v BBHHHBB^^^HBBBHBH H l$Si ,; i fca^ggas '- r '" : ^^^HHHHHi^H^H^ffi HRfiHIIHIBPBiRRB THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES CHRISTIAN FREDERICK HEYER The Telugu Mission of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America Containing a Biography of the Rev. Christian Frederick Heyer, M. D. BY GEORGE DRACH - GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA AND CALVIN F. KUDER MISSIONARY AT RAJAHMUNDRY. INDIA PHILADELPHIA GENERAL COUNCIL PUBLICATION HOUSE 1914 Copyright. 1914. by the Board of Publication of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America All rights reserved PREFACE AT the sixth convention of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, held at Akron, Ohio, November 7-13, 1872, a resolution was adopted instructing the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Min- isterium, which was then entrusted with the administration of the foreign mission work of the General Council, to request the Rev. C. F. Heyer "to prepare for publication a history of his mission work in India and of the Missions there, with which he had been connected." The founder of the American Evangelical Lutheran Missions in India made an effort to comply with this request and began to copy and compile some of the letters which he had written from India to various corre- spondents in America; but even the task of copying what he had composed in the strength and vigor of his manhood was more than the pioneer, at the advanced age of eighty years, could accomplish ; and before he had proceeded very far, the angel of death called him to his eternal reward. Since the death of Dr. Heyer much has been written about him, but no serious effort has been made, so far as we know, to write a full and complete biography of this remarkable man who was not only the first foreign missionary of the Lutheran Church in America, but who, also, hi other spheres of service as a minister of the Church and a preacher of the Gospel, as a home missionary, as a pastor of congregations in Pennsylvania and Maryland, as an officer hi a number of synods, as a leader in several important movements in our Church in his day, and as one of the founders of the General Council, proved himself to be a man of unusual ability, great initiative, indefatigable activity, strong faith and true piety. What Dr. Heyer in the feebleness of old age was unable to do, we have attempted to do in the folio whig pages. We 2 PREFACE offer this "history of his mission work in India and of the Missions there with which he was connected," convinced that the story of this missionary's life and career deserves to be remembered and told from one generation to another in our Church, not only because it marks the beginning of foreign mission work in our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, but also because it furnishes one of the strongest incentives which can be held out to our people, both ministers and congregations, to give their very best efforts to the great task of carry ing the Gospel to all the world, and to serve this cause either in person abroad, as called and commissioned workers, or as regular supporters at home by earnest prayer and systematic contributions, in obedience to the great com- mission of the Lord, our Saviour, the Saviour of the whole world. GEORGE DRACH. PHILADELPHIA, Advent, 1913. CONTENTS PART I CHRISTIAN FREDERICK HEYER AND THE AMERICAN EVAN- GELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA THE BEGINNING OF FOREIGN MISSION WORK IN THE EVAN- GELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA CHAPTER PAGE I. THE FIRST FOREIGN MISSION EFFORT IN THE EVANGELICAL LUTH- ERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA 1 1 II. THE FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONARY, THE REV. C. F. HEYER, M. D. . . 22 III. HEYER'S FIRST JOURNEY TO INDIA 35 IV. THE SELECTION OF THE FOREIGN MISSION FIELD IN INDIA 42 V. THE FOUNDING OF THE GUNTUR MISSION 51 VI. How THE GENERAL SYNOD GAINED CONTROL OF THE GUNTUR MISSION 59 VII. DR. HEYER'S SECOND TERM OF SERVICE AND His SUCCESS IN THE PALNAD DISTRICT 72 VIII. THE FOUNDING OF THE RAJAHMUNDRY MISSION AND How IT BE- CAME AN AMERICAN MISSION 83 IX. THE FIELD OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 95 X. A PERIOD OF TRIALS HEYER LEAVES THE MISSION 107 XI. DR. HEYER A HOME MISSIONARY IN MINNESOTA 114 XII. THE CRISIS 119 3 CONTENTS PART II THE HISTORY OF THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA CHAPTER PAGE I. THE BEGINNING OF FOREIGN MISSION WORK IN THE GENERAL COUNCIL (1869) 133 II. HEYER COMPLETES His LIFE-WORK (1870) 143 III. THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S MISSION FIELD IN INDIA 156 IV. STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE (1871-74) 162 V. DISHEARTENING DIFFICULTIES (1875-77) 174 VI. IMPORTANT EVENTS (1878-79) 184 VII. PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 195 VIII. BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 212 IX. THE HOME-CHURCH LAGS (1886-87) 234 X. THE HAND OF DEATH (1888-89) 248 XI. WOMAN MISSIONARIES (1890-91) 265 XII. INCREASING FRUITFULNESS (1892-93) 281 XIII. FROM A MISSIONARY'S DIARY (1894) 296 XIV. THE JUBILEE YEAR (1895) 307 XV. DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) 315 XVI. RECONSTRUCTION (1900-02) 330 XVII. UNDER DR. HARPSTER'S LEADERSHIP (1903-05) 342 XVIII. MANIFOLD ACTIVITY (1906-09) .' 356 XIX. RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 370 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE CHRISTIAN FREDERICK HEYER Frontispiece THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA 20 HINDU SNAKE CHARMERS 21 A PALANKEEN FOR BRIDES AND BRIDEGROOMS 40 A' JlNRIKISHA 40 A BULLOCK BANDY 41 AN ELEPHANT CART 41 THE BEGINNING OF A TELUGU LETTER 60 A HINDU TEMPLE IN RAJAHMUNDRY 60 A TELUGU BARBER AT WORK 61 TELUGU WOMAN GRINDING CURRY 61 CHARLES WILLIAM GROENNING 84 A TELUGU BRAHMIN 85 COCOANUT PALMS IN INDIA 102 A MANGO TREE 102 CUTTING A BUNCH OF BANANAS 103 A BANYAN TREE 103 TELUGU POTTERS AT WORK 120 TELUGU GOLDSMITHS 120 TELUGU BASKET MAKERS WORKING IN FRONT OF THEIR HUT 121 TELUGU CARPENTERS SAWING A LOG OF WOOD 121 MAP OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S TELUGU MISSION FIELD 130 MAP OF THE GENERAL SYNOD'S TELUGU MISSION FIELD 131 PASTOR NELAPROLU PAULUS. ^ 146 PASTOR TOTA JOSEPH 146 PASTORS JERIPROLU WILLIAM, VENKATARATNAM, AND PANTAGANI PARA- DESI 147 THE HINDU GODDESS KALI 160 THE ELEPHANT-HEADED GOD GANESHA 161 "RIVERDALE" MISSIONARY'S HOME AT RAJAHMUNDRY 174 "THE DOVE OF PEACE" HOUSE BOAT 175 'THE AUGUSTANA" MISSION HOUSE BOAT 175 ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, RAJAHMUNDRY 184 MISSION CHAPEL AT VELPUR 185 THE HINDU TRIAD OF GODS: BRAHMA, VISHNU, SIVA 194 THE MONKEY-GOD HANUMAN 194 5 6 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE MAP OF RAJAHMUNDRY IN 1910 195 DYING HINDU HOLDING A Cow's TAIL 204 A HIGH CASTE TELUCU WOMAN 205 HINDU FAKIR ON A BED OF SPIKES 216 THE CAR OF THE GOD OF KORUKONDA 216 THE SACRED HILL OF KORUKONDA 217 THE TEMPLE ON KORUKONDA HILL 217 RELIGIOUS BATHING IN THE GODAVERY RIVER PUSHKARAM 228 THE BRIDGE OVER THE GODAVERY RIVER AT RAJAHMUNDRY 228 LOADING RADARI BOATS WITH RICE BAGS 229 A CONGREGATION OF TELUGU CHRISTIANS (MALAS) 229 MISSIONARIES SCHMIDT, BECKER, POULSEN, CARLSON, W. GROENNING, ARTMAN 246 A TELUGU FAMILY 247 A CONFERENCE OF NATIVE CHRISTIAN HELPERS 247 WOMAN MISSIONARIES: SCHADE, SADTLER, SWENSON, WOERNER, ROHRER, NILSSON 264 "THE ZENANA HOME" FIRST RESIDENCE FOR WOMAN MISSIONARIES.. 265 A CANAL SCENE IN GODAVERY DISTRICT 265 MISSIONARIES POHL, ARPS, ISAACSON, KUDER, HARPSTER, FICHTHORN . . 280 Miss KATE L. SADTLER AND PUPILS OF HER HINDU GIRLS' SCHOOL . . . 281 PUPILS AND TEACHERS OF Miss E. L. WEISKOTTEN'S HINDU GIRLS' SCHOOLS 281 MISSIONARIES ON TOUR LIVING IN A TENT 296 THE GORGE OF THE GODAVERY RIVER 296 AFTER AN EXAMINATION OF VILLAGE SCHOOL CHILDREN 297 A TELUGU VILLAGE 297 EMMANUEL CHAPEL AT DOWLAISHWARAM 308 MISSIONARY'S HOUSE AT DOWLAISHWARAM 308 AUGUSTANA CHURCH AT SAMULKOT 309 INTERIOR OF AUGUSTANA CHURCH, SAMULKOT 309 GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL, RAJAHMUNDRY MAIN BUILDING 322 GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL, RAJAHMUNDRY DORMITORIES 322 GROUP OF MISSIONARIES 323 AT THE WELL IN THE GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL COMPOUND 323 MISSIONARIES E. NEUDOERFFER, A. F. A. NEUDOERFFER, WACKERNAGLE, WOLTERS, LARSON, ECKARDT 330 WOMAN MISSIONARIES: WEISKOTTEN, MRS. J. H. HARPSTER, MRS. E. NEU- DOERFFER, MRS. O. V. WERNER, TATGE, BORTHWTCK 331 THE HINDU GIRLS' SCHOOL AT ARYAPURAM, RAJAHMUNDRY 344 Miss CHARLOTTE SWENSON TEACHING A CLASS OF BIBLE WOMEN 345 CATECHIST A. ANANDAPPAN, WIFE AND CHILDREN 356 TEACHERS AND PUPILS, BOYS' CENTRAL SCHOOL, RAJAHMUNDRY, 1912. . 357 MISSIONARIES SCHAEFER, WERNER, HOLMER, SIPES 360 COMMISSIONERS C. T. BENZE AND C. W. Foss 360 ILLUSTRATIONS 7 PAGE A GROUP OF LACE MAKERS 361 DISPENSARY BUILDING AT RAJAHMUNDRY 361 BOYS' CENTRAL SCHOOL DORMITORIES, LUTHERGIRI, RAJAHMUNDRY. ... 366 BOYS' HIGH SCHOOL, PEDDAPUR 366 WOMEN OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL WHO HAVE BEEN PROMINENT IN MISSIONS 367 BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF THE RAJAHMUNDRY HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN 376 HOSPITAL MAIN BUILDING 376 "MEDICAL HOME" RESIDENCE OF MEDICAL MISSIONARIES 377 PATIENTS FROM THE CHILDREN'S WARDS AND THEIR AYAHS 377 THE BOARD'S SEAL OF INCORPORATION 382 THE CHURCH COUNCIL OF ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, RAJAHMUNDRY, IN 1910 382 PRESIDENTS OF THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 383 EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS 388 ALL-INDIA LUTHERAN CONFERENCE OF MISSIONARIES, 1912 389 PART I CHRISTIAN FREDERICK HEYER AND THE AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA THE BEGINNING OF FOREIGN MISSION WORK IN THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA CHAPTER I THE FIRST FOREIGN MISSION EFFORT IN THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA IN the earlier history of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America two dates, a century apart, are especially note- worthy. The one, 1742, designates the year of the landing of the patriarch of our American Church, Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, on the shore of this western hemisphere; the other, 1842, marks the beginning of our Church's foreign mission in India by the first American Lutheran foreign mis- sionary, John Christian Frederick Heyer. In the wonderful providence of God the original desire of Muhlenberg to preach the Gospel to the heathen hi India was eventually fulfilled, one hundred years afterward, through the instrumentality of the Church which he organized hi the United States; and the field which Heyer selected and which has been cultivated ever since by our Church, lies not many hundred miles northeast of the place where Muhlenberg would have landed and labored, had he followed, as he first intended, in the wake of Ziegen- balg and Pluetschau. During the century from Muhlenberg to Heyer the Lutheran Church in the United States was called upon to devote herself primarily to the task of gathering into organized congrega- tions those of her communion who immigrated by hundreds of thousands into the United States. The work of her self-preservation rather than that of her extension to other lands demanded the first attention and the full vigor of our Church during the last half of the eighteenth and the first half of the nineteenth century. Even after she began to do foreign 12 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA mission work, so much of her energy was needed for the work of home missions that, up to the beginning of the twen- tieth century, she was obliged to expend the greater part of her strength and resources in the absorbing effort of caring for those of her own household of faith, first of all in the mother-tongue of the immigrants as they arrived, and then, after the second or third generation, in the English language. Now that immigration from Lutheran countries is on the wane and the home mission facilities of our Church are more numerous and efficient, a notable increase of foreign mission spirit and activity is discernible. During the early decades of the nineteenth century the activities of the Lutheran Church in North America were, for the greater part, confined to two bodies, namely, the Ministerium of Pennsylvania and the General Synod. The latter was called into existence mainly through the effort of the Ministerium at Frederick, Maryland, in 1821. The Ministerium, however, withdrew from the General Synod shortly after its organization. These two bodies, almost equal in numerical strength, continued to exist side by side and to engage in similar or nearly similar lines of work, until they reunited in 1853. 1 I ^^6 they again separated. During the first period of their separate existence (1823-53) their relations seem to have been amicable. To this period we trace the beginning of our American Lutheran Mission in India, in which both bodies, under a peculiar form of agreement, co- operated for a number of years. Year by year as Lutheran immigration continued and the territory of the Church's operations extended westward in line with the territorial expansion of the Union, the increas- ing responsibility of the organized bodies in the East to sup- ply, as best they could, the destitute portions of the Church on the western frontiers with, at least, the occasional admin- istration of the means of grace, forcibly impressed itself upon these bodies and developed within them not only a growing home mission activity but also a sincere purpose to carry the Gospel to the heathen. To the General Synod belongs the credit of having made FIRST FOREIGN MISSION EFFORT IN LUTHERAN CHURCH 13 the first united effort in our Lutheran Church in behalf of foreign mission work. Previous to the year 1833, individuals and congregations in various Lutheran Synods sent occasional contributions to the "American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mis- sions." Indeed, the first organized effort of the General Synod was intended to be in co-operation with that Board; but hi 1833, at the meeting of the General Synod in Balti- more, Maryland, a special committee was appointed, charged with the duty of formulating a plan for more energetic and extensive mission activity. Meeting in York, Pa., in 1835, this committee urged the necessity, importance and value of both home and foreign mission work and concluded with a strong appeal for united endeavor in behalf of for- eign missions. Its report led to the adoptioft of resolutions looking to the organization of a missionary society. The first resolution recommended the holding of a mission- ary meeting at Mechanicsburg, Pa., in connection with the convention of the West Pennsylvania Synod, in October, 1835. The second and third resolutions, which were intended as inspirational, referred to the labors of Guetzlaff, a German missionary in China. The fourth resolution recommended to all Lutheran Synods "to give, at their ensuing meetings, an expression of their sentiment and feeling respecting the establishment of a foreign mission by the Evangelical Luth- eran Church in the United States." The missionary meeting was held, as arranged, in Mechan- icsburg and resulted in the formation of "The Central Mis- sionary Society." Its object, as expressed in its constitu- tion, was "to send the Gospel of the Son of God to the desti- tute portions of the Lutheran Church hi the United States, to assist, for a season, such congregations as are unable to support the Gospel, and ultimately to co-operate in sending it to the heathen world." The Rev. C. F. Heyer was chosen as the society's first missionary. He was called to engage in mission work for a period of five years, his compensation to be five hundred dollars a year. He was directed to devote himself primarily to the work of a home missionary, but also 14 to hold himself in readiness to be sent out as a foreign mis- sionary when the need arose and the necessary arrangements could be made. The organization of "The Central Missionary Society" induced the Pennsylvania Ministerium also to form a synod- ical missionary society. On Wednesday evening, June i , 1836, the evening before the annual convention of the Ministerium, at Easton, Pa., a number of clerical and lay delegates met and organized "The Society of the Synod of Pennsylvania for the Propagation of the Gospel," electing as its first officers : the Rev. Wm. Beates, president; the Rev. J. P. Hecht, vice-president; the Rev. C. Miller, recording secretary; the Rev. F. Ruthrauff, corresponding secretary, and Mr. C. J. Hutter, treasurer. 1 During the first year of its existence no effort was made by the society to do foreign mission work; but at its second meeting in Lancaster, Pa., May, 1837, the executive com- mittee was authorized and instructed to spend $150 for the spread of the Gospel among the heathen. Moreover, three members of the society 2 were appointed delegates to the con- vention of Lutherans called to meet at Hagerstown, Md., in connection with the meeting of the General Synod during the closing week of May, 1837, and to determine what course should be pursued in response to appeals for financial aid, ad- dressed to all Germans in America by Guetzlaff in China and by Rhenius in India. The appeal of the latter, especially, had 1 Twelve directors were elected, namely, the Revs. J. C. Baker, D. D., C. R. Demme, D. D., J. Medtart, G. W. Mertz, E. Peixotto, M. Keller and S. J. Brobst, candidate J. Sahm and Messrs. F. Wra. Heckel, Chr. Strack, Fr. Er- hard and Chr. Haeger. A committee consisting of the Revs. Keller, Ruthrauff and Medtart and Messrs. Hutter and Heckel formulated a constitution, an abstract of which is here given: Article I. Name. Article II defines the purpose of the society to be the employment of a missionary to travel through the country and organize congregations, and "as soon as possible to send the Gospel to the heathen." Article III fixes the time of meeting to be in connection with the annual con- vention of the Synod. Article IV determines the fees, namely, one dollar a year for active membership, ten dollars for life-membership and twenty-five dollars for life-directorship. Article V regulates the election of officers and of a board of twelve directors. Article VI creates an executive committee consisting of the officers and three others elected by the board of directors. Article VII specifies that the members of the executive committee shall live in as nearly contiguous localities as possible. Articles VIII to XII deal with matters of government, auxiliary societies and amendments. 2 The Revs. C. VV. Schaeffer, J. Medtart and Mr. F. Wm. Heckel. FIRST FOREIGN MISSION EFFORT IN LUTHERAN CHURCH 15 created a profound impression throughout the Church. The conviction was general that Rhenius should be supported in his independent mission work and that his appeal had set the time for action by the American Lutheran Church in behalf of foreign missions. It was felt "that indifference to the leadings of Providence was sinful and that God would have the Church engage in the work of foreign missions." Those who responded to the appeal of Rhenius in his effort to inter- est the Germans in America in his independent Tinnevelly Mission could scarcely have realized at that time that his ap- peal and their response actually determined, then and there, that India should be the field for the foreign mission work of the Lutheran Church in America. Considerable enthusiasm for foreign missions was manifested at the Hagerstown meeting of the General Synod and was carried over into the missionary meeting, which aimed at the organization of all Germans in America, to whom Rhenius had indiscriminately appealed, into one foreign missionary society. As a consequence the new society, organized May 30, 1837, was called "The German Foreign Missionary Society." Steps were taken to extend immediate aid to Rhenius. Three hundred dollars were appropriated to be sent at once; and two semi-annual payments of a thousand dollars each were promised. Furthermore, the Rev. Charles Philip Krauth, D. D., was requested to write and ask Rhe- nius if "he would be willing to be employed as the missionary of the society to labor among the Tamils in India." The enthusiasm of the Hagerstown meeting spread. "Money poured into the treasury of the new society and funds were speedily forwarded to India." Although the delegates of the Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium took part in the organization of "The German Foreign Missionary Society," the former society decided to continue its separate existence. At its third annual meeting 1 held June 12, 1838, in Philadelphia, 1 At this meeting besides nine auxiliary congregational missionary societies, one "female missionary society" was reported, namely, that of St. Michael's Church in Germantown, Pa., the Rev. J. W. Richards, pastor. This was, therefore, the first women's missionary society in the Pennsylvania Synod. 1 6 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA $5 1 were ordered to be sent to Rhenius in Palamcotta. This sum, together with $250 contributed by St. John's English Church in Philadelphia, was remitted in December, 1838. For a while the foreign mission cause overshadowed every other interest and the enthusiasm was still at its height, when at the fourth annual meeting of the society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, held in Allentown, May 29, 1839, in a letter addressed to Rev. Fr. Schmidt, secretary, who had succeeded Rev. F. Ruthrauff in that office, news was received of the death of Rhenius in Palamcotta, June 5, 1836, and of the return of his colleague to the service of the Church Mis- sionary Society. At once the zeal of the society began to abate. The Executive Committee 2 was instructed to with- hold further support until more definite knowledge con- cerning affairs in Palamcotta had been received. 3 The confirmation of the news of the death of Rhenius and of the return of his son-in-law, Mueller, and his associates, to the Church Missionary Society, hastened the establish- ment of a separate American Lutheran foreign mission. The initial steps toward this end were taken by the German Foreign Missionary Society in Chambersburg, June 4, 1839, when it was resolved "to send forth missionaries into the field, either to co-operate with the Palamcotta mission or to form an independent station, as the Executive Committee might find most expedient." The Executive Committee of The German Foreign Mission- ary Society, 4 whose attention had been called to the Rev. C. F. Heyer, then a home-missionary of the West Pennsylvania Synod at work in Pittsburg, as the most suitable person to be appointed as the society's foreign missionary, instructed its 1 The receipts of the society during the current year were $775.14^; the ex- penditures, $368.19^. 1 At this meeting the executive committee was constituted as follows: The Revs. Beates, Baker, S. Sprecher, H. S. Miller, J. Haesbaert, G. A. Reichert, and Messrs. E. Haeger and J. F. Heinitsch. 3 The total receipts of the society during the year were $1287.05; the expenditures, $962.72. 4 The members of the committee were: The Rev. Prof. S. S. Schmucker, D. D., the Rev. Prof. H. L. Baugher, the Rev. J. N. Hoffmann, Dr. D. Gil- bert, Mr. Isaac Baugher, treasurer, and the Rev. Prof. Charles Philip Krauth D. D., corresponding secretary. FIRST FOREIGN MISSION EFFORT IN LUTHERAN CHURCH 17 corresponding secretary, the Rev. Prof. Charles Philip Krauth, D. D., some time during the spring of 1840, to write to Heyer asking him if he would consider a call to become a foreign missionary and requesting his opinion "as to the place where a mission might advantageously be commenced, whether in the far West among the aborigines of America or in the far East among the Hindus." Heyer replied as follows : "I have no particular choice but would be willing to go wheresoever the Lord may direct, even to New Zealand, where missionaries have lately been slain and devoured by the savages. How- ever, it appears to me that the Coromandel coast, perhaps in the Tinnevelly district, where Mr. Mueller, Rhenius' son-in- law, is now standing alone, would be the most suitable place to commence. If we undertake to establish a mission among our Indians, we should, probably, have to go across the Rocky Mountains to a place perhaps as difficult of access as the peninsula of Hindustan. Moreover, our Indians are of a roving disposition, and hence it is very difficult to get hold of them or make an impression on them. There exists, also, a certain kind of prejudice among many of our people against the Indians, which would render them unwilling to do as much for a mission among the Indians in America as for an undertaking of this kind among the Hindus. But I am willing to abide by the decision of the Executive Committee." After some further correspondence the committee called Heyer in May, 1840. He accepted the call. Then the Ameri- can Board of Commissioners was consulted with regard to a suitable field in India, and on their recommendation the Telugu country was selected. Meanwhile the time had ar- rived for the biennial meeting of the General Synod and, in connection therewith, of The German Foreign Missionary Society. The society met on Tuesday, May n, 1841, in Baltimore, Md. Having realized by this time that the co- operation of all Germans in America was impracticable, an amendment to the constitution was proposed at this meet- ing changing the society's name to that of "The Foreign Missionary Society of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States." After the report of the Executive Com- 1 8 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA mittee had been read, it was unanimously resolved to ap- prove of the steps taken in the appointment of the Rev. C. F. Heyer as a foreign missionary, to communicate this appoint- ment to the Pennsylvania and Ohio synods and to request their co-operation. A committee 1 appointed to recommend a plan of co-operation with the American Board in the case of the proposed Telugu mission, submitted the following report : "The Evangelical Lutheran Foreign Missionary Society, desirous of avail" ing themselves of the facilities afforded by the American Board of Commis- sioners for Foreign Missions to the churches that have united with it in the work of foreign missions and also deeming it important that the efforts of the friends of this cause in this country should be more fully concentrated, propose to form a connection with said board upon the following general principles: (i) The connection of our missionaries with the American Board shall in no degree affect their ecclesiastical relations and responsibilities. (2) When desired by our society, the American Board is to organize the missionaries furnished by us into a mission by themselves to be under their direction; and should the con- nection of the Board of Missions of the Lutheran Church with the American Board be at any time dissolved, the direction of this mission shall then, as a matter of course, be transferred to the Lutheran Board. (3) The Lutheran Board shall have the nomination of their missionaries, but the American Board may confirm the nomination. (4) The Lutheran Board shall have the management of all the agencies for collecting funds, etc., within the bounds of the denomination, and also the charge of fostering a missionary spirit in the churches and in their candidates for the ministry. (5) All the pecuniary responsibilities of the missionaries excepting when acting as agents under the direction of the Lutheran Board, shall be wholly under the American Board. (6) The receipts of the Lutheran Board after defraying the expenses of agencies etc., shall be paid into the treasury of the American Board. Whenever the amount paid into the treasury of the American Board shall exceed the sum required for the support of the missionaries furnished by the Lutheran Board, for the current year, the American Board may apply the surplus to the support of other missionaries in their employment. And should the funds furnished by the Lutheran Board at any time be inadequate to the support of the missionaries furnished by said Board, it is expected that the American Board will afford us aid, if they have a surplus of funds. (7) When missionaries are about to embark a missionary meeting shall, if possible, be held in some Lutheran Church, at which the instructions shall be given by the American Board and the charge be delivered by the Lutheran Board; and the missionaries, when in the field, shall also maintain a regular correspondence with the Lutheran Board." 1 The committee consisted of the Revs. Dr. G. A. Lintner, Dr. S. S. Schmuck- er, Dr. C. P. Krauth, Henry N. Pohlman and J. Berger. FIRST FOREIGN MISSION EFFORT IN LUTHERAN CHURCH 19 Upon the adoption of this arrangement with the Ameri- can Board, which was very distasteful to Heyer, he resigned his appointment by the General Synod's society. That there were at least some who sided with Heyer and opposed affilia- tion with the American Board, is evident from the fact that an amendment to the constitution was at once proposed, striking out Article 12, which bound the General Synod's society to co-operation with that Board. About a month elapsed between the meetings of the General Synod and of the Pennsylvania Ministerium in 1841. It ap- pears that the latter's missionary society had continued to send support to Mueller in Tinnevelly, 1 but at this meeting, held June 5, 1841, in Harrisburg, Pa., it decided that "whereas said society (C. M. S.) had sufficient means to maintain the mission under Brother Mueller, this society will give it no more support but will look elsewhere in order to propagate the Gospel among the heathen." At this crucial moment on the afternoon of Saturday, June 5th, a letter written by Heyer two days previously was read to the society by the Rev. Dr. Demme, its correspond- ing secretary. The part which this important letter played in the history of our foreign mission work justifies its quota- tion in full: Baltimore, June 3, 1841. Dear Brethren: I prefer to go as Missionary under the supervision of a Lutheran Missionary Society, rather than to be beholden to other Christian denominations. This is the reason which constrains me to apply to your society. If the brethren feel inclined to send me as their agent to the heathen, the follow- ing conditions should be taken into consideration: (i) Your society will decide about the place or region of country where the mission is to be commenced. (2) The travel- ling expenses to the place of destination are to be paid out of the funds at present in the hands of your treasurer. (3) 1 During the synodical year ending June i, 1842, $575, taken from the mission treasury, and $275.25, contributed, by St. John's English Church in Philadelphia and by the Bible Society of Lebanon County, had been sent to Mueller. 20 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA The surplus in the treasury is to be paid to the mission in three equal instalments, if my life be spared that long. (4) I will invest 1000 dollars of my own money; the interest of this investment shall be applied to the support of the mis- sion as long as I remain in connection with the same. (5) To meet the other necessary expenses of the mission I rely on ministers and other friends of our undertaking, who will be ready to assist in the accomplishment of our object. Pray- ing the Lord to guide and bless you in your deliberations, I remain, Respectfully yours, C. F. HEYER. Dilatoriness and timidity, which so often have harmed the interests of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, characterized the report of the special committee to whom Meyer's letter was referred. 1 The committee expressed its "pleasure in perceiving how much Brother Heyer is devoted to the cause of Christ and His Church, desiring as he does, to be sent as a missionary to the heathen and having declared that it is his wish to be sent out by none other than the Lutheran Church." The committee, however, regretted that "the missionary society had not sufficient means on hand to form and main- tain a heathen mission and that it could not rely on the co- operation of the Lutheran brethren in the General Synod, who had united their efforts with the American Board." It therefore concluded that "the Pennsylvania Missionary So- ciety could not venture on such an enterprise as proposed by Rev. C. F. Heyer, even though it might entertain the hope that the Lutheran Church could and would do much for the salva- tion of the poor heathen, and was convinced that Heyer would be a suitable person to send as a foreign missionary to India." There were present at that meeting, however, men who were not of such little faith. Earnestly and convincingly they pleaded for aggressive measures and immediate action. 1 The committee consisted of the Revs. S. Sprecher, C. Miller and H. S. Miller. The two latter signed the report. HINDUISM MOHAMMEDANISM CHPISTIANITY 207,700,000 60,000,000 ^000,000 THE RELIGIONS OF INDIA HINDU SNAKE CHARMKRS FIRST FOREIGN MISSION EFFORT IN LUTHERAN CHURCH 21 Their counsel prevailed. The resolutions offered by the Rev. C. R. Demme, D. D., seconded by the Rev. J. C. Baker, D. D., and passed unanimously, form the actual starting point of our Church's foreign mission in India. They were adopted on June 9, 1841, and read as follows: "Resolved, That in reliance on divine Providence we commence a heathen mission. "Resolved, That we receive Brother Heyer as missionary into our service; his offer, however, to invest one thousand dollars of his own property, the interest of which is to aid in the support of the Mission so long as he is connected with it, be not accepted. "Resolved, That the Executive Committee be solicited immediately to enter into correspondence with Brother Heyer in order to carry the above resolutions into effect. "Resolved, That we recommend to the Executive Com- mittee Hindustan, as a mission field for their consideration. "Resolved, That the treasurer, the Rev. Dr. Baker, be requested to address a circular to the different missionary societies of our Church, informing them of the above resolu- tions and inviting them to co-operate with us." Thus the Pennsylvania Ministerium became the pioneer and leader in the work of foreign missions, as it did, at some time or another, in almost every other department of church work. CHAPTER II THE FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONARY, THE REV. C. F. HEYER, M. D. THE life of the Rev. C. F. Heyer, M. D., though not that of a great man as the world estimates greatness, reminds us that we, also, as servants of God, may make our lives sublime by the reception and reflection of the light of truth and grace, which is perfectly manifested in Jesus Christ. By the grace of God Dr. Heyer was a cosmopolitan, a fine type of the Christian pilgrim and stranger who, seeking to reach the city which is to come, labors, while he journeys heavenward, for the extension of the kingdom, power and glory of God on earth. In a review of his life and career one is led over land and sea, from continent to continent, finding traces of his footsteps especially in Germany, the land of his birth, in the United States, the land of his adop- tion, and in India, the land of his most memorable work. Heyer's career teaches us in unmistakable language that human life in the fear of God and in the faith of Jesus Christ is neither a dream of worldly delight nor a nightmare of hope- less despair, but a real and earnest existence, lacking neither innocent romance nor beneficent tribulation in the steady pursuit of the divinely appointed calling, the dignity, duties and destiny of which are determined and developed by faith- ful service to Jesus Christ, the divine Redeemer and Lord of all men and of all things. Heyer was a conspicuous figure in our Lutheran Church in America two generations and more ago. Esteemed by his cotemporaries for the vigor of his faith and the value of his service, the kindly dignity of his manhood won for him the unique title of Father Heyer. He has been described as "a man of short stature, untiring energy, cheerful disposition, unflinching courage and self-denying spirit." Eager and zealous to the very last days of his ripe old age to propagate FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONARY, REV. C. F. HEYER, M. D. 23 the Gospel, both at home and in the foreign field, the Church instinctively turned to him whenever it contemplated a new mission enterprise. His success, both as a home and as a foreign missionary, entitles him to the first place in the list of the great missionaries of the Lutheran Church in America; and his name will ever be recalled as an abiding inspiration for mission effort in every direction. John Christian Frederick Heyer 1 was born in Helmstedt, duchy of Brunswick, Germany, July 10, 1793. Europe was then in a state of turmoil caused by the rise and spread of revolutionary ideas and movements, which had made the United States free and independent of England and were rapidly demolishing the established institutions of France. Napoleon Bonaparte was in the near background of current events and was already beginning to shape the course of his- tory. Heyer was eleven and a half years old when Napoleon was crowned emperor of France. The French Revolution was accompanied by a storm of religious error, which developed into the tornado of Ration- alism, swept over France, Germany, England and America, and left in its wake broken faith and buried piety. As a student at the University of Goettingen, Heyer faced this storm and remained in the faith of the fathers. Of greater significance as a world-movement than either the French Revolution or Rationalism was the revival of the spirit and work of Christian missions to heathen lands. It is more than a mere coincidence that the year of Heyer's birth was the year in which William Carey landed on the soil of India. Forty-nine years later Heyer established the Guntur India Mission for the Ministerium of Penn- sylvania. John Christian Frederick was the third child and second son of John Henry Gottlieb and Sophie Johanna Wagener- Heyer. His father was a burgher and master-furrier in Helmstedt. His parents were pious Christians and brought him up, as he afterward testified, in the nurture and admoni- 1 He almost invariably signed his letters and articles C. F. Heyer. The baptismal record in Helmstedt gives his name as Johann Christian Friedrich. 24 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA tion of the Lord. He seems to have been a precocious child, for he began to attend the village school at the early age of three years, and when he was thirteen years old a company of French soldiers, quartered in Helmstedt, employed him as an interpreter. Fearing, perhaps, that young as he was, he might be drafted into the French army, his parents decided to send him to an uncle living in Philadelphia. After he had been confirmed in St. Stephen's Church, Helmstedt, in 1807, his father took him in August, that year, to Hamburg, but find- ing that port blockaded by French war ships, proceeded to Friedricksstadt, Denmark, where the father entrusted his son to the care of Captain Williams, master of the American ves- sel "Pittsburg," bound for Philadephia. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean lasted eight weeks, and the passage money, amounting to $140, was paid by the Philadelphia uncle. For a while the fourteen-year-old immigrant attended Pastor Passey's private school, and then he worked in his uncle's fac- tory, learning the trade of a furrier. Despite the religious in- difference of his uncle and remembering the precepts of his parents and pastor in Helmstedt, Heyer regularly attended Zion's German Lutheran Church at Fourth and Cherry streets, of which the Rev. J. H. Ch. Helmuth, D. D., was then the senior pastor. He became a teacher in the Sunday school and joined the choir and the Mosheim Society, a lit- erary, social and religious association of young men in the congregation. The junior pastor of the congregation, the Rev. John C. Baker, D. D., awakened in him the desire to enter the holy ministry, and in 1809, being in his seventeenth year, he joined the little circle of students who gathered around Drs. Helmuth and F. D. Schaeffer for theological in- struction. For about five years he studied under their direc- tion. He preached his first sermon in the Almshouse in Phila- delphia in 1813, and on Trinity Sunday of the following year was permitted to deliver his first sermon in Zion's Church, at the afternoon service. His text was Matthew 6:6. Con- cerning this maiden effort he wrote long afterward, "In this case, also, the word was confirmed, 'The Lord is mighty in the FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONARY, REV. C. F. HEYER, M. D. 25 weak.' The sermon made a good impression. After more than fifty years I, to-day, still thank God for it." From Sep- tember 15, 1813, to May 8, 1815, he taught the parochial school which Zion's Church conducted in Southwark, Phila- delphia, occasionally preaching on Sunday evenings in the schoolhouse. In March, 1815, Heyer returned to Germany for the double purpose of seeing his parents again and of completing his theological studies at Halle. Three weeks after having lost sight of the American shord, the "Washington" on which he was a passenger, was intercepted by a British man-of-war in search of Napoleon who had escaped from the island of Elba. Several days thereafter another ship hailed them with the news that Napoleon had returned to France, driven the king from Paris, and gathered an army to regain his lost pres- tige and power. Hamburg was in a state of intense excite- ment over the renewal of war; and Heyer, remaining on ship- board, wrote and told his parents that he would return to America on the same ship, because he feared that, if he pro- ceeded into the interior of Germany, he would be forced into the army. Carl, his elder brother, hastened to Hamburg and persuaded him to accompany him to Helmstedt, overcoming his fear by offering to become his substitute in case he were drafted. In the old home a joyful reunion of the family was held, and the young theological student from America was honored with an invitation to preach in the church in which he had been baptized and confirmed. Almost two thousand townspeople gathered to hear his sermon. Instead of going to the University at Halle, which was temporarily closed, because the students had left it to form a volunteer company under Marshal- General Bluecher, Heyer accompanied by his younger brother, Heinrich, 1 went to Gqet- tingen, where he was matriculated in 1815. The prevailing rationalism of the university only served to strengthen him in his faith; and in Pastor Thilo who served a congregation 1 This brother, although a confessed rationalist at first, afterward became an orthodox Lutheran pastor and served a congregation in Gross-Poserin, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg, remaining in this pastorate over forty years. 26 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA near Goettingen, he found a kindred spirit and a good friend. In 1815, while he was spending a fall vacation of several weeks at home, his "good and pious" mother died at the age of fifty-seven years. The next year he returned to America and was licensed to preach by the Pennsylvania Ministerium at York, Pa., in 1817. The synod assigned him work in its most northwestern parish, in Crawford and Erie counties, Pa., made vacant by the death of the Rev. Mr. Colson. He was to serve for three months and receive a salary of $100, the synod promising to supplement the contributions of the parishioners if they failed to reach that amount. On his way to Meadville, where he was to reside, Heyer stopped in Lehigh County to preach trial sermons in the congregations of the par- ish just vacated by the Rev. Mr. Heine. Two of the congrega- tions voted for him and two for the other candidate, the Rev. Mr. Trumbauer, whereupon both withdrew as candidates. In the Macungie congregation he was defeated, because the people objected to a preacher who had studied abroad, wore long hair parted in the middle after the manner of German university students and, as they believed, forgot his text until he had reached almost the middle of his sermon, because he announced and recited it only after a lengthy introduction. "What trifling circumstances may give one's life a different course!" was Heyer's comment on this incident. Continuing his journey on horseback through Orwigs- burg and Sunbury, Heyer reached an outpost of the Lutheran Church in Center County, where Pastor Illgen distributed to his widely scattered flock both spiritual sustenance and drugs, gotten from Halle, Germany. In Venango County, while stopping over night with an English family in whose home family prayer was customary, the visiting minister was asked to offer the evening prayer. Familiar as he was with the English language he had never yet attempted a public prayer in that language. His effort to translate the devotional expressions of his habitual German prayers was a failure. Several months later, however, he preached his first English sermon at French Creek. FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONARY, REV. C. F. HEYER, M. D. 27 His parish consisted of small congregations in Meadville, where services were held in the court house; at French Creek where a small, frame chapel had been built ; in Erie County where a country schoolhouse was used for church purposes; and at Connaught Lake, where services were conducted in the largest house in the settlement. Before the three months of his engagement had expired he was elected by the congregations as their regular pastor. He remained to serve them for nearly a year. During that time he instructed and confirmed thirty-five persons, baptized fifty-three children, built a neat frame chapel and bought a parsonage with forty acres of land in Meadville. When he left Meadville in the summer of 1818, riding 200 miles on horseback to attend the meeting of the Ministerium in Harris- burg, both he and his parish expected his return; but the synod decided that, because he had shown his ability to preach in both German and English a very rare accomplish- ment in those days and because he had displayed commend- able zeal and pastoral wisdom, he was just the man needed to reorganize the congregations of the Cumberland parish in Maryland. Reluctant as he was to leave his work in north- western Pennsylvania, he went to Cumberland, where he found the church-building and the congregation in the town in a woeful state of collapse. The Methodists had converted (?) most of the Lutherans. All but Martin Rizer, a faithful deacon, and four other men with their famih'es had deserted the congregation. Enthusiastically aided by his loyal deacon, Heyer began the work of reconstruction. "My English ser- mons, at first," wrote Heyer, "attracted no special attention, the proselyters harboring no fear that the little German preacher would put a stop to their sheep-stealing; but gradu- ally, as through diligence and practice I attained greater pro- ficiency, the audience increased. The people were curious to hear the strange preacher; the crowds came to us." For six years he labored wisely and well in Cumberland, rebuilding the dilapidated log church, reorganizing the congrega- tion, increasing its membership, and serving seven or eight preaching points in the country. His parish ex- 28 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA tended eighty miles east and west and thirty miles north and south. 1 After having been a candidate for ordination, licensed to preach and administer the holy sacraments, for three years, he was solemnly ordained a deacon at the Lancaster, Pa., meeting of the Ministerium in i82o, 2 and was at the same time appointed to undertake a missionary tour through parts of Kentucky and Indiana. He spent three months, from July to October, 1820, on this tour, covering a territory of twenty- five hundred miles, travelling at first on foot and then on horseback, preaching wherever he coald gather a few people, administering the holy sacraments, and distributing German and English tracts. 3 In September, 1822, the congregation in Cumberland, being then in its most flourishing state during Heyer's pas- torate, entertained the newly organized synod of Virginia and Maryland, which he had joined the year previous and which had admitted him as a full-fledged pastor. During the fall and winter of 1822 and throughout 1823, Cumberland was visited by a prolonged epidemic of fever. Not a family escaped. Heyer lost his youngest child and he himself contracted the disease. He and his family, as well as many of the townspeople, spent the summer of 1823 in the mountains near Cumberland. During his absence the Cum- berland congregation became sadly disorganized; and, after having supplied the congregation in Somerset, Pa., for several months, he followed a call to that parish in 1824.* In Somer- 1 He served either temporarily or permanently the Wellersville (Wellersburg) , Combs, Greenville, Uhls, Yough, Glades, Germany and George's Hill congre- gations. 2 Theological students who preached were termed catechists. Then they were licensed and tested in some parish, their license being annually renewed, until they were ordained deacons. Subsequently they were admitted to the Ministerium as regular pastors by the right hand of fellowship. 3 The synod paid for these tracts and gave Heyer a compensation of forty dollars a month for his service. He found Lutherans scattered through Boone, Jefferson and Nelson counties in Kentucky, and through Harrison, Boyd and Jefferson counties in Indiana. During his absence the Cumberland congrega- tion was supplied by the Rev. A. Reck, of Winchester, Va.; the Rev. C. P. Krauth, of Shepherdstown, Va., and the Rev. Benjamin Kurtz, of Hagerstown, Md. 4 This parish consisted of congregations in Somerset, Friedensburg, Stoys- town and Samuels. FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONARY, REV. C. F. HEYER, M. D. 29 set he was called upon to wage a spiritual warfare against the followers of Alexander Campbell. In the midst of a series of sermons directed against the errors of this new sect, which disturbed the minds of many in his congregation, the frame church-building of the Lutheran congregation was destroyed by fire. Suspicion of incendiarism rested on a certain Campbellite. The embers of the ruined church still glowed when Alexander Campbell himself arrived from Washington, Pa., to crush the little Lutheran preacher who had dared to call the Campbellite teachings into question. The sympathies of the people, however, were with the afflicted Lutheran congregation and Campbell got a scant hearing. The congregation at once began to build a new brick church, the corner-stone of which was laid in 1825; but soon there- after the building operations were suspended, and Heyer resigned, in 1827, to follow a call to Carlisle, Pa., succeeding the Rev. Benjamin Keller. While pastor in Somerset he helped to organize the synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church west of the Susque- hanna River, afterward called the West Pennsylvania Synod, 1 and at its meeting at York, Pa., in 1828, he was elected secretary. Three years later at Indiana, Pa., he was honored with the office of president. On June 21, 1830, Heyer became the agent of "The Sunday School Union of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States," which had been formed in October, 1829, by a number of delegates to the General Synod at Hagerstown, Md., at the suggestion of the West Pennsylvania Synod. Heyer, who had been the chairman of the committee which drafted the constitution of the society, entered on the dudes of the newly created office with much enthusiasm. He was convinced that what the church needed at that time, above all other things, was the organization of a Sunday school in every Lutheran congregation. 2 In the course of eighteen months 1 In the minutes of the first meeting of this synod held at Chambersburg, September 4, 1825, he is recorded as a member, absent and excused. 2 Experience seems to have cooled his ardor. Some years later he wrote: "Sunday schools are only small plasters on large sores. We consider it our duty to recommend their establishment most heartily, but they are not to be considered as substitutes for Christian day schools." 30 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA he visited about three hundred congregations, travelled over 3000 miles, advised and aided pastors in the establishment of Sunday schools, 1 and distributed and sold about 13,000 Ger- man Sunday school hymnals and tracts. 2 While serving in the capacity of Sunday school agent, Heyer assisted in the services of laying the corner-stone of the Seminary building in Gettysburg, May 26, 1831, and afterward served this institution as a member of the Board of Directors. He was, moreover, one of the first mem- bers of the Board of Trustees of Pennsylvania College. Although heartily commended by the German Sunday School Union at its meeting, November 13, 1831, for "his faithful and successful exertions to promote the object of his appointment," he felt constrained to resign at that meeting, partly because of a lack of sufficient support and partly because of "the weariness and difficulty" of winter travelling in the open country. The congregation in Somerset, Pa., which had been un- fortunate in its selection of Meyer's successor, petitioned the General Synod, in 1831, to permit Heyer to return. During his absence of over four years the sectarians had wrought havoc in the congregation, the church-building had remained in the unfinished condition in which he had left it, and the church property had a heavy debt resting on it. Heyer re- sumed charge in January, 1832. So vigorously did he carry on the work of restoration that in five months the debt was paid and the new church completed and consecrated. His second pastorate in Somerset lasted about four years. After he had preached his farewell sermon the officers of the con- gregation approached him with a petition to remain, but he comforted them with the assurance of the Apostle Paul, "Be- hold, the third time I am ready to come to you " (2 Cor. 12 : 14), and with many good wishes they let him enter the service of 1 In 1831 the number of schools connected with the Union was 74; teachers , 677; and pupils, 4890. 2 The first German Sunday school Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America was that published by the West Pennsylvania Synod about this time. It was revised and enlarged in 1832 and contained 85 hymns, and was sold at six cents a copy. Heyer wrote the manuscript of an A B C book for Sunday schools, which, however, was never published. FIRST FOREIGH MISSIONARY, REV. C. F. HEYER, M. D. 31 The Central Missionary Society of the General Synod as its home missionary in the Mississippi Valley. The call of the society specified that he should "traverse the principal por- tions of the entire Mississippi Valley and ascertain all German settlements, spending a short time in each." Starting on De- cember 30, 1835, from Somerset, and accompanied as far as Laurel Mountain 1 by two of the deacons of his late parish, he made the trip from Wheeling to Cincinnati on a steamboat. In the state of Indiana he visited the Rev. Mr. Lehmanowsky in Henry County and co-operated with the Rev. B. Haver- stick, travelling missionary in the service of the Pennsylvania Ministerium. Following the Ohio River through southern Illinois, he crossed the Mississippi River near Cape Girardeau into Missouri, traversing the eastern part of that state and going as far as Iron Mountain. Returning in April, 1836, he visited the central counties of Illinois, proceeded as far north as Peoria, and then revisited Wabash County in order to assist the Rev. Mr. Haverstick in laying the corner-stone of Jordan Creek Union Church, west of Mt. Carmel, the members of which were mostly Lutherans from Lehigh and Northampton counties, Pa. In June he was back in Somerset after an ab- sence of six months from his family which had continued to reside there. The next month he started for western Pennsyl- vania. Pittsburgh was then looming up as a center of industry, and many Germans had settled there. A German Union congregation had been established, but the West Pennsyl- vania Synod desired to organize an English church. Heyer, together with a number of other pastors, was entrusted with the preliminary work. He went to Pittsburgh in November, 1836, and, with the aid of Mr. G. Weyman, succeeded in establishing the First English Lutheran Church. The first steps in this direction were taken when Heyer preached to a small audience representing seven or eight Lutheran families, assembled in the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on the first Sunday in November, 1836. Several weeks later he 1 Here they were hospitably entertained by Mr. J. Gebhart, the treasurer of Pennsylvania. 32 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA revisited Pittsburgh. Meanwhile the Unitarian church build- ing in Smithfield Street had been leased for six months and the congregation had adopted a constitution. Instructed to remain in Pittsburgh, Heyer served the English congregation and, also, in January, 1837, organized Holy Trinity German Lutheran Church, which worshipped in the same building. After the lease had expired a schoolhouse, and then the old court-house, were temporarily used by both congregations. Heyer also served a German mission in Allegheny, across the river, for a time. After an amicable separation of the English and German congregations, thus begun by Heyer, he continued to serve the latter, while the Rev. E. Fry and later the Rev. D. John McCron, under the appointment of The Central Missionary Society, served the English congregation. Under Heyer's energetic leadership the Germans bought a lot at Sixth and Grand Streets and planned to build a church. The congre- gation, however, was poor, and Heyer undertook a tour in the East to collect a building-fund. He returned with enough money to erect the church which was consecrated on April 5, I840. 1 While engaged in his mission work in Pittsburgh, Mary, his wife, a native of Philadelphia, died at Somerset, Pa., January 13, 1839, aged fifty-two years, nine months and twenty days. She was the widow of Captain Gash when Heyer married her in 1819. Her maiden name was Mary Webb. Six children, one of whom died in infancy at Cumber- land, Md., were born of their union. The interment was made in the cemetery of the Lutheran Church at Friedens- burg, near Somerset. In May, 1840, Heyer was called by the General Synod's Foreign Missionary Society to be its foreign missionary to India. He handed in his resignation as the pastor of Trinity Church, Pittsburgh, but the congregation was unwilling to ac- cept it. Thereupon he requested the male members of the con- 1 The English congregation also bought a lot on Seventh street near Smith- field and built a church, Mr. G. Weyman bearing almost all of the expense. It was consecrated at the meeting of the West Pennsylvania Synod in October, 1840. FIRST FOREIGN MISSIONARY, REV. C. F. HEYER, M. D. 33 gregation to remain after the Sunday morning service. Ex- plaining the situation to them, he asked those who were will- ing to let him go to take seats on the right side of the church, and those who were unwilling, on the left side. The former were in the majority, and after a few words of encouragement he dismissed them all, thanking them for concurring in his decision. Directed by the executive committee of The Foreign Mis- sionary Society "to turn his attention at once to those studies which would be subservient to the work in which he was to engage," he left Pittsburgh for Baltimore, where, during the fall and winter of 1840-41, he attended lectures in Washington University, devoting himself to the study of medicine and San- scrit. Meanwhile he had accepted the appointment of the Maryland synod of which he again had become a member, to take charge of Trinity Lutheran church at Fell's Point, Balti- more. A large church property, belonging to Episcopalians, was bought and repaired, and Heyer served the congregation until the fall of 1841. He preached his farewell sermon on Sunday, September 26th The congregation expressed its regret over his departure and its sincere appreciation of his service in a set of resolutions which were published in the church papers. We have already learned how, after having declined the call of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod, Heyer became the foreign missionary of the Pennsylvania Synod's Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. He left Baltimore on September 3oth, going to Gettysburg, where he left his youngest son, Theophilus. Then he turned his face toward India, where much labor and sacrifice but also great honor and blessing awaited him. Daring the twenty-four years which elapsed between his licensure and his departure for India, Heyer held eight differ- ent appointments, averaging three years in each. The reason for these frequent changes may be found, in part, in a roving disposition; but we must not overlook the fact that the work to which he was called in most of his appointments was of a temporary character. At any rate, it is evident that the 34 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA Church always displayed confidence in his ability and fidelity, regardless of the task which it asked him to undertake. As new movements were begun Heyer was selected to do the pioneer work, and he never failed to respond to the call even though the prospects were not promising. He served in six established congregations or parishes and all but one of them in some way expressed sincere regret at his departure. To- day, after more than half a century, every congregation with which his name was in any way associated, refers to that asso- ciation with justifiable pride, for Father Heyer is undoubtedly one of the great men of our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. CHAPTER III HEYER'S FIRST JOURNEY TO INDIA IN the official call of the Executive Committee of the Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, 1 Heyer was instructed to depart for East India as soon as he could prepare himself for the journey, and to begin his work as a missionary in India, "whenever the Lord would open the way." His travelling expenses were to be paid and he was to receive an annual salary of $600. It was agreed that, if this sum proved more than sufficient, his salary was to be reduced "in proportion to his wants." On the other hand, the committee agreed to increase it, if it proved inadequate. The sum of $150 was advanced for an outfit and he was per- mitted to spend "a moderate sum for the purchase of picto- rial representations of Biblical history, if he should consider them useful and necessary in the instruction of the heathen." A special appeal for contributions addressed to all Luth- erans in the United States, written by the Rev. Dr. Baker, of Trinity Church, Lancaster, Pa., the treasurer of the society, was published in German in the " Kirchenzeitung " and in English in "The Lutheran Observer." The appeal reads as follows: To the ministers and congregations of the Evangelical Luth- eran Church in the United States. Respected Brethren : The Missionary Society of the Evan- gelical Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania resolved at its last meeting to establish a mission among the Hindus in India. The Rev. Mr. Mueller in Tinnevelly, to whose 1 The executive committee which called him was constituted as follows: The officers of the society, namely, the Rev. Wm. Beates, president; the Rev. J. Haesbert, vice-president; the Rev. Fr. Schmidt, secretary; the Rev. C. R. Demme, D. D., corresponding secretary; the Rev. J. C. Baker, D. D., treasurer; and three directors, the Rev. H. S. Miller, Mr. C. Hager and Mr. J. F. Hein- itsch. 35 36 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA support we heretofore contributed, having again entered into connection with the Church Missionary Society, and that society being fully competent to sustain that mis- sion station, no further aid in his behalf is required from us. In order, however, to take an active part hi evangel- izing the heathen, which we regard as a sacred duty of the Church of God, we have resolved in humble reliance on the great Head of the Church to send our beloved brother, C. F. Heyer, to the East Indies. He will, accordingly, proceed to that region to prosecute the work under the superintendence of our mission society. We indulge the hope that our con- gregations will effectually support us in this enterprise; and, whereas many Lutheran ministers belonging to other synods are not in favor of sending a missionary in connection with the American Board and have signified their willingness to afford assistance to our mission, we assure them that their donations will be thankfully received and applied to the above purpose. The treasurer of the society will present to the Church an exact statement of the receipts and expenditures. It is scarcely necessary to assure the Church that we shall not lose sight of our dispersed and destitute brethren in this country, espe- cially hi the distant West; but we shall continue, as hereto- fore, to provide for them to the utmost of our ability. May the Lord, our God, bless us and establish the work of our hands, yea, the work of our hands may the Lord estab- lish. Written in the name of the Mission Society of the Evan- gelical Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania. John C. Baker, Treasurer. The response to this appeal justified the faith of those who thus ventured on this pioneer project. 1 On Sunday, October 5, 1841, Heyer, then forty-eight years of age, was solemnly commissioned at a public service in St. Paul's German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. The 1 The congregations in York, Pa., the Rev. Mr. Lochmann, pastor, and in Baltimore, Md., the Rev. J. G. Morris, pastor, contributed liberally for Heyer's outfit. St. John's English Church, Philadelphia, gave him $60 for the establish- ment and maintenance of mission schools. HEYER'S FIRST JOURNEY TO INDIA 37 charge was delivered by the Rev. J. C. Baker, D. D., and the missionary-elect preached a sermon, choosing as his text Jonah 3:2. Heyer spent several days in Boston with a num- ber of the members of the American Board and attended the service of farewell to that Board's missionaries, whom he was to accompany to Ceylon. Before sailing Heyer received letters of recommendation and credentials from the faculties of Pennsylvania College and of the Seminary at Gettysburg, Pa., and from the Executive Committee of the Missionary Society, which, besides whatever other useful purpose they may have served, greatly strength- ened the heart of the missionary who was leaving behind all that was precious to him, in order that he might follow the call of the Lord to a land of which he knew practically nothing, excepting only this, that it needed the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. In those days it was, indeed, a hazardous undertaking to go to a heathen land as a Christian missionary; and, though the Hindus were known to be a peaceable people among whom a missionary might labor without the fear of martyr- dom, the voyage by sea in a sailing vessel around the Cape of Good Hope, lasting not less than five months, involved con- siderable discomfort and tediousness, not to say danger, as compared with our modern methods of rapid, comfortable and safe transit over sea and land. Moreover, sixty and more years ago, life in South India for an American or Euro- pean lacked many of the sanitary safeguards and physical comforts of to-day. The opening phrase of Heyer's farewell letter written in Boston just before sailing, "This being the last Sunday which I shall probably spend in the United States," indicates that his mind was not entirely free from grave apprehension; but that the spirit of heroic faith suppressed all feelings of fear is evident from the closing sentences. ' 'All ready to be- gin the voyage," wrote the intrepid pioneer. "I feel calm and cheerful, having taken this step after serious and prayerful consideration. The smiles of friends have cheered, and the approbation of the churches has encouraged me thus far. But 38 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA I am aware that, ere long, amidst a tribe of men whose lan- guage will be strange to me, I shall behold those smiles only in remembrance, and hear the voice of encouragement only in dying whispers across the ocean; and then nothing but the grace of God, nothing but a thorough conviction of being in the path of duty, nothing but the approving smile of Heaven can keep me from despondency. ' Farewell, a long farewell, For we may meet no more, Until we're raised in heaven to dwell On Canaan's blissful shore.' " The good ship "Brenda," under command of Captain A. Ward, left the harbor of Boston, October 15, 1841, carrying a cargo of ice and eight passengers, all of whom were mission- aries or wives of missionaries. In a letter written at sea several hundred miles east of Bahia, Brazil, dated November, 1841, and forwarded to the United States by a whaling vessel, Heyer said that the voyage up to that time had been pleasant and that he had devoted much time to the study of Tamil. December 2oth, the "Brenda" passed the Cape of Good Hope under full sail. Two weeks later the southern point of Mada- gascar was reached. Several days were spent in the island of Zanzibar, where the missionaries enjoyed a visit to the palace of Seyed Syed, Ben Sultan and Sultan of Muscat, who enter- tained them in oriental fashion. Zanzibar and the eastern coast of Africa opposite impressed Heyer as a good field for missionary operations. In fact, he was strongly inclined to stay and labor there, but decided that the instructions he had received from the Executive Com- mittee demanded that he should proceed to India. On Tuesday, March i5th, just five months after having sailed from Boston, the "Brenda" cast anchor in the harbor of Colombo, Ceylon, landing her eight passengers the next day. Seven of them had reached their field of labor. One of them, whom we shall follow farther on his way, still had a journey of about a thousand miles before him. After spending a number of days in Colombo in the com- HEYER'S FIRST JOURNEY TO INDIA 39 pany of Protestant missionaries laboring in that city, and preaching a sermon in the church in which eighty years be- fore the venerable Christian Frederick Schwartz had preached and administered the sacraments, Heyer boarded the "La Felice," which weighed anchor during the night of March i gth, bound for Tuticorin on the Coromandel coast of South India. In three days that port was safely reached. "The dangers of a long sea voyage are overcome," wrote the pio- neer. "With heartfelt gratitude to the Father of mercies and God of all consolation and grace in Christ Jesus, our Re- deemer, I raised my Ebenezer at Tuticorin on March 23, 1842." At Tuticorin Heyer engaged a palankeen and bearers for his journey inland. After an all-night run Palamcotta was reached. Here, where Rhenius had preached, labored, suffered and died, Heyer, on Good Friday, 1842, attended a Tamil service in the church built by Rhenius in 1826, and, for the first time, heard a Hindu preach. The newly arrived missionary was greatly pleased to find that he could join the congregation in singing the Tamil translation of German hymns sung to their familiar tunes. Heyer, moreover, noted the customs, introduced by the Halle missionaries, of asking questions during the sermon and of writing the heads of discussion on palm leaves. One of these leaves he afterward sent, together with other curios, to the Seminary in Gettysburg. Under the guidance of the Rev. Mr. Hobbs of the Church Missionary Society, he visited the seminary for the training of native workers and the boarding schools for Christian boys and girls, as well as the schools for Hindu children, in Palamcotta, thus obtaining valuable information for the work which awaited him in the Telugu country. After having purchased a second-hand palankeen in Tin- nevelly and engaged bearers, he proceeded to Kotaur where, most unexpectedly, he met the Rev. Mr. Mueller, Rhenius' son-in-law, with whom he was privileged to spend a few hours in profitable conversation. At Satur Heyer quietly spent his first Easter Sunday in India in a travellers' bungalow. March 40 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA he arrived at Madura, once the seat of the powerful Pandyan monarchy, where missionaries D wight and Ward of the American Board were establishing a mission. As he approached Trichinopoly, early Sunday morning, April 3d, he looked forward with peculiar joy to a visit to scenes and places, which, more than any others, recalled the remarkable life and career of the great Schwartz. The Rev. Mr. Kohlhoff, his host in Trichinopoly, who had been born in India and whose father and grandfather had been missionaries there, guided him to the church and to the dwelling of the sainted Schwartz, and gave him an insight into the interesting life of a Hindu village and an opportunity to attend one of the monthly meetings of native workers, which, since the days of the first Halle missionaries had been a regular feature of mis- sion work in India. The next stage of the palankeen journey brought Heyer to Tanjore where he arrived on April 5th. In the company of the Rev. Mr. Thompson, a missionary in the service of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, he vis- ited the chapel in which the body of Schwartz lies buried. Standing near the pulpit he reverently viewed the grave and read the inscription on the granite stone, which Serfojee, the Rajah of Tanjore, had caused to be inscribed on it. From Tanjore Heyer went to Tranquebar, where the memorials of the beginning of the Danish-Halle Mission by Ziegenbalg and Pluetschau, in 1706, occupied his devout atten- tion. Entering the New Jerusalem Church, he beheld the vault near the altar, which contains the earthly remains of the first Protestant foreign missionary, Bartholomew Ziegen- balg, and read the Latin epitaph on the copper plate on the vault. Continuing his journey northward through Cudda- lore and Pondicherry, Heyer finally reached Madras, April 16, 1842, half a year after his departure from America. Four days later he wrote: "Some of the brethren at Colombo told me that hi travelling overland at this season of the year I should suffer from oppressive heat; also that my road would lead through several districts where the cholera raged; . . . moreover, that it would not be an easy matter to get along with the natives on account of my imperfect knowledge of A PALANKEEN FOR BRIDES AND BRIDEGROOMS The common palankeen is less ornate. A JINRIKISHA Dr. Amy B. Rohrer is seated in the Jinrikisha. A BULLOCK i:.