid the line a few miles 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 37 
 
 beyond our camping place at Piyagpur. Tbe Engineer in 
 charge kindly gave me a seat on the engine, while our brethren 
 and servants found places in the brake, and on the trucks 
 loaded with rails and sleepers ; and so we sped on our way to 
 camp at the rate of thirty miles an hour, the songs af our 
 brethren echoing over a lovely country of rich parks of mango 
 trees and fields of waving corn I found the engine-driver a 
 most intelligent man ; moreover, a teetotaler ; and what was 
 still better, a true Christian. Through his influence and ex- 
 ample the fireman, too, had come to a knowledge of the truth 
 in Christ. It was a comfort to feel that our lives were in the 
 care and responsibility of two such men ; and though the sun 
 without and the constantly fed furnace within made the journey 
 a very hot one, yet it was the happiest I had ever taken. Soon 
 the white tents appeared amid the thick foliage of trees, a few 
 yards only from the line, and we were quickly seated outside 
 our well pitched tents, in the grateful shade of the trees, en- 
 joying a refreshing cup of tea. 
 
 In the evening we marched to the Kotwali, Police station, 
 where to the beat of drum we gathered about thirty persons, 
 mostly made up of tlw Thanadar, his munshi or writer, and 
 some policemen. In song, and prayer, and discourse we of- 
 fered them a present and full salvation in Christ Jesus. All 
 seemed greatly interested and impressed ; and one fine-looking 
 young Muhamadan, aged about twenty, came out and said 
 that he believed on Jesus Christ as his Saviour, and was ready 
 to confess him as such in baptism. There was no doubt of his 
 sincerity, and so we received him before them all, on his con- 
 fession of faith in Christ. This dear young man has been so 
 persecuted by his so-called friends since, that he was obliged to 
 flee the place ; and we have not heard of his whereabouts. 
 
 Next morning we found a big horse and comfortable trap 
 for ourselves, and good strong ellas, small pony carts, for our 
 brethren, waiting to take us to the next stage, eight miles on, 
 to Kutaina. These had been sent us out from Bahraich by 
 Mr. White, a great friend of our mission, and Mr. W. Peters, 
 
38 The gospel in qonda. 
 
 our Native preacher in Bahraich J and so we bowled along a 
 road as level and smooth almost as gla^s, at the rate of eight 
 miles an hour. We found the Railway workmen had brought 
 the line within two miles of our camp ; so after breakfast we 
 all sallied forth to attack the gangs of coolies in their resting 
 camps. After a hot walk through a regular jungle of two 
 miles, we came upon the workmen all employed in their different 
 duties ; so there was nothing for as left but to wait and watch 
 the modus operandi of laying down the line. The work was 
 superintended by Mr. S., the Plate-layer. I soon got into 
 conversation with this clever mechanic, and found him quite a 
 scholar and a linguist. He had his family in camp a short dis- 
 tance off, and he invited me to take tea with him in the even- 
 ing. 
 
 In the meantime a rest had been called, and now was our 
 opportunity of speaking to these hundreds of dark sons of 
 toil. Our music attracted a large crowd, who listened with 
 great attention and interest to our songs and prayers and 
 preaching. Some even joined in with our singing, and some 
 seemed ready to join our band, while many cried out that we 
 were the true servants of God. One athletic-looking coolie, 
 an ahir, or cowherd by caste, came boldly out, and said he 
 would become a disciple of Jesus Christ. We baptized him ; 
 and he went on with his work in his gang. He is still at work 
 on the line, goes by the name of Maaih Cham, (at the feet 
 of Christ) and gives us much hope. 
 
 In the evening we all went by invitation to Mr. S.'s camp. 
 We found a very charming family there, of a wife and seven 
 grown-up children. We sat outside the tents, and gave them 
 some of our music and sang them some of our songs. We 
 found that the eldest daughter possessed an accordion, and 
 could play it admirably ; so we were soon singing in full con- 
 cert all we knew of Sankey's songs. We then had prayers in 
 English and Hindustani, and addressed a few words of Bible 
 promise to all present. The end of it was that we left our 
 friend a pledged total abstainer, at which his wife seemed 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 39 
 
 specially grateful. We remember our visit to this camp with 
 great pleasure. During the day the workmen had completed 
 a mile of line, and on that mile of railway we travelled back 
 towards our camp on our host's trolly. 
 
 Next day found us in Bahraich, after a pleasant drive in the 
 freshness of the early morning. Bahraich is the most pictur- 
 esque station in the " Garden of India." Each thatched house 
 is built on a grassy knoll, the slopes, covered with flowering 
 creepers and bushes of' various beauty, leading down to undu- 
 lating ground adorned with the wide-spreading tamarind trees, 
 and the date-palms crowned by their luxuriant spread of foli- 
 age ; the whole place giving the pleasant idea of a hill-station, 
 as it gradually dips with its magnificent groves of mango trees 
 down to the green banks of the lotus-covered and winding 
 branch of the classic Rapti. We found a new hill tent, 
 conveniently furnished, pitched for our use at the entrance to 
 the station, in a beautiful park of mango and tamarind trees. 
 A. large shamiyana, or sun protector, also was spread out in 
 front of our tents, furnished with carpets and seats, for the 
 Sunday-school fete. These tents had been provided by the 
 kindness of the Kunivar, through Mr. White. The Kunivar 
 is the second son of the Rajah of Kapurthala, and superin- 
 tends the great estate of his elder brother in the Bahraich 
 district, and both he and his wife, the Kunwarin, are excellent 
 Christians, doing all they can for the glory of the Great Mas- 
 ter, and the good of the natives arcund them. We arrived 
 on Friday, and in the afternoon I held the Bahraich quarterly 
 conference, in the place of Rev. Dr. Johnson, P. E., he being 
 unable to attend — having gone for his health on a short trip 
 across the Atlantic. The reports of the pastor, Native preach- 
 ers, and zanann workers, were most encouraging. They all 
 seemed full of holy zeal and the power of the Holy Ghost, 
 
 The morning of the next day, Saturday, was all taken up in 
 visiting and examining three girls' and three boys' schools. 
 In each school there was a service of song and prayer and 
 preaching. The first girls' school visited gave a Brahman 
 
40 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 woman convert. After hearing our service through, she came 
 and asked for baptism. She was baptized by Mr. W. Peters. 
 She is aged about thirty years, and she is employed now in the 
 above school as a dai, or woman who attends the girls on their 
 way to and from school. We found all the schools in excel- 
 lent condition, and well reported on by the Inspector of schools. 
 In the afternoon the Sunday-school fete took place in front of 
 our tents. Mr. Ferrar, C. S., the Deputy Commissioner, took the 
 chair. Over 300 boys were marched from the city school, with 
 flags flying and music playing, and took their places under the 
 shamiyana, a kind of canvas canopy to protect, as the Persian 
 word implies, from the sun. A boy stepped forward and read 
 a well written address in praise of everybody in general and the 
 Deputy Commissioner in particular. Then a bhajan or song 
 was sung by the whole school, which excited a sensation more 
 from the element of noise in it than from any pleasure arising 
 from the harmony of the song. Then prizes of colored caps, 
 pieces of cloth, pen-knives, pictures, and books, were given out 
 by the Chairman. After this an address to the assembly, and 
 "God save the Queen " in Hindustani, closed this very inter- 
 esting meeting. No parent or child could have gone away dis- 
 pleased, for all received prizes and sweetmeats. 
 
 We conducted two services on the day following, which was 
 Sunday. Both were held in the city. At the morning service 
 some 200 persons of all states and conditions must have been 
 present. When we prayed nearly all present bent their heads ; 
 when we played and sang, a number tried to join us ; and 
 when we preached they all paid the deepest attention, and fre- 
 quently cried, " This is the truth." At that service one 
 nominal Christian was converted, and two heathens were re- 
 ceived as candidates for baptism. In the evening we had a 
 less formal and more social meeting. It was more a service of 
 song, and yet in this service the hearts of two Hindus, both 
 teachers in our girls' schools, were greatly touched. They 
 both confessed Christ to be their Saviour. When they were 
 asked if they would confess His name in baptism, they both 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 41 
 
 forward and answered that they would. The pastor thought 
 it best to delay their baptism, on account of the two 
 girls' schools of which they have charge. The religious pros- 
 pects of Bahraich station and district are most encouraging ; 
 and the earnest, faithful, judicious labours of the Native pastor 
 have justified the wisdom of our Conference in placing him in 
 charge of so large a work. We have watched the progress of 
 this dear brother in secular and religious knowledge from a lad 
 in hi3 Budaon home,'till he became our head assistant Native 
 Preacher in Gonda, in 1880 ; and from this till he was ap- 
 pointed Preacher in charge of Bahraich, we have seen him 
 grow steadily in " grace and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ," 
 and in the living power of the Holy Spirit and a holy life. 
 
 On Monday we left for Gonda. We camped at Karahliya, 
 six miles out from Bahraich, and found the railway had ad- 
 vanced up to that point while we were in Bahraich. Having 
 important work to do in Gonda, we determined to leave by the 
 train that would return in the afternoon, and thus save three 
 long marches. We left camp, and walked about half a mile to 
 a large village near the point where the engine would stop. 
 While waiting for the train we gathered about 400 people 
 around where we were seated, under a large tamarind tree. 
 After our service of song and pr&yer and preaching, a large, 
 stout man, the Brahman zaminddr of the village near, cried : 
 ** You have all the wisdom in the world to make these railways 
 and send a fire-god among us ; " and then turning to the 
 people he again cried : " They have this wisdom, because in a 
 former state of existence they performed great tapashya (pen- 
 ance) and did great punya " (virtuous actions). The people 
 seemed to think the more of us for that, and we were not slow 
 in turning it to our own advantage in pressing the claims of 
 truth. Tv\o men, a kori and a kurami, responded to our call 
 and came forward. We found they had intelligently received 
 the word, that they believed on Christ, and were willing to con- 
 fess Him. there and then in baptism ; so we procured a lota 
 of water from an adjacent well, and gave them the Christian 
 
45 THfc GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 chink of discipleship, and tho Christian parshad (grains o f rice 
 to be eaten) of fellowship. We have the names of their vil- 
 lages and zamindar ; so we know where to send our preachers 
 to encourage and further instruct them. 
 
 But the train is in, and about to start ; so we climb on the 
 engine, the brake, and the truck, and we are all carried smooth- 
 ly and quickly into Gonda, while our songs fill the air with 
 God's praises for His great unspeakable love to us in Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 3. In 1885, From Gonda to Utraula via Balrampur. 
 
 The particular events of this tour were related in " The In- 
 dian Witness " of January, 1886. The .Rev. Dr. Johnson, 
 our Presiding Elder, accompanied us on most of this trip, and 
 by his prayers and faith, and preaching rendered our working 
 band very efficient aid. 
 
 "NOTES OF A TOUR TO THE NORTH OF THE 
 GONDA DISTRICT." 
 
 On the 29th January we called in our band of workers from 
 our different out-stations, and began our special meetings for 
 the natives in the Gonda city, and also for ourselves personally, 
 as a needful preparation for our intended itinerating tour. 
 These meetings were held for a week, In the morning we all 
 met in our study for a prayer and experience meeting ; and 
 in the evening we held a service in our school house in Gola- 
 Ganj for the benefit of the officials and general native popula- 
 tion. The morning meetings were wonderfully blessed to the 
 hearts of the dear brethren. We all renewed our covenant 
 with the Lord ; received a gracious cleansing in the precious blood 
 of the Lamb, and a rich baptism of the Holy Spirit's power. 
 Every morning was a happy conscious meeting with God, and 
 a new experience of his mighty love, aud every evening was a 
 visible manifestation of the presence of the Great Master, and 
 an exhibition of the powerful influence of his Word to con- 
 vince of sin and create a longing desire to come to Jesus. 
 Though no ene was baptized at these meetings, many confess- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 43 
 
 ed that they had been moved upon in a strange and, to them 
 marvellous way ; while others declared that they repented of 
 th°ir sins and accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour. One 
 of these, a native doctor, was so affected that he ran home to 
 his wife and said he must become a Christian. She persuaded 
 him from being baptized ; but she could not shake his resolu- 
 tion to give up idolatry and worship God in future in the name 
 of Jesus Christ. 
 
 On the 5th February the Rev. Dr. Johnson, twelve brethren, 
 and myself started on our tour of preaching in the accessi- 
 ble villages on the Balrampur road. On our way out to the 
 first stage we stopped at Bargawn to examine an interest- 
 ing boys' school we have in that village. When Doctor 
 J. asked these dear boys how many prayed night and 
 morning in the name of Jesus Christ, fourteen out of 
 thirty-two promptly stood up. Some of these are Brahman 
 boys. Soon after arrival in our District-cart in the even- 
 ing time in the beautiful camping place at Ghilauli, we 
 all collected in our tent for prayer and consultation. We 
 found that the man, whom the brethren had hired for the 
 march to cook their food, had played them false and disappear- 
 ed with some of their things, so some of the brethren had to 
 remain at their shoulddri, a long low two-poled tent used by 
 sepoys, to cook food for the party after returning from labour. 
 With our number thus diminished, we sallied out by the light 
 of a lantern to a village near. Notice had been previously 
 given of our coming, and we soon had a long shed, whose floor 
 was covered with clean dry straw, filled from end to end, with 
 the Pradhdn, or head-man, seated in the centre of the crowd. 
 Outside the shed, too, people from the bazaar near collected in 
 considerable numbers to listen to the words of life. After 
 prayer and song we began with the subject, One Mediator 
 for the whole human race — there is one God, one Bace, one Me- 
 diator between God and that race, based on the word found in 
 1 Tim. 2:5. This was well backed up by Doctor Johnson 
 and the other brethren appointed to speak ; and when the in 
 
44 TnB G03PEL IN GONDA. 
 
 vitation came, appealing lovingly to the hearts of the eager 
 listeners, a wonderful impression was made upon many hearts. 
 Some ten persons were ready to respond to our appeal ; but a 
 Brahman present from Piyagpur was greatly stirred up to op- 
 pose us ; and so hindered those whose hearts the Lord had un- 
 mistakeably touched, from coming forward and confessing 
 Christ in baptism. After silencing, with a few simple argu- 
 ments this pandit, we left late at night for our tents, assured 
 that God was with us owning and blessing his Word ; and 
 that he would specially care for those whose hearts had been 
 touched. 
 
 Friday, the 6th, found us in Maharaj-Ganj, camped in as fine 
 and noble a park of trees, surrounded by fields of wheat and 
 barley ripening to the harvest, as could be found in any part of 
 the world. The brethren had been at work on the road, and 
 brought in a young Brahman, whose mind had been enlighten- 
 ed and his heart persuaded by the Gospel words of love preach- 
 ed to him. We all met in our tent, and after Dr. J. and my- 
 self had further instructed and prayed with him, we baptized 
 him on his confessing Christ with his mouth, and changed his 
 name from Shri-Kam to Shri-Masih. His age is about nine- 
 teen, and his village Shankar Nagar, a few miles to the north 
 of Balrampur. Brother McArthur was asked how long this 
 new disciple of Christ had been under instruction, when he 
 answered : " For five miles ! " Five miles of instruction is not 
 bad for any man. A. Satnami faqir (a religious mendicant of 
 41 The True Name," who are supposed to have broken away from 
 idolatry) was also touched by the Word spoken to him in this 
 place, and said he accepted Christ as his Saviour. We had 
 another meeting in the tent, and after much instruction and 
 earnest prayer we baptized him under the name of Gukha'i 
 and gave him the pratihad a piece of the unleavened bread wo 
 divide among us when one is baptized, as a sign of fellowship. 
 He remained some time with the brethren, and then went to his 
 village The bearer of the P. W. D. bungalow near, and 
 another fakir were so impressed by the Gospel preached that, 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 45 
 
 though they were not baptized, they both said they believed on 
 Christ, and would pray to God henceforth in his name. A 
 middle-aged man, who had been an immigrant for fourteen 
 years in one of the West Indian islands, came with two very 
 interesting children, and said if we would give him some em- 
 ployment he would gradually break away from his caste and 
 become a Christian. We instructed and prayed with him for 
 a long time, but though his mind had received the light, he 
 could not submit his will to Christ and seek first the kingdom 
 of God. He seemed to be afraid that after we baptized him 
 we would turn him out and despise him. He said he believed 
 in his heart, but left us without being baptized. It was rather 
 late in the evening when we met for prayer again, and went 
 forth to a village adjoining our resting-place. By beat of 
 drum we gathered and seated about fifty persons, and begun 
 our usual services. Three men were undoubtedly genuinely 
 affected by the Gospel they heard ; and one man made a move- 
 ment to come forward, but his wife, who. with other women, 
 had been listening some little distance off, cried out to come 
 home, and so he was kept from his good purpose. At that 
 moment a flash of lightning, followed by a loud clap of 
 thunder, warned us of the storm that had slowly gathered up 
 from the western horizon, and would soon deluge our camp ; 
 so we had to hasten back for shelter to our tents. 
 
 Saturday, the 7th, found us in the cold freshness of a beau- 
 tiful morning on our way to Balrampur. And as we bowled 
 along over a new metalled road, miles and miles of waving 
 corn spread out to the right and left as far as eye could reach, 
 the millions of pendant dew-drops from the " womb of the 
 morning " flashed out in sparkling beauty as they were touched 
 by the mellow rays of the sun. Dr. J. had gone on ahead and, 
 in a village close up to the side of the road, had gathered 
 about fifty persons to hear the good news of a Saviour who 
 could save them from their sins. The Lord blessed the Word ; 
 and one Brahman was so interested that he followed Dr. J., 
 and kept repeating the blessed name of Jesus Christ. And 
 
46 THE G03PEL IN GONDA. 
 
 when this man turned off the road towards his village, he wa3 
 still heard as he went along repeating this saving name — " Isd 
 Masih ! Isd Masih ! " — till the pleasing sound died away on 
 the distant morning air. 
 
 After arriving in our delightful camping place I chaperoned 
 Dr. J. over the adjacent places worth seeing. There was the 
 grand house, called the Nil Kothi or blue house, built for the 
 Europeans by the late hospitable and loyal Maharajah, and 
 furnished and decorated as only artistic skill can do. The 
 menagerie of not exotic animals, where the restless tiger, 
 who has lately lost his mate, moves backwards and forwards, 
 looking fiercely askance and growling out defiance ; the two 
 leopards crouching in a corner as for a deadly spring, with 
 eyes like balls of living fire, and gleaming teeth bare to 
 the gums, that speak of cruelty and death ; the deer-park, 
 full of gentle-eyed and spotted does and grandly horned 
 buck, safe from tiger's bound or leopard's spring; the 
 stud of magnificent, pure-blooded Arab horses and ponies, 
 which are honored by having a European veterinary sur- 
 geon over them. The dwelling of the late Maharajah, 
 in which his private room is kept just as when he died. 
 There in the centre of the room is spread the carpet and 
 placed the bolster used by the King. Flowers are now 
 scattered where he used to lie ; and on the left are placed his 
 dress-shoes, and on the right his bathing clogs, as if he were 
 about to arise invisibly and go about his once human avoca- 
 tions. Then home to our tents, and prepare for evening preach- 
 ing in the chauk of Balrampur city. The brethren had gone 
 on before us and occupied an important position. The usual 
 services were conducted in the midst of a large crowd. Four 
 persons were specially convinced, and said they believed on 
 Christ. They were taken hold of by the brethren afterwards, 
 and further instructed. A student in the Government school 
 followed us after the preaching, and seemed much interested. 
 He asked repeatedly for an English New Testament, but we 
 had none to give him then. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 47 
 
 Sunday, the 8th, found us peacefully in camp enjoying the 
 quiet of a charming Sabbath morning. Doctor Johnson 
 walked over to a village at one end of the large park of trees 
 in which we were encamped, and found a number of Khatiks, 
 or fowlers, who had come from another place to celebrate a mar- 
 riage here. About seventy gathered round Dr. J. and eagerly 
 listened to the simple story of Jesus and his love. A number 
 of these poor low-caste people were greatly impressed, and 
 seven of them, with three boys, came on invitation to our 
 tents. We seated them on a carpet we had spread for our 
 morning service, and found they had received a very intelligent 
 knowledge of Christ and what he did to save them. I further 
 instructed them and asked them to become the disciples of this 
 great Saviour. They said they believed on Christ. They re- 
 mained to the service we held, under the out-spreading branches 
 of the trees, for the benefit of all in camp and the Christian 
 families in Balrampiir. These poor men were much interested 
 in this service, and were greatly impressed by the sermon 
 preached by Dr. J. We promised to visit them next morn- 
 ing. In the evening we all went to Bihari Lai's house and 
 conducted service there. The place was crowded, and the 
 street outside was blocked up with eager listeners. We dis- 
 coursed on " The Lamb of God," and great was the impression 
 made. Some fifteen persons confessed Christ to be the only 
 Saviour, and said that they would in future trust in him only 
 for salvation. One young man, who was also at the morning 
 service, and is the Private Secretary of Jang Bahadur told us- 
 after this service that Christ had saved him ; but he would not 
 be baptized. Jang Bahadar, the natural son of the late Ma- 
 harajah, and whom twenty-five years ago we taught in our 
 Husainabad school in Lucknow, paid us a visit in great state 
 to-night. His income is Es. 48,000 a year. We talked to 
 him about his soul, and the claims of Jesus Christ upon him. 
 Hp listened to us attentively and an impression seemed to be 
 made upon him. 
 
 Monday, the 9th, was a day of great blessing. Our dear 
 
48 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 Brother S. Paul joined us this morning from Gonda, where 
 school examinations had necessarily detained him. Dr. J. was 
 up early at work with a fine looking faqir who lived in a hut 
 near our camp. This man was so moved by the truth that he 
 would have been baptized, had not an old woman who lived 
 with him too successfully persuaded him against it. The 
 Doctor had given him a Hindi tract to read, but this he 
 brought back, saying the old woman would not let him read it. 
 After our usual morning prayer-meeting, we all marched 
 through the village in which our Khatik inquirers were. We 
 called a good large crowd round where our Khatik friends were 
 sitting on scattered straw, playing their marriage airs. They 
 at once stopped their music, and settled themselves to listen 
 with interest to our bhajans, or songs, and preaching. After 
 prayer and song brother W. Fisk opened with the subject of 
 " The wedding garment." This became the theme of all that 
 was said at intervals by Dr. J., myself, and brother S. Paul. 
 A remarkable impression was made. I never saw men moved 
 as these were. In addition to the seven men who came out 
 yesterday, thirteen more were ready to come out and be bap- 
 tized ; but an enemy in the shape of a Brahman got among 
 them and dissuaded them from being identified with us by 
 baptism. Still we believed those twenty poor men received the 
 Word of God in faith and to the salvation of their souls. On 
 our return we found one of Jhandula's disciples, a son of Isa 
 Das, whom we baptized in December last, waiting to receive 
 the sign of discipleship. We prayed with him and taught 
 him a few simple truths, and then baptized him with the name 
 .Mihal. He is a promising young man of twenty, whom we 
 hope to train for a good work. 
 
 In the evening we all went to another village near. We 
 had heard that that village was full of Brahman s, and that 
 they would oppose us and not listen to the Word ; I ut we 
 were happily disappointed. We had as good work here as we 
 had in the morning in the Khatik village. The head man of 
 the village, and a number of others were impressively eon- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 49 
 
 vinced of the truth, and acknowledged Christ to be the Saviour 
 that could save from sin. The Private Secretary of the Ma- 
 harani was present, and argued against Christ being a Saviour, 
 because he was put to death by the Jews ; but when Dr. J. 
 showed him that it was that very death which made him so 
 great a Redeemer, he was convinced and confessed his convic- 
 tion honestly. He said he was reading the New Testament in 
 English, and was much interested in the miracles of Christ. 
 He wanted a copy of the New Testament in larger print, as 
 the one he had was too small for his eye-sight. 
 
 Tuesday, the 10th, was another good day to us all. This 
 morning Jhandula brought in another of his disciples, and 
 when we had prayed with and further instructed him, we bap- 
 tized him in our tent, and gave him the name Afrhraf. Jhan- 
 dula had been sick with a fever, but the medicine Br. J. 
 had sent him was blessed to his recovery, and so we were 
 all glad to see him among us again. Took Dr. J. to see 
 the Haharani's palace, the second largest elephant in India, 
 (the first largest, Chand Miirat, moon-faced, was away hunt- 
 ing wild elephants), the biggest and oldest rhinoceros in 
 the world, the haran-bart, enclosure for antelopes, and 
 some splendid talking ?namas, or starlings. We then 
 went on to Bihar i Lai's house, joined the brethren, and 
 marched down a long street, headed by our banner and 
 music, and singing, " Jai Prabhu YisuJ* &c. When we 
 came to an open space we seated the crowd and began our 
 services. There were as many prayers offered and short ad- 
 dresses given as there were brethren present. An excellent 
 impiession was made upon all ; but there were four persons 
 very deeply impressed and convicted, who were followed up by 
 the brethren afterwards and brought into the light and con- 
 sciousness of our Saviour's love. They confessed that Christ 
 alone could save them, but they were not then baptized : 
 though we hope soon to see them receive this outward sign of 
 a blessed work which has. we believe, begun in their hearts. 
 
50 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 The evening found us all again at work for the Lord in the 
 chauk of the city. This time we all stood on a heap of hanhar 
 or limestone, and preached in succession to a very large as- 
 sembly of all classes. A pandit came and tried to interrupt 
 us by reading out of a Hindi book, but the people would not 
 listen to him, and so we soon had it all our own way. There 
 were about seven persons who were convinced of the truth, and 
 whom the brethren took in hand to instruct further and pray 
 with. One man, a bari, or one who makes leaves into platters 
 for shops, was taken to one side by two of the brethren and was 
 not given up until he had come into the light of God's salvation. 
 "Wednesday, the 11th, found another camp joined to ours, 
 which had been put up during the night. Colonel and Mrs. 
 N. came in for the day to Balrampur, and brought with them 
 my dear boy Georgie. They are good Christian people, and 
 we were glad of their company even for a day. Dear G. had 
 shot us a delicate breakfast in the shape of two quails, which 
 proved very opportune, as our larder had got low. His steady 
 hand and unerring eye had also brought down a fine chital, or 
 spotted deer, which supplied many in camp with food. After 
 greetings were over, we met the brethren in the citj, and 
 marched into another mohalla, or parish, where we set up our 
 banner in the name of the Lord. God touched the hearts of 
 a number of persons through his Word, and many became sin- 
 cere inquirers after the truth. In the evening we all went into 
 a village adjoining the city, where we collected an attentive 
 audience. Many present were women, who were intensely in- 
 terested. Some seven men and three women came out when 
 the invitation was given ; but they would not be baptized then. 
 They all promised to come next morning for baptism to our 
 tents. God blessed his Word to these poor low-caste people's 
 hearts in a way that excited our surprise, 
 
 Thursday, the 12th, took Dr. Johnson and Georgie from us. 
 They left in a camel-cart for Gonda. The former had to reach 
 Bahraieh on Saturday, to hold his Quarterly Conference ; so 
 we could keep him no longer with us. We all soon after left 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 51 
 
 ourselves for Mahadeo, the home of Jhandula Masih. As no 
 buggy could take me to this place, I procured an elephant from 
 the Maharani, and reached it in the evening, just after the 
 brethren had all arrived. Here we held service, and the wife 
 of Isa Das, mentioned above, came out, and was baptized her- 
 self, and her son, a bright lad of ten years, was baptized with 
 her. She is an intelligent-looking woman, aged about thirty 
 years. After that another of Jhandula's disciples came out and 
 desired baptism. We instructed and prayed with him, and 
 gave him the signs of discipleship and fellowship. Many 
 more would have been baptized, but they had gone that day to 
 attend a marriage in Tulsipur. They are to come into Gonda 
 to be baptized. The work in this place is most promising. 
 Jhandula Masih aud his wife, Isa Piyari, are learning more of 
 Christ every day, and are becoming more zealous in winning 
 over their old followers to the faith of their new and blessed 
 Master. 
 
 Friday, the 13th, saw our tents gleaming out from under 
 the grand old trees that spread their gigantic branches over 
 the smooth green ground which slopes down from the pictur- 
 esque village of Kan Bhari, on the Atraula road. This village, 
 with its houses covered with the pumpkin creeper, is surround- 
 ed by vast and dense sugar-cane fields. In the evening we 
 marched into this place, and gathered a crowd of men, women 
 and children in an open space. We conducted our service in 
 the usual way, find when we gave the invitation a Brahman 
 rose and came forward. There were about fifteen Koris sitting 
 in a row before us, somewhat separated from the other people, 
 and when this Brahman came and knelt down near us, these 
 men rose in a body to come forward also ; but a white-bearded 
 old man cried out to them not to go and become be-dharm, i.e., 
 lose their religion. Though we tried to show that they had 
 already lost the true religion of God, and that we had come 
 to restore it to them, still the cries of the old man prevailed, 
 and they all went away. Two of the brethren immediately 
 detached themselves from us, and followed them. Thev found 
 
52 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 these poor men had been greatly impressed by the preaching, and 
 though they went away then, yet they had believed on Christ, 
 and, when they had pacified their old guru, they would come 
 to us in Gonda for the chink. In the meantime we prayed 
 with and gave more instruction to the Brahman ; but we did 
 not think it prudent to baptize him then, as quite a commotion 
 had been created through the whole village, in which the 
 women took the greatest and loudest part 
 
 Saturday, the 14th, found us up in the early morning sweep- 
 ing the dew from the grass on our way to Chulu Bhari, another 
 large village near, llere the Lord wonderfully owned and 
 blessed the Word. Two fine young Musalmans, one Bdri, 
 leaf-cup maker, one Teli, or oilman, and one Pandit responded 
 to our call. The two Musalmans, farmers in the village, were 
 baptized. They both promised to do their best in bringing 
 their families to Christ ; but they have to be wise as serpents 
 in this work. The Bdri, or leaf-platter maker, was hindered 
 by his zealous son from openly confessing Christ in baptism. 
 He was followed to his house by two of the brethren ; but 
 though his son would not let him be baptized, he promised not 
 to prevent his father from praying in the name of Jesus Christ 
 in the future. The Teli was not baptized, but he said he 
 would always pray to God and sell his oil in the name of this 
 blessed Saviour. The Pandit, Piyag Dutt, a zamindar in the 
 village, showed more emotion and earnestness than any of the 
 others : though they were all much affected. When we told 
 him we had brought a special message to him, that the pure 
 Tncarnation had actually come into this world, and why he had 
 come, he could no longer restrain himself, but cried out before 
 all, " Convince me of this as a fact and I am his disciple at 
 once ! " When we had satisfied him from history, and from 
 our own personal experience, he said : "Then, make me his 
 chela, or disciple." We were about to baptize him, when a 
 thought seemed suddenly to strike him, and looking up he 
 said : " My elder brother is in partnership with me in this 
 village, and it is not right that I should do this without his 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONBA. 53 
 
 knowledge, and though I believe on and accept this Nishkalanh 
 Avatar, pure Incarnation, I cannot be baptized without con- 
 sulting him." We were reluctantly obliged to relinquish the 
 idea of baptizing him then ; but he promised, when his' bro- 
 ther returned from his journey, to come with him to us in 
 Gonda. 
 
 In the evening we left for Atraula, and in a few hours were 
 in our transmigrated tent-home in a lovely situation just out- 
 side the city. The brethren worked as usual on the road. 
 Their plan is to walk in twos and threes with intervals of dis- 
 tances between them, and each party attaches itself to one or 
 more traveller going the same way and instructs and persuades 
 him for miles, and then generally brings him in as an inquirer 
 to be further instructed and prayed with in our tent. Late in 
 the evening we all marched into the city. A respectable Mo- 
 hamedan warned us that the news of the death of General 
 Gordon, and the success of the Mahdi, had greatly excited the 
 turbulent Mussalmans of the place, and that we had better not 
 preach there. Still the King's business required haste, and 
 so we began our services. An Inspector of Police, one of our 
 promising inquirers, gave us the use of his front verandah 
 with beds and chairs to sit on, so we began under favourable 
 circumstances. Soon a large crowd collected, and while the 
 preaching went on a solemn hush seemed to rest on the people, 
 and a fascinating power to chain them to the spot ; hence, when 
 an intoxicated Hindu faqir pushed his way through the crowd 
 and interrupted us by his unmeaning words, it was as if a 
 spell had been suddenly broken. I believe the whole crowd 
 was under the mighty spell of the Gospel of God, and Satan 
 sent this poor man to break it. Some good came of this ; for 
 a native official turned to this poor babbler and rebuked him 
 for turning the people's attention away from hearing the truth. 
 This native gentleman told us his heart had been touched by 
 what he had heard, and that Christ must be the true and only 
 Saviour. He promised to see us again. Our friend the In* 
 spector's heart was also much moved upon, but we could not 
 
bi THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 bring him to the point of bding baptized ; though he did 
 openly declare his belief in Christ as his Saviour. 
 
 Sunday, the 15th, was indeed a precious day of rest to all 
 of us. In the morning we had service in the open space before 
 our tent, for all in camp. Our brother the Inspector came 
 and joined in with us most heartily in our songs and prayers. 
 A Musalman tailor came with a copy of the Quran under his 
 arm to declare to us, in the face of clear arguments to the 
 contrary, that the Bible was full of prophecies relating to 
 Mohamed. We simply told him that if he would give his 
 heart to Christ he would find out in a minute how many 
 prophecies of the Arabian were found in the Bible. Conver- 
 sion of heart is better than controversy to lead into the truth. 
 
 In the evening we walked through the corn-fields to a vil- 
 lage near. Most of the males were away, so we gathered a 
 few women and children, and the two or three men who were 
 left, and preached Christ to them. One young man was much 
 affected, and two of the brethren took him out into the field 
 and prayed with and persuaded him for some time. He would 
 not be baptized, but said Christ should be his Saviour for the 
 future. 
 
 Monday, the 16th, found us on the road to Gonda, halting 
 at Chamrapur for breakfast. After being strengthened by 
 food and prayer, we went into the large village that lies a short 
 distance off from the road. We were preaching near a house 
 in which lay Rdmii a sick sonhar or goldsmith. He asked to 
 be taken out to hear the words of the preacher. After he was 
 brought out, and had listened for some time with evident in- 
 terest, he cried, " This is the Saviour I want. One who can 
 give rest to my soul." We prayed with him and gave him 
 more instruction, and then on his confession of Christ we bap- 
 tized him. He promised to send us Us. 50 to Gonda for the 
 poor. As soon as we had baptized this goldsmith, a young 
 Nana Panthi, or follower of Nanuk, who had been paying great 
 attention all through the service, came and said he wanted also 
 to become the disciple of Jesus Christ. He also said the word 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 55 
 
 had pricked his heart and he felt that only Christ could save 
 him ; so we baptized him and gave him the name of Fazl- 
 bakhsh. He is a very bright open-faced young man of eighteen 
 years. He seems to have a very retentive memory, for the 
 brethren had only to repeat the words of a bhajan and sing it 
 over once or twice, when he got it perfectly by heart. We 
 take him in with us to Gonda ; and if the Lord should call him 
 to the work, make an intelligent and useful preacher of him. 
 We reached Dhanipur in the evening. The abode of Tri- 
 bhoan Dutt Bhaiya, grandson of the old Rajah of Gonda, is 
 not far from this. We had not been long in camp before the 
 servants of Tribhoan brought a cart-load of straw and wood, 
 two goats, and enough flour, ghi, grain, potatoes, and condi- 
 ments to supply the wants of all the brethren and the whole 
 camp. These needful things were followed by the Rajah 
 himself who came in an old uncovered sedan chair that must 
 have existed in the days of Porus. He has been educated in 
 the Canning College, Lucknow, and therefore can converse in 
 English. It is to be regretted, however, that he did not stay 
 there longer and complete his education. He had heard about 
 our baptisms, and promised me he would assist and protect 
 those of our converts, who were living in any of his villages. 
 He invited me over to his house later on in the evening. The 
 Lord gave us success in this place this evening. Five 
 men and one woman came out and declared themselves on the 
 Lord's side. The Banyd, the Kori, and the woman (a Korin) 
 were baptized on openly confessing Christ. These new disci- 
 ples live near and can be easily reached by the brethren from 
 Gonda. The young Musalman Fakir, who has many chelds in 
 the Bahraich District, was not baptized ; but said openly that 
 he was now " Christ's fakir" and would spend his life in 
 bringing disciples to him. He is to come to us in Gonda. 
 The two other Koris who came forward were not baptized, as 
 they said they wanted to bring their families with them. They 
 too are expected in Gonda to join us more openly and decidedly 
 in public baptism. 
 
56 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 This virtually closes our tour ; on which thirteen persons in 
 all were baptized, and the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ was 
 preached in twenty villages and two large cities. By the 
 way-side, on the road and in these towns and hamlets thousands 
 of souls have heard the good news of a Saviour who i3 Christ 
 the Lord ; and had it not been for the interference of Brahman 
 priests, here and there, in the different preaching places on 
 this tour, at least, a hundred more would have been baptized. 
 Many of these, we believe, will yet come in to help to increase 
 our Church and swell the triumphs of the Redeemer's Kingdom 
 in this district ! 
 
 4. In 1888, From Gonda to the Tharu Country in 
 Chandanpur via Tulsipur and Pachperwa. 
 
 The following "Scenes and Incidents in an Itinerating Tour " 
 appeared in one of the April numbers of " our paper" for 
 1888, which will serve as an introduction to our second visit 
 among the Tharus in Chandanpur. 
 
 The Gonda band had started for a tour among the Th&rus 
 in the Chandanpur forests under the shadow of the Nepal Hills, 
 and had reached as far as Balrampur, one of our out-stations 
 to the north, when we received information that our converts 
 residing in Mahadeva, six miles to the South-east of Balam- 
 pur, were involved in some trouble arising from the persecu- 
 tions of their Kshatri neighbours. So, on the morning of the 
 5th instant, we have an early chhoti haziri, or little breakfast, 
 jump on our pony, leave the delightful spot our two tents 
 are standing on, and ride into the rather jumbled up and 
 mongrel city of Balrampiir. The only person we meet astir 
 is a bright looking Hindu lad, who greets us with " good even- 
 ing, sor ! " We remind him that it is morning and not even- 
 ing, when he quickly answers, as if anticipating the objection : 
 11 Second Master of College told us always to say this for first 
 
 time greeting gentleman." Musing on the undoubted genius 
 of this Second master in getting himself out of a difficulty by 
 
 creating an imaginary English custom, we make our way down 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 57 
 
 by the grand pretentious College, the useful and much used 
 Caravanserai, and the Palace of the Maharani, full of Pandits 
 living in clover, or as the Natives would say, with their five 
 fingers in ghi, out into the freshness and beauty of the open 
 country. After fording the river Suaun, our way lies through 
 seas of waving wheat fields, the picturesque villages looking 
 like brown islands in, and the clusters of trees here and there 
 seeming to rise as coral-reefs out of, the vast ocean of yellow 
 grain ripening for the reapers' sickle and the harvest song. 
 As we ride along the well-beaten path, the pony buried in the 
 deep grain, the richly laden heads of the stately stalks as they 
 bend under the sweeping wind strike our feet with a merry 
 sound, while the whole country appears as one great spacious 
 cornucopia, emptying out its fullness and abundance into the 
 laps and homes and markets of the people. And if the mis- 
 erably poor cultivators could have their rightful share of the 
 abundant grain-heap, there would be no sad thoughts mingled 
 with the joy that should break forth from hearts and tongues 
 at such a glorious season as the present ; but after the con- 
 tractors, and the " Rajh" and then the Government have 
 taken their shares, there is just enough of the grain-heap left 
 for seed and food to save the earth-toilers from absolute star- 
 vation. And yet the country seems all alive at this time of 
 the year with bardts, or marriage processions ; but these are 
 generally of the better classes. Here comes a palanquin with 
 the crowned and garlanded bridegroom, looking as if he would 
 rather be playing some game with other boys in the village 
 mud, than sitting inside there in such an uncomfortable posi- 
 tion, listening to the beat of the bearers' feet as they move 
 in perfect step, and to their monotonous sing-song tune so 
 well remembered by old Indian travellers of by-gone doll days. 
 Then follow, at an interval of a quarter of a mile, three men 
 with Native drums fastened round their necks, beating them 
 as if their very lives depended upon the noise they thus drew 
 forth. After these come up a crowd of dust-covered relations 
 carrying all the necessaries for camping out under the wide 
 
58 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 spreading branches of the old pipal tree in the bride's village. 
 One village we passed through had such a bridal party as the 
 above in all their holiday attire sitting on a bed of straw in 
 front of a tile-covered house, on the ridge of which was a 
 grotesque representation of the bride and bride-groom made 
 up of pieces of different colored cloths. One old man in flow- 
 ing white beard sat in front of the rest, but seemed sunk in 
 anxious thought as if he was thinking of the price yet to 
 pay in the shape of a Shylock Bunya, who would certainly 
 exact his pound of flesh. And so we jog along now through 
 a bit of sal-wood forest, whose bright big leaves glitter in the 
 morning sunlight ; now fording a clear stream with sandy 
 bottom ; now picking our way through cut-rice fields worked 
 into flinty-edged basins by the ponderous feet of the many 
 elephants which daily cross and recross to and from Balram- 
 pur in search of leafy-food from the pipal trees in the jungles 
 round ; now following the track over a waste of grazing 
 ground, the cattle of Pharaoh's lean kind eying you suspi- 
 ciously as you ride by ; now winding through a village, with 
 the thatched mud-houses hid beneath the broad leaves of the 
 creeping pumpkin plant, and their roofs bending under the 
 weight of its cumbrous fruit, with the women cautiously and 
 timidly peeping at you over their low mud walls, the boys 
 and girls gaping at you with open mouths in the lanes, and 
 the irrepressible mangy pariahs barking or snarling or howl- 
 ing at you from every corner ; and now at last through one 
 more moving surface of wheat and we come on to a carpet of 
 velvet verdure in front of Jhandula Masih's kuti or cottage. 
 There to the right gleams out from under the blossoming and 
 sweetly-scented mangoe trees a snug and comfortable tent, in 
 front of which rises a lazy curl of smoke from a fire-place cut 
 in the ground from east to west, and from near which comes 
 a pleasant odour always acceptable to a good appetite excited 
 by a six miles' ride. 
 
 We are encamped under the trees where for over 20 years 
 Jhandula R&m (the banner of Ram) did severe penance im- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA 59 
 
 posed on himself both as a supposed adequate punishment for 
 sins of the present and past births, and as an expression of 
 penitence and the highest virtue. Five years ago he heard 
 the Gospel of Christ preached in the Devi Patau meld, when 
 he believed, and was baptized. His name was then changed 
 to Jhandula Masih (the banner of Christ) and a true banner 
 his has been, read and known of all about Mahadeva. He was 
 married to his chelin, of* female disciple, who chastely attend- 
 ed him through all the long years of his self-inflicted tortures, 
 and both were induced to remain in the place where they had 
 been called to work for the Great Master according to the 
 light they had received. And the Lord has blessed and own- 
 ed their labour of love, and work of faith, and patience of 
 hope. Three other families have been brought out and bap- 
 tized through their agency ; and two schools, one for boys 
 and the other for girls, have been established. 
 
 A year ago a Christian teacher and his wife were sent for 
 the latter, and they have both rendered good service. So that, 
 here, in this centre of a great village population, there is a 
 small Christian community growing up and taking form. It 
 is a true saying that when persecutions arise it is a good sign 
 of Christian life and activity ; and that when the enemy 
 begins to cry out it is sure evidence that he is hit. This sign 
 and evidence we have in Mahadeva. A Kshatri widow, who 
 had been virtually treated as a slave, and then greatly negle ct- 
 ed and almost starved to death by her high caste friends of 
 the military order, had been instructed in the truths of the 
 Gospel by our people here, when she made up her mind to fully 
 accept Christ, and cast in her lot with the Christians. For 
 this purpose she came with her son and daughter, the one 
 aged 13, the other 11 years, and asked our people to receive 
 them. As soon as her caste relations, who had despised and 
 treated her as a poor wretch under a heavy curse, found out 
 that she and her two children wanted to connect themselves 
 with us, they at once began their persecuting annoyances. 
 We may mention, en passant, that the Kshatri, the second or 
 
60 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 military caste, is the proudest as it is the most overbearing of 
 all the castes, not excepting the first or Brahmin order ; and 
 that the late Maharaja being of this Soldier caste gave them 
 too much excess of liberty at the expense of the comfort and 
 free-action of their less favored neighbours living among them. 
 The first thing they did was to confine the widow and her two 
 children to their huts, and make them potentially prisoners ; 
 and then they bethrothed her daughter to the son of a distant 
 relation. Not satisfied with this, on the morning of the 27th 
 ultimo, the chief man of the village headed a mob and pro- 
 ceeded to the place where our Christian families resided. There 
 this excited crowd began wildly shouting and gesticulating 
 and giving the women the foulest abuse, which latter the 
 Hindus on the Holi (not holy) festival know only too well how 
 to give in all its ugly filthiness ; threatening to burn down 
 their houses, and cut off their feet (gor kat dalen) if they 
 ever came near any of the Kshatri homes again. The next 
 day they formally ostracised our people by excluding them 
 from the village well and from visiting any of their families ; 
 besides refusing to send their boys and girls to our schools. 
 In a hundred petty ways they daily annoyed and disturbed 
 the peace of these Christian families. They appealed to us for 
 help, and hence the reason of our visit and presence at this 
 time among them. We endeavoured to settle the question by 
 calling the Kshatris of the village to our tent and quietly 
 reasoning with them ; but only a few leading Brahmins 
 responded to our call. These were men whom we had met on 
 former visits, and who again listened to the Gospel patiently 
 and with apparent favor. One man among them was so im- 
 pressed that he enrolled himself as an inquirer. After these 
 friends had left us we sat down and wrote out an account of 
 the Mahadeva affair to Major A. — ,the Agent of the Balrampur 
 Estates, and in whose charge this village happens to be placed. 
 Major A. being in camp some eight miles away, kindly 
 answered us promptly, and engaged to meet us in his camp the 
 following morning. In the meantime we gathered our Christ- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 61 
 
 ians together and had a precious service of prayer and praise 
 and preaching of the Word of God. In this service we ex- 
 horted and encouraged our dear people to hold fast by a living 
 faith to the great Saviour in whom they had believed, and in 
 whose name they had been baptized, and he would ultimately, 
 if not immediately, bring them in blessed triumph out of all 
 their troubles. In this meeting the wife of one of our con- 
 verts came out and was baptized. This convert was one of 
 those, who, two years ago had been immediately baptized in 
 Balrampur on their open confession of faith in Jesus Christ, 
 but his wife, up to the present, had not joined him in his new 
 faith and worship. Now, not deterred or made afraid by the 
 threats of many enemies around herself and husband, she 
 comes out boldly and acknowledges Christ. 
 
 Next morning finds us early in the saddle, ambling along 
 across broken up cut-rice fields, through the dark shade of pieces 
 of forest all aglow with insect and bird life, over deep ravines 
 caused by the water-courses cut for the rice grounds, round 
 the edges of sugar cane fields, and through a village in which 
 the men are already up, working at the Tcolhu, or rough sugar- 
 press, and in which the women are not idle, for we hear the 
 low grinding and unvaried song as they prepare the flour for 
 the household daily consumption, till we come on to a magni- 
 ficent park of mango trees in all the glitter of their new 
 leaves and glory of their far scenting blossoms. Coolies have 
 been at work from early dawn with their brooms of the arhar, 
 or pulse plant, till not a fallen leaf is left and the ground is as 
 clean as the floor of a room. Here are pitched in symmetri- 
 cal order the tents that have come on over night, and called 
 in camp language " lain-dori." How the sound of this 
 mongrel phrase carries us back to the old mutiny days, when 
 the ancient jolly quarter-masters of Regiments marched on 
 ahead with their staff of Tfhaldsis, commonly known as " clas- 
 sies" and their questionable vernacular, to run their lines 
 (lain) out for the order of their camps straighter and 
 quicker, but not so piously, as our dear Doctor B. — once ran 
 
62 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 his measuring line out, with the aid of the writer, in laying 
 the foundations of the old Naini-Tal Chapel. A lain-dori 
 was the constant pocket companion of the dear Doctor in lay- 
 ing the foundations of our Mission " broad and deep." Talk- 
 ing of the hybrid tongue of these good old Government 
 servants of a past generation, a story is told of one who ordered 
 his head munshi to have a bag of " hawwas " brought to his 
 tent, and late in the evening you may picture his surprise 
 when he saw some stolid villagers empty out and deposit at 
 his tent door a bag of dead crows in all their black glossiness ; 
 but you dare not even fancy what his language was when a 
 friend informed him, that when he required a bag of coffee 
 another time to ask for qahwa and not Tcawwa. But we 
 must not suffer ourselves to be tempted on this line, or it will 
 extend ad infinitum. The fact is, we have reached the 
 Agent's camp too soon, and must employ ourselves an hour in 
 some way. A man with a turban on his head as big as an 
 umbrella approaches us in true oriental style, and offers us 
 seats in one of the capacious tents ; but we much prefer to 
 remain where we are in the open, under the shade of the beau- 
 tiful trees, and watch the interesting scene and busy varied 
 life of all about us. Our friends the Tfhaldsis, or Salvation- 
 ists, are 3till at work and proving worthy of their name. One 
 is driving in the wooden pegs with sure and steady aim, mak- 
 ing the whole bdgji or grove, ring with a pleasant sound ; 
 another is fastening and tightening the cords with a sailor's 
 dexterity ; while a third is settling the purdahs and making 
 all tidy and comfortable for the master's coming. And are 
 not these useful men rightly called Tfhaldsis, or those who be- 
 stow salvation ? For do they not with marvellous quickness 
 and skill erect and spread over the weary marcher's head a 
 canvas covering that protects from the deadly rays of an In- 
 dian sun ? Names mean something in this and other parts 
 of the East. There goes that hard working servant, bearing 
 across his strong loins a full skin of water from the well near, 
 and his hand resting on its mouth ready to pour out its pre- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 63 
 
 cious contents to cool your thirsty lips or bathe your fevered 
 limbs. With what satisfaction that tired traveller makes his 
 hand into a cup, stoops down, and quenches his thirst from 
 the cooling stream that pours out of the above skin ! And 
 the bearer of this skin is called by most of our countrymen 
 " beasty ! " But look at this man as he promptly answers to 
 the call of a fellow-creature, the neighing of yonder restless 
 horse, the lowing of that milch cow, and appeases the thirst 
 of all alike, is he not appropriately named Bihishti, or the 
 heavenly one ? Not less useful is that quiet looking man, 
 thinking who can tell what ? as he patiently sits under the 
 fly of yonder tent and mends and stitches and cuts out and 
 makes, is he not rightly called Jthalifa, or successor of the 
 Prophet ? For does he not do for our clothes, what the other 
 does for our souls ? Only the former would never do what 
 the latter is always doing, we fear, trying to "put a new piece 
 of cloth on to an old garment." But what great clamour is 
 that just on the out skirts of the park ? That is over the 
 rasad, literally the thing which has arrived, from the Persian 
 infinitive rasidan, to arrive, but figuratively everything that 
 can be possibly wanted in a camp, and collected by the Tahsil- 
 dars, or Collectors, from the surrounding villages. These 
 villages receive certain perquisites for supplying wood, straw, 
 and earthen -ware gratis. The flour, ghee, rice, and salt are 
 all supplied by the Bunya at the market price. Here 
 comes a man staggering under a load of fire-wood, another 
 buried in a load of clean rice-straw to protect from the damp 
 ground at night, a third with as many earthenware cooking 
 and drinking vessels as he can carry, while a fourth comes 
 carrying a pot of ghee in one hand, and his chadar, or mantle, 
 done up into a number of small bundles containing flour, rice, 
 pulse, &c, all to form the day's meal for himself and party. 
 And so the people in camp come and go and move about, 
 making a varied picture of stirring interest and life and 
 character. But our attention is painfully drawn to another 
 class of creatures altogether, though with their common- 
 
64 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 wealth and confidances, their warriors and miners, just like 
 the human race. A stinging sensation in one of the lower 
 extremities made us aware of the presence of a multitude of 
 red-ants, {Formica rufa) who, in fiery rage, had asserted their 
 right to the spot on which we stood. Liberty is a very 
 glorious thing till you happen to find a neighbour settled near 
 you, then it loses most of its charm. So to indulge these 
 savage little neighbours we step aside as carefully as we can, 
 being more merciful to them than they to us. But what busy 
 processions of them are coming and going up and down that 
 grand trunk of that giant mango tree, to and from their in- 
 geniouly constructed nest of new leaves. If you wish in the 
 Spring-season to destroy a wasps' nest, which without leave 
 or license on the part of its owners, has been silently and 
 gradually formed in a corner of the roof of your verandah, 
 you may speedily and most effectively take your reveuge by 
 cutting off the branch of a mango tree with one of these 
 swarming nests constructed upon it, and fastening it up just 
 under the comb of the wasps ; for you will soon see the little 
 red monsters seize and make quick work of their larger but 
 helpless enemies. These ants are fond of keeping in their 
 nests the aphides, or plant-lice. In fact they preserve them 
 as we do goats and cows, for milking. These red-ants are 
 called by the natives benbut, or mor. Snakes, deadly or other- 
 wise, avoid the nests of these formica rufce, as they would a 
 blazing fire, There is a proverb in Persian which says, Dar 
 Ifhana-e-mor mar nd mibashad : A snake cannot live in the 
 house of the red-ant. Native scholars apply this to the im- 
 possibility of a vicious character living in harmony with good 
 people. There, too, goes a long line of black ants (formica 
 nigra) just as ferocious in their way as the red ones. They are 
 making straight for a circle of salt, which one of the pious 
 camp-followers has just formed as a work of great merit in his 
 uncertain transmigratory course. These big hungry warriors 
 with their antennae bent in the form of an elbow examining 
 every thing they meet, will, if you attempt to disturb them 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 65 
 
 in their progress, show terrible fight with their two strong 
 horny mandibles, which they dexterously use as pinchers, 
 tweezers, scissors, pick-axe, fork, and sword, and will not 
 hesitate to draw blood if they can get a grip on your soft 
 flesh with this formidable weapon. The small black ant 
 is called by the natives, ckunti ; and the large species chunta. 
 To pronounce these words properly you must know the nasal 
 sounds in the French language. These formicce have their 
 nests down in the ground, which they raise but slightly above 
 the level. These are also fond of the plant-louse, and in 
 their subterranean abode they keep multitudes of these aphides 
 to suck and feed on their droplets. This underground house- 
 hold is under the special care cf the above hard workers, who 
 not only rear the larvce, but provision and defend the nest. 
 Not so do those soft white ants construct their building we 
 see yonder, working so industriously on the earth-castle they 
 are raising up high above the ground. Three feet above the 
 base protected by material of great solidity, this rounded ant- 
 hill (formicarrum) is as dry and hard as flint, but two feet 
 higher up is quite wet and soft ; and if you pierce this part 
 you will see hundreds of these busy creatures at work in their 
 cells. This hillock is nothing more than the exterior envelope 
 of the nest, which is carried under ground to a very great 
 depth. Avenues, cleverly contrived, lead from the summit, 
 when completed, to the interior. In fact these ant-hills are 
 perfect fortresses defended by a thousand ingenious contriv- 
 ances, which are carefully barricaded and guarded by devoted 
 sentinels always on the qui vive. This kind of ant is not 
 always constructive, but when they work in human dwellings 
 are most destructive. This is the learned and literary species ; 
 for they are very fond of both written and printed composi- 
 tions, and will most eagerly devour whole volumes. There is 
 nothing in fact pertaining to letters and literature with which 
 they are not acquainted. We sadly know it ; for many a 
 precious volume have they cost us ! We have taken down a 
 favorite book to read, and, lo and behold, we have found it 
 
66 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 swarming with these destructive ants, and the inside eaten 
 through and through, into big holes or worked up 
 into an unreadable mass of pulpy matter! This kind 
 is named dimalc, and many have been the remedies proposed 
 against this ubiquitous foe to every thing eatable and destruc- 
 tible but all in vain. We have known them to so honey- 
 comb the walls and perforate and eat the timber of a house, 
 that it had to be pulled down and rebuilt. The only safety 
 against them is to build nothing Jcachchd, or with clay ; but 
 thoroughly paJcJcd, i. e. with lime and burnt-brick. An ant- 
 eater in this country would be a very valuable animal to breed 
 and train. But studying these ant-tribes must not make us 
 forget our own species ; and so turning from our red and black 
 friends we are soon deep in familiar talk with a dhalaiti sepoy, 
 or soldier who carries only a sword and shield. And pleased 
 we are to hear from him that since the " Agent Sahib" as the 
 Agent is called, came into power, wholesale cheating and rob- 
 bery, bribes and rascality have almost disappeared from the 
 Rdj, or Native Government ; and that justice can now be 
 obtained without money and without price. And now that the 
 decision of the Privy Council has been given in favour of the 
 elder Maharani, or queen, it would amply pay both the Raj 
 and the Provincial Government to secure permanently the 
 services of an officer and gentleman of the present Agent's 
 ability and character ; which we have no doubt they will wise- 
 ly do. But the horses are beginning to whinny, the dogs to 
 bark, and the camp-followers everywhere to bestir themselves 
 about, as if they were quite innocent of the huqqa, or pipe, 
 and a lazy chat — sure sign that the " Mem-sahiba" and the 
 " Sahib" Mistress and Master, are near at hand. There comes 
 a train of elephants, the sagacious animals cautiously feeling 
 about with their sensitive trunks as they slowly mount over 
 the deep ditch which bounds the camp ; there a line of camels 
 tied to each other's tails with their arched-necks, their lolling 
 tongues, and guttural grumbling tones ; and scattered here and 
 there following on, a miscellaneous mixture of palanquins, 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 67 
 
 ponies, coolies, watchmen with their iron-bound clubs, and 
 soldiers with swords and flashing bossed bucklers, all stream- 
 ing in to seek the rest and shade of the welcome camp. There 
 comes our polite friend of the big turban with his ■ saldm" 
 or peace, from the Mem-sdhiba, and soon we are comfort- 
 ably seated under a cool canopy of canvas, named a shamiydna, 
 conversing with one of God's elect, rich in intelligent Christ- 
 ian experience, and deep in sympathy with all God's true 
 workers. The daughter of one of the best of men and most 
 learned savant, as well as the most Christian Lieutenant- 
 Governor the North Western Provinces have ever seen, and 
 which we hope these rich provinces may one day see the like 
 again, it was to be expected that Mrs. A — would give a kind 
 welcome to an itinerant Missionary, though he may be of the 
 Methodist type ; and that she would say much in a quiet way, 
 that would tend to strengthen faith, brighten hope, and quicken 
 and increase love for all the members of God's great spiritual 
 household. Bat the flow of reason and the feast of soul, not 
 to mention such a mundane thing as a good breakfast, must 
 not be allowed to drive from memory the purpose of our being 
 here in the Agent's camp, and also the fact that our Maha- 
 deva friends, pro. and con., though comfortably accommodated, 
 are anxiously waiting to have their case settled ; so our tall 
 blue-eyed kindly spoken arbitrator, Major A — , requests us to 
 go with him to his office-tent, where rewards and punishments, 
 more of the former than the latter we should judge, are meted 
 out without flattery, abuse, or bribe ; and soon we are listening 
 to the most unblushing falsehoods on the one side, and a 
 simple statement of facts on the other. The faslehoods 
 defeat themselves ; for they are so inconceivably absurd 
 that prima facie they settle the question as to which side is 
 really in the wrong. In a court of justice in this unhappy 
 country it must be as strange a thing as it must be satisfac- 
 tory to a judge, to have one side even speak the plain honest 
 truth, and the side to speak the truth will generally be found 
 the Christian one. Thus our friends return to Mahadeva, the 
 
68 IHE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 one bound over to keep the peace, and leave the widow with 
 free-will to act, the other to have their schools and other work 
 go on without let or hindrance. Thankful that the matter 
 has so far been settled, we seek a cool quiet nook in the good 
 Major's hospitable tent, where with the modified light upon 
 our back, we can scan and skim the pages of the Illustrated 
 papers and enjoy a quiet siesta. That good old Indian meal, 
 tiffin^ enjoyed, the sun warns us that we have eight miles of 
 rough road to traverse on our old pony, and the sooner we 
 prepare to start the better chance of reaching our camp in 
 Balrdmpur without difficulty. But our generous thoughtful 
 host has a much better plan than mine for getting us quickly 
 and more easily to the end of the journey. So, ordering out 
 one of his fast elephants with a Hindi Persian name, Pavan- 
 tezy swifter than the wind, he kindly put him at our service. 
 The pilbdn, or driver, makes the brute kneel on his hind legs, 
 while our turbaned friend lays hold on the tuft of hair at the 
 end of the elephant's tail, and twists that appendage into a 
 loop, on which we step and mount up on to the thick heavy 
 pad on Pavantez's back. Promptly obeying the driver's voice 
 as well as the driver's blow from his iron-hook, before we have 
 hardly time to shout " good-bye," and seize the ropes of the 
 pad, the elephant, true to his name, is off swifter than the 
 wind. We feel considerably more at ease when we cease 
 dodging the thick branches of the trees in the Park, though 
 we have not Absalom's head of hair, and find ourselves fairly 
 out in the open, going over ditch and field and plain straight 
 as the crow flies, for the city of the great Ram. In this way 
 our swift though ponderous conveyance does our eight miles 
 in four, and we are just in time to see our tent fall and our 
 " lain-dori " start for the first stage on our way into the 
 Tharu country. 
 
 But to properly describe our way into the Tharu country, 
 we must have recourse to our unpublished journal. 
 
 Camp, Ram-nagar, March 9th. — This is ten miles from 
 Balrimpur on the road to Tulsipiir. A good camping place 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 09 
 
 in a fine park of mango-trees, a large well of good water, and 
 a number of large villages within easy walking distance. Before 
 leaving Balrampur we baptized a young blacksmith from Nepal, 
 now employed by the Maharani, or queen, of this city of the 
 strong Ram. He heard our preaching in the chauk, or open 
 place in the city where the daily market is held, his heart was 
 touched, and he came to our evening service at the tent. He 
 declared his faith in Christ as the only Saviour of his soul 
 and we received him by prayer and water-baptism. He 
 brought his young wife with him, and we took her name as 
 an enquirer. And we may here mention, that on our return 
 from revisiting the Tharus, satisfied with the progress she had 
 in the meantime made, under Natha and his wife Guldba, a Christ- 
 ian family in Balrampur, we also baptized her. But to our work 
 in camp. In the evening, after our customary service of 
 prayer and praise, we divided our party, one band going to the 
 village of Ram-nagar, and the other to the village of Mondua. 
 The first is the abode of Brahmans, and the last of Kurmis, a 
 tribe of husbandmen sometimes called Kumbis. The brethren 
 who went to the former reported the kind reception they had 
 received from the sons of Brahma, and of two or three becom- 
 ing inquirers. Our work among the Tharus, they found had 
 greatly excited them, and they were full of questions as to our 
 motives and intentions regarding these forest people. This 
 gave our brethren a good opportunity of showing these high- 
 caste men how a man becomes a Christian, and our mode of 
 making disciples of Jesus Christ. We joined the band who 
 went to the Kurmi village. The sun was just setting in a 
 musky atmosphere, and the evening promised to set in cool, 
 as we left the camp. On the road we saw a karait, a snake 
 of a very venomous kind, lying across our way, formed 
 like a cork-screw with its head raised, its fiery eyes gleam- 
 ing, and its fatal sting darting quickly out of its poison- 
 ous mouth. There it was in all the glory of its suttle 
 beauty of color and motion, with certain death in its touch. 
 One of the brethren aimed a blow at it with the light stick he 
 
70 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 carried, but missing it the thing of death glided swiftly into 
 the tall grass that grew by the side of the road, and disap- 
 peared. It is sad to think that thousands of natives die annu- 
 ally in these provinces from the remediless bites of these vene- 
 mous reptiles. This gave us a text from which to preach to 
 our Kurmi friends when we reached their village. We collected 
 the whole village in front of the head-man's house, and told 
 them the simple story of the two great incarnations. — -One, the 
 old serpent from hell, full of the poison of sin to destroy ; the 
 other, the son of God from heaven, full of the salvation of 
 love to save. All are bitten and destroyed by the one ; the 
 precious atonement of the other is the only remedy for the 
 fatal poison of sin. A few of our audience were so impressed 
 by the solemn truths they heard that they asked us how they 
 should apply this wonderful remedy for the awful bite and 
 poison of sin to themselves personally ; but as we were ex- 
 plaining the omnipresence of this Almighty Saviour, and that 
 we lay hold of him by faith. Their relations, male and female, 
 seeing them so moved, and being alarmed at the idea of their 
 becoming "Kristdns," (Christians,) they exerted themselves 
 to rescue them from us. They succeeded in getting them 
 away ; but not before they had promised to pray to this every- 
 where-present and all-loving Saviour for themselves. We left 
 this village to return to our camp with the deep impression in 
 our hearts, that the Lord would yet raise up these convicted 
 souls to be witnesses for himself in this village of Mondua. 
 
 On our return to camp we found from 25 to 30 Brahmans 
 from Ramnagar, the village our brethren had just visited, 
 headed by one of the Maharani's mukhtars or managers, wait- 
 ing for a bhent, or interview, with the guru or teacher, 
 as they called us. We had a lantern hung up to one of the 
 ropes of our tent, a carpet spread out in front of the latter, 
 and then had these friends seated. After we had gone through 
 the bhent, or touching the rupee in the manager's hand, 
 we seated ourselves among them. Most of our native breth- 
 ren were seated with us. The first thing they asked was 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 71 
 
 for us to explain to them what we had specially done to 
 gain over the Tharu people to us. We simply explained to 
 them the Gospel we preached to the Tharus, and its blessed 
 results. We pointed out to them that as God in his nature is 
 one ; as the human race in its nature is one ; so there was one 
 Mediator between this one God and one race, that all in him 
 might be sa\ed. They then asked if we would state to them 
 what we really considered Ram, their god, to be. I replied 
 there were two Rams, the historical Earn, the son of Dasara- 
 tha, King of Ajodhya, who succeeded his father and reigned 
 over the kingdom of Oudh with Ajodhya as his capital ; and 
 the mythological Ram, or the avatar of Vishnu to slay the 
 giant Ravana and his family. The former we believed in ; 
 but the latter, judging from his character as given to us in 
 the Ramdyana, could not possibly have been an Incarnation of 
 the Living and True God. First, as all God's blessings are 
 universal, i.e. for the whole human race, so the blessing of an 
 Incarnation should be for all men, without respect to nation- 
 ality, language, or color, caste or position ; but Ram was only 
 for a certain class and people and country ; therefore Ram- 
 chandra could not be a true avatar. Second, a true Incarna- 
 tion should possess the same nature aud attributes as God 
 himself. Now, Ramchandra did not possess a single upamd, 
 or likeness, to the Divine Being, as even reason tells us that 
 likeness should be. For instance Ram was not Omnipotent ; 
 for without the aid of Hanuman, the monkey-god, he could 
 not deliver Sitd his wife from the demon ravisher, Ravana in 
 Lanka, or Ceylon. Ram was not Omnipresent nor Omnis- 
 cient ; for when Sitd was lost in the forest, Ram did not 
 know where she was or what had become of her. Ram was 
 not merciful ; for he ordered a poor man of the Shudra or 
 fourth caste, to be cruelly murdered because be was found 
 reading the so-called sacred Shdstras, or Hindu Scriptures, 
 near a holy tank in Lanka, or Ceylon. Rain was not spotless- 
 ly holy ; for on his return from slaying Rdvana, before enter- 
 ing Baikunth, the paradise of Vishnu, he washed away his 
 
72 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 sins in the waters of the Ghaghrd, near Faizabad in Oudh, 
 since that time named the Guptgdr Ghat, or the place where 
 Earn is supposed to have disappeared. As if ashamed of 
 their fabulous Ram, they answered us that they neither be- 
 lieve in an historical Ram nor in a mythological Ram, but in 
 a Spiritual Ram ; and to confirm this they repeated the 
 following Chaupdi, or four-footed metre : — 
 
 "Jap mala, chhapa, tilak, 
 Sware na eko kam, 
 Man kache nache britha ; 
 Sanche rache Ram ! " 
 
 A rough prose translation of which is — Muttering charms 
 on the rosary, marking sectarial signs on the forehead with 
 coloured earth, these are all sounds w ithout meaning, danc- 
 ing about in the mind unripe and Tain ; the real thing is 
 to be attached to Earn as the truth. Of course they were 
 making straight for pantheism; but we headed them off by 
 preaching the Lord Jesus Christ as God's Incarnation for 
 the entire race of man, and as possessing the very Divine 
 Nature of God, his attributes and perfections. If we 
 compare the life of Ram in the Ramayana, with the life of 
 Christ in the New Testament, we shall see what an infinite 
 difference there is between the two amounting to no compari- 
 son at all. To express this the Natives have a saying : Kahdn 
 raja JBurj, Kahdn Gungd teli ? Where is the King Burjh, 
 Where is the oil-man ? — i. e. there is no comparison. At 
 the conclusion of our service these men of high caste, with 
 their foreheads marked and their breasts stamped with the 
 lotus and the trident as worshippers of Vishnu, the second 
 person in the Uindu triad, bowed their proud heads as we 
 supplicated for mercy at a T hrone of Grace, and entreated for 
 the Holy Spirit's strength and power to lead them into the 
 truth as it is in Christ Jesus. They left us much impressed 
 by a gracious influence they had never felt before, and earn- 
 estly promising to visit us in Gonda. One of the Brahmins 
 cried in Sanscrit as he was leaving us, " Satymeva jjayate." 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 15 
 
 * The truth will conquer !" "Amen, and Amen !" we answered 
 baok. It reminded us of the old Latin saying — Magna est 
 Veritas et prevalebit. ' 
 
 Camp, Tulsipy,r, 10th March. — We were up at the sound 
 of our bugle-call in the grey dawn of the morning, and on the 
 march to the above place ere the eastern sky was even 
 flushed with the glory of the approaching king of day. Soon 
 after leaving camp we had to make a long detour of what the 
 natives call a "go-rut" c<»w's path, of two miles, on account of 
 of a very deep kuld, or water-course, running right across the 
 road. As we made this circuitous route we started a whole 
 covey of partridges that would have delighted the heart of an 
 English sportsman. The Hindus hold these birds, which 
 they call titari, in very great veneration j for in the days be- 
 fore there was a written Veda, and these sacred songs had to 
 be delivered from teacher to disciple orally, Ydjnavalhya was 
 cursed by Vaisampdyana his teacher, for some arrogant beha- 
 viour, in consequence of which he had to disgorge all the Ya- 
 jur Veda texts he had learned from his master. But the disci- 
 ples of Ydgnavalhya prayed themselves into partridges in or- 
 der to pick up these tainted texts and retain them. Hence 
 these texts of the second oldest Veda are named Taitiiriyas ; 
 whence this gray -colored mottled-brown game bird has been ex- 
 alted into the regions of the fabulous. Musing thus we cross 
 a stream and frighten away a large flock of wild ducks {Anas 
 casarca), called by the natives chakwi. These are the late ones 
 in migrating to a colder clime. This bird is also held sacred 
 by the Hindus, and they think that our killing them is great 
 sacrilege. This Brahmani goose, as it is also called, is the tur- 
 tle dove of Hindu poetry. They sing its praises for constancy 
 and connubial affection ; and the singular circumstance of the 
 male (chaJcwii) and the female {chakwi) being doomed for 
 ever to nocturnal separation for having in days of yore offend- 
 ed one of the Hindu divinities, makes them think these birds 
 still more sacred : whence it is written — 
 
74 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 ChaJcwd Chakwi do jane, in mat mdro hoe ; 
 
 Ye mare Tcartdr he, rain bechhord hoe, 
 " Male and female these two, kill them not any ; " 
 Those doomed for wrong-doing, divorced for nights many. 
 According to the popular belief the male and female of these 
 birds are said to occupy opposite banks of a stream regularly 
 every evening, and from twilight to day-break go on exclaim- 
 ing alternately to each other : — 
 
 Chahwi, main dun ? Nahin, nahin, Chahwa. 
 
 Chalcwd, main dun ? Nahin, nahin, Chahwi. 
 
 " Female, may I come ?" " Never, never, male." 
 
 "Male, may I come?" "Never, never, female." 
 They do not seem very divorced now, however, as they fly 
 one after the other in a quivering line following their leader as 
 he cleaves his way through the air direct north. We too are 
 cleaving our way in the same direction. The brethren are vis- 
 iting as they go along the villages, or hamlets, that rest on the 
 iides of the way, while our assigned work is to converse with 
 the passers-by, or those who are travelling the same road. 
 Sometimes we meet with a broken marriage procession resting 
 near a well of water, cooking their food, or quietly sitting in 
 groups smoking their huhhas, or pipes. Then we stop and enter 
 into conversation with them, leading up gradually to the great 
 theme which constrains our hearts to speak to them. We 
 leave them with a shout " Masih ki jai / " Glory to Jesus ! and 
 then press on our way till we have covered ten miles of ground, 
 and come in sight of our tents. Thus handling the Gospel- 
 plough and carrying the seed-basket of truth, we break up 
 the ground and scatter the seed as we journey on ; but we do 
 not forget that we are "labourers" sent by the " Lord of the 
 harvest" with sharpened sickle to cut and bind the precious 
 sheaves in the field covered with ripened golden grain. For the 
 quickening breath of the Almighty can sweep with amazing 
 power over the fresh young blades, and ripen them in a moment 
 ready for the joyful gathering and the heavenly garnering. 
 Arrived at 9 o'clock a. m. ; and, after reading welcome letters 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GOKDA. 7$ 
 
 from home, breakfast, and our usual morning service in camp, 
 we went over to Tulslpur to look for a house to rent or other- 
 wise for a Native preacher and his family. Tulsipur is made 
 up of one bazar, about a mile in length, with a Government 
 school-house at the head on one side and the Government hospi- 
 tal opposite. Both the school-master and Native doctor came 
 out to meet us, and said they would get us a house at once, 
 but we found they were like the Irishman's " poet of a horse," 
 better in the imagination than in the performance ; for afier 
 we had traversed the long street twice, followed by all the ga- 
 mins and pariahs of the place, and had made all the inquiries 
 possible, we could find no suitable place for our purpose, so 
 we returned to the space in front of the hospital, and opened 
 our service for a large crowd which bad gathered there. The 
 Native doctor and the school-master sat in front of us, and list- 
 ened attentively throughout. On our way down the street, just 
 before, we had been told of a poor woman, who, in a fit of jealous 
 rage, had thrown herself down a deep pakkd or masonry well. 
 This gave us a subject for our preaching: 1. Man has 
 thrown himself into the well of sin. 2. He cannot in 
 that condition save himself. 3. He is therefore lost. 4. 
 "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners'* just 
 in that state. What a man wants who has fallen into a 
 well, is some one strong and willing enough to pull him not. 
 not one to push him further in. All the pretended Avatars 
 of Hinduism have been destroyers, — one to destroy Bdvan, 
 another to destroy Kans, &c. Christ alone stands before 
 the world as a Saviour. He is not only a professed Saviour, 
 but an actual Saviour. He has drawn us up out of the 
 well of sin, and millions more ! Again, one man fallen down 
 into a well cannot save another in the same position and condi- 
 tion. The Vtdas and Shastrds all declare their g«>ds and Avatars 
 to be "pdp-drishuan" coneci- us of sin, and '* pap-sami$At" 
 equal in sin. There is not one pure god, or goddess, or Avdter 
 in the whole Hindu Pantheon. How can one lost sinner save 
 another lost sinner? But even the greatest enemies of 
 
76 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 Jesus Christ confessed him to be the only sinless One. 
 Pilate the Roman judge who tried him for his life, declared 
 to the Jewish nation that he found " no fault in him ! " 
 and the New Testament, or the Life < i f Christ, shows him to 
 be the spotless Lamb of God. Hence nut being in the well of 
 sin himself, he can save those " to the uttermost " who are 
 in it; and, therefore, he is the '* Lamb of God, that taketh away 
 the sins of the world." 
 
 These were some of the thoughts we expressed in Hindi to 
 our interested and most attentive assembly, and which were 
 taken up and further illustrated and enforced by personal 
 experience by the other brethren who spoke. When we 
 were about to give our customary invitation a Brahman shouted 
 out, " We will never become Christians (Kristdn)." We quo- 
 ted the saying : — 
 
 Pandi ji pachtdwenge, 
 Phir wuhi chane Ted Tchawenge. 
 A Brahmam's wife gets some chick-pea (Cicer-arietinum) 
 ready for her husband's meal, but he turns away in disgust 
 and anger and refuses to eat it, but getting very hungry he 
 comes back and devours it up. Then she repeats to him 
 the above, which in English means : The learned gentle- 
 man will repent, and come back to eat the pulse he had re- 
 jected. This raised a great laugh from the crowd, but they 
 sobered down again when they saw a Kurmi, or husband- 
 man, come forward to be instructed, prayed with, and final- 
 ly baptized. This man's family was afterwards received 
 and baptized by Brother P. Grey. Our friends, the Native 
 doctor and school -master also seemed much impressed and 
 even convinced, but they valued what they had at stake 
 more than the salvation of their precious souls. 
 
 After returning to our tent we found the family we bap- 
 tized last year at the Levi Pdtana meld, waiting to have an 
 interview. They brought a Kabir Panthi priest with them 
 for a bhen% or visit, to their guru or teacher. Kabir is the 
 Arabic for great or senior, but is used as the name of a fa- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 77 
 
 mous saint who broke away from the gross idolatry of the 
 people, and sought to combine the doctrines of Buddhism 
 with Theism. He flourished about the fifteenth century. 
 He has a large following in the North-West and Oudh. 
 His followers are called Kabir-Panthi, sect of Kabir. Though 
 not o f hi^h cast", th^y are all a respectable well-to-do people. 
 When in Shahjahanpur in Rohilkhnnd in 1874 we had the 
 privilege of joining in with a leading Kabir Panthi and 
 zaminddr, or land-owner, named Piyari who, although not 
 baptized, declared his faith in Christ, in establishing near 
 his •* illage an annual Khudd-Shindsi meld, or Knowing-God 
 fair. It was widely published, and though no trade of 
 any kind was allowed, for three or four rears thousands 
 of Hindus and Moslems, and all the Christians in the 
 District, met regularly at the stated time, and spent a 
 week in discussing, according to certain rules accepted 
 by all parties, which of the three great religions, Hind a, 
 Islam, or Christian, was the true revelation from God. We 
 believe much good was done at this kind of meld ; but what 
 became of this purely religious fair after we were transferred 
 to Cawnpore we have not heard. I mention the above 
 to show what earnest theists these Kabir Panthis are. Ka- 
 bir was a poet who wrote to ridicule and expose the errors 
 and faults of idol-worship. In one place he says : — 
 Du»yd bdoli dehhiye hi path a r pujan jde % 
 Ghar hi chnhhl na puje ki jeker pisal Tchde ? 
 
 Behold the world going mad to worship a stone ! 
 
 Why not worship the hand-mill that grinds for thee at home ? 
 
 But to return to our converts and our friend the Kabir 
 Panthi priest. We prayed with them, and then talked Christ 
 to them — to the <>ne to comfort and strengthen, to the other 
 to convict of sin and to lead into truth by the presence and 
 power of the Holy Spirit. We can only talk, exhort, and 
 preach, i. e. sow like Paul and water like Apoll s, " but 
 God alone can give the increase." The best of us is only an 
 instrument, an agent, a medium, a channel in the power 
 
78 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA 
 
 and grace of the Holy Spirit. " When I am weah then I 
 am strong" said the great Apostle. But it is the trembling 
 hand of faith stretched out of this weakness that lays bold 
 on the almighty strength of God. So we realized as we 
 parted from our friends, and retired weary and exhausted 
 to our tent-bed. "One more day's work for Jesus," — thank 
 the Lord ! 
 
 Sunday, 11th March. — A quiet day of rest in camp. Al- 
 though hot in the day, the mornings and evenings are still 
 cool and refreshing. This morning seemed particularly fresh 
 and bright and beautiful. Seated in front of our comfortable 
 Swiss-cottage tent, well pitched under the grateful shade of 
 grand old mango-trees, (Mangifera Jndica) in all the glory 
 of their young glittering leaves and sweet fragrance of their 
 profuse blossoms, the flecked shadows on the green grass, a- 
 mong which some village cattle quietly move and browse, 
 the Native brethren in their pure white oriental costumes 
 seated here and there peacefully reading some vernacular 
 tract, or book, or, what is better, the word of God, the cart- 
 men under the trees cooking their early morning meal of 
 unleavened bread and pulse, while the smoke from their gohar, 
 made (cowdung) fires curl up gracefully among the branches 
 above, the turtle-doves cooing their plaintive and tender 
 notes among the thick foliage of the branches over head, 
 mingled with the distant hum of busy human life in yonder 
 town, with all these pleasant sights and sounds, joined to a 
 glow of grateful thanks to our bountiful Father in heaven 
 for all his unspeakable love and innumerable mercies to us, 
 the rest of the pe« pie of God is in our soul this blessed Sab- 
 bath morning. But there is the bugle sounding the note of 
 preparation for morning service, and there, coming from the 
 tahsil, or taxgather's house, we see the Maharani's mana- 
 ger with a number of his servants and followers, all in their 
 best array, moving towards our camp, while from the direc- 
 tion of Tulsipiir, decked also in their holiday attire, are 
 coming the Native doctor, the post-master, and the school- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 79 
 
 master, each with his own following, for all these are per- 
 sonages of great importance in a place like this. These 
 with our Native preachers and servants made up a good 
 congregation, seated on a carpet spread out in front of our 
 tent. And a cheerful gratifying sight it was to see these 
 orientals with their snow-white turbans, and variously color- 
 ed dresses, without shoes on their feet, sitting in rows, and 
 reverently bowing their heads as the great common Fa- 
 ther is addressed in humble believing prayer. We take 
 for our text Matt. 6 : 24 — " No man can serve two 
 masters,'* &c. As most present are educated persons, we 
 preach in Urdu, which literally is the camp language. 
 We remark in opening that although our friends the 
 Hindus believe in ten Avatars, we can show that, in fact 
 there have been only two Avatars : One in the form of 
 a serpent, called Satan, who came from hell to ruin and 
 destroy ; and the other in the form of a man, named 
 Jesus, who came down from heaven to restore and give full 
 salvation. Hence : 1. There are two masters. 2. Each 
 master demands his own particular service. 3. All men, in 
 every part of the world, whatever difference there may be in 
 their color, language, or habits, are rendering heart-service 
 to either one or the other. 4. What is the nature of the 
 service given ? 5. What are the wages paid and pensions 
 bestowed by each of these masters on their servants ? These 
 five points explained, illustrated, and enforced made up our 
 sermon to these people. A great impression was made, and 
 doubtless many of the subordinates present would have 
 declared themselves, had their superiors been out of the 
 way. After the service many of these lingered about 
 the camp, seemingly lothe to go away, while others went 
 with the Native brethren to their tent to hear more 
 of the Words of Life. The assistant manager of the Maha- 
 rani's estates in these parts remained behind to converse 
 with us alone. He put a number of interesting ques- 
 tions regarding the person and character of our Lord, which 
 
80 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 showed his interest in the truth had been fully awakened. I 
 found him to be a Kashmiri, (Cashmere,) Pandit, and well 
 up in Persian, as well as a fair scholar in Arabic. He asked 
 how I could prove there actually existed two such master 
 personalities as I had described. I answered him by putting 
 the question, M Do you believe in the existence of two such 
 master principles as nelct, righteousness, and badi, wicked- 
 ness?" He at once promptly repliel from the Persian verse : 
 Bari hi nikui kunad dnash rasid : 
 Wa hari ki badie hard ziydnaah rasid. 
 
 Whoever does good, that shall come to him : and whoever 
 shall do evil, destruction shall overtake him. 
 
 S*> then, we said, good and evil are facts. Now as these two 
 principles could hot create or come of themselves, much less 
 could the one produce the other, therefore, they must have 
 their bdni, or authors. He then quoted the well-known Ara- 
 bic saying : 
 
 Khairahi wa Sharrahi min Allah Tdald. 
 Good and evil both come from God. 
 
 Of course what is here meant by sharr, evil, is wwkedness, 
 
 We answered that if he could prove that bitter water could 
 come out of sweet, or that darkness could come out of light, 
 then might he prove that sin or moral deformity came out of 
 the infinite perfection of Purity. Besides, we say, "How can you 
 call God an infinitely just God, who strictly renders to every 
 man what is his due, when he creates a man a Jed fir, or a sin- 
 ner, and then punishes him both in this world and the next 
 for being a Mfir or a sinner ?" He confessed he was convinc- 
 ed that all evil came from Satan and man's bud heart given up 
 to Satan ; and that all good came from God and from man's 
 saved heart devoted to God. He said this was true religion, 
 as it humbled man, and gave all the glory to God. When I 
 urged him to decide for the Lord Jesus Christ openly, he ra- 
 ther shrank back and declined. We reminded him of the 
 Arabic proverb, 
 
 jjLlimun bila amalin Jcasahdbin bila matarin. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 81 
 
 i. e. A wiseman without practice or decision, is like a cloud 
 withont rain. 
 
 He left us promising to see us on our return either in Bal- 
 r&mpur or Gonda. We believe this Pundit will yet determine 
 to confess Christ openly, and so take up his cross. It is 
 something to bring a mind like this to form a definite opinion 
 in favour of Christ ; but to bring it to the point of terminat- 
 ing the controversy by giving up name, position, family, caste, 
 probable wealth, all for Christ, the Great Master, is the work 
 alone of Him who bent the blue-arch of heaven, and turned the 
 savage persecutor's soul into the loving preacher Paul. So we 
 commit this dear soul in prayer to God. 
 
 In the evening we all assembled in the centre of the Tulsf- 
 pur market place, and began our usual service. Brother Pe- 
 ter Gray led the preaching, and Brother W, Fisk closed with 
 the customary invitation for those who are undecided, to come 
 to a conclusion to accept and confess Christ for the salvation 
 of their souls. One great advantage of giving such a direct 
 invitation is that it brings your preaching down out of the re- 
 gion of airy abstract, and makes it a living reality and intense- 
 ly practical thing. If it were not so serious, it would be real- 
 ly amusing to watch the faces of a crowd when such an earnest 
 invitation is being given. On some you see astonishment vis- 
 ibly traced at the presumption of the inviter ; on others you 
 observe the unmistakable lines of disgust that any one should 
 think it possible that they should become Kristan, or Christians ; 
 on a few you notice a ripple of fun playing that all the seri- 
 ousness of the occasion cannot repress, such are ready for any 
 joke the event may call forth ; but on many countenances you 
 heed the marks of a troubled conscience struggling to blot out 
 the fear of accepting the invitation. For these your silent 
 prayers go up to God that they may be brought to a speedy 
 determination to decide for Christ. It is a power not human 
 that will bring these convinced souls out before such a mixed 
 assembly to kneel with us, and seek pardon of sin and peace of 
 conscience ; yet some did come out under the influnce of this. 
 
82 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 master power ; and though they were seized on, and carried off 
 by their so-called friends, still that wonderful power remained 
 with them to work out its own will and pleasure. 
 
 Camp, Janakpur, 12th March. — The last time we visited 
 the Tharus we marched from Tulsipur by way of Bhagwanpur, 
 No. 1. ; but wishing to see the forest more to the east, 
 and preach the gospel in new places, we have taken this route. 
 When we reached the end of the Tulsipur bazar we turned 
 obliquely to the right and crossed the Nahi Nadi, or water- 
 way. Our road then ran along the jungle through a great sea 
 of waving wheat fields ripening to the harvest. Some say 
 wheat will not grow so near the forest, but finer wheat than 
 this, both in ear and stalk, we have seldom if ever seen, 
 It was cloudy all the way, so had a cool and comfortable ride 
 of eight miles or more. Reached camp just in time to escape 
 a severe thunderstorm. We found our tents pitched on rising 
 ground under some tiJcwi trees near where they are building a 
 new Forest-house. Hence though the rain poured in torrents 
 and the hail fell in pieces as big as do ves' eggs, we were dry 
 and safe. The storm raged nearly all day, rooting up trees or 
 cutting off branches, and flooding the park and surrounding 
 country with shining water. The only inconvenience we were 
 put to was confinement to our tents, and difficulty in getting 
 food cooked. With regard to the latter, our old servant man- 
 aged to rig up a temporary shelter, and being good at cuisine, 
 though the thunder leaped and roared, the lightning raged and 
 flashed, and the hail pelted and threatened, yet he had soon a 
 smoking hot breakfast on the table : the fumes of the coffee 
 pleasantly contrasting with the odors the rain and hail were 
 bringing up from a camp previously occupied by hundreds of 
 carts and oxen. One thing a storm like this enables one to do, 
 and that is to study the insect world ; at least, that part of it 
 which relates to the Orthoptera or straight-winged insects : 
 such as the mantes, cockroaches, and earwigs. The first (Mantis 
 religiosa) especially is always to me a source of amusement. 
 There is one, which as soon as the tent door was opened, came 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 83 
 
 in with a spring and a bound, and settled on the carpet 
 near where we are sitting. There it is, its head and thorax 
 raised, and the joints t>f its front legs clasped together as if in 
 the solemn act of prayer ; but you are soon stripped of 
 your delusion when you see that rash fly approach our silently 
 praying friend. As quick as thought it seizes its victim 
 between the sharp spines on its legs, conveys it to its 
 mouth, and devours it. It watches ; but it does not pray ; 
 except it be, that an incautious fly may come along, so that 
 it might pitilessly destroy it. But there is a hideous creature 
 just started from under the fly of the tent on a voyage of dis- 
 covery for crumbs of bread or any other kind of food. It 
 is a real specimen of the Indian-cockroach with its red- 
 brown color and repulsive smell. Blatta orientalis will go 
 and give notice to his neighbors and kinsmen, and when night 
 has fallen on us, and the lights are out, they will come in 
 hundreds to infest our tent, run over our bed, and perhaps 
 over our sleeping person, and greedily devour all the food they 
 can get at. This omnivorous anima) is a great pest in our 
 houses — getting into our wardrobes and eating our clothes 
 like moths. I have a kinder feeling towards that earwig 
 (Forficula auricularia), which has been driven in by stress of 
 weather to look for some vegetable food to carry to the 
 female, watching over her eggs with such maternal solicitude 
 at home. We have long found out that this forficula is a 
 very innocent creature ; and that the popular belief about its 
 getting into the ear and penetrating to the brain, is sheer non- 
 sense. This harmless animal is a strict vegetarian, and is be- 
 sides fond of flowers ; so it cannot be very bad. But while 
 we have been studying these insects, the rain has ceased, the 
 clouds have rolled away, and what there is left of the after- 
 noon sun has come out to partially dry our tent, and make 
 it possible to go abroad. Before, however, we could take 
 advantage of the lull and temporary break in the storm, we 
 had to construct rough bridges of straw and fagots to reach 
 the higher ground from our tents. When we came out we 
 
84 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 found a Mnphati, or ear-pierced priest, from the Devi Pdtan 
 temple at Tulsipur, come to have a bhent, or visit, with us. He 
 was seven feet high, and stout and well made in proportion ; a 
 perfect giant, and handsome withal. Two heavy wooden rings 
 hanging down in the lobes of his ears greatly disfigured him. 
 He would have made another fortune for Barnum ; especially 
 as he told us he claimed direct descent from Mahddeo, the 
 ordinary name by which Siva, the third person in the Hindu 
 triad, is known. He assured us we could find his story 
 told in the Mahdbhdrata, or great poem relating to the 
 fight between the Kurus and Pdndus. The Asuras, or infe- 
 rior gods, possessed three castles, bestowed on them by 
 Brahma, the supreme, which were indestructible by all ex- 
 cept the deity who should be able to overthrow castles 
 by a single arrow. All the other gods grew jealous of this 
 power, and applied to Brahma for superior power to over- 
 come the Asuras. Brahma referred them to Siva. The 
 latter informed them that they could only storm and take 
 the castle by taking to them half hu strength. They re- 
 plied that this would crush them ; but they proposed that 
 Siva himself should undertake the task aided by half their 
 strength. Siva consented to this, and so with his strength, 
 added to all that of the other gods, became Mahddeo, the 
 great god, or stronger than all the gods. We told him that 
 we could put in the same claim with just as much evidence to 
 support it ! Besides, we said, if the Mahdbhdrata declared 
 Siva to be greater than all gods in the Parasurdma, a legend 
 is also given in which Vishnu s superiority to Siva is plain- 
 ly shown. And LaTcshmi contended that her husband 
 Vishnu was more powerful than Siva, because the latter had 
 worshipped the former. Moreover we told our ear-pierced friend 
 that to have descended from this, Bhuteshwara, the lord of 
 Goblins, as Mahddeva is sometimes called, is nothing, from a 
 moral point of view, to be very proud of ; for in the "Siva 
 Purana " he is named as the " delighter in gdnja and inebria- 
 tion ; f that nude and drunk he visited a veshwa, or woman 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 85 
 
 of the town ; and that the true character of this god, with the 
 matted hair and ash-smeared body, with the snake-threaded 
 necklace and garland of skulls, is known by the fact that he is 
 universally worshipped, in India, especially in Oudh, by the 
 Linga. This foul image may be only a symbol to the minds of 
 a few philosophical Hindus ; but that it is an innocuous 
 thing to the people generally, we know positively to the con- 
 trary. The crude image of tha reproductive organs, both 
 male and female, is to be found in every Hindu village we 
 pass through ; and it is impossible for these people to hear 
 at the Holi festival the legends which account for its being 
 the recognised symbol of Siva without impure thoughts be- 
 ing suggested by it. At the great Hindu melds held in 
 Oudh there is always a place set apart to the honor (?) of this 
 god, — at least so the people understand it, — similar to the 
 " Succoth-Benoth " we read of in 2 Kings, 17 : 30, i. e., tents of 
 young women, places of prostitution, built by the Babylonians 
 in Samaria. This latter, of course, was not mentioned to our 
 Kdnphati visitor, but is given for the information of the 
 reader. Our friend, however, with regard to Siva's character, 
 only remarked that, 
 
 " Jitne man, utne mat" 
 So many men, so many opinions ; 
 meaning, that they had their opinion of things, and we had 
 ours. We told him there were such things in this world 
 as right and wrong, as well as a Holy God and Supreme 
 Judge, to make a difference between them. Even in this world 
 Pap Tco dutch, puny a ho suJch, 
 To vice pain, to virtue gain, 
 is a doctrine we all more or less accept and act on. He assent- 
 ed to this ; and then we preached Christ, the Nishtcalank 
 Avatar, the pure and spotless Incarnation, to him. He asked 
 why our Avatar, Jesus Christ, did not mix with the people 
 and do more what they did. We answered he did mix 
 with the poor and suffering people, but only to do them 
 good and set them a right and safe example. Shall he 
 
86 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 who punishes sin himself commit or cause sin to be committed ? 
 We then translated the Persian proverb : 
 
 Shdhds bishikdr mag.a&e namidyad, 
 An eagle does not hunt a fly ; 
 meaning thereby, that a man of a truly great mind cannot 
 trifle. There were a number of people from the adjacent vil- 
 lage who had gathered round us while speaking, and who when 
 leaviug cried, "Satydf Satyd!" the truth! the truth! Our de- 
 scendant from the greatest of the gods thought he would make 
 an apology for his divine ancestor before he left us, so he said 
 the reason the gods went wrong was mdyd, or taking upon 
 them this delusive flesh. We answered with a trite but for- 
 cible saying : " Sdnch Tco dnch hyd ? " What ! can fire injure 
 pure gold ? He said, that was true ; and that he would try 
 and remember what we had told him of the only real Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. So the giant left us, to be, we pray and hope, a 
 wiser and better man. 
 
 Camp, Janakpur, 13th March. — Could not march this morn- 
 ing on account of rain, and the wet sodden condition of our 
 tents. The storm raged furiously all night. Our Ichaldsi, 
 giver of salvation, i. e. tent-pitcher, was up most of the night 
 with mallet in hand, to keep the pegs deeper down as the 
 ground softened, and so prevent the tent flying off or collaps- 
 ing over us. The tent shook and strained and trembled so 
 much at one time that we thought every thing was going. 
 Outside was darker than the darkeness of common night, and 
 the awfully vivid flashes of lightning, which preceded the 
 terror-exciting burst of heaven's artillery, made the darkness 
 blacker. The blessed consciousness that the God of the 
 stormy elements is " Our Father" in Christ Jesus, calmed our 
 minds and made happy our hearts. We were glad when the 
 day broke and the sun shined forth ; but we must defer our 
 marching till the afternoon. An ahir, cowherd, came from 
 the village near, to tell us that a tiger had carried off one of 
 his cows. It must have strayed away and got into the jungle, 
 and there the cruel pitiless watcher must have pounced upon 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 87 
 
 it. We told him, and the others who came with him, that 
 was the way man strayed from the true and living God, and 
 put himself in the path of the great destroyer, Satan. But 
 unlike the cow, we had been persevered even in our wickedness; 
 not that we might presume, but repent of our sins, and receive 
 and believe the good news of a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. 
 *' Silver and gold " we had none to give this man, but such as 
 we had we gave him. We then had an old fashioned class- 
 meeting with the dear native brethren in our tent, while the 
 outside was drying in the heat of the sun. In this meeting 
 we took our bearings and learned our latitude and longi- 
 tude on the ocean of spiritual life, and were all greatly com- 
 forted and blessed with new strength and hope. The brethren 
 seemed led out in prayer — specially for the Tharus, and 
 for those among them whom we had expected would oppose 
 us. Then we marched into a village of cowherds, to call 
 them in the name of Christ to repentance and faith ; but 
 we found the cholera last year had made terrible havoc 
 among them. Where there were ten in a house, now 
 there is only one ! We told the few who gathered about us 
 that there was a more fatal disease than this deadly scourge 
 of cholera abroad, killing its thousands and tens of thousands 
 daily, and that was sin ! But unlike cholera, sin was not 
 remediless. Thank God, we were able, through his mercy, to 
 bring the remedy to their hearts and homes in the ever- 
 present almighty person of the Lord Jesus ; and that we 
 were living witnesses of his love and power to save. They 
 asked what they should do. In answer we used our favorite 
 illustration of the man fallen into the well. There was only 
 one thing to do, and that was to lay hold of the rope thrown 
 him. The rope we throw is the rope that saved us. It can 
 never grow old ; for it is as ancient as God himself. It can 
 never fail ; for it has God at the other end. There 
 is something as mysterious about it as God himself ; for 
 the sinner in the well of darkness and trouble and death 
 has only to clutch it and, as quick as the lightning, he is 
 
88 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 up out of the well, saved, in a sphere of light and love and 
 life ! The Lord blessed and owned his word, and all came 
 out as professed inquirers. We should have baptized them 
 that afternoon, but as their village belongs to the priests of 
 the Devi, goddess, temple at Tulsipur, it would have greatly- 
 complicated matters ; and the converts themselves were of 
 the opinion they had better wait. So teaching them how to 
 pray night and morning in the name of Jesus, and not to 
 fear the supposed hhuts and jprets, demons and goblins, about 
 them at night, but when afraid, to repeat the name of Christ, 
 we had to leave them for work in camp. 
 
 After tiffin, midday meal, we had our tents thrown down 
 and packed on the carts. This was no easy matter, as the 
 tents were thoroughly saturated with the heavy rain, and so 
 took all our combined strength to pack and load them. But 
 we felt very thankful for their protection during the height 
 of the storm last night, as they saved us from probable se- 
 rious physical injuries, and enabled us to do the work the 
 Great Master had given us without distraction of mind. It 
 was still cloudy when we started, but it cleared up on the 
 road, and the sinking sun tried to make up by his parting 
 heat and brightness for having clouded and shrouded 
 himself all the morning time. Our way lay through deep 
 water-courses, over very rugged undulating ground, and 
 through forests of the karaundd bush (carissa carandas). 
 These bushes bear a berry-fruit, of which the natives are very 
 fond, and of which English ladies, who know its virtue, 
 make a delicious jam. Just now these large bushes are all 
 covered with blossoms, which fill the air with a sweet per- 
 fume, that repay us amply for the labour of getting through 
 the Jculas, or ravines, and over the broken ground, to reach 
 them. From these bushes we started a number of jackals, 
 called by the Tharus, hold, or srigdl. These carnivorous ani- 
 mals supply the natives with a number of witty sayings and 
 apt idioms. Where we would say of a wicked rascal who had 
 narrowly escaped death, " He has robbed the gallows/' the na- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 89 
 
 tives would say Usne holqn ko daghd diyd, " he ha3 cheated the 
 jackals." And certainly these scavengers of the towns and 
 villages make very short work of a dead body. A bullock 
 falls down dead from old age or cruelty at night, and in the 
 morning you see the skeleton picked as clean as ivory, bleach- 
 ing in the rays of the burning sun, and fit to set up in a 
 museum. Before reaching camp we passed through a beauti- 
 ful grove of babul trees (Arabica, Rox.), or acacia trees. 
 These are the most useful trees of their kind in India. 
 They produce a valuable gum, and the bark, being a powerful 
 astringent, is used in tanning by the chumdrs, or shoe- 
 makers. These trees also are in full blossom, and emit a 
 most delicate odour, very pleasant to the senses. We owed 
 much of our safety in the storm last night to this kind of 
 tree ; for the pegs in the ground which bore the strain, were 
 made of the hard wood of this species of mimosa. But what 
 particularly attracted our attention to this babul tree was the 
 number of birds' nests pendant from the branches. These 
 weaver-birds, (or passerine birds of the family of finches, 
 species Ploceince,) are remarkable for their skill in interweav- 
 ing small twigs and blades of dry grass to form their nests, each 
 nest hanging to a branch of the above tree by a single thread, 
 and in shape like the bottle gourd. The natives call this bird 
 baiyd, which they instruct to fetch and carry, and which the 
 Hindus specially teach to snatch the ormamental patch or 
 wafer from the foreheads of their mistresses. Like the pretty 
 crested bulbul, or nightingale, it is a bird of good omen, and 
 imitating the Persian poets, the natives are fond of singing 
 their praises. The Poet Sadi says of the nightingale : — 
 
 Bulbula, muzhda-e-bahdr biydr ; Tchabar-i-bad babum bdz 
 biguzdr ; Bring, Nightingale, the tidings of spring ; leave 
 the bad news to the owl. 
 