\M>Y AN ELEPHANT CART HEYER S FIRST JOURNEY TO INDIA 41 the language. But the Lord has enabled me to overcome these difficulties and I have travelled four or five hundred miles in the interior of southern India without enduring any great hardships. The heat I found tolerable; the pestilence was not permitted to harm me; and with the native Indians I made out by words and signs as well as I could." CHAPTER IV THE SELECTION OF THE FOREIGN MISSION FIELD IN INDIA THE Telugus, among whom Heyer had been directed to establish the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission in India, inhabit that part of the peninsula which extends north- ward from the city of Madras along the coast of the bay of Bengal almost as far as the Mahanadi River, to the confines of Bengal, and far inland into the heart of the Dekkan, cover- ing a territory somewhat larger than Spain. 1 The Telugu country lies in the tropical zone between 13 and 20 north latitude, on a line with Central America, the southern part of Mexico and the islands of Jamaica, Hayti and Porto Rico. Two large rivers, the Godavery and the Kistna, flow through the Telugu country. The delta-land of the Godavery is very fertile, numerous canals irrigating the soil and furnishing also a means of travel and traffic. The chief products of this country are rice, sugar, cotton and indigo. Among the tropical fruits which are cultivated the mango is especially prized. "What the apple is to the American people the mango is to the people of India. It grows everywhere. Often large mango trees line both sides of a public road or occupy waste ground near villages, and being free to the poor, these become a great boon during the fruitage season." Palm trees of all kinds are numerous; the teak of the native forests is used in the con- 1 "This tract of country comprehends the British districts of Ganjam, Vizagapatam, Godavery, Kistna and Nellore, the greater portion of the Nizam's territory, the districts of Kurnool and Cuddapa, the northern and eastern portions of Bellary and the eastern parts of Mysore and North Arcot." Arden's "Telugu Grammar." "The Telugu or Tenugu nation (which foreigners call Telinga) fills a country larger than Spain to the west and north of Madras town. In some English books it is called Telingana or Golconda. It is contained in circles which we may describe on the map around Kadapa, Rajahmundry and Kondapilli, the radius extending to Madras; also one round Visakhapatnam reaching to Gan- jam toward Puri (Paory) in Kattack, often called Jagannath." Introduction to "Brown's English and Telugu Dictionary," Part I. 42 SELECTION OF THE FOREIGN" MISSION FIELD IN INDIA 43 struction of the better class of houses; and the Indian banyan, noted throughout the world, is a familiar object to the natives. The Telugus are one of the most numerous of the Dravidian tribes which were forced down from the high plateaus of North India into the southern plains by the invasion of the Aryans through the passes of the Himalaya Mountains. According to the census of 1901 the Telugus numbered 20,696,872; all Dravidians, 56,000,000. To-day the number of the Telugus may be about 23,000,000. Compared with the Aryans of North India, the Dravidians have a darker complexion, longer heads, flatter noses, more irregular features, and are shorter in stature. In lieu of physical strength and vigor they possess, to a marked degree, the power of patient endurance. By the side of a highly developed mystical sense there exists a very low standard of morality, both being largely the products of the prevailing religion. Like all India, the Telugu country is a land of villages. "Ninety per cent, of the population lives in towns or villages, which, although differing in size, do not vary much in general appearance." Cases of a moral nature are decided by the headman of the village, assisted by a clerk and a council of four elders. A town is an overgrown village and has a mag- istrate and a petty court to manage its judicial affairs. The cultivated land around the villages is frequently owned by absentee landlords, called zemindars, whose bond-servants the farmers usually are. The homes of wealthy natives are large bungalows with capacious verandas; those of the middle and lower classes are gloomy and unattractive, usually consisting of one or two rooms, earthen floor, mud walls and a thatched roof of palm leaves. Little furniture is used, and in many homes cows, calves, buffaloes and bullocks are received on intimate terms. A few brass plates, cups or mugs, earthen cooking vessels and water-jars, a knife but no forks are the ordinary kitchen utensils. They are kept scrupulously clean lest the food should be defiled and the caste broken. The Christian home, as we know it, is unknown to the Hindu, "there being no equivalent for the word in any Indian language." The young husband brings his wife to his father's 44 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA house, where she becomes subject to her mother-in-law. She never appears in public in the company of any man, not even of her husband. If a son is born of the wedlock, the husband does not, usually, seek a second wife, but the wife who has no son is sometimes cast off or, at least, treated with contempt. Only a small percentage of the high caste Hindu women are secluded in zenanas. Betrothal takes place when the bride is a mere child or even a helpless babe; and if the husband be- trothed dies, the baby-wife becomes a widow and may never remarry. A widower, however, may marry again. Many marriages are merely mercenary transactions. The legal age of actual marriages was raised from ten to twelve years by the "Age of Consent Bill" in 1891. l The ordinary daily food of the people is rice with curry, or some form of millet. Their clothing is scant, and, as a rule, children wear no clothing until they are four or five years of age. The passion of the people for jewelry, the love of dis- play, feasting at weddings and festivals, and the litigation in which they are often involved, frequently leave them for years in the clutches of the money-lender. The prevailing religion of the Telugus is Modern Hindu- ism, an undefinable religious composite of gross polytheism and underlying pantheism, with absurd superstitions, innu- merable deities, low moral standards, foolish ceremonies and a tyrannical caste system. The divisions and sub-divisions of caste are altogether too numerous to mention; but, in general, we may distinguish between the Brahmins or priests, the Sudras or middle-class, the Panchamas (fifth class) or outcasts. The following are the principle rales of caste: Intermarriage is forbidden; occupation is hereditary; per- sons of different caste may not eat together nor drink out of the same vessel; no man of an inferior caste may touch the food or enter the cook-room; the higher caste-man is a vegetarian; an ocean voyage beyond the confines of India is prohibited. The caste system has for ages strangled am- bition, choked aspiration, and held back progress. It has made ^n 1901 the widows of India numbered 25,891,936, of whom 391,147 were under fifteen years of age. SELECTION OF THE FOREIGN MISSION FIELD IN INDIA 45 unity of thought, purpose or action for the common good a practical impossibility, and has fostered suspicion, jealousy, and selfishness. It has preserved the position and power of the Brahmins as the religious autocrats of India and has been the greatest impediment to the work of Christian missions. To this land and these people, the Telugus, Heyer was sent to preach the Gospel and establish the Church of Jesus Christ. Other Protestant missionaries had been there before he came and had begun missions. We will let him tell us the history of these earlier missions up to the time of his arrival in India: "The Rev. Dr. Schultze, one of the early Halle-Danish Lutheran missionaries, was the first to turn his attention to the Telugu people. A large number of the people of Madras are Telugus, also called Gunturs. For their benefit Telugu schools were established by Schultze. 1 He also translated the Bible into Telugu, but, having as yet no means of printing it in Madras, he took it to Halle on his return to Germany. The manuscript was sent to London, where it is still to be found in one of the museums. It is stated that Dr. Schultze's munshi or Telugu teacher became a true Christian and may be con- sidered as the firstfruits to Christ among the Telugu people. "In 1805 the first settled mission to the Telugus was com- menced by the London Missionary Society at Vizagapatam, where Messrs. Cran and Desgrange were appointed to labor. These missionaries were much encouraged by the aid fur- nished them by a Telugu Brahmin, who had been baptized by the Romanists and afterward was received into the Lutheran mission at Tranquebar. 2 "The second mission among the Telugus was founded at 1 Schultze began work as a Christian missionary in Madras in 1726. 2 Heyer continues the history of this first Protestant mission among the Telugus as follows: "Mr. Cran died in 1809; Mr. Desgrange, in 1810. The London Missionary Society sent out Messrs. Gordon and Lee to continue the work at Vizagapatam. They were soon joined by Mr. Pritchett, who had been compelled to leave his mission in Rangoon. Mr. Lee left in 1815 and Mr. Dawson arrived the same year and took his place. The translation of the New Testament was completed and put into circulation before Mr. Pritchett's death in 1820." 46 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA Cuddapah in 1822 (London Missionary Society). Until 1836 Vizagapatam and Cuddapah were the only missions among the Telugus. The next station was established at Narsapur by Messrs. Bowden and Beer in 1836. These laborers for Christ, who had come to India anxious to carry on missionary work while supporting themselves by their trades, were two young tradesmen from Barnstable, England. The latter part of their scheme failed as it does elsewhere, but Christian friends took up their cause and sent them support. Both succeeded in learning the language well and became very useful in the region of the country which they occupied. "The London Society established in 1839, at Chicacole, an- other mission, which was an offshoot of Vizagapatam. The Church Missionary Society was the next to come into the field. Two of their agents, Messrs. Noble and Fox, arrived at Masulipatam in 1840. Since that time the station has been well managed and well supplied and is, perhaps, one of the most efficient missions in the Telugu country. Nellore was occupied by the American Baptists in 1840, the Rev. Messrs. Jewell and Douglass now being the missionaries." 1 Reaching Madras on April 16, 1842, Heyer was welcomed and hospitably entertained by several American, English, and Scotch missionaries laboring in that city. They advised him to remain a number of months in the city and devote himself to the study of Telugu. He decided to follow their advice. "The number of Telugu people residing in Madras," wrote Heyer, "is estimated at 100,000, and I will endeavor during my stay in this place to become acquainted with some of them. I have engaged a young Brahmin as teacher who is to instruct me in Telugu. A Telugu Brahmin who can speak some English called to see me in the afternoon. Among other things he desired to know my name. Being told that it was Heyer, he smiled, and said, "I do not mean your office, but your name." Pointing to himself, he continued, "I am an Eyer (i. e., a priest, a Brahmin); your name, sir!" It 1 Quoted from a letter written to the Sunday School of the First English Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, and published in "The Lutheran Observer," July n, 1856. SELECTION OF THE FOREIGN MISSION FIELD IN INDIA 47 was my turn now to explain. I had already been told that Heyer signifies a priest, a Brahmin, and, therefore, remarked that it was both my name and my office. He thought it was rather a strange coincidence, and so it may appear to others, that the first Lutheran missionary to the Telugus should be a priest, a Brahmin, by name and by office." After a month of study Heyer's desire to find, as soon as possible, a suitable location for the mission he had been sent to establish, impelled him to leave Madras. Early on the morning of May igth he was on his way to Nellore, making the first stage of the journey, to Sulurpet, in an open boat, "depending on the palankeen for shelter from the direct rays of the sun." It was a hasty and hazardous step, for May is the hottest of all months in southeastern India. In his eagerness to accomplish something, Heyer scorned the danger and for- tunately remained unharmed. Arriving at Nellore May 23d, he met the American Baptist missionaries, Day and Van Husen, the former lying on a bed of sickness. Here he remained until the hot season was over, meanwhile visiting the schools of the mission, diligently continuing his study of Teluga, in which he heard the Gospel preached at Nel- lore, accompanying the Rev. Mr. Van Husen and his native helpers on their rounds of mission work and preaching a few times in English to the families of the missionaries and other English and American residents. On one occasion he visited a heathen festival at lanavada, and besides witnessing the dis- gusting scenes of a heathen celebration he had an oppor- tunity of noting, also, how such gatherings of idolaters may be improved in the interest of mission work. 1 1 "In the afternoon," wrote Heyer, "I ascended a mountain about two miles distant, where a large pagoda had been erected in honor of Narahsimhadu. The number of people who gather at this annual festival on this mountain is said to amount to 20,000. The Brahmins tell the people that Lakshmi, one of the wives of Vishnu, having become dissatisfied with him on account of his in- continency, attempted to escape from him; but being overtaken on this moun- tain a quarrel took place between them. On one of the rocks a stone surrounded by a brick wall is shown, which is said to contain the mark of Lackshmi's footstep, made by her stamping violently on the rock. But in this case, as with many of the popish relics, the thing contradicts itself, for instead of an indentation in the rock, the shape of a large foot appears about an inch and a half above the level of the stone; and instead of the under part of the foot, the upper part showing the nails is represented." 48 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA Through an interpreter he preached his first sermon to a Telugu congregation in Nellore on June 12, 1842. Just before leaving this station and after having witnessed the horrible practice of the swinging festival of which he gave a graphic description, he wrote these significant words: "You may think it must be an easy thing to convince these deluded people of their folly, but . . . they are joined to their idols. ... I fear many years will elapse before the strongholds of the devil in these regions can be destroyed and the Redeemer's Kingdom be built upon the ruins thereof; unless professing Christians bestir themselves more in days to come than they have done in times past." After having studied the situation from Nellore, as a point of vantage, Heyer selected three towns as places where he might establish his mission, namely, Ongole, eighty miles north of Nellore; Guntur, seventy miles north of Ongole; and Ellore, sixty miles north of Guntur. The Rev. Mr. Van Husen accompanied him on his tour of inspection. They left Nellore in July. "We came to Ongole," wrote Heyer, "where formerly some government officials with their families had resided. The bungalows which they had occupied, we found in a dilapidated condition; but they might have been repaired for the accommodation of a missionary. My conclusion was that I would settle down at Ongole, if the up-country did not offer a more favorable station. We went on our way from village to village until we reached Guntur, July 31, 1842. Here we met with a very kind reception from H. Stokes, Esq., an ardent friend of missions and missionaries, as well as a very exemplary Christian gentleman. The inducements which Mr. Stokes held out and the kind offers of assistance which he made, were far preferable to anything I could ex- pect at Ongole. Hence I decided in favor of Guntur, and after prayerful consideration concluded to commence mission operations forthwith." Henry Stokes, Esq., Collector of the Guntur District, had long been anxious to secure a resident missionary for Guntur. As a member of the Church of England he had addressed several appeals to the Church Missionary Society, asking that SELECTION OF THE FOREIGN MISSION FIELD IN INDIA 49 one of its missionaries be stationed at Guntur, but the Society felt itself unable to comply. After Heyer had introduced himself to the Collector, Stokes inquired of The Church Mis- sionary Society missionaries in the Telugu country, whether it was the intention of the Society to occupy Guntur, and re- ceived a negative reply. Moreover, The Church Missionary Society missionaries advised Stokes to persuade Heyer to re- main in Guntur. Therefore Stokes offered Heyer the use of a building in his compound as a dwelling and, early in September, 1842, formally transferred to him the English-Telugu school which for some years had been conducted under the patron- age of the Collectors and other English residents in the town. The actual beginning of the Guntur Mission, however, may be fixed somewhat earlier than the date of the formal transfer of the English-Telugu school. The work was really inaugurated on the first Sunday in August, 1842, when in the schoolhouse in the Collector's compound a service was held, at which ser- mons were preached by the Rev. Mr. Van Husen who had accompanied Heyer to Guntur, and the Rev. Mr. Porter of the London Missionary Society, who had stopped over on his way from Vizagapatam to Cuddapah. Thereafter Heyer con- ducted a service every Lord's Day, preaching to the Telugus through an interpreter. This is the true story of the selection of Guntur as the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission field in India. Like many another story it has been embellished, but the embel- lishments are fictitious. After having selected Guntur as the mission field, the most interesting, not to say the most romantic period of Heyer's life began. Imagine a man nearly fifty years old, pos- sessing a burning zeal, large experience, firm faith in God, deep devotion to duty, great strength of purpose and inde- fatigable activity, entering upon an entirely new and untried sphere of labor in a foreign land among a people whose lan- guage, mode of life, habits of thought, customs and religion were alien to him. A less courageous spirit would have shrunk from the task. And what was the task? Nothing less than the inauguration of a movement which should change 50 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA the world of the natives' ideas and ideals their conception of the Supreme Being above them, of the earth under their feet, of their fellow-men around them, of life and death and eter- nity; change them so completely, that the transformation would be a re-birth of souls, of lives, of communities, of tribes, of the whole nation. Heyer's ministerial experience in Amer- ica, rich and varied as it had been, could avail but little in the performance of the task of christianizing a heathen commun- ity. Though he was zealous, his zeal as a pioneer foreign missionary had to be kept up at high pressure in order to prevent his spirit from flagging. Though he was vigorous in mind and body, he needed to guard his health with scrupulous care and devote himself to his daily duties with unquestioning fidelity and unabating hope, if his single-handed labor was to result in the permanent establishment of the Mission. Without doubt Heyer was chosen of God to be the first foreign missionary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and it was providential that such a man as Mr. Henry Stokes, the highest official in the district, a man of Christian faith and unblemished life, noble self-denial, unselfish liberality and ardent missionary zeal, should have welcomed Heyer to Guntur and given to the Mission in its infancy his personal interest and most cordial support. CHAPTER V THE FOUNDING OF THE GUNTUR MISSION RARELY in the history of mission work has a foreign mis- sion had such an auspicious and promising beginning as the one which Heyer established in Guntur. In many cases pioneer missionaries in heathen lands have been obliged to pass through a more or less lengthy period of antecedent effort, meeting and overcoming hostility, facing danger and death, and even suffering martyrdom, before the slightest indications of success appeared. In the case of the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission in India a certain amount of preparatory work had been done by the English Collectors and other officials and residents in Guntur, before Heyer came, so that, when he began there, he found that some soil had already been broken and prepared for the seed of the Word of God. Henry Stokes, Esq., the good and godly Collector of Guntur, deserves to be remembered by our American Lutheran Church with feelings of gratitude and expressions of esteem, because of his staunch friendship for Heyer and of his liberal and con- tinued benevolence in support of the Mission. Others whose names are mentioned by Heyer as friends and benefactors are Mr. Newill, the first Assistant Collector, Dr. Evans, Judge Walter, General Buckel, Judge Wood, Dr. Smith, Captain O'Neil, and Assistant Collectors Hutway and Barlow. In his first report to the executive committee of the Mis- sionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, after his arrival in Guntur, written September 17, 1842, five weeks after the formal beginning of the work, 1 he stated that he regularly conducted English services every Sunday morning and every Wednesday evening for the English officials and residents and for others in the employ of the East India Company or 1 It appears that Heyer wrote a letter immediately after bis arrival in Gun- tur, reporting his decision to remain there, which, however, was lost in transit. Si 52 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA otherwise engaged in civil, military and commercial pursuits. The average attendance at these services was thirty. At the Sunday morning Telugu services there was an average attendance of about seventy, most of them being the older pupils in the school. Furthermore, there assembled at his door every morning, between five and six o'clock, a motley crowd of some seventy poor, blind, lame and deformed objects of charity, to whom the missionary dispensed alms, amount- ing to $14 or $15 a month, generously contributed for this purpose by Mr. Stokes and Mr. Newill. Heyer improved this opportunity to preach the Gospel and to teach them hymns and Scripture passages. In a few months a num- ber of them had memorized a morning hymn, a number of Scripture passages, the Ten Commandments and the Lord's Prayer. Besides the English school which had been transferred to his charge and which enrolled thirty pupils, he at once organized two purely Telugu schools in which were enrolled, respectively, twenty-seven and thirteen pupils. For the school- work he employed four native teachers, all heathen, whose salaries amounted to about twenty dollars a month, the greater part of which was contributed by the English residents interested in the Mission. Soon after beginning the Mission, he took a twelve-year-old orphan boy, named Kotalingam, into his house, gave him clothes, board and lodging, and taught him, hoping that he might be converted and become a mission worker. His hope, however, was not realized. This was the first feeble attempt at a boarding school for the training of native workers in the Mission. Strenuous, indeed, was the daily round of the mission- ary's duties. After the early morning meeting with the poor at his door, he conducted, at seven o'clock, in the school- room, an hour of devotion in the Tamil language for the bene- fit of the domestics of Mr. Stokes' household, several of whom were baptized Christians. Of David, his interpreter, Heyer testified that he was a man who had really experienced the power of the Gospel in his soul. At eight o'clock the mis- THE FOUNDING OF THE GUNTUR MISSION 53 sionary went to the English school and taught the first class for an hour. Between nine and ten o'clock he breakfasted. At ten the Telugu munshi came and four hours were spent with him in the study of the vernacular. At three he partook of a light luncheon (tiffin). The later afternoon and early evening were spent in rest and recreation. Sometimes he would indulge in a walk with his Telugu teacher. At other times he would ride or drive with one or the other of his Eng- lish friends. At seven in the evening he was Mr. Stokes' guest at dinner. At nine he conducted the family devotion for the family and guests of Mr. Stokes. At ten o'clock he retired. It does not surprise us, therefore, to read in one of his letters : "I have more to do now than when I had charge of a pastoral district in America." The mission schools, in particular, made rapid and sub- stantial progress. Heyer was an excellent disciplinarian and a good instructor. By the middle of October he had estab- lished and was supervising six schools, enrolling 150 pupils and employing seven teachers. The two principal schools were conducted in the building in Mr. Stokes' compound, set apart for that purpose. A third was held elsewhere in the town, Heyer paying the expenses out of his private purse. The fourth was located in Prattipadu, twelve miles south of Guntur. This he called St. John's Lutheran School, because he supported it with the money that St. John's Sunday School and Missionary Society in Philadelphia had given him before leaving America. The other schools were located in Nallapadu, five miles west of Guntur, and in Kottapetta, a suburb of the town. These were supported out of the synodical mission funds at a monthly expense of ten dollars. All of these schools, except the original English one, were purely Telugu schools, attended by children of the low castes and outcasts. At first a number of Brahmin boys came to the Guntur school and to the one in Prattipadu ; but when the parents realized that the missionary aimed, above all things, to inculcate the truths of Christianity, they not only withdrew their sons from the schools, but also showed considerable hostility toward the missionary and his work. In November, 1842, Heyer organ- 54 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA ized the first Hindu girls' school with an enrollment of fifteen pupils. For a year, until the time of her death, this school was supported by Mrs. Walker, the wife of Judge Walker, whom Heyer described as a most pious woman. Desirous of secur- ing efficient teachers, Heyer selected five of the more promis- ing pupils in the English-Telugu school and devoted himself to their instruction in a normal class. By the end of the year 1842, the number of pupils in the Guntur schools had increased to 135, 20 of whom were girls. The examination held on the last day of that year in the large hall of Mr. Stokes' house showed that, besides adding pupils, Heyer had also developed the efficiency of the schools. The program rendered at this public examination greatly pleased the audience. After an opening prayer the children recited from memory, in English and in Telugu, Psalm 115, Luke 2:8-20, and John 4:21-26. Then a number of hymns which had been memorized, were sung in both languages. Catechetical exercises, conversation and an examination in geography were followed by a distribu- tion of books and small coins. Before the end of the year 1842, Heyer had begun a Sunday school with the children who attended the daily instruction, and had instituted weekly meetings in his house with hs teachers, in order to increase their efficiency and, if possible, to win them for Christianity. He also began the erection of a small building in Mr. Stokes' compound to be used as a school-house, finishing it at a total cost of $15. This little school-house, built at the expense of the Missionary Society of St. John's Church, Philadelphia, was opened and occupied January 4, 1843. "For the friends of the mission in America," wrote Heyer, "this day would have been a high day had they been able to attend the exercises; and January 4, 1843, ma y well be regarded as the day of the actual beginning of the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission hi Guntur." For the first nine months of the year 1843 no letter or report was received from Heyer, insomuch that the Executive Committee, supposing that he had neglected to write, felt con- strained at the annual meeting of the missionary society in June, 1844, to recommend that he be directed to report more THE FOUNDING OF THE GUNTUR MISSION 55 frequently and to submit a copy of his journal every six weeks or every three months. 1 That the mission work had made substantial progress during this period appears from a letter dated October 16, 1843, which may be regarded as the mis- sionary's first annual report. The actual result should by no means be judged by the number of converts, for these never are numerous during the first years of a mission. Indeed, many decades frequently elapse in a foreign mission before converts may be numbered by the hundred each year. Had Heyer been able to report only a single convert for the first year, it would have been sufficient to call for further effort. As it was, he reported three adults instructed and baptized, who, together with two Tamil Christians employed in Mr. Stokes' household, had received the Lord's Supper. The most encouraging feature of the first year's work was the prog- ress of the mission schools. Their number had risen to seven, employing ten teachers and assistants and enrolling 158 boys and 22 girls. In the English school grammar, geography, history and a Scripture catechism of proof passages had been added to the curriculum. The regular Sunday morning English service was attended by an average of thirty persons. The attendance at the Telugu service on Sunday had in- creased to nearly two hundred. Heyer's account of the expen- ditures of the first year exhibits both the liberality of the Guntur benefactors and the meagre support of the Missionary Society : English and Telugu books and tracts, paid by Judge Walker Rs. 350 Books, paid by Mr. Stokes Rs. 225 Books, on account of Dr. Mayer's congregation, Phila- delphia Rs. 50 Munshi, books, etc., paid by the Missionary Society Rs. 129 School-teachers paid by Guntur friends Rs. 516 Teachers, paid by Dr. Mayer's congregation Rs. 200 Alms distributed, paid by Guntur friends Rs. 350 Articles of clothing, paid by Guntur friends Rs. 1 20 School-house, built at expense of Dr. Mayer's congregation . Rs. 30 Total Rs. 1970 $985.00* Missionary's salary, paid by Missionary Society 600.00 Total expenditure $1585.00 1 It seems that Heyer did write several letters during the period in question, but that they were lost on the way to America. 2 Heyer estimated a rupee to be equal in value to 50 cents. 56 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA It is unfortunate that Heyer failed to give an itemized account of his income for the first year. We know that when he left America he took with him $705.40 of the synodical missionary society's money and $60 that had been given him by the Juvenile Missionary Society of St. John's Church in Philadelphia for the establishment and support of schools. His travelling expenses to India amounted to about $300. It appears that the treasurer of the synodical missionary society sent him, some time during the first year, the balance due on his salary and a little, a very little, more, forwarding also about $100 contributed by St. John's Church in Phila- delphia. It is evident from the expense account, given above, that the chief sources of income for the current mission ex- penses were the gifts of the Guntur friends who are credited as having paid $780 (Rs. 1561) of a total expenditure of $985 (Rs. 1970). St. John's Church in Philadelphia is credited with $140 (Rs. 280) and the synodical missionary society with $68 (Rs. 129), apart from the missionary's salary. Including the salary the Guntur friends paid $112 more than the Missionary Society of the Ministerium for the work of the latter's mission. In a letter dated September n, 1842, Heyer acknowl- edged the receipt of $500 sent by the missionary society of the Synod of South Carolina through the treasurer of the General Synod, the Rev. Isaac Baugher. It was intended for the pur- chase of a printing-press but was subsequently used for another purpose. Meanwhile Heyer kept it on deposit with Mr. Van Somering in Madras. The regular bankers of the mission funds from the very beginning, however, were Arbuthnot and Co., in Madras. In the list of the Mission's early benefactors the American Bible Society and the Madras Auxiliary Society should not be omitted. The latter sent Heyer, during .the first year, 800 copies of the Gospels, Genesis and the Psalms separately bound, 500 in Telugu and 300 in Tamil. The former promised to furnish the mission with Telugu Testaments as soon as they should have been printed. Not only did Heyer himself liberally distribute these books, but he also engaged a colpor- teur at a monthly salary of $2.50. THE FOUNDING OF THE GUNTUR MISSION 57 In what we have termed his first annual report, he wrote an appeal for funds to print Luther's Small Catechism in Telugu and made the important announcement that a lot of ground containing two acres had been secured for an annual ground-rent of $1.25, on which he was commencing the erec- tion of a brick building which was planned for use as a chapel, schoolhouse and missionary's dwelling. The lack of proper support from America for the growing mission work added a note of anxiety to some of Heyer's earliest expressions of joy and hope; and in later letters this note sank to one of keen disappointment. He realized that the liberality of the Guntur friends could not continue indefinitely, because the English officials were frequently trans- ferred from place to place; and he did not hesitate to say that unless the support sent from America would be considerably increased, the Mission must, at some time, be abandoned. As early as October, 1842, less than three months after his arrival in Guntur, he wrote: "In case the Church in America is not willing to do more than pay the salary of the missionary, I cannot remain in Guntur." Again, in December of the same year, he said, "There should be a draft already on the way to India. I have only a small balance remaining of the synodical society's money. You can easily imagine how uncomfortable my position would be in a strange land without money. In case the Lutheran Church in America is not willing to support this mission properly, you must notify me as soon as possible, and recall me." A month later, though expressing his joy in the work of a foreign missionary and his sincere gratitude for the friendship and support of Mr. Stokes, he intimated that the meagre support from America caused him to feel uncomfort- able, for he wrote: "It seems wrong and unjust that the American Lutheran Mission should depend so much for support on a member of another ecclesiastical body. " Several times he suggested that attempts should be made to enlist the co-operation of missionary societies in Germany. Once he mentioned as possible contributors the Breslau and Koenigs- berg societies, which had formerly helped to support Rhenius. Later he drew attention to the North German Society which 58 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA contemplated a mission among the Telugus. What he urged especially, however, was a union of the whole Lutheran Church in America in behalf of the Guntur Mission, suggest- ing that the General Synod's Missionary Society, as well as the Pennsylvania Ministerium's Society, each might support its own missionary or missionaries, subject to its own control. He proposed a division of the expense connected with the main- tenance of schools and the erection of buildings. In January, 1843, he elaborated this plan, estimating that it would cost between $1000 and $1500 to build a mission house, $600 a year to support each missionary, several hundred dollars for the salaries of native teachers and about $2000 for the other mission expenses. This plan was actually adopted when the General Synod sent out its first missionary, but it soon proved to be impracticable. During the closing months of 1843 an d the opening ones of 1844 the Mission continued to make commendable progress. On January i5th of the latter year Heyer baptized three per- sons, a man, a woman and a child, Isaac, Ruth and Prakasam, making six baptisms in all since the beginning. Meanwhile events transpiring in America had already started another Lutheran missionary, the second from America, the Rev. Walter Gunn, on his way to Guntur. CHAPTER VI HOW THE GENERAL SYNOD GAINED CONTROL OF THE GUNTUR MISSION WHILE Heyer was establishing the Mission of the Pennsyl- vania Ministerium at Guntur, affairs in America were rapidly drifting toward its possession and control by the General Synod. On the eve of his departure from America, Heyer had offered to report regularly to the General Synod's missionary- society and to consider himself partly in its employ, provided it annually contributed $200 toward his salary. He un- doubtedly made this offer with the consent of the executive committee of the missionary society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium and not without some hope that, even though he had declined to be the General Synod's missionary, its mis- sionary society would co-operate with that of the Minister- ium. There was sufficient reason for this hope, for at the same meeting of the General Synod's Society, to which Heyer sent his resignation, an amendment was offered to strike out that article of the constitution which bound the society to "the most perfect harmony and co-operation with the Ameri- can Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions." Before the next biennial meeting of the General Synod and its mis- sionary society, in 1843, tne letters of Heyer, published in "The Lutheran Observer," as well as the "Kirchenzeitung," reporting his successful beginning in Guntur, had materially strengthened the position of those in the General Synod who desired co-operation with the Pennsylvania Ministerium in foreign mission work. 1 The proposed amendment to its con- 1 In an official letter from the Rev. J. G. Morris, D. D., corresponding secretary of the General Synod's missionary society, the society of the Penn- sylvania Ministerium was informed at its annual meeting in May, 1842, that the former society felt inclined to co-operate with the latter but regretted that its constitution forbade it and hoped that the barrier would be removed. At the meeting of the society of the Ministerium in Philadelphia, 1843, a plan of co- 59 60 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA stitution was adopted by the General Synod's society at its meeting May 25, 1843. The barrier of this co-operation hav- ing been removed, the society at once elected a missionary to labor in conjunction with Heyer in Gontur. 1 Walter Gunn, the missionary elected, was born June 27, 1815, in Carlisle, Schoharie County, N. Y. The manner in which he was led to enter the holy ministry and become a foreign missionary has been described as follows: 2 "The starting point of our (the General Synod's) foreign mission was in Cobleskill, Schoharie County, N. Y., in the year 1837. At the house of Colonel Schaeffer, about half a mile east of the old brick church, then occupied by the sessions of the operation with the General Synod's society, prepared by the Rev. H. N. Pohl- man of the latter society and proposed by a joint committee of the respective executive committees, was adopted. It embraced the following articles of agreement: "The Evangelical Lutheran Foreign Missionary Society, deeming it im- portant that the efforts of the friends of foreign missions in the Lutheran Church in this country should be more fully concentrated, proposes to form a connection with the Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Synod upon the following general principles: "i. Each society shall, for the present, remain separate and distinct under its own peculiar organization, care being taken, however, to promote in their several spheres of action the utmost harmony and love. "2. Each society shall have the nomination and appointment of its own missionaries and shall provide for their embarkation, settlement and support; each taking upon itself the whole management of all the agencies for collecting funds for this purpose. "3. Both societies shall occupy the same field of labor in the heathen world and whatever differences of opinion there may be at home, shall endeavor, as far as is consistent with the imperfection of human nature, to have but one interest and one aim in the foreign field. "4. The missionaries of each society shall labor together and under the direction of the several executive committees, mutually adopt such plans for the furtherance of the Gospel and the upbuilding of the Redeemer's Kingdom by the establishment of schools, catechetical lectures and preaching and the dis- tribution of Bibles and tracts, as shall seem to be advisable, and shall report jointly to the secretaries of both societies. "5. This joint mission shall hereafter be known as the American Lutheran Mission. "6. There shall be an interchange of one or more commissioners at each yearly meeting of the several societies for mutual consultation, prayer and effort in relation to the interest of the joint mission." Unique, amicable, yet clearly impracticable, this plan never went into effect. The General Synod's society ratified the agreement May 16, 1845, at its meeting in Philadelphia, but before it could be put to a practical test that society had gained complete control of the Guntur Mission. 1 The missionary's salary was fixed at $600 a year. 2 By the Rev. J. Z. Senderling, corresponding secretary of the General Synod's missionary society and pastor at Johnstown, N. Y. 30 si, ajfcjSe 1907. Jfc *-, #3bSo Sd&S'* w&^SnoOS 8"*) THE BEGINNING OF A TELUGU LETTER A HINDU TEMPLE IN RAJAHMUNDRY A TELUGU BARHER AT \\ORK TELUGU WOMAN GRINDING GRAIN The top stone revolves on the lower and larger one, and the grain is ground between them. HOW GENERAL SYNOD GAINED CONTROL OF GUNTUR 6 1 Hartwick Synod, four ladies conferred with each other respect- ing the importance of doing something for God and His Church. One of them was the lady of the house, an elderly sister of said church; the other three were wives of clergy- men, members of the synod. A proposition was offered by one of the latter, saying, 'Let us do something that will cheer the hearts of our ministers during these troublous times.' Two prayers were offered to the throne of grace, not without many tears, when the subject of educating young men with the view to labor among the heathen, was discussed. The young man subsequently selected and destined for the foreign field was Walter Gunn, a pious and active member of Dr. Lintner's church hi Schoharie, N. Y. This was the first actual move toward the founding of our foreign mission." After having studied for a while in Schenectady, N. Y., and in Hartwick Seminary, Gunn entered the Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, Pa., from which he was graduated in 1843. He was licensed by the Hartwick synod and then appointed as the General Synod's first foreign missionary. Sometime during the summer of 1843 ne was united in mar- riage to Lorena Pults, a member of the Lutheran church in Ghent, N. Y. During the months intervening between his appointment and his departure from America, Gunn devoted himself to deputation work, delivering mission addresses and gathering offerings for the India Mission. He delivered fifty-six mission addresses in forty-four different places in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland, arousing considerable interest in the foreign mission work of the General Synod, but also meeting some opposition and no little indifference. "The report was scattered in one community," wrote Gunn, "that my wife and I were going to India to set up a store and sell the things that were furnished as an outfit." "Others supposed that we could have no other object in view than to go out and travel and see the country; and others, again, declared positively that they knew we should never go so far, many thousand miles away, among the heathen, concluding that money con- tributed for our support was thrown away." 62 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA At the public service held in connection with the meeting of the East Pennsylvania Synod in October, 1843, the Rev. Walter Gimn was solemnly commissioned as a foreign mis- sionary, the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Kurtz, chairman of the execu- tive committee of the General Synod's missionary society, de- livering the charge and the Rev. Dr. J. G. Morris, correspond- ing secretary, reading the instructions of the committee to its missionary. In his response Gunn, among other things, said: "If it is our duty to go to the heathen land, it is yours to uphold us there. You give your money, we give more: we give our lives." In his case these words were literally fulfilled. November 18, 1843, the Rev. Walter Gunn and wife sailed from Boston hi the "Charles," a sailing vessel bound for Cal- cutta. The journey, a circuitous and expensive one, lasted exactly seven months, all but the last short stage from Masuli- patam to Guntur being by sea. After a brief stay in Maul- main, Burma, they proceeded to Calcutta, where seven days were spent in the midst of a fearful outbreak of cholera. 1 Although the plague was not permitted to harm them, they found the heat very trying. From Calcutta to Madras and again from Madras to Masulipatam, sailing in uncomfortable coasting vessels, they endured no little discomfort. On reach- ing Masulipatam they found awaiting them a palankeen and bearers, and a bullock-cart for their baggage, sent by Mr. Stokes. 2 Joy filled the heart of the pioneer as he grasped the hand of his first colaborer and welcomed him at Guntur, June 18, 1 844 . Heyer rejoiced not o nly because a ' ' Timothy "had been sent to him, but also because the second missionary was the visible evidence of the active co-operation of the General Synod with the Pennsylvania Ministerium in the Guntur Mission, for which he had devoutly prayed to God and had earnestly pleaded with the Lutheran Church in America. 1 Gunn reported that 28,000 died of the plague in two months. * Gunn had written to Heyer from Calcutta, received an answer in Madras and from that city had notified Heyer of his intended arrival in Masulipatam. At every stage in the early history of the mission we note evidences of Mr. Stokes' liberal interest. HOW GENERAL SYNOD GAINED CONTROL OF GUNTUR 63 For a week, until they were able to rent and occupy a bungalow, the Rev. Mr. Gunn and his wife were the guests of Mr. Stokes, concerning whose Christian character and good works Mr. Gunn had occasion frequently to speak in laud- atory terms. They found in Guntur a more pleasant place of residence than they had anticipated after their experiences in Calcutta and Madras. 1 Gunn immediately applied himself to the study of Telugu, meanwhile teaching English to a class of a dozen Hindu boys, conducting a Bible study class, attended by English residents, and occasionally preaching at the English services on Sunday. Soon after their arrival Mrs. Gunn began to teach English and needle-work to a small class of Hindu girls. November 6th Gunn made his first attempt through an interpreter to deliver a sermon to a purely heathen audience of about sixty persons who had gathered around him in one of the streets of Guntur. He described his experience in the following words: "Some of this strange audience was entirely naked, most of the others wore only a strip of cloth about their loins and another about their heads. A few had an additional covering thrown over their shoulders. Several women stood off at a short distance with their large chatties (water-pots) on their heads and listened to what I had to say. My address was short, for I perceived from the movements of the people that there was a disposition among them to become turbulent; and I passed through the group and went quietly to my home, thankful that I had had an opportunity of spreading a few of the truths of God's Word before the minds of the benighted. They seemed offended at the idea of being saved through the merits of another. Poor, deluded men, though immersed in guilt, they hope to be saved through their numerous wash- ings, fastings and pilgrimages; and the doctrine which strikes at the root of their system of salvation by works is rejected by them with scorn." About February i, 1845, Gunn took charge of a small 1 Gunn described Guntur as a city of about 16,000 inhabitants, among whom were about 3000 Mohammedans, situated in a fertile plain, thirty miles in a direct line from the sea, whence cool breezes reached it during a portion of each day. 64 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA Telugu school in East Guntur, where he also preached at times with the help of an interpreter. While he thus was getting acquainted with the work of the Mission, Heyer con- tinued to labor with his usual vigor and with no little success. The day of the consecration of the first mission-house, built on the lot that had been leased from the government, was a mem- orable one in Heyer's first term of mission service. On June 30, 1844, at eleven o'clock in the morning about 200 persons assembled in the new brick building for the conse- cration service. Heyer and Gunn delivered appropriate ad- dresses and Valett preached the consecration sermon. The entire cost of construction, about $800, was contributed by the South Carolina Synod's Missionary Society, which had not only permitted the use of the $500, originally intended for a printing-press, for this purpose, but also added what was necessary to finish the building. The Guntur schools, enroll- ing 90 boys and 25 girls, were moved into the mission house which on Sunday was used for church purposes, and Heyer occupied a part of the building as his dwelling. Considerable surprise was expressed in other missions at the flourishing condition of the Guntur girls' school. 1 Heyer had started this school in November, 1842, with fifteen girls taught by a young Hindu under his supervision. A year afterward its supporter, Mrs. Walker of Guntur, died, and the question of its continuation became a matter of grave concern to Heyer. Then, directed by a special Providence, a letter reached Heyer December 2, 1843, containing $60, which had been sent from America nine months previously. It had been written by Miss S. M. Stoever, the secretary of the missionary society of the infant department of the Sunday School of St. Matthew's Church in Philadelphia, the Rev. T. Stork pastor, and con- tained an offer to support the girls' school. In his letter of grateful acknowledgment Heyer described the school as one which had an enrollment of twenty-one girls, from four to 1 A successful Hindu girls' school was a unique institution before the year 1840. The sacred books (Shastras) forbid the education of women, and they themselves consider it a disgrace to be educated. Only temple (nautch) girls are educated. Despite the efforts of Protestant Christianity this is still the prevailing condition among Hindus. HOW GENERAL SYNOD GAINED CONTROL OF GUNTUR 65 twelve years of age, four of whom were children of native Christian parents, three Romanists, two Mohammedans and the rest Hindus. Some of the pupils who had been entirely ignorant when the school was begun, had learned to read; all of them were attending divine worship on Sunday and had committed a number of Christian hymns. In honor of its patron in America this first girls' school was called St. Mat- thew's Evangelical Lutheran School. In July, 1844, it was placed in charge of Mrs. Gunn. The boys' schools in Guntur continued to prosper during the years 1844 and 1845, Heyer reporting an average attend- ance of 100; but during this period the school inPrattipadu and one in the vicinity of Guntur were discontinued. 1 The American Bible and Tract Societies, in 1843, con- tributed Bibles to the value of $200, and thereafter con- tinued to supply the missionaries with Bibles and tracts as they were needed. The Madras Auxiliary Society likewise furnished a considerable number of Testaments and tracts, free of cost, to the mission. 2 Toward the close of the year 1844, five Lutheran mission- aries lived in Guntur. Besides Heyer and Gunn, there were Valett of the North German Missionary Society, who had not yet decided on a mission field, and two missionaries of the Dresden (Leipsic) Society, the Revs. Ochs and Schwartz, who had been sent from Tranquebar to select a Telugu field near Guntur. The presence of so many Lutheran missionaries at one point in the Telugu country revived the thought of a printing establishment. In July, 1844, Mr. Stokes offered to set apart Rs. 500 for this purpose on condition that a like sum should be raised hi America. An appeal was published in America; but before a sufficient sum could be raised the Dresden missionaries had returned to Tranquebar without establishing a Telugu mission, and Heyer had started on his 1 The money contributed by St. John's Church in Philadelphia was used for the support of a Telugu school in Guntur after the one in Prattipadu was discontinued. 2 Heyer's and Gunn's letters show that they were very liberal in the free distribution of Bibles, Testaments and tracts. Experience has taught mis- sionaries prudence rather than liberality in this direction. 66 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA return voyage to the United States. The enterprise was, therefore, again abandoned. The second annual report of the Guntur Mission written by Heyer, September 16, 1844, showed commendable prog- ress. Besides three children, one of whom was Luther, the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Gunn, Heyer had bap- tized seven Hindus of adult age, after having carefully in- structed them. The number of communicants was twelve, four of whom were converts. The other baptized converts were not admitted to the Lord's Supper, because, as Heyer puts it, "we do not deem it advisable to administer the Lord's Supper immediately to all who have been baptized." Two marriages were solemnized. The number of funerals con- ducted was four, one for an adult Hindu Christian and three for children, two of whom had died unbaptized. Four schools, one English and three Telugu, with an enrollment of over 100 pupils, were being conducted in the Guntur mission house. Of the three Telugu schools, the one for girls then enrolled 25 pupils. The daily instruction in each school was begun and ended with devotional and catechetical exercises. Concern- ing the English school, apparently Heyer's pride, he wrote at some length in April, 1845, describing it as a school of three grades, in the first of which, consisting of fourteen pupils, be- sides arithmetic, geography and grammar, Biblical History was being taught. Of the fourteen pupils, three were Moham- medans, one a Rajput, nine Sudras and one a pariah, a strange and uncommon mingling of castes for those days. Besides the Guntur schools, two others were maintained in the vicinity of the city. For one of these, situated a mile from Guntur in a village bordering on Old Guntur, a school- house costing Rs. 200 was built and opened April 7, 1845. On Sunday, May 18, 1845, eleven persons, seven of whom were adults, were baptized; and early in July of the same year a young man from Devalapilli, 18 miles north of Guntur, was baptized, thus raising the number of baptisms since the begin- ning to eighteen adults and six children. This was probably the total number of baptisms by Heyer, .there being no record of additional ones during his last months in India. Although HOW GENERAL SYNOD GAINED CONTROL OF GUNTUR 67 this number is not large, it is not strange that Heyer did not baptize more. It must be remembered that he was beginning a foreign mission, and many a foreign mission has begun with fewer conversions during its first two years. Further- more, Heyer had time to learn scarcely more than the rudi- ments of Telugu, so that he seldom, if ever, preached in the vernacular. To preach through an interpreter is to fail to make that direct and personal impression on one's hearers, which is so essential to successful missionary work. Heyer's chief strength lay in the conduct and control of schools, in which he achieved acknowledged success. 1 The support which Heyer received from the Church in America continued to be meagre and inadequate. From the treasurer of the Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Min- isterium, the Rev. J. C. Baker, D. D., he received his salary, $600 a year, and two or three hundred dollars a year in ad- dition for school work. 2 From friends in Guntur he received $1164 (Rs. 2910) up to September 16, 1844. From sources in America outside of the Pennsylvania Ministerium he oc- casionally received small sums of money. His total income from all sources for all purposes varied between $1000 and $1500 a year for the first five years of the Mission. It must be admitted, however, that despite its meagre in- come for foreign missions, the Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium spent the larger portion of its funds for the Guntur Mission. The following is an exhibit of the society's finances: DURING THE SYNODICAL YEAR 1841-42 1842-43 1843-44 1844-45 1845-46 Income from all sources $1613.13 I457-I5 $1499.61 1164.43 $1854.65 1612.05 $i577-05 1048.50 $1910.96 1105.09 Expenditures for all purposes.. Receipts for Foreign Missions Expended for Guntur Mission 25.00 705 -,40 73-5 800.00 580.39 900.00 275-48 goo.oo 3 3I4-25 900.00* 1 In a letter dated November 16, 1844, Gunn wrote: "Brother Heyer is ac- knowledged by all around to have an admirable faculty of managing schools and advancing the scholars in their studies." 2 In 1843 Heyer acknowledged the receipt of $800, and in 1844, $000 from the Rev. Dr. Baker. 1 Approximate sum. 68 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA While Heyer in India was growing discouraged because of the insufficient support from America, some of the mem- bers of the Missionary Society felt that too large a proportion of its funds was being devoted to the foreign mission. In an editorial in the " Lutherische Kirchenzeitung," May i, 1845, a forcible expression of this feeling was published. "Brother Heyer," wrote the editor, "left this country in November, 1841, and, therefore, will have been absent four years next November. His travelling expenses and outfit money amounted to $600. He was six months en route for India, during which time he was paid a salary of $300. His return passage would cost not less than $600, even though his salary were to be discontinued during the period of his voyage. The total amount of his travelling expenses in four years, therefore, would be $1500. The amount expended on the mission work during this time is more than $4000, making a grand total of $550x3 for the foreign mission which Brother Heyer now wishes to forsake without giving a single reason which, in our opinion, makes his return necessary. Nothing but sickness can or should compel his return. Brother Heyer, however, has always enjoyed good health, as Brother Gunn's last letter also states. We are, therefore, of the decided opinion that the missionary society should not grant the request if it intends to carry on the mission. "Apart from the effect which a refusal of the request may have on the conduct of Brother Heyer, the existing state of affairs leads us to raise the question, whether the missionary society should continue to spend two-thirds of its income for its foreign mission and the other one- third for home mis- sions at this time, while, through the natural increase of our population and through immigration, the number of our brethren in the faith is increasing to an inconceivable extent, and, literally, hundreds of thousands are living here without any church connection whatever, even though they may desire the preaching of the Word; and many of the congrega- tions now existing are unable, because of their poverty, to pay their pastors and must be satisfied with a divine service once every eight or twelve weeks. Seeing that many of our HOW GENERAL SYNOD GAINED CONTROL OF GUNTUR 69 pastors in this country are obliged to live in great want, and a considerable number of our congregations are burdened with debts resting on- their church buildings or, as yet, have no church buildings, could not the $5500 have been used to better advantage for home missions and would not this money have produced better results here than in India; and is it right to have allowed so much money to be diverted for the benefit of strangers, whilst our own church in America has been bleeding at all points? In our humble judgment this is buying the honor of having a foreign mission at too great a price, and we believe that our foreign mission should be abandoned. Others may be of another opinion, and we are ready to be otherwise convinced, wherefore we are willing to give them a hearing in these columns. It would please us to hear an expression of the contrary opinion before the meet- ing of the missionary society, in order that its members might weigh the arguments and, after due deliberation, come to a final decision. We have not written our judgment hastily. Indeed, we said the same thing at the meeting of the synod in Harrisburg; nor have we since had reason to change our mind. Nevertheless, we embrace this opportunity to call for a discussion of the whole matter." The first intimation Heyer gave of his desire to return to America was written in a letter dated July 6, 1844, not quite two years after he had begun the Guntur Mission. The Ex- ecutive Committee referred the matter to the Missionary Society at its meeting in Reading, May 17-21, 1845, which declined to authorize Heyer's return; but Heyer in almost every letter continued to refer to his contemplated departure from India some time in 1846. The Executive Committee, however, finally decided to yield to the missionary's persistent request ; and the Missionary Society at its meeting in Orwigs- burg, June 8-10, 1846, resolved to pay the expenses of his return voyage, but to discontinue his salary as soon as he left Guntur. Before he had received the written permission of the Executive Committee, Heyer left Guntur, December 22, 1845, landing at New York early in August, 1846. His precipitous and unexpected return to America was due to a combination 70 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA of causes. In the first place, he was disheartened because of the lack of support for the mission work from America. In the second place, he was homesick. Furthermore, his restless spirit demanded another change of scene and occupa- tion. He wished, also, to come back and stir up the Church at home to more vigorous effort for its foreign mission ; and when he believed that Gunn had made sufficient progress in Telugu to assume the supervision of the Mission, he came home. It was a most unfortunate mistake. The Executive Committee was right when it maintained that he had no adequate reason for leaving the Mission in Guntur, which needed him and which gave promise of growth under his supervision. Had he remained at his post of duty, despite every discouragement and every longing to get back to America, the Guntur Mission might not have been lost to the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, at least not so soon after its establishment. After the Executive Committee of the Missionary Society of the Ministerium had finally decided to permit Heyer to return to America, it made overtures to The Foreign Mis- sionary Society of the General Synod, whose missionary, the Rev. Walter Gunn, was to remain in charge of the Guntur Mission, to transfer it entirely to that society. The proposal was accepted and then ratified by the Missionary Society of the Ministerium at its meeting in 1846. The Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod in reporting the transfer of the Guntur Mission to that society, at its meeting in New York, May 16, 1848, said, among other things: "We feel con- strained to pay a passing tribute to the Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Synod for their devoted zeal and activity in the mission work. To that society we owe the successful establishment of the Mission at Guntur. To them belongs the proud distinction of having sent the first Lutheran mis- sionary from the United States; and right and proper was it that the oldest Lutheran synod in this country, the mother of us all, should have taken the lead in this noble enterprise. It was in strict unison with the spirit which characterized the founders of that venerable body in leaving their fatherland HOW GENERAL SYNOD GAINED CONTROL OF GUNTUR 71 to establish a branch of our Lutheran Zion in the then wilder- ness of America. It was providential, whether we consider the man sent, those who sent him, the time or the section of country in which he commenced his labors." CHAPTER VII DR. HEYER'S SECOND TERM OF SERVICE AND HIS SUCCESS IN THE PALNAD DISTRICT AFTER Heyer's return to the United States in 1846, "the painful apprehension was felt and suggested by many that, as Gunn's health was feeble and he could not be expected to hold on for any length of time in India's sultry climate, the Mission must soon be abandoned and our promising beginning lost." This pessimistic view, however, did not prevail. The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod continued to sup- port Gunn, and after a lapse of two and a half years Heyer was permitted to resume his labors in Guntur. Although he was not allowed, as he had hoped, to under- take a campaign of missionary education and inspiration, visit- ing conferences, conventions and congregations in the interest of foreign missions, Heyer soon found a field of labor. Before the close of the year "The Home Missionary Society of the General Synod" 1 called him to start a German congregation in the northwestern section of Baltimore, Md. He accepted and began his work on the first day of the new year. In three months a congregation of seventy families was organ- ized, ^and a lot and a building, formerly used by Methodists, located in Biddle street, were purchased. A Sunday School was begun and a class of four catechumens was confirmed. The average attendance at the regular Sunday services was three hundred. Such was the auspicious beginning of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Baltimore. Besides his work as a missionary in Baltimore, Heyer found time to take a special course in medicine at Washington University, and at the close of the scholastic year 1847, he received the degree of doctor of medicine. He was then fifty- four years old. 1 Organized in Philadelphia May 22, 1845. 72 DR. HEYER'S SECOND TERM OF SERVICE 73 His connection with the General Synod's Home Mis- sionary Society and his location in Baltimore necessitated the transfer of his membership from the Pennsylvania to the Maryland synod. Dr. Heyer continued to cherish the hope of returning to India, accompanied by some younger man, perhaps, he thought, by his youngest son, Theophilus. 1 Friends in the Pennsylvania Ministerium urged him to volunteer to re-enter the service of its missionary society. He answered them in a letter published in "The Lutheran Observer," April 9, 1847. "Various considerations," he wrote, "induced me to ask leave to return to the United States during the summer of 1846. This request was kindly complied with and I made use of the permission granted, as various missionaries sent out by other societies had done before me. In looking back upon that period of my life during which I resided in India, I can- not say otherwise than that the time was most pleasantly and with gratitude to the Lord, be it stated usefully and profit- ably spent. The mission house, the schools and native con- gregation in Guntur, erected and collected by my instrumental- ity, will tend to prove this assertion. Hence the conclusion may readily be drawn that I did not leave the field from any dissatisfaction with the place, or the people, or the work. Nor has anyone heard me make the assertion, that I should be unwilling to spend the remaining portion of my life in pro- claiming the gospel tidings among the benighted but other- wise interesting people in the Telugu country. My opinion is that two or three young men ought to be sent forthwith to assist Brother Gunn and to enable him to extend the mis- sionary operations in and around Guntur. Should it be thought advisable for me to accompany such a reinforcement, in order to assist them on the way in studying the Telugu language, I should probably not decline the undertaking. 1 Contrary to Dr. Heyer's fondest hopes, none of his sons entered the min- istry. His eldest son, Christian Frederick, after spending some time in Penn- sylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa., went to Helmstedt, Germany, where he attended a school for nearly five years. He returned to the United States and studied law for a while. In 1848 we find his name enrolled as captain of a com- pany of volunteers fighting in the Mexican war. He died, aged thirty-four, while Heyer was in India. 74 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA If, on the other hand, it should not be thought best to send me back to India, then I am perfectly satisfied to continue my residence in Columbia's happy land. I leave it to the Lord and to the Church, or to the brethren who are the executive of the Church in this matter, to decide." The Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium celebrated its anniversary in a public service in St. Michael's German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, on the evening of June i, 1847. Heyer was the principal speaker and delivered a very impressive address. On the afternoon of June 3d this society resolved to ask Heyer to go back to India and pledged a sum sufficient to pay his salary, but requested The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod to bear the expense of his outfit and journey to India. To prevent a repetition of the misunderstanding concerning furlough or resignation, Heyer was asked to promise that he would not leave the mis- sion field unless the society failed to pay his salary or ill- health compelled him to leave India. All the details having been satisfactorily adjusted, Dr. Heyer severed his connection with St. John's Church, Balti- more, July i, 1847, an d then devoted four months to an itiner- ary in the Pennsylvania and New York Ministeriums, present- ing the cause of foreign missions and arousing greater inter- est in the Guntur Mission wherever he preached. 