 There is no animal that annoys us more at night 
 in camp than this latter, the bum, or small owl Perched 
 on the branch of a mango tree right over your tent, you 
 hear the unpleasant monotonous sound of boom, boom ! re- 
 
90 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 peated till you become so utterly wearied by the dull tire- 
 some tone that you must get up to pelt it away. The name of 
 this ill-omened bird exactly represents the sound it makes. 
 This owlet is a great contrast to yonder Nil-kanth, blue- 
 necked jay (Coracias Bengalensis), sitting on the end of a 
 branch, and looking at us so complacently and knowingly as 
 we ride by. The Hindus worship this bird because their 
 favorite god, Mahadeo, is named after it. And this god is 
 called by this name because his throat was stained blue* by 
 swallowing the poison produced by overchurning the ocean 
 with the mountain Mandara by the surs and asurs, (demons) 
 to procure the amrita, or water of life, which gives final eman- 
 cipation. Thank God, the true amrita we have in Chirst. 
 " Whosoever drinheih of the water that I shall give him shall 
 never thirst ; hut the water that I shall give him shall be- 
 come in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life." 
 (John 4 : 14). 
 
 But there are the pleasant welcome sounds coming from 
 yonder park of teak trees, and the smoke curling up from 
 the fires, which tell us we are close to our camp, to food, and 
 needful rest. The pesh-hhaima, or tent sent on ahead over 
 night, had, on account of the storm and great difficulties of 
 the march, only arrived an hour or so before ; but there is 
 sturdy, rough, but willing dear old Bhujan, who has been our 
 faithful honest tent-pitcher (khaldsi) and general servant 
 for 25 years, dexterously handling mallet and peg and rope, 
 so that we shall soon have a comfortable and cheerful canvas- 
 covering over us ; and there comes another dear old servant, 
 iPidn Mohammed, of thirty long years standing, with a cup 
 of hot coffee, his skill and use know how to make exactly to 
 our taste. And why should not a missionary have such 
 comforts on such an itinerating tour as this ? I am sure if 
 our fastidious friends, who object to a missionary enjoying 
 any creature comforts at all, could be in our place just now, 
 they would be very glad and thankful to take that same cup 
 of coffee, and to seek the rest and protection our tent can 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 91 
 
 give them. In fact I have found, how much soever these 
 squeamishly critical friends object to missionaries having 
 bungalows, and servants, and carriages, and tents, they are only 
 too ready themselves to visit at these bungalows, to make use 
 of these servants, to ride in these carriages, and to enjoy 
 these tents. And we ask, why should they not enjoy the 
 hospitalities of the missionaries ? — especially when without 
 any worry or the least trouble to themselves, they obtain all 
 these comforts gratis. We would ask our over-nice friends, 
 however, the meaning of the Christian word, charity. The 
 Persians have a proverb which they apply to persons who, 
 delicate to a point, yet who by no means avoid that point 
 when it costs them nothing : Khudrd fazihat, wa digarerd 
 nasihat, i. &, To self, license, to another preaching : Don't 
 do as I do, but do as I tell you ! Of course, we do not strictly 
 apply this to our punctilious friends. No, it is not by " might 
 nor by power," — neither by the power and might of monasti- 
 cism, nor by the might and power of a married life of mode- 
 rate comfort and decency, but by the Spirit of the living God 
 this country is to be won for the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, 
 the Spirit of God will work through those means which are 
 most in accordance with the teachings of His own word, 
 and most infused with the spirit of living faith and holy 
 expectancy : at least, this is what church history teaches us. 
 
 But there, I hear the welcome sound of a bhajan or hymn vibra- 
 ting the air and acting on our soul as the war clarion's shrill 
 note on the spirit and courage of the soldier, bringing us off our 
 seat, and from our coffee, and out of our tent, to join in the 
 blessed work of saving souls. Our brethren had collected 
 about thirty Tharus in front of their tent, and were singing and 
 praying for, and preaching to these sons of the forest 
 These Tharus did not belong to Chandanpur, but came from 
 another part of the forest, and were employed carrying wood 
 for the Forest Department, this (Mansurwa) being a station 
 of the latter. So we join the service, and then urge on this 
 simple people the claims of the Lord Jesus, and invite then* 
 
92 THE GOSPEL in Goam. 
 
 to throw in their lot with their brethren of Chandanpur. 
 They said they could do nothing without the chaudri, or 
 headman, of their village. But they promised to come with 
 their chaudri to our camp when we arrived at the end of our 
 march. Many prayers went up that night for this chaudri 
 and his people. Our tents here are quite near the thickest 
 part of the forest, and as the darkness of night began to creep 
 over i he camp, and the stars to shine out above, and the fires 
 to gleam out below, we could hear both far and near the 
 ominous sounds of the savage beasts out prowling and seeking 
 what they may devour. All the brethren were seated inside 
 their tent, the door of which was open to the north, or the 
 forest side. Near this door a brother was sitting looking 
 out into the darkness, and watching the numberless fire-flies 
 dancing and dodging about among the umbrageous branches 
 of the dark forest trees ; all was as quiet as the calm after 
 a storm. Suddenly this brother became conscious of some 
 strange animal cautiously and slowly approaching him. He 
 could see the dark form coming nearer and nearer ; and 
 was so fascinated I y it, or paralyzed by fear, one or the 
 other,, that he could not cry out. But just as the animal 
 seemed to crouch for the final spring, he recovered his power 
 ©I speech, and with a cry of terror he threw himself on the 
 brethren sitting in the centre of the tent, "bher I sher !! 
 {A tiger/ A tiger !!) went the cry from the tent out into 
 the camp, bringing every one to his feet to seize stick, or 
 club, or whatever weapon came to hand for self-defence ; but 
 before the brethren could escape from the opposite door, the 
 beast was among them barking and wagging his bushy tail ; 
 for he was the big black dog which had followed the brethren 
 from the last camping ground ! Poor fellow ! — he did not 
 live long after that ; for soon after we reached Chandanpur, a 
 leopard seized and carried him off into the forest. What a 
 glorious night it was, as after all the excitement of the pre- 
 ceding event had subsided, we sat in front of our tent and 
 looked up into the serene blue heavens. Who could believe 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 93 
 
 that only a few hours ago all was black and thunder-riven, 
 up there ? — that lightning bolts were falling from those very 
 skies* to sear and blacken and strike with death, to split the 
 stoutest tree in the forest, and blast the hardest boulder in 
 the bed of the river ! Now observe the peaceful, innocent 
 looking heavens. There, sweeping across the southern sky 
 to sink behind the Sun, Pleiades, followed so surely by bright 
 Aldebaran, leader of grand Orion, flanl ed on the left by Canis 
 Major and Canis Minor, and on the right by Eridanus. Draw 
 two oblique lines from Rigel and Betelgeux in Orion, and you 
 strike Pollux and Castor. Continue the line to the right from 
 the latter, and you touch Capella, the brightest star in the 
 heavens — the star Adam and Abraham and our Blessed Lord 
 often looked up to. What generations of men have this and 
 fierce « Algol in Perseus to the north, looked down upon 
 passing on to death and judgment ! Who can comprehend 
 the distance that stretches f r< m our tent door up to glowing 
 Capella, and from thence paft the greater and minor Bears 
 up by the Polar Star to the unsealed heights of the Godhead ? 
 Yet when "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners," 
 that was the distance he travelled down to the lowly breast of 
 Alary ! Swifter to the rescue than Perseus yonder to save* 
 pure and fair Andromeda, chained in all her beauty to the 
 glassy rock, from the scaly shiny monster Draco, came 
 the Lord o? Glory and the constellations to save our poor 
 humanity from the ravishing destroying power of the old 
 subtle serpent, Satan. Sweep on in all your magnificent grand- 
 eur, ye Southern constellations — roll on ye Northern groups 
 arouud your glorious centre, in all your brilliant pomp and 
 splendour, for the Eternal Word made flesh, who in " the 
 beginning " spoke you all from dark chaos into bright cosmos, 
 came down from the death of the cross and up from the gloom 
 of the grave " to reconcile all things unto himself, having made- 
 peace through the blood of the cross; through him I say v 
 
 WHETHKR THINGS UPON THE EARTH, OR THINGS IN THE. 
 
 heavens." (CoLl;20). 
 
94 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 Camp Mansuriva, lJfth March. — We were arou?ed from 
 sleep this morning by Bhujdn to tell us a " ddli" had come 
 from Gonda. This is a basket of presents of heterogeneous 
 articles — bread, butter, fruit, vegetables of various kinds, meat, 
 newspapers, a bundle of letters, in fact all that a thoughtful 
 loving wife thinks necessary for the physical comfort and in- 
 tellectual welfare of her lonely spouse in camp. Monkish and 
 ascetic missionaries may preach as they like, but there is 
 nothing like having a solid base of supplies in the shape of a 
 dear affectionate wife in the station mission home we have 
 left so many miles behind. We are quite sure the letters 
 from our dear ones we read this morning before starting on 
 another march, lessened not in the least our sympathy for the 
 men, women, and children about us, nor in the slightest degree 
 decreased our faith and courage in the blessed work in which 
 we are engaged : much less did the good creature comforts 
 received diminish that physical strength so necessary for this 
 kind of work. We did not start till after noon to-day, as we 
 allowed our tents, baggage, carpets, and other things, to dry 
 and sweeten in the ghdm, or sunshine. The first time we 
 encamped in this place two years ago, we started direct for 
 Chandanpur through the heart of the forest, and made only 
 one march of it ; but then we had the pleasant guidance and 
 assuring presence of the Forest Officer with us ; now we have 
 only his chaprdsi, or messenger, so called from his wearing a 
 chaprds, or breast-plate. Hence we do not risk a direct 
 march through the thickest and most dangerous part of the 
 forest, but follow a road that skirts the latter, and winds 
 about up and down till we reach Siswd, ten miles from 
 Mansurwd, and another station of the Forest Department. 
 On the road we met a number of our male Tharus, not troubled 
 with much wearing apparel, with their nets fastened to long 
 poles, going on a fishing excursion of some days. Tbey each 
 and all acknowledged our claims upon them as their religious 
 teachers. When we asked them in treir patois, "Turn ne 
 uthisli pail" — they answered at once with a nod of assent, 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 95 
 
 and a " Hdn, lidn." We asked them in whose name they 
 prayed to God; they promptly replied, "Prabhu Yishu Masih" 
 in the name of Jesus Christ. We were much encouraged by 
 this ; especially as wben we arrived at camp we found a number 
 more Tharus, whom we had baptized, waiting to welcome 
 us. We reached Sisivd at four o'clock p.m., and found our 
 tents pitched in a regular timber-yard belonging to the Forest 
 station here. To-morrow the timber will be auctioned off ; 
 and hence the presence of so many carts and oxen. This gave 
 us a good opportunity of preaching to the drivers. Siswd is a 
 Musalman village of about 200 houses. We had scarcely 
 got settled in our tents when we were besieged by sick of 
 all kind from this place. The people here imagine that 
 every European is a born doctor who can treat any man- 
 ner of disease at a moment's notice ; and that he carries 
 about with him every kind of medicine mentioned in the 
 Pharmacopoeia. Here were spleen, fever, opthalmic, cutane- 
 ous, elephantiasis, leprous and numerous other diseases which 
 would puzzle the mosb clever physician and most skilled 
 pharmacologist in Christendom, let alone a layman novice 
 like me. We do what we can with the simple medicines 
 at hand, and earn the thanks, loud enough expressed, of 
 these poor people. But they do not leave us before they 
 learn to know something of the disease of sin and God's 
 wonderful remedy to meet it. In the evening, after the 
 sun had disappeared, and the twilight was dying out, we 
 all went into the village, and took up our position in front 
 of the Zaminddr's house. This native gentleman brought out 
 bedsteads for us to sit on, and had a woodfire lit for us to see 
 by. A good number gathered about us, sitting here and there 
 to listen to the bhajans, and prayers, and preaching. We ask- 
 ed the landholder where their masjid, or mosque, was. He 
 replied we have put up a stone as our Qibla, that part to which 
 Mohammedans turn their faces when at prayer, and which is 
 supposed to point to Mecca. Every respectable Musalman 
 has his Qibla-numd, or kind of astrolabe used for finding the 
 
D6 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 bearings of Mecca. This headman I found acted as Moulvi 
 and Peshnamdz to his village, that is, teacher and lead- 
 er in prayer. He apologized for not having a Masjid 
 in his village by quoting the well-known saying of Musal- 
 mans under the circumstances : " Ab na dida, taiyammum 
 barJfh&st" when we can't procure water, then we use sand ; or 
 we must make the best of every thing. If we can't have a mos- 
 que, then we must be satisfied with a stone. This man lis- 
 tened very attentively as long as we kept to the points of 
 agreement, but when we began to show who the true worship- 
 per was, he and his followers got up and respectfully retired. 
 One Musalman, however, was very much impressed, and remain- 
 ed throughout our service. Our subject was, " Who are God's 
 true worshippers ? " And we took for the basis of our remarks 
 our Lord's parable of "Two men went up to the temple to pray" 
 The points of agreement were, 1. Prayer is necessary. 2. Pray- 
 er to one God is necessary. 3. A -proper place in which to wor- 
 ship God is necessary. The points of disagreement were, 1. 
 The true worshipper is he who has taken his right bearings ; 
 •the publican took his right bearings and was humble; the 
 Pharisee did not have a correct estimate of himself, and so was 
 proud ; a self-righteous man can never be acceptable to God in 
 prayer. 2. The true worshipper of God is he who comes to him 
 through the medium He himself lias established. " / am the 
 Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one cometh unto the Father, but 
 by me" — Jesus Christ (John 14-6). " He is able also to save to 
 the uttermost them who come unto God through him," Jesus 
 Ohrist (Heb. 7 : 95). 3. Gods' true worshipper is he who 
 having his heart made new by the Holy Spirit, " worships him 
 in spirit and in truth." (John 4 : 24). The Musalman 
 who listened so attentively and earnestly throughout, was a 
 contractor, who had come to take muzdbanat, i. e. purchase 
 corn in the field as it stands, without weighing or measuring. 
 He had a large contract on these rabbi, or spring crops. 
 Hence when he came with us to our tents, and expressed him- 
 self thoroughly convinced that Christ alone was the true Savi- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA, 97 
 
 our, and we urged on him the necessity of confessing this 
 Saviour openly in baptism, he urged as his excuse for putting 
 this latter off, that he would be ruined financially ; but would 
 come to us in Gonda when the spring harvest was cut and ga- 
 thered and garnered in, and then throw in his lot among us. 
 We believe this man is in earnest, and will come some day to 
 redeem his promise. This man was convinced by the preach- 
 ing, but he was drawn out in the above way by the invitation 
 given at the end. We believe more and more in striking the 
 iron while it is hot ; for if you give time to let it cool, it will 
 become harder than ever before ; and we know from the para- 
 ble of the sower, that if you give any time, the devil will take 
 advantage of it to "immediately" step in and destroy the good 
 seed sown ! How much precious seed, sown all over the land 
 this past season, has been lost by not imitating our great ene- 
 my and " immediately " following it up, not as he does by de- 
 stroying, but by loving invitation, and after prayer and in- 
 struction be the means of quickening it into taking root down- 
 wards and springing upwards to the air and light in blade 
 and ear and rich harvest. If you preach the truth to a man, 
 you ought, at least, to give him the opportunity of acting upon 
 it : otherwise, why preach to him ? People will believe our 
 preaching when they see us anxious and in earnest that the 
 impressions our sermons make should there and then deepen 
 into honest decision, if not real conversion. Having written 
 so much in our journal, we step out into the cooler air outside 
 our tent, to take another look at our friends the grand constel- 
 lations above us, and to wonder at those millions of lesser, 
 yea, comparatively infinitesimal lesser lights which set the whole 
 forest aglow at this time. These jugnu, or fire-flies, (lampy- 
 ris) are believed by the poor people about here to be the 
 spirits of past generations who are allowed out of their prison- 
 house at night by the lord of Fatal, or hades, to wander 
 and flicker among the leaves of the trees till the gray dawn 
 of the morning. But the moon moving up the heavens 
 like an eastern queen in all her beauty of mellow light 
 
98 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 and power of subtle influence, will hide the stars and the 
 fire-flies alike from our Wew, and relegate them to the region 
 of fancy. Poets in all lands have had mnch to say about the 
 queenly moon. An old Sanscrit writer says, 
 
 Ekashchandrastamo lianti na cha tdrdganairapi, 
 The one moon dispels darkness, and not even star heaps 
 can withstand her. But she herself will be eclipsed and 
 wholly obscured when the glorious orb of day shall appear. 
 So when the "Sun of Righteousness" arose "with healing 
 in his wings? (Mai. 4 : 2.) He surpassed in glory all other 
 dispensations and ministrations, and darkened every pretended 
 revelation ; " For if that which passeih away was with glory, 
 much more that which remaineth is in glory." It is very signi- 
 ficant that the emblem of Islamism is the crescent moon, so it 
 is borne in the Turkish standard. The moon thus in her first 
 quarter, part in light and part in shadow, partakes of the 
 nature of the sun and of the earth. But it is the glory 
 of Christianity that it has for its grand emblem, not only the 
 Cross, but the "Sun of Righteousness" that strikes into obscur- 
 ation star-heaps and moons ! It is the " Cross * that suffers ; 
 but it is the " Sun " which rules and reigns. Musing thus, we 
 withdraw to our tent, and betake ourselves to prayer and rest — if 
 indeed our tormentors, the mosquitoes, will let us enjoy the last. 
 Camjp Sisivd, 15th March. — The early beams of dawn soon 
 break up our short eastern night ; so if our insect enemies 
 should have been busy with us, puncturing our skin and suck- 
 ing our blood, during the night, then much quiet rest 
 and sleep could not have been ours. This was our experience 
 as we were roused this morning from a late and deep sleep ; 
 for the machchars, gnats (culicida) with their sword-in-mini- 
 ature stings, had raised wounded bumps on our hands and 
 face which were most irritating and painful. The presence cf a 
 pool of water near our tent accounted for the visit cf 
 these culicida to our tent, and the lamp we always keep burn- 
 ing must have attracted these dangerous companions to 
 us. We found the above pool filled with the larva? and 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GOKDA. 99 
 
 pupa of these human blood-suckers, and watched with interest 
 the gnats emerging from their boat-like sheaths. We might 
 have brought mosquito-curtains with us ; but even those we 
 find are no remedy, unless you can devise a plan for getting 
 in and out of bed without lifting said curtains; for the very 
 moment you do so lift them these waiting cunning little crea- 
 tures rush in to prevent any possibility of sleeping, as much 
 by their buzzing as their stinging. Diptera insect-life serve the 
 natives for a number of idioms and proverbs. One is : Mach- 
 cliar Id jhul Tea chor" a thief who steals the housing of a 
 gnat ! i. e. a petty pilferer, or a mean fellow. But our bre- 
 thren are ready to visit a village to the north, so standing in 
 front of our tent, with bare heads, we implore a blessing on 
 our morning's work, and then start through the wheat fields. 
 The herdsmen are all astir driving their long lines of cattle 
 forth to their several grazing grounds on the borders of the 
 forest. This is a pausing time for the villages. The last wa- 
 tering of their fields has taken place, and now they are wait- 
 ing for the sunbeams to ripen and prepare the corn for the 
 harvest and the gathering in to the threshing-floors. So we 
 find all the people in the village we are visiting, and soon have 
 a goodly number of men, women, and children listening to our 
 service of song and preaching. In a village like this we do 
 not stand up and formally preach, but we take the seat offered 
 us, and thus seated with the people we sing, and pray, and 
 preach : or rather we talk to the villagers in familiar language. 
 One banyd, or corn chandler, was much impressed by the word 
 spoken, and came out on invitation and declared himself a dis- 
 ciple of this great Guru, or teacher. Some others would 
 have come out, but they were ashamed to do so before their 
 friends. We found afterwards that these people had an idea 
 that we wanted to take them away from their village and their 
 home to form a kind cf colony elsewhere. We sent them word 
 that we wanted them to remain where the Lord called them ; 
 to give up all idolatrous practices, and to worship God in the 
 name alone of Jesus Christ. We hope to hear more from 
 
100 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 this village. We returned to camp to have breakfast, strike 
 oar tent, and start for Chandanpur, the centre of our Tha'ru 
 work. We left at two o'clock p.m., having divided ourselves 
 into two parties, so as to take different routes and visit as 
 many of our baptized villages as possible on the journey. 
 Both bands met a number of Tharus on the road and in their 
 villages who gladly acknowledge them, and confessed them- 
 selves still disciples of the Great Saviour in whose name they 
 had been baptized. We all reached camp much encouraged 
 with what we had seen and heard and done on this march. 
 We found our camping place to the east of a small hamlet, 
 under the shade of a few mango and teak trees. The forest 
 hothi, house, to our right, where we stayed two years ago and 
 began our wonderful work in these jungles, is now gleaming 
 out in its whiteness, all lifeless and lonely ; for the dear friends 
 who occupied it last year, and entertained us so hospitably, are 
 far away in another district ; and as we think of them, 
 their kindness, and cheering presence, the pain of the loneli- 
 ness of separation creeps over us, and we long to see their 
 pleasant faces and hear their cheery voices once again. When 
 this dreary cheerless feeling comes on, as it does sometimes in 
 the loneliness of camp life, especially the first day away 
 from all the beloved ones, nothing restores the soul to lively 
 joy and hearty cheerfulness more than a few moments of prayer 
 and communion with an ever-present sympathizing Jesus. 
 Thank God for this blessed privilege. We had not been long 
 in camp before dear old Jurds' brother came to see us. He told 
 us of his brother's death from fever ; that when conscious he 
 said he was going to Jesus ; and exhorted his family and those 
 about him to remain faithful to their Saviour. Then after him 
 came one and another of our old friends, till we had a goodly 
 mumberto join us in our evening service in our tent. They were 
 all eager to have us visit their several villages on the morrow ; 
 and we were as earnest in promising, Deo volente, to surely 
 come and see them. Alas, we found death had been busy 
 among these poor forest people since we were last in this placo. 
 
THE GOSPEt IN 40NDA. 101 
 
 Not only Jitra, the first we baptized, bat Rdmd-Bdbd, and 
 some twenty others of our converts, had passed away, we trust, 
 to the Better Land. Had our work here two years ago only 
 ended in giving these dear departed ones hope in life and 
 in death, it would have paid us for coming among the Tharus 
 at that time. After these dear vi.-itors had left us for 
 their several village homes, we had a special meeting with 
 the brethren to arrange our plan of working, and how 
 to make the best use of the time we have at hand, as it is fast 
 getting too hot for tents, and then have a season of praise and 
 thanksgiving for all God's mercies to us and protecting care 
 over each and all of us, since we left Gonda, on a very trying 
 and difficult, and sometimes dangerous march ; as well as to 
 intreat His gracions favour and blessing upon us and our work 
 during our stay in these unhealthy, tiger-infested jungles. 
 Thus ended our first half day in our revisit to the Thani con- 
 verts. 
 
 Camp, Chandanpur, 16th March. — Noticed a greater change 
 in the temperature of the tent last night and this morning 
 than we had yet experienced. We fear we must bid farewell 
 to. any more cool nights and mornings for this season, and 
 brace ourselves up for enduring the closeness of the tent or of 
 the open outside the tent, at night time, and the active 
 heat of the tent all through the day. To the end of this 
 month, however, both the closeness by night and the heat of 
 day are bearable in tents ; after that, we had better be in Neb- 
 uchadnezzar's " burning fiery furnace " ! And yet, from the 
 end of March to the loth June, is the very best time for itiner- 
 ating : that is, as far as the natives are concerned ; and we 
 have often wished we had the consitution to stand and endure 
 this dry-hot season of the year. But after over 30 years' mis- 
 sion work, with only eighteen months as an interval of leave 
 and so-called rest in our birth-land, we somehow miss the sta- 
 mina, or strength to endure this part of the season, we pos- 
 sessed the first 25 years of our service for the Great Master. 
 Thank God for the measure of physical strength still vouch- 
 
102 , $m GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 safed to us ; and that from the 15th of October to the 15th of 
 April of the year, the Lord condescends to help us to labor for 
 him in spreading his glorious Gospel throughout this "Garden 
 of India." And when obliged, by nervous prostration to beat 
 a retreat to the restoring invigorating climate of Nairn Tal, 
 we by no means live an idle-life ; for, besides gathering new 
 physical strength, and renewed mental vigor, and brightened 
 spiritual hope for our winter compaign, we help all we can in the 
 work of the Lord going on in the station, freshen up our stud- 
 ies, and store in knowledge of various kinds, and do a reason- 
 able amount of translating and composing work for the Press. 
 Of course, we say nothing of our regular correspondence with 
 the dear brethren in Gonda, and its seven out-stations. When 
 the Great Captain lifted us out of the military saddle, after the 
 stress and danger of the sepoy-war were over, and gave us a 
 better warfare to accomplish, even the " Good fight of faith, in 
 mission work, he enlisted us in this work for life ; so we 
 intend, by the grace and strength of God, to fight on till we 
 finally fall into an Indian grave. Our motto here on Indian 
 soil is that of the Roman general, " Aut vincere aut mori. " 
 Our kind readers will pardon the above form of " boasting, " 
 but they will understand it has nothing to do whatever with 
 the question of merit on our part. " God forbid that I should 
 glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, " by which 
 my soul alone is saved, and save in " mine infirmities,'' in 
 which is displayed the exceeding richness of the grace of God. 
 
 But there is sounding the bugle note of morning prayer and 
 preparation for our day's work ; so like a " good soldier," we 
 must be ready at our post and on the qui vive for the Master's 
 service to-day. After a blessed season of waiting on the Lord 
 in prayer, and the study of a portion of His word, one band 
 under brother Peter Gray, and another under ourselves, leave 
 the camp for visiting our ^haru villages to the north of the 
 forest. We made our way to BhaunrisdL On the way we 
 met here and there many of our Tharus cutting their patches 
 of wheat and barley. We stopped at each place, called them 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. ' } 103 
 
 together, and had service with them. They all seemed glad 
 to see us, and expressed a hope we were going to stay among 
 them permanently. Bhoju, choudri of Bhaunrisdl y and his 
 son came out to meet us. The father threw his arms round us, 
 and cried with joy to see us. When we had crossed the 
 bed of the River Bhambar, then a deep watercourse, and 
 had entered the village, we found all the men, women, 
 and children of the place ready for our service. There 
 were also some Nepalese soldiers from the chauJcl, station, 
 who had come from curiosity to see us. We had our service of 
 song, and prayer, and exhortation ; and then we questioned 
 and instructed each present. After we had finished this work," 
 Bhoju and his son brought us out rice and milk and plantains 
 to eat, while the women brought us water f„r our hands, &c. 
 We were greatly encouraged by this morning's work. When 
 we were leaving, Bhojus wife brought us out a number of 
 baskets of different sizes, which they had made from various 
 colored rushes, and the outside of which they had covered with 
 stringed seeds and small shells. The seeds thus strung 
 together with shells are named gumchi (Abras precatorius). 
 The plant is a species of wild liquorice which grows in 
 the jungles. The Natives also call these seeds rati. These 
 baskets, the Tharus call moni, or mauni, because they converge 
 to a point, make very unique drawing-room ornaments for 
 the corners and walls. The shells on these baskets are 
 also worn by the Tharii women as necklaces. Sometimes you 
 will see a Tharu A^oman with a series of these threaded-shells 
 hanging from her neck to her shoulders. Our other party 
 had gone to Phungi, and were as successful there as we had 
 been in our village. The Thrims every where gladly received 
 and welcomed them. When we returned to camp we found 
 LaJaihman, the choudri's brother of Buslialir had brought his 
 mother suffering very badly from rheumatism in her limbs. 
 We prayed with them, and then applied some ". Jacob's Oil" 
 to the sick mother in the name of Jesus. The Lord blessed 
 this simple means for this woman came walking with her son 
 
104 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 next morning quite cured. The news of this spread all over 
 the place, and every day while we remained here we had thus 
 to treat one or two cases of this painful disease. The wife of 
 Jura's brother was as quickly and wonderfully cured of this in- 
 flammation affecting her knee joints, as Lakshman's mother. 
 In the evening we all divided into parties of threes, and went 
 in as many different directions to visit as manyTharus as posi- 
 ble. Ourselves and two other brethren went to Bhdgwan- 
 pur No. 2, four miles from camp. This is where we had our 
 best work two years ago, where two of our best workers died of 
 fever. When we arrived at the village we found the women 
 and girls all at work constructing matkas, or large earthern 
 jars, in which, when smeared with cowdung and baked and dried 
 in the sun, the Tharvis store away their food and seed and rice 
 and wheat and other grains. Jura's widow was so employed, 
 but when she saw us she came and threw herself weeping at 
 our feet. We said what we could to comfort her ? She then 
 
 rose and took us to her house, and brought all her children out. 
 In the mean time all the other women had collected about us, 
 and the men and boys coming out of the harvest fields, 
 
 brothers Gray and Downey and ourselves had prayer with 
 them, and then addressed words of instruction and comfort to 
 them alternately. We then went visiting, as far as the custom 
 of the people would allow, from house to house. We have two 
 bright lads in training from this village. It was late when we 
 left the village, but by the help of our lamp and a guide, and 
 the special care of the Lord over us, we arrived in camp 
 to meet the other brethren without any misadventure. 
 All the prayers offered up before leaving Gonda, and every 
 day on the march to this place, for God to open the way int> 
 the hearts and homes of this people, have been fully answered, 
 and our faith has been greatly strengthened and our spirits in- 
 spired thereby. 
 
 Camp Chandanpur, 17th March. — Went this morning to 
 see a sick Pahdrin or hill-woman in Bushahr. Both she and her 
 husband were baptized two years ago, and both have remained 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 105 
 
 faithful since. We baptized their sister; and others from 
 among the cowherds coming in, we had service for them. Brother 
 Joseph Downey speaking from hi3 heart was greatly blessed in 
 addressing them. The wife of one of these aliirs> or cowherds, 
 had her heart touched, and with a child in her arms, and 
 leading another by the hand, she came to where we were 
 sitting, and said she wanted to give herself and children 
 to the great Saviour she had just heard of. Her husband, 
 however, would not allow her to be baptized. That evening 
 she came with her two children to the service we had in 
 our tent, and continued to come every day as long as we 
 remained here. Five of those we baptized two years ago 
 died of cholera in this hamlet. We heard from these Palidri 
 Christians about the Nepalese guru, or teacher, whom we 
 baptized also when last here. How he went among the 
 villages in DeoJcdr and the Rapti valley, breaking and cast- 
 ing out their idols, and telling them to serve and wor- 
 ship only Christ. He is still going among them speak- 
 ing of Christ as the only Saviour. When we returned to 
 our tent we found the forest Bdbu, or Assistant Conservator 
 of Forests, waiting to see us. This Bengali gentleman we 
 found to be very intelligent, and though not a Christian, 
 very much in favor of Christianity. He was anxious to 
 know all about our Tharu work ; so we began de novo and 
 explained it all to him. He seemed greatly interested in 
 our narrative, and promised to help us all he possibly could : 
 which, as an officer in charge of the Government part of 
 the forest, he is able to do. This gentleman was of great 
 service to us afterwards in putting up our two school- 
 houses and Native Preacher's residence. We owe much 
 to his kindness and substantial aid. We saw him often, 
 and I hope the conversation we had on religious subjects, 
 and the books we gave him, will be helpful in leading him 
 to a knowledge of the truth as it is in Jesus. We had 
 also a visit from Lakshman and his father from Buslmlir; 
 and we settled the question respecting having a school in 
 
106 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 their village. This school is to begin on the 1st proximo. 
 We are more and more encouraged regarding our work 
 here. If we can only establish good Hindi schools all 
 through these jungles, and get a number of the youth 
 under our care and instruction, all, with God's blessing, 
 will go well. This evening, too, we brought Up in the 
 meeting the important subject of who among the brethren 
 present were to remain here and labor among the Tharus 
 till the beginning of the rains. After prayer we called 
 for two volunteers, and brothers Joseph Downey and Kanhai 
 Lai offered themselves for this special service. These two 
 devoted brethren were duly appointed by Rev. T. S. 
 Johnson, M. D., our Presiding Elder ; and both labored faith- 
 fully in this difficult work up to the end of June, when they 
 were driven in to Balrampur by the malaria of the jungle. 
 
 Camp Chandanpur, 18th March. — Another holy Sabbath 
 morning has dawned upon us. We had special service for 
 the brethren, and we preached from Jeremiah 9: 23 — 
 
 I. What men are not to glory in, 1. In their wisdom. 
 2. In their riches. 3. In their strength. 
 
 II. What men are to glory in. 1. In understanding G6d's 
 righteous character : — The punishment of sin a necessity, &c. 
 
 2. In understanding God's loving kindness : — The redemption 
 from sin and its punishment in Christ a glorious certainty. 
 
 3. The cross of Christ an expression both of the righteous 
 ness and loving kindness of God. 4. Men's wisdom, riches, and 
 strength can have no place here. 5. When men's hearts 
 are touched by the life-giving Spirit of God, then they delight 
 only in things which God delights in — righteousness, judg- 
 ment, and loving kindness. These thoughts expanded, illus- 
 trated, and applied were greatly blessed by God to each 
 of our souls. After this special service we had a meet- 
 ing for all the Tharus who were able to come to our camp. 
 We had singing and prayer, and then we explained the 
 nature, purpose, and proper use of the Sabbath-day. The 
 Sabbath was, of course, an institution they had never heard 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 107 
 
 of before we came among them-; and for generations, how 
 many who can tell 1 they have never rested from their daily 
 hard labour, except on their religious festivals ; so it is not 
 surprising they should at first be very slow to understand 
 its claims upon them. It was only when we urged the facts 
 that the great God had commanded us to keep the Sabbath 
 as a day of rest; and that by obeying this command we could 
 do more and better work, besides saving a greater amount of 
 money, than by not keeping it, that they seemed to under- 
 stand it. We remember two years ago, after our return 
 from this Tharu work, a gentleman asking us, if these new 
 converts kept the Sabbath day or not. His question showed 
 that he had in his mind a number of converted nominal 
 Christians, who for generations had been trained to the 
 knowledge and outward observance of this Holy-day, and 
 not the poor benighted souls just wrested out of heathenism ! 
 Knowledge and habit are necessary to the attentive perform- 
 ance of any duty — especially this act of external worship, 
 the keeping holy the Lord's day. No ignorant people like 
 the Thar us can attain to this knowledge and form this habit 
 in a few days or weeks. If it was necessary for the Jews 
 to have instr action on the plan of "precept upon precept, 
 precept upon precept ; line upon line, line upon line ; here a 
 Utile, there a little." (Isaiah 28 : 10). How much more is such 
 a system needed for these poor Tharus 1 — especially when 
 they have to receive such teaching from "men of strange 
 lips and with another tongue.'' 1 The fault is not in set- 
 ting up a standard six feet high, but in expecting a man 
 only four feet in height to measure up to it. Compared to 
 that cut and polished stone in the plastic hand of the master- 
 mason, that piece of rough rock, just blasted out from the par- 
 ent bed, is a very unsightly thing ; yet the former would be 
 impossible without the latter. We would respectfully say to 
 our critics, " Go and learn what this meaneth," " Omnium rerum 
 principia parva sunt." The French have also a saying, "Pas a 
 pas on va bim loin," step by step one goes a long way ; but 
 
108 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 there must be the first step, these poor people have been blast- 
 ed out of their parent bed of heathenism ; they are very 
 small in their beginnings ; but they have taken the first step. 
 Christian brothers, with two thousand years of Christian teach- 
 ing and practice at your backs, do not take these poor default- 
 ers by the throat, but have patience with them, and they will 
 pay you all ! 
 
 It is well to practice what we preach; so we do not go to 
 visit any villages this afternoon, but make it a time of rest 
 and quiet thought : though at night we have a good experi- 
 ence meeting on the old Methodist lines. 
 
 Camp Chandanpvr, 19th March. — "Sahib, dak di" Sir, 
 the post (has) come ! These are the words which wake us up, 
 and call us tack to full consciousness this morning. But, please, 
 mark the difference, d,dk, not ddli. Letters are acceptable at 
 all times — when not with insufficient stamped on them — when 
 they come from dear ones at home, or from lively racy corre- 
 spondents ; but would not a nice piece of gram-fed mutton, 
 a pot of home-m&de butter, a bottle of gooseberry jam, 
 some fresh vegetables, and a few newly baked loaves have also 
 been acceptable this Monday morning, eh? No, alas ! Two 
 fatal things turn all such luxurious realities into idle fancies 
 and make them as unsubstantial as castles built in air — dis- 
 tance and climate. The Arabs have a saying : — "Ithd nazahul- 
 qadaru batal-ulhatharu" when fate has descended, caution has 
 become vain. And what caution can provide the above dainty 
 delicate edibles from the fate that distance and climate bring 
 about. Meat would eome with a "loud "odour; butter would 
 be running oil ; gooseberry jam would become a fermented 
 mass ; vegetables would be limp and spoilt ; and the bread so 
 hard it would take a Tharu's hatchet to split it ! so for 
 some days we have given up all idea of a ddli, and trust to the 
 limited rasad, or provision, brought us by a banyd from Pach- 
 perwd : which consists of flour, pulse, rice, fid, or clarified butter, 
 and salt. This kind of grocer and general dealer sits under a 
 tree in camp with a hempen rug under him to keep out 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 109 
 
 the damp, and a sheet spread over him to protect from 
 the burning rays of the sun, and his open sacks before 
 him full of the above eatables ; while by his sides, to the right 
 and left, you see his scales and weights and account book, with 
 pen and ink-bottle. He prefers to give us all, servants, 
 native brethren and ourselves, credit for the time we are 
 in camp rather than take cash ; because he has a better chance 
 of overreaching us in the one than in the others. He is 
 a pious man for all that, since he carries a rosary ; so when he 
 is not serving out his groceries, he is running over his beads. 
 Hence the clever bit of irony, Bam Bam japnd, jrjarde mdl 
 apnd, i. e. He repeats Rim Barn with one hand, and ap- 
 propriates other people's property with the other ! 
 
 So we are nolens volens vegetarians, except when a successful 
 Tharii hunter brings us in a jangli cock or a fish ; but as a 
 native brother remarked, "golipare bajde sidJi" when there is 
 a weight round the neck (trouble), then we begin to pray, i. e. 
 we make a virtue of necessity. But we must leave our friend with 
 his trade in esculents, and esoteric dealings, and turn to more 
 important business. So with earnest prayer outside our tent, we 
 start most of our brethren on their morning's work of visiting 
 to the north-west of the forest, and instructing all the Tharii 
 converts they meet or can gather in their villages or on their 
 threshing-floors. Taking Brothers J. Downey and P. Gray 
 with us we left for a visit to VisJinjpur. BamcJiarn (the feet 
 of Bam) is the choudri, or headman of this village. Instruct- 
 ed by his Brahman friends, this poor man opposed us pugnis 
 et calcibus ; but, as we have already mentioned, we made him a 
 special subject of prayer for many weeks ; in fact we have never 
 ceased praying for him privately. Hence we were not surpris- 
 ed, when last evening his son Bdm-ratn (the pupil of the eye 
 of Bdm) came with a message from his father to say that 
 he wished to see us. This young man remained an hour with 
 us, and seemed much interested in the instruction we gave him. 
 Two years ago neither this young man nor his father, nor 
 any of the people in their village were baptized ; they were the 
 
110 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 only Th&rus in this part of the jungle who stood out against 
 the gracious influence of the Spirit, and opposed us with all 
 their might ; but the Lord has heard and answered our pray- 
 ers, and made even these our "enemies to be at peace with us." 
 This is the reason of our journey this morning. On the road we 
 came on a party of Tharus from Bankatwa, the first village we 
 baptized when we began our work here, who were on their 
 way to help in marking out the boundary line separating the 
 Government forest from theMaharanfs. We stopped them and 
 had an hour's service with them. They all confessed they had 
 been baptized but had been persuaded by Rdmcham to believe 
 that the certificates we had given them were to enlist them for 
 service in the army ; and they were all to be sent far away 
 from their families and forest homes. Hence when any official 
 asked them if they had been baptized, they denied it from very 
 fear, and so we found the cause of the report which spread 
 about that none of the Tharus had even been baptized ! They 
 had proved the whole of what Rdmcharn had told them to be 
 false, and were glad we had come among them again to teach 
 them. They acknowledged us as their religious teachers and prom- 
 ised to pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ, and do every 
 thing in his name. These people went on to their work, and 
 we went on to Vishn/pur to ours. Rdmcharn and his people 
 received us very courteously, gave us beds to sit on, and a good 
 breakfast of fresh milk, rice, and chapdtis, thin cakes of un- 
 leavened bread. Then we had service with them. The Lord 
 blessed the word to them. A number asked for the " ashish" 
 the name they have given to baptism, which, of course, we are 
 always ready to give when we are assured that those who 
 asked for it are really in earnest, and have been touched 
 and influenced by the word spoken to them. In this case we 
 baptized three families of Pahdri Tharus, who had settled down 
 here and become a part of Romcharn's community. The 
 rest we thought had better wait till we came that way 
 again. Ramcharn and his son were very earnest in asking 
 for a school to be established in his village. This was after- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA HI 
 
 wards done. The Agent of the Balrampiir estates, Major A., 
 sent us &parwana, or order, for wood and grass of which 
 to build a school-house. As soon as this written order came, 
 Ramcharn turned all his men out to level off a piece of ground 
 just on the outskirts of his village ; to cut wood and grass and 
 twigs in the forests, and then erect the building. This was 
 all done in three days ; and our school became an accomplish- 
 ed fact. This school will be for all the Thard boys to 
 the south of the forest. We returned to camp by another 
 route, and on the way through a part of the forest we saw an 
 old and very high bansati, composed of sticks, straw, leaves, 
 and rags, to keep away the goblins and spirits from annoying 
 and injuring you as you go through the forests. But though 
 we had no fear of demon or spirit, we did meet with some- 
 thing as we emerged from the forest, which, though it did 
 not fill us with terror, it did with dust and sand and leaves — 
 and that was a good sized "baguld" or whirlwind. It nearly 
 carried us off our legs, turned our umbrellas inside out, and 
 sent our solar-hats spinning to a distance. Ordinarily we like 
 these whirlwinds at a respectable point back from the view. 
 Then they look grand, with their progressive motions, moving 
 in a circle round an axis, and winding upwards to a point like 
 a screw. The hot weather is on us in earnest. Even with our 
 adjusted umbrellas, and newly settled solar-hats, and tak- 
 ing advantage of all the shade we possibly could, still we suf- 
 fered from the heat on returning to camp ; and thus warned to 
 be home in our tents earlier in the day. 
 
 We found a number of our rheumatic friends waiting pa- 
 tiently for our return, in order to be unprofessionally treated. 
 But all our "Jacob's oil "is exhausted, so we have recourse to 
 kerosine oil : which is really a good counter irritant. But of 
 this, too, we must be chary, or we shall be left to the light of 
 the late rising moon. But in this land the queen of night 
 reflects a brighter and clearer light than in colder climes ; so 
 that, when in her full glory, we have often been able to 
 read a page of ordinary print by her light. The Natives think the 
 
112 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 chdnd-got or moon-beam, is a very subtle, dangerous tiling. Hence 
 they will never sit or sleep in it if they can possibly avoid 
 doing so. They believe, too, in cliandmdrd, or in one being 
 moon-struck, causing rataundhd, or nyctalopia, night-blindness. 
 The moonstone is believed in by both Hindus and Musal- 
 mans. The latter name is Jiajar-idqamar, and the former call 
 it chandra-kdntd ; and both believe it to be formed of the 
 congelation of the rays of the moon. Like the Persian, the 
 Native poets are fond of comparing their beautiful women to 
 it. For a woman to be called chandra-mukhi, having a face 
 beautiful as the moon, is to be paid a very handsome com- 
 pliment. Sadi says of a handsome lady, 
 
 Mali nekust wale rue tu zebatar azust, 
 i. e. The moon is beautiful, but thy face is more becoming 
 than it. Solomon speaks of the church as "fair as the moon" 
 because of her brightness and splendour which she derives 
 from Christ, the " Sun of Righteousness," as the moon does her 
 light from the orb of day. We were reminded of all the above 
 by a visit we had to-night from the tnufchtdr, or manager of 
 the Mahdrdni's forest in these parts. He is out here to super- 
 intend the cutting of a boundary line in the forest, so as to 
 avoid disputes between the Mahdrdnis chapra'sis, messengers, 
 and the Government peons. We found him a very affable and 
 in many things an intelligent Hindu gentleman, and a Brah- 
 man by caste. As it was exceedingly close in the tent, the heat 
 from the lamp making it closer, we proposed we should sit 
 outside in the mellow moon-light. Our visitor said, he had 
 no objection to sifc outside if we would sit in the shadow of 
 a tree, so that the moon-beams should not strike him, 
 and gave as his reason that he was afraid of becoming rataun- 
 dhd, or blind at night. He also declared that it was not so 
 much the moon herself he was afraid of as of the yoc/ini, or 
 the malignant invisible being who constantly moves in a cir- 
 cular orbit round the world. On certain days in the lunar 
 month he is at certain stations in the east, west, north, 
 and south, and all other points of the compass. Thus on 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 113 
 
 the 4th, 12th, 19th, -and 27th, he is in the south-west. 
 " Now," he said "your camp is in this direction, and this is 
 the 19th day ; so I have to take care I don't sit in his direc- 
 tion, or place him on my right hand." And just here we 
 may remark that the Islams also believe in this invisible man, 
 whom they call Rijdl-ulg.haib y the invisible man; the 
 latter out of respect. Even in the "glorious land" the 
 supposed deleterious influence of the moon on those who sleep 
 in its beams was believed in. Hence the promise: " The sun 
 shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." 
 (Psalm 121 : 6). We tried to convince our mukhtdr friend, 
 however, that whatever power for good or evil God had be- 
 stowed upon his creatures the rulers of day and night, He, in 
 his justice and goodness, would never leave his highest crea- 
 ture, man, the acme of creation, to the malignant caprice of 
 such a being as the yogini, or rijal-ulgaib. But, we said, 
 this might possibly be a corruption of a true doctrine, that 
 there is a great enemy of the whole human race called in Di- 
 vine revelation Satan, or Sathan, i. e., Dusht-dtmd, or the evil 
 spirit, " who goeth about as a roaring lion seeking whom he 
 may devour," (1. Peter 5:8); that God has placed this re- 
 bellious wicked world under his power more or less, just as a 
 righteous king puts rebellious subjects in prison under a 
 darogha, or a jail-keeper, for purposes of severe discipline; 
 and, hence, that he, by God's permission, exercises a kind of 
 government over the nations of men. He it is who tempts 
 men to draw out all the badness in their fallen natures, and 
 to commit all manner of moral evil, so that through this evil 
 he might work out his malignant purpose to rob God of his 
 glory, and men of their souls. Then we preached Chirst to 
 him : that from the beginning he was the Nishhalanlc dvatdr, 
 the Pure Incarnation, who was to bruise the "head" of this 
 "old serpent" (Gen. 3 : 14) ; and to destroy the works of the 
 devil (1 John 3:8); (Heb 2 : 14) ; and that from the time of 
 the first promise till the coming of this great Saviour, a copi- 
 ous stream of prophecy, broader and more abundant, as men 
 
114 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 were capable of receiving it, flowed from God through his 
 inspired people. The grand purpose of this Saviour is to re- 
 deem and save the whole world from this devil. He did not 
 come to save a few poor cowherds about Brinddban (forest 
 of tulsi trees, or sacred basil) from the power of Kans, a 
 wicked tyrant; nor to save a single island, Lanka, or 
 Ceylon, from the ravishing hand of another wicked enemy, 
 JRavdn, but to save the peoples of all the nations on the earth 
 from the power of the universal foe, Satan. Such a Saviour 
 could alone be worthy of that God who "rnaketh his sun to 
 rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just 
 and on the unjust," (Matt. 5 : 45) ; so that the rays of the 
 sun and the drops of rain should read us a lesson of our 
 heavenly Father's universal love and care for his creatures. 
 "We dwelt specially on the oneness of the Saviour of our race, 
 and the confusion and misunderstanding, as well as the in- 
 convenience of having more than one to redeem and save. 
 That on the principle that " no man can serve two masters" 
 so no man can trust and hope in two or more Saviours. Our 
 friend caught the idea at once; for he said, "If a man were 
 to be seized by a tiger out of these jungles, and he called on 
 Brahmd for assistance, and when this god came, he cried for 
 Vishnu, the first would refuse to give any aid ; and when he 
 implored Siva to come, Vishnu also would depart ; so, by 
 calling on one after another of the gods, the others deny 
 him their help ; and through the jealousy of the gods the 
 poor wretch is finally left to perish. Thus we sat far 
 into the night, while our friend forgot all about the 
 supposed baneful influence of the moon, and the calamity a 
 wrong treatment of yogini might bring upon him, so in- 
 terested had he become in the history, person, and character 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ. On taking leave of us he remark- 
 ed that, if that was the Saviour we had preached to the 
 Thdrus, and in whose name they had received the " chinh " 
 and "dshish," the sign and the blessing, then he for one 
 was glad ; and would certainly aid us in this good work all 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 11$ 
 
 he possibly could. This gentleman has since helped us very 
 much in carrying out our plans of labor among our people of 
 the forest. We hope some day to see him a true Christian. 
 