1 Heyer's reports of the interest and benevolence of the Collector of the Guntur district, J. Henry Stokes, Esq., in- duced a number of societies to send gifts of appreciation to that gentleman in India. The Women's Missionary Society of the congregation in Harrisburg, of which the Rev. C. W. Schaeffer, D. D., was the pastor, sent a mahogany rocking- chair for Mr. Stokes and a reticule for his wife. The mission- ary society of Salem Church, Lebanon, Pa., sent two solar 1 At the 5 2nd annual meeting of the New York Ministerium held September 4th, in New Germantown, N. J., Heyer delivered an address and was encour- aged by the adoption of the following resolution: "Resolved, That the increased interest in our mission in India by the approaching departure of Brother Heyer to that field, calls loudly upon our pastors and people to give their hearts with more earnestness to the blessed work of spreading the gospel among the heathen." DR. HEYER'S SECOND TERM OF SERVICE 75 lamps. The Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod sent a copy of Harper's Pictorial Bible. In his letters of acknowledgment and thanks Mr. Stokes' nobility of mind is so strikingly revealed that at least one of them deserves to be quoted: "To the Misses E. Rauthrauff and L. Young, Lebanon, Pa. "Dear Friends: By the good hand of our God upon him, our dear brother, Mr. Heyer, reached this place (Guntur) in peace and health on the gth of May, and delivered to us your elegant note and the beautiful present of the pastor and mem- bers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Lebanon. We value the present most highly and desire that it may often remind us of our unseen friends in the West. Still more do we feel grateful for that love of which the present and note are the expression, proving that there is among those who desire to love the Lord Jesus Christ a bond of union wider and stronger than that of language, country or blood. 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.' "At the same time we cannot but find this touching re- membrance deeply humiliating, reminding us of what we ought to have done in His service, whose blood-bought ones we profess to be, and encouraged by the kindness we have already so undeservedly experienced, beg of yourselves and the congregation of Zion's Church the further favor: (i) That you will set apart a special season to pray for us, that we may have grace to be faithful unto the end and not hinder the Lord's work by our deadness and inconsistency, and for the Guntur Mission and District; and (2) that you will try and send us more help. The fields are white already to harvest, adults wishing to listen to the Gospel, boys and girls anxious to be instructed, the children asking for bread and no man breaketh it unto them. "Believe me to be your much obliged and grateful fellow- servant, J. H. STOKES." 76 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA Besides the gifts intended for Mr. Stokes, Heyer received many articles for his personal use and for the Mission, and considerable money for school work. He provided himself with a daguerrean apparatus with which to take pictures in India. Less than a month before the date fixed for the sailing of the missionary, the money to pay his passage still remained to be raised. A call was sent out to all friends of the Mission to meet on October 2yth and 28th in St. James' Church, New York City, the Rev. Charles Martin pastor, to make a final effort, in connection with the farewell meeting, to raise the necessary money. Gloom brooded over the beginning of the conference. Twelve pastors, representing the Pennsylvania, East Pennsylvania, New York and Hartwick synods, were present. 1 It was announced that the balance in the treasury of The Foreign Missionary Society was $125, and nearly seven times that amount was needed to meet the immediate demands of the enterprise. The first rift in the overhanging cloud was made by a letter from Dr. Mayer, pastor of St. John's English Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, enclosing a contribution of $250 from that congregation. The treasurer of the Hartwick synod paid over $100; the pastor of St. Matthew's Church, Philadelphia, $50; and St. James' congregation, New York City, made five of the ministers present at the conference life-members of The Foreign Missionary Society by paying $25 for each one. After the offering at the public service in the evening had been taken, enough money was gathered to pay Heyer's passage, send Missionary Gunn six months' salary and leave a balance of nearly $150 in the treasury. So deep was the impression made by this liberality that the conference passed the following resolution: "Resolved, That from the gloomy prospects by which we were surrounded 1 The Rev. F. W. Geissenhainer of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, the Rev. Dr. Stork of the East Pennsylvania Synod, the Revs. Dr. H. N. Pohlman, W. D. Stroebel, C. F. E. Stohlmann, Chas. Martin, Chas. A. Smith and Wm. B. Askam of the New York Ministerium, the Revs. J. Z. Senderling, Wm. N. Schol] and Reuben Dederick of the Hartwick Synod. Those who sent letters of excuse and good wishes were the Revs. J. Few Smith, McCron, Mayer, J. R. Keiser, J. C. Baker, Demme and Reichert. This list includes the staunchest supporters of the Guntur Mission. DR. HEYER'S' SECOND TERM OF SERVICE 77 yesterday morning, because of the happy success which crowned our efforts ere the evening closed upon us, we feel called upon in the spirit of the Apostle to thank God and take courage." The vessel on which Heyer took passage was delayed in Boston harbor until December 4, 1847, when the intrepid missionary started on his second journey to India. Madras was reached in one hundred and thirty-four days. 1 From Madras he sailed in a slow coasting vessel northward, landing at Masulipatam May 8, 1848. Here Mr. and Mrs. J. Henry Stokes, who were spending the hot months at the seaport, welcomed him back to India. Guntur was reached overland, Heyer travelling partly on horseback and partly in a one- horse bandy. On Tuesday morning, May, 15 1848, the mis- sionary reached his destination. During Heyer's absence of nearly two and a half years Gunn had managed the mission work as well as his feeble health had allowed. He had gone to Rajahmundry in Sep- tember, 1846, to assist Valett in the ordination of missionaries C. W. Groenning and Heise. Directly after the ordination Valett and Groenning visited Guntur, and while they were there a severe storm which broke during the night of October 22d, partly demolished the mission house. Mr. Stokes con- tributed Rs. noo, about $350, for the immediate erection of a new bungalow; and funds were received from The Foreign Missionary Society to complete the building into which Gunn and his family moved on July 20, 1847. In his report, dated September, 1847, Gunn stated that since Heyer's departure, almost two years previously, he had baptized two adults and three children. One of the adults baptized was Stephen, a Mala, a former disciple of a priest, whom Heyer had interested in Christianity and who, after his baptism by Gunn, was placed in charge of a newly organized Telugu school on the outskirts of Guntur, thus becoming the first native Christian teacher in the Mission. The first native catechist employed was Nicodemus, who was appointed in March, 1847. Mrs. Gunn superintended a girl's school in 1 The voyage to India now takes about thirty days. 78 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA Guntur, teaching the older pupils the art of needlework, for which the wife of an English official furnished the necessary material. After May, 1846, when the school in Dachepalli was abandoned, the mission work was confined entirely to Guntur. Gunn's feeble health prevented him from undertak- ing extensive touring. Once during December, 1847, an d January, 1848, he acompanied Heise of Rajahmundry, and Beer of Narsapur, on a trip to the Palnad district, where he contracted fever from which he was just convalescing when Heyer returned to the Mission. After his arrival Heyer waited a month for the extreme heat to pass and then, toward the end of June, reopened the mission schools. In the English school twenty-six boys were enrolled; in the Telugu school, forty-four; in the old Guntur school, under Stephen, eighteen boys. Rebecca, Stephen's wife, a baptized Christian, took charge of the girls in her husband's school, who numbered about twelve. Mrs. Gunns' girls' school enrolled thirty. Gunn and his family occupied the new bungalow, while Heyer lived in a room in the old mission house. Two small buildings, costing $150 each, were erected in the mission-compound in September, 1848. One was used as a teacher's residence, the other as the girls' school. Mr. Stokes' assistant collector, Mr. Newill, was, like his chief, a generous supporter of the mission work. He con- tributed about half as much as his superior. Being more familiar with the vernacular than either of the missionaries, he translated a number of tracts for them and prepared a Telugu hymn book and an almanac for the year 1849. These he had published at his own expense for use in the Mission. Up to the close of the year 1848, the fruits of the mis- sionaries' labors were meagre. The number of native adult communicants in the Guntur congregation was less than a dozen. The schools proved to be of very little evangelistic value, principally because the teachers were Hindus and strove merely to make their employment as mission agents a stepping-stone to some civil service in government employ. The pupils in the English school, moreover, looked forward DR. HEYER'S SECOND TERM OF SERVICE 79 to the same goal. Heyer's early attempt at a boys' boarding school for training native workers had not been repeated. Stephen, the only Christian teacher in the Mission, was still an experiment; Nicodemus, the other native Christian helper, was more of a colporteur than a catechist. Gunn was a confirmed invalid and the burden of the work rested on Heyer. In 1849, God, in a most unexpected manner, opened a door of opportunity to Heyer, and he was permitted to enter it and begin the most fruitful period of his work as a foreign missionary. On January 22d, that year, he left Guntur on a tour of the Palnad district, 1 where he spent about a month visiting village after village, preaching the Gospel and dis- tributing Bibles and tracts. When he returned to Guntur he reported having baptized twenty-two persons who had received some instruction in the Christian religion from a native Christian whose name was John, whom Gunn had baptized while Heyer was in America. Twenty of them, belonging to five families, all of the weaver caste, were resi- dents of Polepalli. When Mr. Stokes heard of Heyer's success he advised him at once to establish a station in the Palnad district and offered to build a house for the missionary. Heyer accepted both the advice and the offer and moved to Gurjal, April 12, 1849, thus establishing the second station of the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission in India. 2 On the Sunday after his arrival in Gurjal Heyer organized a congregation there, and on the last Sunday in May he bap- tized eleven adults and children living in Polepalli. Schools were started in Gurjal and Polepalli, and in Dachepalli, where a previous attempt had been made. Each of these schools started with about twenty boys. Heyer found aboundant opportunity in his new field to use his knowledge and skill as a physician. In a letter written 1 Heyer, accompanied by Valett, had made his first tour of the Palnad dis- trict in 1844. 2 Heyer took with him Nulla Multhu, a Telugu catechist, who afterward was dismissed, and a Christian teacher who had been in the employ of the American Mission in Madras. 80 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA two months after his arrival in Gurjal he stated that he had occasion to treat as many as two hundred different cases. In lieu of trained teachers Heyer employed the more in- telligent converts. Samuel was assigned to the Veldurti school, opened in August; John, to the Polepalli school; Devasikamani, to the Gurjal school; Jacob, to the Tumuru- cotta school; and Appiah was employed as a colporteur. Heyer realized, however, that in order to make the most of the opportunity presented in the Palnad district, it would be necessary to train young men for the work. He, therefore, took a n amber of promising boys into his home and provided for their board and lodging at a monthly expense of Rs. 6 for each boarder. For this purpose he used funds contributed by Guntur friends and the money given him in the United States for school-work. The first pupils in this boys' board- ing school were Jacob, Matthew, Paulus, Barnabas and Rettivardu. After eight months of labor Heyer had baptized forty- two persons in the Palnad, more than twice as many as in Guntur during the first six years. On November 25, 1849, the Lord's Supper was administered in Gurjal for the first time to fourteen communicants. While Heyer was living and working in the Palnad dis- trict the third American missionary reached Guntur. George J. Martz, a native of Frederick, Maryland, after having completed his theological studies in the Seminary at Gettysburg, accepted the call of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod and was commissioned on April 4, 1849, m St. Luke's Church, Valatie, New York, Dr. Wm. D. Stroebel, the corresponding secretary of the society, read- ing its instructions to the new missionary. He sailed from Boston April i9th, and reached Madras August 18, 1849. Here he waited for Gunn who was coming thither on sick leave. Gunn left Masulipatam the same day Martz reached Madras, leaving his wife and children behind in Guntur. Rev. C. W. Groenning had gone from Ellore to Guntur to take charge of the work in the absence of Gunn. After staying with Gunn in Madras for several weeks, Martz left that city on September DR. HEYER'S SECOND TERM OF SERVICE 81 i4th and proceeded to Guntur. Groenning immediately turned the work over to the newly arrived missionary and went back to Ellore. Mrs. Gunn with her children, Martin Luther and Ellen, also left Guntur March 5, 1850, on an overland journey to join her husband in Madras. She found him greatly improved in health in the home of the kind and hos- pitable Dr. Scudder. After an absence of ten months from Guntur Gunn and his family returned on June 27, 1850, his thirty-fifth birthday; but the pulmonary disease which he had contracted could not be permanently checked. The strain of preaching and travelling was too great for his weak physical condition, and he confined himself almost entirely to writing letters to America and to giving counsel and advice to the inexperienced Martz. Heyer's work in the Palnad continued to meet with suc- cess. Although he had gone to the district with some reluc- tance, because it was commonly reported that the heat was almost unbearable and the danger of getting fever very great, he, nevertheless, carried on his work with his usual vigor, living in almost apostolic simplicity. It is related that, realizing the danger of death in the district, he had a coffin made in Guntur and sent to Gurjal, and that soon after his arrival in that village he had a grave dug near his house. At times, when the roof of his house leaked badly, he slept in the coffin. Strange to say, he was not sick a single day, and on leaving Gurjal to return to Guntur he burned the coffin, filled in the grave and, standing over it, triumphantly exclaimed : "Oh, death, where is thy sting? Oh, grave, where is thy victory?" Tours of fifty miles and more on foot were frequently made by Heyer in the district. "Sometimes," he wrote, "when I could find no better shelter, I spread a blanket over the legs of my table to exclude the night air, and slept beneath it, as though it were a small tent." By the end of the year 1849 Heyer had baptized thirty- two adults and twenty-four children in the Palnad district and the number of inquirers was steadily increasing. Six schools in as many villages, all having Christian teachers, enrolled 103 6 82 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA pupils, some of whom were girls. Small buildings for school and church purposes had been erected in Gurjal, Polepalli, Veldurti and Macherla. On nine acres of ground, donated by Mr. Stokes, Heyer, in 1850, began the experiment of estab- lishing a Christian colony near Gurjal, modelled after those he had seen in the Leipsic Mission. 1 Reports of his success in the Palnad were spread abroad and a number of missionaries from other missions visited him in 1850, among others the Revs. Sharkey and Darling of the Church Missionary Society's mission at Masulipatam. During the year 1850 Heyer bap- tized no less than 126 adults and children. Mr. Stokes felt that this success ought to be followed up, and in April, 1850, offered to contribute Rs. 500 in case the Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society sent out a single man from America, and Rs. 800 in case it sent out a married missionary before the end of the year. His conditions could not be met; but before the year had ended one additional missionary had been called and was under appointment and the services of a second were secured early in 1851. The most important event of the year 1850 was the trans- fer of the Rajahmundry Mission with its missionaries from the North German Missionary Society, which had established it, to The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod. We now, therefore, turn in our next chapter to the early history of the Mission at Rajahmundry. 1 This enterprise, however, was soon afterward abandoned. It will interest the reader to know that Gurjal is now the residence and station of an Ameri- can Baptist missionary, who is a Swede and was originally a Lutheran. CHAPTER. VIII THE FOUNDING OF THE RAJAHMUNDRY MISSION FOUR hundred and sixty miles north of Madras, on the Godavery River, one of the twelve sacred streams of India, five miles above the point where the river divides to form its delta, lies the town of Rajahmundry, the ancient seat of an Indian prince (rajah) and the center of Telugu culture and literature. Here The North German Missionary Society of Hamburg 1 established the second Evangelical Lutheran Mission in the Telugu country, to which its attention had been drawn by the Rev. Mr. Wyneken and other friends in America. Two members of the first class graduated from the Mis- sion Institute of The North German Society in 1842, were selected as its first missionaries to India; but one of them after a serious illness was pronounced to be physically unfit for work in the tropical climate of South India and was sent in- stead to the society's African mission. The other, an in- separable friend, asked to be permitted to go with his friend to Africa and the permission was given. Then Louis P. Menno Valett, a candidate in theology, volunteered to be- come the society's first missionary to India. He was accepted and duly commissioned. He left Hamburg May 26, 1843, and reached Madras October 2d, four months and one week later. After Heyer had learned of his arrival in Madras he invited him to come to Guntur, live with him in the mission house and study Telugu with him. Valett accepted the in- vitation and came in February, 1844. A few weeks later, however, Valett started northward "to spy out the land" and to select the foreign mission field of his society. He 1 The office of this society was at first in Hamburg. Afterward it was re- moved to Bremen. 83 84 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA took with him as an interpreter one of the older pupils of the English-Telugu school in Guntur. Passing through Ellore he went as far north as Rajahmundry, one hun- dred and fifteen miles from Guntur. Within a month he was back in Guntur, where he remained until, in January, 1845, ne returned to Rajahmundry to begin his work there as a resident missionary. Sir Arthur Cotton and several of his assistant engineers, engaged in the construction of the dam (anicut) at Dowlaishwaram, pledged their moral and financial support and thus greatly encouraged the newly arrived missionary. He at once organized an Anglo- vernacular school like Heyer's in Guntur, and also a purely Telugu school. From the very beginning regular Sunday morning services and daily devotional meetings were conducted by Valett in Telugu for the benefit of the native servants of resi- dent English families, who attended not of their own free will but because their English employers made attendance at these services compulsory. The intention of these English residents was laudable, but compulsory attendance failed to win converts. Every Sunday evening the missionary held an English service for the foreign residents and Eurasians. After Valett had labored thus for a little over a year, two additional missionaries, Charles W. Groenning and Ferdi- nand August Heise, joined him. After their graduation from the Mission Institute of the North German Society, they sailed, December 12, 1845, from Hamburg for Calcutta, arriving at Rajahmundry July 22, 1846. Charles William Groenning was born November 22, 1813, in Fredericia, Jutland, Denmark. His father, a metal worker, died when Charles was a boy, leaving his mother with four children. After her husband's death she moved to Coldring, on the boundary line between Denmark and Schleswig- Holstein, where Charles, at the age of eight years, was ap- prenticed to a weaver named Horn, who treated the lad as a son. From Coldring, Horn went to Flensborg, taking his apprentice with him. Charles was then fourteen years of age. In Flensborg he was confirmed by Pastor Achenfeldt. Here he heard Pastors Lorenzen and Vallynarts preach, of CHARLES WILLIAM GROENNING A TELUGU BRAHMIN This Bralimin was converted to Christianity in the neighboring Baptist Mission. He has been the native contractor for a number of buildings in the Rajahmundry Mission. THE FOUNDING OF THE RAJAHMUNDRY MISSION 85 whom he afterward said that they faithfully preached the Word of the cross. He regularly attended the monthly mission meetings conducted by Pastor Lorenzen. "These meetings," he wrote, "were the sweetest ones of my life. . . . I put down my name as an annual contributor to foreign missions." Because of his interest in these meetings his fellow-workmen derided him and called him "one of the saints." He bore their derision with patience. From Flens- borg he went to Copenhagen to learn how to make damask by machinery, and then to Elberfeld, near the Rhine, where he worked in a carpet factory and where he was brought into contact with Moravians who awakened in him an earnest desire to become a foreign missionary. One of the students at the Mission Institute at Barmen in the Wupperthal, a young Norwegian, Hans Knudsen, almost persuaded him to enter that institute; but he returned to Flensborg as a young man of twenty-five, having decided to remain at his trade as a weaver. He started a carpet factory which proved to be financially successful; but the call of the heathen world grew stronger and more irresistible, and finally in March, 1840, he gave up his trade and entered the Mission Institute in Hamburg to prepare for service as a for- eign missionary. During his last two years as a student he devoted several hours every Sunday to visits among the poor of the city of Hamburg and held religious services in their homes. He was graduated in 1845, an d together with his class- mate, F. A. Heise, was commissioned as a missionary to the Telugus in India. 1 When Groenning and Heise reached Rajahmundry, they found Valett busily engaged in the erection of the first mission house. It was oddly constructed. In the center of the building was a long, wide room, used as a common living room, school room and place of public worship. At each of the four corners of this large, central room there were two small rooms, each suite for the private use of a missionary, so that four mission- 1 We are sorry that we cannot furnish a sketch of Heise's life before he en- tered the Mission Institute. The sources consulted furnished no material for such a sketch. 86 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA aries could be accommodated. The completed building cost about $1000. Two months after their arrival Groenning and Heise were or- dained at Rajahmundry by Valett and Gunn of Guntur. For a year and a half they devoted themselves to the study of Telugu and English, 1 assisted Valett as opportunity offered, and in turn, visited Gunn at Guntur and Heyer in the Palnad district. The monotony of the pioneer's life was broken by a joyful event in 1848, when Valett married the sister of the Rev. Mr. Bowden, a Plymouth Brethren Baptist missionary, then stationed at Palkole near Narsapur. After the wedcling the erection of a suitable bungalow in Rajahmundry was begun, but before its completion, after scarcely a year of married life, Mrs. Valett died. When both Groenning and Heise were ready to begin independent mission work, it was felt that one of them should start a new station. Ellore was chosen as the most promising place, and in May, 1849, Groenning began to preach the Gospel in that town. Three months later he left Ellore to take charge of the work in Guntur during Gunn's absence on sick leave. Returning to Ellore after Martz reached Gantur, he began two Telugu schools, in each of which about twenty pupils were enrolled at the start. The year 1850 was the most eventful one of his life. In it occurred his transfer to The Foreign Mission- ary Society of the General Synod, concerning which more will be said later, and his marriage to Henrietta Krug, sister-in-law of Mr. Nagel, a merchant of Hamburg, and an intimate friend of Amalie Sieveking. They had become engaged to be married before Groenning left Germany, but The North German Mis- sionary Society had declared itself financially unable to sup- port a married missionary, and so Groenning was obliged to leave his fiancee behind in Germany and wait until the society's finances enabled it to send her after him to India. They waited five years without hope, and then came the news of the 1 Non-English missionaries in India were and still are at a disadvantage, because they must learn English as well as Telugu. As a rule, however, they are good linguists and overcome the disadvantage. Groenning did. His native language was Danish. He spoke German fluently. He gained a fair working knowledge of both English and Telugu. THE FOUNDING OF THE RAJAHMUNDRY MISSION 87 transfer of Groenning to the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission under the direction of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod. The American society gave its consent to their marriage and in a few months Groenning's fiancee was in Madras, where he met her and where they were married on October 2, 1850. After a two months' stay in Guntur, Rev. and Mrs. C. W. Groenning went to Ellore, where they lived and labored until July, 1851, when he was appointed resident missionary at Guntur. Martz succeeded Groenning at Ellore, but remained there only five months, and then hi January, 1852, after a period of service as a foreign missionary lasting two years, returned to the United States. In consequence of Martz's departure, Ellore was abandoned, after having been a station of The North German Missionary Society for a year and three months and of The Foreign Mis- sionary Society of the General Synod for a year and a half. To-day it is in the possession of The Church Missionary Society of England. At this point it becomes necessary to turn our attention from the mission work in India to the progress of affairs in the Church in America. Heyer's return to India in 1847, perceptibly increased the foreign mission interest and effort of the home-church. The reports and letters of the missionaries and of the Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society, published in "The Lutheran Observer" and the "Kirchenzeitung," were read with interest. Heyer's bi-monthly letters from Gurjal to Andora and Matthias Henry, children of the Rev. J. W. Rich- ards, D. D., great-grandchildren of the patriarch Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, and to various Sunday schools, which appeared regularly in "The Lutheran Observer," were especially appreciated. The method of conducting mission work was changed in the Pennsylvania Ministerium in 1848 (June 2ist), when, in- stead of a missionary society, a standing synodical committee for foreign and domestic missions was appointed. This meant 88 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA that the synod as a whole assumed responsibility for the pay- ment of Heyer's salary of $600 a year and for such sums as he needed to carry on his work. This change in method was a change for the better. 1 For the other missionaries besides Heyer and the rest of the work not under his charge, The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod held itself responsible. It drew most of its support from the New York, Hartwick and Pittsburgh synods. The greater interest of these synods in the work of foreign missions must be ascribed to the fact that the mem- bers of the executive committee of The Foreign Missionary Society were drawn mostly from the New York Ministerium; that Gunn and Snyder were members of the Hartwick Synod ; that the missionary zeal of Rev. William A. Passavant, D. D., a firm friend of Heyer, pervaded the Pittsburgh Synod; and that the First Church in Pittsburg gratefully remembered its indebtedness to Heyer by leading all other congregations in that synod in the amount of its foreign mission contributions. The financial problem in the beginning of the foreign mission work in the Lutheran Church in America, as we have already had occasion to note, was a serious one. The receipts were meagre and, as a consequence, the missionaries few and their efforts restricted. To give an idea of the annual receipts and expenditures of The Foreign Missionary Society during the late forties, we insert here the treasurer's report for the year commencing May 16, 1848, and ending May n, 1849: RECEIPTS From synods, congregations and schools $1695.82 From American Tract Society 200.00 Balance from previous year 1.40 Total $1897.22 1 In "The Lutheran Observer" of October 18, 1850, Martin Buehler, treasurer of "The Foreign Missionary Society," acknowledged receipt of the following contributions forwarded through the treasurer of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, Rev. J. C. Baker, D. D.: Heyer's salary in advance to November, 1851, $600; for schools from Rev. Stohlmann's congregation, New York City, $35; Juvenile Missionary Societies, St. Michael's and Zion's, Philadelphia, $80; St. John's, Eas- ton, Rev. Dr. J. W. Richards, $15.62; Rev. Mr. Mennig's congregation, Potts- ville Pa., $18.88. Others who contributed liberally were St. John's, Phila- delphia, Rev. Dr. Mayer; Trinity, Lancaster, Rev. J. C. Baker, D. D.; Salem Lebanon, Rev. W. G. Ernst. THE FOUNDING OF THE RAJAHMUNDRY MISSION 89 EXPENDITURES May 19, 1848. To tract distribution $100.00 Sept. 8, 1848. To 6 months' salary to Gunn 333-oo Dec. 16, 1848. To 6 months' salary to Gunn 333.00 Dec. 16, 1848. To schools, catechists, etc 67.00 Dec. 16, 1848. To expenses of committee 21.50 Jan. 12, 1849. To G. J. Martz, > annual salary 100.00 April 7, 1849. To G. J. Martz, expenses 70.00 April 7, 1849. To G. J. Martz, outfit 250.00 April 7, 1849. To G. J. Martz, passage to India 250.00 April 7, 1849. To schools, catechists, books, etc 146.43 May 10, 1849. To tract distribution 100.00 May 10, 1849. To expenses of committee 37.00 May 10, 1849. To expenses of treasurer 2.47 May 10, 1849. To balance 86.82 Total $1897.22 Estimate of expenses for 1849-50: Salary of Gunn $666.00 Salary of Martz 400.00 Schools, native workers, books, etc 300.00 Buildings 500.00 Contingent expenses at home 50.00 Total $1916.00 Although the conditions of Mr. Stokes' offer to pay the travelling expenses of an additional missionary could not be met, it emphasized the need of sending out more missionaries, and, as a consequence, a call was extended to William J. Cutter, a student in Wittenberg Seminary. William J. Cutter was born in Germany. His parents, who were Roman Catholics, emigrated to the United States when he was a boy. As a young man he was convinced of the errors of Roman Catholicism and, in 1841, united with the Evangelical Lutheran congregation at Jeffersontown, Ken- tucky, Rev. George Yeager pastor. Persuaded that he ought to consecrate himself to the holy ministry, he entered Witten- berg Seminary. At the suggestion of the Executive Com- mittee of The Foreign Missionary Society whose call to ser- vice in the foreign field he accepted, he completed his theologi- cal education in Hartwick Seminary, in order that he might make the acquaintance of pastors and congregations in the East, and was graduated from that institution in 1851. He was ordained, married, and was commissioned that same year. While the Foreign Missionary Society was striving to 90 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA increase its force of foreign missionaries, an opportunity was offered to enlarge its foreign mission field. During 1848 and 1849, on account of the disturbed state of political affairs in Germany, the treasury of The North German Missionary Society became embarrassed, forcing the society to decide upon the abandonment of one of its foreign fields. Labor- ing under the impression that the much lauded intelli- gence and philosophical acumen of the Hindus demanded missionaries with a university training, and feeling itself un- able to furnish such men, the society resolved to abandon its India field. The first step in this direction was made when the service of Groenning was offered to The Foreign Mission- ary Society. His formal transfer was made in August, 1850. In a letter dated Hamburg, August 6, 1850, in which Groen- ning's transfer was ratified, John Hartwig Braun, secretary of The North German Missionary Society, offered to transfer also the Rajahmundry station and missionaries, writing as follows: "There are two ordained ministers at Rajahmundry, Valett and Heise. An English school supported by English residents has, thus far, called for no expenditures on our part. Rs. looo have accumulated at Rajahmandry as a school fund. There has also been an attempt made to conduct a vernacular school, likewise at the expense of residents. Our society's annual expenditures for the Rajahmundry station have been as follows: Valett's salary, Rs. 1200; Heise's salary, Rs. 1000; incidental expenses, Rs. 600; total, Rs. 2800. l Two dwellings have been erected. The compound agreement is for ninety years with an insignificant rent, payable to the government. The houses referred to have cost Rs. 4500. No compensation is asked for either of them or for money expended by us on the Mission; but we would not be willing to refund the Rs. 1000 which we borrowed from the school fund. You will be asked to assume that debt. To maintain the mission any longer is beyond the ability of The North German Missionary Society. Its abandonment has been resolved ; and if neither your society nor any other will continue the work, it will be discontinued at the close of the present year. We are anxious that you 1 This was approximately $1400. THE FOUNDING OF THE RAJAHMUNDRY MISSION 91 should undertake it. We earnestly request that you give this offer your serious consideration and we pray the Lord to direct your minds according to His good pleasure." This offer appealed to the Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society, and in an open letter to the Church the situation was explained as follows: "Here the committee feel in duty bound to pause, not be- cause they are at a loss to determine what ought to be the answer to this new appeal, but we think it best and proper to submit the matter to the churches, whose agents we are, and wait for their response. The question is not, what is our duty? That question is settled. The Providence of God has settled it. The voice of the Lord has been distinctly heard in every call that has been addressed to us, and the only question to be determined is whether the Church is willing to obey the voice, whether the Church is prepared to occupy the field which the Lord has made ready to our hands. We are con- fident that the answer will be: Go on; continue to follow the leadings of Providence, as you have done; promptly answer every call and we will stand by you with our contributions and our prayers." The confidence of the committee was not misplaced. The New York and Hartwick Synods at their meetings in the fall of 1850 passed resolutions enthusiastically advising the ac- ceptance of the offer; and, having received sufficient assur- ance of support, the Executive Committee 1 of The Foreign Missionary Society, assembled in the study of the Rev. Dr. H. N. Pohlmann in Albany, N. Y., October 30, 1850, solemnly resolved, "that we accept the transfer from The North German Society of their mission in India and that we will give each of the missionaries, Valett and Heise, $500 salary per annum." On January i, 1851, the Rajahmundry mission and mis- sionaries passed under the control of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod, which thus doubled the number 1 The executive committee, as then constituted, included the Revs. Dr. Henry N. Pohlmann, chairman; J. Z. Senderling, corresponding secretary; Wm. D. Stroebel, Wm. N. Shell and C. A. Smith. 92 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA of its missionaries and the area and importance of its mis- sion operations in India. Spurred by the prompt and hearty response of the Church to the call for the extension of its foreign mission work, and conscious of the need of more missionaries to man its larger field, the Executive Committee proceeded, in February, 1851, to call another missionary. William E. Snyder was born in Allamachy, Warren County, N. J., June 27, 1823. His father, Andrew B. Snyder, was by occupation a miller. His mother, Charlotte Sophia, who died in 1835, was the only sister of the Rev. George B. Miller, D. D., professor of theology in Hartwick Seminary. After the death of his mother, William went to Hartwick, N. Y., where he attended public school, his father having meanwhile removed to New Brunswick, N. J., and, in 1848, to Paterson, N. J. In 1838 William became a member of the Lutheran Church in Hartwick. He completed his classical studies in Rutgers College, New Jersey, from which he was graduated in 1844. Returning to Hartwick he studied theology under his uncle and graduated from the seminary in two years. He was licensed to preach by the Hartwick Synod at Berne, Albany County, N. Y., in 1849, after which he was employed as a teacher in Hartwick Seminary, where a lively interest was taken in the foreign mission work of the Church. After he had accepted the call to be a foreign missionary, he was examined, ordained and commissioned at a special meeting of the ministerium of the Hartwick Synod on Wed- nesday, July 30, 1851, in Schoharie, N. Y., the Rev. G. A. Lintner, newly-elected General Agent of The Foreign Mission- ary Society, preaching the sermon. Before his ordination, on May 6th, he married Susan Maria, 1 daughter of the Rev. Mr. St. John, a Presbyterian minister. Together they sailed in the company of Rev. and Mrs. W. J. Cutter from Boston, August 11,1851, and reached Guntur February 20,1852. Their arrival on the field increased the mission force to six ordained mis- sionaries and three missionaries' wives. 1 She was born March 24, 1820, at Milford, Otsego County, N. Y., and was educated in Genesee and Cooperstown, N. Y. THE FOUNDING OF THE RAJAHMUNDRY MISSION 93 Gunn had gone to his eternal reward, the first missionary from the Lutheran Church in America to lay down his life on a foreign mission field. He died of consumption July 5, 1851, lamented by his widow and two children, Martin Luther and Ellen, by all the missionaries, by the English residents and by the native Christians in Guntur, some of whom had visited him during his last illness and had left his bedside deeply impressed with the strength, comfort, courage and hope of Christian faith in the face of death. 1 In the minutes of the Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society the following tribute is found: "Our brother, Rev. Walter Gunn, had respectable attainments. He was evangelical in his views and principles, irreproachable in all his conduct, of humble, devoted and ardent piety. In his missionary life he was truthful, upright, faithful, courageous and persevering. As his motto was, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me" his favorite hymn so in his preaching would he have Christ presented to the heathen heart and formed therein. He has finished his work. He sleeps his last sleep. He has gone up to join Ziegenbalg and Schwartz and Martin and a host of worthies who have fallen in bloodless battles on India's shores." His remains were buried in the Christian cemetery in Guntur by the side of his infant son, Herman Francke, on Sunday afternoon, July 6th. Heyer and Groenning conducted the funeral services in English and Telugu. They were at- tended by the district judge, the chief magistrate, the assist- ant collectors, the commanding officer, the government en- gineer, the government physician, and a large number of natives, both Christian and Hindu. The coffin was carried in a palankeen by twelve bearers from the house to the cemetery. At the gate of the cemetery twelve invalided native sepoys took up the palankeen and carried it to the grave. Messrs. Stokes and Nesbit and other English residents of Guntur placed a monument on the grave. Mr. Stokes, who was five l To Judge Rohde, who visited him the day before his death, the dying missionary feebly whispered: "I know in whom I have believed and am per- suaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." II. Timothy 1:12. 94 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA hundred miles away and could not attend the funeral, wrote to the bereaved widow this fine tribute: "His life shone clear and steady and many have had reason to glorify God in him. His pure and tender spirit, his hearty love for his brethren, his meekness, his patient labor, his unrepining sufferings in all he has left us a bright and valuable example." CHAPTER IX THE FIELD OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY AT the close of the year 1851, after Ellore had been aban- doned as a station, the American Evangelical Lutheran Mis- sion in India, under the control of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod, occupied three strategic points in the Telugu country: Guntur on the south, Rajahmundry on the north, and the Palnad district, west of Guntur. Apart from Heyer's work in the Palnad district, however, practically no work was done outside of the towns of Guntur and Rajah- mundry. Valett left Rajahmundry soon after his transfer to The Foreign Missionary Society. He had been in India seven years and desired to return to Germany on furlough. He was permitted to do so and left Rajahmundry March 9, 1851. After the expiration of his furlough The Foreign Missionary Society's executive committee dispensed with his services on the ground of financial stringency. He returned to India, however, as a missionary of the London Missionary Society, and labored at Bellary and Chicacole for seven years, from 1852 to 1859. Later he accepted a pastorate hi Hannover, Germany, became Superintendent with residence at Sand- stedt, near Bremen, and continued in this office until 1887, when he retired on a pension. He died in Bremen on March 23, 1892, aged seventy-nine years. Heise continued the mission work at Rajahmundry. In an official communication to Rev. Jacob Z. Senderling, cor- responding secretary of The Foreign Missionary Society, he wrote, on April 7, 1851, as follows: "I shall endeavor to give you, according to your just wishes, a brief description of the place and district of Rajah- mundry from the missionary point of view, and also a short 95 g6 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA account of the mission work and the present state of the mission. "By the natives the town Rajahmundry is called Rajah- mahendrawaram, which means the great King Indrudu's gift. It is a very ancient town of about 14,0x30 inhabitants, situated on the N. E. side of the Godavery River, and is the seat of two judges, one collector and two assistant collectors. Four miles to the south is Dowlaishwaram, a place recently become of much importance in consequence of the anicut or dam, built four miles long across the Godavery, preventing the water from flowing into the sea in its natural course and leading it by a great system of canals into the surrounding country for irrigation purposes. In this great work Col. Cotton, a sincere follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, and about twelve engineers are employed. Under them are a great many sub-officers and about nine thousand native laborers. To the south of Dowlaishwaram lies the very fertile Godavery delta with its densely populated villages and towns, among which there are several of importance for missionary opera- tions, such as Coconada and Koringa. Two other important places are Pittapur and Peddapur, residences of native princes. Only two miles from Peddapur is Samulkot, a large place and a military station with one regiment of native in- fantry. "The population of the Rajahmundry district is about 700,000. The people generally surround the preacher, seem- ingly paying attention, but the larger number of hearers I dare scarcely compare with the wayside of our Lord's parable, for they do not allow the Word to reach their hearts. There are others, however, who are dissatisfied with their philo- sophical religion and appear to be more inclined to pay heed to the Gospel. In general the people are of a civil and oblig- ing disposition and are given to their religion and customs, because of their reverence for everything that has come down from their forefathers, and because they are carnally minded. . . . The visible fruits of our missionary labors are rather meagre. Only four adults have been received into the Church by Holy Baptism. Considering our unworthiness, THE FIELD OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 97 the difficulties with which we must contend and the power of Satan in the land, I have no doubt but that you feel grateful with us for these firstfruits. Besides the daily devotions with our servants, which others are permitted to attend, we conduct a divine service in Telugu every Sunday, and every Sunday evening an English service for the English residents and East Indians who desire to attend. Recently we also began Telugu services in Dowlaishwaram. We did so at the invitation of a number of Christian people residing there. Since Mr. Valett has left me alone at the station, I have not been able to hold regular services there on Sunday, but go during the week to preach and examine the school which is supported by one of the engineers at work on the anicut. Preaching and conversation with inquirers who come to our homes occupy most of our time. Though we have not many converts, we perceive that the name of our blessed Lord is being made known in this district. "The number of boys in our English school, which during the past two years, in particular, had been in charge of Brother Valett, has fallen off since his departure, and at present the school enrolls only nineteen boys. Upon the desire of some natives, a Telugu school has been begun in a village near Rajah- mundry. 1 About twelve boys attend. The teacher is one of our converts. His pay is Rs. 5 per month. At present the monthly expense of the English school is Rs. 33 (about 15 dollars). Rs. 4 are paid for a peon and ten annas for a sweeper- woman. The regular monthly subscription of English residents toward the school fund amounts to Rs. 47. Rs. 1000 have accumulated as a school fund, and have been invested. The interest now amounts to Rs. 150. I have a balance in hand, not yet deposited, of Rs. 395, so that the total school fund amounts to Rs. 1545. There are also two other small sums in my hand, namely, Rs. 50, given to sink a well in the mission compound, and Rs. 53, given to purchase tents. To the mission is also entrusted a poor fund, the monthly contributions amounting to between Rs. 30 and 40, which the missionaries may dis- tribute according to their best judgment. More than thirty 1 Probably Muramunda. 7 98 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA poor people receive alms daily and, at the same time, hear the preaching of the Word. Native Christian helpers we have, at the present time, none. Last year we were obliged to discharge our catechist for neglect of duty. The work at the station has never been interrupted. If one of the mis- sionaries was out in the district, the other remained at the station. Though Brother Valett was obliged to leave the station during the hot season, I was permitted by our good Lord to remain and attend to the duties here every hot season since my arrival in this country. ... I am at present alone at this station but hope that He in whose work we are engaged will soon by your instrumentality send others to help destroy the works of the devil and preach the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which alone sinners can obtain that which is needed to stand before God and obtain peace, joy and life eternal." Heise's wish for a co-laborer was soon gratified. He was joined, early in 1852, by the Rev. W. J. Cutter and his wife, Margaret, for while Snyder remained in Guntur, Cutter pro- ceeded at once to Rahjahmundry, where he took charge of the Anglo-vernacular school ; and Mrs. Cutter established the first girls' school. Cutter worked so zealously that by the end of the year five schools were established with a total enroll- ment of 175 pupils; and a Mohammedan department was added to the English school, only, however, to be almost im- mediately abandoned. During this period of comparatively rapid development, Heyer, still the missionary of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, was doing splendid work in the Palnad. To the 39 converts of his first years' work he added 125 before the close of 1850, and soon thereafter, in February, 1851, realizing that the growth of the mission depended upon the training and em- ployment of efficient native Christian helpers, he reopened the boys' boarding school at Gurjal with 12 pupils. The First English Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, to whose Sunday school he had written about this school, sent $50 for the education of two of the boarding boys, stipulating that the beneficiaries were to bear the names of Martin Luther and William Passa- THE FIELD OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 99 vant. Similar conditions, though odd enough, itmust be admitted, were not infrequently attached to gifts for the sup- port of boys or girls in mission schools. Heyer simply added the desired names to the baptismal names of his pupils, calling one John Martin Luther and the other William Barnabas Passavant. Another significant thing that Heyer did, in 1851, was to translate Luther's Small Catechism into Telugu, of which a small edition was printed in Madras. Hastening to Guntur to be with the dying Gunn during the last days of his life on earth, he returned to Gurjal immediately after the funeral. Three girls were admitted to the boarding school in the fall of 1851, for whose support Miss Harriet Weyman of Pittsburgh contributed $50 annually for a number of years. At the opening of the new school-year in January, 1852, the boarding school enrolled 21 pupils. Heyer conducted the school in his little house in Gurjal. It is difficult to under- stand how, with the meagre accommodations, it was possible for him to do so. His work in the Palnad district ended in February, 1853. In four years he had baptized no less than 243 persons, 1 nearly all of them being of the weaver and farmer castes; 35 adults were counted as communicants. In Gurjal, Polepalli, Vel- durti and Macherla small schoolhouses built of stone at an average cost of $40 each had been erected. The lots were enclosed by stone walls and used in part as Christian ceme- teries. In eight other villages schools had been more or less regularly conducted, all of which were attended by Christian children only, "the children of heathen parents not being excluded but excluding themselves." All of the seven school teachers employed were Christian converts, as were also the catechist and the two colporteurs of the district. At the suggestion of the Executive Committee of The For- 1 Recorded as follows: Polepalli, February 12, 1849, 22 persons; May 27, 1849, u; Veldurti, September 23d, 4; Gurjal, October 5th, 2; Polepalli, Decem- ber 15, 1850, 29; Kolacotta, December isth, 22; Veldurti, December i7th, 44; Macherla, December igth, 30; Polepalli, April 13, 1851, i; Gurjal, April 27th, 4; Veldurti, February 20, 1852, i; Polepalli, February 22d, 8; Gurjal, June 27th, 18; Adigopula, August 29th, 19; Macherla, September 26th, 13; Gurjal, December aStb, 6; Polepalli, January 15, 1853, 9. 100 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA eign Missionary Society the missionaries, five in number, met and organized on January 31, 1853, in Guntur, the first "Lutheran Synod in India" for mutual counsel and encour- agement. Heyer was elected president and Snyder secretary. The synod decided that Heyer and Groenning should exchange stations. Heyer, therefore, remained in Guntur and Groen- ning, on February i4th, moved to Gurjal. Mrs. Gunn had not left India after the death of her hus- band but had remained in Guntur, at the call of the Execu- tive Committee, to retain charge of the girls' school at one- half the salary paid her deceased husband, thus becoming the first regularly called and salaried woman missionary of the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission in India. Her school enrolled forty girls to whom she imparted the elements of knowledge, the truths of Christianity and some proficiency in the art of sewing. She managed the school for a little more than a year and then returned to the United States, Mrs. Groenning succeeding her. After Mrs. Groenning left with her husband for the Palnad district, Mrs. Snyder took charge and was the manager of the school for a year and a half, until she died at Guntur, September 3, 1854. Ten years had now elapsed since Heyer had established the mission in Guntur, and he was -again in charge of that station; but the progress had been so slow that only fifteen adult communicants belonged to the congregation. One hundred and fifty pupils were enrolled in six schools, and eight teachers, all Christians, were employed. 1 The mission property in Guntur consisted of the house which Gunn had built, valued at $650, another missionary's bungalow, pur- chased for $760, a chapel costing $200, and two schoolhouses, each worth about $25. Heyer had brought four of the boys from his Gurjal board- ing school to Guntur, and with these, together with three from Guntur, he began the first regular boarding school for boys in Guntur. 1 Stephen had charge of the Telugu school in the mission house. Aaron was his assistant. Peter taught the school at Nevalikanner, Ezra at Kot- lamur, Simeon at Moparti. Rebecca, the wife of Stephen, and Walter were employed in the girls' school. THE FIELD OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY IOI Although Mr. Stokes no longer resided in Guntur, having been appointed Collector at Madras, he continued to con- tribute regularly to the mission, offering, in 1853, to give Rs. 1000 toward the erection of two suitable bungalows for missionaries in the Palnad district, one to be located at Polepalli, and each to cost approximately Rs. 1500, provided a second missionary were stationed in the dis- trict. His condition could not be met and his offer was withdrawn. On January i, 1854, all of the missionaries met in Rajah- mundry to attend the second meeting of the "Synod," which was opened with a service and sermon in Telugu by Rev. C. W. Groenning, most appropriately based on John 6:27. The five foreign missionaries and fourteen native Christians partook of the holy communion. It is more than likely, although not expressly recorded, that some of these natives Christians had accompanied the missionaries from Guntur and the Palnad, for there were not yet so many adult communicants con- nected with the Rajahmundry congregation. In the after- noon another Telugu service was held, Rev. C. F. Heyer preaching the sermon. The business session began the next morning and continued until Thursday morning. Groenning was elected president and Cutter secretary. In his report Heyer recommended that steps be taken to unite all Lutheran missionaries hi India in one general synod, a proposal which is still, after more than fifty years, a consummation devoutly to be wished. It is interesting to note that the following lit- urgy was adopted as the one to be used everywhere in the mission: i. Hymn. 2. Prayer, kneeling. 3. Scripture lesson. 4. Hymn. 5. Sermon. 6. Hymn. 7. Prayer, standing. 8. Benediction. Three young native Christians were recom- mended for training as catechists and future pastors, namely: Chinsa Ramurdu of Rajahmundry, aged twenty- two; William Barnabas Passavant of the Palnad, aged sixteen; and Joseph of Guntur, aged fourteen. The following table of statistics was prepared and sent to The Foreign Missionary Society. It gives a bird's-eye view of the whole mission at the close of the year 1853 : 102 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA Boarding Other Baptisms 1 Schools Schools o stations tmunicar m a I v\ r= 1 1 3 ^_t H 3 73 n. ^4 a -. 3 CO O a < u q "tj i-J OO Q cu Guntur I i , 1C Q I i 6 6 140 TO Rajahmundry I 2 i? I o 4 o 8 225 Q Palnad.. . I 10 ^6 I 2 4 I it 6 70 6 Totals 3 13 84 17 ii 9 2 21 20 435 25 Heyer became the Rajahmundry missionary at the begin- ning of the year 1855. He was joined by Snyder in February, Cutter going to Guntur to assist Groenning with the work there and in the Palnad, which was left without a resident missionary. Heise left on furlough April i, 1855, on account of protracted illness after a trip of three weeks in a steamboat, one hundred and forty miles up the Godavery River, as the guest of Col. Cotton. The minutes of the third annual meeting of the First Lutheran Synod in India, held in Guntur, February 3, 1855, refer to a terrible epidemic in the Palnad during the hot season of 1854, and to the death of 10 Christians from this dreadful disease. Other deaths recorded were those of Emily, infant daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Snyder, in May; Walter Gunn, infant son of Rev. and Mrs. Cutter, in June; and Mrs. Snyder in September. The minutes also contain a resolution, recommending an allowance of $5 a month for each child of a missionary until it had reached the age of twelve years, and a fixed allowance to each missionary for furniture. The appointment of a treasurer in India was recommended. It had been the practice of the Executive Committee up to this time to send its remittances through the Rev. Mr. Wins- low of Madras, the agent of the American Board of Com- missioners for Foreign Missions. The growth of the Mission during the year 1854 may be 1 The whole number of baptisms in Guntur from the beginning to July 1854, was 104. COCOANUT PALMS IN INDIA A MANGO TREE CUTTING A BUNCH OF BANANAS A BANYAN TREE The elephant under this tree gives a good idea of the size of the tree with its numerous aerial roots. THE FIELD OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 103 noted by comparing the preceding table of statistics with the following one: Baptisms Schools/or Pupils Teachers | oJ I 3 ommunica S 3 Tl 2 'J3 en 1 O en e 0* S en tn 4) 15 w 3 s U U PQ C PQ O S fa Guntur . ... I 32 o 7 2 6 i 7o 20 6 _ Rajahmundry 2 14 7 z I 8 i 176 27 8 j Palnad.. . IO 4O 6 12 6 o <;? 7 6 n Totals 13 86 9 16 15 20 2 301 54 20 2 The receipts in India for the year, exclusive of the mis- sionaries' salaries, were Rs. 1031; the expenditures, Rs. 1116; and the estimated expenses for the coming year were Rs. 2100. The salaries of the missionaries amounted to $3200, the average for each missionary being $650 a year. While the congregation in Guntur was larger than the one in Rajahmundry, the educational work in the latter place was more promising than in the former. Heyer was the manager of the Anglo-vernacular school which enrolled 68 pupils in 1855, and Snyder was the manager of the Telugu schools, one of which was a girls' school in charge of Susanna Lavel, a con- vert, the wife of Chinsa Ramurdu, a Brahmin. Unfortunately, this first native Christian female teacher died in September, 1855. Heyer also established a boys' boarding school for the training of native workers, beginning with three boys who had followed him from Guntur, William Barnabas Passavant, John Martin Luther and Enoch, who, as the beneficiaries of the Sunday school of the First Lutheran Church of Pitts- burgh, remained under his personal care and supervision, and two boys from Rajahmundry, Jacob and Peeru. Snyder remained in Rajahmundry only a short tune. A physical collapse, subsequent to his heroic but unsuccessful effort to save the life of William Barnabas Passavant, who was drowned in a tank in Rajahmundry, forced him to leave India, March 24, 1856. About two months earlier Cutter with his wife and children had left Guntur on account of 104 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA Mrs. Cutter's serious nervous depression. They reached New York May 30, 1856, and Snyder landed there about two months later. Only two missionaries remained in India, Heyer at Rajahmundry and Groenning at Guntur. A loss as serious as that of any missionary was the departure of Mr. and Mrs. Stokes for England in 1856. Writing from Denver, Norfolk, England, under date of August 31, 1856, Mr. Stokes assured the Executive Com- mittee of The Foreign Mission Society of his continued interest in its Telugu Mission, encouraged it to send more missionaries and money, and relieved it of every financial in- debtedness to him. The committee frequently corresponded with him in England, consulted him about the Mission and received both advice and contributions; but his interest was gradually absorbed by the Church Missionary Society, of which he became an ardent supporter. He died in England in 1889. If we seek for the causes of the comparatively slow prog- ress of the Telugu Mission during the first decade, we find them, first of all, in the small force of foreign missionaries and the meagre financial support of the Church in America. Had not the English residents in Guntur, led by Collector Stokes, and in Rajahmundry, by Colonel Cotton, generously supported the missionaries, especially in the educational work, the results would, indeed, have been insignificant. To what extent the English residents in Guntur aided the mis- sionaries there and in the Palnad has already been told. What part the English residents in Rajahmundry took in the mission work may be observed from the fact that of Rs. 1300 required in 1854 for the work at that station, Rs. 1000 were contributed by Colonel Cotton and others, leaving a balance of only Rs. 300 (about $125) to be provided from America. Nor was that an exceptional year. Every year the contri- butions were proportionately the same. It is really surpris- ing how little, apart from the salaries of the missionaries, The Foreign Missionary Society spent on the Rajahmundry work. Besides their contributions in money, the English resi- dents sought to aid the missionaries by demanding of their THE FIELD OF THE FOREIGN MISSIONARY SOCIETY 105 servants regular attendance at the Telugu services conducted by the missionaries; but the minds and hearts of such attend- ants did not prove to be good ground. In 1853 the con- straint was removed from the native servants in Rajahmim- dry and, probably also, in Guntur, and though the attendance at the Telugu services was decreased, those who attended came voluntarily, and the number of converts increased more rapidly thereafter. Another cause for the slow increase of the number of converts was the practical confinement of evangelistic work to the towns of Guntur and Rajahmundry. In the Palnad, where most converts were made, the missionary toured the district; but the Guntur and Rajahmundry missionaries, obliged to look after their school work, rarely went out into the villages of the surrounding districts to preach. More- over, there were no native helpers to prepare the way for the foreign missionary or to follow up his work when he did preach in the district; and without competent native assist- ance district work is practically fruitless. At first the mis- sionaries did a good deal of preaching in the bazaars and streets of Guntur and Rajahmundry, speaking to any crowd which might be attracted and gathered about them; but they gradually discontinued this practice as unsatisfactory and relied more upon the educational work as an evangelizing agency, inasmuch as the children of Hindu, as well as of Chris- tian parentage, attending the schools, received instruction in Bible truths and facts. Before the missionaries could hope for any extensive success, it was necessary for them to raise up, train and em- ploy a numerous band of competent native Christian helpers teachers, evangelists and catechists to work with the mis- sionary and, in his absence, under his general oversight and supervision. Heyer, as we have noticed, was the founder of the boarding schools for Christian boys, which are training- schools for native workers, in the Palnad, in Guntur and in Rajahmundry; but many years were to elapse before these schools furnished native helpers in any considerable number and of any competent ability. The first teachers employed 106 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA by Heyer and Gunn were Hindus, the missionaries supple- menting the instruction by devoting several hours daily to the teaching of Christian truth. The Christian teachers who were engaged at first, were recent converts, raw material, uneducated men, untrained workers, even though sincere and faithful Christians. Little could be expected of them, and they accomplished little. Nevertheless, for the time and energy expended, the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission in the Telugu country showed as good results as any other mission in South India during the first decade of its history. CHAPTER X A PERIOD OF TRIALS HEYER LEAVES THE MISSION AMONG the Hindu girls who attended the Guntur Girls' School in the early fifties was Ruth. The Christian teachings made a profound impression upon her; but her parents bit- terly opposed her baptism. Despite their opposition she pre- sented herself for baptism in 1853, and Heyer administered the sacrament. Then Ruth's parents agitated against the school and most of the Hindu pupils were withdrawn ; but the school survived the ordeal, and, in 1856, Ruth was appointed a teacher; and three other girls, Christine, Marie and Lydia, were baptized by Groenning. Hardly had the agitation over their baptism subsided, when the Brahmin community was profoundly stirred by the conversion of one of their number, the first convert of that caste, in 1856. The immediate result of the hostility of the Brahmins was the withdrawal of thirty pupils from the English Boys' School, reducing the attendance to forty. The Brahmins sent in a petition for a Government School, but the Inspector, Mr. William McDonald, favored the Mission School and offered Groenning a grant-in-aid of Rs. 200 a month, if he would secre a qualified English headmaster and Rs. 100 were expended each month for teachers' salaries and apparatus. Groenning at once submitted the offer of the Inspector to the Executive Committee in America with his favorable recommendation, suggesting that the Rev. William E. Snyder, then on furlough, be appointed headmaster. Snyder had fully recovered his health and expressed his willingness to accept the appointment; but the Executive Com- mittee of The Foreign Mission Society, influenced by the adverse attitude of the American Board of Commissioners toward the acceptance of government grants, was disposed 107 I08 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA to withhold its approval. Groenning argued that the Christian character and aim of the school would in no wise be jeopard- ized by the acceptance of government grant and requested that the final decision be left to the missionaries in the field. Heyer sided with Groenning, and the Executive Committee reluctantly yielded and sent Snyder back to take charge of the school. Snyder formally applied for the grant in August, 1858, and obtained the Rs. 200 a month promised by the Inspector, and the recognition of the government, which went with it. Similar efforts were made by Heyer in behalf of the Anglo- vernacular school at Rajahmundry. Mr. McDonald visited his school in November, 1856, and encouraged him to apply for grant-in-aid. He did this in the following language: "If government will allow Rs. 150 a month and can get a trained man from England for this compensation, it will answer our purpose; but as it appears difficult to get teachers from England, I promise to get an A. M. or an A. B. from America. This gentleman, who may or may not be an or- dained minister, will share the management of the school with the missionary; but the missionary must always be regarded as the principal of the school." Heyer failed to secure a man from America, and the government proceeded to establish a school of its own at Rajahmundry. Thus, early in the history of the Rajahmundry Mission, it was handicapped in its educational work by competition with a government school. According to the report of the Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society to the General Synod, con- vened in Trinity Church, Reading, Pa., May, 1857, the mis- sion property in Guntur then consisted of about five acres of ground, on which two mission houses, a chapel, a school and teachers' houses had been built. The Telugu schools at the end of the year 1856 numbered six, only one of which was conducted outside of the limits of Guntur. Two Telugu ser- vices on Sunday and one during the week were usually held in the town. A Sunday school for boys had been started during the year. Nine native Christian teachers were under A PERIOD OF TRIALS HEYER LEAVES THE MISSION 109 employment, one of whom, Nathaniel, was being prepared for the holy ministry. The expense of the Girls' Boarding School, by strict economy, amounted to only Rs. 30, less than $15 a month. Apart from the salaries paid the missionaries, the work in Guntur cost The Foreign Missionary Society during the year 1856, about Rs. 800, less than $400; and in the Palnad district, Rs. 1091, less than $500. Groenning, living in Guntur, had charge of the work in the Palnad, where five native Christian teachers were employed: John at Kola- gutla, Jacob at Pillutla, Samuel at Veldurti, Simeon at Adi- gopula, Joseph at Macherla. In Rajahmundry and its vicinity there were seven schools. One of the native Christian teachers, Philip, spent part of his time as colporteur, selling and distributing Bibles, Testa- ments and tracts. His salary was paid by Mr. H. Newill, the collector, who, Heyer wrote, "in some measure took the place of Mr. Stokes." Five persons were baptized by Heyer in 1856: Peter, Barnabas, Eliza and two infants. The adult communicants numbered 21, the pupils in the girls' school, 32. To Miss H. Weyman, Pittsburgh, Heyer wrote concerning the Girls' School, May 15, 1856: "Our Girls' School at Rajahmundry is in part supported by what has been sent from Miss A.'s mission box. We have at present two teachers and thirty- two scholars. One of the teachers is a young woman, not long married, who can teach Telugu reading and writing, the multiplication table and plain sewing. Beyond these branches we do not attempt to go at present. Her name is Ruth. The other teacher is an elderly, motherly woman who was baptized about two years ago. She suffered persecution from her heathen relatives, and her husband would not allow her to return to his house, because she had become a Christian. However, a young man who is married to her daughter provided lodgings, and she has been living in his family ever since. Of her own accord she commenced learning the letters of the Telugu alphabet, and, being encouraged to go on, she has since learned to read and is now able to teach the smaller children. Her name is Joanna. She is a quiet, unassuming person, who acts a moth- 110 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA erly part toward the younger teacher and all the children in the school. The first class contains twelve; the second, nine; and the third, eleven children. Perhaps you will be amused at some of the strange names. The ages of the scholars are from five to fourteen years. Some of the older and larger pupils have commenced patch-work for quilts and appear to be pleased with the variety of colors which they are putting together. They are generally as lively and happy as little ducks. The eldest girl in the school is an ap- plicant for baptism." As early as 1854, while missionary at Guntur, Heyer begged for permission to return to the United States, plead- ing that, although he was enjoying good health, he was be- ginning to feel the approach of old age. As an alternative he proposed the sending out of a young man as his assistant, suggesting a reduction of his salary by $100 to be applied to that of the younger man. The Ministerium of Pennsylvania to which he addressed his communication, at its meeting in 1854, refused to permit Heyer's return and postponed the consideration of his proposal. When Heyer was transferred to Rajahmundry, Heise left it on furlough. The latter ex- pected to return to the field in 1856, when the former hoped to be allowed to take his furlough. Heise, however, was asked by the Executive Committee to come to America from Germany and present his cause in the churches here. He came, accompanied by his bride, a daughter of the Rev. Mr. Fordhammer of Holstein, Germany, whom he married on October 10, 1856. They spent several months in the United States. Concerning his visit the Executive Committee reported: "The visit of Brother Heise to this country was a happy circumstance. The man, his spirit, his modesty, his mental and missionary endowments, his zeal, his unwearied toil, proved him to be the man for his calling. Not unlike Dr. Duff he passed from city to city and from city to country, everywhere enlightening and gratifying crowded audiences and infusing a new missionary spirit. With his excellent, pious and amiable wife he blessed every home he visited, leav- ing behind endearments of the purest character, creating solic- A PERIOD OF TRIALS HEYER LEAVES THE MISSION III itude for their well-being and for the furtherance of the holy cause in which they are engaged. His visit would seem to have marked a new era in the history of our foreign mission." They left New York May 5, 1857, sailing by way of South- ampton, England, for India, reaching Madras on September 3, 1857, and Rajahmundry on January 18, 1858. Heyer had chafed under the delay of Heise's return to India. In a letter to Rev. William E. Snyder, written in January, 1857, he said: "If someone does not come soon to take my place, I suppose I must give over charge to Captain Taylor." The Executive Committee replied that it would raise no objection to his "relinquishing his connection with the mission and returning home, if he pleased," immediately after the missionaries to be sent to India "had been comfortably established." But Heyer did not wait. Packing his goods and leaving Captain Taylor in charge at Rajahmundry, he took passage in the steamer "Bentinck" bound for the Red Sea. The first intimation which the Executive Committee seems to have had of his leaving the mission was in a letter written on board the steamer in the Red Sea near Mt. Sinai, dated May 4, 1857. It was addressed to the Sunday school children of the Lutheran Church in America. "In one of my late communications," he wrote, "it was stated that it would not be advisable for me, on account of ill-health, to remain another hot season in India, and that I indulged the hope, before the end of 1857, to have the pleasure of visiting some of the schools and congregations in America, who give and pray for the conversion of the heathen. After some hesitation and planning the way seemed to be made plain, and on the i5th of April, when the hot season had already commenced, I em- barked at Madras in the steamer ' Bentinck' for Suez in Egypt. The Lord willing, we shall reach Suez on the 6th or 7th of May. From thence across the isthmus to Cairo we are to go in stages, called vans, each carrying six persons and drawn by four horses. If time permits, I shall go nine miles to the south of Cairo to have a look at the pyramids. From Cairo to Alexandria the passengers are carried in railroad 112 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA cars. My intention, at present, is to go from Alexandria to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, etc. Then, by way of Constantinople and Trieste to Germany, to visit the place of my nativity; and I hope to meet an only surviv- ing brother, whom I have not seen for nearly half a century. If life and health be spared, I shall probably embark at Hamburg or Bremen during August, once more to cross the Atlantic and to return to the land of civil and religious liberty." He landed at New York on August 6, 1857, almost ten years after he had started from America the second time for India, and only three months after Heise had left America. Although he was undoubtedly entitled to a furlough, he should have waited in India until Heise returned. His second, like his first, departure from the Mission was precipitous. Only one missionary remained in the Mission, Groenning at Guntur. Had it not been for the faithful and efficient super- vision of Captain Taylor, who looked after the work for nearly nine months, the Rajahmundry Mission might have suffered irreparable loss. During the years 1856 and 1857 the Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society made every endeavor to increase the force of missionaries. Arrangements were made, as we have noted, for the return of Heise and Snyder, and two new missionaries were called, the Rev. Erias Unangst and the Rev. Adam Long. But the society lacked sufficient funds to pay the passage of all these men to India. The American Board of Commissioners was unsuccessfully approached for a loan of $1000. Then a strong appeal was sent out to all the churches, and the response was so gratifying that, when Snyder, Unangst and Long sailed from America in the fall of 1857, the passage money, amounting in all to $1625, was available. Most of the foreign mission contributions continued to come from the Pennsylvania, New York, Hartwick, and Pittsburgh synods. The Minis terium of Pennsylvania regu- larly paid Heyer's salary of $600 a year in advance, and a A PERIOD OF TRIALS HEYER LEAVES THE MISSION 113 General Foreign Foreign Synod Mission Mission Meeting. Receipts. Expenditures. 