 Gamp Chandanpiir, 20th March. — While most of the 
 brethren were out visiting, instructing and encouraging our 
 Tharti converts to the south-east of the forest, we re- 
 mained at the tents to receive another visit from Kama 
 Nidh&n Mookerjee, the Government Forest Officer of the 
 Gonda District. He came to say goodbye, as he is leaving 
 for another part of his District. Since coming here he has 
 been very helpful to us, especially in aiding us to put up 
 our large chhappar, grass-roofed, school-house at Bushahr, 
 for our Tharu boys to the north. We had another very 
 interesting conversation on the "National Congress" ques- 
 tion. We contended that great possibilities of future 
 national life were open to the educated Natives of India if 
 they would only break through the iron circle of caste pre- 
 judices, give up the worship of idols, and accept the religion 
 of Jesus Christ in heart, in home, and in every day life ; but 
 they must not expect to grow into a great national existence 
 like Christian countries until they had fulfilled all the condi- 
 tions necessary. It is only the truth as it in Jesus can make us 
 really free. May this dear Native friend be soon led into 
 the light and saving power of this truth. When this forest 
 officer left us we went into some fields near camp where 
 some jogi Thdrus, men and women, were cutting and 
 gathering in the ripe chand, or vetches. This pulse or gram 
 is very much used by the people. They roast it in a vessel, 
 and eat it as a great luxury. At every chauki, or station, the 
 traveller finds a bhar-bhunjd, or man who parches gram ; with 
 his fire of dry leaves and earthenware pan. For a pice he 
 will roast you all the grain you need. In this country 
 horses too, are chiefly fed on this nutritive food. The men 
 are cutting and tying the vetches in bundles, while the 
 women are carrying them away to the threshing-floor. The 
 latter is a cleanly swept place under some large mango 
 
116 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 trees. These jogi Thdrus supply the Icdwphati, or ear- 
 pierced priests for the goddess's temple of sacrifice at Tulsi- 
 pur, as they are adepts in striking off by a single blow the 
 heads of the goats and buffaloes brought for offering at 
 the altar of the blood-thirsty Devi, or goddess. As they are 
 harvesting an unusually large crop of every kind this year, 
 we found these jogis in good humour, and ready to receive 
 the word of exhortation. Not one of this tribe was baptized 
 when the other Tharus joined us two years ago. The head- 
 man among them promised to send all the children of his 
 village to our school at Bushahr. On returning to camp 
 we started a large flock of sand-pipers, called by the Natives 
 tatihri (Tringa goensis). This is a bird of good omen, and 
 thought very much of by the Hindus. It is said to sleep 
 with its legs extended upwards, as if to prop the firmament ; 
 and so the proverb : — " Tatihri se dsmdn thdmd jdegd ? " i. e. 
 will the sky be supported by the sand-piper 1 This applies 
 to a person who undertakes an enterprise far above his 
 strength. 
 
 In the evening half our band went to Bhagwanpur, and 
 half to Bushahr. Successful services were held in both 
 villages. We went to the latter, and were hospitably enter- 
 tained by the parents of Lukshman. These good people 
 told us that every day they prayed in the name of Jesus 
 for their children, their cattle, and their crops. " This year," 
 they said, " we have lost none of our cattle from tigers or 
 leopards, our children have all been spared to us, and we 
 have an abundant harvest." We rejoiced with them in 
 their prosperity, and encouraged them to go on praying in 
 this blessed and holy Name. 
 
 To-day our dear family leave Gonda for Naini Tal, We feel 
 assured the Great Master will give his holy angels charge 
 concerning them; and under such an escort they are as 
 safe crossing rivers, travelling in trains, or ascending mount- 
 ains, as we are here in these jungles. With this confidence 
 in God as our " Sun and Shield," we sleep in peace and safety. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA, 117 
 
 Camp Chandanjrur, 21st March. — This morning early, 
 after our customary service, we all started for Narewa, the 
 most dangerous and difficult of all our Thani villages to 
 reach. The journey 'made to this interesting place was 
 described two years ago in our narrative of the Thani work. 
 None of its characteristic features however have changed 
 since then. The shelving road, cut and seamed with abrupt 
 gullies, with its deep break-neck hollows formed of rough 
 stones and slippery clay, is, if any thing, worse than ever ; 
 and the tiger, the bear, and the leopard are just as numer- 
 ous, near, and fierce as when we last cautiously moved along 
 this forest line ; but all the difficulties we meet with, together 
 with nearness of danger, are amply compensated for by the 
 rich grand foliage of the giant trees, the sweet odor from 
 the creepers and orchids, the pleasant hum from the insect 
 world, the delightful songs of the birds, and the hearty 
 welcome we met with from our converts. Soon the cheerful 
 sound of praise and prayer and persuasive speech goes out 
 through the village waking up the echoing voice of hope 
 in these long silent forests. As we cannot at present have 
 a day-school opened for this distant village, we have arranged 
 for brothers Downey and Kanhai Lai to visit it, at least 
 twice a month, and hold a kind of Sabbath-school for old 
 and young. After partaking of the simple hospitality of 
 our poor people, and committing them to the care of our 
 Heavenly Father, we make our way back over the same 
 laborious way. Providentially the trees on either side com- 
 pletely shade the road, so we have protection from the rays of 
 the sun, more dangerous than the savage beasts prowling 
 about, nearly all the journey. In traversing the open cleared 
 space from the forest to our camp, we met a company of maz- 
 durs, or men who come into the jungle to hire themselves 
 out for labor in the harvest fields. For every twenty sheaves 
 they cut and bind, they get one for themselves ; and thus are 
 they paid for their work. How vividly this gang of workers 
 brought to our mind the words of the great Master :— 
 
118 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 1 ' The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. 
 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth 
 labourers into his harvest." (Matt. 9: 37, 38). Thank this 
 great Lord of the harvest, that like the above harvesters, 
 we are not paid in money, "as silver and gold," but in kind. 
 The gains of our harvesting are the precious sheaves the 
 Lord gives us for the joyous songs of the last Harvest-Home. 
 
 This evening as a number of Thariis were coming to visit 
 us, they were met by a Government peon and taunted by him 
 with, " Kyd, nam likhdne jate ho ? " Are you going to 
 have your names written down ? i. e., for foreign service. 
 They complained to us about it, and so we sent for this 
 chaprdsi, or peon. In looking into the case we found this 
 man had been in the habit, for the last year, of going 
 through the Tharii villages, and trying to frighten and dis- 
 courage them in this way. The words used by this Brah- 
 man servant of Government are simple enough, but they 
 mean much more than appears on the surface. They mean 
 not only that the Thar us are to be sent away for the army, 
 of which they have a great dread, but that they are to be 
 fed with cow's flesh, a still more awful thing to them than 
 being sent as soldiers. When we intimated to him that we 
 would hand the case up to the Deputy Conservator of 
 Forests, on a charge of intimidation, he fell at our feet and 
 asked for pardon, as well as promised eagerly never to do the 
 like again.. Yes ; we might cut his nose off, separate both 
 ears from his head, and amputate both his feet, if ever he 
 was found intimidating a Tharii again ! Of course ; we knew 
 how much these exaggerated expressions were worth ; still, as 
 we did not want to get the man into any serious trouble, we 
 thought a good scaring was sufficient ; besides wanting to 
 keep something in Urrorem over him. 
 
 Camp Chandanpur, 22nd March. — The Lord graciously met 
 with us in our early morning meeting, and gave each of us a 
 special blessing and earnest of victory for the day. Most of 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 119 
 
 the brethren, headed by brother W. Fisk, then went out 
 to visit our villages to the north-east, while three others of 
 us went over to Bushahr. First we had service in front of 
 Lakhsman's house. Most of the women were employed in 
 their household duties, some bringing water on their heads 
 from the adjacent well, others constructing matMs, or big 
 jars for containing the thrashed out grain, and others cooking 
 the morning meal of rice. So we had not many of the 
 women and girls at our service ; but the men and boys were 
 there, and seemed to seriously relish and enjoy our prayers, 
 and singing, and exhortations. When this simple worship 
 was ended, we partook of some refreshments we had brought 
 with us, which consisted of a bottle of soda water each 
 (pure, we do assure you) and some biscuits. The former is 
 absolutely necessary in these jungles ; for we dare not drink 
 the water from these village wells, so full is it of sand and 
 so swarming with animalculce ! These wells are all hachd, not 
 brick built, and are kept from falling in by the sides being 
 shored up with planks ; and these planks rotting in the 
 water gives it anything but a pleasant odour. After this 
 we called for volunteers to go with us to our piece of land, 
 on which we are putting up a Native Preacher's house, to 
 help us construct a rough bridge over a deep ravine that runs 
 near it. Four stalwart fellows step out to the front, who, 
 provided their fashion of dressing a la fig-leaf were slightly 
 altered, if photographed, would present splendid specimens 
 of the Tharii physique. We go through the partially reap- 
 ed fields of gram and wheat, where we notice numerous 
 bleached skulls of oxen set upon poles as scare crows, which 
 present a most ghostly and weird appearance even in the 
 day ; but passing through these scare-crows on a moon-light 
 night, is to make one believe in goblins andfleshless spirits and 
 shadowless sprites all the days of one's life afterwards. But 
 here we are at the hula, or deep gully with a current of 
 clear water, and here too is the timber, provided for us by 
 the kindness of the Forest Officer, with which to form our 
 
120 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 bridge. Our Tharus set to work, and the timber is soon 
 placed across from bank to bank, covered with reeds and 
 earth from the channel, and we have a safe mode of inter- 
 course with our property. In the rains this bridge will be a 
 great convenience and comfort for our Native Preachers. In 
 one corner of our land is a fine grove of trees, and in visit- 
 ing it this morning we found a " kill, " a deer which a 
 tiger or leopard had killed and left till evening, when it 
 would come and drag it into the forest near for a good quiet 
 feed. How naturally this habit of these savage brutes is 
 described by Hosea the prophet : " For I will be unto Ephra- 
 im as a lion — /, even I, will tear and go away ; I will carry 
 off y and there shall be none to deliver" (Hos. 5:14) That 
 is just what these beasts of prey do in these forests ; they 
 first "tear " their prey, then "go away " till evening ; then 
 they come out cautiously and "carry " it off. Coming back 
 to camp we had a taste of the hot winds, which have just 
 commenced to blow. Though not so dangerous as the Ara- 
 bian simoom (samum)^ or the hot dry wind which blows from 
 the interior deserts, yet they are sufficiently annoying and 
 prostrating as to make us wish ourselves back in our house 
 in Gonda, where the pankhas, or wings, i. e. fans, are 
 swinging from the ceilings of the rooms, and the hhas Mas 
 taftisj the wet door-screens made of the scented root of a 
 grass (Andropogon muricata), filling the house with aromatic 
 coolness. But we have to endure another week or so of 
 this hot-wind camp life before we can seek the shelter of 
 our bungalow. 
 
 Camp Chandanpur, 24th March. — A terrible storm of wind 
 all last night, blowing as if it were determined to root up 
 the trees around us and involve us all in common ruin. Then 
 at midnight, amid the howling of the wind and other strange 
 noises, which seemed in that weird place to come out of the 
 jungles, the cry of "fire ! fire // " was heard ; and there, 
 away on the horizon was Bhoyrisdl, one of our Tharu 
 villages, in flames, destroying houses, house-hold goods such 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 121 
 
 furniture as Tharus may have, cattle, poultry, every thing 
 that fire can burn, and making the forest round it glare and 
 flare in all its unearthliness. Of course, a whole village 
 constructed from end to end with nothing but wood and 
 sticks and grass, is a poor protection against a fire breaking 
 out in any one place, especially with a high wind blowing. 
 We found this morning that all the other Tharus in Chan- 
 danpur had turned out to render what assistance they could, 
 taking from their respective villages, bedsteads, pots and 
 pans, rice and pulse, clothing for the women, &c. ; so that 
 except their houses, the burnt-out people of bJionrisdl had 
 all their more needy wants supplied. Mahabir, the choudri's 
 son, came over to our tent crying. We sympathized with 
 him, and taught him to look up to the great heavenly 
 Father for strength and comfort. We then wrote to the 
 Forest officer telling him of the calamity, and asking him to 
 help them in getting wood and grass to reconstruct their 
 village. He very promptly sent the parwdnd, or order, for 
 wood and grass; and in less than a week from the burning 
 down of the old the new village was up and the people 
 going about their usual business. After doing what we 
 thus could for Mcihabir, we went over to our grant of land 
 to have a boundary ditch dug round it. At one corner, in 
 the grove we spoke of, we found a very large mound of 
 earth near a cotton-tree. The Tharus whom we had to dig 
 out the marked ground, told us that years ago a rich old Hindu 
 had all his treasures of gold and silver and precious jewels 
 buried under this mound; but before having the earth heaped 
 over them, the fairest and most beautiful boy to be found in 
 all these parts was taken from his mother and cruelly 
 sacrificed over the buried riches, so that his spirit ever 
 afterward should safe-guard the hidden wealth. Thus, said 
 our Tharu informers in the most artless manner, this place 
 continues to be haunted by the bhut, or demon-spirit, of the 
 murdered boy. We inquired of them whether if in digging 
 through this tragical mound they came upon the long hidden 
 
122 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 treasures what they would do 1 They answered, as soon as 
 they saw them they would run away as far as possible from 
 them. We told our friends that if they should discover 
 wealth of any kind to let us know at once, as we certainly 
 had no superstitious scruples on the subject. On the way 
 back to camp we met a number of Khairi women, the wives 
 of those who had come into the jungles to collect catechu. 
 They had each very long gold rings in their noses. It is by 
 these rings you can generally tell the means and statvs of 
 Hindu women. If they wear the nose-ring in the right 
 nostril, they have money and children ; if they wear it in 
 the left, they are in some great sorrow ; and if they wear no 
 nose-ring they are santiyd, or rival wives. The first are 
 called ndsd-dalcshand-vart, or right-nostril-ringed ; and the 
 second, ndsd-vdmd-vart, or left-nostril-ringed ; and the last, 
 or sautiyd-tfah, is a synonym for malice of the most virulent 
 kind. There is a verse in Hindustani which contains un- 
 deniable truth, and which would be very apropos to quote 
 against a man keeping more than one wife : 
 
 " Kahe Tiain is qlam men bihtar hat maut, 
 WaleJcin na ho sdmhne ushi saut." 
 
 They say in this world better is death's strife, 
 Than endure in one's presence a rival wife. 
 On arriving at our tent we found our friend the M aha rani's 
 muTfhtdr, or manager, come for another conversation on 
 religious subjects. He asked us what we believed pavitratd 
 or purity, to really be. We answered that it was a thing of 
 the heart, or inner life, and meant freedom from the taint 
 and power of sin, and likeness to the holy God. He again 
 inquired if we did not believe in Sauch. This is a deli- 
 cate word which may be found in a dictionary, but can 
 hardly be literally translated here. In a general way it 
 means a freer use of water to the person on particular 
 occasions than is allowed by Europeans. We have often 
 been attacked by Hindus in the bdzdr on this very point. 
 We were able, however, to assure him we did practice this 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 123 
 
 kind of ablution ; and that we were not exactly like the Chinese 
 who use paper lor their noses, instead of pocket-handkerchiefs ! 
 But we quoted the words of the Great Teacher : H Not that 
 which entereth into the mouth defileth the man ; but that which 
 proceedeth out of the mouth, this defileth the man." (Matt. 
 15: 11). He was very much struck at these words; for 
 they turned his ideas of purity upside down. He began to 
 see there was such a thing as heart-purity as well as body- 
 purity ; and that the former must come first, if the latter 
 was to be worth anything. We urged on him the necessity 
 of believing on Jesus Christ, and accepting him as his future 
 High Priest and spiritual guide, in order to really possess, 
 not only ceremonial, but true heart-purity. He asked our 
 opinion on a number of important things such as " mulcti" 
 salvation, "pap" sin, &c. Time and space would not allow 
 of our giving all the answers to his earnest questions ; but 
 he seemed startled when we told him that sin was sacrificing 
 the rights of God and any of our fellow-creatures for selfish 
 purposes. On taking leave he again promised to try and see 
 us in Gonda. 
 
 Camp Chandanpur, 25th March. — Another holy Sabbath 
 in camp. It is not like a Sunday morning in western lands 
 at this season of the year, where the beautiful spring time, 
 cool and bracing, and all the outward scenes of nature seem 
 to harmonize with the inward feelings of peace and rest in 
 the believer. Here we have to depend nearly altogether 
 upon the blessed experience and resources of the inner man, 
 as a smiling expression of the rest that remains to the people 
 of God ; for there is not much agreement between heat and 
 a murky atmosphere and a melting temperature and irrita- 
 ting gnats and teasing flies, and this rest of the Sabbath day. 
 Yet this foretaste rest of Heaven is a grand compensation for 
 all these flesh-trials ; for it gives the mind steadiness and will- 
 control, and sufficient grace to endure hardness as a soldier of 
 Christ. We can only pity the Missionary who could venture 
 on a work like this, and at such a time, without the 
 
124 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 inspiriting consciousness of this "rest" which is the blessed 
 privilege of every child of God. The sine qua non for mis- 
 sionary work of every form and degree, but especially for 
 itinerating work, is " a clean heart " and a " right spirit, " 
 and steady growth "in the grace and knowledge of our Lord 
 Jesus ChirsC (Ps. 51 : 10 j 2 Peter 3 : 18). We had ser- 
 vice in front of our tent for our Tharu people who were able 
 to come in from the different villages ; these, together with 
 our dear brethren and camp followers, made up a good large 
 congregation. The " Lord of the harvest " was present to 
 work with his humble " laborers " in the use of the flashing 
 sickle, and in binding the precious sheaves for his garner. 
 After this special service, the Tharu converts remained 
 all the morning till noon with the brethren, listening to and 
 joining in with the bhajans sung and the prayers at inter- 
 vals offered. As we sat under the front fly of our tent 
 quietly reading, we noticed our old servant, the hhaldsi, 
 cooking his midday meal under a tree. Before him is the 
 chuld, or rude fire-place made of three hard lumps of earth, in 
 which a fire of dry sticks and leaves is burning. On this is 
 the tavd, or convex round plate of iron, heating and getting 
 ready for the unleavened cake of well kneaded dough 
 Bhujan is patting between the palms of his hands. He has 
 just laid one of these patted soft round cakes of dough on 
 the tavd, so heated that it will bake without burning ; but 
 see how careful he is to turn the cake just in time to give the 
 other side a chance of being baked, and made fit for eating. 
 In reading through the prophet Hosea, we are wonderfully 
 struck with the numerous touches of natural oriental life we 
 see in his writings. Speaking of the condition of Ephraim, 
 the prophet uses a figure with which he must have been 
 daily acquainted, for probably he cooked his own food then 
 precisely as Bhujan is now cooking his ; he says, "Ephraim 
 is a cake not turned. " Nothing could denote the inconsisten- 
 cy of the Iraelites in connecting themselves with heathen 
 nations more than this. As a cake not turned in baking 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 125 
 
 would be half bread and half dough, so their religion was a 
 confustd mixture of gentile abominations, and of something 
 which resembled true worship We have a very expressive 
 word which exactly rep*resents this condition : Tcaclid Isdi, an 
 unbaked Christian. We fear that, like most new converts 
 from Hinduism and Islamism — particularly if they are un- 
 learned and of low caste, our poor Tharus are of this unripe 
 and crude form. But the thought that you can only bake a 
 cake one side at a time, and that if you have the patience to 
 keep turning it, it will become paJcM, or properly cooked on 
 both sides, i. e. mature and perfect, gives us great hope and 
 comfort. 
 
 In the evening we went with a party to Bhushahr, while 
 the rest of the brethren went to Banhatwd. Both parties 
 were much encouraged, and realized the fact that the •? Lord of 
 the harvest "is working with us. In the former we witness- 
 ed a religious ceremony they call ddridr-kh ednd, or driving 
 out poverty. Doubtless the Tharus have borrowed this cus- 
 tom from the Hindus. In every house the eldest daughter or 
 wife takes the sieve or winnowing basket from the thrashing 
 floor, and beating it in every corner and behind every large 
 jar, exclaims, "Ishwav paitho, ddridr niklo ! " i.e. Enter, 
 O God ! depart, O Poverty ! We saw no harm in such a 
 pious observance j but rather a rite to be properly directed 
 and encouraged. After this we had a regular preaching 
 service, in which we put special emphasis on the fact that, 
 "godliness is profitable unto all things," (1. Tim 4: 8). It 
 is true "godliness," belief in God and his son Jesus Christ ; 
 observance of the laws of God in Christ ; and a religious life 
 of love arising out of this belief and observance, which gives 
 prosperity and drives out poverty from our hearts and 
 homes. All this, and much more spoken in simple language, 
 made a good impression upon all present. 
 
 Camp, Siswa, 26th March. — Finding we had accomplished 
 all we had prayed for it bringing back our Tharu converts, 
 and in confirming and strengthening them in the things they 
 
126 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 had learned and had attained unto ; and finding the heat had 
 increased to such a degree that it would be dangerous to risk it 
 longer in the forest, we determined to strike tents this morn- 
 ing and march slowly back to Balrarapur via Pachperwa, the 
 latter as large and important a town as Tulsipur. Having help- 
 ed Brothers J. Downey and Kanhai Lai over to the house put 
 up for them near Bhushahr, and committing them to the tender 
 mercy and watchful care of our heavenly Father, we started 
 for Siswd. As we were riding quietly along on our hill-pony 
 we were met by Rdm-Ratn, who asked us to make a detour 
 and visit his father. When we reached his village we found 
 the old man had got ready the chhappar, grass-roofed 
 school-house, and had collected a number of boys as the 
 nucleus of a flourishing school. The old man seemed now 
 as eagerly to please us as he was before to oppose us. But 
 the particular reason for his sending for us was, to say that 
 he had been visited by some of the leading men of Dumri, a 
 Tharu village to the east, and which we had not visited two 
 years ago J and that they wanted to know what they had 
 done that the " Sahib " should not visit them, and give the 
 chinh and the dshtsk, the sign and the blessing, i.e. bap- 
 tism, as he had given to all the other Tharus. We replied 
 we were quite ready to go at once, though out of our way, and 
 the sun already well up in the sky, and have service among 
 them. Rdm-Ratn offered to go with us to act as our guide, 
 as we had to travel through a part of the forest. After a 
 ride of three miles along a broken road we came to Dumri. 
 Not knowing we were coming, most of the people were away 
 reaping their fields, but Rdm-Ratn gathered the few there 
 were left in the village, and we had service with them. 
 They said they were ready to be baptized, but as their head- 
 man was absent they would wait till his return. So we ar- 
 ranged for Brothers J. Downey and Kanhai Lai to visit and 
 instruct them, till we could come that way again. On our 
 way to camp, just on the edge of one part of the forest, we 
 saw a sanydsi, or a supposed religious mendicant, who in 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 127 
 
 the abandonment of all worldly things is looked upon by 
 the people as a very holy man. But he must be sincere, ei- 
 ther by having made great sacrifices to become a sanydsi, 
 or by doing real penance and suffering real self-denial. If 
 he has become a tapasurin, or devotee, from necessity, then 
 the people say : 
 
 Nar mari, ghar abdndsi, 
 Munh munre bhde sanydsi ! 
 i.t. the wife dead, the house in safety (or secured to him), 
 his head shaved, behold our brother the devotee ! If he is 
 only playing at religious austerities, they say : 
 Dekhd-dekhi Tcije jog, 
 Chhije Tcdyd bdrhe rog. 
 i.e. they who only imitate others in austerities, waste away, 
 and their diseases increase. Our friend was sitting in his 
 Tcuti, or grass roof supported on four poles, in all the glory of 
 his nude simplicity. We talked of Him who "came into the 
 world to save sinners" and who for our sakes became the 
 poorest of the poor, that we " through his poverty might be- 
 come rich." (2. Cor. 8-9). He promised to come on to Sis- 
 tod and hear more of this wonderful Saviour. Suffered some- 
 what from the heat before reaching our tents. Camped in 
 the same timber-yard as we did when going. The forest 
 ranger in charge of this station very kindly supplied us 
 with wood, milk, ghi, and flour. He is a Musalman, and an 
 old faithful servant of Government. He and the dih-lfhudd, 
 or head-man of the village, came in the evening : and to 
 them, and to those who came with them, we preached the 
 "Name" of Christ Jesus, as the only means of approach to 
 God for eternal life and salvation. The head-man of the 
 village made objection that we Christians were divided into 
 so many sects that it was impossible to know which to be- 
 lieve for the truth. We answered that this was no more an 
 objection against Christianity than the fact of one hundred 
 sects among Mohamedans (see Aind-e-Isldm, Mission Press, 
 Lucknow) is an objection against Isldmism. The objection 
 
128 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 against Islamism is much greater ; for this reason that the 
 Moslem sects all differ on essential points, which put each 
 outside the pale of salvation. Among the Christian sects 
 very few differ on essentials ; while all the great Protestant 
 denominations agree as to the vital doctrines of the Bible, 
 and only agree to disagree on non-important points ; in fact 
 they are like the Queen's army which has three distinct 
 arms of the service, these again divided into many parts 
 each with its own uniform and name ; but all owing and 
 giving loyal allegiance to Her Majesty the Empress-Queen. 
 This argument seemed to silence our friend ; for after 
 displaying his Musalmnn courtesy, he took his leave. After 
 the sun had gone down we all went to a small hamlet of 
 cowherds, and gathering a few together and seating them 
 near us, we discoursed of that God who claims that " the 
 cattle upon a thousand hills are mine ;" and that "he causeih 
 the grass to grow for the cattle" (Ps. 50-10 ; 104-14). Then 
 we showed how much more valuable they were than cattle ; 
 and how much more the great God had done for them in 
 Christ Jesus. These hungry souls followed us to our tents, 
 where the native brethren took them in hand, singing to 
 them and instructing them further till it was time to retire. 
 Some of these dear souls we hope to meet in the happy land 
 far away. 
 
 Camp, Pachperwd, 27th March. — Started with a guide at 
 five o'clock this morning, to avoid the heat of the sun. It 
 was a fresh pleasant ride through the harvest fields in which 
 men, women, and children were already out cutting the 
 wheat and binding the sheaves, and carrying the latter to 
 the thrashing floors. Here and there you see a Musalman 
 contractor standing watching the busy laborers, contrasting 
 very vividly by his full white native suit of clothes with 
 the almost naked dusky forms of the harvesters. These 
 contractors had previously bought up the whole standing 
 crops, and now were the lords of the harvest. We stopped 
 to tell them of the true M Lord of the Harvest" who bought 
 
TDHfi GOSPEL IN GOfcDA. 1*2$ 
 
 * with a jmce " all the standing human crops of the world, 
 including themselves ; and sent us with the sickle of his word 
 among them to reap., Many a poor villager that morning, 
 paused from his cutting or binding for a moment, to listen 
 more attentively to the " wonderful words of life" ; and we 
 believe those words were not spoken in vain. A few miles 
 from camp we met a Jcdyath, a Hindu, proceeding from a 
 leshatriya father and a Sudra mother, who turned out to be 
 quite a genius in his way. As he was going to Pachperwd, we 
 entered into conversation with him. Little did we know 
 when we asked him, if he was " parhe hue, " i. e. well read, 
 what a flood-gate of poetry we should open ! He gave us at 
 least two miles of it. We found he was a great admirer of 
 Bihari Ldl, the Godlidr (Gwalior) poet, who wrote a book 
 containing 700 dohds, or distichs, in the Braj-bhdshd, or 
 common language. This book is named the Satsaiyd. Ai> 
 other Hindustani poet writes of this work : — 
 
 Braj-bhdshd barni Tcabin bahu bidh buddhi bilds, Sab lean bhu- 
 hhan Satsaiyd Jcari Bihdri Dds. The meaning of which is : — 
 The poets, each according to his capacity, have displayed the 
 beauties of the braj-bhdshd, but Bihdri Ldl composed the 
 Satsaiyd, which is the jewel of the whole. We said to our 
 loquacious friend, that while we wondered at his capacious 
 memory, we could not admire the theology of his poet, especi- 
 ally what he writes in favor oifate (" hotabyatd" ). If every 
 thing that happens was preordained, then what is the 
 meaning of heaven and hell, rewards and punishments ; 
 and why do you perform ddn-punya, charity and virtue, to 
 escape the one and gain the other 1 He was greatly puzzled 
 at these questions ; so the remaining part of the journey we 
 preached man as a responsible sinner ; and Jesus Christ 
 man's Great Saviour. Found our tents pitched in a magnifi- 
 cent park of mango trees. There is only one other bdy.li, or 
 park, like this in the whole district, and that is the grand 
 one near the " nilkothi," or blue-house, in BaJrampur. 
 These dm trees (magnifera Indica) are ever green ; and as soon 
 
130 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 as the young shining leaves appear the old dry ones fall ; so 
 that the ground all over the park is covered with these fallen 
 leaves ancle-deep. Spaces round the tents have been swept 
 clean, and now the bhujwds, parchers of corn, are carrying 
 away the heaped up leaves in their wicker baskets to burn 
 and roast their grain with. The ripe fruit of these prolific 
 trees is called dm; and the small unripe mango is named 
 ambiyd. From this latter is made a most delicious custard 
 which in mongrel language is named " mango-fool " but the 
 right name of which is dmphal, mango-fruit. These dry 
 leaves are useful at night for indicating the approach of 
 snakes, wolves, thieves, et hoc genus omne ; and then heaped 
 together and set fire to : they help to purify the air. Some- 
 times you see these leaves packed up into great heaps like 
 hay stacks, kept for future use. We are well protected in 
 this place, for only a few yards away to the south is a police 
 station ; and there to the north the native Collector's house, 
 and a traveller's bungalow. To the south-west of us is also 
 a large bazar with a post office in it ; so that we find our- 
 selves in quite a civilized place. We had not been long in 
 camp before a messenger came to ask if we could see the 
 Thdndddr, or police officer in charge. And soon this pompous 
 officer was offering the hilt of his sword to touch, always 
 a sign of submission, and seated talking to us of our Tharu 
 work. As he was a Musalman, we were not surprised to 
 hear him say that he approved of our work among these 
 people. We noticed fastened on his right arm, just above 
 the elbow, the Imdm Zdmin Jed rupiyd, a piece of coin dedi- 
 cated to Imdm Zdmin, or guardian saint. It is always 
 fastened on the arm of a person about to leave home, as a 
 charm for averting evil : if in great want, he may spend it, 
 not otherwise. Our friend had not spent his, so he could 
 not have been in want; indeed his whole person and ap- 
 pearance indicated that he had always lived in clover : or 
 as a Native would express it, with his five fingers in clari- 
 fied butter. Referring to the silver charm upon his arm, 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 131 
 
 we asked him how he reconciled it with his belief in the 
 universal presence of an all-protecting God ? He laughed, 
 and said it was one of the ways of the world he had fallen 
 into. We were then led on to speak of Christ and his 
 supreme claims upon us. We quoted from the Quran to show 
 that Mohammed spoke of Christ as born of the Virgin (Ibna 
 Mariyam yauma walidatu) as dying (yauma amautu) and as 
 rising from the dead (yauma abasu hayan) (see Arabic Quran, 
 Surat-Mariyam, 422 page, 4th line). And also that, in this 
 same surat or chapter, Mohammed put in claims for Christ, he 
 nowhere puts in for himself. For instance, Mohammed calls 
 special attention (innamd) to Christ as the Prophet of God 
 ( Rasul-ullah) ; the Word of God ("Kalamat-uTlah") ; and the 
 Spirit of God which (came) from him (" wa Ruh mina hu") 
 Our friend, who knew something of his Quran, tried to 
 explain the last phrase, by saying that we are all the spirits 
 of God come from him. We answered that was to make his 
 prophet trifle on a most important subject, by making a 
 distinction without a difference. This kind of trifling is 
 expressed in Native common idiom by, wuh makhi mdrtd 
 hai" i. e. he is killing flies ! He did not want his prophet 
 to kill flies; so he had to acknowledge that his prophet meant 
 something by these phrases. We also dwelt particularly on the 
 fact that nowhere in the Quran does Mohammed speak of him- 
 self as a Saviour. All the Quran says of this supposed prophet 
 is : Fdinnamd ala rasul-nalbildghul mubinu, i. e. Verily the 
 duty incumbent upon our apostle (is) only public-preaching y 
 (see chapter on Deceit, 12th verse). But this is just what the 
 poor sinner needs ; not a sword at his throat; but a Saviour to 
 atone and save. This is just what Jesus Christ claims to 
 be — a Saviour. He is a Saviour, Christ the Lord. (Luke 
 2 : 11 ; Math. 1: 21, &c). This dear man seemed very much 
 impressed in the end. We invited him to our service in the 
 evening, and he promised to come. In the afternoon we also 
 received a visit from Jai Govind, the Tahsilddr of Pachperwa. 
 He is a Hindu in the service of the Mahar&ni and has the 
 
132 THE GOSPEL IN GOND-A. 
 
 whole management of the Tharii country, under the general 
 manager, Major A — .We had been very anxious to see this 
 gentleman, so as fully to explain to him our relation to 
 the Thariis ; so we were glad of this opportunity granted us. 
 "We found him very affable and most agreeable in conversation. 
 Though a Hindu, we found him a good Urdu and Persian 
 scholar, and quite at home with Sadi and Hafk. It was 
 a great pleasure to hear him talk. We were scon on good 
 terms ; and we had the privilege of not only explaining our 
 Tharu work ab novo usque ad mala> or as the Bdgh-o-Bdhdv 
 would say. az sav-o-pd, hom head to foot, but also of explaining 
 to him the leading principles of our Holy Religion. He 
 seemed much interested in our brief account of the 
 promise of a Saviour ; His wonderful appearance and still more 
 wonderful life ;. his death for the atonement o£ sin ;. and his 
 resurrection and ascension for the justification and eternal 
 life of all who will believe on,, and accept him as thein 
 Saviour. He confessed on leaving that these were the greatest 
 truths he had ever listened to, and promised to think and 
 pray over them.. We told him if he would sincerely ask 
 God every night and morning for a week for light on these 
 subjects, and for grace to act up to that light,, that at the 
 end of that time he could not help becoming a disciple of 
 Jesus Christ. We look upon this man as an inquirer, and 
 shall so pray for him. In the mean time our brethren were 
 out in the hamlets and bazar fishing for men. They found 
 two Bunyds who had been baptized two years ago among 
 the Thariis. They acknowledged this, and said,, they were 
 chelds, or disciples of Jesus Christ.. Brother J. Downey has 
 since reported well of these men.. So it was worth itinerat- 
 ing to- this place to find these two dear souls. 
 
 Tn the evening we all went into the large bazar where- 
 we found about fifty Qosainyds, a class of Hindus who claim 
 direct descent from the deity, smeared with ashes, and inpuri&< 
 uaturalibis. We took some seats they gave us, and seating 
 ©Airselves among, them, began our service of song, and prayer^ 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 133 
 
 and exhortation. We dwelt especially on the words, "All 
 have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Rom. 3:23). 
 To convince of sin we laid particular stress on two points : 1. 
 The universality of sin : 2. The special effects of sin ; it separates 
 from God ; and it sets up self in his place. To show the 
 necessity of a Saviour we insisted, 1. No man in this 
 condition can save himself: 2. No man in this state can 
 save another man : 3. God alone must save man. Hence 
 man's true Saviour is the sinless Gosainyd, who by his spotless- 
 life and resurrection from the dead proved his direct descent 
 from the one Godhead. This Gosainyd is Jesus Christ,, 
 in whose name we have authority to offer pardon of sin r 
 peace of conscience,, and eternal life. These poor souls 
 were so impressed by the truth thus presented in simple idiom 
 to their minds, that with one accord they arose and greeted u& 
 with, "Satya! Satya /" This is true I This is true! We 
 invited them over to our tents ; but a rich Hindu in the* 
 place had prepared' a special dinner for them, and so they 
 «ould not come iherx. But they promised to come after the 
 " bard khdna," big dinner. We waited till ten o'clock at 
 night, and then, as we had to march next morning, we all 
 retired. About one o'clock that night the quiet and rest of the 
 whole Camp were stirred and disturbed by these fifty would-be-. 
 Gosainyas coming into camp and crying : — " We want to hear 
 more of the truth/" We were obliged, even at that hour,, 
 to arise and say something that would encourage them to» 
 come at a more reasonable time on another occasion. We pointed, 
 out our line of march,, and gave them our address in Gonda» 
 We hope to hear more of some of these men after our return,, 
 to our home-station.. 
 
 Camp, Garsari, 2.8bh March. — We were awakened early 
 this morning by Bhujdn calling and telling us that Brothers; 
 J. Downey and Kanhai Lai, whom we had left at Chandan- 
 pur, had come into camp and wished to see us. As soon as 
 they came into the tent they had a long story to tell us o£ 
 one Faiz Khdn, lord of grace,, a. viydsat-chaprasi, peon o£ 
 
134 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 the Native Government ; that he had been giving them a 
 great amount of trouble ; had taken the axes from the Tha- 
 rus working for us ; and had, on his own authority, stopped 
 the working of our school at Vishnpiir. We went at once to 
 Jai Govind, our courteous and friendly Tahsildar ; and after 
 the Brethren had stated their case to him, he at once had a 
 parwdnd, or order, written out for this " lord of grace " to 
 make his instant appearance at Pachperwa, and answer for 
 the above transactions. He then answered our brethren that 
 they should have no more trouble from the "lord of grace," or 
 from any one else over whom he had any authority. Being 
 satisfied, the brethren returned to camp for rest and refresh- 
 ment, and then back to their work at Chandanpiir. The Tah- 
 sildar then requested us to see his garden. He kindly took 
 us all round a good, well-kept fruit and flower garden. We 
 saw a number of papaiyd fruit trees (carica papaya). He 
 had a number of these papaiyds and limes collected and sent 
 to camp for us. He alse showed us a climbing plant the Na- 
 tives call " chhotd chdnd" the little moon, (ophioxylon ser- 
 pentinum), the roots of which, he assured us, were an excel- 
 lent remedy for snake bites. These roots, dried and powder- 
 ed, are applied externally to the bitten part, while a decoction 
 of them is given to the poisoned person to drink. We fear, 
 however, in the case of a bite from a cobra or karait, these 
 roots would be no remedy at all ; at least we should be sorry 
 to neglect more effectual means to try them. It was quite 
 late when we had our tents struck, our carts loaded, and we 
 had started for the next camp. There was a strong east 
 wind blowing, and that greatly modified the fore-noon heat. 
 The first few miles of the road was covered with rich green as 
 soft and smooth as velvet, and we were deluded into the idea 
 that we should have this kind of pleasant road all the way. 
 But we were soon stripped of this happy delusion. The first 
 obstacle we met was a deep gully with precipitous sides and 
 three feet of mud in the bottom. We had to dismount and 
 get our pony down as best we could, and then remounting 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GOXDA. 135 
 
 had to struggle through the soft sticky mud. All our carts 
 came to grief in this glutinous mass. Never did tents, bed- 
 diDg and furniture present such a torn, broken, mud-lark ap- 
 pearance as ours did when they came into camp! and then 
 the tenaciousness of that clay was something that seemed to 
 withstand all the water that was brought from the well, and 
 all the strength there was in Bhujan's arms. The worse part 
 of it was one of the gariwdns, cartman, when his cart tilted 
 over, received some severe injuries. ^Ve had the poor fellow 
 attended to, with what remedies we could command, and then 
 had "him put into an empty cart, and sent to his village, 
 which was only a few miles off. The other impediments we met 
 with were another deep water-course, and the wide sandy bed 
 of the river Bhambar ; but these hindrances were as noth- 
 ing compared to the first difficulty. The delightful alternate 
 parts of the road, however, made up amply for all obstacles we 
 met with. The soft verdure at our feet, the reapers at work 
 in the harvest fields on either side, and the cool east wind 
 bringing the scent of the newly cut wheat, like the sweet 
 odour of freshly mown hay, all made the march cheery and 
 bright as we rode along. In fact we had only to shut our eyes 
 and imagine we heard the mowers sharpening their scythes 
 for cutting down the rich grass mixed with the cowslips, blue- 
 bells, and daisies, to fancy ourselves in merry old England. 
 But the sound of music makes us open our eyes, and there to 
 our left a large Musalman village, with a number of ruined 
 mosques in and about it, and round this village on every side, the 
 standing ripe crops rustling in the wind waiting for the hasi- 
 yds, sickles, and the binding throngs. In a large field touch- 
 ing on the road, some thirty reapers were harvesting in a line, 
 while on their right stood two men playing with all their 
 might and main, the one a tambourine and the other a flute. 
 iNever did we see sickles flash, and backs bend, and sheaves fall 
 as quickly and regularly as those we stood watching. The 
 music inspired and encouraged them to work in a way no 
 threats nor bribery possibly could. The contractor, who hit 
 
136 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 on this plan, was a wise and subtle man in his generation. And 
 as we thus left them working away to the sound of this simple 
 music, we thought, if we Gospel harvesters in the fields, ripe 
 for sickle and garner, could only have the ear of faith to catch 
 the rapturous tones of the angels' songs and the sweet melody 
 from the Mediatorial Throne, with how much more courage 
 and energy and spirit should we reap for the great Lord of 
 the harvest ! " And yet the songs and the melody are all 
 about us, if we had only "ears to hear" "Lord increase our 
 faith" is the prayer that should Le continually going up from 
 our hearts and lips. 
 
 After we had cleaned up and partially repaiied our soiled and 
 damaged things, we divided our party, one going into the vil- 
 lage Gisari, near, and the other to a village two miles dis- 
 tant to the south. We went with the latter, and found a ham- 
 let of 150 houses, mostly Brahman s. There were a few houses 
 of jogi Hindus ; not the ascetic class, but a tribe of weavers. 
 The people of this class do not burn but bury their dead; and 
 when they can do it with impunity, they bury the widow alive 
 with her husband's corpse, to avoid the trouble and expense of 
 keeping her. The headman, well on in years, came out 
 to meet us, and procuring some bedsteads, he had them placed 
 on a grass-covered piece of high grcund near the village well, 
 and courteously invited us to be seated. "With the excep- 
 tion of one or two jogi weavers, all the rest who ga- 
 thered round us, some thirty in all, wore the janeo, or Brah- 
 manical thread, so we knew with whom we had to deal. We 
 found these sons of Brahma, or the highest, were nearly all 
 Vaishnavs, or followers of Vishnu : indeed the marks of 
 the trident and the lotus-flower stamped upon their foreheads, 
 breasts and arms, proclaimed who they were. The book these 
 Brahmans read and study most is the Vishnu-pwr ana, one of 
 the sacred and poetical works of the Hindus, supposed to 
 have been compiled and composed by the poet Vyasa, and com- 
 prising the whole body of Hindu theology. Of the eighteen 
 pardnas, the last, or the Bhdgwat, or life of Krishna the black 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 137 
 
 •god, is the most popular next to the above, and that part 
 of the Bhdgvat called the Premsdgar, or Ocean of Love, is the 
 most familiar to common people. We commenced by singing 
 a bhdjan, and offering prayer ; and then we addressed them 
 on the three universal realities, God, Man, and the Mediator 
 between God and man ; and then, on the Oneness in nature of 
 each. We had finished our subject, and seeing the good im- 
 pression made thereby, was about to give our usual invitation 
 to accept this "One Mediator," and become his disciples, when 
 a young enthusiastic Vaisnav a, came just then from an ad- 
 jacent village, and without having heard a word of our dis- 
 course or being acquainted with its subject, began quoting 
 from the Bhdgwut, that Sht*i Krishna was the only true incar- 
 nation, and that they wanted no new religion. It was too late 
 to begin and go over the points of our lecture again ; so 
 ^we were driven by sheer necessity to show up the true charac- 
 ter of their favorite god. Before doing so however, we were 
 particular in stating that, what we had to say regarding the 
 "black god" was not something evolved out of our own con- 
 sciousness, but what we actually found written in their 
 own books. In the Bhdgvat he is called Kans-hatyd, 
 the murderer of Kans ; "mdhhan-chor" the butter stealer ; 
 and it is related of him that he went one day to the river Jum- 
 na where the gopis, or cowherds' wives, were bathing, and steal- 
 ing all their clothes, carried them up to a "kadam" tree 
 (Nauclea Orientdlis), and then made them come before him 
 in puris naturalibis. He then had Jcrird, or sport, with them ; 
 and hence was named " gopi-Jcrird-wat," or sportive with the 
 the gopis. Now, we asked, was such a character worthy of 
 being the Incarnation of a just, holy, and pure God 1 Surely 
 when the true Avatar comes into the world he will have some 
 " upamd" or likeness to the 'Supreme Being, whose nature 
 he is supposed to possess ? Then we pressed home the blessed 
 fact that Jesus Christ was and is proved to be, a High Priest 
 which " became us, holy, guileless, undefiled, separated from 
 dinners, and made higher than the heavens" (Heb. 7 : 26) ^ 
 
138 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 and that he is the " effulgence of his " (God's) "glory, and the 
 very image of his substance" (Heb. 1 : 3). Finally, we urged : 
 "When you can show us from the 18 purans any god, goddess, 
 or incarnation that can in the faintest represent what we 
 believe the great Creator and Preserver of all things in heaven 
 and earth to be — an almighty, omnipresent, omniscient, just, 
 good, holy, and pure God, then we shall have something to 
 say about the claims of such. This silenced our young Vaish- 
 nava, and we gave our invitation to believe on Christ and ac- 
 cept him as their present Saviour and future High Priest and 
 spiritual guide. Three or four were very visibly affected, and 
 would, doubtless, have declared themselves on our side, were it 
 not for the fear they seemed to be in of this young Brahman. 
 "We fancy he was the zaminddr, or headman's, son. However, 
 a good impression was made, and we believe many hearts pres- 
 ent acknowledged Jesus Christ to be the true Saviour of their 
 souls. 
 
 Camp, Tulsipur, 29th March. — Riding along the smooth 
 grassy road this morning our heart was all aglow with thank- 
 fulness for the rich standing corn we could see, stretching in 
 waving beauty as far as the eye could reach on every side. God 
 has indeed crowned this year with his goodness. What an aw- 
 ful calamity when the harvest season comes round and there are 
 no standing crops. In speaking of one of the evils that should 
 fall on Ephraim for his departure from God, the prophet says : 
 " Be hath no standing corn ; the blade shall yield no meal." 
 Only those who are acquainted with Oriental life can fully re- 
 alize the misery to every household this implies. In the early 
 dawn every house is alive with the sounds of the grindstone 
 and the songs of the two women urning the same. But now 
 all is silent as death, for there is no corn thus to grind into meal, 
 and gaunt hungry wolfish famine is abroad in the land. Thank 
 God, there is no fear of famine now ! Saw a big whirl wind, but 
 in the distance this time, and how it went careering on in 
 wonderful rapidity of motion catching up every thing in its 
 vortex, until it seemed to spend itself and die away on the 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 139 
 
 horizon. We thought of the prophet's words : " For they sow 
 the wind, and they shall reap the whirl-wind." Met a man on 
 the road with his wife 'trudging behind him, (a native woman 
 never walks alongside of her husband,) with all the property 
 they possessed in the world upon her head. He seemed out 
 of spirits and in no very good temper. Still, after a time he 
 began to talk, and let us know he was travelling on to Bal- 
 rampiir to seek for service in the lidj, or Native Govern- 
 ment, there. He had been a contractor for supplying wood 
 for building, etc., and had miserably failed, when he thought 
 he was confident of success, then his troubles came upon him. 
 He used a very striking idiom to express his condition : — 
 " Kurydl men ghuleld lagdf literally, while trimming its 
 wings it is struck by a pellet. To understand the force 
 of this idiom you must see a bird sitting at ease on a branch 
 and in its security trimming its wing with its beak, when 
 suddenly a stone from a sling comes and strikes it to the 
 ground. Hence it means, that he fell into misfortune when 
 sure of success. We tried to comfort him by directing his 
 attention to that Saviour who said : " Come unto me, all 
 ye that labor and are heavy laden, and 1 will give you rest." 
 (Matt. 11 : 28). Found camp pitched in the old place, and 
 that the Tahsilddr of Tulsipur had sent us a good rasad, or 
 necessary provisions for camp. This gentleman paid us a 
 visit now as he paid us one on our way to the Tharus. He 
 was anxious to know how we succeeded among them. He 
 seemed glad when we informed him that we had started 
 schools among them. He promised to help us all he could 
 as Tahsildar of this place, whenever any of our brethren pass- 
 ed to or from the Tharu country. Like his brother collect- 
 or of Pachperwa, he is a scholar, but on the Sanscrit side 
 of literature. In the course of conversation he inquired what 
 was the difference between our doctrine of the Trinity 
 and the belief of the Hindus. We answered that our doctrine 
 was based upon the teachings of a book which the wisest 
 and most learned and the best of mankind had logically 
 
140 THE GOSPEL IN GOflDA. 
 
 proved to be a revelation from God ; and that this boofi: 
 taught that our Trinity was in the Unity of the Godhead — 
 not three Gods, but three persons in on# God-nature. Where- 
 as their belief was based upon writings which could not 
 by any mode or process of reasoning, be proved a divine rev- 
 elation ; and that these writings taught Brahma, Vish- 
 nu, and Shiva, to be three distinct Gods without any unity. 
 This is proved from the "'gun " or quality of disposition 
 ascribed to each. In Brahma " raja," or love of sensual enjoy- 
 ments, prevails ; in Vishnu, ^satya," or benevolence ; and in 
 Shiva, " tama," or irascibility, or promptitude to the vindic- 
 tive passions. How can there be unity of thought,. purpose r 
 or action in three Gods with three such totally opposite 
 characters and dispositions ? And were not the 1st, 5th, and 
 8th pur arts written to- show the superiority of Brahma over 
 Vishnu and of the latter over Shiva % Now, as there cannot 
 be a triangle without the unity of three lines and three angles, 
 so there cannot be a true trinity without the unity of 
 the three persons in it ; but the Hindu trinity lacks this 
 essential unity ; therefore it is not a true trinity : and must 
 not claim comparison with the Christian doctrine of the Tri- 
 nity. He confessed that he had received new light oru 
 the subject, and thanked us for our patience in explain- 
 ing the difference to him. He also told us he had not 
 forgotten the discourse we gave when last in this place ; and 
 that he hoped to visit us in Gonda. Our prayers went with 
 him on leaving us, that he might soon be brought to decide 
 for the Lord Jesus, and give himself up to the worship and 
 service of God through him. 
 
 Camp, Balrdmpur, 3 1st March. — We skip over yesterday, be- 
 cause it was simply occupied in marching to this our old 
 camping ground. We remained over at Ramnagar for the 
 night, visiting our inquirers there, and then came on here 
 this morning. Soon after our arrival we were called to visit 
 a sick Christian family in the city. Here we had prayer and 
 Heading of the scriptures, which the Lord greatly owned and 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONI>A. 141 
 
 blessed. Then we visited Natha, a bandsman of the Maha- 
 rani, and his family. Natftia had been baptized in Lucknow, 
 but his wife and children we baptized here a few months ago.. 
 He and his wife have both been earnest workers for the 
 Great Master in the mohalla, or parish in which they re- 
 side. A number of their Hindu neighbors came in and we 
 had a short service for them. The Lord was in our midst 
 speaking through his own blessed word. The wife of the Ne- 
 palese blacksmith, whom we baptized on our way to the Tha- 
 rus, was present with her child. She had been instructed by 
 Natha's wife during our absence, but the Lord opened her 
 heart fully in this meeting, and coming forward and put- 
 ting &er child at our feet, asked to be made a disciple of 
 Jesus, as her husband had been made, so w r e gladly bap- 
 tized her and her child. Thea we paid a visit to the Band- 
 master and his family. The Mahdrdni keeps up a good 
 band of music, which practices every morning under the 
 able teaching of Mr. A., an old pensioned Band-master 
 of a Native Regiment. This Band accompanies the bari 
 Mahdrdni, or great queen, as there are two queen widows r 
 whenever she pays official visits to the Government autho- 
 rities in Lucknow or Gonda or elsewhere. The great queen 
 widow always courteously lends this Band for scnyfete there- 
 may be carried on in Bahraich or Gonda or Faizabad- 
 Our visit to the Band Master was a welcome one, for these 
 dear people only see a minister at long intervals. The Agent,. 
 Major A., and his lady always have service once on the Sabbath 
 day for the few Christians in the station ; so that these " sheep" 
 in the wilderness are not altogether neglected. In fact Major 
 A. and Mrs. A. are both a very great help and blessing to the 
 Christian families, and to our work in general in this capital 
 of a Native State. After this pleasant pastoral and social 
 visit, we returned and had service at our tent. The Native 
 Doctor and his assistants came to it, so that there was a 
 goodly number present, and we had a successful meeting. 
 From this time the Native Doctor has been a sincere in- 
 
142 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 quirer, and exchanges visits with our Native preachers con- 
 tinually. From a medical point of view, too, he has been 
 of great disinterested service to our Native Christian fami- 
 lies in Balrampur. We believe the Lord has enlightened 
 his mind and touched his heart, and all that remains for 
 him to do is to openly acknowledge Christ in baptism ; 
 and this we hope and pray he may soon be led to do. 
 
 In the evening we had the pleasure of visiting the 
 Agent, Major A., to represent our work among the Tharus, 
 and solicit such aid as he could legitimately give us. 
 While there at the nil JcotJii, the blue house, " chdnd murat," 
 moon-faced, the largest elephant in Balrampur, if not in 
 India, was brought to be inspected by and to pay his respects 
 (by making a saldm, or peace-motion, with his giant trunk) 
 to the Agent. He is kept principally for the "Medd," 
 or hunting wild elephants in the forest. A large open 
 trap or enclosure is formed of strong palisades, into which 
 the trained tame elephants drive the wild ones. This en- 
 closure is called a Jchedd ; and the work of our monster 
 pachyderm, with his enormous proboscis and marvellously 
 large tusks, is to work the largest and fiercest wild elephant 
 into this training trap. The mahdwat (commonly written 
 mahout) or driver and keeper, has to drive this abnormal 
 brute ten or twelve miles every morning, when not out 
 hunting elephants and tigers, to keep his otherwise un- 
 manageable temper calm and smooth. When an animal 
 like this becomes mast, or intoxicated with passion, which it 
 sometimes does, it will spread terror for miles around. 
 In this drunken condition it has sometimes to be shot. 
 We remember an elephant of this kind getting loose 
 from his chains and keepers in Sitapur during the cold 
 season of 1872, and trumpeting, careering through the civil 
 station, tore down the verandahs (baramda) of houses and 
 the roofs of stables, uprooted young trees, kicked and 
 trampled some poor natives and a number of dogs and 
 donkeys to death, and spread general consternation and an 
 
THE GOSPEL IN G0NDA. 143 
 
 aw fill feeling of insecurity and dread all through the city 
 and station. All our children were out as usual "eating 
 the air," as the natives call it, and on the very road where 
 this mad creature w r as working destruction! Providentially 
 Mr. Gibson, then Assistant Commissioner, was out taking 
 his morning ride, and had just passed our children on his 
 way home, when he was w 7 arned of the approach of the 
 cruel, pitiless monster by the people running in every 
 direction crying, "mastdni hdthi ! " Remembering our dear 
 ones, with great presence of mind, he at once turned his 
 horse's head and galloped back to where they were coming 
 along, all unconscious of such near danger to their lives, 
 and had them put, much to their surprise, in the " liavaldt" 
 or police lock-up, for safety. No tongue can tell our grati- 
 tude to God when we saw Mr. Gibson, having made a long 
 detour for the purpose, galloping into our compound shouting, 
 "Your children are safe!" We only had such feelings once 
 before, when in Meerut on the evening of the 10th May 
 1857, dear wife and self with our first-born struggling 
 through the heavy sand, and trying to avoid the pinging of 
 the sepoys' bullets, and trying to escape the keen edge of the 
 3rd Cavalry swords, we reached the lines of the Carbineers, 
 and saw the blessed European faces of these light horsemen 
 coming swift to our rescue. Strange to say this gentle- 
 man, who, humanly speaking, saved our children, was 
 intimately associated with us in the Mutiny; fought knee 
 to knee ; and was with us at Nurpur, city of light, as tent- 
 comrade, when the letter came from Eev. Dr. Butler which 
 called us to this mission work. 
 
 Camp, Balrdmpur, 1st April. — Had service this quiet, (though 
 trying on account of the increased heat,) Sabbath morning. 
 The preachers, the Native Christian families of the place, the 
 Native Doctor and his friends, together with our camp ser- 
 vants and followers, all made up a congregation to whom 
 any iminister, notwithstanding the high state of the temper- 
 ature, would be inspired to preach. The " Lord of the har- 
 
1 44 THE GOSPEL IN G'ONDA. 
 
 ■vest " remembered us in this meeting, and gave both preacher 
 and people a present rich blessing. At 3 o'clock in the after- 
 noon we conducted service in English at Major A-.'s kothi, or 
 •house, and preached from Luke 7 : 50. Simple and unpre- 
 tending as the service was, many in it realized the truth 
 that, Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever ; that 
 he still speaks to every suppliant for saving mercy : " Thy 
 faith hath saved thee ; go in peace.' 1 '' After returning to our 
 -camp from this service we found a messenger from the " Chhoti 
 Mahdrdni, or minor queen, to go and visit her. Mrs. Knowles 
 ■had visited this young queen before, and we also bad the 
 pleasure of paying our respects to her once last year when en- 
 camped in the other park ; so we were not strangers to each 
 other. There was a law-suit pending between the major and 
 minor widows of the late Maharaja, Debbajai Singh, regarding 
 the will of the latter, whether the vast estates he left should be 
 equally divided between the widows in question, or whether 
 the whole property should go to an adopted heir with the senior 
 -queen as his guardian, and an annual allowance of 22,000 
 rupees made to the junior queen. The Privy Council in Eng- 
 land had just decided in favour of the Major Maharani ; and so 
 the Chhoti Maharani, as the junior queen is called, was in great 
 grief in consequence. But there is the queen's carriage at the 
 ■door, and the driver and horses are becoming impatient, so we 
 must jump in and away to the palace. We were met by the 
 manager, and taken into a court yard, and tlien into a veran- 
 dah room, where we found a chair and a round table. On the 
 latter was a large vase filled with beautiful flowers. Seating 
 ourselves and looking about, we noticed to our right a richly em- 
 •broidered curtain hung on brass rings ; and presently a pleas- 
 ant voice came from behind the screen : "Saldm, Sahib !" 
 Peace, Sir! i.e., how do you do, Sir, " Mazdj sharif?" Is 
 your honorable temper (in good condition) ? i. e., I hope your 
 honor is well. We replied in suitable language ; and then be- 
 gan a general conversation. She asked why we were out camp- 
 ing so late in the season, and this question gave us an oppor- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 145 
 
 tunity of telling her about our Tharu work. She was very 
 much interested in our narrative. This of course led us 
 to speak more directly of the claims of Jesus ; and we hope, 
 from the favorable responses she returned, that she had receiv- 
 ed some good from what we were able to say. A servant then 
 brought in some English scent and sprinkled it over us, and 
 also some cardamom seeds for us to chew. So, what with the 
 odour of kiss-me-quick, and the warm aromatic flavour of 
 the spice-plant, we were quite ready to take our leave of her 
 native Majesty. Mutual " saldms" or peace be on you, closed 
 the intercourse ; we can't say interview, for we were hid the 
 one from the other by the parda, or curtain, stretched between. 
 This Parda-nashin, or one who sits hid from the vulgar eye, 
 is intelligent, and for a native lady of rank, very well 
 read. She uses very good idiomatic Urdu. It was to further 
 this younger wife's education the late Maharaja applied to us 
 for a lady missionary to reside on a good salary in the 
 palace with her. A suitable lady had been corresponded with 
 on the subject, and had not the Maharaja met with his almost 
 tragic death, this lady missionary would most probably have 
 been appointed to teach this minor queen English, and instruct 
 her in music and other accomplishments. When in Gonda in 
 1865-6 we had the privilege of often visiting the late Maha- 
 raja, or great king, and speaking on the subject of religion. 
 We always sent him a copy of any tract we had printed and 
 published, which he always acknowledged. We presented 
 him also with a copy of the Holy Scriptures in Urdu ; in con- 
 nection with which we have much pleasure in here recalling a 
 very encouraging incident. When the Imperial Assembly at 
 Delhi in 1879 took place we were stationed in Skdhjahdnpur, 
 the city of the king of the world. We were informed one day 
 that the Maharaja of Balrampur was passing through on his 
 way to Delhi for the above occasion, and was staying for the 
 night at a small bungalow in Lodipur. We at once went to 
 visit him, and he very kindly received us. In talking of the 
 time when we last paid him a visit at his palace in Balrampur, 
 
M6 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 eity of the mighty Ram, his eyes brightened, and he said i 
 " Yes, I remember iSloat well, for you then gave me a copy of 
 the Holy Book." And then calling his servant he told him to 
 bring the two sacred volumes out. When the servant had 
 brought and laid them on the table near, the Maharaja lay- 
 ing his hand on them said : I often have my Munshi read 
 to me out of these books, and the words I hear are " qjib ha- 
 ten" wonderful words. We had then a conversation on the 
 subject of " NisJikalank avatar" the pure incarnation, which 
 made, I remember, a great impression on him. Being present 
 with Revs. Bishop Andrews and Dr. Waugh at this Imperial 
 Assembly, we tried to have another interview with him ; but there 
 was so much " dhum-dMm" pomp and parade, bustle and noise ;. 
 besides mutual visitings between the Viceroy, Lord Lytton r 
 and the Native kings,, princes, nobles, and chiefs assembled, that 
 it was impossible to obtain it. It was not till five or six years- 
 afterwards, on our re-appointment to Gonda, and being invit- 
 ed to Balrampur in common with the other residents, to 
 witness the opening of a new hospital, that we had the 
 pleasure and sorrow combined of seeing him. Pleasure 
 in conversing with an old respected friend ; and sorrow to see 
 the great physical weakness which had eome upon his once 
 strong wiry frame. The terrible accident which reduced him 
 to his then feeble conditio© had taken place. Out hunting ti- 
 gers in the Nepal jungles on an elephant's back in a large 
 houda, or litter with cane sides and seats in it for one or more 
 persons, he saw, and wounded a tigress. The savage brute 
 in an instant sprang on the elephant, tearing it frightfully, 
 when the latter became so frightened that it bolted straight be- 
 fore it into the forest of large trees, while the tigress still clung, 
 with its claws and teeth on to the poor scared brute. The mo- 
 ment this swiftly moving ponderous mass came in contact 
 with the thick strong branches of the trees, the houda with all 
 m it was swept from the elephant's back and went crashing ta 
 the earth. The Maharaja was picked up senseless only a few 
 yards from the fatally wounded tigress, which had caused all 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 1£7 
 
 tSre mischief. The Maharaja never recovered from the injuries 
 received in this accident. When he died our mission in Gon- 
 da lost a good friend. As the mind in its wonderful volition 
 goes swift as the lightning's flash from one subject to another, so 
 all these reminiscences were recalled by our visit to the Chhoti 
 Mahdrdni, and passed before our memory as we drove from 
 her palace to the nilkotki to dine that night with the Agent, 
 Major A. The next morning found our camp broken "up^; the 
 Native brethren gone to their several stations ; and we on our 
 way back to Gonda as fast as the post-horses of the minor 
 queen could carry us. A kind greeting and hospitable reception 
 at the Mission bungalow from Mi?ses Phoebe Rowe and Boyd, 
 make us for a time forget that our family were away at Naini 
 Tal. 
 
 5. Remarks and Questions called forth in the Indian 
 Witness on the work done in our Itinerating Tours, with our 
 answers to the same, which we sincerely hope will help to ex- 
 plain many misunderstood points, as well as be of some inter- 
 est to the reader. 
 
 (1) — The first is prefaced by a note written by the Editor. 
 " As we fully expected, the letter of Mr. Knowles, recently 
 published by us, has attracted a great deal of attention. The 
 Bombay Guardian is mistaken in supposing that there are a 
 good many Christians in the region where these conversions 
 eccur. So far from it, there had been very few conversions in 
 that region until recently. The mission at Gonda was estab- 
 lished in 1865, and for many years it made very little progress. 
 The only peculiarity about the present movement that we 
 know of is that stated by the Guardian : 
 
 "It is to be particularly observed that before thus going 
 forth, they wait upon the Lord until one and all have the faith 
 of expectation, the assurance that God will work with them ; 
 refusing to go forth so long as any one of their number has 
 any doubts about it." 
 
 It is the rule, not of three, but of two or three, illustrated. 
 Few Christians sufficiently realize the power of united 
 
148 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 faith. It is not enough that we believe but that we unite in 
 believing the same word of promise." 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 Sir, — I have read with deep interest, in your issue of the 
 8th instant, the notes of an itinerating tour in the Gonda 
 District, by Mr. Knowles. May I ask the writer, through 
 your columns, on behalf both of myself and of others who are 
 interested in the subject, for information on the following 
 points ? 
 
 1. What musical instruments does he use in his proces- 
 sions ; who are the musicians, and how are they trained ? 
 
 2. How does he contrive to collect a force of ten preachers 
 to accompany him on his tours *? 
 
 3. What afterwards became of the six converts who were 
 baptized on this occasion ? 
 
 4. Does he know whether they have hitherto continued 
 steadfast, and whether they are living exemplary Christian 
 lives % 
 
 5. Have the inquirers continued to show the interest they 
 did, and have any of them since visited Gonda for baptism or 
 for further instruction 1 
 
 6. Has Mr. Knowles in his experience found that, as a rule, 
 those who are baptized off-hand in the manner described, are 
 as firm in their attachment to Christianity, and as satisfac- 
 tory Christians generally, as those who have been tested for a 
 time before receiving the rite ? 
 
 Chamkaur, I2th Dec. E. N. 
 
 THE GONDA CONVERTS AND INQUIRERS. 
 
 Sib, — I have read, in your issue of the 22nd instant, the 
 questions propounded by E. N., with regard to our Gospel 
 work in Gonda, and am glad of the opportunity of answering 
 them. 
 
 1. ** The musical instruments " we use are of two kinds. 
 The first consists of a big English drum, a cornet, and a large 
 pair of cymbals ; and the second of two sitars, two dhols and 
 a triangle. The former we use to collect a crowd and call 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 149 
 
 attention, and the latter we use in our religious services after 
 we have collected and seated the crowd. 
 
 The " musicians " are the native preachers, who have trained 
 themselves to play to the tune of some of our most popular 
 bhajans : such as, " Jai Prabhu Yisu" " Yd jaga men" &c. 
 Before making a tour we all meet in Gonda, and spend a 
 week in prayer and study, and practising our musical instru- 
 ments to the tunes of the above hymns. Of course, we all play 
 by ear, and not by note. It is true we have not the skill 
 of Orpheus to entrance the rocks, and trees, and animals 
 around us ; but our sounds are modulated and trained enough 
 to please the native ear. At any rate, God has graciously 
 and forbearingly borne with and abundantly blessed these fee- 
 ble means of reaching the ear and heart and mind of the 
 native. 
 
 2. We easily " contrive to collect a force of ten preachers," 
 to accompany us on our tours, by simply calling in our preach 
 ers from the out-stations in our district, and inviting the 
 native preachers in the Bahraich district to join us. When 
 we started on the tour in question, our force was made up 
 of two ordained Native preachers, three local preachers, three 
 exhorters, and two colporteurs ; later on we were joined 
 at Nawabgunge by one ordained Native minister, and two 
 exhorters from Bahraich. 
 
 3. Four of the " six converts who were baptized on this oc- 
 casion," went back to live and work in their villages as usual ; 
 and the Parmhans, an ascetic, or one who is supposed to have 
 subdued all his senses, and Mahadeo faqirs have become un- 
 paid travelling preachers of the new Saviour in whom they 
 have believed. The first are under the care of our Native 
 preachers in Nawabgunge and Colonelgunge, who visit them 
 regularly and teach them more perfectly in the knowledge and 
 practice of Christ's reli gion ; and the second are to report to 
 us every month of their work, and receive the instruction they 
 need. These faqirs, and another we baptized in the month of 
 March last, go among their former disciples and try to gain 
 
1-50 THE GOSPEL IN t3GNDA. 
 
 them over to Christ, and are supported by what they collect in 
 food and money in their peregrinations in the district. I need 
 hardly remark that this plan plainly tends to solve the diffi- 
 cult question of the self-support of Native converts, and how 
 to -create an indigenous Christianity in the country ; for every 
 convert after his baptism who can live and work in his village 
 and act up to the light and knowledge he has received, must 
 become the "leaven" that will ultimately "leaven the whole 
 lump." It may excite fermentation in the village society, but 
 it will surely tend to turn many hearts to " the bread of life." 
 At least, I think we have gained a great advantage when we 
 can get the minds of the natives familiar with the fact that, it 
 is not necessary for a man, in order to become a Christian, to 
 tear himself away from all the old relationships of life, and 
 dress and eat and live in a compound, like the missionary ; 
 but that the new disciple of Jesus Christ can abide in the 
 same calling wherein he was called. 
 
 4. We can readily answer the first part of this question, for 
 we know that the six converts referred to have continued 
 steadfast in their new faith up to the present ; but we can- 
 not so easily answer the second part. " Whether they are liv- 
 ing exemplary Christian lives " or not. This would be a dif- 
 ficult question to answer, even if put with respect to young 
 converts from among European nominal Christians, who have 
 all their lives had a Christian home and Church training ; how 
 much more difficult dees it become when put in regard to Hin- 
 du and Musalman converts, just lifted up out of the depths of 
 the darkness and superstition and vice of idolatry ? The pre- 
 sent advice we give these three-weeks-old heathen converts is 
 as simple as that given by the Jerusalam Church in A. D. 51, 
 to the Gentle converts — " That ye abstain from meats offered 
 to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from 
 fornication : from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do 
 well." This counsel we have literally to give our Kori con- 
 verts, as they live mostly on the meat of animals which have 
 •died only a natural death, or have been offered in sacrifice to 
 
TE(E GOSPEL IN GONDA. 151 
 
 the idol Kali. But the simple teaching we give our converts at 
 first is, to pray night and morning in the name of Jesus Christ, 
 instead of in the name of It dm Sitd ; to abstain from all idolat- 
 rous acts especially in times of sickness, or in seasons of festi- 
 vity ; and to drink and smoke no intoxicating liquor or drug. 
 From the reports of our Native preachers who have spiritual 
 charge over them, these new converts are living up to this 
 simple teaching ; and here we may be allowed to remark that in 
 dealing with a new Native convert, the missionary must not 
 grasp him by the throat saying, " Pay me that thou owest," — 
 measure up to the perfect standard of an exemplary Christian 
 life, or I will cast thee out ; but must have a measure of that 
 infinite love and forbearance our Great Father has always 
 exercised towards himself. 
 
 5. Most of the enquirers have continued to show the in- 
 terest they did when first awakened. Numbers of them have 
 already been to our Native preachers in Nawabgunge and Col- 
 ©nelgunge for further instruction, and some of them are soon 
 to be baptized. A few have come to us in Gonda, to gain 
 more knowledge of Christ ; and two, a Kdyath and a Brah- 
 man faqir, are also soon to be received among us by baptism, 
 The Brahman faqir who heard us preach at Durjanpur Ghat,, 
 and has been going among the villages ever since, declaring 
 that Christ is the only Saviour and Judge of mankind. 
 
 6. In my experience I have found that those who have 
 been " baptized off-hand " are as firm in their attachment to 
 Christianity, and as satisfactory Christians generally, as those 
 who have been tested for a time before receiving the rite ; for 
 the simple reason that faith in Christ is the only condition at- 
 tached to baptism, and that we know requires no length of 
 time for its exercise* The moment a man believes on Christ, 
 that moment he is fit for baptism, without being tested for 
 even an hour of time ; and the man who starts in his religious 
 course with faith in Christ, by hearing the Word preached in 
 all its simplicity in his village, is more likely to be much firm- 
 er in his attachment to Christ, than the man who is brought 
 
152 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 into a missionary's compound to be tested by learning the com- 
 plicated formula of some particular Church. And, then, the 
 test of a man overcoming his shame, and conquering the fear of 
 an on-looking crowd of his own relations and caste, and com- 
 ing forward before the eyes of all, and receiving baptism from 
 a stranger's hand, is far greater and more reliable than the 
 doubtful test of keeping an enquirer for a certain length 
 of time, and then baptizing him in a church before an assem- 
 bly of sympathising Christians. 
 
 Let me give an example. Last April a letter of ours was 
 published in the Witness, giving an account of a preaching 
 tour to the Devi Pdihan meld. In that letter we mentioned 
 the baptism of a Tcdnphati, or one of the officiating priests at 
 this meld of blood. I think I see him now, with his long 
 white beard reaching to his waist, the heavy wooden rings in 
 his ears, and his hands still wet with the blood of sacrifice, 
 kneeling before us in the midst of an excited blood-sprinkled 
 crowd of five hundred people, and receiving the rite of baptism, 
 on an open confession of his faith in "the Lamb of God" 
 that washed away all his sins in His own blood. This new 
 convert showed the sincerity of his faith by refusing to receive 
 his legal share of the money collected at the idol temple of 
 animal sacrifice, which must have been a large sum, by con- 
 tinually protesting against the idea that the blood of 22,000 
 sucking pigs, goats, and buffaloes, annually offered, could 
 cleanse and wash away the sins of the soul ; by preaching that 
 God had provided a true and sin-expiating sacrifice in His 
 own Son for the whole of the human race ; and by giving his 
 life at last for Christ. For, one day last July, he was found 
 dead in his temple cell, and we have strong moral reason, and 
 some substantial evidence to prove, that he was treacherously 
 poisoned by some of his former brother jogis, devotees, out of 
 hatred to the name of Christ, and for fear of his influence on 
 the people constantly coming, to this sacrificial fair. We 
 have made many inquiries on the subject of poisoning, and 
 are thoroughly convinced that under the name of "haizd" or 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 153 
 
 cholera, many an obnoxious person is poisoned, and thus easi- 
 ly and safely disposed of. A few seeds of the dhattird, or 
 thorn-apple plant, ground to flour and mixed with the meal 
 for making cakes, and the tragic business is accomplished. 
 The poor victim is reported to the police as having died of 
 cholera, and there the murderous story generally ends. But 
 to come back to our ear-pierced friend, whom we believed was 
 thus cruelly made away with ; now we question whether an 
 inquirer fondled and coaxed into becoming a Christian in a 
 Mission compound by the test of time, and a seven-foot 
 standard, to which even the Missionary himself does not 
 reach, would ever become so true and faithful a soldier of 
 Christ as this once officiating idolatrous ear-ringed priest, 
 baptized " off-hand " in the midst of a very pandemonium of 
 animal cruelty and blood. This poor man with his heavy 
 wooden rings had no systematic knowledge of historical 
 Christianity, but his mind and heart rested on the published 
 fact that, " The blood of Jesus Christ, his (God's) Son, 
 cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7); and that faith 
 and simple trust were sufficient for him to witness a good 
 confession, and to find a happy entrance into the light and 
 joy of that dear Lord who said : "Him that cometh to me, I 
 will in no wise cast out," (John 6 : 37) — " To-day shalt thou 
 be with me in Paradise." (Luke 23 : 43.) 
 
 Gonda, Uth December. S. KNOWLES. 
 
 2. The second letter is on the faithfulness and stability 
 of our " immediately " baptized converts. 
 
 THE GONDA CONVERTS. 
 
 Sir, — Mr. Knowles made an itineration last year, very 
 similar to the one recently made, a narative of which ap- 
 peared in the "Witness. May I ask (1) Have those bap- 
 tized on the tour a year ago remained faithful? (2) 
 Have they remained in their villages or former homes? 
 (3) Have any of them been employed by the mission or 
 missionaries? (4) How many Native Christians does Mr 
 
154 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 K. know who received Christ as their Saviour, and were 
 baptized the first time he was held up to them as the Savi- 
 our ? Does Mr. K. baptize without making any enquiries 
 concerning the character and antecedents of the person pre- 
 senting himself ? I think an answer to the above questions 
 will be looked for with interest by not a few. 
 
 December 26tk. J. J. L. 
 
 Sir, — I have much pleasure in answering J. J. L.'s ques- 
 tions in your issue of the 5th instant regarding our itinerat- 
 ing work last year. 
 
 1. " Have those baptized on the tour a year ago remain- 
 ed faithful ? " Out of the fourteen persons we baptized on our 
 first tour last year, nine have remained faithful to the light 
 and knowledge received. The remaining five held on for a 
 month or six weeks, and then, from sheer force of persecu- 
 tion from their TMTcur (a chief among Kajputs, the sons of 
 kings,) they backslid into their old ways. Still we have 
 some hope of even these coming to the front again as 
 renewed believers; for they are still followed by earnest 
 prayer and sought by faithful loving workers. Of the nine 
 persons baptized at the Devi Pathan meld, six have remained 
 faithful j two have died of the terrible scourge of the Oudh 
 villages — small-pox ; and one has become a martyr, who in 
 his death bore faithful witness to the truth of the Gospel. 
 (See last letter.) 
 
 2. All the above, who have remained faithful to their 
 convictions and the truth accepted, are still living in their 
 villages or towns, and following their former trades or occu- 
 pations. Four of these are in Balrrimpur, where we have a 
 Native preacher, and the rest are living in villages not far 
 from that town. They are mostly agriculturists and weavers, 
 and we have used our influence in the district to impress 
 upon their zaminddrs, master landholders, that the interests 
 of these brother Christians will be carefully looked after. 
 
 3. None of these persons have been employed by the mis- 
 sion or missionary, but three baptized faqirs, religious mondi- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 155 
 
 cants, are employed, without pay, to go among their former 
 disciples and try and win them over for Christ. And here I 
 may be permitted to mention that these faqirs are simply 
 instructed to publish in the villages the fact that Jesus Christ 
 is the Nish-7calank Avatar, or pure Incarnation, that was to 
 come into the world, not to destroy, but to save sinners, and 
 that he who repents of sin and believes on Him will be saved 
 from the power of sin in this present birth, and from the 
 fear of awdgdwan, or transmigration, in the future. Awd- 
 gdwan is the great night-mare dread of the Hindu's whole 
 life, and he never yet has had a Saviour presented to him, who 
 could now give him release and rest from the burden of the 
 sins of his many supposed births in the past, and from the 
 terrible fear of innumerable other assumed births in the fu- 
 ture. These faqirs are instructed to make a great specialty 
 of the truth that, the gift of Jesus Christ to all who believe 
 and accept him, is a present assurance of anant jiwan, or 
 eternal life, and the real possession of it the moment the 
 soul leaves the body. Indeed, this is the burden of our own 
 preaching, and we have seen its happy effects upon the 
 minds and hearts of our hearers. Of course there is not yet 
 time to test the efficacy of this means of spreading the 
 knowledge of Jesus Christ among the people. 
 
 4. "We had every reason to conclude that the persons we 
 baptized on our tours last year had never heard of Christ, 
 till we presented Him to their minds as a present Saviour ; 
 or if they had in any way or place heard of him before we 
 preached him to them, they had certainly never heard of 
 Him as a Saviour who could take the sting of the fear of 
 dwdgawan from their hearts, and give them a present salva- 
 tion. But my experience of men believing on Jesus Christ, 
 and coming forward for baptism before a large crowd, the 
 first time Christ is presented to them, is new and altogether 
 belongs to the past year. We always supposed before last 
 year that just as the optic nerve is necessary to receive and 
 appreciate the light, so acquired knowledge was necessary in 
 
156 THE GOSPEL IN G0NDA. 
 
 the mind before the Holy Spirit could work upon the heart, 
 and that many years of the labour of spreading this histori- 
 cal knowledge of religion must elapse, ere the Spirit of God 
 could reasonably be expected to work upon the hearts of the 
 people. But the Lord clearly taught me that the Word, 
 then and there intelligently preached, was to the soul what 
 the optic nerve is to the eye ; and that, then and there, the 
 Spirit of God could apply that Word to create conviction of 
 sin and an earnest desire for present salvation. Hence, be- 
 fore last year I never expected present results from preach- 
 ing to bond fide Natives. We could expect fruit from 
 preaching to nominal Christians, but not from preaching to 
 "raw Natives; 7 ' but now we can look for present results, 
 believing that the Word, then and there faithfully preached, 
 is the only medium required by the Holy Spirit to convince 
 of sin and reveal the things of Christ to the soul. 
 
 And, therefore, we baptize at once a convinced sinner who 
 accepts Christ as his Saviour, " without making any inquiries 
 concerning character or antecedents." For if it is true that 
 every man's "character and antecedents" are implied in 
 these awful words of Scripture : " The whole world lieth in 
 wickedness," and "all have sinned and come short of the 
 glory of God," then all we need to know about a man is 
 whether he repents of sin and is willing to receive Jesus 
 Christ as his Saviour or not. And here we may say that wo 
 never baptized a man who came forward out of the crowd by 
 invitation, without first taking the consensus of opinion of 
 the brethren working with us as to whether he was fit for 
 baptism or not. Some came forward whom we did not bap- 
 tize, because they gave unmistakable signs that they were 
 not truly impressed; but when a man showed clear signs 
 that the Holy Spirit had touched his heart and given him a 
 desire for salvation, then we gave him the chinh and the 
 parshdd, that he might be unmistakably identified with, and 
 become one of us as a disciple of Jesus Christ., 
 
 Gonda, 1th January, S. KNQWLES. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 157 
 
 3. The third letter is on the use of the Parshdd. The- 
 word Parshdd, or Prashdd, literally means favour or kind- 
 ness ; but it is used by Hindu religious teachers to express 
 the food or sweetmeats they distribute to their hearers after 
 they have delivered a hatha, or discourse from any of the 18 
 purans, or Hindu writings ; and especially the few grains of 
 rice or pieces of sweetmeats they give to a new convert. 
 We have simply appropriated and adapted this well-known 
 custom of the Hindus to our work in making disciples for 
 Jesus Christ, as the ensuing letters will show. The idea of 
 thus using this habitual practice of the Hindus was suggest- 
 ed to us at the close of a week's revival services in Gonda, 
 when a number of Hindu friends, who had attended every 
 night, met us with the question : — " Kyd dp prashdd ah na 
 bdnten?" Is your honor not now going to distribute pra- 
 shdd? They thought that we having finished our hatha, 
 ought to follow the practice of their Pandits, and divide- 
 sweetmeats among them. Of course, as we mention below, 
 we are not despotic in the use of the prashdd. 
 THE PARSHAD. 
 Sir, — Recently I have baptized two Hindus, and given 
 them the parshdd. I wish to call out an expression of opinion 
 from your readers as to the propriety of giving the parshdd to 
 Hindus upon their baptism. The objections to it are : (1) 
 Is there not ground for fear that the people may think 
 this a religious ordinance of equal authority and binding force 
 with baptism ? (2) Doe3 it not convey a wrong idea ? The 
 parshad is given by the guru to his disciple. The Lord's- 
 Supper is the true parshdd. (3) Will not this new rite keep 
 away some who would otherwise be baptized? They are thus 
 confirmed in their error that to accept Christ consists chiefly 
 in a willingness to eat with Christians and everyone. (4) 
 Are we not introducing a test of discipleship which our Lord 
 has not authorized ? Can we do this and look for his bless- 
 ing ? I state these objections to call forth replies from Bro. 
 Knowles and other brethern who believe that it is wise to 
 
158 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 give the parshdd at baptism. There is much to be said in 
 favour of it. The above objections have suggested themselves 
 to me since I gave the parshdd, I should like to see the pros 
 and cons of this subject stated. -r 
 
 Sir, — In your issue of the 26th instant, " L" expresses a wish 
 to call forth replies from some of your correspondents to certain 
 objections he suggests with respect to giving the parshdd 
 to Hindu converts. With your kind permission I will try 
 to answer, as briefly as I can, " L's " suggested objections. 
 
 1. "Is there not ground for fear that the people may 
 think this religious ordinance of equal authority and binding 
 force with baptism?" Yes, of course they will, if we so 
 explain it ; but that is what we are very careful not to do. 
 Baptism is explained by us to mean the Divinely authorized 
 outward sign of discipleship ; while the parshdd is explained 
 to be the simple sign of fellowship : answering to the apostles' 
 "breaking of bread from house to house," or our own Method- 
 ist love feast. If I may be allowed the use of the expres- 
 sion, baptism drives in the nail, and the parshdd clinches it 
 on the other side. Those who know how easily a Hindu 
 convert can go back to his village and appear to be still a 
 Hindu, will understand the force of this. The one gives the 
 convert a grand opportunity of making an open confession of 
 his faith in Christ, while the other puts him into an unmis- 
 takable position that at once identifies him with us, and 
 enables him to make a bold stand when he returns to his 
 village or to his muhalla or parish in the city. 
 
 2. "Does it not convey a wrong idea? The parshdd 
 is given by the guru to his disciple. The Lord's Supper is the 
 true parshdd." It conveys no more wrong idea than the Meth- 
 odist love feast does. We, too, may say : The plate of 
 bread and the glass of water are given by the minister in the 
 love feast. The Lord's Supper is the true love feast. Shall 
 we, therefore, conclude that the love feast, a copy of the anci- 
 ent agape, is wrong ? And granted that " the Lord's Supper 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 159 
 
 is the true parshdd : " what then ? If the religious rite we call 
 the Sacrament, which was enjoined by Christ to be sacredly 
 observed by his disciples, is not a sacrificial, but a memorial, 
 service where is the wrong, in considering the giving of 
 the parshdd this sacrament ? But we do not so consider it in 
 practice. It is simply the sign of Christian fellowship ; and 
 has no more to do with the regular service of the Lord's 
 Supper than has the love feast. 
 
 3. "Will not this new rite (?) keep away some who 
 would otherwise be baptized ? They are thus confirm- 
 ed in their error that to accept Christ consists chiefly in 
 a willingness to eat with Christians. " This " new rite " as it 
 is called, will certainly keep away those who want to play a 
 double game — be Christians among us, and Hindus among 
 their friends ! Such shuffling evasion and playing the hypo- 
 crite are made impossible when a man partakes of the parshdd 
 before a mixed crowd of people. It will also keep away 
 those who think our persons so unclean and our food so foul, 
 that to touch the one or taste the other, would be to taint and 
 pollute themselves so irredeemably that all the waters of the 
 Gungd could never make them pure and clean again. Those 
 who possess this error and an " unwillingness to eat with 
 Christians," plainly declare that they have not believed on 
 and accepted Christ, and are therefore not fit subjects for 
 baptism. But the simple villagers we have had to deal with 
 are those who knew so little about us that they happily pos- 
 sessed no such "error" in which to be confirmed. They 
 simply took the parshdd as a means of identifying them- 
 selves with us as disciples of Jesus Christ. Our experience 
 has been that those whose hearts the Spirit of God has 
 touched, and to whom He has given courage to come out 
 and confess Christ before friends and foes, never hesitate in 
 taking the parshdd when explained and offered to them. Of 
 course we never offer them anything as parshdd that would 
 shock their feelings or offend their prejudices. It is always 
 some vegetable substance, as a few grains of rice, a piece of 
 
160 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 English bread, or part of a Native cake. Sometimes we 
 divide Native sweet-meats among ourselves and the new 
 converts. 
 
 4. " Are we not introducing a test of discipleship which 
 our Lord has not authorized ? Can we do this and look for 
 his blessing ? " We never made it a " test of discipleship" 
 but a simple test of sincerity leading to true Christian fellow- 
 ship. It is something that follows the inward and outward 
 " test of discipleship," and destroys the barrier to Christian 
 association, and is therefore something we may legitimately 
 do and look for the Lord's blessing upon. But in giving the 
 parshdd we are not arbitrary. It is only in our itinerating 
 work, when we baptize men, who must return to their vil- 
 lages, that we give the parshdd, to try and cut off every 
 means of their retreating back to Hinduism, and save them 
 from living a life of deceit and hyprocrisy. 
 
 Gonda, 28th April. S. KNOWLES. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 PREACHING IN MEL AS, OR RELIGIOUS FAIRS. 
 
 1.— THE SAIYID SALAR MELA AT BAHRAICH, 
 
 The account of this religious fair was given in the May 
 number of "The Indian Witness," for 1884. Of this 
 narrative the respected Editor was pleased to remark : 
 
 " Mr. Knowles's letter in this paper will be read with inter- 
 est wherever it is seen. It is worthy of a "special corre- 
 spondent " at any famous spectacle in the world." 
 
 Saiyid Salar was a pretended descendant of the prophet 
 Muhammad, through his son-in-law Ali, and his daughter 
 Fatima ; and so he set up as a kind of tenth-century Mahdi. 
 He came to India with the conquering army of Mahmud of 
 Ghazni, whose ambitious nephew, Mahmtid's sister's son, he 
 was. With a strong force of Musalman fanatics, let loose 
 from Mahmtid's army, he destroyed the opulent city of Delhi, 
 or Shahjah£nabad, and crossing the Ghogra he levelled Sahet 
 Mahet, one of Oudh's most ancient and magnificent cities 
 with the ground. He soon penetrated to Bahraich, then 
 nearer to the jungle home of the tiger and the bear than 
 now, and met his match in the Hindu Rais, or noblemen, of 
 the district, who defeated and slew him. On the spot where 
 he fell a military martyr, was an ancient altar dedicated to 
 the worship of the sun, and called Surajkund. On this old 
 shrine, 600 years ago, his tomb was erected, which became 
 the centre of a strange influence stretching out into every 
 part of Oudh, as well as into the regions beyond. This has 
 been a most popular religious fair, not only for Musalmans, 
 but also for Hindus. Here in the burning month of May, 
 100,000 people of both monotheistic and polytheistic creeds 
 mass together to worship the bones of a dead saint, so-called. 
 
162 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 Here the Kordn is confounded with the Purdna, and the Mos- 
 lem vies with the Brahman in being the first to prostrate 
 himself before an idol the most pagan. A few years ago this 
 tomb, with its surrounding cloistered buildings, was in 
 charge of a number of dissipated mtdas ; but their dissolute 
 course of life, their incessant quarrels and ceaseless dispu- 
 tations over the money annually fleeced from the poor deluded 
 pilgrims, forced the authorities to place the whole manage- 
 ment of the fair in the hands of a special committee, with the 
 Deputy Commissioner of the district as chairman. And 
 though these pensioned mulas live a cat-and-dog life among 
 themselves even now, yet their old gladiatorial litigations 
 and open wrangling feuds have long since ceased to disturb 
 the peace and unanimity of the local official minds. 
 
 One striking peculiarity of this reeking meld is the multi- 
 tude of its flaunting glittering banners. Every district and 
 tribe represented come marching into the fair w T ith a flourish 
 of trumpets and beat of drum, bearing their gaudy flags 
 fiercely vibrating in the hot west wind. Every emblem that 
 mythology can feign, every animal and memorial connected 
 •with the stories of poor dead Saiyad Salar's former life, ser- 
 pents, wolves, lions, horses, gods, genii, stars, moons, and 
 suns, with other cabalistic signs, in all the colours of the 
 rainbow, were emblazoned upon these waving crowds of 
 dashing pennants and proud ensigns. And what gives these 
 banners a more impressive appearance is that each is sur- 
 mounted by a black, shaggy yak's tail ; and the whole gives 
 one the idea of a cruel victorious army proudly displaying 
 the scalps of their fallen foes. Under each yak's tail is hid- 
 den the gift to be made at the summit of the dome of 
 the tomb, where a pensioned muld stands to take it off 
 as the top of the long flag-pole is lifted up towards him. 
 This gift varies from Re. 1 to Us. 100. Two years ago a 
 mahdjan, they say, thus presented gifts to the agregate value 
 of Its. 10,000. When all these communities and tribes, with 
 their ten thousand dancing banners, their line of crashing 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 165 
 
 music, and alternate shouts, are marching across the Jhinga 
 Ghat, over the sandy plain, on the main road that leads 
 through the city to the meld, with the morning rays of the 
 sun scintillating from streamer and standard, and flashing 
 upon the enthusiastic crowds, they present as showy and 
 stirring a pageant of idolatrous life as can be found or seen 
 in any land. But this and every other pompous spectacle 
 becomes, in the eye of the believer, dull and colourless to 
 the crowded splendour of that Church of the living God 
 which is " terrible as an army with banners." Feebly repre- 
 senting that Church, we had but one flag to unfurl and but 
 one blessed emblem to display — Heaven's grand escutcheon, 
 and the glorious symbol of the death of Christ and the world- 
 subduing Gospel of the Son of God — The cross of Jesus ! But 
 " in the name of our God we set up our banner," and dis- 
 played our royal signal ; and taking up our position under it, 
 we achieved a bloodless and peaceful victory over the boast- 
 ing ranks and proud insignia of the enemy. 
 
 There are three points of much interest at this mela. The 
 first is the massive chain that stretches quadruplicated 
 across the heavily arched gateway leading into the square- 
 shaped interior. The devotee, before he can enter this quad- 
 rilateral, must lay hold of the fourfold chain in gymnas- 
 tic style, and then fondle and kiss it, while a contractor 
 stands by to receive his pice. This man had contracted for the 
 quadruple chain for the fixed sum of Rs. 60, which amount 
 he told the writer he had paid the Secretary of the Special 
 Committee mentioned above. This seizing hold of the chain 
 is supposed to confer innumerable blessings of different 
 kinds, especially power over ghostly and human enemies. 
 In the centre of the parallelogram stands a square of heavi- 
 ly built, battlemented walls, in the middle of which rise3 
 the dome-figured tomb of Saiyad Salar. Outside of this 
 enchanted Sepulchre are also the three long graves of Saiyad 
 Salar's most faithful followers, which are also objects of 
 superstitious worship. And here, at any time during the 
 
164 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 fair, a sight may be seen that baffles description, while it 
 makes the heart grow very sad indeed. Through a low and 
 narrow doorway, leading into the interior of the dome cov- 
 ering the tomb, hundreds of men, women, and children are 
 shoutingly crushing their way to walk round the red cloth- 
 covered sarcophagus, and to scatter their offerings of rice 
 and flowers, and fill the collection plates of the three mulds 
 who, ever expectant, sit near. At such times this cave-like 
 place becomes like a heated lime-kiln, only not with the 
 same bearable odour. And before the Municipality of 
 Bahraich took over charge of this heathen shrine, and pater- 
 nally provided one of the newest and most improved style 
 of thermantidotes, and ordered it to be let into one of the 
 thick sides of the dome, and kept going from morning till 
 night, during the Mela, numbers of poor pilgrims entered 
 this fatal place only to find it for themselves the house of 
 death and the destruction of all their hopes and fears in 
 this life for ever ! Now only six persons are allowed to file 
 in at one time. The outside court-yard of this domed se- 
 pulchre is crowded with a sweltering mass of suffering 
 humanity in all the loathsome stages of ophthalmia, blind- 
 ness, leprosy, and elephantiasis. Here a supposed super- 
 natural, but in fact a very filthy, stream, supplied from 
 a bihishtl's water-skin, slowly issues from the tomb inside, 
 and by dipping the hand in this polluted water and 
 letting it drop on the visionless eyes or upon the cuta- 
 neous diseases, one blind man may hope to receive his 
 sight, and one leper may hope to be cleansed during the 
 time the meld is held. It made one soul-sick to look 
 at that joyless, melancholy scene. And it was touchingly 
 sad to see a line of blind men dropping the poisoned 
 fluid upon their sightless eyeballs, and turning their poor 
 blank faces up to the light of the sun, anxiously waiting 
 for their sight to be restored; or to see crowds of toe- 
 less and fingerless lepers urging their painful way to the 
 muddy stream, each with the hope burning in his breast 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 165 
 
 that, perhaps, he might be the happy one chosen to exhibit in 
 his cure the power of a dead man to give new life. Gh, that 
 the same amount of faith could be exercised in a living 
 Christ, the true opener of the eyes of the blind, and the 
 true cleanser of lepers ! Who can tell what the mighty re- 
 sults would be even physically as well as spiritually ? The 
 faith is there ; but the object upon which it rests is not God- 
 appointed ; nor could such be worthy of His nature, His 
 name, or His moral government. 
 
 But we must move on to the third point of interest at 
 this unique fair. And that is an odoriferous white sandal- 
 wood tree spreading out its branches in a corner of the court- 
 yard just outside the Saiyad's mausoleum. To the trunk of this 
 wishing-tree, and to as many of its branches as can be easily 
 reached, you may see, at times, as many as fifty persons of 
 both sexes fastened tightly with cords, hands and feet, 
 so they cannot move. Some hanging by the hair of their 
 heads looking like fugitive Absaloms caught in this tree- 
 trap. These poor deluded creatures have thus had them- 
 selves imprisoned, so that their great Muhammadan 
 saint and hero might grant their desires for children, 
 wealth, prosperity, health, power, victory in litigation, or 
 deliverance from some chronic disease. Sometimes a poor 
 enthusiast will remain for days in pain and agony, in this 
 half-crucified position, till he gains the assurance that 
 the special gift he seeks will be granted him. Those whose 
 wishes of the previous year have been fulfilled, come this 
 year to bind a token of some kind for answered prayer 
 to this same tree. Hence the tree is covered with true 
 or pretended answers to prayer. Here our hearts went out 
 again in earnest prayer that this hood-winkod, phantom- 
 haunted people might soon be brought to a true knowledge 
 of that God who can " supply all your need by Christ Jesus" 
 In fact just such texts as this one, together with the simple 
 stories of the healed leper and blind Bartiraeus, made up the 
 whole theme of our five days' services at this meld of flags. 
 
166 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 In addition to the usual noisy bazars filled with traders, 
 hucksters, pedlars, and cheap-Jacks, the usual wonderful 
 sights of bodiless human heads, five-legged cows, andfaqirs 
 swinging and roasting over large fires, and all the other usu- 
 ally nameless appurtenances of a large fair, there were also, 
 for the Europeans, a considerable cattle-show, an exhibition 
 on a small scale, a great wrestling match for all the Oudh- 
 athletes, and a shameless native nautch : all to enhance 
 in the eyes of the Natives the importance, and to swell the 
 triumph, of this madness of idolatry. And so the Brit- 
 ish flag waves out gracefully from the top of the new Lyall 
 exhibition building, to welcome and encourage the occult 
 banner that floats out near on the summit of the Saiyad's 
 tomb. We cannot say that our beloved flag is thus trailed 
 in the dust before this dreadful mania of superstition, 
 for it is too high up in the air for that ; but it certainly did 
 seem to the writer very much out of both place and time 
 where it then was. 
 
 On the 16th instant the new railway, crowded with ar- 
 dent pilgrims, steamed us to Bahraich in three hours and put 
 us down only a few yards from this popular shrine : though 
 two good miles away from the Civil Station. We found 
 Mr. W. Peters had judiciously chosen a central convenient 
 position in the mela for our preaching services. Behind 
 this he had pitched a tent for the preachers to stay in 
 during the great heat of the day. The front was covered 
 with matting, with forms arranged on three sides, and above 
 our heads, under the branches of tamarind trees, stretched 
 a canopy of more matting, to protect us from the blinding 
 glare. A seeker's form ran across the remote front, which 
 looked as if the preachers expected to see and experience 
 a blessed work of God at this meld. We were saved from 
 the pressure of the crowds by strong bamboo barriers. The 
 services began every morning at 6 and continued till 10 
 o'clock ; and every evening were resumed at 4 o'clock and 
 closed at 7. And thus 15 brethren faithfully and devotedly 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 167 
 
 laboured for five days, in one of the hottest and most trying 
 months of the year, with most encouraging results. Among 
 the Native preachers was a brother from the Wesleyan 
 mission in Faizabad, who did good service for his great 
 Master. Brother Orange Judd, from Lucknow, was also 
 with us to contribute real efficient aid. 
 
 On the first day a great impression was made but no one 
 responded to the earnest call of the brethren. In the second 
 day's morning service three Naraini pandits, teachers of 
 the name of Vishnu, came out and confessed their faith 
 in Christ ; but only one young man of these was then and 
 there baptized. He received the name of Prabhu Das, and 
 news of his baptism spread through the fair and created 
 a great sensation. Of his own accord he took the mala, or 
 rosary made from the seed of the Eleocarpus, from his neck 
 and handed it to me, and then ate bread and drank water 
 with us. He has since brought in his two brothers from 
 their village to be instructed in our holy religion. At the 
 Sunday evening service an unusual impression was made, 
 and 15 poor souls of all castes remained to be prayed for and 
 further instructed in Gospel truths. From among these we 
 expect five will be baptized. On Monday morning following 
 the Rev. J. Elliot, Wesleyan missionary of Faizabad, open- 
 ed our services in the meld. He has an excellent idiomatic 
 use of the Urdu language, and his appropriate sermon had a 
 very excellent effect upon the minds and hearts of the dense- 
 ly packed crowd of entranced listeners. For three hours, 
 during the whole of our services, this multitude stood as if 
 chained to the ground and held by some unseen power. 
 When the invitation came some ten persons responded, but 
 only four reached the seekers' form ; the others were 
 dragged away by their alarmed friends. Of the four who 
 thus came forward and knelt for prayer, only two, a Brah- 
 man and a Bunya, were baptized on the spot ; but they were 
 heart and soul in their eagerness and earnestness to be 
 saved and to obtain peace. The other two said they had 
 
168 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA, 
 
 received Christ as their Saviour, and that satisfied them with- 
 out baptism. They have come out since, however, and now 
 know the Lord is faithful to his promises. Of the six deep- 
 ly convinced persons who were taken away by their anxious 
 friends, two were Musalmans. I never saw the crowds so 
 swayed and moved upon before in any meld. There was no 
 confusion or exciting noise, but the conscious presence of a 
 solemn Power that made the heart sink with awe and the 
 body tremble with foreboding fear. It was as if the shock 
 of an earthquake had come among us. The names of 45 in- 
 quirers were taken down by the preacher-in-charge of Bah- 
 raich. 
 
 In the evening a grand black sand storm, darting out 
 flashes of fire, and sending forth rolling peals of thunder, 
 swept over the meld and city, and deluged the country 
 round with refreshing rain. Though this timely storm laid 
 the dust, sent up a grateful odour from the earth, and cool- 
 ed down the fiery atmosphere, it spoilt all our preaching ar- 
 rangements for the last evening's work at this fair. For the 
 unbroken tide of people has set in the other way, and is rush- 
 ing by the Mission school house where we are staying, flag- 
 less, musicless, moneyless, and spiritless, to divide into small 
 streams at the ghat beyond and be lost for ever to us in the 
 great future. 
 
 2. THE DAVI PATAN MELA OF APRIL, 1884. 
 
 In addition to what the editor of " The Indian Witness " 
 writes at the head of the ensuing article, he also kindly 
 remarks on the first page of the same issue. " The letter 
 from Mr. Knowles on our second page is in some respects 
 the most remarkable we have yet published from him. We 
 are surprised that these letters have not attracted more 
 attention at home, for they certainly surpass in interest 
 any thing of the kind which has yet been written from that 
 part of India. There are men still living who can remember 
 the time when missionaries in North India were pelted 
 with clods and mud when they attemped to preach at the 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 169 
 
 great melaFy but now we have the spectacle of an enthusiastic 
 crowd at one of these great gatherings bursting out in loud 
 acclamations of "Jsd fct'ithkijai," which freely translated, 
 may be taken to mean, " Glory or victory to the faith of 
 Jesus!" None but those who have been in India, and 
 have intimate knowledge of the people, can comprehend 
 what an immense revolution in popular thought and feeling 
 such an event indicates multiply every day that the way 
 of the Lord is being prepared for mighty victory of the Gos- 
 pel in India." 
 