1839 $2,284.79 $2,222.79 1841 1,265.12 642.82 1843 234.17 1845 1,137-39 1,749-15 1848 2,790.41 3,210.90 1850 4,230.42 4,230.32 I8S3 14,486.10 14,478.12 1855 ii,797-oo 11,485.93 1857 12,868.33 12,434.04 1859 11,876.18 11,697.64 number of its congregations 1 contributed toward the support of school-work. The following table is interesting as an index of the foreign mission activity of the Lutheran Church in America for the twenty years from 1839 to 1859: Supported. Rhenius, Palamcotta. Guetzlaff, Heyer. Gunn, Guntur. Gunn and Heyer. Gunn, Heyer, Martz. Guntur, Rajahmundry. Guntur, Palnad, Rajahmundry Guntur, Palnad, Rajahmundry. Guntur, Palnad, Rajahmundry. The increase of receipts from the year 1853 onward was due largely to the greater efficiency of the home administra- tion. In 1851 the Rev. G. A. Lintner, of Schoharie, N. Y., was appointed General Agent for The Foreign Missionary Society. In 1853 the society at its meeting in connection with the General Synod, at Winchester, Va., combined the offices of General Agent and Corresponding Secretary, elect- ing the incumbent of the latter to nil the new position at a salary of $700 annually. Resigning his charge at Brunswick, N. Y., November 15, 1853, the Rev. J. Z. Senderling entered upon the duties of the new office; but on January 21, 1856, when the society was financially embarrassed, he resigned as General Agent and accepted a call to the church at Johnstown, N. Y. He continued, however, to serve as a member of the Executive Committee and as the corresponding secretary of the Society. 1 The most liberal contributors were St. John's, Easton, the Revs. Dr. J. W. Richards and C. F. Schaeffer pastors; St. Michael's and Zion's, Philadelphia, the Revs. Dr. Demme, Reichert and Mann pastors; Trinity, Pottsville, the Rev. W. G. Mennig pastor; the Swamp Church, the Rev. N. Yeager pastor; Trinity, Reading, the Rev. F. A. M. Keller pastor; and Trinity, Kutztown. the Rev. G. A. Hinterleitner pastor. 8 CHAPTER XI DR. HEYER A HOME MISSIONARY IN MINNESOTA IN Father Heyer we have an incarnation of the inner unity of Home and Foreign Missions. When he was not a foreign missionary he was a home missionary. He returned from India and the work of converting heathen to an out- lying, newly settled district in the United States to gather scattered and neglected members of the Church and organize them into congregations; and he was as successful in the one as in the other sphere of activity. After his second return from India, Heyer visited his children and grandchildren in Somerset, Pa., and waited for the hand of God to direct him to some field of labor in the United States. He had not long to wait. Minnesota was then a newly settled territory to which many Germans and Scandinavians were migrating. The far- seeing eye of the Rev. William A. Passavant, D.D. observed this migration, and his sensitive ear caught the sound of the call of his brethren according to the faith to help them pre- serve and build up the Church of their fathers on the frontiers. At the Monday afternoon session of the East Pennsylvania Synod in St. John's Church, Lancaster, Pa., October 5, 1857, Dr. Passavant, after having presented the Orphans' Home cause, added a plea for the scattered Lutherans of Minnesota. He was a mighty advocate of any cause he espoused. The synod enthusiastically passed the following resolution: " Re- solved, That five hundred dollars be appropriated to the support of an English Lutheran mission in St. Paul, Minn., and that the Executive Committee of the Central Home Missionary Society of the General Synod endeavor to secure a suitable man for this important post." Dr. Passavant proposed the name of Dr. Heyer, whom the synod at once elected. The Central Home Missionary Society approved 114 DR. HEYER A HOME MISSIONARY IN MINNESOTA 11$ the action of the synod and commissioned Heyer in November of that year to go to St. Paul, reorganize the church of the Holy Trinity in that town and do such other mission work as opportunity offered. 1 Heyer reached St. Paul on November 16, 1857, and threw himself with all his vigor into the work. Before the close of the year he had gathered seventy communicants, Germans and Swedes, baptized eight children and organized a class of catechumens, six of whom he instructed in German and three in English. In January, 1858, a site for the church was pur- chased opposite the capitol building for $1500, Heyer making himself personally responsible for the payment of two-thirds of the purchase price. Another lot, which ex- Governor Ramsay had donated in 1855, was sold, and the proceeds were devoted to the building of the basement of the church, where the first service was held on October 17, 1858. While thus engaged in St. Paul, Heyer also began mission work elsewhere, preaching at Red Wing, Shakopee, Jordan City and a number of towns in Carver County; but Holy Trinity, St. Paul, demanded the bulk of his effort. As many as three hundred attended the service in that church on Sunday, April 24, 1859; and the report of the first year's work showed 44 baptisms, 16 confirmations and 109 commu- nicants. The original intention of establishing an English congregation, however, had to be abandoned, because most of those who were gathered were Germans and preferred to be ministered to in their mother-tongue. The Swedes were cared for by the Rev. Mr. Carlsson and established a small congregation in 1858. Nevertheless, Heyer occasionally preached an English sermon, "to prepare the way for some younger brother to come West and establish an English Lutheran church in St. Paul." A number of other Lutheran ministers had started mis- sions in other towns in Minnesota, and it was decided that the formation of a synod would be advisable. How small 1 In 1855 Rev. F. W. Wier had begun the establishment of a congregation in St. Paul with the aid of Senator Alexander Ramsay, ex-governor of Minne- sota. Il6 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA was that beginning! Three Lutheran missionaries met on July i, 1859, in Holy Trinity Church, St. Paul, and organized by electing Heyer president, and Rev. W. Thomson of Owatonna, secretary. The third man was Rev. M. Mallinson of Minneiska. Despite the success of Heyer in St. Paul, the Central Home Missionary Society of the General Synod, because of financial difficulty, threatened to withdraw its support. Then Dr. Passavant personally pledged $300 toward Heyer's salary and so insured the continuation of the work, which pros- pered and grew, insomuch that at the close of the second year Heyer reported 49 baptisms, n confirmed, 35 received otherwise, 130 communed and 50 Sunday school pupils. The second meeting of the Minnesota Synod in Holy Trinity Church, St. Paul, July 6, 1860, enrolled six clerical delegates, the three additional ones being Rev. F. W. Wier, St. Paul, Rev. A. Brandt, Frank Hill, and Rev. Charles Yough, New Oregon. Heyer, though absent, was re-elected president. He had gone East on a tour to collect funds for the completion of his church. Returning in December, 1860, with about $1200, he was able to finish the building, which was consecrated in October, 1861. After Heyer had installed Rev. G. Fachtmann, his suc- cessor, as pastor of Holy Trinity, St. Paul, on Sunday, July 13, 1862, he became the travelling missionary of the Pennsylvania Mimsterium in Minnesota, with headquarters at Red Wing. Starting westward from there on September nth, riding in a prairie wagon drawn by a blind horse, with supplies for a long journey and a spirit lamp on which to cook his food, going alone through a region which had but recently been the scene of an outbreak of Sioux Indians, he travelled to the extreme southeastern corner of the state and back again to Red Wing. 1 1 He stopped at Northfield, where in the home of Mr. Ludwig Albrecht he conducted a service attended by thirty Germans; at East Prairie, where Rev. S. Wier was located; Warsaw, then a new settlement of less than twenty houses, preaching hi English; Owatonna, Rev. W. Thomson, pastor loci; Marion, where the first Lutheran Church in Olmstead County was established by Rev. Mr. Mallinson; Hamilton, where a Sunday service was held by Heyer in a country schoolhouse about four miles from the town; Brownsville, which he reached on October 2d, and where on the following Sunday he held a service in DR. HEYER A HOME MISSIONARY IN MINNESOTA 117 In December, 1862, Heyer went to Stillwater, Minn., and organized St. John's Church, confirming ten catechumens and administering the Lord's Supper to fifty-six communicants. He left again in the month of February following, and started from Red Wing on another long tour. The winter was an unusually severe one. The lakes and streams were frozen over. The snow was deep. On the way to Centreville he lost the trail and found it again with great difficulty; and, again, near Crow River he lost his way in the forests and had to remain out all night. He went as far as Pelican Lake. On his return, ten miles from Hastings, he fell into the water and barely escaped death by drowning. St. John's, Stillwater, made rapid progress. In May, 1863, it entertained the Minnesota Synod, and in August that year it called a pastor, the Rev. F. W. Hoffmann. Minnesota had become an important and very promising home mission field, of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, which had four home missionaries at work there under the general supervision of Heyer. In 1864 Heyer spent several months in Somerset, Pa., where in May of that year he organized a German congrega- tion, purchased an old church property and ministered for a while to the twenty or more German families who joined in the movement. He served them without charge. Returning to Minnesota he concentrated his efforts on the establishment of a congregation at New Ulm, where a brick church was built and consecrated on June 17, 1866. After the Rev. Mr. Papp became the regular pastor of this flourishing congregation, Heyer planned to go to St. Anthony; but an attack of rheumatism forced him to relinquish his purpose, and he spent the winter of 1866-67 in Somerset, Pa. Then an opportunity presented itself for a return a schoolhouse; Crooked Creek, where he left his prairie wagon, walking back to Brownsville to take a boat to La Crescent; La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he preached to the congregation already established there on the same Sunday that the Rev. Mr. Stark, afterward pastor, preached a trial sermon; back to Browns- ville by boat, where he administered the Lord's Supper to thirty-eight com- municants and baptized five infants, one of whom was brought fourteen miles; and then through Caledonia, Preston, Chatfield, Rochester, Greenwood, Min- neiska and Wabashaw to Red Wing. Il8 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA to the less strenuous life of a settled pastorate, when, in March, 1869, the congregation in Cumberland, Md., grate- fully remembering the service he had rendered it forty-five years before, extended a call to him. But Heyer preferred to remain the Pennsylvania Ministerium's travelling missionary for Minnesota and resumed his labors in that field. The Minnesota Synod had re-elected him president, in 1867, for another term of two years, and thus he held this office with- out interruption for ten years. During this period he saw the synod grow from three to twenty-six clerical delegates. CHAPTER XII THE CRISIS THE history of the American Evangelical Lutheran Mis- sions in India has been marked by alternating periods of joy- ful activity and dispirited inertia, of elation over good results obtained and of discouragement over seeming failure, of com- paratively rapid progress and of slow retrenchment, of steady gains and of rapid decline; but in and through it all, the work of the conversion of individuals, of the establishment of the Church and of the christianization of the people has been un- interruptedly carried on to its present stage of development. A reinforcement of three missionaries reached the field in 1858, and the prospect looked exceptionally bright. As one after the other of the missionaries, however, resigned or died, and none were sent to fill the gaps, the work languished, and the interest and effort in the Church at home, dissipated by the Civil War and by internal dissensions in the General Synod, dwindled and almost died out. Adam Long, one of the new missionaries sent out in 1858, was born December 14, 1825, in Clarion County, Pa. He was graduated from the Academy at Zelienople and, in 1850, entered Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa. After com- pleting his college course he studied theology in the Gettys- burg Seminary. He was ordained at the meeting of the West Pennsylvania Synod at Chambersburg, Pa., September 29, 1857, and two weeks afterward, November i2th, he mar- ried Marie Diettrich, of Ohio. Erias Unangst, the other new missionary, was born in 1824, in Lehigh County, Pa. He entered the Preparatory Department, Pennsylvania College, in 1847, and was gradu- ated from the college in 1854. He was ordained in 1857, an d on September 24th, that year, married Phoebe Milliken of Lewistown, Pa. 119 120 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA A farewell meeting and service of commissioning for these new missionaries and for Rev. William E. Snyder, who was returning to India, was held on the evening of October 13, 1857, in Trinity Church, Reading, Pa. They sailed from Boston on December 23, 1857, in the company of four Ameri- can Board missionaries, and arrived at Madras on March 14, 1858, Snyder being accompanied by his daughter, Lottie, as well as by his second wife, Mary Jane, the daughter of Jesse Orner of Reading, Pa. Groenning, who had remained in India twelve years, having been promised a furlough after the arrival of the new mis- sionaries, at once left Guntur with his wife and four children and reached Hamburg on September 13, 1858. Snyder took charge of the work in Guntur and the Palnad, Unangst remaining with him. Long went to Rajahmundry. The educational work occupied most of Snyder's time and attention. The English School which, in 1858, began to re- ceive grant-in-aid from the Government, enrolled 52 pupils, many of them Brahmins. In the Telugu schools of Guntur and its vicinity 55 boys were being instructed by seven native Christian teachers. Mrs. Unangst succeeded Mrs. Groenning as the manager of the Guntur Girls' School in which about 40 girls were taught by three teachers, Walter, Ruth and Rebecca. 1 Heise, in September, 1857, had succeeded Heyer at Rajah- mundry as the missionary of the Pennsylvania Ministerium. The number of communicants in Rajahmundry (22) was smaller than in Guntur (30), but the number of pupils in school continued to be larger, the Anglo-vernacular School enrolling 80, the six Telugu schools 160, and the Girls' School 45 pupils. Thirteen teachers in all were employed. The Christian community, including the baptized children, num- bered 120. The work at Guntur and in the Palnad was just beginning to regain headway under the efficient management of Snyder, when God removed him suddenly by death. He had finished 1 Walter was the headmaster; Ruth was the wife of Henry, the missionaries' butler; Rebecca was the wife of Stephen. TELUGU POTTERS AT WORK TELUGU GOLDSMITHS The boy apprentice is blowing upon the fire through a bamboo pipe. The master goldsmith is a devotee of the god Siva, showing, as do all Sivaites, horizontal chalk marks on his chest, arms, and forehead. TELUGU BASKET MAKERS WORKING IX FRONT OF THEIR HUT TELUGU CARPENTERS SAWING A LOG OF WOOD THE CRISIS 121 a successful tour in the Palnad, accompanied by Joseph and Walter, having baptized thirty-nine adults and forty children, when, on the day of his return to Guntur, he was stricken with cholera. After an illness of only three days he died on March 5, 1859. l Ten months after his arrival at Rajahmundry, Long moved to Samulkot. The advisability of starting a new station somewhere in the thickly populated region between Rajah- mundry and the coast had been discussed at the conference of missionaries, December 25, 26, i858, 2 and the following resolu- tion had been unanimously adopted: "Resolved, That we proceed immediately to organize a station at Pittapur or Peddapur, and that brother Long be requested to occupy either of these places as soon as possible." Long decided to begin at Samulkot rather than at either of the places recom- mended, because Captain Todd, the officer in command of the 28th regiment of English soldiers, quartered at Samulkot, urged him to come there and offered the temporary use of one of the officers' houses in the cantonment. On January 31, 1859, Long occupied Samulkot. Soon thereafter Mrs. Long began a school for boys, held on the verandah of their home, starting with thirty-five English, Eurasian and Hindu boys. Long conducted an English service every Sunday in the can- tonment for the officers and soldiers, and preached Telugu every Wednesday evening in the bazaar. He also organized a Telugu Sunday school. Occasionally he went to Coconada, Peddapur and Pittapur to preach. The Executive Committee in America sanctioned the building of a missionary's bungalow at Samulkot, and a site was obtained through the Collector, containing about twelve acres, on the road from Samulkot to Peddapur. The work of excavating for the foundations had been begun when word was received that the lot should not be given to the Mission 1 His widow and daughter at once returned to the United States, the former going to her parents' home in Reading, the latter to her grandfather in Paterson, N.J. 2 Five towns were under consideration, namely, Samulkot, with approxi- mately 20,000 inhabitants; Peddapur, with 20,000; Pittapur, with 20,000; Co- conada, with 18,000, and Jaggampetta. 122 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA but should be offered for public sale. Then Long bought it for Rs. 240. Meanwhile he had been obliged to vacate the house in the cantonment, and for several weeks he lived in a tent. William Black, Esquire, headmaster of the Government school at Rajahmundry, hospitably entertained the missionary and his wife until the Samulkot bungalow was completed, and even loaned him money for the undertaking. The house was finished in February, 1861. It was a one-story building with a verandah, built of rough stone, containing three main rooms, a small bedroom, a pantry and a dressing room. The roof was tiled and the floor laid with stone and plastered. Samulkot has been "stony ground" from the beginning. The presence of the English soldiers in the town proved to be a disadvantage to mission work. Long reported three adult communicants in 1860, five the next year and eight in 1865. On his tours in 1864 Long visited fifty- three villages and towns, and, in 1865, sixty-four, preaching wherever he went and distributing hundreds of Bibles, Testaments and tracts. Long was the Samulkot missionary for six years. From such a short period of residence very little could be expected. Sev- eral adult conversions were recorded, and seven infants were baptized by him. In the fall of 1860 Groenning returned to Guntur. He had sailed from Hamburg, Germany, with his wife and two younger children, on September 220!, leaving his three elder children with relatives and friends in Germany. In March, 1862, Heise having been forced to resign and leave the Mission on account of ill-health, 1 Groenning went to Rajahmundry. At his own request and because he was the only experienced missionary on the field, the Palnad district was placed under his supervision, though it was manifestly impossible for him to give it much attention from such a distant point as Rajah- mundry. Before leaving Rajahmundry Heise joined the other mis- sionaries in the submission of the following resolutions to the Executive Committee of the Foreign Missionary Society, passed at a meeting of the missionaries held in January, 1862: 1 Heise afterward lived and labored at Kiel Germany. THE CRISIS 123 "i. A native ministry is considered very desirable if we could find men of faith and vital piety for it. Such a native ministry should receive a salary of Rs. 20 a month. "2. English schools are to be considered as a secondary means of spreading the truth, wherein the higher castes, desir- ing to learn the English language, consent to listen to Bible teaching. An English school, however, should not occupy more than two hours a day of a missionary's time. The rest of the day should be devoted to evangelistic effort. "3. Telugu schools are necessary means of disseminating the good seed into the hearts of children and parents. "4. Public preaching in the bazaars and villages affords the best opportunity of learning the difficulties and hin- drances which prevent the masses from accepting Christianity, and of preparing the way for inquiry concerning the truth as it is in Jesus. "5. An examination in Telugu for every missionary after two years in the country or, under unfavorable circumstances, after three or four years, would be desirable. "6. Every missionary should be willing to labor where the Executive Committee desires, and to spend and be spent for the cause of the Master." Groenning toured in the Palnad district in September, 1862, and again in August, 1863, spending about five weeks each time in the district and two weeks on the journey thither and back. On his second tour he baptized sixteen persons and administered the Lord's Supper to one hundred communi- cants in six congregations. 1 In October, 1862, the services of a Eurasian catechist, R. E. Cully, were secured for the Palnad district, where he did satisfactory work. Concerning the educational work Groenning wrote: "The worst of it is that, after the pupils have learned a little about the Gospel, their parents take them out of school and put them to work in the fields, where they can earn a little more than we can give them as pupils; and unless we give them 1 He reported the number of adult Christians in the district to be 196, inquirers 130, pupils 89. Johan taught in Polepalli, Zaccheus in Adigopula, Samuel in Pillutla, Jacob in Jaggareish, Johan in Mutukuru, Lazarus in Taralla, Christian in Mandadi and Samuel in Veldurti. 124 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA something for coming to school we cannot get them. It is different in Denmark, where parents are obliged to send their children to school. You might argue that, if Hindu parents will not send their children to school without being paid for it, they ought to be left to their fate; but the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost, and we, His followers, wish by all lawful means to do the same. We even have boarding schools in which we provide everything for the pupils." The mis- sionaries, it appears, admitted not only the sons and daughters of baptized Christians but also unbaptized children, as free boarding pupils, a practice which experience has proved to be inadvisable. Although the financial support of English residents in Guntur had practically ceased, Judge J. H. Morris and Cap- tain C. Taylor of Rajahmundry contributed liberally toward the school work in that town, giving as much as an average of Rs. 60 a month. Moreover, the Pennsylvania Ministerium sent $150 a year especially for school work in charge of its missionary. Consequently the educational work in Rajah- mundry continued to make a better showing than that in Guntur. Outside of Rajahmundry, Telugu schools were con- ducted at Dowlaishwaram and Muramunda, each attended by about thirty pupils. Groenning was undoubtedly the most successful of the early missionaries at Rajahmundry. The records show that, in 1863 and 1864, he baptized twenty adults and eight children ; in 1865, eleven adults and four children ; and on the last Sunday which he spent at the station, in September, 1865, eleven persons, including infants. Forty native Christians received the Lord's Supper that day. When Groenning learned that no reinforcements could be sent from America for years, he turned to Germany in the hope of securing one or more missionaries. He corresponded with his brother-in-law, Mr. Nagel of Hamburg, Germany, and with Rev. Ludwig Harms, founder of the Hermannsburg Missionary Society, urging them to come to the rescue of the American Evangelical Lutheran Mission in India. Under date of June 21, 1864, Groenning wrote to the THE CRISIS 125 Executive Committee in America: "On the last day of May I received a very cheering letter from Pastor Harms, in which he promised to send a man to help as a missionary here. I feel very thankful for this kind offer, and I am sure you will acknowledge herein the hand of Providence. In the month of December ult., I wrote to him to say that on account of the war in America it seemed impossible for my society to send any reinforcements for some time. If he would send a proper man, you would most probably support him by and by. To my surprise he has written that he would. If you feel that it would tax your resources too heavily to carry on this mission station, Pastor Harms, I think, would be willing to take it from you; but if you feel strong enough, his society may look for some other place in this vicinity. May the Lord guide you and me in this important matter. Some tune ago I learned from a conversation with an English lady that an- other denomination intended establishing a station or two in this district." The result of this correspondence was that Pastor Harms secured and sent out the Rev. August Mylius with instructions to arrange with Groenning for the occupation of Rajahmun- dry as the field of the Hermannsburg Society in India. My- lius reached Rajahmundry in March, 1865. The Executive Committee of the Foreign Missionary Society, however, was unwilling to make the transfer, and Mylius, acting under in- structions, looked for unoccupied territory in the Telugu country, and located finally at Sulurpet and Naydupet. During the hot season of 1865, Groenning, his wife and their two younger sons were seriously ill. One of the children died and was buried in the mission cemetery. Physicians ordered the return of the missionary and his family to the temperate zone. The Executive Committee in America, though willing under the circumstances to grant the mis- sionary a furlough in Germany, was unable to forward the money required for the journey. Friends in Denmark, however, to whom Groenning appealed, supplied him with the necessary funds, and in September, 1865, he left the Mission. He never returned; but he continued to take the deepest in- 126 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA terest in the Mission to the day of his death and gave one of his sons as a missionary. Long succeeded Groenning at Rajahmundry ; but scarcely had he begun there when death claimed him, on March 5, 1866, a victim of small-pox, contracted from a little boy whom he nursed. Of his three children who were ill with the same disease at the time of his death, two died and were laid to rest by the side of their father in the mission cemetery. Eight years he had been in the field and had been a patient, faithful missionary. He laid down his life as a sacrifice to the great cause in obedience to the last command of the Saviour. One missionary was left, Unangst, at Guntur. He con- tinued his residence there and undertook to supervise the whole Mission. Cully was the catechist for the Palnad. Joseph and Paulus were appointed catechists for the Rajah- mundry work, Joseph residing at Rajahmundry and Paulus at Muramunda. Judge Morris and Captain Taylor agreed to look after the school work in Rajahmundry. In July, 1866, Unangst visited Rajahmundry. On the evening of the seventeenth of that month he administered the Lord's Supper at Rajahmundry to fifty communicants, Judge Morris and Captain Taylor communing with the native Chris- tians. On the twenty-first he administered the Holy Com- munion to three native Christians in Coconada, and the next day he was in Samulkot. The following Sunday he spent in Rajahmundry. Concerning this part of the Mission he wrote: " Rajahmundry needs a resident missionary. The immersion- ists, Plymouth Brethren, are enticing our members away, as if there were not enough for them to do among the heathen. Several of our teachers have been alienated. Unless a mis- sionary occupies that place soon, there will be very little left for us to look after, and we shall, perhaps, be obliged, whether we will or not, to surrender the field to a sect whom we do not very much feel like patronizing." We may stop for a moment at this critical stage of the history of the American Lutheran Missions in India, after twenty-five years of work, to see what its condition was as shown by statistics. There were four stations: Guntur, THE CRISIS 127 Rajahmundry, Samulkot and the Palnad. The out-stations or villages in which Christians resided numbered 29. The number baptized from the beginning to the close of the year 1867, was 1140; the number of Christians 680; of communi- cants, about 350. Three catechists, two colporteurs and twenty-three teachers were employed. In twenty-two schools there were about three hundred pupils. The number of bap- tisms reported by Unangst in 1867 was forty-five adults and fifty-one infants. Now let us turn from the foreign field to the Home-Church. The decline of foreign mission interest and effort during the seventh decade of the past century must be attributed to two causes, namely: first, the Civil War which began in the spring of 1861, and lasted four years; and secondly, confes- sional differences hi the General Synod, which culminated in a division and in the formation, in 1867, of a second general body of Lutherans, the General Council. The income of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod became increasingly inadequate. The Penn- sylvania Ministerium contributed annually $900 for the salary of a missionary and about $150 in addition for school work; but no effort was made to increase the contributions from year to year. The other synods in the General Synod dis- played no more energy than the mother synod. Moreover, some of them allowed the India Mission to suffer by giving a large part of their contributions to the mission in Africa, which had been started as an independent enterprise but afterward had been placed under the care and control of The Foreign Missionary Society. The outbreak of the war, in the spring of 1861, compelled the omission of the regular biennial convention of the General Synod that year, and, as a consequence, the treasury of The Foreign Missionary Society suffered ; and the close of the year's accounts showed a deficit of $3000. Nevertheless, the General Synod at its conven- tion in 1862, at Lancaster, Pa., adopted a resolution, pro- posed by the Pittsburgh Synod, to begin a mission in China. This, surely, was an indication of great faith in the promise of the Lord and of confidence in the Church's ability to under- 128 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA take great things. Rev. R. Neumann, who at one time had been a missionary in China and whose plea for that land had moved the Pittsburgh Synod to present its resolution, was called to be the General Synod's missionary to China and was authorized to raise $2000 for the proposed undertaking. He, however, declined the call and no further steps in this direction were taken. For twenty-five years the Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society had practically remained intact. Its leading members had been the Rev. H. N. Pohlman, D. D., the Rev. G. A. Lintner, D. D., and the Rev. J. Z. Senderling. It had unquestionably been faithful to its trust. The Gen- eral Synod, however, now demanded a change in the admin- istration of the affairs of The Foreign Missionary Society, and an entirely new committee was elected in 1866. The Rev. E. Greenwald was made chairman ; the Rev. L. E. Albert, corresponding secretary; and the Rev. A. C. Wedekind, the Rev. J. E. Graeff and G. P. Ockershausen, Esq., were the other members of the committee. The new committee asked the Rev. C. W. Groenning to return to India, but he declined and accepted a pastorate at Apenrade, Denmark. Neverthe- less, at the solicitation of the committee he took two young men, C. F. J. Becker and H. C. Schmidt, into his home to pre- pare them for work in the service of the American society. After the organization of The General Council, in 1867, the Pennsylvania Ministerium and the other synods associated with it in the new body, withdrew their support from The Foreign Missionary Society whose income fell from $19,346 for the biennium 1865 and 1866, to $15,875 for the succeeding biennium. The following letter from India reveals the condition of affairs at this crisis, both in the Mission and in the Church at home. Guntur, December 5, 1868. To the Evangelical Lutheran Churches in the United States. Dear Friends: I regret very much that we are obliged to inform you, that we and our Mission are in want and dis- tress. The last letter from our corresponding secretary THE CRISIS 129 gives rather a gloomy picture of the condition of the foreign mission enterprise in our Church, so that we have little or no hope of a reinforcement of missionaries at present. Our treasurer's last letter is dated May 4, 1868. By this letter we got only $1000 for us and our Mission. Since that time we have received nothing, and yet we have had to live and meet all the pecuniary demands of the Mission. Ten teachers and a catechist in the Guntur district, Mr. Cully and eight teach- ers in the Palnad district, a catechist, a colporteur and five teachers in Rajahmundry and Samulkot, had all to be paid their salaries. Incidental expenses and our own living had also to be met. In order to do all this we have been obliged to borrow upward of $1000 (Rs. 2000) from native mer- chants. The interest on this amount is $15 a month. The annoyance and vexation which thus harass us in consequence of our present want and distress may be more clearly imagined than described. I do not know what you would do under similar circumstances. Perhaps you would resign, attach the mission property, clear your debts, secure your own lawful share and retire. If not, then do you wish us to go on and manage the Mission and conduct its various operations by means of borrowed capital? We can hardly believe that you have such a wish, nor can we think that your hearts are so callous as to be insensible to the loud appeals of humanity and the cause of Christ. We, therefore, appeal to you for relief. Some new missionaries are wanted in our Mission, with several thousand dollars, or else you must give up the work to those who would be willing and ready to furnish both missionaries and money for this field. Our good work here is increasing on our hands, and we feel powerless to take hold of it and carry it on vigorously. Only recently news came from five villages where there are new inquirers. All we can do is to invite the people to come to Guntur. How can we incur additional expense for travelling and go to see these and other places hi our mission field, unless you promptly relieve us and pay the Mission's debt which, by the time you see and read this appeal, will have increased to $1500? We appeal to you for help, to pray for us and remember us 130 AMERICAN EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN MISSIONS IN INDIA before God at the family altar, the fireside, and in the solemn assembly. May God be with you and help you to do so, is the prayer of Yours affectionately in Christ, E. UNANGST. Matters grew steadily worse in the Mission, especially at Rajahmundry. As a last resort Unangst requested the Rev. F. N. Alexander, a missionary of The Church Missionary Society at Ellore, to take charge of the work at Rajahmundry. He consented and appointed his associate, the Rev. Mr. Darling, to visit that town and make the necessary arrange- ments. This occurred in March, 1869, and two months there- after the mission agents began to receive their salaries from the funds of the Church Missionary Society in the hands of its missionaries at Ellore. Meanwhile the Executive Committee of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod had received Un- angst's report of his proposal to the Ellore missionaries and had approved it. At the meeting of the committee in Wash- ington, D. C., May 17, 1869, it was resolved to make an offer of the formal transfer of the Rajahmundry-Samulkot district to the Church Missionary Society of England. Before the negotiations were completed, however, God, through his ser- vants Heyer and Groenning, interfered and gave this territory to the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America. MAP OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S TELUGU MISSION FIELD MAP OF GENERAL SYNOD'S TELUGU MISSION FIELD PART II THE HISTORY OF THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA CHAPTER I THE BEGINNING OF FOREIGN MISSION WORK IN THE GENERAL COUNCIL (1869) As the delegate of the Minnesota Synod, Dr. Heyer at- tended the convention in Reading, Pa., December 12-14, 1866, which planned the formation of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, unequiv- ocally founded on the Confessions of the Lutheran Church. He served as a member of the first committee on the prepara- tion of a hymn book. He took an active part in all the de- liberations and was an enthusiastic advocate of the new move- ment. At the first convention of the General Council in Ft. Wayne, Ind., November 20-26, 1867, he was appointed a member of the mission committee of which Rev. Wm. A. Passavant, D. D., was chairman, and which "respectfully sug- gested that the executive committee of the Pennsylvania Synod be requested to effect arrangements for the prosecu- tion of the work of missions among the heathen during the coming year." Thus, from its very foundation the General Council sought to fulfil its obligation as a factor in the ful- fillment of the great commission of our Lord. To continue to support the India Mission of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod was not possible under the cir- cumstances. The executive committee of the mother synod decided that it would be most advisable to start a new mis- sion in some other non-Christian land. In its report to the i2ist annual convention of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, convened in St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, June, 1868, it offered the following recommendations: "Your committee, after a careful consideration of the subject, deems it best to propose to the synod the establish- ment of a mission in China. They have made application to The Foreign Missionary Society of the Evangelical Lutheran 133 134 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Church to transfer to this synod the moneys collected for the establishment of a mission in China, several years since, most of which were contributed by our congregations. We pro- posed this in the spirit of peace to avoid all questions of claims to the property of the India Mission and all conflicts in the foreign field. To this proposal no answer as yet has been received." That the Ministerium of Pennsylvania might have established its title to much property in Guntur, Rajahmundry and the Palnad is certain; that it relinquished its claims in that direction and merely asked for the funds contributed for a China mission, but not used for that pur- pose, was a magnanimous proposal. By a rising vote the Pennsylvania Ministerium resolved to begin a mission in China, to call the Rev. Robert Neu- mann as its missionary, and to educate a young Chinaman whom Rev. Neumann recommended in one of the Lutheran Seminaries in the United States, to be sent out later as a native ordained pastor. Had the Rev. Mr. Neumann ac- cepted the call of the synod, the General Council would have begun the history of its foreign mission work by an effort in behalf of the christianization of China; but the Rev. Mr. Neumann declined the call, the Chinese student left the country, and nothing further was done to carry out the resolution of the synod. It remained for the Swedish Augus- tana Synod to undertake, in the year 1908, independently of the other synods in the General Council, the original pur- pose of those to whom the General Council entrusted the inauguration of its foreign mission work; and we cannot re- frain, at this point, from expressing the hope that some day the whole General Council will be permitted to join in an effort to christianize the Chinese republic. When the General Council met in its second annual con- vention in the First Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh, November 12-18, 1868, the outlook for foreign mission work was still uncertain, and a special committee was appointed to consider the whole matter and report to the next meeting. Before it could arrive at any definite conclusion, however, God so guided affairs as to return to the Pennsylvania Ministerium, FOREIGN MISSION WORK IN GENERAL COUNCIL (1869) 135 and through it to the General Council, a part of the Telugu Mission in India, where the mother synod had begun the foreign mission work of the Lutheran Church in America. While negotiations were pending between The Foreign Missionary Society of The General Synod and The Church Missionary Society of England for the transfer of the Rajah- mundry Mission by the former to the latter, Dr. Heyer was liv- ing temporarily at Helmstedt, Germany, whither he had gone with a granddaughter to direct her education. When he heard of the proposed transaction, he hastened, in April, 1869, to Apenrade, to confer with Groenning and, if possible, to pre- vent the transfer. Apart from the keen personal interest which these pioneers took in the Rajahmundry Mission, they were unwilling that the condition should be violated on which The North German Missionary Society had transferred it, in 1850, to The Foreign Missionary Society, namely, that it should remain a Lutheran Mission. In Groenning's home Heyer met two young men, Hans Christian Schmidt and Christian Friedrich Johan Becker, whom Groenning had been preparing for service in India under The Foreign Missionary Society, which, however, had failed to call either one of them. Both expressed their willingness to go to Rajahmundry; and it was arranged that they should accompany Heyer to the United States and offer their services to the Pennsylvania Ministerium in the hope that the mother synod would make an effort to assume full responsibility for the work at Rajahmundry, and thus pre- vent its transfer to a non-Lutheran society. Only Schmidt could arrange to leave Germany at once; but Becker agreed to hold himself in readiness to go to Rajahmundry as soon as he received a call. Heyer and Schmidt reached New York just in time to at- tend the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Ministerium in Trinity Church, Reading, Pa., beginning Trinity Sunday, May 23, 1869. The unexpected appearance of the intrepid pioneer foreign missionary and his address to the synod created a most profound impression. Protesting most earn- estly against the transfer of the Rajahmundry Mission to a 136 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL non-Lutheran Society as a breach of contract, he pleaded for the continuation of the work at that station by the mother synod, which had sent him out as the first foreign missionary of the Lutheran Church in America. He introduced Mr. Schmidt, a pupil of Father Groenning, who had accompanied him to America because he was willing to become the synod's missionary at Rajahmundry; and then, reaching the climax of his plea and holding up his travelling bag, he said that he was ready to go at a moment's notice, if the synod wished it, even though he was seventy-seven years old and it would be his third journey to India, in order that he might direct his younger brethren in the reorganization of the mission work. On Thursday afternoon the special committee appointed to consider and report on the threatened transfer of the Rajah- mundry Mission to The Church Missionary Society submitted the following resolutions: "Whereas, A report has reached us that it is proposed to transfer the mission stations at Rajahmundry and Samulkot in India to The Church Missionary Society of England, and "Whereas, We learn from a report of the proceedings of the General Synod's Missionary Society at Washington, that a transfer of these mission stations to another interest was referred to its Foreign Mission Board with power to act as in their judgment they should deem most advisable, and "Whereas, This synod originally established the India Mission and sustained the same successfully for many years; therefore, "Resolved, That we most solemnly protest against the transfer of the Mission to any other than a Lutheran Mis- sionary Society, and "Resolved, That the Rev. C. F. Heyer be requested to lay this protest before the Foreign Mission Board of the General Synod, and "Resolved, That the executive committee be authorized to take such action in consultation with the committee on Foreign Missions of the General Council, as they may deem proper." These resolutions were adopted by the synod, and Schmidt, FOREIGN MISSION WORK IN GENERAL COUNCIL (1869) 137 after having been examined and recommended by the minis- terial session, was ordained, together with twelve other candi- dates, on Wednesday evening, May 26th. The executive committee of the Pennsylvania Minis terium 1 met on June 15, 1869, delegated Heyer to meet with the execu- tive committee of The Foreign Missionary Society and "learn whether it was still in its power and whether it were willing to transfer the mission stations to the Ministerium of Pennsyl- vania," and elected the Rev. S. K. Brobst, the Rev. B. M. Schmucker and Mr. H. H. Muhlenberg as a sub-committee on foreign missions. Furthermore, the General Council's committee on foreign missions was duly informed of the action of the Pennsylvania Ministerium and of its executive commit- tee, and its approval was requested and obtained. Heyer experienced no difficulty in securing the consent of the executive committee of The Foreign Missionary Society to the proposal of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, and its secretary was instructed to communicate at once with the officers of The Church Missionary Society in England and with Missionary Unangst in India, directing that the negotiations with that society be discontinued. At the meeting of the executive committee of the Penn- sylvania Ministerium, held in Reading, Pa., August 27, 1869, the transfer of the Rajahmundry Mission, formally offered by the executive committee of The Foreign Missionary Society, was accepted, and Heyer, Schmidt and Becker were called to be the Ministerium's foreign missionaries. The resolu- tions of the committee read as follows: "Resolved, That we accept the transfer of the mission stations at Rajahmundry and Samulkot; that the Rev. C. F. Heyer, the Rev. H. C. Schmidt and Mr. C. F. J. Becker be sent to labor at those places ; that the necessary travelling 1 This committee then consisted of the officers of the synod, namely, the Rev. C. W. Schaeffer, D. D., President; the Rev. B. W. Schmauk, German Secretary; the Rev. Jacob Fry, English Secretary; the Rev. A. T. Geissenhainer, Treasurer; and the Presidents of the Conferences (among others the Revs. W. Rath, F. J. F. Schantz, J. Kapler and J. W. Hassler), and the following addi- tional members: the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., the Rev. F. A. Mublen- berg, D. D., the Rev. J. J. Kuendig, the Rev. J. Kohler, the Rev. S. K. Brobst, and Messrs. H. H. Muhlenberg, C. Pretz, H. Trexler, J. Henry and F. Lauer. 138 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL expenses of Heyer and Schmidt be paid; that the sum of $150 for an outfit be paid Rev. Heyer; that $100 for each of the others be appropriated; and that the whole expense do not exceed $1500. "Resolved, That the salary of each missionary be $500, gold; that the missionaries be authorized to expend for native missionaries and schools a sum not exceeding $300, gold, a year; that information of this action be transmitted to the committee of the General Council on Foreign Missions; and that the delegates of the Pennsylvania Ministerium to the General Council lay this action before that body and offer to transfer the mission to their custody and control." Heyer felt that no time should be lost in making the transfer practically and fully effective by the actual occupation of the field; and on the last day of August, 1869, four days after the ratification of the transfer, he sailed from New York, bound for India by the shortest route. The General Council in session in the Swedish Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Chicago, November 4-10, 1869, heartily endorsed the action of the executive committee of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, accepted the custody and control of the Rajahmundry Mission, elected as its committee on foreign missions the executive committee of the Pennsyl- vania Ministerium, and requested the district synods to for- ward all their foreign mission contributions to the treasurer of the General Council to be applied to the Rajahmundry work. 1 Before leaving America Heyer had been instructed to ascer- tain whether the Hermannsburg Missionary Society could be induced to co-operate with the General Council in foreign mission work in India; and after visiting his brother, Prae- positus Heyer, in Plau, Mecklenburg, Germany, he went to Hermannsburg for a conference with Pastor Ludwig Harms 1 The General Council also instructed its foreign mission committee to cor- respond with the Leipsic and Hermannsburg Missionary Societies and solicit their co-operation in the Rajahmundry Mission; to take the claims of the in- creasing Chinese population in the United States into consideration; and, through the Swedish Secretary of the Council, to confer with the Finnish Lutheran Missionary Society concerning the establishment of a mission among the Indians in Alaska. FOREIGN MISSION WORK IN GENERAL COUNCIL (1869) 139 and Inspector Anstaedt. They gave him no encouragement, however, and told him that they preferred to work inde- pendently in their newly established mission at Naydupet, north of Madras. Heyer then visited Groenning at Apen- rade, who cheered him with the assurance of Becker's willing- ness to follow him to Rajahmundry and with the prospect of securing one or two additional missionaries from the Mission Institute in Copenhagen. From Trieste Heyer crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Suez, though the canal had not yet been officially and formally opened. He reached Bombay on October 23, 1869, and from that city took a train on the newly constructed railway to Sholapur, where it terminated. Over two hundred miles to the south lay Secunderabad, eight miles beyond that Hydera- bad, and still farther south the Palnad, through which he wished to pass on his way to Guntur. We will let Heyer himself describe his long overland journey from Sholapur to Secunderabad, quoting from a letter written to Miss Nora laeger, of Reading, Pa.: "When the agent understood that I was engaged in mission work, he offered, if I would consent to let him put some mer- chandise in the body of the bullock-cart and to make a kind of bed on the top, to charge me nothing. I accepted, not considering or knowing what I would have to endure. Only think of an old missionary, seventy-seven years of age, in a horizontal position on top of store-boxes in a common country cart, carried two hundred miles by day and by night ! If the roads had been good and the weather favorable I might have endured it without much suffering, but on the second day I was caught in a heavy monsoon rain, coming down in Indian style. It did seem as if there might have been five hundred washer- women in the clouds pouring down rain by the buckets- ful. Night came on and the cart stuck fast in the mud. I spent a most uncomfortable night in the upper story of my cart. Next morning additional bullocks were brought, and we started again. After going a mile or two we came to a place where a bridge had been washed away and where about hundred bandies were waiting to get across. Seeing that 140 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL it would be a tedious business, I left the cart and walked five miles to the next bungalow. Thus it went on for six days, travelling at the rate of two miles an hour. The cart stuck fast every day, and every day I had to walk from three to six miles to reach some bungalow. After six days we got into better roads, and for the last three days we went about three miles an hour. Passing through the Mahratta and Canara regions it was with difficulty that I could get the people to understand me. By signs and tokens only could we exchange a few ideas. Indeed, I found that I had undertaken more than I ought to have done, and only wonder how the Lord enabled me by patience and perseverance to overcome the difficulties in the way without sinking under them. Novem- ber 5th I arrived at Secunderabad and parted with my coach, bruised and sore, in a condition which I had never before been." In Secunderabad Heyer bought a palankeen for $12 and engaged bearers to carry him to Bayawarrow, one hundred and sixty-six miles. He paid the bearers Rs. 70 or about $25. They covered the distance in about twelve days; but even this comparatively more comfortable mode of travel was wearisome. November i6th, Gurjal was reached. Six- teen years had elapsed since he had last been in the Palnad, and he rejoiced to find there some of the converts whom he had baptized. The bungalow which he had built at Gurjal was still standing, and he occupied it again for a few days with a devout feeling of gratitude. The catechist, Cully, welcomed him most cordially and told him of the progress of Chris- tianity in the district, where the Christian community numbered six hundred. After spending a week in the Palnad, Heyer proceeded to Guntur. " Boniface," he wrote, "could not have been received more joyfully and respectfully by his German converts than the native Christians received their old missionary who had unexpectedly come to visit them." December i, 1869, he arrived at Rajahmundry, just three months after starting from New York. Writing soon after his arrival he said: "My own impres- sion before I left America, as well as the opinion of some of FOREIGN MISSION WORK IN GENERAL COUNCIL (1869) 141 the brethren, was that our prospects in India were rather discouraging; but from personal observation I am fully con- vinced that it is an erroneous opinion. . . . Unangst found that he could not attend to all the stations and, being left without funds to meet the current expenses of the mission, called in the assistance of a neighboring missionary belonging to the Church Missionary Society. Last spring (1869) a kind of transfer was made to the C. M. S., and since last May to December ist, the catechists and teachers connected with the Rajahmundry Mission were paid by the C. M. S. This money, of course, must be refunded and the sooner the better for our credit. The General Synod's Board should be held responsible for May, June, July and August. Conse- quently, our executive committee will assume payment from September ist, the time when the Board made the transfer to the Pennsylvania Synod. I have not yet received the ex- act statement, but it will amount to about $31 a month for catechists and teachers. Besides this the C. M. S. has given a monthly allowance of $10 for travelling expenses." In Rajahmundry Heyer found ten native Christian families and a school of about twenty children taught by a native Christian teacher; at Dowlaishwaram, five Christian families; at Metta, six Christian families and a school with a teacher and sixteen children; at Peddahem, one Christian family; at Gowripatnam, three families of inquirers; at Muramunda, the oldest congregation outside of Rajahmundry, twelve Christian families and thirteen children in a mission school; at Jegurupad, six Christian families and twenty-four children in school; at Peravaram, five Christian families and a newly opened school; at Lolla, one family of inquirers. Counting three on an average to each family, the number of Christians was 135; counting four, 180. The total number of children in all the mission schools repDrted by Heyer was 73. Forty- nine persons from Rajahmundry and adjacent villages at- tended the first administration of the Lord's Supper by Heyer at Rajahmundry on Christmas day, 1869. After Christmas Heyer made his first tour of the out- stations. From Rajahmundry he walked to Dowlaishwaram 142 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL on foot. There, in a small building which Groenning had secured for the mission, he reopened a school. Then he went by canal to Jegurupad and Muramunda, baptizing three women and two girls at the latter place. At Samulkot he found nothing but the bungalow which Long had built. The total force of native Christian workers consisted of two catechists, Joseph at Rajahmundry and Paulus at Mura- munda, and five teachers. That was all with which the General Council had to begin in its foreign mission field. From that mustard seed there has since grown a sturdy tree with branches spreading wide in every direction, and bearing rich fruit in the continual conversion of men, women and children, body and soul, from gross, gruesome Hinduism to repentance and faith in Christ, the divine Redeemer, the Revealer of the True God. CHAPTER II HEYER COMPLETES HIS LIFE-WORK (1870) ON February i, 1870, the Rev. C. F. J. Becker, the second foreign missionary of the General Council, arrived at Rajah- mundry; but three months and one week later Heyer rever- ently and sorrowfully laid the body of the young man to rest in the cemetery of the Mission at Rajahmundry. Christian Friederich Johan Becker was born at Kjerteminde, on the island of Funen, Denmark, April 17, 1845. After his confirmation he was apprenticed to a gardener who said to him one day, "Friend, you are better fitted for philosophy than for gardening." He continued to work as a gardener, however, and, after having served his apprenticeship, went to Copenhagen to study landscape gardening. He became deeply interested in the Greenland Mission and decided to become a foreign missionary. He entered the Mission Institute of The Danish Missionary Society at Copenhagen May 4, 1863, about a year after it was established. Besides Becker there were then only two other students in the school. After a four years' course of study he was asked by the Rev. C. W. Groenning to enter the service of The Foreign Missionary Society of the General Synod in the United States. He ex- pressed his willingness to be sent to India and spent about a year in the home of Groenning in special preparation, and eight months more hi Copenhagen devoted to the study of medicine and theology. The call which he expected from The Foreign Missionary Society, however, did not come, and he was about to offer his services to The Hermannsburg Mis- sionary Society when Groenning and Heyer persuaded him to volunteer to go to Rajahmundry as one of the missionaries of the Pennsylvania Ministerium. The executive committee of that synod extended a call to him but decided to postpone his departure for India because of a lack of funds. Then, through the aid of friends, he secured permission to sail on 143 144 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL October 15, 1869, as far as Egypt, on the Danish frigate of war "Zealand," which was assigned to participate in the naval ceremony at the opening of the Suez Canal. The Danish Missionary Society, moreover, advanced him the sum of $300 for his travelling expenses from Port Said to Rajah- mundry. For the passage through the Suez Canal he paid the price of a first-class passage on a French steamer, but he could not secure a berth and was forced to sleep on deck. He left Suez November 2Qth, reached Madras December i8th, and spent six weeks in the latter city. From Madras he went by steamer to Coconada and by canal to Dowlaishwaram, where he was met by the catechist Joseph, who escorted him on foot to Rajahmundry. He at once applied himself to the study of Telugu and, as opportunity offered, accompanied Heyer on short tours to different out-stations. On May 8, 1870, at the beginning of the hot season, after a brief illness, he passed away, the first General Council foreign missionary to lay down his life on the field. His body was buried by Heyer and the native Christians by the side of those of Long and the children of Long, Groenning and Cutter. Becker was only twenty-five years old when he died, and had been in India less than six months. Heyer was again alone on the mission field, but he was soon to be joined by two other young recruits. Some time between the ist and i5th of February he began a school for girls at Rajahmundry and sent a native teacher, Jeremiah, to Tay- lor's petta near Narsapur, thus beginning the work in that part of the country, which since has become the most pro- ductive district of the mission field. With Rs. 45, contrib- uted by English residents at Rajahmundry, he built new schoolhouses at Jegurupad and Gowripatnam. Judge J. H. Morris, the Collector of the Godavery district, continued to contribute Rs. 20 a month, or about $150 a year, for the sup- port of the mission work, and his assistant Collector gave about one-half that amount. These contributions enabled Heyer to pay the salaries of his native catechists, each of whom received about $7.50 a month. On February i4th Heyer, in a letter from Groenning, got the sum of 100 Prussian HEYER COMPLETES HIS LIFE-WORK (1870) 145 thaler, contributed by friends in Denmark for the education of three native Christian boys. This made a boarding school for boys possible, and Heyer began one at once with Cornelius, James and William 1 as pupils. Of these the two latter after- ward became native pastors. The district evangelistic work under the missionary's super- vision was divided between Joseph and Paulus, both of whom proved themselves efficient workers. Tota Joseph was born at Guntur in 1839. His father was a sepoy in one of the native infantry regiments. From Guntur the family moved to North Arcot, near Madras, where, after a residence of seven years, Joseph's father died of cholera, leaving his widow with three children, of whom Joseph was the eldest. Returning to Guntur, the children were cared for by their maternal grandparents. Joseph was sent to the mission schools for boys, then in charge of Heyer. He was baptized by Groenning in 1852, at the age of thirteen, despite the opposition of his relatives. When the Rev. and Mrs. W. E. Snyder came to Guntur they took Joseph into their home and treated him, as Joseph himself testified, "like their own child." In 1854 Joseph went with Snyder and Heyer to Rajahmundry. They and, afterward, Heise instructed him and employed him occasionally as a colporteur. On February i, 1860, he married Lydia, a native Christian girl. Missionary Unangst performed the ceremony at Guntur. Eight days after the wedding they came to Rajahmundry, where Joseph worked for the Mission as a colporteur in the employ of the Madras Bible Society, and his wife assisted in the girls' school. When Groenning took charge of the work at Rajahmundry, he made Joseph a teacher, and in that position he continued to work under Long, after whose death Unangst raised him to the rank of a catechist to share with Paulus the responsibility of the district work during the absence of a resident missionary. Nelaprolu 2 Paulus was born in the Palnad in 1842. His uncle 1 The family name of William was originally Jerripotu. A Jerri is a sort of a centipede. A jerripotu is the male of the species. As the family rose in honor the name became Jeriprolu. 1 Paulus' family name was originally Nallapotu, which means a black buck. He metamorphosed it into Nelaprolu. 