 THE DEVI PATAN MELA. 
 
 " We surrender our editorial page this week to our well- 
 known contributor, the Rev. S. Knowles, of Gonda, Oudh, 
 who gives the following graphic account of a visit to the 
 Devi Patan meld. We are very sure that nothing from our 
 own pen would be read with as much interest, or afford as 
 much encouragement and profit to friends of the missionary 
 cause, as this letter : " — 
 
 The harvest is all gathered and stacked on the threshing- 
 floors, under trees outside the villages ; and the people have 
 both time and money to enjoy a holiday, and take a trip to 
 the Devi Patau meld, on the borders of the Nepal jungles. 
 Hence the roads leading to the meld are covered with these 
 holiday making rustics, tradesmen and officials. Here we see a 
 crowd of pedestrians, men, women, and children, carrying their 
 sleeping and cooking arrangements, and leading or dragging 
 the doomed he-goats, forcing their onward eager way. There 
 stout self-satisfied officials, on their well-fed, ambling ponies 
 urging their not over courteous way through the dusty 
 groups of travellers. There, too, in the deep ruts the rough, 
 slow-going, country carts, with their screeching wheels that 
 set your teeth on edge, and each filled with a peasant family, 
 including the devoted he-goat, the women singing a monoton- 
 ous song in praise of Sitd Ram, god Ram and his wife, that 
 somehow makes the heart feel sad j it is through these 
 motley crowds, and clouds of ever rising dust, some eight 
 
170 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 of us are pressing on our way to the first camping place at 
 Mahardj -Gunge, 16 miles on the Balramptir road. 
 
 After our usual preparatory services in the afternoon, 
 with united faith, we marched to the front of the shop of a 
 vendor of spirituous liquors, situated at the head of the vil- 
 lage. The expressive sign of this reeking, foul-smelling 
 shop was a long pole with a broken bottle hanging by the 
 neck. It is very significant that the word the native uses 
 to express intoxicating drink, viz. ddru, is the same he 
 uses for gunpowder thus ddru-sisd (lit.) powder and lead, 
 means ammunition. And truly, as far as the effects go, the one is 
 about as dangerous and destructive as the other. We found 
 about twenty men and women sitting on one side of the 
 shop, drinking and quarrelling together. And as far as we 
 could judge, there was not a sober person among them. Of 
 course, they were of the Tcori caste, the tribe our sdis or groom, 
 comes from ; and I must say that during my long experience 
 in Oudh I have never seen a respectable native of high caste 
 drinking at these shops. We soon collected over a hun- 
 dred persons. After our customary service of song and 
 prayer and- preaching, we gave our invitation for any impress- 
 ed to come forward and acknowledge it. The Jcahvdr, or liquor 
 vendor, himself was the first to respond to our call. He prom- 
 ised he would give up his questionable trade; worship 
 God in and through the name of Jesus Christ ; and as far as 
 he knew it, always walk in the way of truth. On this con- 
 fession we baptized him. He has since separated himself 
 from the liquor business, and gone back to his village to cul- 
 tivate his land. When we had baptized this liquor dealer, 
 his poor wife came running out to us saying that, "dp ne 
 merepuraJch hi zdt Tco hharisht kiyd" i. e. " You have polluted 
 my husband's caste ! " We told her only sin, as drunkenness, 
 etc. could pollute and debase ; and that we had raised her 
 husband's caste by making him a Christian. After we had 
 received the Jcalwdr and pacified his angry wife, a poor blind 
 nan cried out : " These men speak the truth, and from this 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA; 171 
 
 day I am also a disciple of Jesus Christ." With his sightless 
 eye-balls turned to the setting sun, we received him as a 
 chela or disciple, of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 The next day we reached Balrampur, ten miles further on 
 our way to the meld. Here we found a heterogeneous mass 
 of people crowded into the many parks of mango trees that 
 surround this capital of the first talluqddr or landholder in 
 Oudh. For though Deg Biseg Singh is dead, having lost his life 
 two years ago from a severe fall from his elephant, when 
 attacked by a wounded tiger, Balampur is still the abode of 
 his two widowed Maharanis, and called by his name. Here we 
 have a Native preacher, Bihari Lai, and a number of our new 
 converts baptized last and this year. We had the pleasure 
 of partaking the hospitality of the former, and the delight of 
 seeing and instructing and encouraging the latter. In the 
 evening we marched in full force to the chauJc, or square 
 in centre of the city, and gathered over five hundred listen* 
 ers. Ten persons, two Brahmans and eight koris, believed 
 the word, were received, and placed under the instruction of 
 Bihari Lai. Most) of these new converts live in villages 
 round about Balrampur, so can be easily looked after. 
 
 The next day, reinforced by brethren from Balrampur, 
 we started for the mela, eighteen good miles towards the 
 misty mountains, seen in the distance. After a most trying 
 march in the heat and blinding dust, we reached the refresh- 
 ing banks of the beautiful Rapti river. Oh, how grateful 
 we felt as we bathed our fevered limbs in its cool, clear 
 waters, and drank in new life ! The great Buddha in his per- 
 egrinations 600 years B. C. in this kingdom of Oudh, nev- 
 er enjoyed his ablutions in this clear grand old river as we 
 did our bath in it to-day. After tiffin, and a reviving siesta 
 in the acceptable shade of a large pd/car tree, the citron-leav- 
 ed Indian fig-tree (Jicus-venosa), we started again in the 
 dusty track of the devotees, for the meld. But just as we 
 crossed the bridge of boats, a number of people stopped us 
 and requested us to preach to them. We were not slow 
 
172 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 in holding forth the Word of Life, and pressing our willing 
 hearers to come to Jesus. One Brahman bairdgi's heart was 
 touched, and he came forward confessing Christ to be the only- 
 Saviour of men. We led him down to the river and gave 
 him the Christian sign of discipleship, and then we broke the 
 bread of fellowship, of which he willingly partook. Thirsty, 
 tired, and full of dust, we entered under the grand grove of 
 tamarind trees that surround the gloomy temple of the blood- 
 deluged idol goddess, and in which our camp was pitched, and 
 were soon enjoying an agreeable rest in the cool of the 
 evening. 
 
 The meld partook more of a migratory character this year 
 than last : still there were never less than twenty-two thou- 
 sand people present, as long as the meld lasted. The first im- 
 pression you receive as you enter this fair, is that you are 
 entering an immense slaughter house ; for the odour and 
 sight of blood are everywhere. We always try and pitch our 
 tents to the north of these shambles, and are thus saved from 
 the horrible effluvium so fiercely carried to the east. But the 
 temple of the female deity and its vicinity are only equalled in 
 butchery and gore by the tomb of Mirza, a few yards off, daily 
 washed with pig's blood. Both form a complete Aceldama. 
 At the former, relays of sanguinary priests keep severing with 
 their sharp, heavy-bladed kuJcerieSj or knives, the heads from 
 the quivering bodies of he-goats and male-buffaloes from morn- 
 ing till evening. This sickening carnage takes place over a 
 sand pit, which is emptied and filled with fresh sand every 
 morning. The devotee first takes the animal to be offered to 
 an adjacent tank, and dips it three times in the foul water. 
 The devotee pays two pice for dipping the doomed creature, 
 and two pice for offering it. At the latter, or tomb of Mirza, 
 another awful destruction of animals is witnessed. A number 
 of blood-stained priests stand behind a stone in front of the 
 temple, in readiness to relieve the one, who takes the sucking 
 pig from the devotee, dashes its head upon the stone, and 
 bands it back to the offerer, who rushes with the bleeding ani- 
 
TJIE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 173 
 
 mal into the building to let the blood drop on the dishonoured 
 shrine. In the evening time heaps of dead sucking-pigs, of a 
 thousand each, may be seen, said pigs being sold off at a pice 
 each to Icons and other low caste Hindus. It may be asked 
 how it comes that pigs, the most abominably unclean animal 
 to Moslems, should be offered in sacrifice on a Musalman's 
 tomb? I have never yet been able to get a satisfactory an- 
 swer to that question. The legend is, that one Mirza, a Mo- 
 hommedan prince, was out shooting in the forest, and happen- 
 ed to pass the tank in which the Devi, goddess, from the ad- 
 jacent temple was bathing in all her pristine fatal beauty. 
 He was fascinated and irresistibly allured towards her ; when 
 she instantly struck him into immobility, and then offered 
 him two things, either to allow himself to be sacrificed 
 to her vindictive passion, or permit sucking pigs to be immo- 
 lated over his tomb when he naturally died. Mirza, loving 
 his life more than his religion and honor, accepted the latter 
 alternative. He lived after that for many years in the favor 
 of the bewitching goddess, and then paid the price for his 
 infidelity by having his grave annually desecrated with pig's 
 blood. So runs the story, and there stands the stern fact 
 of the cruel sacrifice of these poor little brutes. Will not 
 some philanthropic Aryan brother step this way, and be as en- 
 thusiastic in rescuing from his co-religionists' cruel hands 
 these devoted pigs, and goats and buffaloes, as he is in trying 
 to save the cow from the Mohammedan butcher ? It was cal- 
 culated that one animal a minute was sacrificed from sunrise 
 to sunset of every day, for a week ; thus nc t less than 5,040 
 animals were cruelly and uselessly immolated during the time 
 we were present at this great Hindu pandemonium. 
 
 Our manner of operation was the same this year as last. 
 We rose in the grey of the morning to our bugle call, and met 
 for prayer and consultation and counsel; then when our 
 hearts were strong and our faith as one man's, we sallied forth 
 with banner flying and music playing, assured of victory. We 
 chose a shady convenient place where we could operate with- 
 
174 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 out fear of being molested, and at the same time readily reach 
 the great mass of the people. There we spread our carpet, 
 conducted our services, and invited the worshippers of a gory 
 deity to the loving arms of the Great Father. Sometimes we 
 would march round and through the fair among the crowds, 
 who had come with a view to the worshipping of mam- 
 mon as well as to the worshipping of the particular deity 
 at the meld; then we would be greeted with cries of, 
 " Here come the padris that fascinate and then make 
 the people Christians ! " Time and space will not permit me 
 to write a detailed account of each day's work. Enough if we 
 say that we had never less than 500 people at any one of our 
 services conducted in the open mela, and that perfect order 
 reigned, and the greatest attention was given throughout. We 
 drew the attention of a large crowd by telling them that we 
 had brought them the paras patthar, or true philosopher's 
 stone. The Hindu legend tells us this stone was found by a 
 grass-cutter, who, accidentally touching it with his scjthe, and 
 was astonished to find that implement turned into gold. 
 It found its way into the hands of a king, who in a fit 
 of generosity gave it to a Brahman. This holy man not know- 
 ing the virtue of the gift, and being displeased at receiving a 
 present, apparently so worthless, threw the precious stone into 
 a river. When he was informed of what he had done, struck 
 with shame and remorse he plunged into the rushing waters 
 and was drowned. But this lost paras patthar we had 
 brought them ! Then we read out in Hindi 1 Peter 1 : 18-19. 
 " Not with silver oe gold, but with precious blood, as of 
 a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of 
 Christ, are your souls " redeemed ! " This was our preaching 
 subject. At one time the people were so moved that they 
 shouted as one man, with all the enthusiasm of devotees : 
 " I'sa panth hi jai ! " (May the religion of Christ prosper !) 
 and kept prolonging the shout for some time. The women, 
 too, this year found their way into the listening crowds ; and 
 after the services would brin their children, place them at 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 175 
 
 our feet, and ask for our blessing. At the close of every ser- 
 vice one or two would respond to onr call, come out, and be 
 received before the whole assembly, either as disciples or 
 inquirers. One noted faqir, a Kabir-panthi, named Mangal 
 Das, pressed out of the crowd, threw himself at our feet, and 
 said that he surrendered body and soul to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ. "We baptized him, and broke to him the bread of holy 
 fellowship in the midst of the astonished people. Thus we 
 received as disciples of Jesus Christ in this fair seven persons, 
 one faqir, two brahmans, and four Jcoris ; and took the names 
 of over fifty inquirers. 
 
 But the most encouraging thing we met with at this meld 
 was the visit paid us of the two pandits whom we bap- 
 tized last year. They came from their village, 14 miles from 
 the fair, specially to see us. We found that they had stood 
 firm all through the year, though at times greatly persecuted ; 
 that they had intelligently read the books we had given them ; 
 and that they were more determined than ever to know the 
 Lord more and more, and serve Him with all their physical 
 and mental powers. They were greatly revived and refresh- 
 ed by their timely visit, and went back to their village power- 
 fully impressed. If any should ask what was the special 
 theme of our preaching at this meld of animal sacrifice, I 
 would answer, simply that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's 
 Son, is the only true atonement and remedy for sin ; and this 
 backed up with our own personal experiences, and strong faith 
 in the fact that souls are won, not by might nor by power, but 
 by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Nothing to me showed the 
 power of the Gospel at this meld of blood, more than the 
 words of the Kabir-panihi faqir whom we baptized and met at 
 Balrampiir on our way home from the f iir. " Sir," he said, " I 
 went to the meld a Hiudu, I have returned a Christian. 1 ' 
 
 3— THE DAVI PATAN MELA OP APRIL 1886. 
 
 On a statement made in this narrative, the Editor of the 
 " Indian Witness," Mr. B. Aitkens, remarks in a note as fol 
 
176 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 lows : " We call on skeptics of every kind to mark Mr. 
 Knowles's note-worthy assurance that a fair at which 22,000 
 victims were sacrificed in a few days will soon lose its sacri- 
 ficial character through the preaching of the Gospel." 
 
 Not being able to march in the usual itinerating way to 
 this celebrated sacrificial meld, the Native brethren went 
 through by camel-cart to Balrampur, while I ddJced it 
 through to the same place by horse dak. I know of no 
 more pleasant mode of travelling in this country than to drive 
 on a good pukka road with a relay of fast-going horses in the 
 cool of the early morning at this time of the year. A friend 
 accommodating me with the loan of two horses — one I send 
 out to Ghilauli, the other to Maharaj -gunge, while with my 
 own I drive from the Gonda Mission House on the morning 
 of the 5th instant at 4 o'clock. The mango trees that shade 
 each side of the road, as you drive along, are all aglow with 
 their new spring foliage, and the air is filled with the music 
 of birds and the sweet odour of the newly cut and stored 
 wheat-stacks. As you pass over the railway line at Bar- 
 gawn, and get out into the broad open country, the beauty 
 and freshness of the early dawn come on you like a blessed 
 inspiration from Heaven ; for the weather is wonderfully 
 cool for this season of the year. On account of the late 
 heavy rains the harvest this year has been put back some 
 weeks ; hence as we spin along over the fine metalled road, 
 we see the men, women, and children from the adjacent vil- 
 lages still at work reaping their fields and loading their 
 rough carts with the rich-smelling sheaves. Here and there, 
 too, you see a poor widow and her son following the reapers 
 to glean the ears of corn that have been left upon the ground 
 and to pluck the few stalks of wheat that have been pur- 
 posely left standing. The crows and minas also are out clam- 
 ouring for their share of the fallen grain. But now a flush 
 of glory is on the eastern horizon, showing the sun will soon 
 mount up the heavens to cast a flood of more luminous light 
 upon the landscape, fill the groves of trees with refulgent 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 177 
 
 splendour, and make the sickles of the reapers sparkle with his 
 golden beams. As I drive along all creation seems revived 
 and to burst out into a morning hymn of praise. Thank 
 God for his presence even in creation ! And yet what a sad 
 change will soon manifest itself all over the surface of this 
 part of the earth ! Where all the fields have been green and 
 beautiful in the sparkling dew and fresh sunlight for months 
 past, will now, from this to the end of June, be dry and parched 
 and hard as flint, with the blast of a heated wind mercilessly 
 sweeping over them. But it is joy to know that after this try- 
 ing time the laden clouds will gather on a cleared sky, and the 
 refreshing rains will descend, and the burnt-up ground will 
 again soften, and awake once more to life and beauty and song. 
 By the time we change horses at Maharagunge, the wind from 
 the West has risen, and strikes you with unpleasant force on 
 the left, while the sun uncomfortably warms you up on the 
 right ; so we are glad of the protection and shade of a portion 
 of the forest we shall now have for a few miles. Here the 
 young sal trees (shorea robusta), with their new flush of 
 bright shining leaves, and growing up straight as arrows, 
 with groups of weary pilgrims to the meld resting in shady 
 spots on either side of the road, make up a very cheerful 
 picture, though one feels sorry for the little he-goats brows- 
 ing so unconsciously on the edge of the jungle, knowing 
 their necks will soon be under the sharp blade of the sacrifi- 
 cial knife, and their blood dripping over a goddess that exists 
 not, save in the vain imagination of the idol- worshipers. 
 We soon reach Dulhinpur Ghat, where we cross the clear 
 waters of the river Ku'ar over a wooden bridge, and pass 
 through some of the most beautiful forest scenery on this 
 road. A few miles more, and we are driving past the new 
 memorial gardens of the late Maharajah, on to the splendid 
 mansion he had erected for the use of officials travelling 
 through the district. Here we stay for the day and night, 
 to allow of our sending forward two of our dak horses to put 
 us through from this to Tulsipur and the meld on the mor- 
 
178 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 row. This magnificent Jcothi is erected on the south side of 
 one of the largest and finest groves of mango trees to be found 
 in any part of " The garden of India ; " and at this season of 
 the year this bdgji or park, is looking its very best, in its new 
 spring dress. In front of the mansion is a fine flower-gar- 
 den, all aglow with roses and petunias. In the centre of this 
 well-laid out garden rises a bare flag-staff, showing how 
 ready the senior Maharani would be to welcome at any time 
 H. H. the Lieut. -Governor, or any other high official, and 
 expend plenty of money, too, in her unsparing hospital- 
 ity. But we are very small fry, and the most we can 
 hope for is the shelter of a room and the luxury of a bath. 
 For the rest I have to look to my own simple commissariat, 
 and the services of my one servant. But one thing more I 
 had the privilege of doing, and that was to sit in a most 
 luxurious chair in the elegantly furnished drawing-room, and 
 study copies of some of the finest pictures in the world of 
 their kind, carrying me back in history to many soul-thrill- 
 ing scenes. There is a mere boy-regiment of Britishers, on 
 the blood-soaked field of Waterloo, standing the shock and 
 onslaught of the chivalry of France. There is the meeting 
 of Wellington and Blucher, amid smoking homesteads and 
 the mangled corpses of friends and foes, while in the distance 
 the avenging German artillery and cavalry are cruelly press- 
 ing on the confused rear of all that is left of Napoleon's 
 grand army. Then there is that wonderfully impressive 
 picture of the Roll-call, where a thin red line of the Guards, 
 after the bloody contest on the heights of Inkerman, is 
 drawn up, to find who those are of that heroic regiment who 
 have answered to the great roll-call above. Even of those 
 left living, every other man is wounded, or faint to falling 
 from fatigue and hunger. The sergeant, who with pencil 
 and book in hand, is marking off the numerous names of 
 those who have fallen or are missing, is himself wounded 
 while the mounted officer is listening, with ineffable pity on 
 his face to the small number of feeble answers that respond 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 179 
 
 to the calling of so many names. While this soldier's battle 
 was being fought we were stationed in Meerut, and expect- 
 ing every day to receive telegraphic, orders to start for 
 that awful scene of strife and bloodshed ; but the Great 
 Captain of salvation had other service in which for us to en- 
 list. There are one or two other pictures representing stir- 
 ring scenes in the Franco-Prussian War, of which I cannot 
 recall the events. 
 
 A visit from Mr. M belongs to the important incidents 
 
 of staying at this place. There can be no doubt about his Eng- 
 lish birth and education ; and he is as great an expert in 
 riding or doctoring a horse, as in curing the skin or setting up 
 to life the figure of a tiger. In charge of the late Sir Dig Beseg 
 Singh's fine stud of Arabs, he is most obliging and helpful 
 to any visitor who may wish to see the elephants, the sta- 
 bles, the menagerie, the old rhinoceros, and other lions of Bal- 
 rampur. This same pachydermatous mammal we remember 
 23 years ago. Then he was the terror of the 200 elephants 
 in possession of the late "great king"; not on account of the 
 strong horn upon his nose did the ponderous elephants fear 
 him, but by reason of those sharp tusks hid away under his 
 flabby lips, and which he revealed and used with a ven- 
 geance when he attacked his foe. At any rate, Mr. M. will 
 help you to pass a very pleasant hour or so in a lonely place 
 like this. Then a visit from our Christian helpers and con- 
 verts in this city and from Mahadeva, helps us to pass a not 
 uninteresting day. 
 
 We are up in the gray dawn of next morning, to start for 
 Tulsipur via Sisaiya Ghat, after a most restless night in 
 combating the Balrampur mosquitoes with a towel. Driv- 
 ing by the Maharani's Charitable Hospital, the commanding 
 Lyall College, and the very dumpy Post Office, we innocently 
 turn off on to the high mud road thrown up last rains. We 
 had not driven a mile when we were suddenly brought up by 
 a cut in the road ten feet deep and twenty feet wide. A 
 number of passing coolies helped our buggy down into the 
 
180 THE GOSPEL IN GOWDA. 
 
 ditch and up on to the other side; but three such cuts in 
 succession afterwards made us wish ourselves back on the 
 pukka or metalled roads of the Empress Queen Victoria f 
 especially when, at the river Rapti, this treacherous road 
 eame to an abrupt end, and we were nearly precipitated in- 
 to a gulf of sand below. Then we returned a few miles and 
 descended with the help of villagers into a deep cart-rut. 
 This rut, with flinty, high sides and full of flinty holes, 
 went winding round in half moon shape, on the sloping 
 bank of the river, which brought the buggy every now and 
 then to an angle that was extremely unpleasant. Thus 
 bumping and thumping along we descend on to a very prim- 
 itive bridge across the Rapti. This bridge is made of vil- 
 lage boats, overlaid with logs of wood and covered with 
 brushwood and straw. By the help of coolies, and guided 
 by a soldier of the Maharani dressed in the costume of Lord 
 Olive's sepoys, minus the nether garment, we floundered 
 over this apology for a bridge on to the opposite side. Then 
 our troubles really began ; for we had to go over a road that 
 had been prepared in the late rains to specially perplex the 
 traveller and try his temper. Given a mud road in the rains, 
 with a thousand carts going backwards and forwards over it, 
 making intersecting deep ruts, then over all this an army of 
 elephants tramping and making hundreds of deep basins 
 with their ponderous feet ; let the whole dry and bake in 
 the burning sun, and you will have a road of jagged flints 
 that would require special patience to drive over, and would 
 show in a very marked way the difference between the gov- 
 ernment of the Sirkar and that of a Maharani. But it is a 
 long lane that has no turning; so when our buggy has 
 become a jingling mass of loosened screws and bolts and 
 springs and spokes, we scramble up out of a muddy pit call- 
 ed the Bal rapti to the pleasant village of Kathaiki-Bih, and 
 there change our tired horse for a fresh one. And now 
 a paradise of a road, all green with grass, and free from vex- 
 ing cart ruts and elephant pugs, stretches out before us, 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 181 
 
 straight as the crow flies, and only four miles from Tulsipur 
 and our welcome camp at the meld. After the greetings of 
 our brethren, a hearty meal, and a sound night's rest, we 
 
 are prepared to say something of ourcamp. 
 
 Every year we have our camp pitched to the north of the 
 meld, as we thus avoid the East or West wind which comes 
 fiercely pregnant with the odour of a hundred unclean sham- 
 bles from the places near the temple where the sucking-pigs, 
 the he-goats and young buffaloes are sacrificed every hour of 
 the day. Then this is the most convenient place for our 
 work ; for the road to the Chandanpur forests and the Nepal 
 hills runs through this bdg.h, and here we can arrest the at- 
 tention of the sturdy hill-man, with his rope-woven wallet, 
 filled with thick pieces of the deodar tree, which he will sell 
 to the peopleof the meld for offerings to the goddess ; and 
 the manly-looking, though nude, Thara who has come to 
 make his simple offering to the Devi's shrine. Thank God, 
 we shall soon have a blessed account to give of these same 
 Thariis, when we have left this mela, and gone among them 
 in their village homes. 
 
 Our tents are pitched in a most lovely spot under the out- 
 spreading branches of large mangoe trees ; whose new rich 
 foliage forms a very grateful shade as we sit conversing with- 
 the people. To our front are the tents of a Muhammadan 
 gentleman, who has come to purchase horses, and the well- 
 known tdngan, or hill pony, always brought from Nepal 
 to this fair for sale. He sits in front of his tent in true 
 oriental style, smoking from the long, snake-like pipe attached 
 to a large silver huJcka ; while two shameless courtesans sit 
 before him, chewing the inevitable pan, betal leaf {Piper betaX),. 
 and cracking their unseemly jokes. To our rear are the well- 
 ordered tents of the young Rajah of Atraula, who has also 
 come to purchase horses and then go on into the forest at 
 Bhagwanpur (not) to bag a tiger or a bear. He will soon come 
 of age, and be placed in charge of his estates. He is very 
 friendly with us, and will presently come on his baby-elephant, 
 
182 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 which he drives himself, make us a visit, and then sit in front 
 of our tent and hear our bhajans sung and the word of life 
 preached to the passers-by. He always brings his £>an-bearer 
 with him, and will not fail to offer you a leaf filled with cloves 
 and cardamoms smeared with catechu. It is a friendly act of 
 courtesy to take one, though you may not eat it. The pan is 
 quite an old institution in this country, and gardens of it are 
 grown like hops in Kent : only the gardens here are all cover- 
 ed in with mattiDg to proteet them from the fierce heat of 
 the sun. 
 
 But we must not forget our view of the fair. To our 
 left you look out under the branches of the trees as far 
 as the eye can reach, over the reaped fields, right up to 
 the Nepal mountains, the sides of which, now on fire, will look 
 at night like a grand illumination. To our right is the village 
 after which the meld takes its name, owned by the moJiant, or 
 abbot, of the Devi Patan temple. The houses of this village 
 being constructed of jungle-grass and wood, would endanger 
 the whole fair, were they once to take fire. Groups of hill- 
 men are sitting in circles round the trees, with their women 
 and children inside, and their well-stored baskets arranged 
 round the roots of the trees inside of all. A pilgrim family 
 from some distant village on the plains, have just settled them- 
 selves under a tree near my tent. The mother is kneading 
 dough in a brass-vessel, to make into unleavened bread ; the 
 daughter is going to a well, near, to draw water and fill her 
 two or three brass pots ; one boy is busy, gathering dry sticks 
 and leaves for the fire ; while another boy is shampooing his 
 father's tired limbs, as the latter lies prone upon a bed of straw 
 arranged at the foot of the tree. When night comes on, and 
 the fires are lit, and you see groups of people seated around 
 them, and figures flitting about here and there in the uncertain 
 light, the whole camp will become a very lively and picturesque 
 scene. 
 
 Let us stand under this old pipal tree, where we have often 
 stood and preached in years gone by, on the rising ground 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 183 
 
 outside the Devis > temple ; for from this point you get the best 
 view of the whole melou There, away to the South-East you see 
 the topes of trees under which the tdngans, or hill ponies, are 
 picketed in circles for sale ; or where a good riding Arab 
 or driving Cape horse or country bred nag, fit for saddle or 
 harness, may be purchased for a reasonable price. There, 
 away to the south, the reaped fields are black with litters of 
 sucking pigs, lines of tethered he-goats, and herds of young 
 buffaloes, waiting to be purchased for the sacrificial knife. 
 Here, immediately under our feet, the crowded, busy, noisy 
 bazar, with its cloth-made shops, forming streets radiating 
 from a centre. There the cloth-merchant, the general dealer, 
 the seller of brass \essels, and especially the vendor of sweet- 
 meats, are driving a roaring trade. There you see a delighted 
 lad blowing away at a newly bought whistle, or a joyful lass 
 dangling an ingenious but not very durable toy. Here a wo- 
 man with her left hand up, to keep her sheet modestly in its 
 proper place on her head, while in her right hand she holds a 
 piece of coloured cloth which she looks at with admiring eyes, 
 and there her husband, clinking with the silver ring on his fing- 
 er, a new brass-vessel he has bargained for with many words. 
 Now it is evening time, and the people are not engaged in 
 making their offerings to the blood-thirsty Devi, and so are 
 free to wander up and down the transient streets, and gaze 
 and stare and wonder at the gaudy, flaunting shops. Here a 
 dancing girl is making frantic efforts, with clinking hands and 
 feet, to draw a few pice from the listless lookers-on ; there a 
 travelling minstrel is droning a monotonous song to an unsym- 
 pathizing audience ; and here a sharper is trying to decoy 
 a few simple countrymen, to win all their money in gambling. 
 The morning scene in the meld is very different, when, in the 
 early dawn of the morning, the great bells go clanging and the 
 big drums go booming forth from the temple, creating noise 
 enough, one would think, to waken into life even the poor dead 
 stone they call a goddess ! There, as you face the West, you 
 see to your left rows of devotees holding sucking pigs by their 
 
184 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 hind legs, waiting to dash their heads on a'stone, and then rush 
 with the bleeding victims to let their blood fall on the loath- 
 some idol. These devotees have previously taken their poor 
 pig-offerings to an adjacent tank and dipped them three times 
 in its filthy water, and given their pice to the wood-ring-eared 
 priest at the top of the tank steps. There to your right the 
 struggling mass of men, each with a he-goat he has just dipped 
 in the foul water of the tank, striving to get up to the jogi 
 priest, who with hands and feet and heavy bladed knife wet 
 with blood, is fast severing the heads of goats from their bodies. 
 These heads become the property of the priests, and are sold in 
 the evening by auction in great heaps. The headless trunks 
 are removed by the offerers themselves, and divided among 
 friends at a feast. The crows and vultures, too, share in the 
 general havoc and butchery. Then, after Eatn Ndth, a simple 
 Mahadeo-stone, is brought down from Nepal into the meld, with 
 great priestly pomp and glory, the offering of young buffaloes 
 begin, and this heathen altar continues flowing with the blood of 
 these innocent, helpless creatures poured out to propitiate this 
 greedy omnivorous goddess. Thus this meld for a week gloats 
 over the blood of 22,000 slaughtered animals, as a propitiatory 
 sacrifice to the black goddess (Mli) with her four arms, in the 
 hands of two of which she holds a sword and a blood-dripping 
 human head, the Hecate of the Hindu's wife of Shiva, and to 
 whom in days gone by human sacrifices were constantly offered. 
 But this black lady with the protruding tongue, her necklace of 
 skulls, her earrings of dead bodies, and her girdle of dead men's 
 hands, is doomed ! Thank God for the One Great Offering of 
 the Cross, which turns men's minds from human and animal 
 sacrifices as insufficient, degrading, and cruel. Oh, from what 
 blood and suffering has not this ineffable tragedy of Calvary 
 saved the nations ! For were it not for that grand Remedy, 
 the nations that most boast in their civilization and freedom 
 to-day, would be enacting the same dark scenes of blood, if not 
 even worse, that we see before our eyes in this cruel place. 
 But there is light breaking in upon the thick darkness of the 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 185 
 
 people even here, as we shall see from our work in this meld. 
 We shall understand this better, perhaps, if we quote from 
 our journal. 
 
 April 6th. — Gathered our Gonda forces before our tent, and 
 with heads bared and bent, asked our great Master for a 
 special blessing upon our work this evening. Then marched 
 into the centre of the meld, and set up our banner in the name 
 of the Lord. A large crowd gathered, and we began our 
 service of prayer and song and preaching. Four Hindus came 
 out and declared themselves on the side of Christ. Another 
 man, a police jamadar, or petty officer, while we were instruct- 
 ing these four inquirers, fell at our feet and said he had found 
 the truth. While we were praying for these dear convinced 
 souls, two priests, hanphatis, ear-pierced, from the temple made 
 their way through the crowd, and began to abuse us for drawing 
 their people away from the sacrifices. They said that since we 
 had been coming to this meld preaching Jesus Christ, hundreds 
 of people had ceased coming to it ; and from an annual receipt 
 of two lakhs of rupees they only now could collect a few thou- 
 sands. They also informed us that their mdhant, or abbot, 
 had called a panchdyat (Council, of five) which had come to 
 the conclusion to spend Rs. 5,000 in instituting a civil suit 
 against us for destroying their gains. These two poor deluded 
 men failed to see that they were bearing important testimony 
 to the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to overthrow idolatry. 
 However, they hindered our work just then so far that we were 
 unable to baptize the five who came out ; but their names were 
 registered as inquirers. These latter also promised to substi- 
 tute the name of Isd Masih Jesus Christ, for Earn, and never 
 to come to this or any other meld for idolatrous purposes. 
 
 April lih. — Received a visit from the young Rajah of At- 
 raula, ere he starts for Bhagwanpur (!No. I). Though called a 
 Rajah, he is in creed a Musalman. He brought a Hindu 
 sddhu with him, and we argued on many vital points of reli- 
 gion. The sddhu, or pious man, said he would take the name 
 of Jesus now for everything. When I pressed him to become 
 
186 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 his disciple openly, he declined for the present ; but he said he 
 would visit me in Gonda and learn more of this way. When 
 these left, the Tahsildar of Utraula and the Native Doctor 
 of Tulsipur made me a visit. A number of people gathered 
 round, in front of our tent. We argued on the necessity 
 of such a sacrifice for sin as would be worthy both of God and 
 of man. Such we showed Jesus Christ to be — " The Lamb 
 of God" not of man. Then I argued with them against the 
 doctrine of Pantheism. I quoted the apostle Paul ; " In Him 
 we live and move and have our being." I used the simple il- 
 lustration of a lota let down into a well of water. It could not 
 contain all the water in the well, but it could be brought up 
 full of the well-water. It is absurd to suppose we or any 
 other creature can take in God, either individually or collect- 
 ively ; but God can take us and everything else in. I pressed 
 them both to accept Christ as the only true sacrifice for sin ; 
 and the only one who could reveal God to us. This evening 
 we preached near the temple where the deluded devotees dash 
 the heads of the poor little sucking pigs on the stones embed- 
 ded in sand. A contractor was just putting up a heap of 
 these dead bodies to auction. These bodies were selling at a 
 pice each ; and there must have been over five hundred of the 
 sacrificed creatures. The burden of our preaching to the great 
 crowd that gathered round us was : " Behold the Lamb of God 
 that taJceth away the sins of the world ! " Two Hitdus came 
 out and said they would trust in this SavioOT to take away all 
 their sins. One was baptized ; the other hesitated to receive 
 the chinh before all his friends. He was willing we should re- 
 gister him as an inquirer, however. One of our Tcanphati, or 
 ear-pierced friends of yesterday, came and made a great noise, 
 and tried all he could to get the people away from listening to us. 
 Had it not been for him three more Hindus would have been 
 baptized. They came with us to our tent, however and there 
 we instructed and prayed with them, and wrote them down as 
 inquirers. To night we were aroused from sleep by the cry of 
 fire ! When we came out we found the village near all in a 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 187 
 
 blaze. Soon the whole meld was up in alarm. The great vol- 
 umes of black smoke became columns of forked flames that 
 sprang up in destroying power twenty feet high. The whole 
 air above was filled with rolling smoke and fiery sparks, and 
 the strong east wind drove these in fury over us ; and were it 
 not for the precaution we took of wetting our tents, and 
 for the thick foliage of the trees, not a tent would have 
 been left standing in the camp. The heavens were in a fiery- 
 glow from the greatness of the fire for miles round. The 
 whole village was utterly destroyed, and a number of cows, 
 buffaloes, goats, and pigs perished in the all-embracing flames; 
 and I am sorry to say, a poor little girl was burnt to death be- 
 fore her parents and friends could rescue her. 
 
 April 8th. — Received a number of inquirers at our tent this 
 morning. The first two were the mohant of Atraula and one 
 of his disciples. We soon found the former was too much 
 under the fatal influence of bang, an intoxicating plant, to do 
 him any good ; but the latter, a sober, intelligent man, was 
 much impressed by what was said. We argued on what was 
 a true bhakti, or devotee ; not one who abstained from certain 
 meats and drioks ; but one who abstained, by the renewing 
 grace of Christ, from all sin, i. e. from every thing that did 
 not glorify God and work good to our neighbour. The Hindu 
 bhakti is like the man who has a priceless jewel in a casket, 
 but who pays all his attention to the casket, while he neglects 
 the gem that no price can purchase. Then three young Hin- 
 dus came who had heard our preaching the day before. We 
 argued on a true expiatory sacrifice. These three young men 
 confessed they were convinced that only the exalted sacrifice 
 of "The Lamb of God " could atone for sin and wash out its 
 deep-grained guilt and impurity. When we pressed them to 
 confess this openly in baptism, they respectfully declined now ; 
 but said when we came to their village then they would receive 
 the chinh or sign of baptism. Then a pandit with six bright 
 boys came. This pandit, Rdmcharn, said he had once enter- 
 tained a missionary, Mr. B. H. Badley, in his village ; and 
 
188 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 that he had received instruction and books from him. I found 
 he had read the books (in Hindi) and remembered some points 
 of the instruction. He is a very intelligent young man, and 
 I was glad to argue with him on the subject of who was a 
 true avatar, or incarnation. He readily acknowleged that 
 only he who possessed the three attributes of omniscience, al- 
 mighty-power, and absolute purity, could lay claim to be a true 
 Incarnation of God. He also admitted that none of the Hin- 
 du avatars possessed these ; and he frankly confessed that, if 
 what was written of Christ was true, then he must be the only 
 one who came out from the God-head, a " satya avatar" or 
 true incarnation. He made a very ingenious apology, how- 
 ever, for the animal sacrifices at thi3 meld, that the sucking 
 pigs, he-goats, and buffaloes offered, were suffering for sins 
 they had committed in a previous state of existence ! We 
 held our services this evening in the place we held them in 
 yesterday. The crowd of listeners was very large, as the breth- 
 ren from Bahraich, headed by Brother W. Peters, another of 
 our earnest efficient evangelists, held out for their acceptance 
 a Saviour whose precious blood could then, and in that very 
 place, wash away all their guilty stains. Two men — a Brah- 
 man and a Kori, responded to the call to come out on the 
 Lord's side. But we only baptized the Kori, while the Brah- 
 man was dragged away by his friends. There was a very great 
 impression made, perhaps the greatest made at this meld ; but 
 the enemy's agents in the crowd were busy, and kept at least 
 twenty precious souls from being saved. Some of these with 
 tears in their eyes, held up their hands and exclaimed, " This 
 is the truth." 
 
 April dth. — Two thieves entered our tent last night, but 
 were more successful in the young Bajah of Atraula's tent ; 
 for they carried off all his silver ornaments, of great value. 
 Thus encouraged, they entered our brethren's tent, and very 
 cleverly removed a cloth-bag, with a most intricate lock attach- 
 ed to it, from under a good brother's head, took it out into the 
 fields, cut it open, and went off with all the clothes that were 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 189 
 
 in it, leaving the poor rifled bag a mockery to its unopened 
 lock. Whether the man who made this intricate lock or the 
 brother who put it on a common cloth-bag, which a sharp 
 knife could open in any part, was the greater wiseacre, it 
 would be difficult to determine. In England he would be 
 called one of the wise men of Gotham ; in Scotland wise Willie, 
 but in this country he would be named LdlbhujhaJckar. This 
 latter person was once consulted respecting the marks of an 
 elephant's feet in mire, when he answered, " Yih to buje Lai 
 bujhakkar aur na buje koe ; Payan chakki bandhkar mat harna 
 kiida koe;" i.e. If Lai bujhakkar cannot explain this no 
 one can ; may not an antelope with a mill-stone tied to his 
 feet La\e bounded here? We had another visit from the sddhu, 
 or pious devotee, who came two days ago to inquire. He seemed 
 quite convinced that to become a true sddhu you must first 
 become a real disciple of Jesus Christ ; yet he hung back from 
 confessing the Saviour's name openly in baptism. He said he 
 would repeat the name of Jesus Christ wherever he went in 
 future. This man is over six feet in height, and propor- 
 tionately stout, and has the fine face of a Veddnti pandit. Oh, 
 how I longed to enlist such a man in the King's service ! 
 Preached again in our old place this evening. We find there 
 are not half the people present in the meld this year that there 
 were last. The reason of this is, I suppose, the late harvest 
 caused by the heavy rains in February, keeping the people 
 busy at home, reaping and threshing and winnowing their 
 grain. Though I believe, too, hundreds have given up attend- 
 ing such a meld through the direct preaching of the Gospel 
 leading them to comprehend a better way of obtaining peace 
 with God and a reasonable hope for the future. We know 
 this to be not merely a theory, but a fact. I believe this meld 
 will become, year by year, more of a business fair and horse 
 and pony market ; and that it will soon lose its great sacrifi- 
 cial character. Numbers in the crowd this evening, who were 
 convinced by our preaching, declared their intention of never 
 coming to the place again to offer animal sacrifices. Four 
 
190 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 Hindus came out openly and stood by our side, and though 
 they were not baptized, they were registered as advanced in- 
 quirers. Numbers followed us to our tenting ground where 
 we again exhorted them to give themselves up to Jesus Christ. 
 They left us repeating his blessed name with their lips, and 
 we hope with the convincing and saving power of his grace in 
 their hearts. 
 
 Not many did the Lord give us in this place of cruelty and 
 darkness this year ; forty inquirers and two baptized converts 
 were all our poor faith could grasp at this time. As dear Bro- 
 ther S. Paul, one of our best and most faithful ordained preach- 
 ers in this evangelistic work, remarked, " Our faith was not 
 a united one at this meld." It reminded us of the Arabic say- 
 ing : Sun imdnka minash-shakki finn-ash-shak7ca yufsid-ul- 
 imdna Jcamd yufsid-ul-milh-ul-asala, i. e., Preserve thy faith 
 from doubt ; for doubt destroys faith just as salt destroys the 
 sweetness of honey. And this is true not only of individual 
 faith, but also of collected faith in a working band. Let one 
 link in the chain that connects our work with the throne of 
 God's power be wanting, and the electric flash of that power 
 will be turned aside from the objective point. Let one heart 
 doubt, and the unity of faith is destroyed. The words of the 
 Great Master remain as a law for all ages eternally true : 
 " Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth 
 as touching anything that they shall ash, it shalt be done for 
 them (not for him) of my father which is in heaven." (Matt. 
 18: 19.) But the Lord was reserving greater triumphs for 
 us on ahead in the Bhagwanpiir and Chandanpur forests, that 
 would make our hearts greatly rejoice, and convince the 
 world that the blessed Gospel of Christ has lost none of its 
 unique power to touch the lowest and most, degraded, and 
 lift them up into the light and peace and joy of God ; for it 
 was from this religious fair three of us started for the Tharu 
 country to endeavor to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to 
 these poor children of the jungles, and to realize in this nine- 
 teenth century the undying promise of the " Lord of the har- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 191 
 
 vest : " " Where two or three are gathered together" (not only 
 for prayer, but for work) " in my name, there am 1 in the 
 midst of them." (Matt. 18 : 20). 
 
 4.— THE AJUDHYA MELA OF NOVEMBER, 1886. 
 
 Regarding our record of the evangelistic work done at this 
 great religious fair, and published in " The Indian Witness," 
 the Editor remarks as follows : — 
 
 " We have received a long and deeply interesting account of 
 the recent work at the Ajudhiya meld, written by the Rev. 
 S. Knowles, the first part of which will appear in our next 
 issue. As a very unusual interest is felt at present in all 
 that pertains to preaching at melds, and especially at Aju- 
 dhiya, we need hardly say that this report will be awaited 
 with eager expectation. It will not disappoint those who 
 read it." 
 
 WITH THE GONDA BAND IN THE AJUDHIYA 
 MELA. 
 
 Ajudhya is to the Hindus what Mecca is to the Moslems, 
 or Jerusalem is to the Jews. It is greater and more impor- 
 tant than Brinddbun, the forest of tulsi (sacred basil) trees, 
 where the black (Krishna) god, eighth avatar, or incarnation, 
 of Vishnu, was born of Vasudevd and Devahi, and hid away 
 in the house of Nanda and Yasodd from the enmity of the 
 tyrant Kama ; where he killed the serpent Kdliya, and kin- 
 dled the war described in the Mahdbhdrata, and became the 
 apollo of the Hindus, especially among the Gopis. Ajudhya 
 is the cradle alike of the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain faiths. 
 The great magnificence of this city, as it then stood, the glories 
 of its king, and the virtues, wealth, and loyalty of its people, 
 are the themes sung in the opening chapters of the Ramdya- 
 na, Valmik's epic poem of the history of Ram Chandra, and 
 to whom Brindabun or Kashi (Benares) in all their pomp and 
 glory as sacred places could bear no comparison. The pandits 
 say the word Ajudhiya is derived from Ajud, unvanquished, 
 and Aj, a name of Brahma : — " The unconquerable city of 
 
192 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 the Creator." But I prefer the meaning given by Dr. 
 Wilson, of Bombay, "The city of the fighting Kshhattris," 
 — from yudh, to fight. It is said to have been the capital of 
 the Surajbans race of kings, and to have once covered an 
 area of 12 jogan, or 96 miles. This race of kings are said to 
 have reigned in this place through the Satya, Tr.eta and Dwd- 
 par yugs, and two thousand years of the Kali or present age. 
 Tug means an age of the world. The first lasted 1,728,000 
 years, the second, 1,296,000, the third, 864,000; and 
 the fourth, 432,000, of which 5,000, years have passed away. 
 Ram Chandra was the fifty -seventh in descent from Raja 
 Manu ; and according to Hindu chronology lived about 1,600 
 B. C. The last of this line was Raja Sumintra. With the 
 fall of the last of Rama's line, Ajudhiya became a wilderness. 
 After the Buddhist supremacy under king Asoka, and when 
 Buddhism began to give place again to Brahmanism, the 
 neglected and forest-covered Ajudhiya was restored, and 
 created into a city of temples by Bikramajit, B. C. 57, 
 about the time the Roman soldiers were fighting their way 
 to the capital of Great Britain. This enthusiastic idolater 
 erected temples at three hundred and sixty places, rendered 
 sacred by association with Rama, the deified son of Dasara- 
 tha, and not to be confounded with Parusr&ma, son of 
 the Muni Jamadagni, or with Bala-rama, the elder brother 
 of Krishna. Of these temples only forty-two are known to 
 the present generation. There are now 98 Hindu temples, 
 of which 63 are in honour of Vishnu, and 35 in honour 
 of Mahadeo. The oldest shrine in the place is Nageswar- 
 na'th, dedicated to the Ling worship. The newest and most 
 artistically built temple in modern Oudh, as well as the 
 largest and finest in Ajudhiya, was lately built and finished 
 near the Hanuman Garhi, by the widow of the late celebrat- 
 ed Raja Man Singh; though the Darshan Singh's temple, 
 erected 31 years ago by Raja Man Singh himself, is also 
 a very fine temple, built of shapely cut Chunar stone. In 
 this latter temple is an idol made of blood stone from 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 193 
 
 the Narbada river; and it also contains one of the very 
 finest toned bells in Ajudhiya. There are also six temples 
 of the Jain faith, and one of the Kabir Panthis, dedicated to 
 a great Kabir saint — one Paltu, who taught that Jesus 
 Christ was the greatest faqir that ever lived, and that 
 He died on the cross by one mighty effort of Himself, to 
 disappoint his enemies and show how a f&qir should die. In 
 the above we have only spoken of Ram Chandra historically, 
 according to Hindu reckoning ; but we must say a few words 
 of this Oudh king mythologically. He was the seventh 
 avatar, who descended for the purpose of slaying Rdvana, 
 the latter having (for his devotion) a promise from Brahma 
 that he should not suffer death by any of the usual means, 
 became the tyrant and pest of Ceylon and India. The d&va- 
 tds, or gods, came in the shape of monkeys, as Ravana had 
 gained no promise of safety from them; hence Hanu- 
 man, whose enthroned image in the garhi, or fort, is the 
 principal object of worship at this fair, was Rdmds monk- 
 ey-god general. It was while Rama was performing his 
 devotions on the banks of the Pampq,-nadi, that Rdvana ap- 
 peared as a beggar and enticed away Shitd, or Sitd, Ram's 
 wife, which gave rise to the war detailed in the Rdmdyana. 
 Sitd was daughter of Janaka Raja, who had promised 
 to give her to any person who could break a certain bow, 
 which was done by Ram Chandra. When in the forest, he 
 clrew a circle round Sitd, and forbade her go beyond it, and 
 left his brother Lakchman to take care of her ; but Lakch- 
 man hearing some noise which alarmed him for his brother, 
 left her to seek him. Then it was that Rdvana appear- 
 ed and enticed Shitd out of the safe circle {gan$i) and car- 
 ried her off in his flying chariot. In the air he was opposed by 
 the bird Jdtdyu, whose wings he cut, and so escaped. Hence 
 all the above temples and following places have reference to 
 these legendary events, closing with Rdvana, son of Vishravd 
 and Kaikasi, losing his kingdom of Lanka — Ceylon — to Ram 
 €handra. There are four special places of interest connect- 
 
194 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 ed with the deified history of Rama, and which draw thou- 
 sands of pilgrims from all parts of India to worship at their 
 shrines. The Jannamisthdn, or place where Rama was born ; 
 the Swarg-dwdra, the place where his body was burnt, 
 and from which his soul went up to Paradise ; The Trata-he 
 TMJcur, or spot on which Rama offered one of his great sac- 
 rifices ; and the Hanumdn Garhi, where the image of the 
 monkey-god, in all the barbaric splendour of an Eastern king, 
 rests and is worshipped annually by enthusiastic thousands. 
 This last shrine was set up in a massive fort to commemorate 
 the time when Hanumam helped Rama to rescue his wife 
 Sita from the hands of the ravisher Rawan ; and it is from 
 this fort 26 maunds of wetted gram are daily issued to feed 
 the screeching, fighting, pampered monkeys, which troop 
 in thousands to the tamarind grove, where the Bairagis 
 stand calling them. With respect to all these places just 
 mentioned, the Muhammadan conquest was a period of deep 
 humiliation for them all. On the temple-ruins of the first 
 the Emperor Babar, in A. D. 1528, built the mosque that 
 now stands in its massive strength on Ajudhiya's most pre- 
 cious shrine. On the second place as great a spoiler as Ba- 
 bar, Auranjeb, in A. D. 1658, committed the same sacrilege. 
 And the same sovereign profaned the third place by building 
 on it another place of Islam worship ; thus declaring to the 
 whole of India the Moslem principle of enforcing their reli- 
 gion on all those whom they conquered. The Hindu sects 
 have always felt the humiliation of having their supposed 
 sacred things violated and profaned by these and other 
 mosques being erected on or near their temples. In 1855 a 
 great fight took place between the Hindus and Musalmans 
 near the Ramkoth ; and the Ganj-i-Shahiddn, or martyr's 
 grave, is pointed out; where seventy-five Muhammadans fell 
 and were buried. Eleven Hindus were also killed in driving 
 back their foe from the Hanuman OarM. 
 