146 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL was the first convert from Hinduism in that district baptized by Heyer, and became the first school-teacher at Pollepalli. His parents, Isaac and Rebecca, were weavers by trade, in comparatively moderate circumstances. Paulus was their fourth son. The whole family was baptized by Heyer at Pollepalli. Paulus became a boarding pupil in Heyer's school at Gurjal, accompanied him to Guntur and continued his studies there under Groenning and Unangst. During Groenning's second term of service at Guntur he occasionally employed Paulus in mission work. He married Mary Mag- dalene, a pupil in the Guntur Girls' School. When Judge Morris, Collector at Rajahmundry, asked the missionaries to recommend some one to be employed as a government clerk, who at the same time could serve as a Christian teacher for the Collector's servants, Paulus was recommended and went to Rajahmundry and, afterward, to Masulipatam, when the Collector's office was removed to that town. For a while he was employed as a colporteur by the Rev. Mr. English of Masulipatam, but Groenning persuaded him to return to Rajahmundry and serve the Mission which had educated him. Under Groenning and Long he worked as a teacher, and when Unangst took charge of the Rajahmundry district he made Paulus a catechist, with residence at Muramunda. Heyer wisely left these two native workers where he found them. In Joseph's district the Christians numbered 85 in March, 1870, and there were three families of inquirers; in Paulus' district, at the same time, there were 76 baptized Christians and two families of inquirers. In the whole field there were seven Telugu schools, enrolling 200 pupils. Every morning, when in Rajahmundry, Heyer conducted a devotional exercise. The native Christians living in and near the mission compound were assembled in the large room of the mission house at nine o'clock. After an opening hymn and the Public Confession and Declaration of Grace, the children recited a portion of Luther's Small Catechism, be- ginning on Monday with Part I, and ending on Friday with Part V. On Saturday a part of "The Order of Salvation in Questions and Answers," which had been translated by NATIVE PASTOR NELAPROLU PAULUS NATIVE PASTOR TOTA JOSEPH NATIVE PASTORS JERIPROLU WILLIAM, P. VENKATARATNAM, PANTAGANI PARADESI HEYER COMPLETES HIS LIFE-WORK (1870) 147 Groenning, was recited. After the catechetical work a chapter of the Bible was read responsively and a memory-text was assigned. Then the previous day's lesson was reviewed, and the service ended with a prayer and a hymn. Early in April, accompanied by Becker, Heyer made a short tour, going first to Dowlaishwaram, where the reopened school was found to be in a flourishing condition, as many as 35 pupils being enrolled. At Jegurupad the new schoolhouse was being built. At Muramunda two men and two women were baptized on April 3d, and the Lord's Supper was ad- ministered to 21 persons. Five days later at Metta 21 were baptized, 4 from Metta, n from Peddahem and 6 from Gowripatnam. Returning to Rajahmundry for the Good Friday and Easter services, Heyer administered the Lord's Supper to 23 persons from the district under Joseph's over- sight and baptized a young man from Dowlaishwaram. The number baptized by Heyer up to May i5th was 31. He spent the hot season at Upparda on the sea-coast as the guest of the Collector, Judge Morris. When the sad news of Becker's death reached Europe and America, Schmidt was already on his way to India. Hans Christian Schmidt was the third foreign missionary of the General Council. He was born May 25, 1840, in Flens- borg, Schleswig, which at that time was a province belonging to Denmark; but now it belongs to Prussia. The following autobiographical sketch of his early life is very interesting: "When my father was married and began housekeeping, he got a neighboring artist to paint for him a picture in oil, representing Christ on the cross, with this verse painted under the picture: "'My only boast is in the wounds, Thy hands and feet received for me.' "Some years later a good bishop asked him if this were still his only boast. My father replied in the affirmative, and to the day of his death he remained faithful to this confession. "I was the eldest of six children. On my baptismal day my father dedicated me to the work of the Lord as a foreign mis- 148 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL sionary, and appropriately asked Mr. C. W. Groenning, then a student preparing for work as a missionary, to be a sponsor. My father had taken the deepest interest in Mr. Groenning and also in his companion, Mr. Graff, who afterward went to Africa as a missionary. Mission tracts and pamphlets in the German and Danish languages were circulated by my father and his friends as a labor of love, and many contributions for missions were gathered by him. He was familiarly known as the pious shoemaker. "Missionary Groenning, in a letter written in India, speak- ing of my sainted mother, said, 'She always reminded me of Mary who sat at Jesus' feet.' As a young woman she was so interested in the cause of missions that, as often as her Chris- tian friends gathered in her home, she would bring out the mission box and ask them to remember the poor heathen. She organized a women's missionary society in Flensborg, which sent many contributions and garments to Greenland and other mission fields. "Under the blessed guidance of such parents it is not sur- prising that I early learned to know and love the Saviour, and that I should ultimately choose to become a missionary. Mission tracts were my first literature. I was especially interested in the Eskimos; and to be a missionary to these people seemed to me to be the greatest calling on earth. My father never told me of my dedication to this calling. He preferred rather to commit all things to God's overruling provi- dence. I was not permitted to hear from my parents the words of approval and encouragement which they would have given me when I became a missionary, for when I did they had already been called to their heavenly home ; yet it is a distinct joy to know that a kind Providence led me in the way they wished me to go. My mother died in 1849, mv father in 1855. I was attending a Moravian school in Christiansfeld when my father died, and I left school to return to my home and help provide for my stepmother, brothers and sisters. As I left the school one of the teachers said to me, "I had hoped that you would become a missionary." This hope, however, at that time seemed beyond realization. I was led to experience HEYER COMPLETES HIS LIFE-WORK (1870) 149 more and more the grace of God and my interest in missions constantly increased. "Toward the end of 1863, 1 was called to enter the Danish military service. Schleswig then belonged to Denmark. I was appointed on the general's staff and in this position learned a great deal about administrative work, which was afterward useful to me as a missionary. We were obliged to remain at our desks until late at night, whether we had work to do or not. I employed my leisure time making a collection of German hymns relating to Inner Mission work, and to the preparation of several Danish tracts. One of these was afterward trans- lated into German and published together with a collection of hymns by the Gossner Missionary Society. "When the period of my service in the Danish army had expired, the question of becoming a missionary again forced itself upon my mind. Just then my godfather returned from India, and his account of the mission work there led me to think of it as my field of future service. Finally, there being no obstacle left to prevent my becoming a foreign missionary, I announced my decision to Mr. Groenning, telling him that his report of the needs of the India Mission appealed to me as a direct call of God." For two and a half years Schmidt lived in Groenoing's home, preparing himself for work among the Telugus in India. Like Becker, he looked forward to service under The Foreign Mis- sionary Society of the General Synod and was disappointed in not receiving a call. Then he accompanied Heyer to the United States and was ordained by the Pennsylvania Minis- terium in Trinity Church, Reading, Pa., May 26, 1869, with the view of being called by its executive committee as a for- eign missionary to India. The call was extended at a meeting of the committee on August 27th, but for a number of reasons Schmidt's departure was delayed. Meanwhile he served a German mission at Carlisle, Pa. Finally, in March, 1870, arrangements for his departure were completed. The service of commissioning was held in St. Johannis Church, Phila- delphia, the Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., pastor. On March 24th he sailed from New York on the "Rising Star." Several days 150 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL were spent in Flensborg where, on May 23d, a farewell meeting was held, the Rev. C. W. Groenning delivering an address. Groenning advised Schmidt to remain in Europe until the early fall, in order to escape the hot and rainy seasons in India. Acting on this advice, Schmidt spent some time visit- ing the mission institutions at Hermannsburg, Barmen and Basle. He then proceeded leisurely through Switzerland, Austria and Italy. At Trieste he heard of Becker's sudden death and at once decided to run the risk of an earlier arrival in India. On July gth, he took a ship at Suez, bound for Madras. At Coconada, where he arrived August 3d, he was met by a native Christian whom Heyer had sent to escort him to Rajahmundry. From Dowlaishwaram they rode in an ox-cart, arriving at Rajahmundry on August 4, 1870. Two weeks after Schmidt's arrival Heyer wrote to the corre- sponding secretary of the executive committee, the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, as follows: "My personal affairs render it necessary that I should be at home during the summer of 1871 ; otherwise I might remain longer in India, for I do not dislike the work, and the Lord has, thus far, vouchsafed me a comfortable measure of health, although I have entered upon the seventy-eighth year of my earthly pilgrimage. I have written to you about a young man who has finished his studies in Copenhagen, and my opinion is that his services should be engaged; but for various reasons it is also desirable that a graduate from some one of our institutions in America should be sent out. "I have made a contract for repairing the old bungalow. It will require about $200. When repaired the building may be used as a chapel, schoolhouse and dwelling. "Every morning except Sunday a class of eight children comes to my room to learn English. The most of them ought to be trained for service as teachers and catechists. "We had formerly a large English school in Rajahmundry, with over one hundred pupils; but at present the Government supplies the town with English schools. It even has a college with eight hundred students. "A part of The Church Book has already been translated HEYER COMPLETES HIS LIFE-WORK (1870) 151 into Telugu. I should like to have a small edition printed, containing the church service and hymns, if you could furnish the necessary funds, say, $75 or $100. "On the seventh Sunday after Trinity the Holy Communion was administered in Rajahmundry, forty-five communing." Thus the work of reconstruction was making commendable progress under Heyer's supervision. A few weeks after his arrival Schmidt left the station, in order to visit the principal out-stations and gam an insight at first hand into the work over which in a very short time he was to exercise control. The catechists, Joseph and Paulus, accompanied him through their respective districts, acting as his interpreters. It must be admitted that a heavy burden of responsibility was to be put on this young man, only thirty years of age, unacquainted with the language, the customs of the natives and the work of the mission, and that, despite these disadvantages, he acquitted himself with ability from the very beginning. On August 24th or thereabouts, a delegation from Velpur visited Rajahmundry and requested that a school be started in that village. Heyer went at once, travelling in an ox-cart, and began mission work there. Having promised to visit Narsapur, he started for that place on October 7th, accom- panied by Joseph and Paulus and a number of servants. Captain C. Taylor loaned him a palankeen for the journey. Mr. R , a government official in the Department of Public Works, sent his private house-boat to meet the mis- sionary six miles from Narsapur, and had a tent erected for his convenience at Narsapur. Here he held a service on Sunday morning, October Qth, at which he baptized 19 men, women and children, administered the Lord's Supper, and married a couple of native Christians. In the afternoon he preached at Taylor's petta in front of a native Christian's house. On Monday he went to Argatipalem, where there were ten inquirers under the instruction of Jeremiah, to whose work the firstfruits in this region must be attributed. One infant was baptized at Argatipalem. On Tuesday Jagganath- puram was visited. Here there were eight families of inquirers and eighteen children in a mission school. From Jagganath- 152 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL puram he went to Parravalli by canal and then in a palankeen to Velpur, where he baptized 25 adults. Returning to Parra- valli an incident occurred on the way, which Heyer related as follows: "I heard people calling after me and was told that seven other candidates had come from another village desiring Holy Baptism. Not wishing to disappoint these people, who had come so far, I halted and baptized them, as Philip did the eunuch, near the road close by a tank." After an absence of a week Heyer was back in Rajahmundry. He considered this to have been one of his most successful tours as a missionary in India. On the last day of the year 1870, Heyer wrote the following report : "One year ago I found one catechist, one school-teacher and a dilapidated building at Rajahmundry, one catechist, one school-teacher and a schoolhouse at Muramunda, and one schoolhouse and a few children at Metta. On Easter Sunday, 1870, twenty-five communed at Rajahmundry, and on the pre- ceding Sunday twenty-two at Muramunda. "At the close of this year there are seven schools, namely, at Rajahmundry, Muramunda, Metta, Jegurupad, Peddahem, Jagganathpuram and Taylor's petta. One hundred and two persons were baptized during the year. On Christmas day, 1870, seventy communed at Rajahmundry. The day before Christmas two hundred adults and children gathered around a Christmas tree, and on the day after Christmas, Monday, a Christmas dinner for all, consisting of rice and curry, vege- tables and mutton, was served at the expense of J. H. Morris, Esq. Presents of clothing, books and fruits were distrib- uted to old and young, principally at the expense of Cap- tain Taylor and his daughter-in-law. I also had two weddings and baptized five adults. Three lads about sixteen years old are being supported by contributions from mission friends in Schleswig." On January 22, 1871, the fourth foreign missionary of the General Council, Rev. Iver K. Poulsen, arrived at Rajah- mundry. , HEYER COMPLETES HIS LIFE-WORK (1870) 153 Iver K. Poulsen was born September 24, 1846, at Ringk- joebing, Jutland, Denmark, He was the seventh of ten children. When he was fifteen years of age he became a teacher of a village school and taught for three years. Through a maternal uncle he became interested in foreign missions. By reading mission tracts and reports and by asso- ciation with two pious fellow- teachers his interest developed into the desire to go to some foreign mission field. He ex- pressed his desire to the director of The Danish Mission So- ciety, and in August, 1865, he was admitted into the Mission Institute of that society at Copenhagen. In 1870 he was graduated and at once offered his service through the Rev. C. W. Groenning to the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church hi North America, as a missionary at Rajah- mundry, to take the place of his departed friend Becker. He was accepted and called, and sailed from London on Septem- ber i, 1870. Groenning advanced him $450 for his travelling expenses. The voyage to Cape Town lasted eighteen days, and ten days were spent there. In Madras, which he reached January 12, 1871, he was entertained for a week by the Rev. Mr. Kremmer, a Leipsic Society missionary. On January 2ist he arrived at Coconada, where Schmidt met him. From Dowlaishwaram they walked to Rajahmundry, arriving on the 22d. The executive committee of the Pennsylvania Ministerium had applied in advance to the officers of that synod for authority to ordain Poulsen after his arrival in India. In the presence of the native Christians and English residents, Poulsen, therefore, was ordained at Rajahmundry January 26, 1871. Schmidt preached the ordination sermon in Danish ; the catechists, Joseph and Paulus, read the Scripture lessons responsively in Telugu ; and Heyer performed the act of ordination in English. After the arrival and ordination of Poulsen, Heyer felt that he could leave the Mission with Schmidt in charge, assisted by Poulsen. "The New Era" was about to sail from Coco- nada, and Heyer lost no time in arranging to sail with her on January 3oth, although he was to be the only passenger and was obliged to pay $250 for the voyage to England. On 154 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL April ist the Cape of Good Hope was rounded, and on the 28th of that month the ship crossed the equator in the Atlantic Ocean. Heyer occupied himself during the long voyage by instructing the captain and some of the crew. On Sunday he preached to the men on board. "Carl Golden," he wrote, "a poor boy who had been very much neglected by his parents and who had got a very bad name on board, being considered incorrigible, attracted my attention. On one occasion, when the captain had beaten him with a thick rope, I asked for permission to try if I could do anything with him. Since that time he is allowed to leave his work for an hour every morning and to come to my room to learn to read, write, cipher and repeat the Catechism. I treat him kindly, and this seems to have made a more favorable impression on him than all the whippings he has hitherto received. Besides this boy there are two elder lads on board, who asked for instruction. I attend to them in the afternoon. The captain himself desires to learn French, and I give him daily lessons." What a blessing the presence and influence of this saintly old missionary brought to that ship's crew only eternity will reveal. The English Channel was reached June i2th, and Heyer at once took another vessel for the United States. He spent the winter at Somerset, Pa. A call was extended to him by the congregation at Frostburg, Md., in April, 1872, but he de- clined it. The Ministerium of Pennsylvania at its meeting in 1872, requested him to visit its congregations in the interest of foreign missions; but he did little deputation work. It could hardly have been expected of a man of his advanced age. In October, 1872, he was elected chaplain and house-father of the Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He felt that this would be congenial work and accepted the position. At the consecration of the enlarged Seminary building in Franklin Square, Philadelphia, he offered the prayer of con- secration. After the occupation of this building he lived in one of the rooms and devoted himself to the duties of his office. When on September 4, 1873, the Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., was installed as a professor of the Seminary, Heyer assisted HEYER COMPLETES HIS LIFE-WORK (1870) 155 at the service; but almost immediately afterward he was con- fined to his bed with illness, and on the night of November 7, 1873, at the age of eighty years, three months and twenty days, he fell asleep in Jesus. The funeral service was held in the Seminary building and his mortal remains were buried by the side of his wife in the cemetery at Friedensburg, near Somer- set, Pa. In his last will and testament he remembered the Theological Seminary at Philadelphia and the Rajahmundry Mission. The Reverend John Christian Frederick Heyer, Doctor of Medicine, minister of the True God, servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, pastor, preacher, pioneer, patriarch, who spent his eventful life on the wild frontiers of the United States, in settled pastorates in Pennsylvania and Maryland, in respon- sible positions and high offices in several synods, in the home- mission fields of many states, and in the American Evangelical Lutheran Missions among the Telugus in India who in a brief biography could do full justice to this remarkable man? We have made an effort, however, to present a clear, true picture of his unique character, to furnish a connected descrip- tion of his unusual career and to offer a true estimate of the high value of his service in the Lutheran Church in America, especially in connection with the history of the American Evangelical Lutheran Missions in South India. CHAPTER III THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S MISSION FIELD IN INDIA TURN to a map of India and trace the coast-line from Cape Comorin to Calcutta. About half-way between these two points you will cross the mouths of the Godavery River, one of the twelve sacred streams of India. The counties, called "taluks," which are situated on the right side of the Vasista branch of the river, as it flows to the sea, belong to the Kistna, those on the left side, to the Godavery district of the Madras Presidency. The territory which is claimed and worked by our foreign missionaries embraces parts of both of these districts, the whole field having an approximate area of 3370 square miles, which is slightly larger than the State of Connecticut. The estimated population for whose christianization we feel ourselves responsible numbers about two and a half millions. Two other missions, both of them Baptist missions, are at work in the Godavery delta; and a third, conducted by the Church Missionary Society with its center at Ellore, about half-way between Guntur and Rajahmundry, carries on its work up to the boundary line of our Mission. The Plymouth Brethren Mission, centered at Narsapur, was established a few years before our own, the Canadian (Ontario and Quebec) Baptist Mission, centered at Coconada, several years after our own (1874). A number of the inland taluks are claimed and worked exclusively by our Mission, others along the coast by the Canadian Baptist Mission, while several are worked in part by our Mission and in part by one or both, of the Baptist missions. The field of our Telugu Mission is divided into mission dis- tricts, designated by the names of the towns in which the mis- sionaries in charge of the district-work reside, or by the names of the taluks which comprise their respective districts, as fol- lows: Rajahmundry, Korukonda, Jaggampet, Samulkot, Dowlaishwaram, east of the river; and Tallapudi, Tadepalli- 156 THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S MISSION FIELD IN INDIA 157 gudem, Bhimawaram and Narsapur districts, west of the river. Each missionary confines his work to the district or districts over which he exercises supervision. The climate of South India is tropical. The Godavery delta is on a parallel line with Southern Mexico and Porto Rico. During the cool season, which begins in October and ends in February, the average temperature is about 80 Fahrenheit. In March the winds from the south bring an ever-increasing heat, until in May, the hottest month, the temperature rises to 115 or even 120 in the shade. During the hot season the American or European must carefully avoid over-exposure to the direct rays of the sun. The wisest course is to escape to the hills for a midsummer vacation, a thing which most of the missionaries do. In June the winds from the southwest bring rain-bearing clouds, and about the end of the month the rainy season begins. This does not mean that there is daily rain, but only that this is the season during which there is rain. This season continues to about the middle of September, when the sun crosses the equator. After a month of practically no rain, the northeast monsoon begins to blow, continuing for about a month in this part of the country, with a varying quantity of rainfall. The soil of the Godavery delta is an alluvial deposit, the natural fertility of which is enhanced by an extensive system of canals below the anicut or dam, built across the Godavery River at Dowlaishwaram, forty miles from the mouth of the river and five miles from Rajahmundry. In fertility and wealth the Godavery delta is surpassed by but one other district in the Madras Presidency. The larger portion of the population is engaged in the culti- vation of the soil and kindred pursuits. Rice and grain are the chief products. Bananas, cocoanuts and other tropical fruits are extensively grown. The instruments and methods of cultivation are very primitive. The ordinary plow of the native farmer is nothing but a crooked piece of hard wood pointed at the end with a sharpened iron bar. It is pulled over the ground by a pair of oxen until the iron point has scratched and loosened the soil several inches deep. At the 158 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL time of harvest the ripened grain is cut down with a sickle, trodden out by cattle in the fields, winnowed in the wind and carried in baskets on the heads or shoulders of the farm hands to the places of storage or market. The majority of the farmers are practically serfs in the employ of wealthy land- holders called zemindars, or they are in financial bondage to money-lenders. The home of the average villager is a mud- walled, thatch- roofed, earthen-floored hut of one or two low rooms, in which frequently cattle, fowl and other domestic animals, as well as the members of the family, are housed. A few brass or earthen pots for cooking rice or storing water, and several mats, made of bamboo or palm leaves, spread on the floor to serve as beds, are the only furniture. As a rule children wear no clothing until they are three or four years of age. For boys scanty garments made from the cheapest cotton fabrics are provided. The usual garment of the women is a single piece of cheap, light material, which they learn to wind and drape around the body from the shoulders to the ankles. Wealth and position are indicated by the number and value of jewels and other orna- ments worn, especially on festival occasions. The monthly ex- pense of a family of the middle class is about 15 rupees or $5. Many of the poorer outcasts live on less than half as much. As elsewhere in India, the lot of the women in the Telugu country is deplorable. Many of them are uneducated drudges. Only the nautch girls are educated, in order that they may provide entertainment. A woman has no social standing or religious destiny apart from her husband. The worst mis- fortune that can befall her is to remain unmarried. Matri- monial engagements are made by parents when their daughter is still a helpless babe, and before she reaches the age of twelve years she is married. If the boy or man to whom the infant daughter is engaged to be married, dies before the wedding takes place, she becomes a widow to whom re- marriage is forbidden. The practice of secluding women in zenanas is not so common in South India as farther north, but among the higher castes it is in vogue ; and the Moham- medan portion of the population has preserved the harem. THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S MISSION FIELD IN INDIA 159 According to caste the people may be conveniently divided into Brahmins who form the priestly caste; Vaisyas, the merchant caste ; and Sudras, the laboring caste, artisans and agriculturists. The Sudras are more numerous than all the other castes combined. Socially and in civil life Moham- medans are ranked as Sudras. The Kshatriyas, the warrior caste, ranked between the Brahmins and Vaisayas, are few in number, the Telugus having a less warlike nature than the fierce Mahrattas or the doughty Rajputs. The hated term "Pariah," formerly used to designate the outcasts, has been displaced by government decree by that of "Panchama," which means the fifth people. The Panchamas again are divided into Malas and Madigas, the latter being the lowest of the outcasts, so low that "they must reach up to touch the bottom of the social scale." But God has chosen the poor and the despised rather than the rich and mighty as the firstfruits of His saving grace, for most of the converts to Christianity in India are Malas and Madigas, who welcome the message of redemption and exaltation through Jesus Christ. The Telugu language, enriched by Sanscrit and to a slight degree by Hindustani, Arabic, French and English, is musical in sound and elaborate in form. The vocabulary is enormous, abounding in synonyms and in terms of philosophical, pseudo- scientific and voluptuous character; but it is practically des- titute of words which can be used to express the spiritual conceptions of the Christian religion. 1 1 Pure Telugu is formed from roots which in general have a close connection with the roots of the other languages of South India, such as Tamil and Cana- rese. These cognate languages form a separate family of languages, which is distinguished by the term "Dravidian." The greater part of Telugu literature consists of poetry, which is written in the higher dialect. So different is the higher dialect from the dialect used in common conversation that they form distinct branches of study. Telugu is remarkable for its melody of sound, which has gained for it the name of the Italian of India. It is regular in construction, and, though copious, is often, like Tamil, very laconic. In common conversation a single word or short phrase is often used to convey the meaning of a whole sentence. While the language used in poetry is uniform, local dialects vary. There is a certain amount of difference between the Telugu spoken in Rajahmundry and that spoken in the Cuddapa district. The language is spoken in its greatest purity in the northern circars. Arden's "Telugu Grammar." 160 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL The original religion of the Telugus, as far as can be ascer- tained, was nature worship which degenerated into animal worship, demon worship, hero worship and animism. Brah- minism adopted the popular cults and Buddhism infused its philosophical conceptions into the system. The result is a form of modern Hinduism, of which pantheism is the under- lying principle and polytheism the universal practice. Maya or illusion, karma or fate, the transmigration and reincarnation of souls, and nirvana or final absorption into the All-soul, are popular doctrines. The most absurd superstitions, the grossest sensuality, the subtlest dishonesty and the most in- humane religious practices have left their indelible impress on the minds and lives of the people. The burning of widows on the funeral pyres of their husbands, hook-swinging and the like, have been prohibited by the British Govern- ment; but practices scarcely less repulsive, performed in public by Brahmins and fakirs in the name of religion, are usual occurrences. Thus, one of these fakirs may be seen lying naked on a bed of sharp spikes, or walking in shoes through the soles of which sharp nails have been driven, or eating revolting food, or suffering some other form of self- torture, all in order to gain merit in the sight of the gods and their devotees. The most popular gods of the Telugus are Krishna, an in- carnation of Vishnu, whose worship allows licentious prac- tices and obscene pictures; Siva, the destroyer, and his con- sort, Kali, goddess of disease and death, whose image is as revolting an object as can be found anywhere on earth. 1 Other gods which are universally worshipped are Ganesha, the elephant-headed god of wisdom and good luck, and 1 Kali is represented as a naked woman with a hideous countenance. Her tongue is protruding from her mouth. Her hair is a mass of writhing snakes. She wears a necklace of human skulls and a belt of dead men's hands. She has four arms and hands. In the upper left hand she holds a drawn dagger; in the lower left hand she holds by its hair the head of a decapitated giant, a victim of her wrath; with the upper right hand Kali makes a gesture beckoning her wor- shippers to draw near and do her reverence; with the lower right hand she makes a gesture warning them away, lest coming unworthily they become the objects of her fierce anger and malice. Everything in connection with this image is intended to inspire horror and fear. There is also a more benevolent but less popular representation of this goddess of disaster. THE HINDU GODDESS KALI THE ELEPHANT-HEADED GOD GAXESHA THE GENERAL COUNCIL'S MISSION FIELD IN INDIA l6l Hanuman, the monkey-god. So numerous are the images that their number is said to exceed that of the people; and their temples and shrines may be found on every side, on hills, under trees, near springs or rocks, on the banks of rivers, by the side of roads, in the streets of the cities and in the squares of the villages; and attached to each temple or shrine is the attendant priest or pufari, receiving the offerings of the people. To the spiritually benighted and morally degraded Telugus living in the territory just described as our mission field, the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America has sent and is still sending missionaries, men and women, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and is sup- porting their work in behalf of the christianization of these people. Slowly but surely the truth is prevailing, the king- dom and reign of the Living God are being extended and the number of converts to Christianity is increasing; but the task will not be finished until there has been established a self-supporting, self-governing and self-propagating Telugu Lutheran Church in the Godavery and Kistna districts of the Madras Presidency in India. CHAPTER IV STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE (1871-74) HEYER remained at Rajahmundry only one year and two months to reorganize the Mission, and then he left it in charge of two missionaries, both of whom were young, inexperienced, unfamiliar with the vernacular and unaccustomed to the climate. Sickness overtook them; once Poulsen's life hung in the balance. The Brahmins opposed them, not, indeed, with physical violence but with subtle arguments and with the influence of their caste pre-eminence and religious in- tolerance. The Baptist missionaries in adjacent districts molested them by enticing away their native helpers and proselyting their converts. The Church at home failed to furnish them with sufficient funds to improve the opportuni- ties which presented themselves for the extension of the Mission. For seven years they labored patiently and hopefully side by side, waiting for other missionaries to come over and help them, but waiting in vain; and their effort was little more than a struggle for the existence of the Mission. Schmidt and Poulsen lived in the old mission house at Rajahmundry with such native servants as were required to keep house. Schmidt made himself reponsible for the district mission work, and Poulsen took charge of the educational work. Early in 1871 a native Christian teacher was employed at Jagganathpuram. His name was Jeremiah. He had scarcely begun his work in the village, when the Brahmins incited a mob to burn down the schoolhouse and drive the teacher from the village. Schmidt hastened to the scene of the dis- turbance and, with the aid of government officials, restored order. Thereafter Jeremiah was allowed to live and labor without molestation at Jagganathpuram. After the hot season Schmidt revisited the place and went as far as Narsa- 162 STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE (1871-74) 163 pur, where he baptized 13 persons, most of whom were adults. On July ist, at Metta, after having baptized 2 adults, Schmidt performed his first marriage ceremony in the Mission. Several weeks afterward he took possession of a site at Peddahem, secured from the rajah through the efforts of Mr. Gribble, the new assistant collector, and work was at once begun at this new point. In July, 1871, after a visit to Dowlaishwaram, Jegurupad and Muramunda, 1 Poulsen became seriously ill with bilious fever, which lasted for weeks. Captain Taylor and Schmidt nursed him back to health. While convalescing he spent a few weeks at Samulkot in the mission house which Long had built, but which had long remained unoccupied. Poulsen desired to be located there permanently, but the Committee and the General Council, in 1871, withheld their permission, and the missionaries continued to live together at Rajah- mundry. In its report to the General Council in 1871, at Rochester, N. Y., the executive committee of the Ministerium of Penn- sylvania incorporated the following statistics: Pupils in Town or Village. Teacher. Christians. School. 1. Rajahmundry William Amurtayya 30 40 2. Muramunda Barnabas 40 20 3. Jegurupad Benjamin 25 16 4. Metta, ] 5. Peddahem, > Jacob 50 20 6. Gowripatnam J 7. Velpur Nathaniel 16 14 8. Narsapur Alfred ") JataSathpuraJ .Jeremiah}' 11. Peravaram 12. Lolla . . 20 8 Totals 7 241 138 North and northwest of Rajahmundry, at a distance of fifty miles and upward, lies the country of the Kois and Reddis, tribes that differ racially and linguistically from the Telugus, having less civilization and no caste system. They are probably the remnants of aboriginal tribes whom the con- 1 Here he baptized an infant, his first baptism in the Mission. 164 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL quering Telugus in their day drove from the lowlands into the forest-clad and fever-infested hills. No missionary had ever visited them, and Schmidt, believing that he ought to begin work among them, started on a journey northward from Rajahmundry on January 17, 1872, accompanied by Paulus and Jeremiah. They took along such medicines as were deemed necessary for protection against the dreaded mountain fever, and a number of firearms and ammunition for the tigers and other wild animals, which were reported to be numerous in the forests. A tent and provisions were sent on ahead in a bullock cart accompanied by coolie bearers. Schmidt rode a horse. Sixteen miles were covered on the first day. From Purushottapatnam the journey was con- tinued through Ungalur and Devipatnam to Yaimigalogudem, the first Kois village visited. When the people of this village heard for the first time the Gospel preached to them in Telugu, which they readily understood, they exclaimed: "Manchi marta! Entha prema!" (Lovely words! Wonderful love!). From Mantur the missionary and his helpers proceeded by boat up the Godavery to Katchalur, a Reddi village. The region was a wild one, and for fear of prowling tigers and other savage beasts a fire was kept burning all night. The chief industry of the natives was found to be the cutting and preparation of bamboo wood. Their staple food was cholam, a kind of millet, eaten instead of rice which does not thrive on the hills. In order to reach some of the inland villages a path had to be hewn with an ax through the dense jungle. The natives had never seen a white man; and once, on approaching a village, Schmidt found it deserted and empty, the villagers having fled for fear of the paleface. They hid in the sur- rounding jungle, armed with their primitive weapons, bows, arrows and spears, ready to fight for their lives. Jeremiah shouted to them and assured them that the white man had come on a mission of peace, whereupon they returned to the village and listened to what the missionary had to say to them. "It was a cause of joy to us to see with what avidity they received the Gospel," wrote Schmidt. "After their first timidity was overcome, we found open ears. They said, 'We STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE (1871-74) 165 live like wild beasts, separated from men. No one has cared for us or taught us the truth ; but now we will no longer pray to stones, but to the Living God.' Some said, 'We are too ignorant to be able to believe in Jesus.' Few, almost none of them, can read or write, and we could not, therefore, provide for their instruction through books left behind." On February loth, at Kottapilli, the tour ended, and on the i6th the mis- sionary was back in Rajahmundry. Great interest was shown by the Telugu converts when the experiences of this tour among the Kois and Reddis were related, and four teachers offered themselves and were sent to follow up the work of the missionary. All contracted jungle fever. One died, another lost his reason, and the other two refused to remain and continue the work. In June, 1872, a small church bell or gong, sent from Den- mark by Schmidt's brothers, sisters and friends, arrived at Rajahmundry and was placed on the roof of the mission- house. Some time during the same month, James and William, having been graduated from the Boys' Boarding School, began to read in the Government High School at Rajah- mundry, their support being continued by patrons in America. The following letter, written by Father Heyer at Somerset, Pa., to his friend, the Rev. P. Isenschmidt of Wilmington, Del., indicates how the system of supporting scholarships in India originated in the General Council: "Dear Brother in Christ: Gladly will I answer the questions you propose. The Christian education of the children con- nected with the Mission is certainly of the greatest importance. In this respect more should be done than has hitherto been done. Every Sunday school of our larger congregations might bind itself to care for one particular child. There is no lack of children. The board and clothing of a child would cost about $18 or $20 yearly. The annual expense of a student would amount to about $30 or $35. In the mission school at Rajahmundry there are three boys who ought to be pre- pared for the holy ministry. Their names are James, Cor- nelius and William. The first named is the most talented and is about fifteen or sixteen years of age. The second is a son 1 66 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL of the catechist Joseph. The third is a son of Ruth who has hitherto watched faithfully over her children in order to bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord." 1 A new missionary's bungalow was built at Rajahmundry under Schmidt's supervision in 1872, on a lot opposite the mission house. Poulsen took his bride to this new house. He had betrothed himself to Henrietta Andersen in Denmark before leaving for India, but the executive committee in America had felt itself financially unable to send out a married missionary at the time, and she remained in Denmark. On October n, 1872, however, she was informed through the Rev. C. W. Groenning that the committee was prepared to send her to India. She started at once, leaving Copenhagen on November 22d. From Trieste she took ship on December ist for Bombay, being the only woman passenger on board. In a month Bombay was reached. The overland journey to Madras lasted two days and two nights. Poulsen met her there, and they were married by the Rev. C. F. Kremmer, a Leipsic missionary, on January 10, 1873. Three days later they started for Rajahmundry, arriving on the i7th. Several weeks were spent in the bungalow at Samulkot, and then they accompanied Schmidt on a trip up the Godavery River. For this trip Captain Taylor loaned them his house-boat. Paulus and Jeremiah again went with the missionaries. "We went," wrote Schmidt, "partly to show those poor people, the Kois and Reddis, that we had not forgotten them, and partly to see a little more of the field." They visited the Nizam's tributary kingdom, going as far as the Saveri, a branch of the Godavery. "It was very trying to mark their eagerness to be taught," Schmidt reported, "and yet to be unable to promise them the opportunity." The year 1873 witnessed an important conference of mis- sionaries laboring among the Telugus, convened at Rajah- mundry, to undertake the revision of the Telugu translation of the Bible. Schmidt, who was a member of the Revision 1 William was assigned to the Rev. Mr. Isenschmidt's congregation in Wil- mington, Del., for support, and ever since that congregation has continued to contribute $35 a year for the support of a boy's scholarship in India. STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE (1871-74) 167 Committee, was able to assist the Committee by reason of his familiarity with the German and Daaish translations. 1 The house which the missionaries occupied was the one Valett had built at the time of his marriage. It was in the form of a rectangle and had, as was then customary, a flat roof. In 1873, Schmidt altered it, adding a light second story and putting on a shingle roof, the first of its kind in South India. The work cost over $500. It is interesting to note that in connection with this building, Schmidt inaugurated the scheme ef industrial mission work, which he afterward tried to elaborate. "At my building," he wrote, "I engaged as many of our Christians as possible, even from the villages. Though it gave me much more trouble to teach them and, perhaps, was hardly as cheap as I could have gotten heathen laborers, nevertheless I had the satisfaction of seeing that they profited by it, and, perhaps, it was also to their spiritual gain, for they had an opportunity to come to our daily prayers and Scripture readings. . . . The roof is of shingles of teak wood, an unseen thing in this country. The first 2000 shingles I had to put on with my own hands before my workmen understood the work. Had I not got so much experience in building Brother Poulsen's house last year, I would not have been able to succeed with my house, where I met with not a few engineer- ing difficulties. Long ago I found in the house of a native merchant a circular saw which I bought as old steel. I have now also succeeded in making a bench for it, and cut the shingles with it. It is turned by coolies, and the whole machine 1 This Revision Committee consisted of four ordained missionaries, two of whom were Americans. Two native pastors were added to the Committee. They worked for a month at Rajahmundry. Besides the old Telugu versions they used the Hebrew, Septuagint, Vulgate, Sanscrit, Tamil, Canarese, Mah- ratti, Hindustani, English, German and Danish. The Telugu Missions inter- ested in this revision and their relative strength at that time are given in the following table: Adherents. Mission. Missionaries. 1861. 1871. i. American Baptist, Nellore 5 23 6418 a. Hermannsburg Lutheran, Naydupet 8 150 3. General Synod Lutheran, Guntur 3 338 2150 4. General Council Lutheran, Rajahmundry 2 29 320 5. Church Missionary Society, Ellore 13 259 1882 6. London Missionary Society 5 209 j. Plymouth Baptist, Narsapur 4. 350 1000 1 68 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL cost me hardly more than $10. All the new wood I have used for the building is teak wood. This is generally very expensive, but by sitting and talking with the wood merchants near the river for half a day at a time I managed to get it cheap. You would have been amused to have seen how many people my building attracted, but it must naturally be so in a country where every one will do only what and as his fathers did." One of the twenty-two converts of the year 1873 was a Sudra mendicant who, after living for two months among the Christians at Rajahmundry, disappeared. A Brahmin who attended the mission school, broke his sacred thread and ate with the Christians ; but he refused to be baptized for fear of being disinherited. At Samulkot Poulsen prepared a number of inquirers for holy baptism, but when the hour of decision came they held back. The missionaries reported that "no extraordinary spiritual movements had happened in the field," but rejoiced that among the Christians "the work of the Holy Ghost was going on with signs of spiritual life." On September 16, 1873, Schmidt started for Madras, where he was to meet his fiancee" who was coming from Denmark. On the way he visited other missions in order to study their methods. October 3d he reached Guntur, where he was entertained by Missionaries Uhl, Unangst and Harpster, and where, on October 5th, he preached the sermon at the ordination of Pastor Cully who had been the catechist in the Palnad district. He spent about a month with the Hermannsburg missionaries, of whom there were ten. 1 On reaching Madras he learned that his fiancee" had been detained in Europe about a month, and he, therefore, spent the inter- vening time farther south, visiting a number of missions. On Christmas Day, 1873, Miss Giovanni Bleshoy landed at Bombay, where Missionary Schmidt was waiting for her to lead her to the altar as his wife. They were married at Madras by the Rev. C. F. Kremmer on January i, 1874. It was a double wedding, the other bridegroom being the 1 He described their field as being about forty miles east and west and fifty miles north and south, with missionaries stationed at Gudur (Boettcher, Wahl, Kiehne), Venkatagiri (Theo. Peterson), Kalastri (Woerrlein), Naydupet (Mylius), Sulurpet (Scriba). The baptized membership was 260. STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE (1871-74) 169 Rev. Mr. Pedersen of the Danish Mission. After the wedding the newly married pair received the Lord's Supper. The Rev. and Mrs. Schmidt reached Rajahmundry on January i7th. While Schmidt was away Poulsen and his wife were seriously ill with fever. "My poor wife," wrote Poulsen, "in spite of her great distress and anxiety, was not only a nurse for my body but also for my soul. How glad I was when she now and then repeated a word of love from our dear Saviour's lips. The English people were very kind to her and to me. To Henry 1 we owe our greatest thanks. After working all day he would insist on coming to me every night; and what he did, he did with love." The year i874 2 began in an atmosphere of gladness and hope. Both of the missionaries had loving and faithful help- meets at their sides, who shared with them the discourage- ments as well as the joys of the work. In the home of the Poulsens a happy event occurred on February 2ist, when a daughter was born, who was baptized by her father three days afterward and given the name Agnes Martha Henrietta. Three teachers were sent to the hill country in January, 1874, two of whom returned to Rajahmundry within a month, sick with hill fever. The third, Prakasem, 3 located at Konda- modalu, near the gorge of the Godavery, was visited by Schmidt in March; but immediately thereafter he also was obliged to leave on account of illness. Schmidt made an effort to secure a number of boys from the hill country to be educated in Rajahmundry, but he met with the opposition of their parents who lamented "as though they were asked to send their sons to another world." On his way home he paid a visit to Peddahem, where at a service in the new schoolhouse he administered the Lord's Supper to fifteen persons. So greatly were the villagers interested in the visit of the mis- 1 Jeriprolu Henry was a native convert whom Rev. C. W. Groenning had brought with him from Guntur to Rajahmundry. He was the father of a large family of which every member has been in the employ of the Mission. His wife was Ruth, already mentioned; one of his sons, William, is a native Chris- tian pastor in the Mission to-day. 2 During 1873 nine children and thirteen adults were baptized by the mis- sionaries. 3 This man, Namabattula Prakasem, is still in the service of the mission. 1 70 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL sionary that the schoolhouse was surrounded all day long by them, even the headman of the village attending the morning service and sitting inside the building among the outcast Christians. Early in 1874 the Canadian Baptist (Ontario and Quebec) Missionary Society established its first station in the Telugu country at Coconada on the coast, eight miles from Samulkot. The Rev. Mr. McLaurin was their first missionary. He offered to buy the mission house at Samulkot, but his offer was declined. He refused to agree to any policy of mission comity and openly worked against our missionaries. "I asked him," Schmidt reported, "whether we could and should agree that neither would interfere with the other's work, but he did not like to promise to take none of our Christians." As indicated in a report of a mission conference of native Christian teachers in July, 1874, the missionaries instructed their helpers in Bible history, church history, the catechism, and in the public reading of the Sacred Scriptures with running comments. An explanation of Luther's Small Cate- chism, prepared and published by the Hermannsburg mis- sionaries, was introduced at this time. By the close of the year the two hundredth person was baptized, counting all who had received the sacrament since the reorganization under Heyer five years before. Among the converts of 1874 were two caste women, one of whom had been an opium-eater for thirty years. Another convert, an old man living at Korukonda, gave one of his houses in that village to the Mission for school purposes, and a teacher was sent there; but after repeated attacks of fever he returned to Rajahmundry. Poulsen, however, regularly visited the village to preach the Gospel at the times of the great festivals there. When the wife of the Korukonda convert became sick, shortly after his conversion, the villagers tried his faith by asking him why it was that sickness should enter his home and that the Christian teacher should have been obliged to leave on ac- count of fever, if the God in whom they believed really forgave sins and healed iniquities? Despite their taunts the convert remained faithful to Christ. Subsequently, at a heathen STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE (1871-74) 171 festival, Poulsen found the Baptist missionary from Coconada and three of his native helpers in the village preaching and distributing tracts. One of the Baptist helpers in a conversa- tion with the Korukonda convert 1 told him that he was not a true Christian, because he had not been properly baptized. Deeply troubled, he went to Missionary Poulsen for instruc- tion concerning this matter. "In all the villages where we have Christians," Poulsen complained, "the Baptist agents try to proselyte, and the Baptist missionary contemptuously calls us and other Protestants 'sprinklers.' ' In the congregations and synods of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America foreign mission interest and effort grew very slowly during the first five years of the history of its Telugu Mission in India. The Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Ministe- rium, which had been appointed by the General Council to act as its committee on foreign missions, experienced con- siderable difficulty in providing sufficient money to finance the India Mission. 2 Regarding the income it reported, in 1 This man was subsequently bitten by a snake of a peculiarly virulent poi- son, which caused him to lose joint after joint of fingers and toes, until death brought relief. Of course this misfortune was attributed to the power of the angry gods. This incident hindered the growth of the Mission for many years in that locality. 2 The following is a list of the expenditures during the first fourteen months: C. F. Heyer, travelling expenses and outfit $562 C. F. Heyer, salary, October 23, 1869 to October 23, 1870 500 C. F. J. Becker, travelling expenses 425 C. F. J. Becker, salary, February to May 125 H. C. Schmidt, travelling expenses 400 H. C. Schmidt, salary, one quarter 125 I. K. Poulsen, travelling expenses 450 Salary of two catechists, n months, at $7.50 each 165 Repairs and taxes 59 Repairs contracted for 200 Total $3011 With regard to the money due the Church Missionary Society, which had paid the catechists' salaries before the transfer of the Mission to the General Council, the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Ministerium passed the following resolution, April 5, 1870: "Resolved, That the Secretary be instructed to apply to the General Synod for their proportion of the money due the Church Missionary Society, and the treasurer be authorized to pay our part, and that, if the General Synod refuses, to pay the whole." It appears that the whole indebtedness amounted to $178, in gold, which the Executive Committee eventually paid in full. 172 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 1870, to the General Council as follows: "Your committee has with great difficulty secured the money to meet the ex- penses. From most of the synods not a cent has been received. The treasurer of the General Council, Mr. C. F. Norton, ad- vanced $896.69, which has not yet been repaid in full. The resolution of the General Council last year, 'that the General Council pledges itself vigorously and faithfully to support the foreign mission work/ greatly encouraged your committee at the beginning of the year; but they greatly regret that their hopes and expectations have been realized to so small an extent." Nevertheless the committee managed to make ends meet. During the year 1870-71 the income rose from $2480.49 to $3065. and the expenditures from $2065.74 to $2861.22. The New York Ministerium again contributed liberally during this year. The next year the contributions amounted to $4352.11, the expenditures to only $2276.29, leaving a bal- ance of $2279.50. The account from year to year continued to show a balance, due, as one can readily see, not so much to a steady increase of income as to the enforcement of econ- omy in the mission work. The expenditures in India 1 were greater than the amount of the remittances from America. They were met, however, by contributions of friendly English residents in Rajahmundry, 1 The following is an exhibit of all expenditures in India: 1872. 1873. 1874. Rs. As. Ps. Rs. As. Ps. Rs. As. Ps. Salaries of missionaries 2574 . . . . 4000 . . . . 4244 Salaries of catechists 500 15 6 500 .. .. 480 Travelling expenses 147 67 125 9 9 Hill allowance 20 Support of pupils by Sunday schools 184 .. .. 340 .. .. 420 Rebuilding Poulsen's house 1597 3 2 Dr. Heyer's class 10 Easter presents to helpers 68 Repairs to mission-house 928 Taxes, postage, etc 30 .... 12 6 6 Repairs, taxes, building 764 7 8 Deficit 199 . . . . 736 .... 459 6 9 Totals 5283 9 o 6554 6505 14 8 During these years the value of a rupee was estimated to be 50 cents. STRUGGLING FOR EXISTENCE (1871-74) 173 by the rental of the bungalow at Samulkot, and by special efforts on the part of Schmidt who actually resorted to the sale of photographs and the repair of watches, sewing machines and other mechanical devices in order not to create a mission indebtedness. The salaries of the missionaries were increased after their marriage, each receiving Rs. 2000 or $1000 a year. The salaries of the catechists amounted to Rs. 500, each receiving Rs. 250 or $125 a year. A third item of expenditure which bulked large was for building and repairs. The Pennsylvania Minis terium's Executive Committee on Missions and Education continued to direct the affairs of the Mission in India until the year 1876. This committee con- sisted of the four officers of the synod, the president of the synod being ex-officio the chairman of the committee, the five presidents of conferences and ten additional members, five ministers and five laymen, elected annually. The treasurer of the General Council was the treasurer of the foreign mis- sion funds. 1 1 Those, therefore, to whom the care and control of the Telugu Mission were entrusted during this period were the Rev. C. W. Schaeffer, D. D., chairman from 1869 to 1873; the Rev. E. Greenwald, D. D., chairman from 1873 to 1876; the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., English secretary from 1869 to 1875; the Rev. J. Fry, D. D., English secretary in 1876; the Rev. J. J. Kuendig, German secretary from 1869 to 1873; tne R CV - S. K. Brobst, German secretary from 1873 to 1876. Although the secretaries of the synod were members of the committee, the committee annually elected its own English and German secretaries. Others who served for a longer or shorter period on this committee were the Revs. B. W. Schmauk, F. Waltz, J. W. Hassler, H. Grahn, F. J. F. Schantz, G. F. Spieker and Mr. A. T. Geissenhainer, all by virtue of their offices in the synod. The laymen most prominently connected with the work of the committee were Messrs. H. H. Muehlenberg, M. D., H. Trexler, F. Lauer, A. W. Potteiger, H. L. Mattes and John Endlich. CHAPTER V DISHEARTENING DIFFICULTIES (1875-77) THE years 1875 to 1877 were crowded with disheartening difficulties. Famine and cholera prevailed in the land. Both of the missionaries were ill with jungle fever much of the time. Little progress was made in the mission work. Schmidt clung to the hope of establishing a number of out- stations in the hill country. Undaunted by his previous failures, he started on another trip up the Godavery River in February, 1875, accompanied by his wife, in Captain Taylor's house-boat. This time he went farther than before, but jungle fever stopped his progress into the interior of the Nizam's kingdom and drove him in haste back to Rajah- mundry; eleven in his party, including himself and his wife, were sick with fever. He was seriously ill for months, and years elapsed before he fully recovered. After having returned from a vacation at the sea-shore, he undertook the building of a house-boat for the Mission at his own expense. Meanwhile Poulsen took charge of the district work; but while on a visit to Korukonda in October, that year, he also contracted the jungle fever. He recovered from it more rapidly than his co-laborer. 1 While at Velpur in November, 1875, Poulsen found the Bap- tists there pursuing their usual tactics. "Our Baptist neigh- bors," Schmidt remarked, "have lots of money. They almost buy our people; and, I am sorry to say, many cannot resist the temptation. A teacher whom we paid Rs. 7 a month but whom we excommunicated on account of adultery, they em- ployed, paying him Rs. 20, almost three times as much. Now they have five or six missionary families in our field, one living 1 Poulsen ascribed his speedy recovery to a nourishing diet. Even Poul- sen's horse got the fever. "The heathen," he wrote, "go to their stupid native doctors, who tell the fever patients that they must starve. As a consequence some actually die of starvation rather than of fever." 174 "RIVERDALE" Missionary's home at Rajahmundry. This house was built by Dr. H. C. Schmidt, who occupied it with his family. It was the home of Dr. and Mrs. J. H. Harpster during their residence in Rajahmundry. It is now occupied by women missionaries. "THE DOVE OF PEACH" House-boat built by Dr. H. C. Schmidt "THE AUGUSTAXA" A mission house-boat, of which there are now three in the mission. In these boats the missionaries travel through the canals from village to village. DISHEARTENING DIFFICULTIES (1875-77) J 75 at Samulkot. I cannot accept it as a comfort when a Baptist tells me that people taken by them are still the fruits of our work and that, when the Lord will come in judgment, He will give us and not them the crowns for these converts." Some time in January, 1876, Schmidt left Rajahmundry for Madras, on the advice of his physician. There he and his wife lived for a while in the mission house of the Leipsic Society, its missionary having returned to Germany on furlough. They returned to Rajahmundry in April, greatly benefited by the change in environment and by the superior medical treatment. For the next few months Schmidt devoted himself entirely to the building of the house-boat. The boarding-school boys and native Christians were employed as carpenters and blacksmiths. "The Dove of Peace," as the boat was afterward named, was 40 feet long and 12 feet wide. A cabin with seven windows and a skylight was built near the bow. Amidships were a dining-room and a bath- room. At the stern were the kitchen and the quarters for the natives. Selected teak wood was used in the construction of every part. When the boat was finished it was launched under Schmidt's supervision. The river bank was fully half a mile away, and everyone said that he could not get the boat safely from the yard to the river. "Nobody believed in me as a ship-builder, my good wife not excepted," wrote Schmidt. "When I caulked the boat before moving it, they predicted that this work would be in vain, because of the shaking the boat would get on the way to the river. When the day for the launching came I had a bad attack of fever. Early in the morning I commenced the task with one hundred men. Large beams were fastened across the vessel. Trees which stood in the way were cut down. A gate and a part of a fence were removed. At 8 o'clock I had to lie down and thereafter remained in bed. My wife informed me from time to time how they got on, and I gave my orders from my bed through her. At 4 o'clock the boat was in the water. She did not leak a drop !" It must have been like playing chess blindfolded and winning the game. The "Dove of Peace" made her maiden voyage up the 176 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Godavery, towed by a steamer, on August 4, 1876, the day of the sixth anniversary of Schmidt's arrival at Rajahmundry. It cost Rs. 600 to build the boat, which the missionary paid out of his private purse, securing the necessary funds by sell- ing photographs and by disposing of some property which he had bought at Dowlaishwaram. He, therefore, claimed the boat as his personal property, and the Executive Committee allowed the claim, granting him, moreover, the sum of $40 a year for the wages of a captain. Seventy-two Christians, representing fourteen families, were connected with the congregation at Rajahmundry in 1876; but the old mission house in which they worshipped, was falling into a state of decay and needed rebuilding. Schmidt appealed to friends in Schleswig, who sent him about $300. The Executive Committee in America also appealed for funds and authorized the reconstruction of the old building. This gave the missionary an opportunity to con- tinue his industrial school. Carpenter- and blacksmith-shops, a saw-pit and a lumber-yard were soon located in the mission compound, which again began to be a place of great activity, much to the joy of the missionary. Another pet project inaugurated by Schmidt, in 1876, was the purchase of land for the endowment of congregations. He began by securing some land at Velpur and permitting the Christians to cultivate it, with the understanding that they were to pay for their several portions in three or four years. He also loaned small sums of money to them without interest. Because of its bearing on the history of the Mission, Schmidt's scheme of land endowment ought to be understood. In a letter to the corresponding secretary of the committee in America, the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., under date of October 12, 1876, he outlined the scheme as follows: "The heathen temples are richly endowed with land ; but our present government upholds only the old endowments and gives no land to temples or churches now. In considering all this, I came to the conclusion that it would be best to procure land in connection with the native churches. I shall work toward that object; but it is evident that I can do very little personally. DISHEARTENING DIFFICULTIES (1875-77) 1 77 As far as I can see now, it would require $600 to procure land sufficient for the support of a native pastor, with the pay our native catechists receive, and at least $400 for a lower grade of workers. This means to buy land when there is an oppor- tunity to get it cheap. We would then have to build a small, substantial church, and procure proper documents that such and such land belongs to this or that church, and that the minister who should be supported by it must belong to the Lutheran Church. Other rules for management could be added, as that every member should have to work certain days of the year for his minister, etc. The advantages of such arrangement would be: i. That independent native churches would be established; 2. That the increase of the minister's salary would depend on the help of the congregation, and that he, therefore, would have to care for them as well as they for him. The qualifications of the minister would, in course of time, also depend on the pay they raise for him. 3. That a more brotherly feeling would exist between the mis- sionary and his native ministers in spite of difference in pay, as each would draw his pay from his own country and remain a son of his own soil, and the one would no longer be the servant of the other. We would begin with our present catechists, though they would, perhaps, prefer ready money. We would then require $1200, and perhaps two rich men or two rich congregations in America would like to give us that sum. Some may say that such arrangements would entangle the minister in worldly business. To such I would say: i. That St. Paul could earn his daily bread and still be an Apostle, while in our case the minister would only have to get his land cultivated by others; 2. That the emoluments of the ministers in Denmark are of that kind, and perhaps in all Europe; 3. That this leaves sufficient room for the congre- gation to act differently afterward, as it would provide for only a small pay and either more land or ready money would have to be added. An endowment of this kind must remain Lutheran even after every Lutheran missionary would be gone." In 1876 Schmidt and Poulsen agreed on a division of the 178 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL mission field. The former chose Paulus as his catechist; the latter, Joseph. Besides the congregation at Rajahmundry, Schmidt took charge of Dowlaishwaram, where there were nine Christians; Velpur, where there were thirty- two; Jagga- nathpuram, where there were sixteen; Mallipudi, where there was one family; and Argatipalem. All of these were south of Rajahmundry. His out-stations to the north were Metta, where there were three Christians; Gowripatnam, where there were ten; and Peddahem, where there were sixteen. He also made himself responsible for the work in the hill country, whither he sent a teacher, paying him twice the salary usually paid this grade of workers, and made another attempt to visit the villages of the Kois and Reddis, but with no other results than renewed attacks of jungle fever. Poulsen's out-stations were Muramunda, where there were thirty-eight Christians and a school of ten children; Jeguru- pad, where there were twenty-seven Christians and a school which was taught by the Muramunda teacher, who devoted his mornings to the one village and his afternoons to the other ; Dulla, where a Sudra who afterward became an evangelist, was baptized in 187 5;* Peravaram, where there were fourteen Christians and a school of six children; Lolla, where there was a Christian family; and Amalapur, a large village nearer the coast, in which the Baptists were very aggressive. Other places which Poulsen visited were Samulkot, Jaggampet, Gokavaram, Rajanagaram and Korukonda. For some time a teacher was stationed at Korukonda. He afterward went over to the Baptists. The Boys' School at Rajahmundry was in charge of Poulsen, assisted by Paulus and Joseph. It was a primary school which enrolled thirty pupils, six of whom occupied "the boarding house," a small building in Poulsen's compound. Three of them attended the Government College, 2 the others the 1 Having broken his caste by becoming a Christian, his wife left him and with their child, returned to her mother's home. 2 William, James and Raya Paradesi. Some years later the last named lost his reason and was placed in an asylum at Vizagapatam, where he is still liv- ing. His wife, Anna, became a Bible woman in the zenana work. She died of cholera in 1912. DISHEARTENING DIFFICULTIES (1875-77) 179 Third Elementary School in the town. All of the boarders came to Poulsen's house several times a week for one or two hours in the morning to receive religious instruction. The whole number of baptisms in the Mission from 1869 to 1876 was 272. The losses by death, removal and backsliding during that period amounted to 40. The number of native Christian workers had remained about stationary since the beginning; but only one of the teachers in mission employ in 1869 remained in 1876. So slow had been the progress of the work that Schmidt wrote in 1876: "Ever since Mr. Groenning and Mr. Long ceased their work in Rajahmundry, this station and Samulkot have given the impression of decline and decay. The property of the Mission and the number of Christians remain almost in statu quo. We do little more than keep our Mission alive." During 1876 and 1877 a fearful famine, accompanied by cholera and other diseases, prevailed in South India. 1 The Godavery district was not so severely affected as the districts farther south ; yet in Rajahmundry the price of provisions rose rapidly, and throughout the district cholera, small-pox and fever claimed many victims. There was much suffering and distress. From one of Schmidt's letters we quote the following description: "I had a number of jewels for which I advanced money to distressed persons, both Christians and heathen. As I do not exact interest, it is a great help to the poor people. Many are reduced to skin and bones. I should not wish you to witness the sights we see every Sunday, the day I have appointed for the poor to come and receive their mites. In the south it must be terrible. That mothers offer their off- spring for sale frequently happens. Lately poor wretches have even been found eating human flesh. The hand of the Lord lies heavily upon this land; but a movement toward the True God is nowhere to be noted." Nevertheless the charitable conduct of the missionaries and foreign residents won the gratitude and goodwill of the natives and opened new doors of opportunity for mission work. 1 It was estimated that 5,000,000 people died of starvation during 1877 in South India. l8o THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL The most notable incident of the work of 1877 was the con- version of P. Venkataratnam, a Sudra. Poulsen baptized him in July, that year, at Peravaram, where he had been a government teacher for six years. His conversion aroused the enmity of his relatives, caste people, to such an extent that they sought by every possible means to get him away from the missionaries. They followed the house-boat in which Poulsen took him from Peravaram to Rajahmundry, and met it at the landing-place, accompanied by a crowd of two hundred persons, intent on getting Ratnam away. Schmidt secured an escort of police who conducted Ratnam in safety to the mis- sion house. There he was confronted by his relatives, but he told them that he had become a Christian because he believed in Christ as the Saviour, and exhorted them to be- come Christians. They pleaded with him, mocked, scolded and threatened him, but all to no avail. M. William became teacher at Jegurupad in 1877 ; Peter, the same year, being twenty- two years of age, took charge of the school at Muramunda. B.John, of the same age as Peter,taught a school of five children at Peravaram. Schmidt summed up the results of the work of the year 1877 as follows: "With fear and trembling we entered the year. The future seemed so threatening! The terrible famine had begun, accompanied by cholera and small-pox. A time of severe trial lay before us ; yet God in His goodness preserved us, while many around us fell victims to the famine and to disease. In our neighbor's house all but one died of cholera. Our hearts are filled with praise and thanksgiving to God. To the south, where they looked so long for rain, it rained recently so much that in places there were great floods. Here we have had but little rain; in Rajahmundry none for two months. The harvest is a total failure except where the canals furnished water for the fields, and even there only a half-crop was harvested. At our church building we employed a number of famine sufferers, and we also gave our teachers a little extra pay because of the famine. The church has already cost Rs. 1800 and is not finished. For two months we stopped building operations on account of other work. On tour Brother Poulsen and I DISHEARTENING DIFFICULTIES (1875-77) l8l were able to spend more time than usual, each devoting ex- actly one hundred days to travelling. We had a very happy Christmas; yet because of the famine fewer people came from the surrounding villages. As usual, the English judge, a friend of our Mission, gave a feast of good things on Christmas, which two hundred people attended. Around our large Christmas tree, with its 75 candles, seventy-nine children gathered. Each got a garment, a bag of cakes, an orange and a plaything. A number of garments which had been sent to my wife from friends and relatives in Denmark, were dis- tributed by her to those of her sewing class who had been regular in attendance. Our services were held in the incom- plete church, eighty persons partaking of the Lord's Supper on Christmas. During the year we baptized thirty-eight per- sons." The General Expense Accounts of the Mission show ex- penditures, in 1875, to the amount of $2651.07; in 1876, $3432; in 1877, $4343 - 1 Only $500 more than the salaries of the missionaries were sent to India from America in 1875, and again in 1876; but in 1877, $2000 in addition to the salaries were sent, which wiped out the deficit and left a balance of $54 in the mission treasury at the close of the year. A notable event of the year 1876 was the visit of the Rev. C. W. Groenning to the United States for the purpose of urging upon the General Council a more liberal and energetic support of its Mission in India. He delivered an impressive and effective address at its meeting in Bethlehem, Pa., and preached in a number of churches. As a result of his agitation the home administration was reorganized, and, as 1 The accounts in detail are as follows: 1875. 1876. 1877. Salary, Schmidt $1000.00 $1000.00 $1000.00 Salary, Poulsen looo.oo looo.oo looo.oo Expenses, Schmidt's account 890.00 896.00 Expenses, Poulsen's account 315.00 325.00 Expenses, Schmidt's and Poulsen's 637.80 Church building 600.00 Deficit 13-27 227.00 522.00 Totals $2651.07 $3432.00 $4343.00 182 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL just noted, $2000 instead of $500 were sent to India in 1877 for the mission work. In concluding its report to the General Council in 1876, the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Ministerium recom- mended the appointment of a special committee for Foreign Missions, inasmuch as the large membership of the Executive Committee, their residences in widely separated places, and the fact that the home mission and educational interests of the Ministerium demanded almost all of the committee's time and attention, made it practically impossible for the committee to do full justice to the cause of foreign missions. Further- more, it was recommended that a General Secretary be called, who should give his entire time to the interests of the foreign mission work of the General Council, furnish mission news, visit the meetings of synods and conferences and awaken and maintain a greater interest in the cause. A third recommen- dation of the committee called for a more intimate relation between the "Missionsblatt," edited and published in Brook- lyn, N. Y., by the Rev. A. E. Frey, and the Mission in India, and suggested that an English paper be published to further the interests of the India Mission. The General Council acted only on the first recommendation. It elected the fol- lowing Committee on Foreign Missions: The Revs. A. Spaeth, D. D., H. Grahn, B. M. Schmucker, D. D., F. Wischan, J. A. Kunkleman and Messrs. Wm. H. Staake and J. C. File. This committee met at the Seminary on Franklin Square, Philadelphia, and organized on October 31, 1876, by electing the Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., Chairman, the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., English Recording and Corresponding Secretary, and the Rev. F. Wischan, German Recording Secre- tary. The former arrangement, according to which the Treasurer of the General Council was also the Treasurer of the Foreign Mission Fund, was continued. William H. Staake, Esq., a member of the committee, was the newly elected incumbent of that office. This committee met regu- larly at the Seminary on the afternoon of the fourth Monday of each month, and addressed itself at once to the task of in- creasing the income for foreign missions. It sought to do DISHEARTENING DIFFICULTIES (1875-77) 183 this, first, by making appeals through the church papers; secondly, by an effort to secure the sum of $1000, which Father Heyer had bequeathed to the Rajahmundry Mission; and, thirdly, by an attempt to secure from the editor of the "Missionsblatt" the sums which he had received for foreign missions. He was holding these funds until the Committee should call and send an additional missionary, claiming that they had been collected for that purpose only. The mis- sionaries in India also urged the sending of reinforcements in the following words: "We would gladly have from the General Council more than resolutions. We would have an embodied resolution a real flesh and blood missionary." The efforts of the new committee were successful, at least as far as the increase of foreign mission contributions was con- cerned, for the report of the Treasurer at the eleventh con- vention of the General Council at Philadelphia in October, 1877, showed receipts for foreign missions amounting to $5877.41, as compared with $2974.46 during the previous year. CHAPTER VI IMPORTANT EVENTS (1878-79) THE conversion of the old mission house, erected by Valett in 1845, mto a church, was an important event in the history of the Rajahmundry Mission. The new building by its very appearance of churchliness, without and within, testified that the Christian religion was beginning to make itself felt as a definite and permanent force in the life of the native converts. It was built of bricks with a shingle roof, both being made by native Christians under the direction of Schmidt. The ground plan is cruciform, the length of the building, including the tower at the east end, being 70 feet, the width 20 feet. Two schoolrooms were attached at the ends of the main building on the north side. A resident English lawyer donated the pulpit. The baptismal font was purchased with money sent from Denmark by friends of Mrs. Schmidt. The first commu- nion vessels used in the church had an interesting history. One of the cups was the gift of Schmidt's father who gave it to Groenning, when he first went to India. A second cup of the same size and pattern had been presented by Groenning to Poulsen. A third cup had been used by the Wandsbecker Bote, Claudius, and had been presented to Schmidt by friends in Luebeck, when he passed through that place on his way to India. The paten was the gift of friends in Denmark. It was the original intention of the missionaries and of the Com- mittee in America to build the church as a memorial to Dr. C. F. Heyer, using the sum of money he had bequeathed to the Mission for its erection; but Heyer's estate was not settled until 1879, and then only $290 of the $1000 bequeathed was secured. The church was finished in the fall of 1878 and consecrated on Christmas day, that year, receiving the name of St. Paul's Church. Early in 1878 the first lace was sent from Rajahmundry to Philadelphia. It was made by the older girls of Mrs. Schmidt's 184 ST. PAUL'S CHURCH, RAJAHMUNDRY THE MISSION CHAPEL AT VELPUR Similar chapels have been built in a number of other villages, but, as a rule, the native congregations meet in mud-walled, thatch-roofed prayer houses. IMPORTANT EVENTS (1878-79) 185 sewing class. "My sewing class meets every day from 12 to 2 o'clock," wrote Mrs. Schmidt. "Boys as well as girls come. It takes time and patience to teach them, but those who are diligent soon learn to do good work. We furnish all the material, such as needles, thimbles and thread. The older girls crochet and do tracing. I was glad to be able to buy the lace made by the women during the time of famine, especially because the suggestion of earning something in this way came from them. Now I have more lace than I can dispose of here, and am going to send some to America, where it may find a sale. 1 Poulsen undertook a short tour in July, 1878, in the "Dove of Peace." He took his wife and children 2 and his catechist, Joseph, with him. At Jegurupad he baptized a woman on her death-bed, who had left her husband when, several years before, he had become a Christian. At the same time he baptized two of their children. At Muramunda he baptized three young women, daughters of heathen parents, one of whom was a widow, and another the wife of a Christian absent in Rangoon. On September 23, 1878, a daughter was born to Rev. and Mrs. Schmidt, who at her baptism received the name of Dagmar Inger Dorothea. Two days after her baptism, on October 8th, Poulsen with his family left for Vellore and Madras on sick leave, and was absent from Rajahmundry over two months. In March, 1878, a communication from the missionaries was read to the Foreign Missions Committee, asking for per- mission to ordain the catechists Joseph and Paulus to the office of the holy ministry. The Committee granted the re- quest at its meeting in May, and the Synod of Pennsylvania at Easton, Pa., June 18, 1878, authorized their ordination. 3 1 The June number of the "Missionsbote," 1878, contained a notice offering this lace for sale. It sold readily at 8 and 10 cents a yard. 2 September 2, 1875, a son had been born to Rev. and Mrs. Poulsen, who at his baptism received the name of Aage Iver. 3 At a conference with the catechists on December ist, Schmidt officially informed them of the authorization received from America and had them sign the following agreement: "i. The end in view in every Mission must be the establishment of independ- ent native churches with native pastors. "2. In the event of the ordination of Joseph and Paulus, the General Council 1 86 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL After a serious illness of three weeks Schmidt was again well enough on Christmas, 1878, to take part in the services of that season, which included not only the usual celebration of the festival but more especially the consecration of the new church at Rajahmundry and the ordination of Joseph and Paulus. These services began at 8 o'clock in the morning. More than two hundred Christians were present, and many heathen gathered about the doors and the windows of the church. Poulsen preached in Telugu and Schmidt in English. Then came the formal consecration of the building to the wor- ship of the only True God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The solemn ordination of the catechists closed the service of the morning, which lasted three hours. During the service three adults and two infants were baptized. Joseph and Paulus wore white gowns; Schmidt and Poulsen black ones. The candidates knelt at the altar and were ordained by the mis- sionaries by the laying on of hands and by prayer. The administration of the Lord's Supper to the congregation fol- lowed the ordination, the newly ordained native pastors assisting in the distribution. In the afternoon the usual Christmas dinner was served to the Christians in the mission compound at the expense of the English judge. At a conference of missionaries and native pastors, held the day after Christmas, it was resolved to ask the Com- mittee in America to increase the salary of the native pastor to Rs. 25 a month with a travelling allowance of 5 annas for each day spent on tour beyond six miles from the pastor's promises to pay in future their salaries, namely, Rs. 20 per month and travelling expenses. "3. They are to reside in a central village and be the pastors of a number of surrounding villages, where they are to try to develop an independent ministry. A district is to be assigned them for special evangelistic work among the heathen. They are to accompany the missionaries on longer mission tours. "4. The foreign missionaries are to remain superintendents of these congre- gations; but they are to regard the native pastors as fellow-ministers who with them are members of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America. "5. With regard to money received from foreign sources the foreign mis- sionaries remain the only agents, but with regard to money collected in their own congregations, the native pastors have equal vote with the foreign mis- sionaries. "6. As soon as a third missionary arrives, church government is to be vested in a Conference or Synod." IMPORTANT EVENTS (1878-79) 187 residence. It was, moreover, resolved to exact a fee of Rs. 2 annually, payable in advance, for each seat in the church at Rajahmundry, those paying no fees to have the privilege of using the mat. At an adjourned meeting, on December 2Qth, a system of fees for Christians outside of Rajahmundry was devised for the building, repair and maintenance of churches and schools; but the Committee hi America disap- proved of the system and advised the encouragement of voluntary but systematic contributions. 1 A forward step of far-reaching importance was taken by the American Committee in November, 1877, when it resolved to publish a German organ "in which the wants and claims of our Telugu Mission could find adequate expression, and through which our congregations could be interested in its behalf." The Rev. F. Wischan was elected editor-in-chief, the Revs. A. Spaeth, D. D., and H. Grahn associate editors. The first number of "Der Missionsbote," as the new paper was called, appeared in the first week in January, 1878, and thereafter monthly. The number of subscriptions rose during the year to 8000. Every year the accounts showed a profit, which was turned into the General Fund. But the most important step of the year 1878 was the sending out of the fifth foreign missionary of the General Council, the Rev. A. B. Carlson, a Swede, and the first man wholly trained in America to become a General Council foreign missionary. Augustus B. Carlson was born in Doedeihult, Sweden, August 16, 1846. He emigrated to the United States when he was seventeen years of age, and after attending Knox College, Galesburg, 111., studied theology at the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1878. At the close of his senior year he received and accepted the call to go to India. He was ordained by the Swedish Augustana Synod, June 16, 1878, at Princeton, 111. 1 The year ended in India with a balance of $379 in the mission treasury, $4000 having been received from America and $126 from the friends of the Mission living at Rajahmundry. Schmidt's expenditures for district and school work had amounted to $973; Poulsen's, to $520; and the new church building had required $520 additional, or $1120 in all. 1 88 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Two weeks after his ordination, on May 3ist, in Philadelphia, he married Miss Hilda Linsky. He was solemnly commis- sioned for service in our foreign mission on the morning of June 24th, at a service held in Zion's and St. Michael's Church, Philadelphia. The Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., chairman of the Foreign Missions Committee, delivered the charge to the missionary, addressing him in the following words: "I ask you, dear brother, do you believe and confess the teachings of our Evangelical Lutheran Church, and promise to teach in conformity with her Confessions as a missionary among the heathen, and to adorn the doctrines of the Church by a holy walk and conversation? Are you willing and ready to devote your life to the holy calling and work of a missionary with all your mind and strength, though you may be called upon to lay down your life for the Name of Jesus?" Thereupon the missionary answered so that all in the church heard him: "Yes, the Lord helping me through the power of His Holy Spirit." Kneeling, he was commissioned with the laying on of hands, Dr. Spaeth repeating John 15:16 in German; Dr. Schmucker, Acts 20: 24 in English; and Rev. Mr. Lindberg, John 15:4 and Psalm 121 : 8 in Swedish. After the missionary had risen, Dr. Spaeth addressed the congregation, saying, "And now, dear congregation, forget not this solemn hour and all this of which we have been witnesses. He whom we have here commissioned for service in our mission field is your messenger. Remember him and our Mission in your prayers. Pray for him in earnest, continual supplications. His work is your work; his conflict, your conflict; his victory, your victory." The offering at this service was used for the purchase of an organ for the Rajahmundry church, costing $155, which had been displayed at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The Rev. A. T. Geissenhainer presented the missionary with a silver communion set for use in the Mission. Mr. and Mrs. Carlson sailed from New York June 26, 1878 visited his parents in Sweden, took ship at Trieste, passed through the Suez Canal, reached Madras January 14, 1879, and Coconada eight days later. At Coconada Schmidt met IMPORTANT EVENTS (1878-79) 189 them with the "Dove of Peace," and brought them to Rajah- mundry. Happy beyond expression were the missionaries on the field because, after waiting eight years, hoping almost against hope, they could grasp the hand of another co- laborer. On February 3, 1879, a Mission Conference was formally organized, Schmidt being elected President, and Poulsen Secretary and Treasurer. It was resolved that Carlson should conduct regular English services in St. Paul's Church, Rajah- mundry, for the benefit of the English-speaking families. Pastor Joseph was stationed at Jegurupad and Pastor Paulus at Velpur. Each baptized twenty-five persons by the first of May. Joseph visited Muramunda, Peravaram and Lolla on the east side of the Godavery River; Paulus was given Malla- pudi, Jagganathpuram, Mahadevipatnam and Argatipalem on the west side. The wisdom of their ordination and appoint- ment to special parishes soon became evident. Unlike the foreign missionaries, they had no building operations to super- intend, no boats to build, no salaries to distribute, no work of any secular kind whatever to do. Accustomed to the climate, thoroughly familiar with the habits of thought and modes of life in their own country, having a good command of the con- versational vernacular, these sons of the soil, Telugus of the Telugus, whom all foreign missionaries who had known them Heyer, Groenning, Schmidt and Poulsen had recommended for ordination, proved to be a power for good in the Mission that can scarcely be overestimated. Another native Christian, who from the day of his baptism was of great service to the missionaries, was Ratnam. After having spent a year as Schmidt's Telugu teacher, he was given charge of the school at Rajahmundry, when Paulus and Joseph left for their respective stations in January, 1879. In April he reported an attendance of twenty- three pupils, boys and girls, in two classes. In the first class the following branches were taught in Telugu : Bible History, New Testament Read- ings, Luther's Small Catechism, Telugu Language (Fourth Book), Telugu History, Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic and Writing. The second class had two divisions. In Divi- THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL sion A, the Telugu Language (Second Book), Catechism, Old Testament History, Arithmetic and Writing were taught; in Division B, Telugu (First Book) and Arithmetic to multi- plication. The boarding boys, of whom there were eleven, attended in part the Rajahmundry mission school and in part the Government schools of the town, all of them meeting Missionary Poulsen for one hour of religious instruction each day. This arrangement was very unsatisfactory. The mis- sionaries desired to have a mission school of a higher grade, and presented its claims to the Committee in America, which, as a consequence, reported to the General Council at Zanesville, O., in 1879, as follows: "We are deeply impressed with the importance of elevating the grade of our provision for instruction. The schools, at present, are entirely Telugu, and furnish no means for completing the training of the teachers and catechists. This must be done in the Government schools, from which all Christian instruction is excluded. We cannot hope to obtain qualified teachers from other Missions, and we have no training-school of our own. Our present force is not adequate. The first necessity, therefore, is more laborers. If good teachers could be sent out, the want might be partially supplied. The Conference has proposed the re-occupation of Samulkot as a place well adapted for an advanced school, there being no government school in that place; but the absence of a Christian congregation there makes us doubt whether the step is advisable until our number of laborers is larger." It was hoped that Carlson, because of his familiarity with the English language, might fit himself in time to become the manager of a training-school for native workers, but this hope was blasted by Carlson's early death. Schmidt, greatly needing a protracted vacation, left Rajah- mundry, with his wife and infant daughter, March 19, 1879, for the Nilgiri Hills. From Madras they went to Coimbatore, where for three days they were the guests of the Leipsic mis- sionary, Sandegren. Then by bullock cart they travelled to Coonoor and farther up to Ootacamund, which lies at an ele- vation of 8000 feet above sea-level, and where in April and May, the hottest months on the plains, the average tempera- IMPORTANT EVENTS (1878-79) 191 ture is about 60 Fahrenheit. Here they spent two months, thoroughly enjoying the cool mountain air, which renewed their health and strength, and the pleasant fellowship of other missionaries and their families, as well as of English officials; for Ootacamund had become one of the favorite vacation resorts in South India. June and July were spent in Banga- lore, where Schmidt met and labored with a Commission of eleven other missionaries in the revision of the Telugu Bible. 1 After leaving Bangalore, July 3ist, the Schmidts went to the Basel Mission station at Calicut on the west coast, because 1 The first printed translation of the New Testament into Telugu was done by Brahmins under the supervision of William Carey at Serampur in 1818, but was entirely useless. The first translation which could be used was made by Missionary Gordon and other missionaries of the London Missionary Society at Vizagapatam, who translated the Old Testament in 1809-23. This trans- lation was published by the Madras Auxiliary Bible Society. A revision of this translation made by the Rev. J. Hay formed the basis of the work of the commission. Six hours a day were given to the work. At 8 o'clock in the morning the commissioners met around a long table, the chairman, Dr. Cham- berlain of the American Dutch Reformed Church Mission, sitting at one end and the Rev. Mr. Hay at the other. After a Scripture lesson and prayer, the day's work began with a review of the previous day's revision. Then new work was taken up, Rev. Mr. Hay reading his manuscript sentence by sentence. The Greek versions of Tischendorf , Tragelles and Lachmann were used as well as the Hebrew original. Dr. Chamberlain compared the translation suggested with the originals in every case. Dr. Jewett of the American Baptist Mission, had the Sanscrit and De Wette's German translation before him. Dr. Alex- ander of the C. M. S., Ellore, had the English versions; Rev. Mr. Clay of the Propagation Society, the Tamil; Rev. Mr. Lewis of the London Society, the Canarese and Urdu; Rev. H. C. Schmidt of the American Lutheran Mission, Rajahmundry, the Danish and Luther's German. Several native pastors rendered valuable assistance by suggesting the suitable Telugu diction. Mr. Schmidt gives the final revision of Matthew 7 : 21 as a sample of Telugu construction, as follows: "Lord, Lord, to me saying everyone not, but in heaven being my Father's will who is doing, shall into the kingdom of heaven come." Such words as Heaven, Gehenna, Hades, sacrifice, law, judgment gave the commission much difficulty, until finally words used in Hindu mythology were employed in the hope that their Christian use would eventually sanctify them. Where this method seemed dangerous or questionable, Sanscrit terms were employed. When the close of Matthew's Gospel was reached the Baptists on the Com- mission insisted that the participles baptizing and teaching should be rendered in the imperative, but the necessity of placing the main verb "make disciples," according to Telugu syntax, at the end of the whole sentence, perplexed them considerably, for it clearly upset their Baptist theory. For the word "bap- tize," however, they did not insist on the use of the Telugu word for immerse, for in a figurative sense that also means to deceive. The use of the Greek term "baptizo" was rejected and finally the word "snanamu," used by Telugus for their ceremonial washings, was adopted. The Commission resolved to meet for two months every year, each member working independently ad interim, until the revision had been completed. THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Schmidt wanted to see their industrial work. They were back in Rajahmundry by the end of August. While Schmidt was away, Poulsen, who supervised all the mission work, had an attack of typhus fever from which he could not fully recover, and his return to Europe was urged by his family physician. The Foreign Missions Committee granted him a furlough, to begin in the spring of 1880. In August, 1879, the following table of statistics was sent to America: Chris- Commun- Pupils. tians. 1 icants. Boys. Girls. Rajahmundry and Dowlaishwarara, V. Ratnam 86 44 27 18 Pastor Paulus' Parish : Velpur, H. Alfred 34 20 3 6 Mallipudi, E. John '. 10 4 5 i Batlamungutur, K. Prakasam .. 17 5 Jagganathpuram, C. Matthew 20 n 3 3 Mahadevipatnam, N. Stephen 14 6 6 Agartipalem 18 6 Pastor Joseph's Parish: Jegurupad, Pastor Joseph 74 36 6 6 Muramunda, M. William 44 28 7 Peravaram, B. John 24 12 . . 3 Lolla ,. 10 4 Totals 334 171 74 42 One of the encouraging features of the closing years of the first decade of the history of the India Mission was the in- crease of financial support from America. As much as $5525 was received in India from America in 1879, and the total income of the mission treasury, including a balance of the previous year and $155 from local contributors, amounted to $7103.90. The total expenditures amounted to $4435.68, including the salaries of the three missionaries, each of whom received $1000, leaving a balance, at the close of 1879, of $2668.22. The accounts in India did not, however, adequately express the actual increase of effort on the part of the Church at home, for there were many items of expenditure connected with the affairs at home and the sending out of Carlson which were not 1 The total number of baptisms in the Mission, to the end of the year 1879, that is, for the first ten years of the work of the missionaries of the General Council, was 400. IMPORTANT EVENTS (1878-79) 193 entered on the books in India. The following table of income and expenditure in America will, therefore, serve to give a better idea of this increase. The figures are taken from the reports of the treasurer of the General Council: 1870. 1871. 1872. Income $2480.49 $3065.00 $4555-79 Expenditures 2065.74 2861.32 2276.29 Balance 414-75 203.68 2279.50 1873. 1874. 1875. Income $6148.74 $5368.00 $3385-13 Expenditures 3879.24 4008.96 2071.66 Balance 2269.50 i359-4 3 J 3-47 1876. 1877. 1878, 1879. Income $2974.46 $5877.41 $13,003.67 Expenditures 2806.56 4347.68 12,821.72 Balance 167.90 1529.73 181.95 At the convention of the General Council at Zanesville, O., in 1879, th e Foreign Missions Committee suggested that its membership be enlarged so as to permit some representation from the Swedish Augustana Synod, which was beginning to contribute several hundred dollars annually. As a conse- quence the following members were added: Rev. C. J. Petri and Rev. Samuel Laird, D. D. The committee was also empowered to fill all vacancies and to add others to its mem- bership, if found necessary. Philadelphia was designated as the geographical center with reference to which the Com- mittee should in the future be constituted. The "Missionsbote" had become such a successful venture, having increased its subscribers to 13,000, that the General Council authorized and instructed its Committee on Foreign Missions to publish also an English organ for the development of interest among the churches which used that language. The Committee at once, in November, 1879, resolved to publish a four-page paper, similar to "The Church Messenger" in style and form, and elected the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer editor-in-chief, and the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., associate editor. The first number of this paper, "The Foreign Missionary," appeared in January, 1880, and there- after regularly every month. 13 194 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL As the work in India spread and the interest in America grew, the need of more missionaries was more urgently pre- sented. The Committee pleaded at Zanesville for men from America. It pointed out the fact that the missionaries who had been laboring at Rajahmundry, had all been born in Europe, and that the General Council had not yet furnished one missionary who had been both born and educated in the United States. "This," said the Committee, "is surely a cause for shame and repentance." Their appeal moved the General Council to pass the following resolution: "Resolved, That inasmuch as our Telugu Mission greatly needs more laborers, and believing that it is the imperative duty of the General Council to provide for this need, we, as pastors and delegates, earnestly praying to the Lord to send more laborers into the field, will work diligently in our synods, congregations, Sunday schools and families to awaken a deeper interest in the great work of foreign missions." God heard the prayers of His Church and soon raised up a number of men for the Mission in India. THE HINDU TRIAD OF GODS Brahma, The Creator; Vishnu, The Preserver; Siva, The Destroyer. THE MONKEY GOD HANUMAN He has the body and legs of a human being with five arms on each side and the head and tail of a monkey. KEY 1. Hindu Temple. 2. School Inspector 1 ! Office. 3. Hindu Temple. 4. An Inn. It. Toll-date. 6. torts' Central School. 7. l> -Tirt .lull. 8. TolWJiite. 9 10. Tank*. 11. JU'lge'l Court. I- 1 . PutiH'anvi school. r;. MutiMfsCourt. II. R'vcnlale (.'iris' Nchool. 15. Chkf Kng'r's Bungalow. 16. Angllcun Church. 17. Roinnn Catholic Church, ix. Bungalow. 19. fa. Paul's Church. 20. Vmlarcri JC. K. Station. 21. .lu.ljte's Bungalow. -'.'. An Inn. 23. Former Post Office. 24. A ,v B. Hindu Temple*. 25. Municipal Boys' School. 26 Government Girls' School. 27. Municipal Hospital. 24. A. Police Sta. B. Mosque. 29. An Inn. 30. Hindu Temple. 31. II. R. Freight Station. 32. Municipal Primary Boys' School. 33 Government College. 34-35. Timks. 36 An Inn. 31. College Cnmpui. 38. Edward Primary Boys' School. 3J. Agency Collector's Office. 40. Magistrate's Court. 41. Taluk Co-irt. 4>. Telegrnph Office. 43. Art's College. 41. Toll-Gate. 45. Rajanmundry R. R. Sta. 46. Halcott's Garden. 17. Virlt' School, Jamipetta. 48. " " Lackahmivarampetta 19. " " Manoalavarampetta. 63. Munshlg Bnyt' Central School. 63. Xtw Boys' Central tichool. Dormitory. 64. A'ew Boys' Central tichool, Mgr's Bu ngalow 65. Wnman'tand Children's Temp. Hospital. 66. .Missionary', Btttiijalow,Church Compoun 67. Btjif ffiuh Scl',,ol. Missionaries' Bin'talnn'. (^frs. Taylor's). 69-70. Sunday &choi,t, (Miss Swenson). RAJAHMUNDRY, INDIA. MAP OF RAJAHMUNDRY IX 1910 CHAPTER VII PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) RAJAHMUNDRY in 1880, as described by Schmidt, was _a town of about 20,200 inhabitants, of whom 18,000 were Hindus, 2000 Moslems and 200 Christians. "The town is located about seventeen degrees north latitude and 81 de- grees east longitude, on the left bank of the Godavery River, 40 miles from the sea and 365 miles north of Madras. It has one long, main avenue, from which most of the streets, which are narrow, run down to the river. The town is an old one and is irregularly laid out, excepting in its southern suburb, Innespett, which, begun a few decades ago, has broad streets crossing at right angles. Many of the wealthier natives live in this suburb, at the southern extremity of which are the Government College and the telegraph office. 1 "As one approaches the town, little can be seen except the trees which are large and afford abundant shade. The houses are nearly all one-story buildings made of mud walls, covered with tiles or a palm-leaf thatch. In the western 2 part of the town is the Municipal Hospital, where patients are admitted free. Near the hospital is an old Mohammedan cemetery, near which our mission buildings are located, namely, St. Paul's Church (the old mission house), and, on the opposite side of the street, Carlson's bungalow. Farther east are the cemetery of the Mission and of the Anglican Church. Nearby is the residence of that old friend of our Mission, Captain Taylor. The northern part of the town is occupied chiefly by Europeans. Here the Anglican Church and the Museum are located. North of the Judge's bungalow, along the river bank, is the public Promenade, where in the evening, many 1 The telegraph office, connected with the post-office, is now in the heart of the city. 2 At the present time the Municipal Hospital lies rather in the central part of Rajahmundry. 195 196 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL people resort after the heat of the day. About one hundred paces away lies the Museum Garden. The Promenade ends on the north with a part of the old walls of a fort; right beyond this is the Court House which, being in a state of dilapida- tion, is to be replaced by a new building. Close by lies the garden which is the site of the new missionary's bungalow (Riverdale). On the northern outskirts is the washermen's quarter. Between the buildings near the river bank and our mission buildings lie the residences of the Collector, College professors, English lawyers and Hindus, the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, the district jail and the police headquarters. "Rajahmundry is a center of considerable trade. The chief articles of commerce are rice, tobacco, gall-nuts and teak wood. Merchandise and passengers are daily transported to Coconada, Narsapur, Koringa, Amalapur and Ellore, as well as up the stream to Dummugudem. Hundreds are em- ployed at ship-building. The town boasts of a small printing- press and several newspapers whose subscription lists, how- ever, are small, for the Hindu is too conservative to adopt novelties." Poulsen, after nine years of uninterrupted service at Rajah- mundry, left on a well-earned furlough with his wife and four children, sailing from Madras April 16, 1880, and reaching Copenhagen early in June. Leaving his family in Denmark, he came to the United States on the invitation of the Foreign Missions Committee. He secured a free passage across the Atlantic in a Danish ship by serving as chaplain during the voyage. Reaching Philadelphia on August 25th, he spent four months in the United States, met the Committee at its September meeting, attended the convention of the General Council at Greensburg, Pa., and several of the district Con- ferences of the Synod of Pennsylvania, and preached to con- gregations in Pennsylvania and New York. He returned to Copenhagen in December, again securing a free passage on a Danish ship. Carlson studied Telugu with the assistance of James and other native Christians. He began English services in St. PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 197 Paul's Church, Rajahmundry, on the first Sunday of the year 1880, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, immediately after the close of the session of the Sunday school which Mrs. Carlson or- ganized and superintended, assisted by James and William. He also undertook to teach Bible-classes in Rajahmundry and Dowlaishwaram, which at first were well attended but afterward were discontinued. It was understood that he was to take charge of the educational work, and on March i8th he started for Masulipatam, where the Church Missionary Society conducted two boarding schools, one for boys and one for girls, and where Noble High School, afterward raised to the grade of a college, was located, in order to study the meth- ods used in these schools and work out a plan for the organiza- tion and management of a training-school for native workers at Rajahmundry. After the hot season, which he spent with his wife at Narsapur, he also visited Vizagapatam to see the schools of the London Missionary Society. Meanwhile Schmidt supervised the work of the entire Mis- sion. He left the care of the district work, however, almost entirely in the hands of the native pastors. When in Rajah- mundry he conducted a devotional exercise every morning for the teachers and pupils of the school and such Christians as desired to attend, devoted an hour each day to the religious instruction of the boarding boys, and conducted the Sunday Telugu services in St. Paul's Church, which were held at 7 A. M. during the hot season and at 8 A. M. during the cool season. At these Telugu services the vernacular translation of the order of service in the Church of England's Book of Com- mon Prayer was used, with omissions and modifications. At the English services in the afternoon and on Wednesday evenings the Church Book of the General Council and its Sunday School Book were used. Schmidt was busily occupied during the year 1880 in the erection of a new bungalow. He had bought a garden on the bank of the river containing two acres for Rs. 400. In it he found a part of the ruined wall of the old fortress, containing 100 cubic yards of hewn stone, which he dug up and used for the foundation of his bungalow. The erection of this igS THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL bungalow at the expense of the Mission was authorized by the Foreign Missions Committee on the condition that as much of the ground as needed should be secured as mission property. 1 After having passed the matriculation examination at the Government College, James, in 1880, assisted Ratnam in the school work at Rajahmundry. Lizzie, J. William's sister, taught the infant class. In August, 1880, three girls at- tending the school were placed in homes of native Christians as boarders; two, Annamma and Maria, being supported by the Ladies' Sewing Society of St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, and the third, Susan, by the Sunday school class of the same church, taught by Miss Susan E. Monroe. Mrs. Carlson suc- ceeded Mrs. Schmidt as the teacher of the sewing class which met daily on the verandah of the Carlson bungalow. After his return from Vizagapatam, Carlson took charge of the mission school, which was conducted in the schoolrooms of St. Paul's Church. The sixth foreign missionary of the General Council, the first who had been born and educated in the United States, reached India in 1880. Horace G. B. Artman was born at Zionsville, Upper Milford township, Lehigh County, Pa., September 23, 1857. His parents moved to Philadelphia when he was a boy, and became members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church on Spring Garden Street, in which he grew up and was confirmed by the Rev. J. A. Kunkleman, D. D. After having been graduated from the High School hi Philadelphia, he entered the Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1876. At the close of his senior year he received and accepted the call of the 1 In the minutes of the Committee, January 26, 1880, we find the following resolution: "Resolved, That Missionary Schmidt shall build a house as the property of the Mission. It shall, if at all possible, be erected on mission prop- erty. Moreover, it should not be expensively built, but similar to other missionaries' houses." In the minutes of the Committee, May 31, 1880, we find the following: "Resolved, That Brother Schmidt be authorized to build a house in Schmidt's garden, that this house be built at our expense and be our property, that the ground on which it is built and the surrounding lot be pur- chased by us, and that only after this is the case shall the building be begun. As far as the Committee can determine at present, Schmidt is to occupy this house; yet we cannot bind ourselves in this matter, because our plans concerning the Mission are liable to change." PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 199 Foreign Missions Committee. He was ordained at the meeting of the Pennsylvania Ministerium held at Lancaster on May 26, 1880. He married Miss Lizzie M. Vaux, also a member of St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, on the evening of June 8, 1880. He was solemnly commissioned in that church on June i3th, the Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., chairman of the Foreign Missions Committee, delivering the commission. The Rev. Mr. Artman kneeled at the altar and the hands of the officers of the Com- mittee and of Dr. Laird were laid upon him, each reciting an appropriate passage of Holy Scripture. Mr. and Mrs. Art- man sailed from New York on July yth, spent a few months in Europe at their own expense, and reached Madras on Oc- tober 8th. Carlson, in the "Dove of Peace," met them at Coconada on October zyth. At Rajahmundry Mrs. Carlson met them at the landing place accompanied by the teachers and pupils of the mission school, who welcomed them with hymns of praise and gladness and escorted them to their bungalow. "It was with great joy and deepest feelings of gratitude," wrote Artman, "that we wended our way to St. Paul's Church on our first Sabbath morning in Rajahmundry. Our St. Paul's Church has been very wisely, substantially, and even beautifully built. It has a large, airy audience-room, with a handsome pulpit, reading-desk, altar and chancel-rail of dark wood, and beautiful hanging and wall lamps for the evening services. The walls of the church inside and outside are as white as snow. The steeple contains a bell, and from its summit a good view of the surrounding country can be ob- tained. It would fill our dear mission friends in America with joy, if they could assemble with the native Christians in this comfortable building. Benches are placed along one side, which are used by the missionaries, native pastors, European visitors, and a few of the male Christians. The Telugu con- gregation always sits cross-legged on the mat, that being their usual manner of sitting, in the following order: First, the little girls, then the boys, then the women, and lastly the men. The people present quite a picturesque appearance in their clean, white or gaily colored clothes, jackets and turbans. 200 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL We were deeply impressed with the neatness and order among the Christians, young and old. There are about fifty children and forty adults who attend the services every Sunday morning at 8 o'clock, and in the afternoon at 4. The singing is very hearty and spirited, and is entirely congregational. Everyone joins heartily in the responses of the liturgy. Dur- ing the entire service, which generally lasts one hour, close attention and reverence are maintained. Almost every Sunday some heathen come into the church or stand at the open doors and windows to see and to listen. They cannot fail to be impressed with the great difference between their shallow, meaningless idol-worship and our solemn services in the house of the Lord." Both Mr. and Mrs. Artman at once commenced the study of Telugu. On November 2ist they took charge of a Sunday school of Eurasian children, which had been started by Miss Elizabeth Reade on the verandah of her home, but which, as soon as the Artmans took charge of it, met in St. Paul's Church. Under their efficient management it soon had sixty pupils and seven teachers enrolled. Miss Annie Bilderbeck, who served as the organist at the English services, rendered them valuable aid in this Sunday school. The number baptized in the Mission during the year 1880 was 124, making 536 since 1869. The adult communicants at the close of the year numbered 216. In the Rajahmundry school there were 36 boys and 37 girls. The boarding boys numbered 16, the boarding girls 13. The Sunday schools, one in Telugu and one in English, enrolled 46 boys and 53 girls, taught by twelve teachers. Eleven native Christian teachers were employed in as many village schools in the dis- tricts. The expenditures in India rose to a total of $7558.23 in 1880, including Rs. 6784, or $2917. 23, 1 for general expenses, $3550 for the salaries of the missionaries, and $1091 for Poulsen's travelling expenses on furlough. On the removal of the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer to Chicago, in September, 1880, his father, the Rev. C. W. J The value of a rupee had fallen to about 43 cents. PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 2OI Schaeffer, D. D., Professor at the Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, who was chosen to take his son's place as a member of the Foreign Missions Committee, became the editor of "The Foreign Missionary," which then had about 4000 subscribers. The "Missionsbote" had increased the number of its subscribers to 13,500, and reported a surplus of $987.27 at the close of the year. One of the evidences of an increased interest in the Church at home was the organization, in 1880, of a student's mis- sionary society at the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, under the name of "The Father Heyer Missionary Society," which from the first devoted itself primarily to the study and support of foreign missions. Having put a temporary thatch of river-grass on the new bungalow, "Riverdale," the Rev. Mr. Schmidt and his wife, with their daughter, Dagmar, on January 30, 1881, moved into several rooms which they had furnished, and the Artmans took possession of the house in the church-com- pound, formerly occupied by the Schmidts. During January and a part of February the Rev. Mr. Carl- son and his wife used the "Dove of Peace" for an extended tour of the villages in the delta in which Christians resided. Carlson baptized twenty-nine adults and children on this tour. He complained of having attacks of headache almost every day, and returned in rather bad health. In March Schmidt took Artman in the "Dove of Peace" on the latter's first mission tour through the canals of the delta. The latter's description gives an excellent idea of the manner in which these tours are usually conducted: "After stocking the mission-boat with provisions and other necessaries sufficient for a number of days, we set sail from Rajahmundry on February 2ist. The passengers besides myself were Rev. and Mrs. Schmidt and their little daughter, Dagmar, Rev. N. Paulus, Jeremiah, the colporteur, Jacob, the cook, and his assistant. Zachariah was at the helm and with the help of four boatmen attended to the navigation of the boat. We soon entered the system of canals which spread 202 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL like a network over the delta of the Godavery, and moved along steadily in a southeasterly direction, sometimes using the boat's sail and, when there was no wind, being pulled along by the boatmen who ran along the tow-path, or being propelled by means of long bamboo poles in the hands of the men. We sailed on steadily for the first three days without making any long stops, in order to reach the most distant villages before the canal would be closed. . . . Now and then we would pass a village, which always presented a lively scene women coming with jars or chatties to carry water to their homes, balancing them gracefully on their heads; washermen beating away lustily at their clothes; here and there a Brahmin carefully and piously attending to his cere- monial ablutions. "The vegetation along the bank was very beautiful, con- sisting of large mango orchards with their partly colored leaves and blossoms, stately palmyras and graceful cocoanuts, while the banks of the canals throughout were lined with valuable shade trees. When the brightness of the sun would not let us enjoy the outside world, we spent our time in conversing, writing, reading or studying. In the cool of the evening it was extremely pleasant to sit on the top of the boat in the bright moonlight or to take a little run on the canal-bank for exercise. On the evening of the second day we came very near to the mouth of the Godavery, so that we could plainly hear the waves of the Bay of Bengal breaking on the shore ; and a herd of dolphins which had strayed in from the sea passed our boat. "On Wednesday evening, February 23d, we anchored at a distance of about three miles from Mahadevipatnam, which was the farthest point we expected to reach. Tuesday Brother Schmidt and I took our breakfast alone and made an early start to walk to Mahadevipatnam. We took with us Rev. N. Paulus, Jeremiah, Prakasam, the teacher of the village, Luke and Samuel, the latter also a native of the village and father of the newly baptized Susie Monroe. We had to cross three streams on the way. Our men carried us over the first one, almost letting me drop into the water. The second one we crossed on a loose raft of bamboo sticks, being pushed by a PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 203 man wading in the water. The third creek we crossed on a palmyra log. It was not an easy operation, because the log was round and very slippery. When we arrived at the village at last, at about 9 o'clock, we were rewarded by the edifying service which we had with the Christians, about twenty in number, in the village schoolroom. Many heathen also came to hear. After preaching to a number of high-caste men, we started on our way back to the boat. In the evening we visited KummadaveUi a walk of four miles. This is a new village, there being as yet only one man and his family baptized. . . . In order that no time might be wasted, the boat was taken to Bhimawaram during the night. This is a very large village, but we have, as yet, baptized none of its people. We started on our way to Taderu at about half-past six, walking through Bhimawaram and then through rice-stubble fields, a distance of more than four miles. Taderu is another new village with only six Christians, all of whom had been baptized a few days before we came to the village. We returned to the boat and went a short distance up the canal to Annakoderu. At about 4 o'clock we started on our walk from the canal to the village. This is, without doubt, one of the most promising and prosper- ous villages we have, because Stephen, the teacher, is a very energetic and active Christian worker. In about three years forty have been baptized, and many more are ready. During the devotional meeting the school children and the congrega- tion sang some hymns with great spirit, being accompanied on a drum and cymbals by the teacher and another Christian." There follows a description of visits to Agartipalem, Palkole, Jagganathpuram and Vodali. Artman then con- tinues: "This morning, March 3d, we arrived at Velpur, which serves as headquarters for Rev. N. Paulus and the teachers and sub-agents belonging to the villages of his district. For the accommodation of the native pastor and his family a large and roomy house has been built, one portion of which is used as a place of worship by the congregation and as the village schoolhouse. . . . Government has given us a grant of land along the canal-bank and most of the Christians of Velpur have built themselves houses adjoining that of their 204 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL pastor, thus forming a little colony of their own. Most of the inhabitants of the town are Sudras. In the evening we went out into the village and preached and sang hymns at three different places. Crowds came to listen each time. Under the wide-spreading branches of a huge tamarind tree in the village the message of salvation had often been proclaimed by Father Heyer and other missionaries, and here also the oldest Christians of Velpur were baptized. It is undoubtedly the largest tree I have ever seen. In walking around it I took twenty-six steps." Carlson continued to show signs of failing health, and it was decided to have him live at Samulkot, which is slightly cooler than Rajahmundry. He moved thither on May 4, 1 88 1, and occupied the old bungalow which Long had built, half-way between Samulkot and Peddapur. He made an at- tempt to do some mission work, holding Telugu services with his servants and some of the townsfolk. While on a tour to Coconada after a sunstroke, he developed insanity, in September, 1881, and was taken to an asylum in Mad- ras, where on March 29, 1882, he died at the early age of thirty-six years, seven months and thirteen days. Concern- ing the character of his co-laborer Poulsen wrote: "He was a faithful servant of God, a zealous and hard-working mis- sionary, a dear brother and fellow-worker. It is but fair to his memory, fair to his relatives and friends, as well as to his supporters as a missionary, that one who has seen him at work out there, should bear witness that he was a most faith- ful, zealous and self-denying laborer. From all that I can gather it was his zeal which gave him the blow exposing himself too much to the dangerous heat." Immediately after the interment of the body of her husband in the Lutheran cemetery in Madras Mrs. Carlson returned to the United States. Artman took charge of the educational work, for which he proved himself to be eminently fitted, and under him it rose to a comparatively high plane of efficiency. 1 1 In the place of Lizzie, who died of consumption in March, 1881, her younger sister, J. Lorah, was appointed; in the place of P. V. Ratnam, who was trans- DYING HINDU HOLDING A COW'S TAIL This is a superstitious ceremony frequently practiced in India. It is done in the hope of having the soul after the death of the body pass over into a happy future state. A HIGH CASTE HINDU WOMAN Note the many ornaments which she wears, one appearing even in her nose. PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 205 In the boys' boarding department Artman introduced strict discipline, against which some rebelled and were expelled. The boarding boys attended a meeting for prayer every morning at 6 o'clock in St. Paul's Church. After school hours, from 4 to 5 in the afternoon, they worked in the mis- sionaries' gardens or made themselves useful in some other way. At 8 o'clock in the evening they and the boarding girls attended evening prayers on the verandah of Artman's bungalow. The boarding boys and girls did their own cooking, taking turns, two by two, each day. J. Henry, one of the oldest and most trustworthy Christians, who was a warden in the district jail, assisted in the oversight of the boys. In June, 1881, a separate girls' boarding house was opened in a house back of Artman's bungalow, and N. Deborah, a Christian widow, was placed in charge as matron. Thirteen girls were cared for in this way. Besides their school work, they spent one or two hours a day in sewing under Mrs. Artman's instruction. A new door of opportunity was opened for mission work in August, 1881, when the district munsiff, Narasimham, ad- mitted Mrs. Schmidt and Mrs. Artman to his home for the purpose of instructing his wife and daughter. Mrs. Artman described their first zenana visit as follows: "When Mrs. Schmidt and I reached the residence of the munsiff we found five women there besides the munsiff's wife and daughter. After talking with them for a while it was easy to see that they only wished to be taught certain accomplishments. They ob- jected to plain sewing and did not care for Telugu. They were anxious to learn English and fancy-work, and even hinted about our teaching them music. We thought it better that ferred to the newly established caste girls' school, M. Alfred was appointed. M. Amelia was made teacher of the second division of the first class, and J. William became the headmaster of the school. In August, 1881, 36 boys and 37 girls attended. English grammar, reading, penmanship and translations were introduced hi addition to the branches taught in Telugu. The first hour every Monday morning was devoted to a review of the sermon of the previous day. On Saturday morning two hours, from 7 to 9, were set aside to drill the children in singing hymns committed to memory, and an explanation of the hymns learned was given by the teacher. The regular instruction each day was given from 7 to n in the morning with fifteen minutes recess, and from 2 to 4 in the afternoon with ten minutes recess. 206 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL they should learn Telugu first and that those who could read it might begin English." 1 After opening with the Lord's Prayer Mrs. Schmidt taught Bible history in Telugu and assigned a Scripture text to be memorized. Then Mrs. Artman taught English, and finally both gave instruction in needle- work. Two afternoons a week were devoted to this first zenana class of caste women. In 1 88 1 the translation of a Church Book in Telugu was made and printed. It included a modified form of the Chief Service of the General Council's Church Book, together with the Communion Service, the Old Evening Service, The Litany and the Tables of Gospels and Epistles. The orders for Holy Baptism and Marriage were taken from the Lueneberg Ord- nung as translated by the Hermannsburg missionaries; the orders for Confirmation and Burial, from the Liturgy of the Pennsylvania Ministerium. The book formed a small i2mo volume and was dedicated to the Rev. F. W. Geissenhainer, who before his death had provided for the cost of its publication. On December 26, 1881, a Conference of missionaries and native agents was held at Rajahmundry. "When Father Heyer was here in India," wrote Artman, "he established the practice of holding a Conference of all the mission agents on the day after Christmas. The custom was kept up pretty regularly until the last few years. This year seemed to por- tend such great things for our Mission that both Brother Schmidt and I thought it necessary that these Conferences should be resumed and regularly conducted hereafter. We accordingly called the Conference to meet on Monday morn- ing, December 26, 1881." Schmidt was elected President, Artman, English Secretary, and J. William, Telugu Secretary. Artman, by the appointment of The Foreign Missions Com- mittee, in January, 1880, was the Treasurer of the Mission. Besides the foreign missionaries the two native pastors and fifteen native agents were present at the Conference. Com- plaint having been entered against some of the village teachers, C. James was appointed Inspector of Schools. He was to visit The native women, even of the high castes, were formerly not only not allowed, but were forbidden, to learn to read their own vernacular. PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 207 each school at least twice every year and hold semi-annual examinations. 1 To encourage self-support the Conference resolved that each agent drawing a salary should pay at least one "dub" (f cent) for each rupee (40 cents) of salary received each month. Those who received no salary were to make a yearly contribu- tion of money or grain at the harvest time. An offering was to be taken every Sunday in St. Paul's Church, Rajahmundry, by passing around a basket or bag, so as to give every one an opportunity to contribute something. 2 In a review of the year (1881), Schmidt reported that 170 persons had been baptized, and that six new villages had been occupied, one of which was Tallapudi. The number of native workers had risen to 23 at the close of the year. The total expenditure in India for the year amounted to $6503.07, of which $3300 were for missionaries' salaries. Progress was made in every direction during the year 1882. Especially in the department of education a marked advance over former years was made. Early in January, 1882, the Caste Girls' school building in the Riverdale compound was finished at a cost of $200. The day after the formal opening the teachers assigned for this special work came but found no pupils. Then Schmidt and P. V. Ratnam, who had been made headmaster, canvassed the neighborhood to solicit pupils. Four were secured in this way, and the number gradually rose to sixty enrolled pupils, 1 The following rules, drawn up by Father Heyer in his time, were adopted: i. The village teachers must attend to their schools faithfully five days in the week, and spend Sunday and any other day of the week available in preaching in their own and neighboring villages. 2. The village teachers are allowed to have one month's leave every year. If they take more than a month their pay will be lessened according to the number of days absent. 3. A series of Gospel lessons for the year 1882, one lesson for each month, to be used as texts for sermons, was agreed upon. 4. It was resolved that each village teacher should write a short sermon every month upon a Gospel lesson for that month and also a paper upon a subject to be assigned by the Inspector of Schools, who was to examine the papers and report on them to the officers of the Conference. 5. No children were to be admitted to the boarding schools without the written application of an ordained native pastor and the Inspector of Schools. 2 Other resolutions passed by the Conference were: that Sunday schools should be organized in every village, and that a Christian "satram" an inn or rest-house should be built at Rajahmundry, the funds to be gathered among the native Christians. 208 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL with an average daily attendance of twenty. Mrs. Schmidt acted as the supervisor of this branch of work and taught sewing in the school. The brighter pupils soon learned to read and write Telugu. Poulsen, after having spent a year and nine months on fur- lough, returned to India, leaving Copenhagen on December 5, 1 88 1. Three of his children were left in Denmark, and the fourth was taken to India. The Foreign Missions Committee had assigned Poulsen to Samulkot, and directly after reaching Rajahmundry on January 9, 1881, he moved to that town. He succeeded in employing a number of teachers who had previously served at Masulipatam. Lakshmiah was ap- pointed catechist; Amelia, his wife, teacher at Peddapur; David, teacher at Rajagopalem; and Francis, teacher at Katlamur. In October Poulsen baptized his first convert at Samulkot. Gudaparti, Ragampet and Gorinta were also occupied before the close of the year. Nine adults and three children were baptized during the year hi the new district. In seven village schools 38 boys and 5 girls, and in six night schools 49 pupils were enrolled. No schoolhouses were built, but in one or two places the school met on the verandah of a temple. Services were conducted in Telugu every Sunday at the missionary's bungalow, the teachers and Christians coming from the several villages to attend them. Sixteen communed on the Sunday before Christmas. Two young ministers, the Revs. E. Pohl and H. Bothmann, graduates of the newly established Mission Institute at Breklum, Schleswig-Holstein, arrived at Rajahmundry in March, 1882. They were the first foreign missionaries sent out by the Schleswig-Holstein Missionary Society to India. They were bound for Bastar, a tributary kingdom, several hundred miles to the north of Rajahmundry, which had been chosen by their Society as its field on the recommenda- tion of our missionaries, who offered to assist them in the establishment of a Mission. They started from Rajah- mundry on March i5th, accompanied by Schmidt, Artman, Mr. Heelis, a Plymouth Brethren missionary of Narsapur, and a number of native assistants and servants. The journey PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 209 led at first up the Godavery River and its tributary, the Saveri, as far as they could take their boat, then across the country to Jugdalpur, the capital of Bastar. Here, on the banks of the Indravaddi, they had hoped to locate the first station. The Rajah received them with protestations of wel- come and promises of assistance, but his real attitude was one of hostility, as they soon learned. Several of the party were ill with fever, Mr. Heelis for a while being at death's door. The Rajah refused to provide bearers for their luggage. Supplies of food and material for a mission house, paid for in advance, were withheld. A plot to massacre the whole party of whites was discovered. The Rohillas, a robber-band, who brought intelligence of this dastardly plot, helped the mis- sionaries to get bearers, and during the night before the day set for the massacre the whole party fled to Koraput in the province' of Jeypur, seventy miles away. Mr. Heelis was carried all the way on an improvised stretcher. There Pohl and Bothmann were left to begin their Mission. The return of the others to Rajahmundry proved to be extremely diffi- cult. When they reached the lowlands the heat became in- tolerable. Once Heelis, Artman and several of the servants were so prostrated that they lapsed into delirium. When at last Rajahmundry was reached, the missionaries were ac- tually reduced to a pitiful condition of weakness and illness ; and it was some time before they were able to resume their work. 1 The Madras Auxiliary Bible Society established a Bible Depot at Rajahmundry in 1882 , placing it in charge of Schmidt, who engaged colporteurs for Rajahmundry and Samulkot. The school at Rajahmundry made rapid progress under Artman. At the beginning of the year 1882 he graded the school into three departments: an Upper Department with four grades, a Lower Department with four grades, and a 1 In their isolated hill-station Missionaries Pohl and Bothmann suffered from fever and privation. Weak and emaciated, they left the place and sought medical attention at Madras. In April, 1883, they again visited Rajahmundry, and then bravely went back to their mission field, locating their station at Salur. After the missionaries had reported their experience and treatment in Bastar, the English Government sent an expedition to Jugdalpur and deposed the Rajah. 14 210 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Primary or Sand-writing Department. After his return from Jeypur in July, he added a Senior Department of two grades, for the benefit of the married men who wished to prepare themselves for work as teachers. Although this arrangement for an abbreviated course of training was con- tinued for only a few years, and the hope of the missionaries really centered on the young men who were regularly trained, it is, nevertheless, true that some of the best agents the Mis- sion ever had, were secured through this temporary arrange- ment. In September, 1882, five teachers besides Artman, 1 20 enrolled pupils and an average attendance of 100 in the school were reported. By the end of the year a new boarding house for boys had been completed at a cost of $200. The front rooms were occupied as a residence and book-store by T. Barnabas, book- binder and sexton of the church. The younger students occupied the rest of the building, while the old boarding house was used for the accommodation of the older students. Three or four families were lodged in a separate building, an old shed, divided into rooms by large bamboo mats. "This year again," wrote Artman, "loud calls are made upon us for a mission school for higher castes with higher classes, like the Noble School in Masulipatam, the High School in Guntur, the Mission School in Narsapur, in Amala- pur and other places. We can hardly resist the calls. We are, however, trying to await patiently the guidance of Providence, and even if we should deem it necessary and advisable to begin this work, we would not allow it to interfere with the Govern- ment School, nor would we be able to undertake more than two higher classes." Artman was really attempting single handed to undertake this higher education, for he met fifteen or more Brahmin boys every day for an hour's instruction in English and religion. At the Mission Conference on December 26, 1882, the former officers were re-elected. Artman reported Rs. 16 received for the satram, but not a single pice 1 for self-support. Collections, however, had been taken every Sunday in St. 1 The pice is one-fourth of an anna, or one-half a cent. PROGRESS IN EVERY DIRECTION (1880-82) 211 Paul's Church, which amounted during the year to Rs. 41.2.9. This was regarded as encouraging. James reported that he had visited all of the village schools twice during the year, that the teachers had written their sermons and papers, and that 200 children were attending the mission schools. Seven new teachers, graduates of the Rajahmundry Training School, were given employment and admitted as members of the Conference. 1 Schmidt advocated the employment of teachers in the district from which they came, and only in villages in which there were at least ten Christian families. The Conference, however, finally decided to distribute them as evenly as possible in all the districts. For the sake of better order and records a book was to be kept in each village, in which the teachers were to record all important events and the results of examinations. After the Conference the missionaries met as a Ministerium and among other things decided on a revision of the Catechism. The total number of baptisms during 1882 was reported to have been 262, of which 160 had been performed by Pastor N. Paulus in the Velpur district. Three new members were added to the Foreign Missions Committee by the General Council in 1881, namely, the Revs. R. F. Weidner and F. W. Weiskotten of Philadelphia, and Mr. B. Lilja. In November, 1881, the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer who had returned to Eastern Pennsylvania, was again made a member of the Committee, and was elected associate editor of "The Foreign Missionary" in the place of Dr. B. M. Schmucker, resigned. The Rev. Mr. Weiskotten was elected an associate editor of the "Missionsbote," which had a surplus of $800. At the meeting of the General Council in 1882 the Rev. C. G. Fischer of Germantown, Pa., who had been acting as business agent for the Board's newspapers since October, 1881, was elected a member of the Committee to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of the Rev. Mr. Weidner. 1 Four N.Isaac, T. Samuel Joseph, B. John and J. John Henry had been trained in the school since their childhood; three G. Cornelius, R. Johannu and B. David Appayyah had been students in the school for only six months CHAPTER VIII BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) ON January 2, 1883, the seventh foreign missionary of the General Council arrived at Rajahmundry. Franklin S. Dietrich was born in 1853, in Albany Township, Berks County, Pa. He was graduated from the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in 1882, and was ordained at the convention of the Ministerium of Penn- sylvania that year, on June 5th, in St. John's English Church, Philadelphia. He had received the call of the Foreign Mis- sions Committee in August, 1882, and, having accepted it, was commissioned in Trinity Church, Reading, Pa., Tuesday evening, October 3d. Twenty-five ministers occupied seats in the chancel and front pews of the church, and the auditorium was filled to overflowing. The Rev. J. A. Seiss, D. D., and the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., conducted the services. The Rev. Samuel Laird, D. D., preached the sermon in English and the Rev. H. Grahn, D. D., delivered a German address. The Chairman of the Foreign Missions Committee, the Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., commissioned the missionary, calling on him to answer the following questions: "Are you now willing and ready, after careful and prayer- ful consideration, to enter the service of our Evangelical Lutheran Church as a missionary to the heathen? "Will you preach the pure Word of God according to the Confessions of our Church, and adorn her doctrine by a holy life? "Are you willing and ready to sacrifice all things to your holy calling, if so be even to lay down your life for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ?" In a clear, firm voice the missionary answered: "Yes, with my whole heart, the Lord helping me with the power and grace of His Holy Spirit." Kneeling, the missionary received BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 213 the laying on of the hands of the officers of the Committee. Then Dr. J. Fry, the pastor of the congregation, presented the missionary with a communion set, which was the gift of the Sunday school of Trinity Church. Dietrich left New York on October 16, 1882, and arrived at Rajahmundry on the second day of the new year. 1 Two days after his arrival the missionaries met at Rajahmundry to revise Luther's Small Catechism. The native pastors, together with C. James and J. William, and a Telugu pundit, Subbarayadu, assisted the missionaries in this revision. After four days of incessant labor the work was done. 2 Dietrich, besides studying Telugu under Subbarayadu, gave two or three hours' instruction each day in English branches in the Rajahmundry school and preached English every other Sunday in the church, alternating with Artman. In January, 1883, Artman accompanied Schmidt on a tour through the district north of Rajahmundry. After visiting Metta and Peddahem they went to Tallapudi to select a site for a missionary's bungalow. Artman wrote: "Brother Schmidt and I are convinced that it is necessary to enlarge our work in this direction on this side of the Godavery River. . . . The missionary in Tallapudi should attend to the work as far as Polavaram. The whole district is in a very flour- ishing state and many are inquiring about the way of salvation." Another town in which it was desired soon to locate a missionary was Dowlaishwaram. Had Carlson lived, Poul- sen would have been assigned to this station. The few Christians who resided at Dowlaishwaram were obliged to attend services in Rajahmundry, five miles away. The school which Heyer had begun in Dowlaishwaram had been abandoned. A retired engineer, Mr. Theodore Van S tavern, however, had established and maintained a number of schools in the town at his own expense, and, in 1883, offered to co- operate with the Mission and at his removal or death to 1 His travelling expenses to India amounted to $320.50. 2 The revision was published in a form to correspond with that of the Telugu Church Book, so that they could be bound together. 