 The monastic orders are as rampant all over Ajudhiya as 
 the well-fed troops of fierce monkeys that fill the groves 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 195 
 
 of shady tamarind trees, cover the walls of the temples, and 
 steal food from the stalls and shops of the bunyas, or from the 
 cooking places of the unwary pilgrims. We remember once 
 visiting this shrine in company with the Revd. H. Jackson, 
 when the Bairagi priest gave us each a leaf-cup full of sweet- 
 meats. We were standing with our hands behind us hold- 
 ing the said sweetmeats, when we suddenly felt our leaf- 
 cup snatched out of our hands. Turning quickly round we 
 discovered the thief was a big dog-monkey, who was sitting 
 on the branch of a tree above our heads, holding our leaf-cup 
 of sweets, and showing us his teeth ! There are seven ATch- 
 dras, or cloisters, of Bairagis, or disciples of Vishnu, each of 
 which is presided over by a Mdhant or Abbot. The princi- 
 pal and most influential of these sects is the Nirbdni, or si- 
 lent ones ; though, en passant, to hear them trying to disturb 
 our preaching no one would think they possessed the golden 
 gift of silence. There are six hundred of these silent brothers 
 who reside in and about the Hanuman Garni, or fort of the 
 monkey-god. Among these again there are four fhaJcs, 
 or parties called after the names of four celebrated saint-dis- 
 ciples : Kishan-dasi, Tulsi-dasi, Mani-Rami, Jan-kisaran- 
 dasi. Then there are the special devotees — the void of 
 affection (nirmohi), the naked (digambari), the ash-besmear- 
 ed (babhuti), the dumb (mahanirban), the patient (santokhi), 
 the povisionless (nirlambhi) ; but of all these the mem- 
 bers of the silent family are the richest, proudest, and most 
 perverse and intractable. The Brahmanical and Kshhattri 
 castes prevail in this order. The anchorite has to make the 
 sacred round of Dwarka, Jagannath, and Gya, before he can 
 be admitted to the full privilege of brotherhood ; but when 
 once admitted as a full Bairagi, he proudly treads the ground 
 as one of the lords of Ajudhia. It was from this branch of 
 ascetics we met with more opposition this year in our preach- 
 ing than we ever met before from any other class ; and yet 
 a Pandit from this order was the first fruit the Lord gave us 
 at this meld : but I must not anticipate. 
 
196 THE GOSPEL IN GOtflM. 
 
 The population of Ajudhiya is 7,518 ; 4,407 are Hin- 
 dus, and 2,519 are Musalmans. The great fair of each 
 year is the Ramnaumi, held in April, at which 500,000 peo- 
 ple assemble ; but at the present mela, the Puran-mdshi-ash- 
 ndn, or the bathing at the full-moon, not more than 300,000* 
 people were assembled. It was to this latter meld the Gonda 
 band of preachers came to make known God's proclamation 
 of mercy to these perishing thousands ; and to call upon 
 them to have repentance toward God and faith in our Lord 
 Jesus, and make confession of the Son of God in baptism, so* 
 as to secure mercy for guilt and grace to help in time of need 
 as well as the gift of eternal life. 
 
 Having had a bumper season of rich harvests this year, the 
 Hindus crowded the Ajudhya meld for the Kdrtik Ashndn t 
 "bathing at the full-moon in November," as they had never 
 m our time crowded it before. During these days, from the 
 evening of the 9th till the morning of the 13th, 700,000 
 people filled the streets and lanes, and every available space 
 in and about this ancient city, ready to plunge with a thun- 
 dering shout into the waters of the old Sarju, the moment the 
 moon swelled out into her propitious fullness. On the morn- 
 ing of this 10th day of November what a sight the long street 
 presents* stretching for two miles from the massive fort of 
 Hanuman down to the glittering sands of the river, and 
 deeply packed in its length and breath with two moving 
 streams of eager human beings going and coming, to and 
 from the meritorious bathing ! A ceaseless roaring, like the 
 perpetual noise from the restless traffic and moving multi- 
 tudes of the London streets, comes up for these three days 
 from this birth-place of the popular Ram, mingled with the 
 frantic tolling of monster bells, the singing of many songs, the 
 beating of big drums, and the part-singing of thousands 
 of women, that deafens and confuses and drives a nervous 
 person nearly crazy. And what a weirdly picturesque view 
 the river gives before the gray dawn of the morning, all agleam 
 with the sheen cast from the full-face of the beautiful queen of 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 197 
 
 night, and agitated and broken into swelling waves by the 
 mad rush of 700,000 enthusiasts into its supposed healing 
 and cleansing water ! 
 
 What strange and vivid scenes, too, of long-past barbaric 
 splendour do the banks of this grand old river call up ! Before 
 yonder line of compacted, heavily built temples reared their 
 gleaming heads to the calm blue heavens, before Caesar's con- 
 quering hosts had fought their way to the heart of Old Eng- 
 land, and ere the Son of God had appeared in the fullness 
 of time to complete the salvation of our race, Ram roamed! 
 along these very banks in all the grandeur of an Eastern 
 Prince ; and Buddh sat upon them and studied out his godless 
 humanitarianism, and won the haughty Brahmans o^er to his 
 heartless theories. Then Ajudhiya had an area of ninety-five 
 miles, and was the most populous city in the world. Now it is 
 a city of idol-temples, filled with representatives from all the 
 Hindu orders of ascetics, such as the silent, the void of affec- 
 tion, the naked, the dumb, the patient, the provisionless, the 
 covered-with-dust sects, as mentioned above all reaping a rich 
 harvest from the decessive credulity and superstition of the 
 people. Thus the delud ed villagers crowd in from town, and 
 hamlet to this great annual show of Hindu mythology ; and 
 thus the grand opportunity is presented to us of preaching 
 the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ to listening thousands. 
 
 Brother Lawson and myself began our first day's work in this 
 place with "knee drill " in our tent. With united prayer and 
 faith we pleaded with God to have mercy upon the erring sin- 
 ful crowds about us, rushing so madly on to ruin ; and to 
 give us and our Native brethren special grace and wisdom and 
 power to proclaim to their perishing souls a full, free and pres- 
 ent salvation on their now repenting of their sins, and accept- 
 ing Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. After this blessed 
 exercise we both went out with the earnest of victory in our 
 hearts. We went down out of our camp under the outspread- 
 ing branches of the large tamarind (TMmar-i-hind, Arabic 
 for " fruit of India ") grove near the Hanumdn fort, and among 
 
198 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 hundreds of sacred monkeys, to where our Native brethren 
 were encamped, and standing in front of their tent we lead in 
 prayer for the Great Master to inspire our hearts with courage 
 and baptize our minds and lips with the fire of His power 
 from on high to preach His word of life to the people. Then 
 we make our way through the pressing crowds of men and 
 women on the main street, till we come to a shady place near 
 a well of water and a little off from the surging, heaving 
 moving mass of people. Here, on a grassy slope, we took our 
 stand, and a vast concourse of Hindus of all castes and forms- 
 eagerly gathered round us. 
 
 Then began our service of song and prayer and preaching, 
 followed by a warm, earnest invitation for those convinced to 
 "come out" and "receive" Jesus Christ. The blessed sav- 
 ing power of the Holy Spirit was manifested in our midst. 
 About 40 souls were convinced of the truth, and convicted of 
 their sins. Eleven of these received Christ as their Saviour 
 in their hearts, and confessed Him with their mouths before 
 the whole assembly in baptism. Those not baptized were car- 
 ried off by their friends. Among those baptized was a Brah- 
 man faqir, aged 26 years. He possesses a fine physique, and 
 was most earnest and sincere in coming out in front of the 
 wondering crowd and confessing Christ as his Saviour. He 
 knows Sanscrit, Hindi, Punjabi, and Marathi, and is well 
 acquainted with the Ramdyan and other classical books of the 
 Hindus. He has come back with us to Gonda, and is being 
 trained for any work the Master may call him to. The others 
 baptized, among whom was a woman, were Kurmis, a respect- 
 able tribe of husbandmen living in the Basti District. Their 
 addresses were all faithfully taken down and recorded. 
 
 We discovered one thing in this morning's service which 
 it may be well to mention. Many of the persons we baptized 
 and others with whom we conversed, claim that they had 
 received peace (shdnti) in their hearts whenever they bathed 
 in the •? holy Sdrju" but they afterwards confessed that this 
 peace was not abiding— it lasted only as long as the mist on 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 199 
 
 the river in which they bathed, and which the rays of the ris- 
 ing sun melted away ; * so they had to come again and again 
 only to be more and more disappointed. But when we drew 
 their attention to the well, near which we were preaching, and 
 pointed out to them the great Saviour, and what He said to 
 the woman of Samaria : " He that drinkeih of this water shall 
 thirst again" they soon understood that only He could give 
 the " water" that would be "in them" a well of water spring- 
 ing up into " everlasting life." Then would they have no 
 more need to come despairingly, season after season, to a well 
 or river to " draw " water that could never quench the thirst 
 of the immortal spirit or cleanse from heart-defilement and 
 impurity ; for they would have Christ in their very hearts as 
 the grand elixir of life, to transmute their souls into His 
 image of purity and abiding peace. 
 
 Again, in the afternoon of this first day, after earnest plead- 
 ing with God in prayer, Brother Lawson with the Native breth- 
 ren and myself went to another place on the main road, and 
 held our service of song and prayer and of heralding the good 
 tidings. The power of the Holy Spirit was present with the 
 word preached ; so many were brought to the feet of Jesus. 
 Five Hindus had been convicted in their hearts, and further 
 instructed how to receive Christ by simple faith, and were just 
 about to be baptized, when their angry relations rushed in and 
 dragged them away from under our very hands. Two other 
 Hindus, however, were left in peace to receive our teach- 
 ing and to accept Jesus Christ just now, as well as to be bap- 
 tized in His ever-ble3sed name. Oh, how we prayed for these 
 thirteen precious souls, given us to-day when we got back to 
 our tents ; and how we praised God for the wonderful adap- 
 tation of His Gospel to the otherwise hopeless state of these 
 poor deluded Hindus ! There were about 60 others to-day, who 
 though not baptized, had accepted the good news we heralded 
 of a Saviour for them who is Christ the Lord. We believe 
 we shall meet many of these in our heavenly home at last ; for 
 if in these Gospel days, "he that calleth on the name of 
 
200 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 the Lord shall be saved," these dear souls who have few, if any 
 •opportunities of knowing more of Christ's person and character 
 and work than they learn at a meld, yet do receive the word 
 they thus hear in the simplicity of faith and hold fast to that, 
 will be accepted of Him, who is u not willing that any should 
 ^perish" but that they should be saved through the far reaching 
 sacrifice of Him " who tasted death for every man" They 
 may not be found wearing crowns of gold upon their brows, 
 'but that they will be saved we have no doubt. On our way 
 back to our tents we passed a large crowd of people listening 
 to the earnest preaching of the Rev. Mr. Elliott, of the Wes- 
 leyan Mission in Faizabad ; and a little further on we saw as 
 large an assembly hanging on the words of the eloquent 
 ^Native minister of the C. M. S. Thank God the <c good tid- 
 ings " are thus being preached and published all over this vast 
 meld ; and that these great, weary, and heavy-laden multi- 
 tudes are thus drawn to listen so eagerly to that which is able 
 to give them rest and peace, and save their priceless souls ! 
 
 This second day of our work in this meld is the Puran-m&si, 
 ox time of the full moon, when the great, all-important 
 .plunge into the river must be taken, that will, the poor people 
 think, wash away all the guilt and crime and impurity 
 of another year. As we made our difficult way to a new 
 preaching place this morning, eh how we pitied the poor 
 shivering crowds of men, women and children, as with their 
 wet garments clinging to their bodies, and their teeth chatter- 
 ing from cold, they came up from the different bathing ghats 
 -and hastened on toward the fort of the monkey god, to make 
 their last offering for the day at his shrine. It was wonderful 
 tow the sound of a hymn or the voice o£ prayer would arrest 
 the attention of these on-rushing multitudes, so apparently 
 absorbed in doing their " dead works," and draw them near to 
 listen ardently to the word of God explained and enforced. 
 And yet there should be nothing surprising in all this ; for is 
 it not God, to whom we had previously directed our prayers, 
 and who is ever present in the consciences of oycu these 
 
THE GOSPEL IN QONDA. 201 
 
 Hindus, that is working for us to draw these perishing ones 
 to His Son Jesus Christ and save their souls ? So this morn- 
 ing, as we drew up in front of the Government school build- 
 ing, a very large congregation, notwithstanding the great 
 excitement which reigned everywhere, silently awaited our 
 usual service. The power of the Holy Spirit fired our hearts 
 and tongues, and moved mightily on the eager throng. Bro- 
 ther Lawson with his Sitapur band, standing on the other 
 side toward the river, with as large a multitude, closely pack- 
 ed together, experienced the same soul-stirring power. Con- 
 vinced and convicted, a number of inquirers were wrested 
 away from the place on which they knelt to receive the sign 
 of discipleship. But one man stood out bravely against all 
 the subtle persuasion of the priests, and was baptized. With 
 us, too, a number of earnest seekers were torn away from 
 us, just as, with lota — brass drinking vessel, in hand, we were 
 about to make them disciples of Jesus Christ. Nine precious 
 souls, however, more courageous than the rest, resisted the en- 
 treaty of their relations, and bowed their hearts to submit 
 to Christ and bowed their heads to receive the outward sign 
 of an inward and spiritual grace. Oh, how happy we felt as 
 we knelt with these nine ardent inquirers in the dust of the 
 road, and in front of the astonished multitude, and taught 
 them how to lay hold one ternal life ! 
 
 A Musalman present was pricked in his heart, and came 
 forward to the seeker's line. He had, he said, some doubts 
 in his mind he would like cleared away before we baptiz- 
 ed him. So bidding him come to our tents, where we should 
 have more time to answer him, we parted from him for the 
 present. Two hours or so afterwards he came to our camp. 
 Brother L. and myself prayed with him, and answered 
 all his objections. He said he wanted some test by which he 
 would know that Christ had saved him. We told him if he 
 would kneel down then and there and submit himself to 
 Christ, He, the Great Spirit, would give him the test he want- 
 ed. He knelt with us, and confessing himself a lost sinner, 
 
202 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 he submitted himself to God; and at once peace came into 
 his heart and he knew Christ had saved him. We then made 
 him a disciple of Christ by water baptism and prayed for the 
 Holy Ghost to rest upon him. He is a teacher of Urdu. 
 
 The case just described was not the only one of the kind ; 
 for a very blessed influence went forth from our morning's ser- 
 vices. A Brahman came, with his heart touched and pierced by 
 the " two-edged sword" of the Word, to the Native brethren's 
 tent, and asked what he should do to find peace. They instruct- 
 ed and prayed with, and led him to trust in Christ now. He 
 was converted, and then baptized by Brother William Peters. 
 A short time after this Brother S. Paul brought three other 
 Hindus to our tent. Their hearts, too, had been deeply affect- 
 ed by the preaching. They were three honest, straight-for- 
 ward villagers from the Gorukhpur District, and gladly receiv- 
 ed Christ as their Saviour now, and their High Priest and 
 spiritual Guide in all the future. We made them Christ's 
 disciples by baptism, and sent them away happy in their new- 
 born faith. The younger of the three could not contain him- 
 self, but went away crying, " Masih hi jai ! " — the "Victory of 
 Christ ! Some little time elapsed, when Brother Lawson was 
 moved to go and speak to a family party of Hindus, some 
 little distance from our tents. The heart of a Brahman in the 
 party was touched, and he believed on and accepted Christ as 
 his present Saviour, and was baptized before all his friends. 
 Others, too, had their souls pierced by the sharp arrow 
 of the word, but they had not the moral courage of this 
 Brahman to come out on the Lord's side. Thank and praise 
 God for these fifteen souls He gave us this morning ! Our 
 hearts go out in special prayer for these dear ones. May the 
 Good Shepherd watch over them ! 
 
 This evening we all stood in front of the Native brethren's 
 tent and conducted our wonted service. There was a marvel- 
 lous influence present in our midst. Our hearts knew it, and 
 the crowd felt it. One tall, fine-looking Hindu said he expe- 
 rienced something strange in his soul as he listened to us. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 203 
 
 We told him it was the Spirit of God urging him to repent of 
 his sins and believe the- Gospel, and we invited him to come 
 and accept Christ now. He was about to do this, when his 
 wife seized him by the arm and forced him back out of the 
 crowd. Poor thing, she knew not what she was doing ! An- 
 other Brahman called out that he repented of his sins and 
 received Christ as his Saviour, but could not be baptized on 
 account of " dunyd Jed jhagrd," the complications it would 
 create in his home, relationships, &c. We told him to hold 
 fast whereunto he had attained, and the Lord would settle his 
 " dunyd Ted jhagrd " for him. Two others came out of the 
 pressing throng, and asked us to pray for them ; we did so, 
 and then further taught them how to trust Jesus and be saved 
 through Him. Then they braved even " dunyd Jed jhagrd" 
 and were baptized. After we had baptized these two Hindus, 
 the head Mohunt, or Abbot, of Ajudhya, who resides in the 
 fort of the monkey-god, made his way through the crowd, ac- 
 companied by some from among his 500 followers, and put 
 this question to us : " On what basis do you make disciples 
 for Jesus Christ, and by whose authority 1 " In answer I 
 simply gave him an account of our own conversion ; and then 
 said we baptized on the basis of repentance towards God 
 against whom we had sinned, and faith in our Lord Jesut 
 Christ, who alone had been sent of God to save us. I then read 
 him our commission : — " Go ye into all the world and preach 
 the Gospel to the whole creation. He that believeth and is bap- 
 tized shall be saved ; but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned." 
 The blessed Holy Spirit applied the word spoken to his heart, 
 and he seemed on the point of yielding. We asked him if he 
 would let Christ save him now, as He had saved us. He an- 
 swered that there was only one thing stood in his way, and 
 that was this "dunyd Jed jhagrd." He said, too, it was a good 
 thing for those who could overcome this strife of the world, 
 and become disciples of Jesus. I yet believe this man will 
 come out and make confession of Christ. Reader, pray for 
 this Abbot of Ajudhya. 
 
204 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 I have frequently heard the same expression used at this 
 mela in connection with our work. When a man is convinced 
 of the truth, but refuses to come out from his dumb idols to 
 serve the living God, his excuse is, " dunyd Tea jhagra" We 
 reckoned over 1 50 persons who would have come out clearly 
 and confessed Christ in baptism, only for this terrible fear 
 We pray the Lord to take this fear out of their minds, and 
 give them the faith that will overcome the ivorld. This shows 
 us that there are hundreds in this religious fair whose minds 
 have been so far enlightened, and their hearts so far affected 
 that they have been brought to the point of deciding whether 
 they will accept Christ openly in baptism as their Saviour and 
 face this strife of the world, or remain as the} are at present 
 and escape this trial of faith. Many have said to us, " Why 
 can't we be Christ's disciples in secret, without this open con- 
 fession of him in baptism ?" If we needed a forcible argument 
 to prove that the Holy Spirit, in answer to prayer, was work- 
 ing wondrously and powerfully in this mela, and also that the 
 rite of baptism was necessary as a means to bring souls out 
 fully on the Lord's side, the above would be the one. 
 
 Just before starting for our preaching place this beautiful 
 morning of our third day at the mela, Miss Black mar called 
 me over to her tent to speak with and baptize a Hindu woman. 
 This woman and her sister had heard the truth as it is in 
 Jesus from Miss Blackmar and her four earnest Bible-women 
 the day before. Her heart had been deeply touched, and, as 
 far as the light she had received, she was sorry for her sins, 
 and embraced the Saviour Christ offered her ; but when water 
 was brought and the rite was explained to her, she became 
 afraid and drew back. She said she would go and call her 
 sister; but when she went away she did not return. After 
 prayer in front of the Native brethren's tent, the Gonda Band 
 went out to the main street and chose a preaching stand near 
 at hand, while the Sitapur Band went much further down the 
 road. The service of song and prayer made a very marked 
 impression on the multitudes, and ths preaching was in dem- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 205 
 
 imstration of the Holy Spirit's power. About 28 persons 
 responded to our call to come out and be saved from the idola- 
 ter's doom. But only 13 were received and baptized. The 
 rest were seized on and forcibly removed by their relations and 
 priests. We found these Bairdgi priests had a very subtle 
 way of getting the people away from us. When they saw any 
 •one impressed and likely to accept our invitation, they would go 
 to him and whisper : " If you listen to this word it will be as 
 if you eat cow' 8 meat!" Among those initiated by baptism, 
 was a Hindu family, consisting of a father, mother, and son. 
 The Lord also worked powerfully with Brother Lawson. 
 Hearts bowed before the Spirit's power like ears of standing 
 wheat before the sweeping wind, in both preaching places. 
 Three Hindus came forward and were baptized by Brother 
 Lawson ; but many more were ready to become disciples of 
 ■Jesus, only they were hindered by the Bairdgis from coming 
 to the front. One Brahman baptized came running back to 
 Brother Lawson in great trouble, crying that some persons had 
 told him that the Sahib had baptized him in rum ! Brother 
 Lawson at once showed him the lota or brass vessel of water 
 from which he baptized him, and also passed it round for the 
 other people to see it. This convinced the new convert and 
 his anxious friends that he had really been baptized in water, 
 and not in liquor, and they went away feeling quite happy. 
 At our preaching this morning one man asked me quite seri- 
 ously and earnestly how he could really know that the Christ 
 Jesus we preached was his Saviour. He seemed to be really 
 hungering and thirsting after such a Redeemer as Jesus 
 Christ. We told him if he would believe on and accept Christ 
 now, and confess Him before men at this very time in bap- 
 tism, that Christ would himself make that known to his heart 
 and mind, and fully satisfy him on that and every point, I 
 also explained that if he went down to the river to-night, he 
 would see a glittering sheen upon its surface, and underneath 
 that silvery sheen, away down in the depths, he would see a 
 -wonderful -likeness of the orb that caused it. So it is when 
 
206 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 you believe on Christ Jesus, the <k Sun of Righteousness." He 
 shines upon you with healing in His wings, and below that 
 shining you see His image clearly revealed. This illustration 
 struck us very forcibly as we crossed the Cawnpore railway 
 bridge at night on our way to this mela, and sasv the Ganges 
 all lit up with the mellow beams of the moon shining upon its 
 waters ; but we little thought we should need it to comfort 
 some poor Hindu inquirer's soul at Ajudhya. Yet thus are 
 we led and taught by the Holy Spirit. At midday Brother 
 Mc Arthur brought two inquirers to our tents — one a Bairdgi 
 from one of the adjacent temples, and a Kdyath, who is a vil- 
 lage-school teacher. Both had been present at our morning 
 service, and had been very much impressed by what they saw 
 and heard. They were both, however, greatly afraid of what 
 would happen to them if they openly declared for Christ in 
 baptism, and so they wanted us to make some provision for 
 them previous to their receiving this rite. But we decidedly 
 refused to give them the sign of discipleship until they had 
 fully surrendered themselves to God. We have still hopes of 
 these two men, that the Lord will bring them to a decision in 
 His own wondrous way. 
 
 Brother Lawson and Miss Blackmar, the latter with her 
 four Bible women, left this afternoon for Lucknow. This dear 
 brother and these dear sisters have all done excellent service for 
 the great Master at this mela, and their " work of faith and 
 labour of love" have been abundantly owned and blessed by 
 God. I feel very thankful that at this religious fair so many 
 hundreds of poor Hindu women have heard the "good tidings"" 
 of Christ the Lord, and that so many of them have not only 
 heard, but received these glad tidings in their hearts ; and 
 could our sisters have worked among them as we among the 
 men, many would doubtless have been baptized. To Christ 
 Jesus be all the praise ! 
 
 Evening.— Went out with our workers, and took up our posi- 
 tion lower down on the road, towards the river, and in front of 
 an unfinished building, so as to screen our backs from the rays 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 207 
 
 of the still powerful sun. Large numbers of the people had, 
 since 12 o'clock to-day,' left the fair and gone their several 
 ways ; but still there were enough people left to give us a good 
 large crowd to listen to the message from God we had to deliv- 
 er. Very different, however, this assembly from the one we 
 had in the morning. We found the lords of Ajudhya, the un- 
 ruly Bair&gis, who are anything but religious ascetics, were 
 greatly enraged because of the 47 converts we had gained and 
 baptized at this mela, and especially because some of these con- 
 verts were from among their own order; and so they gath- 
 ered in force to vex and annoy and persecute us as far as 
 they dared. They began loudly to ply us with questions of 
 the most absurd kind, from every part of the crowd, and did 
 all they possibly could to hinder the people from paying atten- 
 tion to, and receiving, the word we preached. One of these 
 would-be ascetics, standing near us was heard to say to an- 
 other : " Bat ihori aur sang bahut" i. e., We have a business, 
 and little time in which to perform it. In our English idiom 
 when we were boys it would be, " The great enemy to pay and 
 no pitch hot ! " We soon discovered very painfully what our 
 friend meant. 
 
 While we were thus standing, trying to make known God's 
 message to their souls, one of these turbulent men crept up to 
 the top of the aforesaid building, and dashed down a large 
 rjliard, or earthen pitcher, full upon the top of our head. Pro- 
 videntially we had on our terai hat at the time, which saved 
 our head from being cut ; as it was, we were for a moment stag- 
 gered and almost stunned from the sudden and unexpected 
 blow. Still we went on preaching for a few moments after- 
 wards, though the noise and uproar became so great we had to 
 move to another place. But our enemies persistently followed 
 us and forcibly hindered those who had been visibly affected by 
 the power of the Word from being taptized ; so we had finally 
 to forbear and discontinue our labours. In fact the work of 
 God at thi^mela seemed suddenly to stop here ; and the Lord 
 allowed this thing to happen to tell us so. With the excep- 
 
208 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA, 
 
 tion of the few whose hearts were deeply affected, and who were 
 taken away, the whole throng was seized with a mocking, devil- 
 ish spirit of mischief, that might easily have broken out into 
 open and violent persecution. We have no time to theorize 
 on this subject, all we can say is that, as "the wind blow- 
 eth where it listeth," so the Holy Spirit will work or not work 
 as He graciously wills. Nothing, to our mind, reveals Him 
 to be a distinct Divine Person more than this wondrous work- 
 ing of His own will. At any rate, we may well doubt the 
 reality of a work that can move on without the carnal mind 
 being stirred up to bitter opposition. When the Holy Ghost 
 first came down from God the Father and God the Son to this 
 earth, in " cloven tongues of fire," and sinners pricked to the 
 heart were being instructed, and saved, and baptized, there 
 were some who mocked, others who rose in opposition, and 
 many who resisted the blessed influence of the Spirit and set 
 themselves in furious contention against the great Master's 
 work. As the Holy Ghost worked at the Pentecost-mela 
 in Jerusalem, nineteen hundred years ago, so He graciously 
 works to-day in the Ajudhya mela in Oudh ! 
 
CHAPTER IV, . 
 
 SPECIAL WORK AMONG THE THARU'S DURING* 
 APRIL AND MAY OF 1886. 
 
 The following narrative was also published in " The Indian 
 Witness" for 1886, which account in this country) in Eng- 
 land, and in America, attracted considerable attention, as 
 well as awakened great interest in the cause of Missions in 
 India. 
 
 Before giving an account of this work we will first notice 
 some peculiarities of this simple race of people. The Tharus 
 are the children of the forest ; and live in the cleared opened 
 spaces to be found in the Oudh and Nepal jungles, stretching 
 from Bhagwanpur to the foot of the mountains on one side, 
 and from Pachperwa to the Bahraich borders on the other. 
 Of course, I am now simply writing of the Th&nis in this dis- 
 trict, of whom there are said to be 3,000, and among whom 
 the hand of the Lord has been so wonderfully revealed. The 
 Tharus are no doubt the true aborigines of the country ; and 
 before the Aryan immigration to this land, the Gonds of the 
 South of India and these people belonged to the same race. 
 If you ask any of the latter where they originally came from, 
 they will tell you at once, from the South. I thus asked an 
 aged Thani from Bhagwanpur (No. 2), whom I had baptized, 
 and whom the oldest inhabitants of the place declared to be a 
 hundred years old, where his tribe came from, and he readily 
 answered — " Dakhin or," from the South. These people are 
 not warlike in any sense, and it is easy to imagine that they 
 would recede and be scattered before a fighting race of invad- 
 ers, and retreating into the thick forests of the country, clear 
 open spaces for themselves, and live by the cultivation of the 
 
210 THE GOSPEL IN <5GNDA. 
 
 reclaimed soil. These Tharus living in the Chandanpur 
 jungles are the .profitable tenants of the Balrampur Raj. 
 They are the best agriculturists in the land. They cultivate 
 -rice for food -and wheat for the market They also own large 
 herds of cattle, which graze on the outskirts of the forest and 
 are often successfully attacked by tigers and panthers. The 
 Tharus are allowed all the wood they need for building and 
 •repairs by Government: though the Balrampur Raj before 
 the present Management made them pay more rent in conse- 
 quence. 
 
 Some of their social customs are very commendable ; others 
 are very curious ; and some, to say the least of them, are not 
 what a civilized people would adhere to. Though the men 
 And boys go about almost in a nude state, with only a piece of 
 cloth hanging loose in front, held by a string fastened round 
 the waist, yet the wives and daughters are so well clothed, 
 that only the arms and feet are left exposed. They say the 
 husband and wife never quarrel 1 A respectable Banya from 
 Pachperwa, whom we baptized, and who has traded among 
 •them for years, assured me of this as a fact. This is not because 
 *the women are kept under ; for they seem as free and indepen- 
 dent in their movements as the men. A Tharu woman will look 
 ■as straight at you when you speak to her as a European woman 
 will do. If this is true, that a Tharu husband and wife never 
 quarrel, then I can only say that these simple people have es- 
 caped one of the most terrible effects of the fall of Adam ; but 
 I should like to have a little more experience of the inner social 
 life of these people before I accepted such a blissful state of things 
 as a real fact. I notice another good trait in the social character 
 of these people. The parents seem as fond of the girls as of the 
 boys, and make no degrading distinction between them, as the 
 natives of the plains make. The Thdru's word of endearment 
 for his wife is, jdnL He calls his daughter a bdbu, and his son 
 * bhaiyd. Some of the women are very fair, and are good- 
 looking both in face and figure : though they generally par- 
 take of the Mongolian style of features. They prove them- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONIM> 21 B 
 
 selves genuine daughters of Eve by their love of finery. They 
 love to adorn themselves with heavy silver armlets and brace- 
 lets and anklets and nose-rings and neeklaess of beads and 
 many-coloured shells. They wear their long black hair, not 
 twisted up in a knot, but rolled into a long horn behind. A 
 more frequent application, I won't say of " Fears' Soap," but 
 of water, would make their bright yellow skins look more fair 
 and healthy. Their toe and finger nails are nearly all destroy- 
 ed, from being so constantly soaked in water during the rice- 
 sowing season. A woman in general is called a mardru ;. a 
 regularly married woman is named biydM, but the wife of a 
 widower is a baithdi; as they never go through their simple 
 marriage ceremony twice. 
 
 Their villages are from one to two miles distant from each 
 other ; and the houses are all made of wood and grass, the 
 two most plentiful and easily procured things in the forests. 
 The outside grass walls of each house are plastered over with 
 red mud. They never use cow-dung for this and other house- 
 hold purposes, as is done by the people outside the jungles ; 
 that they use only for manure. The cattle-sheds are protect- 
 ed from the savage beasts of the adjacent forests by strong 
 wooden palings. The wells in the villages are kept from fall- 
 ing in by boards being let down and fastened close together. 
 These boards stand up all round the wells, high above the 
 ground, to keep anyone from stumbling into them. The 
 dwelling-houses are built quite high, and made very spacious 
 within, so that they form very cool retreats in the hot weath- 
 er. The interior of each house is divided into two compart- 
 ments by very large, red, sun-burnt jars. These jars are each 
 filled with seed and food rice. This rice, which is not care- 
 fully taken out the husks, and is therefore all broken, is the 
 principal food of the Thariis. They eat three times a day. 
 At what answers to our breakfast, they eat a meal of boiled 
 rice ; at what we call our tiffin, they make a meal of boiled 
 rice-water ; and at our dinner time they make a more sub- 
 stantial meal of d&l and rice, and the meat of any game they 
 
21 2 THE GOSPEL IN GON&A. 
 
 may have shot or caught in the jungle ; but they never eat 
 bread of any kind. The reason of this latter is, that lityel 
 wheat comparatively is cultivated, and that little is for the 
 market. The first meal they call Jcalwa, the second mingi, 
 and the third beri. 
 
 Their religion is as simple as themselves. A very primitive 
 piece of wood, in the shape of a Mahadeo-stone, near which is 
 erected a long stick with a bit of red cloth fastened to the top, 
 is all they have as an object of worship \ and I found very few 
 in a village paid any attention to even this. They have some 
 idea of a Supreme Being they call Narain, who gives them 
 sun-shine, and rain, and harvests ; but they have no proper 
 idea how this great, far-off Being is to be approached or wor- 
 shipped. I found about five Jharus who had taken to them- 
 selves the luxury of a Brahman guru from Bulrampur, and 
 who carried on pujd in the usual Hindu orthodox way. These 
 were the only ones, up to the present, whom we did not bap- 
 tize. If any trouble arises among our converts, it will come 
 from the ignorant zeal of these would-be Hindus. Tharus 
 barn their dead ; but have no particular ceremony over it. 
 Their marriage custom is a very primitive thing. The bride 
 and bride-groom simply join hands together before their eld- 
 ers, and they are husband and wife. There are feasting and 
 drinking, of course, wherever the ceremony takes place. The 
 Tharus make their principal intoxicating drink from rice. 
 This rice-liquor is drunk more or less every day ; and every 
 member of the family, from the oldest to the youngest, drinks 
 it. They say by only thus drinking can they be kept alive in 
 these forests, especially in the rains. The water in the vil- 
 lage wells is certainly not fit to drink without some disinfect- 
 ing process ; and the Th&rus themselves say that drinking it 
 would kill a desi, or person living outside the forest, in a week. 
 But this bad report is spread to keep desis from settling on 
 the forest lands. Of course, they only drink to excess on spe- 
 cial occasions. Every now and then they have a big ndch, or 
 4ance, of a very debasing kind. In it they act a regular play, 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONB-A. 213 
 
 in which there is a plot and grand finale; A Nepaul prince, 
 who carries off a beautiful Tharu girl, figures in this play. 
 The women take part in it ; and I am told that the curtain 
 might better fall over the last act. The Thariis proper have no 
 caste among them ; but they are divided into tribes or clans. 
 The three principal are the Dangwariyd, the Jogi, and the 
 Umrd. Our work has been altogether confined to the first 
 tribe, nearly the whole of whom have been won over to our 
 faith and baptized, as I shall presently show. They being 
 the principal elan, we were advised to begin with them first ; 
 and the Lord has wonderfully owned our work. All the 
 praise be to Him ! 
 
 The language of this people is a kind of corrupted Hindi. 
 Their past tenses all end in the letter I ; and for "is" they 
 say bat : as, moal bat, (it) is dead ; aial bat, (he) is come ; 
 gail bat, (he) is gone. Their perfect tenses are formed by 
 adding I to the end of the simple past : as, aiali, (he) has come ; 
 gaili, (he) has gone. Nearly all the nouns they use are of 
 Sanskirt origin. They call a musquito Tcurlcur-masa, the dog- 
 biter. A tiger is a bdgh ; a deer mrigh ; a panther, tindhwd ; 
 wind, baiyar ; water, jal; a ravine, Jcula ; man is a man; 
 food, ann ; a threshing-floor is joharwar. A house is, gawdri; 
 twilight is gerud-cpiukdn (the time of bringing home the 
 cows) ; early morning is, sirfcdrigyun ; milk is goras. It is 
 the peculiar jangli tone they give to words and sentences that 
 confuses a stranger coming among them. Catch that tone, 
 and they will understand even your correct Hindi, provided it 
 be simple. The word Tharu comes from a verb used by hill 
 men— tharnd, to paddle across or about. Hence Tharu, a 
 
 paddler. 
 
 We must not suppose that because whole villages have been 
 baptized, there are now no great difficulties to overcome ; our 
 difficulties are only just beginning ! Why, only yesterday a 
 vile, malicious report was spread by an ill-disposed emissary 
 from Balrampur, that the reason why all the Dangwariya 
 Tharu children were baptized and their names taken dowa 
 
214 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 was, that they might be all sent to Wildyat, the boys for the 
 army and the girls for soldiers' wives ! But the re-action that 
 always sets in after a great movement of this kind must be 
 looked for, and met in a determined spirit o? great patience, 
 faith, and love. The thing is, not to be afraid of difficulties > 
 and the Native workers we want for the oversight of this im- 
 portant work are men and women who possess physical and 
 moral courage, and whose hearts are constrained by the love of 
 Christ alone. Oh, what a grand work to raise up in these 
 tiger-infested jungles a holy Church for the Lord Jesus- 
 Christ ! Who will come to the help of the Lord, the help of 
 the Lord against the mighty 1 
 
 It was to be expected that this people would be very 
 superstitious. The bhuts, or demons lurking in the forest 
 trees, especially in the weird Semdl or cotton tree (bombast 
 heptaphyllum,) and the prets, or spirits of the dead, lead 
 them a very miserable life. When the last ray of light 
 leaves the forest and the darkness settles down upon their 
 villages, all the Tharus, men, women and children, huddle 
 together inside their fast-closed huts, in mortal dread of 
 these ghostly beings, more savage and cruel than the leop- 
 ards and tigers and bears that now prowl about for their 
 prey. Only the terrible cry of fire will bring these poor 
 fear-stricken creatures to open the doors and remove the 
 heavy barriers from their huts at night. And even in the 
 day-time, amid the hum of human life, the songs of the 
 birds, and the lowing of the cattle, no Tharu man, woman, 
 or child will ever venture along a forest-line without cast- 
 ing a leaf, a branch, or a piece of old rag upon the " ban- 
 sati" formed at the entrance of the deep woods, to save 
 themselves from the many diseases and accidents the gob- 
 lins and malignant spirits of the forests can bring upon and 
 cause them. The " ban-sati * — (or good spirit) of the woods, 
 is a square space cut in the ground, six feet by six, covered 
 with pine branches. Every Tharii woman after the mar- 
 riageable age, is supposed by those who live outside the T&*- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 215 
 
 ru country, to possess the tond, or power of the evil eye 
 to bewitch and enchant ; so that she has the power to turn 
 a desi or stranger into a wild animal, or to destroy him slowly 
 by consumptive fever ; this I find is one reason why all the 
 Natives outside the forest dread the Tharus, and fear to live 
 among them. The Forest officer here had the greatest diffi- 
 culty in getting carpenters and masons to come out and build 
 his house ; because they were afraid of Tharu tona I But 
 surely a Native Christian can live above a fear like this. 
 
 But I must now show when and how we began this bless- 
 ed work among these sons of the forests ; and to accom- 
 plish this I cannot do better than quote from my journal. 
 
 April 10th. — Left Devi Patan meld in the early dawn of 
 the morning, for Bhagwanpur, No. 1, on the immediate 
 border of the forest. Joseph Downey and Jhandula Masih 
 came on afterwards with the tent carts. A guide came to 
 show me the nearest way across country, and I rode after 
 him on my white shaggy hill pony, stubborn-headed, wild- 
 eyed, and round barrelled, stumbling along over the hard 
 flinty broken ground, or tripping over the low mud- 
 walls that define the square shaped rice-fields. The air was 
 -cool and refreshing ; to the right a glorious flush of promise 
 on the eastern sky ; and to the front the Nepal mountains 
 raising up their majestic heads to the clouds. After about 
 four miles' riding, the crowing of cocks and the hum of hu- 
 man voices coming out of a tope of trees ahead, assured us 
 that we were drawing near to a hearty welcome and a good 
 chhoti hdziri at the Forest officer's station, where we were to 
 be his glad guests for some days. The Forest officer's house 
 here, at present, is a mere shanty ; but the lines are laid 
 out for a two-storeyed Tcothi. The surroundings are very 
 pleasant, however, with the fine grove of mango trees near, 
 and the long fringe of the forest not far distant, while the 
 blue hills of Nepal are always in sight. A well managed 
 garden in the compound supplies the house with good fruit 
 and vegetables ; and you have only to step out a few yards 
 
216 THE GOSPEL IN G0NDA. 
 
 into some adjoining brushwood, and you can shoot as 
 plump a pair of quails for breakfast, as healthy appetite could 
 wish. An old pipal tree (Jlcus religiosa) with its stripped 
 branches, seeming to menace the sky, was pointed out to us 
 in the jungle near, from which the Forest officer shot a fine 
 tiger which had killed and destroyed a number Of cattle be- 
 longing to the village after which this place is named. 
 
 Received a visit from an angjiar faqir, whom, Jhandula 
 Masih had discovered in his kuti, or little grass shed, near the 
 jungle. He claimed to have received a mantra or charm, to 
 enable him to eat any kind of body, or filth of the vilest 
 kind, or to drink urine or any loathsome fluid, without harm. 
 He had a human skull from which he always drank his hor- 
 rible drinks. And yet he was a fine-looking old man, and 
 seemed in his right mind. We told him he had no need to 
 eat and drink such impure things to make him vile ; that 
 sin made us quite vile enough. Then we preached Christ to 
 him as a power who could cleanse him from all " filthiness 
 of the flesh and of the spirit," and give him grace to "per- 
 fect holiness in the fear of the Lord." He promised to 
 go with us to Ghandanpur, but I have not seen him since 
 then. 
 
 April llth. — Preached in the village of Bhagwanpur (No. 
 1) where the head-man, a Musalman, tried to keep the villa- 
 gers from listening to us. This opposition did not keep the 
 blessing of the Lord from coming on the word spoken in 
 faith. An ahir's heart was touched, and he asked to be 
 made a disciple of the great Guru, who came into the world 
 to save sinners. Accordingly we prayed with him, and then 
 baptized him in the name of the blessed Trinity. We told 
 him this salvation was also for his wife and children. In 
 the evening he brought his wife and five children to us for 
 instruction and baptism. Two boys and a girl were old 
 enough to understand the instruction we gave them as also 
 their mother ; hence after song and prayer, we baptized 
 them all six. This ahir (herdsman) owns thirty or forty 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 217 
 
 head of cattle, and the Forest officer told us he was known 
 to him as a good, honest man. The ahir came next morn- 
 ing for some medicine for one of his boys, and we spoke 
 about his children going to school. We promised we would 
 start a small school in this place for his and other children. 
 Knowing what I know now, copying this journal, we must 
 have a free school here, not only for these, but for the chil- 
 dren of other converts we have baptized in the villages be- 
 yond. The Forest officer, as I found, keeps quite a hospital 
 for the sick here at his own expense. He treated a number 
 of patients from villages near, this morning, for rheumatism, 
 spleen and bad leg-sores ; and they seemed very grateful to 
 him for his kind treatment. There is no hospital nearer than 
 Tulsipur ; so to find medicine, and some skill to administer 
 it here in the jungle, is a great boon to these poor suffering 
 villagers. 
 
 April 12th. — Visited the old ruined mud fort of the late 
 unfortunate Rajah of Tulsipur, in the forest near. The in- 
 side of the fort, which is richly cultivated, covers an area of 
 two hundred and fifty acres of land. The deep ditches, with 
 their bastions, are now covered with a luxuriance of vegeta- 
 tion so rank that the tall trees, the stringy shrubs and 
 weeds, the gigantic creepers, and long grass, all combined, 
 form romantic grottos and wild arbours, which are in many 
 places densely dark and everywhere impervious to the sun's 
 rays. Here too, in the rugged bed of the ditch, the savage 
 wild beasts lurk in their hidden lairs. It was here, in this 
 wild fort, protected by the great forest behind him, the grim 
 old Rajah of Tulsipur used to retire with his followers, and 
 defy all the power that the King of Oudh could hurl against 
 him. It was into this stronghold he retired to fight it out, 
 in the Mutiny of 1857 ; but being convinced of our ultimate 
 success, he left his Maharani and family in the place, trav- 
 elled to Lucknow and gave himself up to the British autho- 
 rities there. He died soon after, in tlje Baily Guard, of 
 cholera. When Lord Canning issued his celebrated procla- 
 
218 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 mation of mercy to the Oudh rebels, the widowed Maharani, 
 thinking that her husband having surrendered himself was 
 quite sufficient, refused to present herself before an English 
 magistrate ; and so the whole of her magnificent estates were 
 confiscated and made over to Sir Deg Beseg Singh of Balram- 
 pur. It is this fine Tulsipur estate, stretching right up to 
 the foot of the Nepal Hills, and including all the land so 
 richly cultivated by the Tharu tribes, that makes the Bal- 
 rampur Raj as great as it is. 
 
 Left in the evening at 4-30 o'clock, for Mansurwa, eight 
 miles further on toward the big forest. The way led across 
 country, over much broken ground and through many Tculat, 
 or water-ways. In the village of Bodhi the Word was 
 preached, and three Tcoris and a Tcorin were very much im- 
 pressed by the service we held. They acknowledged Christ 
 to be the Saviour they could trust in and worship ; and so 
 we baptized them before all the village. In Bharpurwa the 
 Word preached brought out a bhaktin, or female devotee, to 
 believe in the name of Christ, and henceforward to put his 
 blessed name in the place of Ram. In the village of Basant, 
 the Bhars, men of the woods, but not aborigines, like the 
 Tharus, gathered round the preachers and listened to words 
 that brought light to their dark minds, and stirred their 
 hearts in a way that was strange to them. Seven of them 
 came out and asked to be made the disciples of this wonder- 
 ful Saviour who could save them from all their sins ; so we 
 gave them the rite which made them disciples of Jesus 
 Christ, to serve him instead of their poor, ugly Mahadeo- 
 stone. A Chumdr also came out here, and was received 
 with the other converts. Arrived in camp at Mansurwa at 
 6 o'clock, p. m. This is one of the most lovely camping-places I 
 ever rested in. A smooth, open space, green and fresh in the 
 forest, with our well-pitched tents gleaming out in the mellow 
 moonlight under some fine tihwi trees (adina cordafolia), 
 formed a pleasing cpntrast and relief to the well-known mango 
 groves. A deep nullah, covered with wood and creepers, near 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 219 
 
 where tigers and leopards are often disturbed over their 
 "kill," the cries of the night-jar and the ox-eyed plover, with 
 the deep shadows thrown by the grand towering forest trees, 
 give the whole scene an air of romance and beauty that transr 
 fers us back again to boyish fancy days. The cool, refreshing 
 night soon wooes us to peaceful rest, and we dream of this 
 whole land of forests being saved and redeemed to the service 
 and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 April 13th. — How clear and fresh the early dawn, as, 
 with our tents struck and packed on carts, we enter the 
 broad line marked out by skilled hands leading us into the 
 thick of the forest ! Without such a well marked line the 
 jungle would be impenetrable. This line is cut through 
 deeply undulating and rugged ground, looking, right before 
 you, like a ship's track in the great rolling waves of an 
 ocean. An up-hill and downdale crow-flight line, now work- 
 ing down into a deep ravine, now toiling up to the top of a 
 rugged knoll, sometimes crossing the sandy, pebbly bed of a 
 dried-up river, and sometimes running through a cleared 
 open space dotted with two or three villages, from whose 
 well-stored Tcalihans, or threshing-floors, comes a sweet odour 
 as from new-mown hay. In some places we pass through a 
 whole jungle of Jcaronda bushes (carissa korundas), whoso 
 thousands cf blossoms fill the air with a most delicate scent. 
 And then the forest trees you pass through, in all the flush 
 of their spring beauty, are a sight worth coming here to see. 
 The asna (terminalia tomentosa) and the dhou (anogeissus 
 latifolia ) are two of the trees among many that especially 
 attract your attention as you ride along. Like the sal 
 ( shorea robu&ta ) running up as straight as a pine by its 
 side, the asna is valued for its fine timber. Do not think 
 from this, dear reader, that we are learned botanists ; no- 
 thing of the kind. But a gentleman mounted high above 
 us on an elephant, in answer to our inquiries, coaches us up 
 in the classical names of these forest trees. But here we 
 are at the village, Dumri, and we must speak our message 
 
220 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 of peace and love to these dear soul?, looking at us so eager- 
 ly as we come into their midst. " Yes, it is perfectly true," 
 we say in answer to an earnest question put to us, " there is 
 such a Saviour as has been pointed out to you, who can save 
 you from all your sins, and save you now." So we gathered 
 into the Master's fold two chumdrs and their two wives, and 
 left an impression on the minds of the others, such as, I be- 
 lieve, will never be effaced. After winding round what 
 seemed an interminable cart road, and crossing many kulas, 
 or water-courses, we came in sight of the Chandanpur for- 
 est bungalow at 9 o'clock, A. M. ; and right glad we were of 
 its welcome and shelter. 
 
 This is a neatly built, twostoreyed house, resting on a 
 sloping knoll, with its back so close to the forest on the east, 
 that some of the newly-budding branches of the dfiou tree 
 almost touch the upper verandah. This forest to the back 
 is more than two miles through before it brings you to any 
 opening or cleared spaces. It runs in very undulating brok- 
 en ground right up to the foot of the Nepal hills. This 
 part of the forest is full of herds of spotted deer, sounders of 
 wild pig, packs of real jungle-dogs, tigers, bears, panthers, 
 leopards, hysenas, and all the smaller fry of animals. It is 
 one grand aviary, from the clucking night-jar to the sweet- 
 singing nightingale, from the rolling note giving JcoJcala to 
 the musical, racket-tailed drongo ; and from the bronze- 
 winged dove to the nau-rang (nine-coloured) thrush and the 
 paradise-flycatcher. All the reptiles, too, are represented 
 here, from the boa-constrictor that crushes and swallows a 
 spotted deer, to the long, yellow tree-snake that poises itself 
 on the muscles of its tail and shoots itself at you through 
 the air. Then the insects are a study in themselves. From 
 the praying mantis to the lace-wing and cycala, the latter 
 with its owl-like head and policeman's-rattle-like sound, are 
 all to be found here. So much for the back of the house. 
 To the front is an extensive, cleared, open space, studded 
 here and there with groves of jdmun trees (eugenia jamboto- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 221 
 
 na), dotted all over with Tharu villages, bounded on three 
 sides by the forest, and backed up on the fourth, to the 
 north, by the first range of the Nepal hills. 
 