214 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL transfer his schools to the Mission. Moreover, he gave Rs. 300 toward the purchase of ground and the erection of a school-building for the use of the Mission. The site pur- chased was on the main road in a caste quarter. Artman undertook to preach in the town every Sunday evening except when on tour. 1 On January 28, 1883, a bell for St. Paul's Church, donated by friends in St. Michael's Church, German town, Philadel- phia, and packed with other gifts for the missionaries in the so-called Christmas boxes, arrived at Rajahmundry. Schmidt superintended the hanging of this bell in the tower of the church, where it displaced the gong which had been in use up to that time. The Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt with their daughter Dag- mar left Rajahmundry on March 27, 1883, on a well-earned furlough, Schmidt having been in India nearly thirteen years. He was accompanied by Duncan McCready, an orphan, whom 1 Artman described the festival of Juggernaut at Dowiaishwaram as follows: "I walked through the crowded streets till I came into the very center of the excitement, where the huge car of Juggernaut stood at the foot of the great stairway which leads up to the top of the hill on which the temple stands. The streets were full of devotees of all ages, sizes and descriptions, from all the villages within a circuit of thirty or forty miles, some on their way to make their offerings of fruit and money to the idol, others intent on enjoying the gay scene and making purchases of fruits, toys and confectionary from the stands which had been erected all along the streets. The number of people was great when I arrived, and it increased apace as evening drew nigh, when the great car was to be be dragged through the streets. This huge structure on wheels is built very strongly and is very ponderous. It has stages or stories, about five in all, which grow smaller toward the top. During the intervals between the annual festivals these cars are generally allowed to stand out in the open air. Sometimes, however, they are covered with a shield of palmyra leaves to protect them a little. On festival occasions the rough and uninviting appearance of the wood is quite hidden by the gaily colored cloth, plantain and cocoanut leaves, flowers and other decorations. At the apex of the car I saw a strange figure in brass with a gay purple umbrella over it, as if to protect it from the sun's rays. I concluded that this must be the representation of the god. I found a party of our boarding boys busily engaged in preaching to a number of heathen close to the car, and at once joined them to assist them to close the mouths of the im- pertinent, bigoted young Brahmins. Some of the teachers from Rev. Joseph's district also joined us, and we at last succeeded in closing the mouths of the two brawlers, so that those who were willing to listen could do so. We preached in four or five other places, always singing hymns to gain silence and attention. We also went up the stairway to the temple wall but were not allowed to enter its precincts. Our colporteur, Venkataswami, our unpaid evangelist, Isaiah, Rev. Joseph and some of our Christian women and boarding girls were also present, so that there was a large force of Christian workers at hand to preach to the great multitude of heathen present." BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 215 Mr. and Mrs. Artman sent to America to receive an educa- tion. After the departure of the Schmidts the Artmans moved into the "Riverdale" bungalow, Dietrich remaining in full possession of the one in the church compound. Poulsen lived at Samulkot. Concerning the Hindu Girls' School, of which Mrs. Artman had charge after the departure of Mrs. Schmidt, she wrote in 1883: "The fact that a missionary's wife spends one hour in the school every day teaching the children needle- work proves to be one of the main attractions of the school. At present there are at least seventy pupils, but there is an average at- tendance of only forty. This is due to the innumerable feasts, weddings, etc., which the children attend. At present sore eyes, a disease peculiar to this country, is keeping many away. There are two classes. The first, taught by P. V. Ratnam, has finished the Telugu First Book, which is a Christian book, has learned a little arithmetic, and is ready to begin geography. In the second class, taught by Venkayya, the Brahmin, some are studying the alphabet and some have begun to spell. As soon as they can spell they are allowed to join the sewing class. Most of the children are very young, none over twelve years of age, and some are as young as four, so that Mrs. Schmidt and I found it necessary to engage a person to bring the little ones to and from school. . . . The little Christian sentences which many have learned, carelessly perhaps now, and the hymns they sing, may take a hold in their young minds, which will have a bearing on their future lives and, we hope, may bring some to the true life. . . . The girls are very dirty, even though they are caste girls. Upon occasion, how- ever, they can look well, and load themselves with jewelry; but, as a rule, they have very little idea of cleanliness and can- not understand our scruples on this point. As soon as the girls come to me I send them to the Godavery with a piece of soap, and if their hair still looks untidy I do not allow them to sew, which is a great punishment. As they never have been in school before it is hard to teach them how to behav^ properly. At first they act as if they were in the street, talking, laugh- 2l6 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL ing and quarreling with each other. They show their caste prejudice strangely in regard to water. They will not drink our well-water but must have water brought from the Go- davery by a caste man especially for them. Our well-water is filtered, clear and cool, while the Godavery water is muddy; but I suppose they receive their instructions at home. Occa- sionally, if it is impossible to get other water, they will taste ours, if buttermilk is put into it, which is supposed to be very purifying. They will, however, eat oranges, plantains and candy, which we give them, without hesitation." As helpers in the woman's work Mrs. Artman engaged Miss J. G. McCready, a sister of Mr. F. J. McCready, and Miss M. A. Payne. In her letters to America she urged the sending out of single ladies as woman missionaries, but the Church was not yet ready for such a step. Artman rapidly developed the educational work of the Mission during the year 1883. On February 27th he organized his class of Brahmin boys into the sixth grade of the mission school, beginning with twenty-one pupils. They were taught in all branches necessary to matriculation. The Telugu pundit, Subbarayadu, was engaged as the Telugu teacher with a salary of 20 rupees a month. Artman and Dietrich took the English branches, each giving two hours instruction daily. One hour each day was spent in reading the Bible with comments by the missionaries. The class met in a room of the bungalow opposite the church compound and in one of the schoolrooms of St. Paul's Church. The pupils were also obliged to attend the English services in St. Paul's Church every Sunday and Wednesday and were expected to come to the English Sunday school. This was, therefore, the first attempt in our Mission to conduct a Boys' High School, the organiza- tion and maintenance of which became a source of much dis- cussion and difference of opinion both in India and in America; but Artman undertook the work with the sincere desire of influencing the higher classes in Rajahmundry through this Brahmin school. Artman also started a Normal Department on June 2oth, beginning with fifteen teachers whom he wished to give a nor- HINDU FAKIR LYING ON A BED OF SPIKES One of the many practices of Hindu fakirs who seek to gain merit by enduring self-inflicted pain. THE CAR OF THE GOD OF KORUKONDA When the festivals are observed the idols are drawn about through the streets in procession in cars like this one. THE SACRED HILL OF KORUKONDA THE TEMPLE ON KORUKONDA HILL BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 217 mal training. This department was divided into two classes and was taught by three teachers, namely, J. John Henry, N. Sriramulu and N. Isaac. Despite his special interest in the educational work Artman did not neglect the district work during Schmidt's absence on furlough. In March, 1883, he visited Korukonda at the time of the annual festival of the god Narasimham, accompanied by Pastor Joseph and a number of Christian teachers, preaching to the multitudes which congregated there on that occasion. 1 1 "Korukonda," wrote Artman, "is noted for its peculiar cone-shaped hill about 700 to 800 feet high, on the summit of which a large heathen temple has been built, which is annually made the center of a great heathen festival, the pilgrims coming from a great distance to worship the god. The steep stone steps leading up to the temple were covered with devotees going up to make their offerings of rice, fruit or money to the god, and then returning. The stairway being steep and difficult of ascent, and as there are over 600 steps, it is considered a work of merit to ascend them. We found the steps lined with beggars of both sexes and all ages and descriptions, who were continually calling out to the passers-by for alms at the top of their voices. Some charitable women dropped a few grams of rice or a few cowries (shells used in exchange, much less in value than a United States mill) into each outstretched hand or basket. About 7.30 P. M. the great heathen car of Juggernaut was pulled along the rough and crooked streets with a heavy rumbling noise as of distant thunder, amid the ac- clamations of the multitudes and showers of plantains, which were being hurled up at the idol in the car from all sides and greedily grabbed and stored away for sale by the fat Brahmins who were riding in the car. At the same time the dancing or nautch girls were disporting themselves in their slow, unanimated and uninteresting attempt at dancing before the car. Here and there priests in dirty red robes and tinsel ephods were going about among the poor, ignorant people and extorting money from them by various superstitious and deceitful methods. In one place we saw one of the weirdest and most fanatical scenes of the occasion. A large circle of people had been formed, within which ten or a dozen men were jumping and capering about. Several had a network of flaming fire-brands on their heads, the flames almost enveloping their heads and shoulders as they made upward leaps, and the sparks frequently fell upon their bare skin. It was the duty of the attendants in the circle, who carried brooms or dusters, to brush away the sparks from the bodies of these fire-fiends. We made our way with some difficulty to our cart and started homeward, not without admiring the illumination of the hill and temple by means of small oriental lamps of a very simple pattern, which were placed one on each end of every step and all around the temple wall. I must not forget to relate an incident which occurred to-day. John and I were standing at a corner speaking to a crowd of men who were anxious to learn something about the way of salvation, when, as is often the case, a bigoted, caste-bound and most insolent upstart, a young Brahmin, made his way into the crowd and put an end to all preaching by his vile and unreasonable remarks and sarcasm. At last, when we threatened to hand him over to the police, he went a short distance away and, mounting a slight eminence, began to blaspheme and mockingly tried to imitate our preaching and manners. At this juncture one of our old Christian women in Rev. Joseph's party came to the rescue. She walked straight up to the young brawler, and although he abused her and tried to drive her away, she stood firm and spoke so earnestly to him about Christ and his love and showed the wickedness of 2l8 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL After closing the schools for the hot season he toured in the Tallapudi district and took possession of sites for school- houses granted by the government in Guddigudem, Nandamur and Kovur. The parochial reports at the end of the first half of the year 1883, showed that the work in the Velpur district under the direction of Pastor Paulus was making much more rapid progress than in any other district. While Pastor Joseph in the Jegurupad district reported fifty-seven baptized Chris- tians and thirty-three inquirers in twelve villages, and Rev. I. K. Poulsen in the Samulkot district, twenty- three baptisms for the whole year, Pastor Paulus reported as many as one hundred and thirty-nine baptisms during the year, one hundred and six communicants, twenty- five villages in which Christians or inquirers resided, and one hundred and seventy-seven children in thirteen village schools. 1 At the annual Conference of missionaries and native agents held January 3-5, 1884, a number of important matters were discussed and decided. The Rev. I. K. Poulsen was elected chairman of the Conference. Forty persons were enrolled as members, among them two lay delegates. The question of admitting a person into the Church by Holy Baptism if he had more than one wife, was discussed and finally left to the discretion of each missionary. The motion to permit government school-inspectors to visit and examine village schools with a view to their receiving grants was defeated. C. James resigned as the Mission's Inspector of Schools, and that office was left vacant. The problem of caste was dis- his conduct so convincingly to all present as well as to the fellow himself, that he turned about and slunk away in the crowd, followed by the laughter and jeers of his companions. To-day I also saw a genuine devotee or fakir, whose method of gaining merit was in lying full-length upon the ground and propelling himself from place to place by his knees and elbows. He was attended by a little girl who looked dirty and neglected. The miserable man held a small pot in one hand to receive alms, and it was wonderful to see with what skill he managed to keep his pot upright as he rolled along without spilling its contents of rice and cowries. Is not this a heart-rending commentary on the sad and lost condition of the Hundus? " 1 The total expenditure in India during the year July i , 1882, to June 30, 1883, was $7225.01, of which $3600 were for the salaries of the four missionaries, $J373-72 for the salaries of native agents, $697.65 for schools in Rajahmundry, $1307.98 for buildings and sites and $245.66 for miscellaneous expenses. BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 219 cussed, and it was resolved, as the sense of the Conference, that among Christians there can be no caste distinctions; nevertheless, in the treatment of caste people the admonition of the Lord should be observed, "Be ye as wise as serpents and harmless as doves." In the matter of self-support it was resolved that every mission agent should give one pice more, namely, four pice for every rupee of salary. After the adjournment of the Conference the ordained mis- sionaries met as a ministerial committee, and resolved, among other things, that the district lying north of a line drawn from Polavaram to Guddigudem to the left of the Godavery River, and between Purushottapatnam and Gokavaram to the right of the river, should be regarded as the fever district (manyam), and that teachers stationed in this fever district should receive higher salary. 1 The salary of a catechist was fixed at Rs. 10 a month, that of a Bible woman or female teacher at Rs. 3 to 5 a month. The erection of a schoolhouse and church at Samulkot was recommended, and Poulsen was given authority to begin a boarding school for boys and girls in the Samulkot district. The missionaries requested the Foreign Missions Committee of the General Council to formulate rules and regulations for the better government of the Mission. The year 1884 proved to be the most eventful one in the history of the Mission up to that time. With Artman as acting director of the Mission, in fact though not in name, it began to assume the position of a recognized and influential factor in the life of Rajahmundry and its environs. The natives, unaccustomed to such zeal and activity as Artman displayed, were amazed at his untiring efforts in every depart- ment of the work. On January i, 1884, he formally organ- ized a Mission High School for Boys, beginning with seven teachers, all of whom were non-Christians, and fifty students, ten of whom were Christians and the rest Brahmins. The classes met in the bungalow opposite the church compound. Dietrich helped him to organize and conduct this school. 1 N. Timothy, B. Prakasam, K. Joseph, P. Moses and A. Samuel, graduates of Class A., Normal School, were examined and assigned work as teachers. 220 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Of the 74 boarding boys reported in January, 1884, 25 were supported by patrons in America, 58 lived in boarding houses on the mission compound, 6 with parents or relatives in town, and 9 were married men. Of the 28 boarding girls, 9 were supported by patrons in America. Three Sunday schools continued to support as teachers those whom they had sup- ported as pupils in the boarding school, thus inaugurating this system of supporting native Christian workers. Artman felt that some effort should be made to reach the Mohammedan population of the town and, therefore, began a school for Mohammedan boys on January 10, 1884, starting with thirty pupils and three teachers, all of whom were Mohammedans. Hindustani was taught instead of Telugu. In order to give it some semblance of a Christian school, Artman, Dietrich and, in their absence, J. William Henry, gave an hour's instruction each day in the Old Testament. After the girls had been moved into their new boarding house and the Normal Department had been reopened, Artman spent the closing week of January in the Tallapudi district, where he visited nine villages, baptized twenty-four persons 1 and confirmed three. He administered the Holy Communion to over forty persons in these villages. Some time during February he dedicated a chapel at Dowlaish- waram, which he called St. Mark's Chapel. Then for ten days he itinerated with Dietrich in the Velpur district, going as far as Narsapur. 2 After the government inspection of the Rajahmundry schools by Mr. Grigg, about the middle of March, Artman and Dietrich took a trip up the Godavery River in the "Dove of Peace," going as far as the gorge. After the Easter festival 3 Mr. and Mrs. Artman with their two little sons went to spend the hot season at Bimlipatam on the coast; but Artman was not content to remain idle for any length of time, so, leaving his family there, he journeyed 1 Six at Sringaram, eight at Guddigudem, one at Peddahem, eight at Penaka- lametta and one at Tallapudi. 2 They visited Agartipalem, where sixteen persons were baptized by them; Palkole, where five were baptized; Jagganathpurara, Pennagonda, Vodal and Mallaishwaram. 3 Two infants were baptized and eighty-six communed at this time. BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 221 to Salur to pay a visit to Missionaries Pohl and Bothmann of the Breklum Mission. Returning by way of Vizagapatam, he got back to Rajahmundry with his family on June i4th, in time to reopen the schools after the summer vacation. Speaking of the High School he wrote: "The High School is a great and acknowledged success, and we will have no more trouble hereafter about the higher education of our most promising Christian boys. I hope the Committee will not hesitate in giving their full sanction to such an important and indispensable branch of mission work." On July ist Artman wrote the following report: "To-day a new venture was commenced in the shape of a Mission Mo- hammedan Girls' School. This is the first time that such a school has been attempted here, but we have every reason to hope for success. The great thing needed now is a lady who will be able to devote her whole time to such schools and to zenana work, as the unmarried ladies of other Missions do." The Mohammedan Girls' School was held in the same build- ing as the Mohammedan Boys' School, which was divided by a bamboo mat, used as a partition. A Mohammedan woman was engaged to teach Hindustani, a few primary branches were taught by J. William Henry's wife, and another Christian woman taught the girls to sew. Artman undertook to raise enough money to support the Mohammedan schools without expense to the Mission. From interested friends he succeeded in getting about n rupees a month for the boys' school and 7 rupees and 7 annas a month for the girls' school. Moreover, the municipality of Rajahmundry offered a grant of Rs. 400 a year for these schools, which were estimated to cost approximately Rs. 70 a month. They failed to succeed but proved, nevertheless, to be an interesting venture. The annual reports of the missionary, submitted on July i, 1884, showed good progress everywhere, especially in the Velpur district. The Rajahmundry district reported 170 Christians, 93 communicants, 47 inquirers and 25 baptisms for the year; the Tallapudi district, 162 Christians, 87 com- municants, 44 inquirers and 15 baptisms; the Jegurupad dis- 222 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL trict, 218 Christians, in communicants and 34 inquirers; the Samulkot district, 195 Christians; the Velpur district, 360 communicants. The receipts in India during the fiscal year, from July 8, 1883 to July 8, 1884, showed a number of interesting items. English residents contributed $i 1 1 .50, and Mr. T. Van Stavern $171.68 in addition for Dowlaishwaram schools. From the sale of bricks made by Christians $67.85 were realized, and $40.44 from rents. The expenditures were as follows: Salaries of missionaries, $3700; of native agents, $1854.89; for boarding schools, $920.05; new buildings and repairs, $1422.99; miscellaneous, $632.52; a total expenditure of $8530.45- Under Artman's zealous leadership the Mission was forging ahead rapidly, when suddenly he fell, stricken with fever, a severe loss to the work in India and to the cause in America. He had reopened all the Rajahmundry schools for the work of the second half of the year 1884, the Boys' High School with an enrollment of over two hundred pupils, and then left early in September for a short visit to the Tallapudi district of which he had charge. On his return he had an attack of fever, which he treated lightly as his "annual fever/' for it seems that since his trip to Bastar he had suffered about once a year from this illness. This time, however, the symptoms became alarming. Dietrich and Poulsen were called to his bedside and found him delirious. In this condition he re- mained until, on September 18, 1884, his spirit returned to God who gave it. He died at the age of twenty-seven years, having been in India less than four years; but the impression which he made upon the community remained for many years and still remains. Poulsen wrote: "Our Mission, according to our short-sightedness, has sustained an irreparable loss. He had his heart fully set on his work. He had a very good knowledge of Telugu and was always willing to work and co-operate with us all. He really undertook too much and overworked himself." In America a memorial service was held on November 5th, in St. Mark's Church, Philadelphia, the Rev. Samuel Laird, D. D., pastor. The Father Heyer BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 223 Missionary Society of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia, which he had helped to organize, passed resolu- tions of respect, and money began to be raised for the build- ing of a missionary's dwelling or bungalow at Dowlaish- waram as an Artman memorial. Just one month after Artman's death the eighth foreign missionary of the General Council began his labors at Rajah- mundry. The Rev. Frederick James McCready, a Eurasian by birth, had been sent to America by Artman to prepare for the holy ministry. He took the regular three years' course at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, was graduated in 1884, and was ordained on June loth, that year, at the convention of the Pennsylvania Ministerium in Trinity Church, Reading, Pa. Five days afterward he was commissioned at a solemn service in the Church of the Transfiguration, Pottstown, Pa., of which the English secre- tary of the Foreign Missions Committee, the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., was then the pastor. He sailed from New York on August pth, and reached Rajahmundry on October icth. Dietrich, who was given charge of the Mission with the exception of the Samulkot district, needed McCready's assistance in the educational work at Rajahmundry, and so the latter at once began to teach, daily giving three hours in Luther's Catechism, Church History and Bible Study in Telugu, and one hour in English in the Boys' Boarding School. McCready also preached Telugu in St. Paul's, Rajahmundry and in Dowlaishwaram. After her husband's death Mrs. Artman was requested by the Foreign Missions Committee to remain at Rajahmundry and superintend the Girls' schools and the zenana work. The Committee agreed to pay her $600 a year as a salary and give her the use of the "Riverdale" bungalow until the Schmidts returned. Mrs. Artman accepted the offer and thus became the first salaried woman missionary of the Gen- eral Council in India. Poulsen had begun a boys' boarding school at Samulkot early in the year, because he could not get the teachers he needed from the school in Rajahmundry. Those who were 224 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL graduated from that school, having been sent in from other districts, were not willing to be assigned positions in the Samulkot district; and the boys who attended school in the Samulkot district were not allowed by their parents to go as far away as Rajahmundry for further training. Nine boys and two girls were attending Poulsen's boarding school at the close of the year. On September yth a new school and prayer-house, located in the Mala section of Samulkot and costing $235, was consecrated. Mrs. Poulsen did a little zenana work in Samulkot and taught the boarding pupils to sew; but her duties in her home prevented her from doing any regular mission work. The success of Pastor Paulus in the Velpur district, where at the close of 1884, he had raised the number of Christians to nine hundred, had aroused the antagonism of a certain native society, calling itself the "Rama dandu." "On the Sunday after Christmas, 1884," wrote Paulus, "while we were making preparations for our morning service in Velpur, cer- tain enemies of Christianity, mischievous devotees of Hindu- ism, amounting to nearly two hundred in number, came all of a sudden and fell upon me. I frightened them away some- how and escaped their hands by the grace of God. The con- spirators call themselves the army of Rama. They seek to force those whom they meet to utter the word "Govinda," which is one of the names of Krishna, their god. The con- spirators made every effort to seize me and force me to join their army. They, with much passion, uprooted the young plants and small trees, and destroyed the palmyra verandah of our church. In the afternoon they made another attempt to reach our house but were forced to go away by our friends. I wrote to the police for help and three constables were sent. Nevertheless, in the evening they made a third attempt to harm us, but the constables and some Hindu friends prevented them. They are troubling our Christians everywhere and doing all sorts of mischief. In one village they burned the Bible and some school-books at night and also destroyed the schoolhouse. In another village they destroyed some of the houses of Christians." BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 225 Pastor Joseph in the Jegurupad district l also had enemies with whom he was forced to contend. "For two or three years," he wrote, "the Canadian Baptists from Coconada have been against my work. They try their best to come into my villages. I know that the Gospel should be preached to sinners by the children of God from different Missions, but I guess the Baptists forget that every child of God must serve the Lord in the beauty of holiness. In a number of villages the Gospel is not yet preached. They may go and preach it there. I have sustained a great loss by the Baptists." During the summer and fall of 1884, the Rev. and Mrs. H. C. Schmidt were doing deputation work in America, stirring up a deeper and more extensive foreign mission interest. In consultation with Schmidt the Foreign Missions Committee prepared the first Rules and Regulations of the Telugu Mis- sion, adopted February 23, 1885, and subsequently approved by the Mission. Moved by an appeal from Mrs. Schmidt, the Junior Missionary Society of Holy Trinity Church, Lancaster, Pa., the Rev. Dr. Greenwald pastor, contributed $400 for a mission printing-press and type, and, beginning with the year 1885, the women's missionary societies of St. John's and St. Mark's churches, Philadelphia, undertook the sup- port of the Riverdale Hindu Girls' School, each contributing one-half, or $15 a month, for this purpose. Despite the fact that the contributions for foreign mis- sions during the year 1884 had been over $3000 more than the previous year, 2 the Foreign Missions Committee was obliged in December, 1884, to borrow $1000 to pay expenses, and to issue an appeal for larger offerings. Artman, by showing what could be accomplished by a vigorous educational campaign in the Mission, had demon- strated the need of a missionary for the educational depart- ment alone. The Foreign Missions Committee was not pre- 1 At the end of the year 1884 he reported 250 Christians, 146 communicants 43 inquirers, 8 schools and 91 pupils. 2 The "Missionsbote" accounts continued to show good balances which were turned into the General Fund, while the accounts of "The Foreign Missionary" showed deficits which had to be met from the General Fund. 226 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL pared to endorse and authorize the entire educational program which Artman had outlined and to some degree carried into effect, holding that chief stress should be laid on the evan- gelistic and pastoral work, and that the educational depart- ment should be conducted with the special view of training native Christian workers, teachers, catechists and pastors. The maintenance of schools of a higher grade, which were patronized by the non- Christian portion of the population and which had a staff of non-Christian teachers, was not regarded with favor. Some one, however, had to be secured to follow up the work which Artman had so successfully inaugurated. While Schmidt was on furlough in America he had suggested the name of William Groenning, a son of the Rev. C. W. Groenning, then the Inspector of the Brek- lum Society. He was authorized to confer with him and, if he were willing to go to Rajahmundry, to extend a regular and formal call in the name of the Committee. Schmidt did so, and the call was officially ratified by the Committee on January 26, 1885. At the Annual Conference of missionaries, native agents and representatives of congregations, 1 held January 5 to 6, 1885, the Rev. I. K. Poulsen was re-elected president ; the Rev. F. S. Dietrich, English secretary; and C. James, Telugu secretary. Dietrich had been appointed by the Foreign Missions Committee to succeed Artman as the treasurer in India. J. William Henry became the headmaster of the Boys' Boarding School. The question of starting an indus- trial school was discussed, and it was resolved that, while such a school might be of value to the Mission, the men and means needed to conduct it were lacking. The native agents had neglected voluntarily to pay 4 pice for every rupee of salary received during the year; but the Confer- ence insisted on the payment and the dues were then and there collected. It was resolved to devote the money thus raised to pay the salary of a catechist or evangelist in the 1 Five Jay-delegates were received as members of this Conference, namely, A. Abraham, of Mahadevipatnam; P. Samuel, of Gorlamudi; V. Daniel, of Mallaishwaram; Abraham, of Korrapadu, and Kokiri Guriah, of Ragampetta. BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 227 "fever district." 1 Thus the so-called "Rampa Fund" was established. Four graduates of the Normal Department of the Boys' Boarding School 2 and seven married men who had been boarding pupils were given work as teachers. It was resolved that "as there was no longer so great an ur- gency in sending out teachers, no more married men should be entered in the school as boarders, except in very special cases." The number of boarding boys in January, 1885, was 67; of boarding girls, 23; and 31 day-pupils were enrolled in the Anglo- vernacular school in which McCready had been teaching seventeen hours a week. The Conference decided, however, that McCready could best be used in the district work, and he was assigned to the Tallapudi district and authorized to begin at once the erection of a bungalow in the town of Tallapudi. Among the incidents of the year especially reported by the Conference was the conversion of a young caste-man, a former pupil in the High School, Vungara Sriramulu, the son of a pensioned government official, belonging to the weaver caste, who, though his relatives alternately threatened him and pleaded with him, nevertheless remained firm in his allegiance to Christianity. After serving for some time as a teacher in the Hindu Girls' School, he assisted McCready as an evan- gelist in the Tallapudi district. 3 1 The "fever district" was redefined as extending from the Godavery to the Zellam River, above a line drawn from Polavaram through Gokavaram to Yellaishwaram. 2 The regular graduates that year were: A. Isaac, P. Caleb, B. Gnananan- dam and P. David. The married men were: P. Samuel, Daniel, P. Benjamin, K. Philip, V. Samuel, K. Venkataswami and G. John. 3 "This young man," wrote McCready, on April 2, 1885, "spent last Satur- day with me and toward evening expressed his willingness to take up his cross and follow Christ, braving all the trials such persons become subject to on em- bracing Christianity. I communicated his wish to Rev. Poulsen who was here at the time on a visit. We decided to act at once. While I was away seeking the assistance of the police to protect him, Mr. Poulsen, in the presence of a few Christians, baptized him in my study in Riverdale bungalow. Two policemen were ordered to guard our house and prevent any disturbance. We were per- mitted to rest in peace that night. The news did not spread and his relatives did not know of his conversion until he informed them by letter. ... At length, in the company of a policeman, we visited his father's house. The object of this visit was to seek a public interview with his wife. She refused to ac- company him, being under the influence of her parents. His child they would not give up. Having satisfied ourselves that she would not for the present join 228 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL After the death of their baby, born shortly before the death of Artraan, Mrs. Artman decided to return to America. She wrote: "It is with much sorrow that I leave India and the work here, for it has been a happy home to me for more than four years. It is painful to leave when I think that I must go when laborers are so much needed. After much prayer, however, this seems the only way, and all the missionaries agree with me." She left Madras with her two remaining children on May 4th, and arrived in Philadelphia on June 25, 1885. The furlough of the Schmidts lasted over two years. On August 9, 1885, they were back in Rajalimundry, having left their daughter, Dagmar, in Denmark to receive her educa- tion. Eleven days after their arrival Captain C. Taylor, a consistent friend of the Mission, who every year contributed toward its support, died at the advanced age of nearly eighty us, we returned home. Some days thereafter Sriramulu's brother who made believe he was working in our behalf, came and begged that our convert be al- lowed to go home and intercede with his wife. Rev. Poulsen and I accompanied him, not suspecting anything. We were treated cordially, the father especially being very respectful. An hour passed away in conversation. We then hinted that it was time to take leave. Word was sent to the back part of the house where Sriramulu was talking to his wife and mother. We were told that if we were in a hurry we should not wait for him; he would follow us at 3 o'clock. We were alarmed by this announcement. In the meantime the courtyard of the house was being thronged by men. The truth dawned on us that he was in danger. We had fallen into a trap. I immediately ran in the direction in which the crowd was moving. They crowded around the door at the back of the house. I pushed my way through and reached the door. A large padlock was on it. Sriramulu was locked in. I lifted the Venetian blinds and could dis- cern a figure sitting with several females embracing him. I called his name. He answered me. I asked him if he were there of his own choice, and if he wished to remain. He answered in English: 'I am a prisoner; my wife and others have hold of me. I wish to be free to follow you.' The question was asked several times and he always answered the same. Mr. Poulsen went for the police. I remained behind. As soon as he left the mob turned on me and with anger in their eyes ordered me to leave the premises. I declined to do so until requested by the master of the house. He befriended me, quieted the mob and, rising from his sick-bed, begged that if Sriramulu wished to go, he should be set free. They would not hear him. The trial was a hard one for Sriramulu, but the pleadings of wife, mother, brother and friends could not change him. They wept, promised, threatened; but all endeavors to keep him from Christ were futile. I thank God for the strength given him during these hours of trial. He was released. The crowd followed us with hisses and curses. This man in taking up his cross gave up all dear ones, friends, property, worldly standing, everything, and followed Christ. At his request I cut his hair short or, rather , removed the Hindu top-knot." RELIGIOUS BATHING IN THE GODAVERY RIVER The Godavery is one of the twelve sacred streams of India. Every twelve years, therefore, multitudes from all parts of India come to bathe in its waters to wash away their guilt. The festival of bathing is called Pushkaram. THE BRIDGE OVER THE GODAVERY RIVER AT RAJAHMUNDRY There are fifty-five solid masonry piers, fifty-six spans of steel girders, forming a bridge a mile and a half long. LOADING A RADARI I5OAT WITH RICE BAGS A CONGREGATION OF TELUGU CHRISTIANS These people are Malas or outcasts, who constitute the majority of the membership of our mission congregations. Notice the thatch-roofed prayer house in which they worship. BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 2 29 years, having lived in India without interruption for sixty years. After the return of Schmidt the Mission was redistricted. Schmidt took charge of the work in Rajahmundry except the schools, which were given to Dietrich, who also preached at Dowlaishwaram. The Velpur district, with N. Paulus as pastor in charge, was placed under the general oversight of Schmidt; the Jegurupad district, with Pastor Joseph in charge, under the general oversight of Dietrich. McCready took the Tallapudi district and Poulsen the Samulkot district. Dietrich did good work at Dowlaishwaram. He preached there every Sunday or sent a catechist as his substitute. The congregation, at the close of the year 1885, numbered eighteen communicant members, and during the year eleven persons had been baptized. The school enrolled thirty pupils. Luth- er's Small Catechism, reading, writing, arithmetic and singing were taught, the older and more advanced pupils receiving some instruction also in geography and history. Evangelistic work was done during the week in the Mala section of the town. While in the other districts the majority of the converts were Malas, those in the Tallapudi district were mostly Madigas. "To the pariahs, the Chucklers," wrote McCready, "and other people of low caste and no caste the Gospel is a welcome message. They are simple and uneducated people. The women join the men in the audiences. Most, if not all, of the converts come from these classes, hence we work chiefly among them. Few Christians in the Tallapudi dis- trict are Malas. We have Mala Christians only in two vil- lages. This is to be accounted for in this way: When Chris- tianity first enters a place, should those who first embrace it be of the Mala caste, which is one of the lowest castes, others still lower will join us; but should the first converts be Chucklers, the Malas keep aloof." Concerning the character of the new converts he wrote: "It is a sad fact that there is a lack of piety among the people. In the hour of trial they are weak. When temptations come they surrender without a struggle. Many bad habits, such as drinking, falsehood, getting into 230 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL debt, spending their earnings thoughtlessly and uncleanness in their personal and household life, are common. Having abandoned heathenism they have left much behind them as overcome, but much still remains to be conquered." Mc- Cready followed the practice in the Mission not to baptize an adult until the Ten Commandments, the Creed and the Lord's Prayer had been learned. "Many in their old age," he said, "learn some hymns. The young people can sing the 'Gloria in Excelsis.' The order of the service has become very familiar to them. The services, consequently, grow more interesting to them and more orderly." He introduced a Sunday school at Tallapudi, induced the Christians to give a day's wages every year for the building fund of the Christian Inn proposed for Rajahmundry, and encouraged the children to spend their Saturdays at work earning something for the Mission. Every Monday, being market day, he and his cate- chist or a teacher preached in the market-place. Thirty-one persons were baptized during 1885, raising the total number of Christians in the district to 172, of whom 68 were communi- cants. 1 In St. Paul's, Rajahmundry, Schmidt preached Telugu, assisted by P. V. Ratnam and C. James. The English ser- vices and Sunday school were discontinued. An unsuccessful attempt was made to introduce a church council or Panchayet. The time for self-government had not yet come. The number of communicants at the close of the year 1885 was 94. An evangelist was engaged for the district north of Rajah- mundry, called the Korukonda district. In the Velpur, Jegu- rupad and Samulkot districts the work was slowly progress- ing, the number of communicants at the close of the year being respectively 325, 117 and 37.2 The total number of baptisms in all districts during the year was 311; the total number of 1 In the largest congregation, Tallapudi, there were 46 Christians and 20 communicants; in Peddahem, 33 Christians; in Nandamur, 14 Christians; in Tutigunta, 18 Christians, and in Guddigudem, 35 Christians. In five village schools 29 pupils were enrolled. * Pastor Paulus reported 211 baptisms for the year, 40 villages in which Christians resided and about 300 pupils in school. Pastor Joseph reported 16 villages, 289 Christians and 68 pupils in eight schools. Rev. I. K. Poulsen reported 25 baptisms, 147 Christians, 84 pupils and 13 teachers. BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 231 baptisms in the Mission from January i, 1880, to December 31, 1885, was reported to have been 1705. The report of the Foreign Missions Committee to the Eighteenth Convention of the General Council, held in Phila- delphia, October 15-21, 1885, included the recommendation that for the better government of the Mission the Rules and Regulations, after their adoption by the General Council, should go into effect on January i, 1886. Another recom- mendation was that more laymen be added to the Committee. "There would be a great gam to the work entrusted to us," is the language used, "if we were given the presence, counsel, practical tact and hearty interest of a number of prudent, devoted, earnest laymen. There are now but three laymen on the Committee, and even these are scarcely ever able to attend. Would it not be well to seek out men of the kind desired, who have such command of their time as to enable them to give one day each month to this work?" As a con- sequence the Committee was given power to add six laymen to its membership. The former committee was reappointed, with the exception of the Rev. Samuel Laird, D. D., who was succeeded by the Rev. E. E. Sibole, D. D. The Rev. F. Wischan was elected the Committee's German secretary in the place of the Rev. H. Grahn. Otherwise the officers remained the same. Under the head of "missionary organizations in the con- gregations" the Committee sanely remarked: "The General Council has expressed its conviction that the Church, as an individual congregation or as a combination of congregations, is the proper agency through which the mission work should be done, enlarged and directed; but within the congregation it is often found of great advantage that the mission work should engage the special attention of organizations. Some- times the Sunday school takes up the work; sometimes mis- sionary societies are formed. Sometimes these associations are of young people; sometimes of women; sometimes all kinds may be found. The congregations which have shown the greatest interest in missions and wherein that interest has en- dured longest and been most constant, have such associations." 232 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL A large part of the Committee's report was devoted to a dis- cussion of the educational work of the Mission, especially to the Committee's attitude toward the Hindu High School organized by Artman. The Committee had requested him to furnish full information concerning it, but before he could comply death had claimed him. Then, in November, 1884, the Committee had resolved to abandon the enterprise. The missionaries were forbidden to teach in this school and were directed to send such Christian boys as were capable of higher education to the Government High School at Rajahmundry. The thorough and careful training of native workers in Biblical knowledge was emphasized. All the missionaries, however, except Poulsen urged that the Mission High School be continued. The Committee then advanced four reasons for abandoning it: "i. We have not a sufficient force of men at Rajahmundry to allow that their time should be occupied with this work. 2. It is not desirable to maintain a school in which the whole staff of teachers is non-Christian." "If the Christian influence of the school were the controlling one," said the Committee, "our views might be different; but with only one hour a day given to it by a mission- ary, while the corps of teachers is heathen, we feel very doubtful of the Christian influence of the school." 3. The maintenance of such a High School, it was claimed, would place the Mission in opposition to the Government school, and array the English officials and their influence against the Mission. 4. The school threatened to become an expensive undertaking. "Instead of being self-supporting, as Mr. Art- man first believed it would, it cost, beyond its receipts for the first year, $500, although occupying our mission house gratis." Considerable correspondence passed between the Mission and the Committee concerning this school. Dietrich and McCready wrote long letters. They asserted that the school was a necessity, that no successful Mission was without such a school, and that it was the only agency by which Brahmins and high castes could be reached and influenced. Before reaching a final decision the Committee, in September, 1885, passed the following resolutions: BETTER ADMINISTRATION (1883-85) 233 "Resolved, i. That as the care of the schools at Rajah- mundry has been assigned to Rev. Mr. Groenning, he be requested very carefully to examine into the whole school system at Rajahmundry, and, after full consultation with the other missionaries, propose a plan for the school system in all branches, but especially with reference to the Hindu High School, the Mohammedan Schools and the Caste Girls' School, and their relation to the Mission. " 2. That this plan when prepared shall be submitted to the Mission Council, and, after full consideration, an opportunity be given the several missionaries to send their views to the Committee. "3. That until the submission of such a plan and action on it by the Committee, the missionaries may continue to give religious instruction in both the Hindu High School and the Mohammedan School, and that the High School may occupy the mission house in which it is now located, unless it should be needed for the use of our missionaries; but that no other expense of these schools be borne by our treasury." The financial argument of the Committee was all the more emphatic because the Committee was forced in December, 1885, to make a special appeal for contributions to wipe out an accumulated indebtedness of $2500. CHAPTER IX THE HOME-CHURCH LAGS (1886-87) DURING 1886 and 1887 five ordained missionaries were at work in the Mission, each one busily engaged in his district or department, and steady progress was made; but the Church at home lagged behind in its support of the Mission. The Rev. William Groenning was the ninth foreign mis- sionary of the General Council. He was born September 29, 1852, at Guntur, Madras Presidency, India, where his father, the Rev. Charles William Groenning, was then stationed as a missionary of The Foreign Missionary Society of the Gen- eral Synod. When he was six years old William, with his two younger brothers, was taken by his parents to Europe to be educated. He was left in the family of Mr. Dierks, a teacher in Gross-Borstel, near Hamburg. At the age of eleven his uncle, Mr. Nagel of Hamburg, took him into his home and sent him to a private school. When his parents returned from India, having permanently given up the missionary life, the whole family was reunited and lived for a while in Hadersleben, North Schleswig, where William attended the gymnasium. At the age of nineteen he entered the Uni- versity, studying in turn at Leipsic, Erlangen and Kiel. At Erlangen he spent a year in military service in the Sixth Bavarian battalion. He took a special course in theology at the North Schleswig-Danish Theological Seminary at Haders- leben. After serving as an assistant to Inspector Hoeber of the newly established Breklum Mission Institute, he was chosen to succeed the latter after his death in March, 1879. On August 6, 1880, he married Caroline, daughter of Valen- tine L. Meyer, a merchant of Hamburg. Called by the Foreign Missions Committee of the General Council to enter its service as a missionary in its Telugu field in India, January 26, 1885, he accepted the call and left Breklum on April ist to spend six months in Berlin in the study of medicine and 234 THE HOME-CHURCH LAGS (1886-87) 235 pharmacy, having been advised that some knowledge of these sciences would be useful in mission work. He was ordained on August 23d, in Bruegge, Schleswig, by Consistorialrath Claussen, assisted by Pastors Langreen and Selk. The Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Groenning sailed from Liverpool, England, September 26th, and reached Colombo, Ceylon, October 28th. From Madras they went to Tripaty to visit the Mission High School of the Hermannsburg Mission, and to Mayavaram, Tranquebar, Poriar, Tanjore, Trichinopoly and Kumbakonam, to study the educational work of the Leipsic Mission. 1 On December 3d Dietrich met the Groennings at Coconada with the "Dove of Peace." Henry who thirty years before had been a servant in the household of the elder Groenning in India, who had carried William as a babe in his arms, and who had been one of the first converts of the elder Groenning, had insisted on being one of the first ones to welcome the son at Coconada, and was there to meet him. A visit of a few days was paid the Poulsens at Samulkot, both of whom Groenning had learned to know in Europe. Here and at Ragampetta, whither Groenning accompanied Poulsen and his catechist Lakshmiah, he got his first glimpse of mission work in our Mission. Rajahmundry was reached on December 6th. Groenning at once took charge of the Rajahmundry Mis- sion school when it was reopened on January 15, 1886. He found it graded into three classes. Instruction was given in religion, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, music and drawing. Thirty-four boys were accommo- dated in the boarding house in which they slept on the floor, side by side, "packed like herring in a box." Twelve older boys were housed in a shed in the Riverdale compound. Groenning and his wife were entertained by Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt until the bungalow in the compound of St. Paul's Church had been repaired. Groenning planned to add, in the course of time, three higher grades with some instruction in the main branches of theology, at least in an elementary man- ner, so as to make the institution a reasonably efficient train- ing-school for native workers. He did not include the Hindu 1 The expense of this trip was borne by Groenning. 236 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL High School nor the Mohammedan schools in his educational program, and the Caste Girls' School remained in charge of Mrs. Schmidt, assisted by Mrs. Groenning, who also helped Mrs. Schmidt in the zenana work in the munsiff's house. The Hindu High School for boys was continued in the bun- galow opposite the church compound to the close of the year 1886, when its relation with the Mission was severed. It was moved to another part of the town and existed for a while as a private school, Dietrich being able to get Rs. 700 for it annually as a grant from the government. In February, 1888, it was combined with two other Rajahmundry High Schools, and the union school was managed by a board of trustees, one of whom was Dietrich, and another E. P. Metcalf, Esq., the principal of the Government College. In 1893 it became a part of the Government School. On February 5, 1886, the first sheets were printed on the press which the Junior Missionary Society of Holy Trinity Church, Lancaster, Pa., had sent to India. They contained the Lord's Prayer in Telugu, two boarding pupils having set the type under the direction of Schmidt. Schmidt also began the publication of a small sheet in English, called "Rajah- mundry Mission News." Luther's Small Catechism in a small form and "The First Telugu Book" were published in the course of the first year. On February 24, 1886, the Rev. Mr. McCready and Miss Catharine Taylor, a granddaughter of Captain and Mrs. C. Taylor, were united in marriage at Rajahmundry. During the month of February Schmidt toured in the Vel- pur district. Extracts from his account of this tour are here given because they furnish an insight into the methods of dis- trict work. "The Christians of Vandra have built a nice schoolhouse with mud walls and palmyra-leaf roof. Most of the Christians of Vissakoderu (66) gathered with us for divine service in the same place where we met in 1883. It was at one time a cattle-shed, and is now used for school and church purposes. During the ten days we stopped at Vissako- deru Paulus and I visited twelve villages within a radius of six miles. In some places, like Gorlamudi, the school is held in an THE HOME-CHURCH LAGS (1886-87) 237 open yard and divine services are conducted there. The huts of the Christians are very small and have generally only one opening which serves as a door, so that it is impossible to conduct services in them. We have, therefore, no alternative and must frequently conduct divine services in streets, lanes and yards. I have found it very awkward under such circum- stances to administer the Holy Sacraments. Paulus, however, manages it very well. It does not seem to disturb him if a calf runs through the audience or a bird flies over our heads. He waits quietly until order is restored. . . . No bells are rung to gather the people, for the simple reason that there are none. In some places, like Velpur, the teacher blows a whistle a little while before service begins. The people are generally lacking in punctuality, and several opening hymns must be sung so as to allow the stragglers plenty of time for gathering. On Sunday morning the service of our Telugu Church Book is used. ... I naturally consented in every place to preach to the congregation, as my visit was a kind of inspection; but because Paulus is the pastor, I never baptize any of the people in his field. The Christians must be taught that there is no difference between the office of a missionary and that of a native pastor, in spite of our difference in nationality, edu- cation and other respects. . . . The natural center of this part of the country is Bhimawaram, where the Government is build- ing a court-house and where the native judge will live. Paulus is very anxious to build a church for all the surrounding vil- lages in this place. ... As far back as 1875, some people of Gorlamudi asked me for a teacher. How glad we now are to find here the largest congregation in Rev. Paulus' district." Some effort was made by Schmidt in the Korukonda district, north of Rajahmundry. In March, 1886, he visited a number of villages, going in a bullock cart. At Balladupadu, eighteen miles north of Rajahmundry, near Korukonda, after staying a week he baptized five persons. About this time V. Jacob, a convert of the Madiga or Chuckler caste, 1 passed his matriculation examination at the 1 Madigas or Chucklers are workers in leather, shoe-makers or tanners, and are regarded as the lowest and most despised people. 238 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Madras University, probably the first one of this caste in the Telugu country to pass. Schmidt said that he came to him full of joy and pride, saying, "I and three other Brahmins passed the examination!" "Just as if his success entitled him to rank with the Brahmins," was Schmidt's comment. la Dowlaishwaram Dietrich started a separate girls' school with Annama as teacher, early in 1886. It enrolled twenty pupils. During the first six months of the year he spent fifty-two days on tour in the district. Most of McCready's time was occupied in superintending the erection of the bungalow at Tallapudi. He instituted a monthly teachers' meeting on the first Monday of each month, hoping thereby to increase their efficiency. He prepared for them in advance a schedule of duties, hours and lessons of instruction, and of preaching appointments on Sunday and during the week, in an endeavor to systematize the work. It was almost a hopeless task, for the teachers were generally lazy and inefficient. The same conditions prevailed in other parts of the field. Dietrich wrote: ''The children are few in number, irregular in attendance and carelessly taught. The teachers are indifferent. ... I am anxiously looking forward to the time when we can obtain the men who are now being trained by Rev. Groenning." Schmidt, dealing with the same subject, said: "There are many who wish to enter mission employ, but, alas, very few of them are fit for the work ! They hardly satisfy the most meagre expectation as to Scriptural knowledge and gifts of teaching. Our mission work constantly reminds us of Luther's saying, that we must plow with asses until we get horses." Poulsen described the moral life of the Telugus in the follow- ing language: "The longer I live among these people, the more corrupt I find them, especially the low castes. Here at Samul- kot there are a great many Malas; but few live with their real wives. Free love is in practice an established doctrine. Those who practice it, however, must pay a fine of Rs. 2 or be ex- communicated. In the hot season, when we come to a Mala village in the evening, they are all drunk. Samulkot is known for its dancing girls and its burglars. . . To have enough rice THE HOME-CHURCH LAGS (1886-87) 239 without working for it seems to be the people's idea of bliss. It often reminds me of what I was told in my school days; how when the Chinese desired to picture eternal happiness they drew a man with chop-sticks in his hands, eating rice as fast as he could from a huge heap in front of him. But when I see the many pretty children, their innocent and bright faces seem to tell me that of such is the kingdom of heaven." The parochial reports at the close of the fiscal year, ending June 3, 1886, showed progress everywhere, but again especially in the Velpur district. 1 So busy was Schmidt with the supervision of repairs on the bungalow in the church compound and on the "Dove of Peace" that he spent only seven days on tour from July to December, 1886. Referring to this work he wrote: "Want of funds pre- vented me from engaging experienced workmen, and I had to do much of the repairing of the boat with my own hands. It is especially gratifying to see, however, how much of the work has been done by native Christians, who thus are edu- cated for honest labor; and every step onward to civilization is a small victory won." Schmidt was very proud of his industrial school. The Rev. W. P. Schwartz of Guntur, after a visit at Rajahmundry in 1886, wrote in the Guntur Mission Journal that on the evening of the first day in Rajahmundry he was conducted by Schmidt to the lime-kiln and brick-yard along the river bank, which Schmidt had "established for the 1 The following is a summary of the reports: Foreign missionaries, 5; mission- aries' wives, 4; native pastors, 2; catechists and evangelists, 7; teachers in Rajahmundry, 10; in other places, 46; pupils in boys' boardjng department, 48; in girls' boarding department, 10; day pupils: boys, 33; girls, 21; total pupils in Rajahmundry schools, 112; baptized in 1885: Rev. Schmidt, 6; Poulsen, 25; Dietrich, 24; McCready, 31; N. Paulus, 211; T. Joseph, 14; total, 311. From January to June, 1886, 457 persons were baptized, of whom 276 were in the Vel- pur district. The total number of Christians, adult and children, was 1901, dis- tributed as follows: Rajahmundry town, 194; Korukonda district, 12; Dowlaish- waram town, 28; Jegurupad district, 276; Velpur district, 1044; Samulkot dis- trict, 147; Tallapudi district, 200. The total number of pupils in the village schools exclusive of Rajahmundry was 587, of whom 325 were in the Velpur district. The receipts in India for this fiscal year were $6227.91; the expense, not including the missionaries' salaries, $5415.77, divided as follows: Rajahmundry, $1089.56; Boarding department, $648.20; Velpur and Korukonda, $947.33; Samulkot, $588.54; Dowlaishwaram, $489.50; Jegurupad, $438.95; Tallapudi, $380.45; miscellaneous, including part payment for Tallapudi bungalow, $833-24- 240 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL benefit of the Mission and native Christians." "Besides this," wrote Schwartz, "brother Schmidt has a carpenter-shop, a blacksmith's forge and a saw-pit. He tells me that in this way he is able to make the Christian community less dependent upon the heathen and hence more truly Christian ; that their sons learn useful trades and become, what is so uncommon in India, artisans who can read and write and cipher; that the dignity of labor is shown and the community in general is benefited by these works; and that all this is accomplished without expense to the mission treasury and without hindering him in his work in the district." Concerning the progress at Dowlaishwaram Dietrich wrote on January i, 1887: "The Dowlaishwaram schools are three in number, namely, our boys' school and our girls' school in town and a boys' school just outside of town. There are now 40 girls and 50 boys in these schools. I put them under govern- ment grant, because it does not in any way interfere with their Christian character and much improves them. They are visited monthly by a government school inspector. The grant received this year was sufficient to pay off the expenses of the three schools for two months. As Mr. Van Stavern paid the head teacher for the year 1885, this grant went to him." Concerning the congregation he wrote: "When I look back two years and see the few (6 or 8) who came then, and now look at the crowded room, I feel very thankful to our Heavenly Father." Before the close of the year Dietrich had secured one and a half acres of government land in Dowlaishwaram at a rental of Rs. 5 a year, was negotiating for the purchase of an adjoining three and a half acres and had sent plans for a missionary's dwelling to the Committee in America. Poulsen spent seventy-one days on tour during the last six months of the year 1886. His boarding school enrolled only 5 boys and 3 girls, and could scarcely be called a success. His report contained the following description of the effect of the caste system: "He who has not seen the workings of this system can have only a faint idea of it. The prevalent conception of sin is not immorality but the breaking of any of the many absurd caste rules. Let a man live ever so wick- THE HOME-CHURCH LAGS (1886-87) 241 edly, he is honored according as his caste is high or low; but let him drink water out of a pot belonging to a lower caste man or eat what is prohibited, and he is ostracised. Educa- tion, however extensive, has not been able to change this. Hindu graduates, college professors, judges and collectors observe their caste rules as well as others." Despite the efforts of the Foreign Missions Committee to increase the home income so as to meet the increasing ex- penses of the Mission, the indebtedness of the treasury remained. 1 In one direction, however, the outlook for increased inter- est in foreign missions was very favorable, for in many con- gregations missionary societies were being organized. The General Council at its meeting in Chicago, in 1886, encouraged the formation of such societies. 2 Because of its financial embarrassment the Foreign Mis- sions Committee was unable to pay the salaries of its mis- sionaries promptly and to remit regularly in advance, as usual, for each quarter of the year the sums required for the general expenses of the mission work. The missionaries were asked to exercise every economy, while reduced amounts were sent for general expenses. How this affected the work may be learned from a quotation taken from one of Schmidt's semi-annual reports: "For the first three months of the year I was able to pay only a few mission agents. Rev. N. Paulus and others lost much time by coming to Rajahmundry and waiting for money. P. V. Ratnam, the headmaster of the Caste Girls' School, thought it best to resign and seek government em- ployment. As soon as funds arrived in April our prospects improved. Somewhat later Ratnam withdrew his resignation, and at the end of the summer holidays he returned to the Caste Girls' School; but the number of pupils had dwindled 1 To cancel this indebtedness the Rev. H. Grahn generously loaned the Com- mittee $1000 without interest. 2 With the exception of the Rev. C. G. Fischer and Mr. J. C. File the Foreign Missions Committee was re-elected by the General Council in 1886, and the following were added as new members: the Revs. J. P. Deck, H. V. Hilprecht and Messrs. H. Frank and F. R. Bauer. To these the Committee at its meeting in November added Mr. J. Washington Miller whose name, however, does not appear in the Minutes of the General Council. 16 242 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL during his absence, some of the girls having gone to the Maharajah's school." The first Mission Conference held after the new Rules and Regulations went into effect convened in St. Paul's Church, January 4-6, 1887. Besides the five missionaries and the two native pastors about 60 agents and lay-delegates were present. Schmidt was elected chairman; Poulsen, English secretary; and C. James, Telugu secretary. Groenning ex- plained to the Conference that only promising boys should be sent from the districts to Rajahmundry, that all who ap- plied would be required to pass an entrance examination in the Second Telugu Book, and that girls would be admitted as boarders only after having reached the age of eight years, and would not be allowed to remain after having passed the age of twelve years. Dissatisfaction was expressed with the use of Dawson's Telugu hymn-book in the Mission, because its language was not sufficiently simple and intelligible. The evil of drunkenness was severely condemned and measures were proposed to check it among the Christians. The treasurer of the Rampa Fund (Groenning) was instructed to deposit this fund in a bank and secure the same rate of interest as the Postal Savings Bank allowed. One-half of this fund was to be used for the support of an evangelist or catechist, while the other half was to be expended for teachers' widows and poor Christians, no district, however, having the right to claim more than one-half of the amount contributed by it to this fund. None of the pupils of the Anglo-vernacular School in Rajah- mundry were graduated at the close of the year 1886, because Groenning had added a fourth class and introduced a new plan of instruction. A Brahmin was employed as the Telugu teacher for the two higher classes. "I could, perhaps," wrote Groenning, "have secured a graduate Christian teacher from the South for Rs. 30 a month, but believed that this Brahmin would teach equally as well for Rs. 6. As he gives instruction only in lan- guage, there is little danger of his doing injury to the Christian character of the school." The text-books of the Government THE HOME-CHURCH LAGS (1886-87) 2 43 in Telugu reading and grammar, English and history were introduced as being superior to any others; and an effort was made to secure a number of copies of the Telugu Bible History published by the Hermannsburg Mission, but that Mission declined to sell any of them, whereupon Groenning prepared a similar book. When the school was reopened in the repaired bungalow opposite the church compound on January 10, 1887, so many applied for admission that 25 had to be refused, principally because of the lack of accommodations. The average attend- ance during the first half of the year was 114; 47 boys and 1 1 girls were boarders ; the others were day pupils. Stricter discipline was introduced and soon every phase of the school work showed the marks of Groenning's master- hand. That a missionary naturally becomes a center of missionary interest for the community from which he comes may be clearly seen in the case of Groenning. Through his father, then pastor in Ballum, Schleswig, regular and liberal contri- butions were received by the Mission, especially for the Rajahmundry school. 1 He used the money, thus sent, for the repair of the schoolhouse, for a brick wall enclosing the com- pound and for gymnasium and scientific apparatus and charts. Early in 1887 Mrs. Schmidt again began sending lace to America, having received many orders while on furlough in America. Schmidt spent almost a month from March icth to April 7th on a mission to Guntur, whither he was sent by the 1 In July, 1887, Groenning reported the following receipts: From Mr. Stokes, Bath, England, Rs. 60; Mr. Knuth, Flensborg, Rs. 60; Christian Thomsen, Ballum, Rs. 10; Miss Helem, Ballum, Rs. 5. All but Mr. Stokes' contributions were for the repair of the schoolhouse. Rev. C. W. Groenning also sent Rs. 67.6, collected at a mission festival in Ballum for the erection of a church at Velpur. Mr. Val. Lor. Meyer, Hamburg, Groenning's father-in-law, sent Schreiber's wall-charts and other school apparatus. "Since January last," wrote Groenning, "my father has sent in addition, from Neils Neilsen, Rs. 37.8; Helena Mickelsen, Rs. 22.8; Sewing Society, Rs. 22.8; from his own mission box, Rs. 67.8. Lorenz Meyer, brother of Mrs. Groenning, sent Rs. 40, and Pastor Schelig of Hamm, Rs. 138.5.4. All of these contributions were placed at my disposal for the mission school." During the second half of the year 1887 Groenning received through his father and brother Rs. 211 ($100); and during the first half of the year 1888, from the same sources, $394.61. 244 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Foreign Missions Committee to help the General Synod's missionaries settle certain problems in their Mission. Dietrich spent sixty days on tour during the first six months of the year 1887. He arranged that Pastor Joseph should meet all of his teachers in the Jegurupad district one day each month to review the lessons they had been teaching, and that they should spend from two weeks to a month during the long vacation in the study of the branches they were required to teach. He purchased as the site for his proposed bungalow four and a half acres of land at Dowlaishwaram for Rs. 600, adding them to the lot secured from the government and making six acres in all. A small organ was purchased for the Dowlaishwaram congregation and the full liturgical service of the Telugu Church Book was introduced in that congre- gation. Poulsen wrote: "When I first came here I got no workers at all from our old fields, so I had to take dismissed and rejected ones from the English Church Missions and from our boarding school in Rajahmundry. As one might expect, some were unfit. Here I am with only a few workers and no prospect of getting more for a long time to come. The pastors in the old fields, Velpur and Jegurupad, naturally want their own boys back again when they have been gradu- ated." McCready, after having practically completed and occu- pied his new bungalow at Tallapudi, devoted himself to work in the district. He made a special effort to reach the Mala population, and succeeded in making 4 converts from that caste. In addition he baptized 21 Madigas during the first half of the year 1887. The statistics submitted at the close of the fiscal year, ending June 30, 1887, showed only a slight increase over the previous year, but gratifying progress had been made in the matter of increased benevolent contributions from the native Christians. 