 It is among the villages in this open space, with an area 
 of four or five miles, that our work is to be carried on for 
 the next few weeks j and the sequel will show how wonder- 
 fully the Lord was pleased to honour our faith and own his 
 own Word. Before our arrival here we had been in tents ; 
 but let none of our readers suppose that we are now under 
 canvas, with our brains fired to boiling heat, and all peevish 
 and out of sorts with unstrung nerves. No, we have the 
 shelter of a nice room, and the comfort, when we are at 
 home, of an air-cooling panklia. Yet, at this time of the 
 year, the work is trying enough without any additional dis- 
 comforts. To reach any one of the villages here we have to 
 wind about, dodging the Tculas, a distance of two or three 
 miles. Then we have to start early, to avoid returning in 
 the dark and being pounced upon by a playful panther, a 
 loving bear, or a tender tiger ; and that means bringing you 
 out of a cool room and from under a soothing panlcha, to 
 face a hot wind that strikes you like a blast from a heated 
 furnace. Behold us, then, about 4-30 o'clock in the after- 
 noon, mounted on our white pony, dressed in light JchdJci 
 knickerbccker suit and flexible tarai hat, starting for one 
 of the villages. Jura and Dariya, our two baptized Tharu 
 guides, lead the way, humming the line of a bhajan they 
 have learned as they go swinging along. Joseph Downey 
 and Jhandula Masihi, with our newly baptized Rama Baba, 
 come on after us, bravely breasting the fierce wind. 
 
 April 14th. — What a glorious morning, when we awake 
 in this place so cool and fresh in the early dawn ! And what 
 a pleasant walk along one of the three lines that radiate 
 from the hothi through the forest ! The tall sal and wide- 
 spreading asna i the thick, sweet-scented shrubs and creepers, 
 the flowering orchids on the ebony trees, the plaintive coo- 
 ings of the ring-necked doves mingled with the sweet Songs 
 
222 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 of the nine-coloured thrush, all lead the soul to blessed medi- 
 tation and prayer. What a grand opportunity the Forest 
 Officer has of daily conversing with God and learning his 
 secrets in Creation ! There is not a tree or a shrub, but he 
 will tell you its characteristics and classical name. He knows 
 the species and song of every bird; the peculiar cry and 
 habits of each wild animal. He can distinguish between the 
 tread of a herd of deer and a sounder of pig on the dry 
 leaves of the forest. He will tell you that while the age of 
 a tree is known by the number of its rings in England, in 
 this country its age cannot be so determined ; for such is its 
 rapidity of growth in these dense forests, that a tree will 
 gain two or three rings in one year. When a Tharu villa- 
 ger runs six miles in, to tell him a tiger has just killed one 
 of his herd of cattle, and hiden it away under a bush, or 
 covered it with leaves, the cunning brute ! so that the vul- 
 tures and crows shall not see it, he is ready in ten minutes 
 to climb up on to his elephant, go to the spot, and sit patient- 
 ly in a machdn till the savage beast comes cautiously out to 
 have another feed on its kill, when he rolls it over dead with 
 an ounce bullet through its shoulder. He will also strip you 
 of a number of your pet delusions. He will tell you that 
 even the tiger will get away from you if he can. It is only 
 when wounded he will turn and charge upon you. The bear 
 has a greater propensity to turn and attack you than any 
 other wild animal. That is one reason that we must turn and 
 hasten within the call of men, as we have been warned that 
 these black, shaggy beasts go prowling about here in the 
 early morning. In the evening we went to Chandanpur, the 
 village after which this is named. We gathered all the 
 people together we could find, and sitting on a log of wood 
 began our service. The Lord greatly blessed the Word 
 preached, and a chumdr, his mother, brother, and son came 
 forward. We prayed with, and then baptized them. They 
 have been coming every morning, with others, for the in- 
 struction given at that time. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 223 
 
 April 15*7/. — To-day our work opened among the Tharus, 
 and the Lord greatly blessed it. In the morning we met 
 two Tharus, and began talking to them about Jesus Christ, 
 and what he had done for us in leaving heaven and coming 
 into the world to die for us — the simple story of the cross. 
 One of them, Devi, asked what he should do. We answered : 
 " Mdhddeo Ice dagar 'par Yishu Masih ke nam Jco charhdo." — 
 Take Jesus Christ in the place of Mahadeo. They both 
 said they would. Then we told them how they were to be- 
 come his disciples. They both answered, " Make us His dis- 
 ciples." We then took them to a tent we had pitched in 
 the compound, prayed with and baptized them. We found 
 these two new converts belonged to the village called Ban- 
 katwa, about two miles off, and that Devi was the son of the 
 Chaudari of that village. They said they would come in the 
 evening and take us to their place. During the day Joseph 
 Downey, Jhandula, and myself made our visit to this village, 
 in the evening a special subject for prayer. About 5 o'clock 
 Devi came to conduct us. Our way skirted the forest, and 
 as we went along, now down into some deep ravine, now 
 through the rugged, dry water-ways of the rice-fields, we 
 could hear the varied cries of the wild animals coming out 
 of the impenetrable jungles. Soon we reached Bankatwa, 
 and were conducted to the Ohaudari's house. A Native bed- 
 stead was brought out and covered with a blanket, and on 
 this we sat, sang bhajans, prayed, and preached the Word of 
 Life. The old Chaudari, with a child in his arms, sat on the 
 ground before us, while all the other Tharus sat in rows 
 behind him, and the women, with children in their arms or 
 clinging to their skirts, stood here and there, attentively 
 listening. We made our appeal, and every man responded. 
 We asked for a lota of water, and a lad at once ran to the 
 wooden well and brought one to us full. We then asked if 
 they would take this " nih avatar" in the place of Mahadeo ; 
 and when they answered, Yes, we took the lota of water and 
 made sixty persons His disciples, baptizing each in the name 
 
224 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 of the blessed Trinity. It was a thrilling sight to see, there 
 in the mellow moon-light, those 60 men, women, and chil- 
 dren, from the headman of the village to the lowest, all with 
 heads bent, receiving the sign of discipleship and accepting 
 the right hand of Christian fellowship ! 
 
 While returning home we saw that the jungle to the 
 north-west was on fire. The danger of fire in this dry hot 
 weather is the great anxiety of the Forest Officer. It some- 
 times takes 200 men, collected from the villages, to put out 
 one of these fires. They beat it out with branches cut from 
 the trees. To-night, while the Forest Officer was leading his 
 men through the thick jungle to the scene of the fire, a fine 
 big panther sprang from the lower branch of a tree, where 
 it had been keenly watching for its prey, and charged through 
 the gang with an augh ! augh I that scattered the coolies and 
 made them raise a shout that startled many other beasts of 
 prey in the forest. 
 
 April 16th. — This morning we conversed with Jura, the 
 headman of Bhagwanpur (No. 2), on the subject of religion. 
 He was very much interested, 8nd then greatly impressed. 
 He invited us to his village in the evening. At the appoint- 
 ed time he came, and we followed him in the devious and 
 difficult road which leads to his village. Looking at him, as 
 he swings along, you notice what a tall, fine fellow he is phy- 
 sically ; though his costume has not taken much trouble to 
 prepare, and is not of a style that would gain him ready ad- 
 mittance to a drawing-room, seeing it consists of a little red 
 colour rubbed over his closely cropped head, and a narrow 
 strip of cloth. As we picked our way along we met another 
 Tharu carrying Tfhabar to the Forest Officer, of a tigress and 
 two cubs, which had just killed a bullock on the edge of the 
 forest, and were then busy devouring it. We had a khabar 
 to deliver, too, and must hasten forward, as the sun, like a 
 round plate of fire, is slowly sinking behind the forest, and 
 we shall soon be left to the uncertain light of the moon. 
 After passing under and over some beautifully wooded knolls, 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 225 
 
 we passed through the' well stacked pharwar, or threshing- 
 floor, on into the centre of the village. A bedstead, with 
 first a blanket then a sheet spread over it, was ready for us 
 to sit on as soon as we arrived. The whole village were 
 gathered in our front and round about us, as we began our 
 service by singing " Man bJiajo Masih Jco chita se" Then 
 followed prayer and preaching. The people were very much 
 impressed ; and when I asked if they would believe on Jesus 
 Christ and become his disciples, they unanimously assented. 
 The lota of water was then brought, and T baptized all the 
 men first, then the women and children. Jura, his wife, four 
 boys and three girls, were all baptized together. Thus 60 per- 
 sons were received by baptism in this village. Among those 
 baptized were a Banya, and a Brahman faqir and his wife ; 
 also a Kshattri, who is now being trained for work. 
 
 April 17 th. — Out walking and meditating in the forest 
 this morning. I fear we do not appreciate enough what a 
 great blessing these forests are to the country. They increase 
 the waterfall ; mitigate extreme heat and dryness ; and re- 
 gulate the flow of water in springs and rivers. Though the 
 forests are a source of danger from fires and savage animals, 
 yet they afford shelter to cattle, herds of deer, and useful 
 birds and other harmless creatures ; while they protect the 
 adjoining villages and fields from violent winds and storms. 
 All along this line I noticed, to the right and left, the forest 
 between the trees full of the stemless-palm loaded with its 
 sweet-tasted berry-shaped dates. Soon this edible fruit will 
 be ripe, and tons of it will be gathered by the Tharus for 
 food. No man need starve in these deep woods and jungles ; 
 for wild, edible fruits of many kinds, and game to any ex- 
 tent, abound all around him. So good and kind is God to 
 these wild children of the jungle ! When I returned to the 
 house I found Jura had brought a cock, a hare, and half-a- 
 dozen fresh eggs as an offering. He seemed quite proud of 
 the number of baptismal certificates he received for himself 
 and family. He has learned one line of a bhajan, which is 
 
226 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 a prayer in itself. " Yishu Masih mero prdna bachaiya, 
 and he evidently likes to hum it over to himself. He went 
 out afterwards with the Forest Officer, on the track of a 
 tiger that had destroyed a number of cattle feeding on the 
 out-skirts of the jungle. The brute had dragged away its 
 " kill," and covered it with leaves. Hence at sun-down the 
 Forest Officer took up his position in a machdn near this 
 kill, and presently saw this grand king of the forests come 
 stealthily out, and, with ears open for the slightest sound, 
 approach the carcass ; but just then a Native under the 
 mach&n made some noise, and the tiger was scared away 
 before a shot could be aimed at it. After the trouble of fix- 
 ing the frame in the tree, on which the hunter sits and watch- 
 es, and of travelling to the spot, it is always very disap- 
 pointing to have the decoyed tiger scared away by some 
 careless noise. In the evening we went to Chandanpur, to 
 meet the chumdrs whom we had baptized and give them 
 more instruction in this new way. An old chumdr was 
 present, who is very expert in skinning dead tigers, deers, 
 &c. He opposed us very much when we asked him also to 
 believe on Jesus Christ and become his disciple. In fact, 
 were it not for this old man's opposition, this whole village 
 of chumdrs would have been baptized. 
 
 April \Sih. — Held service in Bhagwanpur-ka-Purwa this 
 morning. This is near the village we baptized on the 16th 
 instant, and has only three families in it. After service 
 we invited all who had been impressed and convicted by the 
 word, and willing to become Christ's disciples, to come and 
 sit near us. They all arose and came, bringing their little 
 ones with them, and we baptized eleven persons. 
 
 April 19$. — To-day is the greatest day of triumph we 
 have had in these jungles. After a meeting of earnest pray- 
 er and supplication at the Throne of Grace, we went to 
 Bushahr, a village about a mile away, resting in the centre 
 of this open space, we held service near a cow-house, with 
 the whole village gathered in front and round about us. A 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 227 
 
 wonderful impression'was made. The people all asked to be 
 made disciples of this Nik Avatar; and from the Head Tharii 
 down, all in the place, 60 persons, men, women, and chil- 
 dren, were baptized. Some of the mothers, whose children 
 were not with them, ran into their houses and brought out 
 their boys and girls to receive the chinh and the ashish, the 
 sign and the blessing, from the Padris hands. It was a 
 time of gracious refreshing from the presence of the Master, 
 in answer to prayer. 
 
 While coming home from this village, we met a Tharu 
 carrying the khabar to the Forest Officer of the pags of eight 
 different tigers having been seen in the direction of Narewa, 
 to the east. This is one of the villages we shall yet have to 
 visit. Though there is no actual danger, yet the knowledge 
 that these fierce brutes are about in the jungle near you 
 creates a rather uncomfortable feeling in the novice, and a 
 decided wish to be in a safer place. What a blessing these 
 lords of the forest do not know how to combine and act 
 together, and that they are generally as afraid of you as you 
 are of them ! Otherwise the ahirs tending their cattle on 
 the edge of the forest, and the poor Tharus working in 
 their fields, would soon be cleared out of the open places in 
 these jungles. 
 
 Jura and Dariya came this evening and took us to Jhoki- 
 wa, another Thdru village two miles to the north-east. Our 
 way to this village ran right along the edge of the forest. 
 The cattle grazing here are frequently pounced upon by a 
 lurking panther or tiger. The ahirs often save their bul- 
 locks by bravely standing their ground, shouting, and beat- 
 ing the trees near with their lathis or iron bound clubs, and 
 so frightening the wild beasts away. Leaving this rough 
 path we pass through the threshing-floor of the village. 
 Here the men were busy threshing out the wheat with long 
 sticks, and the women and girls engaged winnowing the 
 threshed grain with shovel-shaped baskets. They all follow- 
 ed us to the village. We had our usual service, and the 
 
228 THE GOSPEL IN G0NDA. 
 
 presence of the great Master was with us : 64 persons receiv- 
 ed the sign of discipleship in this village, First I baptized 
 all the men and boys ; then each man brought his wife and 
 daughters and babies-in-arms, and after explaining the rite, 
 I baptized each in the name of the adorable Trinity. To 
 many of the babies I had to give names, as they were too 
 young to have received any names according to Tharu c as torn. 
 
 April 20th. — The Chaudari of Bushahr and Jura from Bhag 
 wanpur with a number of other Thariis came over this morn- 
 ing to where I was stopping. I had service for them in front 
 of the Forest house. Sitting with them on the grassy slope 
 I explained to them in simple language the Parable of the 
 Prodigal Son. They were greatly pleased at and much edified 
 by what they heard. I then began to teach them the Ten 
 Commandments. When I had done teaching them for the 
 day and the heat was getting oppressive, two Thariis brought 
 in dead one of the two cubs of the tigress which had been 
 prowling about for the last week to the terror of the villagers. 
 It was shot last night near a " kill," but the mother and the 
 other cub managed to escape. The Thariis hung it to a tree 
 near like a butcher hangs a carcass up in his shop, and a 
 mochl, or worker in leather, came to skin it. Soon a number 
 of applicants surrounded the flayed animal. Some wanted 
 the claws from the large pags to wear as charms against 
 Ihuts and prets— demons and malignant spirits — others en- 
 treated for the two small bones in the shoulder joint to carry 
 about them as a sure safeguard against the evil-eye, witch- 
 craft, and enchantment ; those afflicted with rheumatism pray- 
 ed for the fat to use as a counter-irritant ; while the ahirs, 
 or cowherds, earnestly asked for the meat to dry and feed 
 their sick cattle with as a certain cure. Thus the carcass 
 soon vanished, all except the skin, which the mochi, with his 
 simple chemicals soon manipulated into a soft fur for a 
 couch or hearth-rug in our Gonda home. 
 
 This afternoon a deputation of Thariis came from a village 
 named Phungi, two miles away, to go and baptize them. So 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GOND>A. 229 
 
 after prayer with the deputed persons, I sprang on my faith- 
 ful old pony " Lucy," and rode over as rough a road as 
 could be found in these forests. It was simply riding over 
 a long series of square mud walls, each made as hard as flint 
 in the burning sun, which bound each rice field, or wading 
 or plunging through the many water-courses which intersect- 
 ed the whole country. Only a phlegmatic hill pony could ac- 
 complish such a journey, and I was thankful to possess such 
 for my work. When I started the sun had many degrees 
 yet to travel ere he disappeared like a great ball of dull fire 
 in the hazy atmosphere behind the Western forests. Hence 
 the west wind came hot on the cheek, parching the lips and 
 cracking the skin as " Lucy " and I carefully picked our way 
 over the broken uncertain ground. 
 
 By the time we reached Phungi, the sun had hid himself 
 below the horizon, and the hot fierce winds had died away, 
 and the green slopes leading up to the village, dotted here 
 and there with young trees, and covered with herds of fine 
 buffaloes grazing and browsing, presented a very cheering 
 and picturesque appearance. We were not long in gathering 
 the people about us in front of the Chaudari's house. Then 
 we conducted our usual service of prayer and song and 
 preaching, with earnest invitation to repent, believe, and be- 
 come the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sixty-six per- 
 sons—men, women, and children — were baptized in this vil- 
 lage that night as the blessed result of our faith in Christ and 
 in the ever-present power of the Holy Spirit. To Him, the 
 Triune God be all the glory ! 
 
 April 21st. — Had service this morning for a number 
 of Tharus. They were seated as usual, on the grassy slope in 
 front of the house. The sun had not revealed himself above 
 the forest trees, and the wind had not yet been heated into 
 its furance heat, so we had our service in comparative com- 
 fort. After this service we baptized seven of those Tharus 
 who were not present at Phungi the previous evening. After 
 this the Forest Officer brought out his medicine chest and 
 
230 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 opened his morning hospital. His patients are suffering from 
 enlarged spleen, bad sores all over the body, ophthalmy, or 
 fever. The poor people here suffer more from inflammation 
 of the eye-balls than from any other disease, if we may 
 except fever. We tell these poor sufferers when they take and 
 apply their medicines, to do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
 as he is the great Healer of the body as well as the great 
 Saviour of the soul. News was brought in to-day that the 
 tigress with her remaining cub are scaring away the people 
 from their threshing-floors. The tigress is going roaring 
 savagely about seeking her cub shot two nights ago. A 
 " beat " is to be organized this evening in the jungle where 
 she was last seen. 
 
 This afternoon two of our best Tharu converts, Jura 
 and Dariyd (who are now in Heaven, having a month after- 
 wards died from fever, but died in the peace of their new- 
 born faith), came to conduct us to Khdiraiiiyd, a small Tha- 
 ru hamlet right on the Nepal border line and at the foot of 
 one of the hills. On the road we passed a most weird look- 
 ing cotton tree, with its trunk grown into monster gnarls and 
 strange excrescences, and its distorted branches, each with 
 small branchlets formed at the end like the claw of an un- 
 clean bird of prey, and the whole looking like a giant goblin 
 ready to pull and tear one to pieces as he looks with wonder 
 upon it. I noticed both my Tharu guides anxiously mumb- 
 ling as we passed near this ghostly looking tree, and on en- 
 quiry, found that one particular bhut, or demon, of great 
 malevolence, is supposed to have his home among its unsightly 
 branches. This gave me an opportunity, as we made our 
 way along, to explain to them how Jesus Christ came into 
 the world to save those who through fear of these things 
 " were all their life time subject to bondage." They earnest- 
 ly promised me to pray to the Lord Jesus to save them 
 in future from their slavery to this fear of demons, goblins, 
 and ghosts ! Since then, in prenching to these poor children 
 of the forests, I make a point of saying that one part of the 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 231 
 
 Redemption which Jesus Christ bestows is to save us once 
 and for ever from this awful fear of haunting bhuts and prets. 
 We find we have done much good among them by thus adapt- 
 ing our preaching to their wants and fears. Further on our 
 way we came across a party of Khairis with cart-loads of 
 earthen-ware pots. These people come annually from long 
 distances to collect catechu (a brown astringent extract 
 from the Jchair tree, mimosa catechu). Hence the name 
 Tchairi as applied to these people who collect this vegetable 
 extract. The village we are going to is also named after these 
 profitable trees. After speaking to these people of Christ 
 Jesus being "The Way, the Truth, and the Life" — a sure 
 and safe and certain medium of approach to the great Father, 
 we continued our way and soon arrived at the end of our jour- 
 ney. We had service in the usual manner, and a blessed im- 
 pression was made. The customary invitation was given, 
 and seventeen souls, young and old, including a Brahman 
 faqir, his wife, and his mother, were baptized, and became 
 the disciples of the great Master. This Brahman could play 
 the sitdr, or three-stringed intrument, and we afterwards 
 taught him a few of our bhajans, as " Kyun mana bhuld hai" 
 &c, when he became very useful in going with us among the 
 villages and Lelping in our singing, and bearing testimony 
 to the truth. On our way back through the jungle we heard 
 of two large bears prowling and searching for prey. It was 
 quite dark, but we had a good lantern. Still we l<ept 
 one eye on the ru gged path and the other on the dark depth 
 of the forest till we came out into the open near our house. 
 The angels of the Lord not only encamp about us at our 
 homes, but they hold back these wild enemies of life, as they 
 did the hungry lions in the Persian den, from doing us harm. 
 When we are about the Master's work, God and his providence 
 are glorious realities ! The Tharus fear the bears more than 
 the tigers. The latter try and get away on the approach of 
 any human being, but the former come right at you, and do 
 terrible execution with their teeth, and hug, and claws. 
 
232 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 22nd April. — When I came out in the early dawn this 
 morning for chhoti hdziri, I found to my surprise a very 
 large tigress and her full grown cub laid out dead up- 
 on the ground in front of the house. It is the same tigress 
 which has been alarming the people so much of late. Both 
 she and her cub were shot by the Forest Officer last evening 
 about six miles from this to the West, in the direction we were 
 working for the Lord last night. Perhaps a brief description 
 of how they were shot will not be uninteresting to the pa- 
 tient reader. The Forest Officer started on an elephant with 
 his gnns and provision, and reached the position chosen at 4 
 o'clock, p. m. Here the Tharus had fixed a machdn in one of 
 the trees. This is simply a bedstead without legs placed in 
 a tree and firmly fastened to the branches, on which the 
 hunter sits and patiently waits for his prey. On this the 
 Forest Officer took his place with rifle ready to fire, while 
 the beaters went to work shouting and striking the trees with 
 their clubs, to startle out the game. Now came the exciting 
 moment. Bye and bye the rustle of the dry leaves drew the 
 attention of the hunter to a certain point, when he saw a 
 grand old tigress come very cautiously out in to the open 
 *pace in front of the machdn, followed as cautiously by her 
 full grown cub. A moment's pause, and then a sudden flash, 
 and the swift pinging of a bullet, and the savage mother 
 rolls over dead where she so warily stands, and thirty yards 
 from the hidden place of thunder. The cub immediately 
 pelted away across a nullah, but the sure and steady aim 
 of the Forest Officer brought it down at 1 20 yards with a 
 fatal ball tearing through its side. The Arab proverb says, 
 " When fate has descended, caution becomes vain." Some- 
 thing like this said our friends, the Tharus, in their simple 
 language, as they gathered to see their bullock-destroyers, 
 lying as we saw them in the early dawn, stretched out dead 
 in front of the house. Great was their praise of the sdhibes 
 prowess, and great were their expectations of the fat and meat, 
 the shoulder joints and claws of their fallen enemies ! 
 
TfiE GOSPEL IN GONBA. 233 
 
 In the afternoon dear old Jura and Duriyd, our faithful 
 indefatigable guides, came to show us the way through four 
 miles of alternate forest and cut rice field to Bhonrisal, a 
 most picturesque village, nestling right under one of the hills 
 On the Nepal border line. BhogcL, the chaudri, had collected all 
 his people from threshing-floor, forest, and field, and we had 
 our service in the centre of the village. It was a good time ; 
 &nd the word of the Lord had free course and was glorified. 
 Some Nepal soldiers from the adjoining guard were also pres- 
 ent and paid great attention to all that was said. When 
 we asked who would believe on this great living Saviour 
 and become his disciples, the chaudri and his son, with all 
 the Tharus present, arranged themselves before us; then 
 having gathered the women of the place and further instruct- 
 ed them, we baptized forty-seven men, women, and children 
 that evening. After these baptisms, Bhoga, the chaudri-, 
 took the Mahddeo-stone from its place near the well of the 
 village, and throwing it away, said : — " We don't want 
 this now, as we have taken Jesus Christ for our Our% 
 (Teacher) for the future. This Mahddeo-stone is called a 
 Sdlagrdm, a schistous stone, containing the impressions of one 
 or more ammonites* and conceived by the Hindus generally to 
 contain or represent Vishnu ; but the Tharus say it personates 
 Mahddeo, a form of Shiva. This fine specimen of a Salagram 
 lies as a trophy in our Gonda study. This village is often visit- 
 ed at night by tigers, bears, leopards, and hyenas. The chau- 
 dri showed me a very ingenious plan he had constructed for 
 destroying these savage pests of village life in Chandanpur. 
 It was in appearance like a rough guillotine, Though it was 
 not sharp enough to behead* it was heavy enough to hold the 
 strongest animal. When leaving the village the daughter of 
 Bhoga presented me with a mat she had woven with different 
 colored strings of munj-gr&SB (saccharum munja), and the son 
 of the same gave me a very fine tanned leopard-skin in all the 
 glory of its winter fur. He had shot this fierce brute prowl- 
 ing about the village one night last cold season* 
 
234 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 23rd, Good Friday. — Had our customary service in front of 
 the house this morning for any of the Thariis who can get 
 away from their threshing-floors, canal-digging, or wood-cut- 
 ting labours. These forest children are the most industrious 
 people in the world. Up with the birds in the grey dawn of 
 the morning, they labour on, with short intervals for food, till 
 sun-set. This morning we organized a working-band to go reg- 
 ularly among the baptized villages and sing and pray and 
 teach as they have been instructed. They consist of Jura, 
 Duriyd, Rama-Bdba, and the Brahman baptized in Khairaniya. 
 May the Holy- Spirit teach and lead and prepare them for their 
 loving disinterested labours ! After this service a woman 
 from Bhonrisdl came to complain of her husband. She said I 
 had baptized herself, little girl, and her mother, and whom 
 had she now to look to but to me ? I found her husband was 
 not present when I baptized all the other people, and that he 
 is the only idle worthless fellow in the place. "We sent for 
 him, but he was nowhere to be found. The Chaudri Bhoga, 
 however, came, and promised he would have her protected from 
 any violence, so after prayer with her we sent her back to her 
 village. 
 
 In the afternoon Duriya came to pilot us through the 
 forest to another Tharii village called Rajain. Poor Jura 
 was not able to come, as he was laid up with an attack of 
 ophthalmy. We missed Jura very much, not only for the great 
 help he gives us when working in the villages, but for the 
 lively way in which he chats as we go along, and the valuable 
 information he gives of the habits of the birds and animals of 
 the forest we see on the road. To reach Rajain we have to 
 cross the wide bed of the river Bhdmbar. The river now is 
 contracted to a small clear stream, meandering through the 
 grand boulders washed into all kinds of grotesque shapes by the 
 rushing thundering waters of the rainy-season. The sandy 
 bed is covered with beautiful round pebbles, among which the 
 Sdlagrdm and gold-dust are found. As we crossed the bed of 
 this river, our guide pointed out the pays of a tiger which had 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 235 
 
 just before descended from the forest to drink from the stream. 
 When we climbed up over the steep opposite side of the 
 bank and entered the village, we found the chaudri, or head 
 mau, had prepared bedsteads covered with black blankets for us 
 to sit and rest on. We soon had the whole village out of their 
 threshing-floors sitting about us and earnestly listening to our 
 singing, to our prayers, and to our preaching. It was a time- 
 to be long remembered, not only for the blessed consciousness 
 of power and the inspiriting earnest of victory the Lord grant- 
 ed us, but for the wonderful impression our whole service made 
 upon our audience. The Lord was indeed working with 
 us. We baptized all that were in the village— forty-seven men, 
 women, and children. After resting and partaking of some 
 simple food prepared for us, we left amid the inspiring cry 
 from all prssent, " Masih Prabhu hi jai ! " — Triumph to the 
 Lord Jesus. On our way back met a company of men com- 
 ing from their threshing-floors, and spoke to them of the work 
 we were returning from, and then preached Jesus to them. It 
 was too late to accomplish anything more then, but they prom- 
 ised to come and see us next day. When we reached sight 
 of the cheering lights which gleamed out from the Tcothi, we 
 were very tired and exhausted ; but rest under the soothing 
 influence of the pankha soon restored us to ourselves. To-day 
 has been to us, in the best sense of the word, a Good Friday. 
 
 April 2ith. — Quite a number of Tharus from Rajaina and 
 Bhagwanpur (No. 2) came this morning ; and, of course, we 
 had service for them. After this service, a fine tall old man, 
 very scantily dressed, but looking like an old Vedanti Pandit, 
 stood up and said he had been the sadhu or saint leader 
 of all the Tharus in this district, but now he would become the 
 disciple of Jesus Christ. We baptized him, and gave him a 
 charge to go and preach this name for salvation among the 
 rest of his people. Jura is going to make him a Tcuti, a small 
 shanty made of a few sticks and grass, just outside his village; 
 so he will remain with us for a few days. If the hot winds 
 were not blowing so fiercely from 10 o'clock in the morning 
 
226 THE GOSPEL IN GONBA. 
 
 till 6 o'clock in the evening, and the heat-temperature were 
 only a little lower, I would go with this old sadhu through the 
 length and breadth of these Oudh and Nepal jungles, and, by the- 
 all-conquering power of Christ, win over these 3,000 neglected 
 Tharus to salvation and the Church \ Oh for a Native brother 
 sufficiently self-devoted to do this ! Is not this one reason that 
 God does not give us more success, that we have not the men 
 and women, devoted enough, to follow it up ?' 
 
 Under the guidance of Jura and Duriya we went to the vil- 
 lage of Sonpur, and spent this Easter eve in preaching Christ 
 crucified and risen to a sympathizing Tbaru audience. This* 
 village is very prettily situated on the lee of a well-wooded 
 knoll, with groves of jamun trees in the open space around, to 
 fill in the picture. But the most picturesque scene was the assem- 
 bly of Tharus in the centre of the village ;. some of the mem 
 sitting, others standing, leaning on their flails. Some women* 
 bringing water from the wooded well near, have stopped with 
 the jars on their heads to listen ; others, with babies in arms 
 and children clinging to their gowns, are standing at the cor- 
 ners of their houses to hear the message of love ; while upoia 
 all, as the great glow of the setting sun illumines the scene,, 
 rests a deep and mysterious impression as from the near pres- 
 ence of an unseen Power. The Lord of glory was in our 
 midst ; and as we passed from bowed uncovered head to head, 
 letting the fresh water from the well fall over each, and pro- 
 nouncing the Holy names of the Triune God, we were conscious 
 that the risen Christ was following us, lea ring upon each his 
 heavenly benediction. Thus in this village we made 39 disci- 
 ples for the blessed Jesus. The JSadTiu was there ; and before 
 we left, he seized me by the wrist and said, " So have I laid 
 hold on Jesus Christ I " 
 
 April 25th. — Easter Sunday, and our first Sabbath service 
 among the Tharus ! Here they sat on the green grass under 
 the shadow of a nim tree (meld dyadirachta), a goodly number 
 from the villages near. Great was the blessing which rested 
 upoa us while we explained in simple language the Iacar- 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GOND4. 23T 
 
 nation, the Life, the Death, and the Resurrection of the Lorcfc 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 In the evening our faithful convert-guides took us to a small? 
 hamlet resting on the outskirts of the forest, two miles to the 
 south, named Masala. Here we gathered the few present and 
 told them the always-fresh and life-giving story of the Cross 
 and the grave-victory. Sixteen men, women, and children bow- 
 ed their heads in prayer to the Risen Lord Jesus ; and then we 
 baptized them in His name, and made them henceforth his dis- 
 ciples. 
 
 Here we pause for a few days, to look over the work of grace 
 the Lord has commenced in these grand forests, and at the foot 
 of these overshadowing mountains ; to organize what oversight 
 we can over the converted villages ; and to superintend 
 the erection of a temporary school-house. The converts of 
 Bushahr turned out to cut wood in the jungle, while those of 
 Bhagwanpur turned out to cut grass on the open plain, so that 
 a place was quickly run up to afford shelter for a teacher and 1 
 accommodation for all the scholars that might come. I may 
 here be allowed to say that no schools have ever been establish- 
 ed among the Thirds ; hence there is not one to be found' who 
 knows even a single letter in Hindi or Urdu-. They are in* 
 consequence ignorant even of the advantages of being able to 
 read and write ; and so are slow to perceive what good will come 
 from having a school in their midst. And then both the 
 Tharu boy and! girl are taught to work in the field or pharwar Y 
 as soon as they have strength to lift or carry, and are both 
 worth to the father a rupee a day in the value of labour here. 
 Hence to take away the boy and girl from work to attend 
 school, is to lose so much on them. But the Lord will clear 
 away this, as He will every other difficulty in connection with 
 this work ; and as He has graciously visited them with the 
 light of his grace and salvation, so He will let in the light of 
 education and civilization upon these long-enslaved sons and 
 daughters of the woods and jungles. 
 
 I have two more days of the triumphs of Divine grace to re- 
 
238 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 cord, and yet the end is not yet ; and I trust will not be, till 
 the 3,000 Tharus in the district are all turned to the service 
 and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ ! 
 
 April 29th. — Jura, Duriya, and Rama-Baba came to con- 
 duct us to Nariwa, a Thani village 3 miles through the forest 
 line to the east. This is the most difficult part of the forest 
 to penetrate and traverse. You can only travel through it on 
 an elephant. It is the most uphill and down-dale country I 
 ever worked along. We started at 4-30 o'clock, p. M., but the 
 ponderous elephant could go but slowly. Sometimes we were 
 going down a descent that seemed perpendicular ; then you 
 had to clutch the ropes of the pad behind to keep you from 
 slipping off in front ; and the next few minutes we were going 
 up an abrupt ascent, and then you had to seize the pad in front 
 to keep you from tumbling off behind ; and so it went on for 
 two miles. After that the rolling series of rugged knolls 
 smoothed down into a better road, and gave you time and 
 breath to look around and admire a piece of the finest forest 
 scenery to be found in the world. The thick clusters of blos- 
 soms of the elephant-creeper hanging in festoons over the ro- 
 hini trees (c/melina phillipenensis) not only contrasted beauti- 
 fully with the red berries of the latter, but made the air heavy 
 with their sweet perfume. The tendu or ebony trees (Diospy- 
 ros ebenum) in abundance set off the light-coloured bark 
 of the other trees. But what made these tendu trees so at- 
 tractive was that every branch was covered with flowering or- 
 chids, and looked as if it had been dressed out for a May-day 
 fete. Birds of every colour and song flitted from tree to tree, 
 and every now and then a startled peahen would go fluttering 
 and screaming away, waking up the echoes in the dark depths 
 of the jungle-ravines and lairs of wild beasts. Sometimes we 
 could hear the sudden trampling over the dry crisp leaves of 
 the forest of a scared sounder of pig, whose leading boar, with 
 sharp and pointed tusks, would, when brought to bay with 
 back to rock or tree, be a match for even a tiger. Jura told 
 me he once witnessed a fight between a tiger and a boar ; and 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 239 
 
 though the boar was killed, the tiger dropped and died soon 
 after from the awful ripping wounds he had received from his 
 fierce antagonist. 
 
 But soon we come out of the forest line into a small broken 
 open space, with a nullah running through it, and see the vil- 
 lage of Nariwa to the right-front, with its back resting on the 
 edge of the jungle. The elephant lingers in the middle of the 
 nullah to trunk up its water into his huge mouth, for he al- 
 ways prefers the water of a hula, or a ravine, to the water of a 
 well ; then he slowly lifts his ponderous form up the steep 
 bank, and sets all the dogs in the place barking as we enter 
 the village. There are the bedstead and blanket, all ready 
 for our accommodation, and what surprised us not a little, a 
 large lota of water standing all ready, like a primitive baptism- 
 al font, inviting us unmistakably to do our part, as they sat 
 all ready to receive theirs. We had our service first, however, 
 and preached peace with God, a new heart, and the gift of 
 eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ. They all took 
 Christ by simple faith as their Saviour ; we baptized 28 Thanis 
 old and young. One young Tharii was very enthusiastic and 
 prompt in collecting all the children, boys and girls, to receive 
 the chinh and the ashish, the sign and the blessing, from our 
 hands. The one-eyed chaudri, too, brought out his own family 
 to be baptized. After teaching them how to pray night and 
 morning in the name of Jesus, and to take away the Mahadeo- 
 stone from the side of the wooden well, where a few drops of 
 water from every lota is always poured on the head of this 
 pebble, we left to return to our house. We found it more difii- 
 cult to return by the light of a lamp than to come in the light 
 of even a declining day. But we did get home, through the 
 gloom and the cries of many wild and strange animals, at 
 last ; and right glad and thankful we were when we saw in 
 the opening beyond, the gleam of the camp fires and the rich 
 glow they cast on the forest trees near, and heard a welcome 
 voice inquiring if we were safe and sound. 
 
 May 1st. — I skip over a day, not because there was nothing 
 
240 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 important done, but because we had no baptisms to record in 
 it. I heard this morning of a black-faced monkey that a pan- 
 ther had killed quite near here, and hidden under a lot of dry 
 leaves. I have tried to find out the reason that tigers and 
 panthers always act thus with their prey, when they cannot 
 devour it in one feed, and the only reason I can find is that 
 their instincts lead them to do this, to save their " kill " from 
 becoming the prey of the vulture and the crow. ! If so, then 
 the question of whether these birds hunt by scent or sight is 
 settled ; because if a " kill * is covered only by leaves, it is 
 never touched by these birds of prey ; but if left exposed, 
 will bring them in black, unsightly crowds from every part of 
 heaven. While listening to this account of the monkey and 
 the panther, a Nepalese pahdri came up and requested an 
 audience ; and as soon as I was able, I had him and Joseph Dow* 
 ney brought into my room. I found he was the head man of 
 a small village called Pahariya, and that all in this place 
 were, like himself, pahdris. They had come, some years ago, 
 from Deokar, in the fertile valley of the Rapti, just across 
 the first range of the Nepal hills. Looking from the window 
 of my room to the left, across the rugged plain right up to 
 the foot of this range, I could see a white zig-zag way run- 
 ning up the spur of the hill, and losing itself on the sky-line; 
 that is the road to Deokar. This man had heard us preach 
 in one of the baptized villages, and seemed anxious to know 
 more. We further instructed him and prayed with him. 
 Then he wished to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, and we 
 baptized him. He asked us to come to his village in the 
 evening. Our faithful guides conducted us there, and we 
 arrived at sundown, after two miles' rough riding. We 
 found five families, consisting of 19 persons, young and old. 
 We found they all understood the Tharu language, and so 
 apprehended all we said and sang and) prayed. They said 
 they would accept Christ as their Saviour, and would be- 
 come His followers ; so we baptized them all. Among them 
 was a pahdri from Deokar on a visit, who could speak village 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 241 
 
 Hindustani. He promised he would speak of this Mh Avatar 
 to all his people when he reached home ; so we may say we 
 have opened a mission in Nepal through this convert and the 
 village we have baptized* Since then I never look at that 
 white line winding up the spur of the hill without wishing 
 I could jump on my pony and make my way up it, and then 
 dropping down into the Kapti valley*, win Deokar for Christ* 
 What a grand point it would make for carrying the whole 
 of Nepal for the Lord. Well) it will come about, even this ! 
 We have not finished our work here by any means* 591 
 Tharus baptized up to date only represent a small portion 
 of those who are yet to be called and saved; but the 
 other Tharu villages are so far distant from where we are 
 working, and the season is so far advanced, that I fear we 
 shall have to stay our hand for the present, and wait for the 
 next cold season to again begin this holy campaign. So I 
 cannot quote more from my journal at present, Before clos- 
 ing this part of it, however, I would like to say — let no one 
 think that Chandanptir is an undesirable place to live in. 
 It is many degrees cooler here than in Gonda; and for 
 9 months of the year is as healthy a place to live in as any 
 station in Oudh. The Forest Officer and his family with 
 his babus, munshis, and staff of chaprdsis, all live here during 
 the hottest months of the year ; and surely what these can [do 
 from a sense of duty to Government, a Native Preacher and 
 his wife ought to do for the dear love of Christ. Oh, for the 
 rich baptism of the Holy Ghost upon some dear Native pastor 
 and his wife, to constrain them to answer promptly the earnest 
 and important appeal, " Come over and help us I " We have 
 Brothers Joseph Downey and Jhandula Masih devoting them- 
 selves with praise-worthy zeal and patience to this blessed work 
 of trying to raise up for the Lord Jesus a Church in these 
 forests ; and, thank God, He has raised up for us four helpers 
 in Jura, Duriya, Kama Baba and Sukhai Das, who, when 
 properly trained and baptized with the Spirit's power, will 
 make very efficient helpers; but we must have a first-class 
 
242 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 ordained Native brother and his wife here, to live permanently 
 among these new converts, to baptize their children, per- 
 form their marriage ceremonies, be present at the burniDg of 
 their dead, administer the Lord's Supper, and preach to them 
 the Gospel of life and progress by precept and example. 
 
 After the publication of the above narrative the following 
 letter was called forth by a question put by the Editor of 
 " The Indian Witness" in one of its issues. 
 
 THE THARU' BAPTISMS. 
 
 Sir, — In your issue of the 26th June you say, "We wish 
 he " (Mr. Knowles) " had added a sentence to explain the 
 incident of the lota of water which was waiting for him at 
 the last village but one he visited." 
 
 After baptizing the first two or three villages, the news of 
 course soon spread to all the other villages. It was explain- 
 ed how we had visited, and what we had done in each par- 
 ticular place ; and thus many, even before we visited their 
 villages, had made up their minds to throw in their lot with 
 their other Tharu brethren. But this did not keep us from 
 holding our usual service among them, or hinder the usual 
 blessing attending the patient preaching of the word of God. 
 And then many of the Tharus, as I found was the case of the 
 Chaudhri of Narewa, the village referred to, before I had visit- 
 ed their villages were often present at the morning service 
 we held every day in front of our tent, or on the lawn before 
 the house. And in this service the preaching always turned 
 to the fall of man, his redemption through the blood of the 
 Gross, and especially on how men became the disciples of this 
 great Redeemer. On this latter point we were very particular 
 in explaining three things : — 
 
 1 — Men became his disciples by having repentance toward 
 God, who is justly offended by our sins. 
 
 2 — By having faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, who alone by 
 his atonement can reconcile us to our offended God. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 24$ 
 
 3 — By receiving His sign of discipleship, thus confessing 
 Him openly in water baptism. 
 
 On this third point we always explain how this is done, by 
 procuring a lota of water from an adjacent well ; by arrang- 
 ing those separately who have confessed the above repent- 
 ance and faith j and after exhortation and prayer, pouring 
 the water into the hand, and letting it fall over each head 
 in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This 
 patient explanation of everything in detail is necessary on 
 account of the utter ignorance such a people are in with re- 
 spect to everything about us ; and also that everything we do 
 may be clear and above-board, so that our enemies shall not 
 be able to say we have used deceit of any kind. 
 
 Hence it was because the Chaudhri and people of Narewa 
 had made up their minds to throw in their lot with their 
 other Tharu brethren, and because they had heard from us 
 and others how we would proceed, that they in their simplic- 
 ity provided the lota of water, and had it ready on our arriv- 
 al at their village. But this did not discourage us from 
 first bringing their minds and hearts under the gracious in- 
 fluence of believing prayer, holy song, and the faithful 
 preaching of the word, before we gave them the usual invita- 
 tion, and explained to them what was meant by becoming 
 disciples of Jesus Christ. It was only then, when we believed 
 them ready for it, that we administered to them the rite of 
 baptism. 
 
 It was not till the succeeding cold season of 1886 and the 
 dry hot season of 1887 we managed to secure the services of 
 two Native Brethren willing to brave the climate and dan- 
 gers of forest life, as well as endure the hardships and severe 
 labours of working among a people like the Tharus, living in 
 villages separated by distances of from three to six miles, by 
 rough water-courses and walled rice fields, and by rougher 
 and more difficult forest lines overrun with savage beasts 
 and venomous reptiles. These two Brethren went out to 
 Chandanpur and lived in a chap-par house, the Tharus of 
 
244 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 Bushahr put up for them. In April of 1887 we intended to 
 revisit and work among our Tharu. converts with these two 
 Brethren, and had reached as far as Tulsipur in order to do 
 so, but the following news-note from the Editor of the 
 JfcauJcab-i-Hind, will explain why we did not succeed in 
 doing so : 
 
 "We regret to learn that while preaching at the Tulsipur 
 mela last week, Rev. Mr. Knowles was overcome with heat 
 and an attack of nervous prostration. Major Anson, the re- 
 spected Agent of the Balrampur Estates, kindly laid a dak 
 and sent him in to Gonda ; after resting a day or two he left 
 for Naini Tal on the order of the physician. Mr. Knowles 
 had made all his preparations, in spite of alarming reports 
 about sickness, to spend the month of April among the 
 Thariis, and this affliction is a great sorrow to him. We trust 
 he may soon be restored to health." 
 
 In a letter to Dr. Johnson, Mr. Knowles writes as follows : 
 
 " Great sickness is raging round Devi Patan mela in the direc- 
 tion of Pachperwa and Chandanpiir, and the people are stopped 
 from coming in from that way ; so there is really no mela. A 
 few people come and go from other parts, but the fair is virtu- 
 ally closed. I was advised to get Brothers Bernard and 
 Downey in from Chandanpur to Tulsipur till the sickness is 
 on the decrease. I hoped to have succeeded in getting 11 
 biswas .of land in a very convenient place in Tulsipur, and to 
 have Bro. Bernard put up a mud house on it to live in for 
 the present, but in this we have been disappointed. Wilbur 
 Fisk, Bihari Lai, and Sadalu will remain at Tulsipur to help 
 Bro. Bernard. The Tahsildar of Tulsipur will help us. I 
 greatly regret that this nervous prostration has come on just 
 now, but I must bow to the great Master's will. I baptized a 
 good case before I left, and Wilbur Fisk baptized the family 
 to-day. God keep and bless them." 
 
 It was not only my own condition of health which stood in 
 the way of my purpose, but also bad news I had received of 
 some of our dear ones in Oawnpore. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 245 
 
 In conclusion I think it right to say that one of the 
 Brethren sent out to live among our Tharu converts and 
 instruct them further in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not only 
 failed with regard' to his health, but with regard to his 
 temper and general fitness for such an arduous work. The 
 consequence was these two Brethren had to be withdrawn, 
 one for unfitness, and the other because he could not be left 
 alone. These remarks are necessary, as on the return of these 
 Brethren to Gonda very untruthful reports regarding the 
 state of our Tharu converts were spread about the station and 
 carried through our Mission. Being in Naini Tal for the re- 
 covery of my health, I was unable to test these reports at that 
 time by the touchstone of facts. And hence we were lead to 
 partially believe them ourselves. At least, in making out our 
 statistics for the year we were unable to conscientiously return 
 our Tharu baptized Converts as " Probationers." This great 
 fall, some 600, in the number of our probationers, naturally 
 caused a great deal of comment in the Annual Conference 
 which followed. But we had learned something of the truth 
 before going to the said Annual Conference ; thoughitwasnot 
 till we organized a tour, and went once more among these dear 
 Tharus last April, a detailed account of which we have al- 
 ready given, that we learned the whole truth, and found we had 
 done our Tharu converts great injustice by not returning 
 them as " Probationers." With our twelve Native Preachers 
 we spent a month among them, teaching, instructing, and en- 
 couraging them to hold fast whereunto they had attained. 
 We managed to visit two -villages a day, and every place we 
 went to, and every time we went, we were gladly received and 
 hospitably treated. Two leading Chaudhris, who were our 
 professed enemies and did all they could to hinder our work 
 among their baptized fellows, became our friends. We had 
 prayed specially for these two men, night and morning, all the 
 way out from Gonda to Chandanpur, and when we reached 
 our camping place at the latter, these two Tharus were among 
 the first to greet us. In the village of the one we have now a 
 
246 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 Boys' school with 35 lads learning Hindi, our Catechism, and 
 Bible Lessons ; and in the village of the other a similar school 
 with a few more pupils, but learning the same. 
 
 Through the great kindness of the Agent, Major Anson, 
 we have been able to put up two substantial wood and grass 
 School-houses in both the above villages, Vishnpur and 
 Bushahr, and we hope soon to be able to build a Native 
 Preacher's house on the piece of land given to us by the Maha- 
 rani of Bulrampur. This piece of land is on the edge of a 
 beautiful part of the forest, with a fine grove of trees in one 
 corner and a clear stream full of fish running through it. We 
 have had a ditch dug round this convenient piece of land 
 planted with plantain trees, and a rude bridge thrown over 
 the stream. The advantages of planting this herbaceous tree 
 are that its bitter astringent leaves are good for binding cuts 
 and wounds, and its wholesome luscious fruit is good at all 
 times for food. Besides, this endogenous tropical tree rising 
 twenty feet high, gives a pleasant shade. This will be the 
 comfortable though lonely home of our Native Preachers who 
 labour here among the Thariis. While at Chandanpur on this 
 tour, we baptized three Pahdri families from Deokar in Nepal, 
 who, with others from the same locality, settle among the 
 Tharus during the cold season, from October to the end of 
 April, and then return for the hot summer months to the hills. 
 We are praying for the day to soon come when Nepal shall be 
 open to European intercourse, and we shall be able |to plant a 
 Mission in Deokar ; for there we shall find a number of 
 families and individuals whom we have at different times 
 baptized here and at Tulsipur. 
 
THE GOSPEL IN G0NDA. 247 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Finally, allow us to say that if the workers of the Great 
 Master go forth expecting only to plough the fields and sow 
 the seed, then must they have patience to wait the " four 
 months before cometh the harvest : " in other words, there 
 will, in rerum naturd, be no present visible results, but if 
 they cast the eyes of their faith over the fields of labour 
 appointed them, and see those fields, as the " Lord of the 
 harvest" desires them to see such, "already white unto 
 harvest" and fully trusting in the presence and almighty 
 power of the Lord of Glory, and taking the " sharp " reaping 
 hook of the living " powerful " Word, go forth to the special 
 and definite work of reaping and harvesting, then " heaven 
 and earth shall pass away " ere they shall fail to "come again 
 with joy, bringing their sheaves with them." It is out of the 
 plaintive lachrymose past history of ploughing and sowing in 
 the world of heart and mind of the nations that comes the pres- 
 ent "joy " of reaping. " The Lord of the harvest " is just 
 as presenb and omnipotent to-day, and the harvesting in the 
 white fields of India and the rest of the world just as imper- 
 atively needed at this time, as when " They" (the Disciples) 
 " went forth and preached everywhere, the lord working 
 with them, and confirming the signs that followed. Amen." 
 
 "Labourers," called by "The Lord of the harvest" to this 
 blessed work of reaping, with hearts ever tuneful to the touch 
 and voice of the Holy Spirit, nothing doubting, put in the flash- 
 ing sickles among the ripened corn, and a Te Deum, a grand 
 oratorio of triumphal song shall go up from the quickly reaped 
 fields and harvested sheaves, and you shall return with a 
 jubilee of joy to celebrate the last grand Harvest Home, and 
 receive, what is worth more than the sacrifice of a whole life, 
 the " welcome " and " well done " of the Great Master ! 
 
248 
 
 THE GOSPEL IN GONDA. 
 
 " O still in accents sweet and strong 
 Sounds forth the ancient word, 
 
 1 More reapers for white harvest fields, 
 More labourers for the Lord ! ' 
 
 We hear the call ; in dreams no more 
 
 In selfish ease we lie, 
 But girded for our Father's work 
 
 Go forth beneath his sky. 
 
 Where prophets' word, and martyrs' blood, 
 And prayers of Saints were sown, 
 
 We, to their labours entering in, 
 
 Would reap where they have strewn." 
 
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