1 1 The total amount of benevolent contributions during the year 1877 was Rs. 226.13.1, of which Rs. 34 was contributed in Rajahmundry, Rs. 68.1 1 in the Velpur district, Rs. 20.2.10 in the Tallapudi district, Rs. 19.15 in the Jegu- rupad district and Rs. 15.5.3 m the Dowlaishwaram district. THE HOME-CHURCH LAGS (1886-87) 245 Pastor Joseph's house at Jegurupad was finished before the close of the year at an expense of Rs. 350, about $125. Imagine a minister in the United States being satisfied with a parsonage costing as little as that! The Gorinta congregation in the Samulkot district was severely tried during the year 1887. "A young man from a village in which the Baptists have converts returned to heathenism and came to live in Gorinta. 'Do as we did in our village,' he advised, 'excommunicate .e Christians and they will soon give in, and we shall all be one, as before.' One young man from among the Christians joined him and became the chief enemy of the congregation. It is not possible to get a lot of ground to build a prayer-house, so the Christians of Gorinta have been meeting in an open place, whither the villagers frequently resort. When they were not left to worship in peace, they retired to the teacher's house which belongs to the head Mala, the principal Christian of the village. Even then the mob broke in during prayer and abused the Chris- tians, especially the women, in all the foul language in which Telugu is so rich and of which the low people are so fond. . . . The heathen no longer acknowledge this Christian as their headman and threaten to fine him for being a Christian. If he pays the fine, it is a sign that he renounces Christianity; if he does not, they will shut him out of their community. Nobody must then visit him, or give him fire, or work for him; and if anyone dies in his house, no one must help him to carry out the dead. He has hitherto bravely resisted all tempta- tions but has been obliged to lodge a complaint in court against the disturbers; yet justice for the few Christians here is a rare thing, and no one has scruples about swearing falsely against his neighbor. Of course, the caste people, Brahmins and Sudras, are behind the disturbers and uphold them, while they, in turn, are dependent on the caste people for a liveli- hood." The schools for Mohammedan boys and girls, which Mc- Cready after Artman's death succeeded in keeping up with the aid of some government grant, were little more than an experiment. The boys' school enrolled 39 pupils taught by 246 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL four teachers; the girls' school, 26 pupils taught by two teachers. The Caste Girls' school in charge of Mrs. Schmidt closed the year 1881 with 40 pupils. P. V. Ratnam was still the headmaster. In this school, as well as in the Christian schools in Rajahmundry, Christmas was celebrated as usual in a manner resembling, as far as possible, the celebration of the festival in Christian lands. The chief attraction was always the distribution of clothing, toys and other gifts sent to India from America in so-called Christmas boxes, or provided by the missionaries out of their private purses, or with money contributed by friends in India and America. On one of the days immediately preceding or following December 25th, all the Christians in Rajahmundry and its vicinity were given a dinner of rice and curry, usually at the expense of the English judge of the district. "We generally use a tamarind branch as a Christmas tree," wrote Mrs. Schmidt, describing the celebration in the Caste Girls' Schools, "but because they are so crooked, Mr. Schmidt this year tried to improve on nature and made a frame with a point, on which he tied leaves and branches so as to look more like our Christmas trees at home. Each child got a basket made of palmyra leaves decorated with colored paper, the skirts and jackets being tied around them; and inside the baskets were fruits and sweets and the dolls standing on the toys. The children came in a procession, singing a hymn. It is a fine sight to see them in their bright clothes and loaded with jewelry. Sometimes, I think, all the jewels of a family are displayed on a child. Generally the jewelry is the one valu- able possession of a family. After some singing Rev. Dietrich delivered an address on the Christmas tree. Then there were some recitations of the Christmas story and the smaller children repeated some Scripture texts. After another hymn the regular and best pupils received their prizes and the others their presents from the tree. Next day we went to Dowlaishwaram for the celebration there." The giving of alms to beggars, inaugurated by Valett, fol- lowing Heyer's example at Guntur, had not yet entirely ceased, for Dietrich in a letter under the date of December 8, HANS CHRISTIAN SCHMIDT AUGUSTUS B. CARLSON WILLIAM GROENNING IVER K. POULSEN HORACE G. B. ARTMAN CHRISTIAN F. J. BECKER MISSIONARIES IN INDIA A TELUC.U FAMILY A native Christian teacher, wife and chile A CONFERENCE OF NATIVE CHRISTIAN WORKERS This picture was taken on the north side of St. Paul's Church, Rajahmundry, in 1910. THE HOME-CHURCH LAGS (1886-87) 247 1887, wrote: "On the first and second of every month I give the beggars that gather in my compound their 'dubs.' Quite a number gather on the mornings of these days. When I had charge of the school and had a Bible reading in Rajahmundry, I made them sit down and listen to preaching for half an hour or so. I often wished that man would be as anxious for the Gospel as he is for money; how soon every soul on earth would be converted!" In its report to the General Council at Greenville, Pa., in 1887, the Foreign Missions Committee, after stating that the indebtedness of $1600, reported the previous year, had not yet been canceled, continued as follows: "We are persuaded that, notwithstanding the urgent demands of all the various objects of benevolence presented to our people, they are ready to give to the cause of foreign missions the funds needed to maintain and enlarge the work of our Mission. Two things seems to us to be chiefly necessary to secure these funds. The first is to bring the subject more fully to their attention; the second, to secure a more complete organization of the agencies for collecting funds and distributing information. The two papers issued by the General Council devoted to foreign missions, one in English and one in German, have done much and could do much more were they more generally cir- culated. ... It is greatly to be desired that the Council should devise some mode of securing for the work a more active and efficient administration." What the Committee sought to accomplish was done in the ninth session of the Council, when it was resolved, "That the Foreign Missions Committee at their discretion appoint a Secretary of Foreign Missions, assign his duties and fix his salary." The Council, furthermore, sought to relieve the finan- cial burden of the Committee by resolving that one-third of the surplus income of the German and English publications of the Council should be turned into the treasury of the Foreign Missions Committee. CHAPTER X THE HAND OF DEATH (1888-89) UNDER the Rules and Regulations which went into effect in the Mission at the beginning of the year 1887, the adminis- tration on the field was placed in the hands of the foreign missionaries who met semi-annually as a Mission Council. To this Council was delegated the duty of considering and recommending to the Home Committee, with whom the final decision rested, whatever measures were necessary for the proper administration and development of the mission work, the erection of buildings, the appointment of native agents, the schools and whatever pertained to the care and control of the Mission. At each meeting of the Council each mission- ary was required to submit a written semi-annual report of all official acts and expenditures, and an estimate of expenses for the coming six months, to be approved by the vote of the Council and sent as an official communication to the Com- mittee in America for its sanction or amendment. The Rules and Regulations also provided for an Annual Conference of foreign missionaries, native agents and dele- gates of native congregations, which was to receive the written reports of the pastors, catechists and evangelists, and oral reports of the teachers, and consider such matters as per- tained to their work. The Conference met January 1-4, 1888, beginning on Sunday with divine services in St. Paul's Church. After the formal opening on Monday morning Schmidt was elected President; Dietrich, English Secretary; and C. James, Telugu Secretary. Business sessions were held every morning and public meetings every evening. The Conference expressed its gratitude to Sir Arthur Cotton for his continued interest in the Mission as evidenced by his support of a colporteur (Talluri Joseph) during the year. The holding of weekly 248 THE HAND OP DEATH (1888-89) 2 49 prayer-meetings at the homes of Christians was recommended. With regard to the Widows' Fund it was resolved that if a widow marries again or has a son sixteen years of age or a married daughter, her stipend shall cease. On the subject of the baptism of a man having more than one wife, the opinion was expressed that the admission of such a person into the Christian Church is contrary to the Word of God and the practice of the Church of all ages, and that those who have already been admitted "while in this unfortunate and unrighteous state" should be urged to abandon all but one wife or forfeit all rights to Christian communion. The Mission Council met January 6-10, 1888. Poulsen was elected President and Schmidt, Secretary. Regulations with regard to the transfer of members from one congregation to another, and to discipline, were adopted. The minimum of required knowledge was fixed for such as applied or were pro- posed as teachers and had not been graduated from the Ramahmundry Training-school. 1 Mark and Prakasam were examined, passed and assigned positions as teachers. Srira- mulu was appointed evangelist under Schmidt, on trial for one year. In April, 1888, Poulsen withdrew from the Mission and came to the United States with his family, stopping on the way in Denmark. He had been the missionary at Samulkot for six years and had spent seventeen years in the service of the General Council as a missionary in India. He had been a faithful pioneer, and his permanent withdrawal was the first of a series of misfortunes which within two years over- whelmed the Mission and left it badly crippled. He served Danish congregations in Portland, Me.; Omaha, Neb., and Marinette, Wis. He died September 26, 1913, at Marinette, having reached the age of sixty-seven years. 1 The following were to be the requirements: Reading, the Telugu Bible! Writing, a fair hand in Telugu; Composition, expressing thoughts properly; Arithmetic, notation, numeration and the four simple rules; Geography, a general knowledge of the Godavery district; Bible History, a general outline of Bible History from the birth of John to the imprisonment of Paul and from the creation of the world to the death of Solomon; Catechism, the principal parts by heart and a fair understanding of the whole; Hymns, ability to start at least four tunes. 250 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Dietrich took charge of the Samulkot district after Poulsen's departure, attempting to look after it in addition to his work in the Jegurupad district. Concerning the Jegurupad con- gregation and school Dietrich wrote: "Here we have a nice congregation, a substantial church building and a house for the pastor. Rev. Joseph's daughter teaches the school, which numbers about 25 pupils. She has done real good work. Of all the schools in the out-stations hers stands first. In the congregation we have introduced the full liturgical service." Concerning the work at Muramunda he said: "At Mura- munda, also, we have a nice congregation and a substantial school building. Owing to the lack of a qualified teacher the school is in a poor condition and the congregation not what it might be." In other villages of the Jegurupad district the so-called congregations "are not yet worthy of the name," is the missionary's language. Dowlaishwaram, however, was fast approaching the state and character of a regular congregation, for in 1888 the chapel was enlarged so as to seat about two hundred persons, sitting cross-legged on the floor. As a result of the decreased income from America the boarding schools in Rajahmundry were closed during January and February, 1888. Groenning took advantage of this vacation to make a visit to the Schleswig-Holstein Mission stations at Salur and Jeypur. On the first of May the schools were reopened with several new teachers. V. Jacob left the Government College to devote a year to teaching in the Mission School. Paradesi, a graduate of the school, took Alfred's place 1 as teacher of the two lower classes. Subbarayudu was substituted in the place of Perayya as the Telugu teacher in the higher classes. All of the 41 boarding boys and 12 boarding girls attending the school in 1888, were supported by patrons in America; 17 boys and 15 girls, in addition, were day-pupils. 2 1 Alfred had died in the service. "Though not a gifted man, he was a pious and upright Christian," is the testimony given concerning him. 2 The following is a summary of the parochial reports for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1888: Foreign missionaries, 4; missionaries' wives, 3; native pastors, 2; catechists and evangelists, 7; teachers at Rajahmundry, 8; at other stations and THE HAND OF DEATH (1888-89) McCready closed the Mohammedan Boys' School on March 15, 1888; but it was continued for a while longer by the School Union of Rajahmundry. On June ist the Moham- medan Girls' School was transferred by McCready to Groenning who took charge of it in the name of the Mission with the understanding that its "gosha," or secluded char- acter, was to be abolished, because that prevented direct supervision by the missionary. Rather than comply with this requirement the parents of the girls forbade their daughters to attend the school, and it was temporarily closed. Dietrich who, in 1888, baptized as many as 33 persons in Dowlaishwaram, cast an interesting side-light on the mission work in the following language: "The Hindus seem never so happy than when they are engaged in a wedding, in a law-suit or in making debts. The Christian converts seem unable to shake off this characteristic. It is pitiable to note that nearly two-thirds of our mission agents are in debt. I have taken special notice of this evil during the last six months and am fully persuaded that it has had a baneful influence on our mission work. Agents contract debts and then allow the exorbitant interest to accumulate, until it be- comes impossible for them to liquidate them. The conse- quence is that they shirk their debts, litigation follows, and in the end they disgrace the Christian name." On November 26, 1888, McCready laid the corner-stone out-stations, 54. Baptisms during 1887, 235; from January to June, 1888, 170; confirmations, 7; communicants, 810. Contributions. District. Christians. Communicants. Pupils. Rs. 1. Rajahmundry 153 83 132 15.4 2. Korukonda 23 13 3. Dowlaishwaram, town. 70 30 86 20. 9. 6 4. Velpur 1331 321 333 77.10 5. Jegurupad 294 191 112 25. o. 4 6. Samulkot 122 84 n 2. 4 7. Tallapudi 176 107 124 64.4 Totals 2169 816 811 204.15.10 The income in India for the fiscal year, exclusive of missionaries' salaries, amounted to $5019.04, which, though somewhat larger than the income of the previous year, was still less than that of 1886, and much too small for the work in hand, not to speak of the opportunities for expansion which, consequently were lost. 252 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL of the new St. Peter's Church at Tallapudi. He had secured quite a number of subscriptions from relatives and friends in India and in America, as well as a little money from his dis- trict teachers and Christians; but the funds came in slowly and the completion of the building was considerably delayed. With money sent by the Rev. C. W. Groenning, Schmidt, on September 28th, secured three lots in the village of Bhima- waram as a site for a proposed church, paying Rs. 600 for them. From the same source Groenning received sufficient funds to erect an addition to the school building at Rajah- mundry. At the close of the year 12 young men were per- mitted to leave the school to be assigned positions as teachers, although they had not actually finished the course outlined by Groenning. They were welcomed as the first addition to the corps of native workers in two years. More than a passing notice must be given at this point to the value of the service of the Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., whose death occurred on October 15, 1888, at Phcenixville, Pa., while on his way from Pottstown to Philadelphia. He was born on August 26, 1827, at Gettysburg, Pa. Ordained in 1844, he served congregations at Martinsburg and Shep- herdstown, Va., Easton, Pa. (St. John's), Reading, Pa. (St. James'), and Pottstown, Pa. (Church of the Transfigura- tion). He was a recognized leader in the General Council and served on a number of its most important committees, notably the Church Book and the Foreign Missions Com- mittees. All of the reports of the Foreign Missions Committee to the General Council from the beginning until 1887 were prepared by him. He was the English Recording and Corre- sponding Secretary of the Committee without interruption for twelve years, from the time the Committee was first ap- pointed in 1876; and before that he had served in the same offices on the Executive Committee of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania. With regard to his influence in the Committee the editor of "The Foreign Missionary" wrote: "Dr. Schmucker had been so long connected with the work at Rajahmundry, so THE HAND OF DEATH (1888-89) 2 53 familiar with all its details, so heartily devoted to its earnest and judicious administration and so hopeful of great success, that he seemed to his colleagues largely to concentrate in himself the life of the Committee. His counsels were judi- cious, his action was wise and prompt, and he appeared to them to be indispensable." The Foreign Missions Committee adopted the following minute on October 226.: "The Committee on Foreign Missions, under a deep sense of personal bereavement, shares in the pro- found sorrow which has been awakened in many hearts by the decease of their late English Secretary, the Rev. Dr. B. M. Schmucker. They hereby bear testimony to his personal worth and to the value of his service in the official position which he filled so faithfully and so long in connection with this Committee. Thorough in his acquaintance with our foreign mission work, familiar with all its details, prompt and diligent in all the divers labors of his office, he commanded, as a co-laborer, our fraternal love and highest esteem, and was acknowledged as a leader who knew what ought to be done, and whom it was safe for us to follow." How Dr. Schmucker was esteemed in India may be learned from President Schmidt's report to the Missionary Confer- ence, held at Tallapudi in January, 1889, from which the following is quoted: "He was the home-leader. Since 1869 all orders went through his hands, and he remitted all money contributed for our Mission. . . . The principal leader of our Mission has ceased to work for us; but we are not left destitute while God abides with us." In its report to the General Council at Minneapolis, Sep- tember 13-19, I888, 1 the Foreign Missions Committee incor- porated this significant passage: "In some parts of our Church we may mention the Pittsburgh Synod especially there seems to be an increased interest in our work, and earnest efforts are put forth and faithful prayers are offered 1 In the place of the Rev. M. J. England the General Council, in 1888, elected the Rev. P. J. O. Cornell, and added the following members: The Revs. W. J. Mann, D. D., L. P. Bender and E. J. Pohle. The Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer was elected by the Committee to succeed Dr. Schmuckler as the English recording and corresponding secretary. 254 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL in behalf of the great cause of bringing the heathen to know the true God and Jesus Christ, Whom He hath sent. Never- theless, we are convinced that a still more generous interest in foreign missions should be manifested by the congregations and people connected with the General Council. That we have but one mission station in heathen lands is hardly to the credit of our part of the Church; and that this station is not better supported, so that its boundaries might be yet more widely extended, is a fact that, we respectfully submit, should engage our earnest attention, if haply measures might be adopted, commending themselves to our people, which would secure for this work such a generous support as would enable us to send out more missionaries, locate new stations, erect the necessary churches, schoolbuildings and dwellings, and in every possible way develop the field to the glory of God and the salvation of souls." The gratification of the Committee at the increasing in- terest and effort of the Church at home was caused by the increased income, which amounted to $10,288.20, as com- pared with $9066.88 during the previous year. Nevertheless, there was a deficit of $19.69, and an indebtedness of $1000 to Mrs. A. Spaeth of Philadelphia, who had loaned the Committee that sum. The year 1889 began auspiciously both in the Mission and in the Church at home. A strong appeal of the Foreign Missions Committee, printed in the March and April issues of "The Foreign Missionary" and "Missionsbote," copies of which were distributed broadcast throughout the Church, resulted in increased contributions, so that in June it was resolved to increase the quarterly remittances to the Mission for general expenses from $1000 to $1300. The Committee, moreover, agreed to give two rupees for every one contributed by the native Christians for the Tallapudi church. Further- more, Dietrich was authorized to proceed with the erection of a house for his catechist, J. William, and to begin what was intended to be the Artman Memorial bungalow in Dowlaish- waryam, the cost of which was estimated at $1800. Nearly $1000 had already been collected. THE HAND OF DEATH (1888-89) 2 S5 In the Mission the year began, as usual, with the meetings of the Mission Conference and the Council, which were held for the first time outside of Rajahmundry, in Tallapudi. McCready had planned to finish the church in time for these meetings, but his plans miscarried, for the masons had done their work so poorly that the walls of the new building had to be torn down again. As a consequence the meetings were held in a temporary structure of palm leaves. About sixty native agents attended the Conference, which lasted from Sunday, January 5th, to Thursday afternoon,, January pth. It was resolved "that those who do not attend the Preparatory Service be excluded from the Lord's Table, except under exceptional circumstances." After a lengthy discussion on the policy to be adopted with regard to the use of wine and "toddy," the Conference resolved "that this Conference is of the opinion that although the use of wine and fermented liquor is not in itself sinful, nevertheless, it should be observed, as a rule, that all mission agents should abstain from strong drink and not take part in any feast where strong drink is used to excess. Also, that they should endeavor to teach all converts to live soberly; and that if a mission agent goes for drink to a toddy or liquor shop or is found drunken, he must be disciplined, and if he does not discontinue such habits, he must not remain in the service of the Mission." An important decision was reached by the Mission Council, held directly after the Conference, when it was resolved to place all mission schools under government supervision after November, 1889. Groenning's finished manuscript in Telugu on the History of the Old Testament was recommended for publication. 1 Many plates used for illustrations in this book had been sent from America in the Christmas boxes which were being shipped each year under the direction of Mrs. R. A. Diehl and other women of Allentown, Pa. When the Rajahmundry schools were reopened for the year 1889, another attempt was made with the Mohammedan Girls' 1 This Old Testament History was published by the Mission in 1895. It was printed in Madras by the press of the Society for the Propagation of Chris- tian Knowledge. 256 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL School. Instead of being driven from their homes to the school in a bullock bandy, as formerly, the girls were asked to walk, and did so, but not without complaining somewhat of the public exposure which it necessitated. At first the Mohammedan teacher, Abdul Rahim Sheriff, agreed to teach the Christian religion in Hindustani; but a day or so after the school opened he declared that as an honest Mohammedan he could not possibly do so. He offered, however, to interpret into Hindustani whatever instruction in Christianity might be given by a Telugu teacher. Thereupon Mrs. Groenning de- voted an hour a day to teaching Old Testament history and Scripture passages translated by the Mohammedan. After this hour in religion Mrs. Groenning spent another among the girls, teaching them how to sew. Under her direction and that of Mrs. Schmidt in the other Rajahmundry schools as many as 250 or 300 garments were made in a year, which were distributed as Christmas presents in the districts. The Samulkot boarding school was discontinued, and the 5 boys and i girl remaining in it were sent to Rajahmundry. On January 23, 1889, Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt started on the "Dove of Peace" for a trip through the canals of the delta. "Mrs. Schmidt," wrote her husband, "makes it her special work when we are on tours to conduct the examination of the schools, and we get through considerably more work by this divided labor." The school children were usually brought by their teachers to the boat, accompanied by their parents, relatives and friends. A school examination, described as follows, may serve as a typical example: "To-day the school marched up to the side of our boat and the examination began at once. Sriramulu had brought the school register from the village. The attendance had been noted down as fair. Half a dozen boys were still at spelling, and many had begun to read the First Telugu Book. The best pupils could repeat the Lord's Prayer and a part of the Apostles' Creed. They also knew a little about the birth of Christ and his death, and something of his miracles. About twenty men and women and some children stood on the shore, evidently feeling quite proud that these children had mastered the first steps of THE HAND OF DEATH (1888-89) 2 57 knowledge. Every boy got a jacket and the best girls a skirt, besides some fruit, sweet-meats and a picture card. The little girl who had attended 180 days in seven months received a doll as a special prize." At Chittipet, ten miles from Rajahmundry, our mis- sionaries, as they passed in their house-boat, saw the Plymouth Brethren missionary located there, actively engaged in super- intending the erection of a church. The Plymouth Brethren mission intruded even farther into our field by locating Mis- sionary Miles at Dowlaishwaram, less than five miles from Rajahmundry, and building a bungalow for him there, close to the one which Dietrich was beginning to erect. In March Schmidt went to Korukonda to preach to the multitudes at the annual festival there. He was assisted by a number of native agents and accompanied by the Rev. A. Theophilus, the superintendent of colporteurs for the Madras Bible Society. Missionary Heelis from Narsapur also went to the festival. "We missionaries," wrote Schmidt, "had large crowds around us, and my wife sat under a tree with the wife of B. John, our teacher in Korukonda, and they had a large crowd of women around them, who were not a little astonished to hear a native woman read the Word of God." On the way farther north a visit was paid to Srirangapatnam, where a school enrolling 20 pupils had just been begun. N. Prakasam was the teacher. He is still working at that place. In Kovur, on the bank of the Godavery River opposite Rajahmundry, where McCready had succeeded in making a number of converts from the Madiga class, he induced the Christians to build a large prayer-house and a smaller building for the teacher on ground donated by two brothers, one of whom was a convert. In Tallapudi work on the new church was slowly progressing. In April, 1889, McCready made a trip up the Godavery River to the gorge (Bison Hill) , visiting every village on the right bank of the river on the return voyage. Summoned to appear at court hi Madras as a witness against a man who had forged his name to a check, Schmidt, accom- panied by his wife, left Rajahmundry on April 6, 1889. While in Madras he purchased type and other material for the 17 258 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL printing-press at Rajahmundry. The funds for the necessary outfit of the printery had been contributed by Mrs. C. W. Schaeffer. Mrs. Schmidt proceeded to Kotagiri, Nilgiri Hills, whither her husband followed, to spend the hot season. "Dietrich died June nth." This was the sad and sudden intelligence which was telegraphed by Groenning at Rajah- mundry to Schmidt at Kotagiri, and cabled by the latter from Madras to America. Saturday, June 8, 1889, had been an exceptionally hot day. The thermometer registered 150 degrees in the sun at noon. Dietrich was busily engaged at Dowlaishwaram superintend- ing the laying of the foundation of the new bungalow. He worked in the hot sun all day long. Robust and strong, he believed he could endure as much as the natives. 1 Tired and overheated, he lay down on the little verandah of the catechist's house to rest for the night. While he slept the monsoon broke over the land with cyclonic force. The rain fell in torrents. The temperature dropped many de- grees. At midnight Dietrich awoke chilled and wet through and through. He called his catechist who helped him to a chair from which he fell in a swoon. The symptoms at once became so alarming that Groenning was summoned from Rajahmundry. Although it was Whitsunday, Groenning came, leaving Pastor Paulus who happened to be in Rajah- mundry, in charge of the services. Dietrich was removed to Groenning's home in Rajahmundry, and the assistant surgeon was called in. He diagnosed the case as not seri- ous and said that the patient would be quite well again after a few days' rest. Dietrich seemed to improve under medical treatment; but suddenly, on the morning of the nth of June, his temperature rose to 107 degrees, and before noon he passed away. Because the city officials insisted on it, his body was buried before sun-down in the mission cemetery. Pastor Paulus conducted the service in the church and Groenning at the grave. 1 Groenning wrote that he was prone to take risks. If the house-boat was not handy, he would travel in an ordinary radari boat. If he happened to be travelling without a tent, he would sleep over night under a tree like the natives. THE HAND OF DEATH (1888-89) 2 59 Dietrich was a missionary in India only six and one-half years. Endowed with an even temperament, sturdy health and a happy disposition, it seemed as though he were emi- nently fitted to endure the hardships of the climate and of the mission work in India. Groenning described him as a gen- erous, affectionate, sociable, contented and cheerful man, a noble friend, a faithful counsellor, an indefatigable worker. His affectionate and cheerful voice and manner won the hearts, especially of the children; his earnestness impressed the young men, especially the Brahmins. The high esteem in which he was held was shown by the fact that wherever the physician who attended him went, he had to answer solicitous inquiries concerning the sick missionary. He died unmarried; but at the time of his death he was engaged to be married to a young lady who was a member of Holy Trinity Church of Philadelphia, and was looking forward to her coming to India, and the completion of the Dowlaishwaram bungalow in which they were to live. The Foreign Missions Committee adopted the following minute on his death: "Information of the death of our late missionary, the Rev. F. S. Dietrich, awakened in the Com- mittee on Foreign Missions a sense of profound sorrow; and whilst we humbly bow to the Divine Will that has taken him to his rest and his reward, we shall long lament our loss and the loss the Mission has sustained in his departure. We cherish with fondness and gratitude to God the memory of the excellent traits that marked him as a man, and of the happy endowments which he exemplified as a Christian mis- sionary. His agreeable manners, his studious habits, his unaffected sincerity, the earnestness and purity of his heart, and his devout consecration to the service of our Lord, were known and seen of all men who moved within the sphere of his companionship in his native land. His missionary life was a growth that developed itself into a correct apprecia- tion of the needs of the heathen and of the best methods for meeting them; in an enterprise of spirit that was at once varied and successful; in an activity that never tired; in a hope that was always rejoicing; and in plentifully sowing the 260 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL good seed of the Word, that will bear fruit unto eternal life." After Dietrich's death McCready took charge of the Samul- kot district in addition to his work in the Tallapudi district; Schmidt, besides his other work, continued the building of the Dowlaishwaram bungalow; Groenning, in addition to his school work, took charge of the Dowlaishwaram congrega- tion and the Jegurupad district. Moreover, Groenning was elected a member of the municipal board of Rajahmundry, and during the absence of its chairman he assumed the duties of that office. He also was a member of the Local Fund Board. Scarcely had the Church at home recovered from its bereave- ment over the loss of Missionary Dietrich, when the news of another death reached it. Groenning died even more suddenly than Dietrich. Mrs. Groenning communicated the sad in- telligence as follows: "On the ninth of July my dearly be- loved husband, William Groenning, fell asleep. In firm faith and with a clear confession he went home to his Saviour. The cholera took him off in a day." On July 7, 1889, Groenning had preached at Dowlaishwaram and baptized six persons. The next day he signed an ordi- nance, as acting chairman of the municipality of Rajahmun- dry, directing that certain measures be carried out to prevent the spread of cholera, which had broken out in the city. He personally directed the work of scavengers as they filled up a hole in his yard with refuse gathered from the city. Here he must have contracted the dreaded disease. Monday afternoon he became very ill. By seven in the evening all the symptoms pointed to cholera. Without having removed his clothing he lay on a couch in his home, while the physicians fought the disease. At half-past ten on Tuesday morning, July Qth, he died in the faith of Jesus Christ. 1 1 Schmidt wrote of this sad event as follows: "I repeated a stanza of a pre- cious hymn, which speaks of Jesus as His people's strength, through Whom they are more than conquerors, because He redeemed them with His precious blood. Then Mr. Groenning said to his wife, 'If I die, go to your home soon. Tell our friends in Germany that I hope to meet them in a better world; to-day is the anniversary of my mother's death.' I could not, as yet, yield to the thought that his end was approaching, and said, 'You may get well again. The Lord THE HAND OF DEATH (1888-89) 261 At four o'clock in the afternoon his body was interred by the side of that of his brother Charles, who had died of the same disease in Rajahmundry, as a child, in 1865. "Crushed," said Schmidt, "we all stood around the grave. Our Mission had lost a force the like of which we never had before and may not soon have again." The Foreign Missions Committee paid him a very high tribute. "In the sudden and unexpected death of our dear brother," reads the minute, "we experienced the heaviest blow which our Mission has ever suffered. ... In the few years during which in God's providence he was permitted to work in our Mission, particularly as superintendent of our educational institution, he had done most noble and effective service in all faithfulness and conscientiousness, with a clear insight into the character of the work, with great energy and unselfish devotion to our Mission, the fruits of which we may hope to reap in coming years." Mrs. Groenning left Rajahmundry for Bremen on August 22d. Before leaving, at a farewell service in St. Paul's Church, a boy handed her a bag containing 50 rupees as a gift of love and esteem on the part of the native Christians. Before the news of Groenning's death had reached the Foreign Missions Committee the Rev. Emanuel Edman, M.D., had volunteered to take the place of Dietrich and had been accepted. Emanuel Edman, the eleventh foreign missionary of the General Council, was born in Sweden in 1857. While pastor of the Swedish Lutheran Church in New Haven, Conn., he studied medicine for three years. He then went to Prince- may yet restore you. Do you trust in Him, that He will do all things right? ' ' Yes, He will do all things right,' was the dying man's reply. Mrs. Groenning then repeated Psalm 23 : 4, and asked him, 'Is your Saviour with you?' 'Yes,' said he, 'yes, He has redeemed me; that is my faith and my comfort. For me to die is gain, salvation salvation!' While suffering from the cramp and the difficulty of breathing, he said, 'He was more patient when He died for us.' When Mrs. Groenning began, saying, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me' Mr. Groenning continued, 'shall never come into condemnation,' and Mrs. Groenning finished the sentence, 'but has passed from death to life.' After Mrs. Groenning had repeated the verse, 'I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee,' Mr. Groenning replied, saying, 'Abba, Father.'" 262 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL ton, III., and from that place he was called to go to India as a missionary. He was commissioned on the evening of October 10, 1889, in the First Church, Pittsburgh, in connection with the convention of the General Council. Rev. and Mrs. Edman with their little daughter sailed from New York on October 1 6th, visited Sweden and arrived at Rajahmundry on January 18, 1890. Early in July, just before Groenning's death, the Rev. E. Pohl started from Salur in India, where he had been at work as a missionary of the Schleswig-Holstein (Breklum) Missionary Society for seven years, to bring two boys to the Anglo-vernacular School in Rajahmundry to be trained by his former teacher, Groenning, to be Christian workers. He arrived at his destination to find Groenning dead and buried. His presence in Rajahmundry, however, at once directed the attention of Schmidt to him as a most suita- ble person to take Groenning's place and carry Groenning's plans of educational work to completion. Pohl expressed his willingness to undertake the task, provided his Society gave its permission. The Foreign Missions Committee seized the opportunity thus offered and was overjoyed to receive a communication from Inspector Fiensch of Breklum, in which he said, among other things: "Groenning's death caused us deep sorrow, and we are very much concerned about the sad plight of your Mission. We rejoice in our fellowship with you who are of the same faith and confession with us. More- over, our Mission has received from your missionaries many evidences of love and help. The American Lutheran Missions must serve as the binder for the Missions north and south of them on the eastern coast of India. We cannot allow them to be separated by a wedge of the Baptist sectarians. What- ever we can do to avoid this, we will do out of love for our dear Lutheran Church, our common mother." The agreement was that the Breklum Society should loan to the Rajahmundry Mission the service of Mr. Pohl for a period of one year, and that Mr. Pohl's travelling expenses to Rajahmundry and his salary of $1000 should be paid into the treasury of the Breklum Society. It was understood, how- THE HAND OF DEATH (1888-89) ever, that Pohl would be subject to the control of the Foreign Missions Committee under the Rules and Regulations of its Telugu Mission. Pohl began his work at Rajahmundry on November 12, 1889, moving into the bungalow in the church compound, and taking charge at once of the school, in which he taught two or three hours a day. He also preached at the Telugu services in St. Paul's Church and in Dowlaishwaram when- ever Schmidt needed a substitute. He tried to carry out the plans of Groenning in the educational work, and concen- trated his efforts on making the Anglo-vernacular School a training-school for the education of native agents. In 1889 the Foreign Missions Committee fixed on a schedule of salaries to be paid the missionaries, which was adopted by the General Council in session at Pittsburgh that year. This schedule, which is still in force, is as follows: For an unmarried man, unacquainted with the language, for the first two years' residence in India, $600 a year. For a married man in the same position and for same time, $800 a year. For an unmarried man from the third to the fifth year of his residence in India, inclusive, $700 a year. For a married man for the same time, $900 a year. For an unmarried man from the sixth to the tenth year of his residence hi India, inclusive, $800 a year. For a married man for the same time, $1000 a year. For an unmarried man after ten years' residence in India, $1000 a year. For a married man for the same time, $1200 a year. In December, 1889, the Rev. F. W. Weiskotten succeeded the Rev. F. Wischan as the editor of the "Missionsbote." The latter had ably edited this paper for twelve years and had increased the number of its subscribers to 18,000. The ac- counts had shown an annual balance, and each year a surplus could be turned into the treasury of the Committee. 1 1 The total amount paid over by the "Missionsbote" into the treasury of The Foreign Missions Committee during the years 1886-89 was $855.80. The Foreign Missions Committee extended a vote of thanks to the Rev. Mr. Wischan for "his earnest and faithful labors in behalf of the cause of foreign missions." 264 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL The Rev. C. G. Fischer, who had faithfully served as the business agent of the "Missionsbote" and "The Foreign Missionary," and whose compensation for this work had been only $100 a year, was succeeded in this office by the Rev. H. Grahn on December i, 1889. Up to this time the Foreign Missions Committee had used a room in the Theological Seminary on Franklin Square, Philadelphia, as its place of meeting, but the removal of the Seminary to Mt. Airy obliged it to seek another place. After meeting a number of times in the vestry room of Zion's Church, it received and accepted an invitation in November, 1889, to hold all of its meetings in the Mary J. Drexel Home and Motherhouse of Deaconesses in Philadelphia. CHARLOTTE SWENSON KATE L. SADTLER BETTY A. NILSSON AGNES I. SCHADE LYDIA WOERNER AMY I?. ROIIRER WOMEN MISSIONARIES "THE ZENANA HOME" First residence built at Rajahmundry for women missionaries. A CANAL SCENE IN THE GODAVERY DISTRICT CHAPTER XI WOMAN MISSIONARIES (1890-91) As the work of a foreign mission develops it becomes more complex. New departments of work are added and new insti- tutions are founded. The district mission work is augmented by educational and philanthropic efforts for the improvement of the mental and material as well as the moral and spiritual welfare of the converts to Christianity. Primarily and funda- mentally, mission work is the preaching and teaching of the truth of the Word of God, in order that the heathen may be converted from their idols to the worship and service of the One, True, Living God, the Triune God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Nevertheless, such preaching and teaching leads inevitably to the establishment of institutions and depart- ments of work which, though subordinate to the primary purpose of the Mission, are essential to its growth and de- velopment in every direction. Next in importance to the establishment of congregations is the establishment of schools for the education of the children of converts in the knowledge of the principles and practice of the truths of Christianity, and in such branches of secular knowledge as will fit them to be intelligent and useful citizens. Such mission schools also serve the purpose of bringing children of heathen parents under the influence of the Gospel, and of reaching, to some degree at least, the parents of such children. The educational program of every mission, further- more, must include institutions for the training of native converts for work in the mission as teachers, evangelists, catechists and pastors. Some missions believe that they must also maintain High Schools and Colleges, but the existence of such schools of higher learning is justifiable only when the management and staff of the school is distinctly Christian. 265 266 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Institutions of mercy, such as hospitals, dispensaries, or- phans' homes and asylums of various kinds often become auxiliary departments of mission work in its developed stages. Mission work in India calls for a large number of trained native workers. On them depend the character and growth of the Mission. The foreign missionary who increases the number and efficiency of his native Christian assistants is making the best possible contribution to the success of the Mission. The lowest grade of native Christian workers in a mission in India, apart from the Bible colporteur, is the village school- teacher. It is his duty to teach the children of the Christians of his village and such children of heathen parents as may be sent to his school the elementary branches of secular knowl- edge required by the government, and, above all things, to impart such Biblical knowledge as he may be able to teach and the children may be able to learn. He is also, as a rule, the lay-preacher for the Christians of the village in which he resides; and sometimes he is placed in charge of a number of villages. He conducts the Sunday and mid-week services, prepares the inquirers for adult baptism and the catechumens for confirmation by the foreign missionary. His immediate superior is the catechist of his circle, to whom he reports, and who, in turn, is responsible to the foreign missionary for a given circle of ten or more villages. The evangelist who, also, is subject to the direction of the catechist under the foreign missionary, works in new and unoccupied villages, preaching and conversing with non- Christians in order to bring them to Christ. The extension of the mission depends to a large extent on the work of the evangelists. The foreign missionary who is in charge of a district visits the villages of his district in which Christians or inquirers reside and in which schools are conducted, as often as possible each year. If his work lies along the river or canal, he uses a house-boat, furnished by the mission; if he must travel over- land, he uses a horse or a bullock-cart and takes with him a tent and such utensils, provisions and servants as may be necessary for the journey. From some central point, where the boat is moored or the tent is pitched, he goes to sur- WOMAN MISSIONARIES (1890-91) 267 rounding villages on foot or, sometimes, on a bicycle or a pony. He is generally accompanied by the catechist of the circle in which he is working at the time and by one or more native assistants. Where there is no native pastor, he performs all the ministerial acts, examines the school children, the catechumens and inquirers, and baptizes or confirms them, if found to be properly prepared; he adminis- ters the Holy Supper to the communicants and exercises whatever discipline may be called for in a congregation; he directs the work of the school-teachers and other native Christian helpers, whose employment, dismissal or transfer lies in his hands; and, as time and opportunity are given him, he preaches to the heathen. This district work is, therefore, partly pastoral and partly evangelistic. Besides ordained foreign missionaries, woman missionaries are also employed in almost every mission in India, because of the peculiar position of women in India. Many of these are confined in zenanas or women's apartments, which they are not permitted to leave unless accompanied by some male member of the household, and to which no man outside of the household is admitted. The only way to reach these zenana women is through woman missionaries, who may enter the zenanas to instruct them and their children. Usu- ally a Bible-class is formed in each zenana, and one or more hours of instruction are given each week. Besides the religious instruction, the woman missionary may undertake to teach the zenana women and children sewing, needle-work, English, Telugu or music, in order to gain and hold their attention. Associated with this zenana work are the Hindu Girls' schools, sometimes called Caste Girls' schools, because, at first, outcast children were not allowed to attend them. Medical work for women and children is another depart- ment in which woman missionaries are engaged. This work calls for hospitals and dispensaries for women and children, and for visits to private homes to attend patients. Daily devotional exercises are conducted in the various institu- tions of this department, and Sunday schools are established for the caste children who can be induced to come. 268 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL In the zenana and medical work native Christian women are employed as so-called Bible-women to assist the woman missionaries in teaching the classes or as nurses. For the higher education of Christian girls, Central Schools, in charge of woman missionaries, are established, usually with a Normal Training Department to fit some of the pupils for work as village school-teachers. These Central Schools are boarding schools, and their primary object is to raise the standard of the education of the Christian women. Where industrial work is carried on in a mission, it aims to furnish converts with a means of livelihood or, at least, with some opportunity to improve their time and their con- dition in life by remunerative occupation. The credit of having begun women's missionary work in Rajahmundry is due to Mrs. Schmidt and Mrs. Artman, when, in 1 88 1, they started to teach a class of zenana women in the home of the munsiff Narasimham. Then in January, 1882, Mrs. Schmidt began the Hindu Girls' School at River- dale. In 1884, after her husband's death, Mrs. Artman took full charge of the zenana work and the Hindu Girls' School, as the first salaried woman missionary in the service of the General Council. The wives of the other missionaries also rendered some assistance in teaching the boarding boys and girls to sew; and, as early as 1878, Mrs. Schmidt had begun the industrial work of lace-making with the older girls in the boarding school. The question of sending woman missionaries to labor by the side of the ordained missionaries and their wives was first raised in December, 1879, when Mrs. Emma Victoria von Noxendorf offered her service to the Foreign Missions Com- mittee; but the Committee replied as follows: "Resolved, That the Rev. Dr. A. Spaeth, chairman of the Committee, inform her that we have not yet progressed far enough in our school work to send out a woman teacher, but hope to be able to do so at some future time." Ten years later a similar application was received from Miss Agnes I. Schade, then a teacher in the Orphans' Farm School WOMAN MISSIONARIES (1890-91) 269 at Zelienople, Pa. Still the Committee hesitated. The mis- sionaries on the field were asked for their opinion and unan- imously declared in favor of sending a single lady as a woman missionary. The Committee, however, decided to delay the matter until it had ascertained the mind of the Church at home. In an editorial in the May, 1890, issue of "The Foreign Missionary" every friend of the Mission was invited to write on a postal card his or her view of the matter of sending out woman missionaries. All of the replies received favored the undertaking. Meanwhile Miss Kate S. Sadtler, daughter of the Rev. Dr. B. Sadtler, of Baltimore, Md., also volunteered to serve in the India Mission as a woman missionary. Finally, at its meeting in June, 1890, the Committee resolved in the name of the Lord to begin zenana work, and called Miss Agnes I. Schade and Miss Kate S. Sadtler "as assistants in the mission work in India." 1 After the Committee had called its first woman missionaries, it published and distributed the following circular: 11 To the Members of our Ladies' and Dorcas Societies: "At the last convention of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania it was unanimously resolved that the pastors of the Minis- terium be instructed to call the attention of their congrega- tions, and particularly of the Dorcas and Ladies' societies, to the fact that the Foreign Missions Committee of the General Council is about to undertake the establishment of a zenana mission among the Telugus, and that the special in- terest and co-operation of our devout women in this work is solicited. There was also a full report of the committee on Woman's Work in the Church, received by the Synod and referred to the Conferences for consideration, in which the organization of women's missionary societies under the con- trol and direction of the Ministerium and congregations, in which such societies exist, is strongly recommended. "The undersigned Foreign Missions Committee of the General Council takes the liberty to call the attention of our 1 The salary of a single lady sent out as a woman missionary was fixed at $500 a year; $100 were allowed for an outfit. Miss Sadtler, however, provided her outfit at her own expense. 270 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Dorcas and Ladies' societies to the action of the Pennsylvania Synod and solicit, through the kind assistance of their respec- tive pastors, their hearty and prompt co-operation. "The word 'zenana' is used by the Hindus to designate that part of the house, particularly among the wealthy classes, which is assigned to the female members of the household the wives, mothers and daughters of the Hindu families. As throughout the Orient, so in India also, this part of the dwell- ing is considered the most secluded and inaccessible, to which no stranger and, above all, no man, is ever admitted. Zenana Mission, then, in general designates that mission work which is carried on in the zenana; but how can the Gospel ever enter these places if no missionary or evangelist, no minister of the Gospel, is ever admitted into them, and the inmates are forbidden to meet with the Christians in their preaching stations and churches? The importance of reaching these sanctuaries of the family life with the regenerating influences of the Gospel will not be denied by any one, for in India, as well as in America, England or Germany, the nursery is the place from which the whole life of the nation grows out to its future development. . . . "In one of the last meetings of our Foreign Missions Com- mittee of the General Council, held at the Mary J. Drexel Home and Motherhouse of Deaconesses, Philadelphia, the resolution was unanimously passed that, in the name of the Lord, we undertake the establishment of a zenana mission in Rajahmundry; and Miss Kate Sadtler and Miss Agnes Schade were called to go out as the first laborers sent by our Com- mittee in this field. Both have accepted the call, and on the sixteenth of October we expect to hold a solemn service in St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Race Street, be- tween Fifth and Sixth Streets, . Philadelphia, and send them out with our prayers and benediction to their distant field of labor. "On the day following, at 2.30 p. M., we propose that a Con- ference be held at St. John's Church, of ladies delegated by the Dorcas, Ladies' and Missionary Societies of our congrega- tions in and around Philadelphia say, three from each con- WOMAN MISSIONARIES (1890-91) 271 gregation to take into consideration what could be done by the harmonious and simultaneous action of these different societies toward the support of our zenana work in India and, if possible, to organize a general society in aid of this particular mission branch. The ladies of the Lehigh Valley 1 have shown to the Church how much can be accomplished by the united and hearty co-operation of our devout women. Let those of the city of brotherly love not stand back. Come to the service and remember in your prayers the sisters who are to go out to Rajahmundry. Come to the Conference. Let us have a full discussion of this subject of woman's work. Let us organize it and carry it forth in humble faith and unremitting devotion. Surely the Lord will be with us and establish the work of our hands for His Name's sake. THE FOREIGN MISSIONS COMMITTEE." Agnes I. Schade, daughter of Michael Schade and his wife Justina nee Klotz, was born at Water Cure, Pa. When she was six years of age her parents moved to Monaca on the Ohio River, thirty miles from Pittsburgh. After a public school education she entered the State Normal School at Millersville, Pa., from which she was graduated in 1886. In 1889 she became a teacher in the school connected with the Orphans' Home at Zelionople, Pa. In June, 1890, she was formally called by the Foreign Missions Committee to go to India as a woman missionary. Katharine S. Sadtler, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Benjamin Sadtler, 2 D. D., of Baltimore, Md., was born at Shippensburg, Pa. During her early childhood her parents moved to Easton, Pa., where her father served as the pastor of St. John's Church. In 1862 her father became the Principal of the Lutherville Female Seminary, from which she was graduated. In 1889 her cousin, Miss Amy Sadtler, offered 1 At the call of the Rev. C. J. Cooper, D. D., and under the leadership of Mrs. E. Pfatteicher, Mrs. R. A. Diehl, Mrs. J. A. Bauman and others, the Women's Missionary Society of the Second or Allentown Conference was or- ganized in March, 1885, in St. Peter's Church. South Bethlehem. 2 The Rev. B. M. Schmucker, D. D., the secretary of the Foreign Missions Committee, was Miss Sadtler's uncle. 272 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL her services as a woman missionary to the Foreign Mission Board of the General Synod and was accepted. This revived an old desire within her to serve in the General Council's Mission in India, in which she had become deeply interested after a visit of the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Schmidt at her father's house during the summer of 1885. She was accepted and called by the Foreign Missions Committee of the General Council at the same time Miss Schade was called, on June 9, 1890. The commissioning service for these two zenana sisters 1 was held on the evening of October 16, 1890, in St. John's Church, Philadelphia. The Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., Chairman of the Foreign Missions Committee, in delivering the charge, said: "I ask you, dear sisters in the Lord, are you willing and ready to go out as helpers in our Mission and to give your- selves wholly to this service, into which you now enter, for Jesus' sake, who loved you and gave himself for you?" To this question the sisters responded, saying, "Yes, I will by the help of God." Thereupon the Rev. Dr. Spaeth took the hand of each one, and said: "God, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, bless, protect and sanctify you in your service, filling you with faith, wisdom, love and humility, to serve Him to the honor of His Holy Name and the good of His Holy Church. Amen." Appropriate passages of Holy Scripture were recited in German by the Rev. H. Grahn, D. D., and in English by the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer, D. D., and during the prayer of commissioning the sisters knelt before the altar. The next day the woman missionaries-elect left for New York, where the Rev. G. F. Krotel, D. D., pastor of Holy Trinity Church, had arranged with the women of his congre- gation for an informal farewell meeting. As arranged, the women of the Lutheran congregations of Philadelphia and its vicinity met on October lyth, the day after the commissioning, to organize a Women's Missionary Society. Ninety women, representing fourteen congregations, 1 On the motion of the Rev. A. Cordes, pastor of the Deaconesses' Home, the title of "zenana sisters" was applied to these woman missionaries after November, 1891. WOMAN MISSIONARIES (1890-91) 273 assembled in St. John's Church for this purpose. At an ad- journed meeting on November i4th a constitution was adopted and officers were elected. 1 The Misses Schade and Sadtler sailed from New York on October i8th, reached Colombo on December 6th, Madras on the nth, and Rajahmundry on the 2oth of December, 1890. During the year 1890 Schmidt, McCready, Pohl and Ed- man carried on the work of the Mission. At the meetings of the Mission Conference and Council in January of that year, held in Tallapudi, the new church, though not entirely completed, was consecrated on January 8th. The bell had been donated by Mrs. Mary Hunter of New York, who also contributed several hundred dollars toward the building fund. About Rs. 2200, or $750, had been secured by McCready from friends, relatives and native Christians in India, and at least $700 from friends in America. Pohl, as the superintendent of the educational work in Rajahmundry, proved to be a worthy successor of the lamented Groenning. His mildness and gentleness won for him the confidence and love of his pupils and their parents; his piety and spiritual-mindedness, their esteem and respect; his ability as a teacher, their obedience and loyalty. The school opened with an unusually large number of pupils hi January, 1890. An additional class, the sixth standard, was organized, and the school was awarded a govern- ment grant. That no change was contemplated or expected in the character of the school as a training-school for native workers, even though financial aid was received from the government, is evident from the following explanation of the manager: "Because the preaching of the Cross and not the spread of scientific knowledge is the chief aim of the Mission, our school is of great importance. It is our purpose to train our Christian youth so that they may be able to sow 1 The first officers of the Women's Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Philadelphia Conferences of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania were: Presi- dent, Mrs. Samuel Laird; Secretaries, Mrs. J. L. Sibole, Mrs. H. M. Vanderslice and Miss C. Probst; Treasurer, Mrs. H. E. Jacobs. 18 274 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL the good seed of the kingdom. We wish to instruct them so that they may give a reason for the hope that is in them. We are very careful to make them familiar with the precious treasures of divine truth which the Lord has given to our Church, so that they may hold up the banner of our Con- fessions faithfully unto the end. To this, then, is added such general knowledge as they may be able to gain." Pohl described the schoolbuildings as well adapted to their purpose. The main building contained three smaller and four larger rooms, the largest having been added by Oroenning. The lowest class, however, had to meet on the verandah; 103 boys and 42 girls were enrolled in January, 1890. They were taught by six teachers, all but one of whom were Chris- tians; 95 boys and girls were housed in the boarding depart- ment, consisting of four small buildings in the church com- pound, which were filled to overflowing. Pohl furnished the following interesting description of a day in the life of the school : "Before sunrise the children, after washing, eat the cold rice that was left from the supper of the previous day. At sunrise the church bell summons them for morning prayer. The school begins at 7 o'clock and closes for the morning at 11.30. At noon dinner is served. At 2 p. M. the girls and some of the boys spend some time at sewing and mending under the direction of my wife. During the afternoon some of the children are employed in sweeping the schoolrooms and putting them in order for the next day. The larger pupils, however, spend the hour from four to five in class. After that comes the recreation hour. Some engage in gymnastics, others in some useful work on the grounds, watering the plants, removing rubbish, etc. Some go to Mr. Schmidt's compound to learn carpentering. The girls, carrying vessels on their heads, hasten to the Godavery River to bring drink- ing-water, filling up five large vessels for the next day. At 6 o'clock the boys go to bathe in the Godavery. The evening is spent in study or singing, and evening prayers in the several boarding houses close the day." Soon after coming to Rajahmundry Mrs. Pohl took charge WOMAN MISSIONARIES (1890-91) 275 of the Mohammedan Girls' School which was now called the Artman Poor Mohammedan Girls' School. Sarah, a Christian, assisted her by giving some instruction in the Christian re- ligion in Telugu. The teachers in the Hindu Girls' School were P. V. Ratnam, Ramachandra Rao and a Hindu, while Goraza conducted the girls to and from the school. Edman and his family at first occupied Mrs. Taylor's bungalow, which was leased by the Mission. On June 16, 1890, they moved to Samulkot, Edman having been assigned to that district. Besides touring in the Velpur district, spending most of his time in and around Bhimawaram, where within a radius of five miles over 1000 Christians resided and where he planned to build a large church for them, Schmidt erected a house in the Riverdale compound, adjoining the Caste Girls' School, for use as a printery and book-store. The latter enterprise was managed by Mrs. Schmidt who, in 1890, sold as many as 4238 Bibles, books and pamphlets. Schmidt also began the erec- tion of the so-called Zenana Home, the residence of the zenana sisters, and continued the building of the Dowlaishwaram bungalow. On Pentecost, 1890, an unusually interesting ceremony was performed in St. Paul's Church, when a Brahmin, Jaga- natham, and a Mala, Veera Emmanuel Razulu, were baptized at the same time, thus showing how Christianity breaks down the caste distinctions. The parochial reports for the fiscal year, ending June 30, 1890, were summarized as follows: 1 Rajahmundiy, Tallapudi, Korukonda. Jegurupad. Velpur. Samulkot. Totals. Villages 6 20 55 19 100 Christians 201 356 1580 296 2433 Communicants 95 229 426 155 905 Baptisms, six months n 17 178 39 245 Schools 4 10 26 9 49 Teachers 9 25 8 52 Pupils 224 195 393 117 899 1 At the July, 1890, Mission Council meeting the missionaries requested that they be granted allowances to enable them to spend the hot season at some health resort. The Board granted the request. This allowance now is Rs. 75 for each adult and Rs. 25 for each child. 276 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL In August, 1890, Mr. John G. Haas of Lancaster, Pa., whom Dr. Schmidt on his visit to America and afterward through correspondence had interested in the enterprise, began to send money to him for the endowment of a Christian com- munity, centered around a church with a native pastor. Schmidt selected Lankapuram near Mahadevipatnam as the location of the community and began the purchase of land there and elsewhere in the Bhimawaram taluk, which he arranged to rent or to sell on easy terms to poor but deserving Christians who were to form the community. Gradually this enterprise, financed entirely by Mr. Haas, assumed con- siderable proportions; but it was altogether a private under- taking, of which the Foreign Missions Committee had no official knowledge and over which it never attempted to exercise control. According to the agreement between the Breklum Society and the Foreign Missions Committee Pohl had been loaned to the Rajahmundry Mission for only a year. At the end of the year, however, no one had been found to take his place as the head of the educational work, and the Breklum Society, at the earnest solicitation of the Committee, extended the period to the close of the year 1891. March 4, 1891, was a high day in the history of the Rajah- mundry school which that year received the name of The Seminary, when twenty-one students, the largest number sent out from this school up to that time, were formally and solemnly installed as teachers. "On Tuesday," wrote Pohl, "the schoolhouse was tastefully decorated with palm branches, and the students who were to be graduated gave what may be termed a farewell luncheon to the pupils who were to remain in the school. What impressed me most favorably was the fact that, as they were now all together for the last time, they, first of all, united in singing to the Lord a hymn of praise and, then, on bended knees, offered prayers and suppli cations. In the evening we all attended the Preparatory Service in the church, for we wanted to mark the ending of our past work and the beginning of the new with the assurance of the divine pardon of our sins. The solemn WOMAN MISSIONARIES (1890-91) 277 commissioning of the teachers to their respective fields of work occurred on Wednesday morning. After we had all joined in prayer once more in our home, we proceeded to the church. After the regular liturgical service and the lesson, Brother Schmidt addressed the young men. Then I, who had taken so much delight in teaching them, delivered a brief address. After the chanting of Psalm 100 the teachers- elect came to the altar and Brother Schmidt asked them: "Dear Brethren in the Lord, in the presence of Almighty God and of this congregation, I now ask you: Are you ready and willing to devote yourselves fully and sincerely to the service to which you have been appointed this day; and, for Jesus' sake, Who gave Himself for you, will you fulfill your calling with all fidelity, and adorn it with a holy life in con- formity with the teachings of our Evangelical Lutheran Church?" Each in turn answered: "Yes, with the help of God." Then they were set apart for their work as teachers by the laying on of hands and the following form of consecra- tion: "God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, bless, protect, sanctify and cause you to abound in faith, wisdom, love and sincerity, in order that you may serve Him for the glory of His Name and for the edifying of His Holy Church; and in the end may you obtain everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Lord." Thereupon the congre- gation said, "Amen." Then I laid my hand on the head of each one, repeating appropriate passages of Holy Scripture. Prayer was offered by Brother Schmidt and the Holy Com- munion followed. The service closed with the benediction and the hymn "Abide with us, our Saviour." At the special request of the teachers who had graduated from the Seminary and with the approval of the Mission Council, Pohl devoted the months of June and July to a special normal course for their benefit. Thirty-three attended this course, which was pronounced to have been a decided suc- cess. In recent years more attention has been given to the normal training of teachers, which has been found to be a necessary preparation for efficient work on the part of the native assistants. 278 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Miss Schade took charge of the Artman Poor Mohammedan Girls' School in April, and Miss Sadtler, of the Caste Girls' School in July, 1891. Both resided with the Schmidts in the Riverdale bungalow until the Zenana Home was completed. Some time in 1891 "The Telugu Lutheran," a four page sheet, 8 by 13 inches, was begun as a regular publication of the Mission. Before the close of the year a new missionary was on the field to take the place of Pohl. The Rev. Calvin F. Kuder was the twelfth ordained missionary sent out by the General Coun- cil to India. He was born April 10, 1864, at Laurys, Lehigh County, Pa. After having been graduated from Roanoke Col- lege, Salem, Va., he entered the Evangelical Lutheran Theo- logical Seminary at Philadelphia. While a member of the middle class in the Seminary he volunteered to go to India in the service of the Foreign Missions Committee. He was called subject to his ordination which occurred at the meeting of the Pennsylvania Ministerium in Emmanuel Church, Pottstown, Pa., on May 26, 1891. On August i8th, that year, he was united in marriage to Mattie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Ferguson, at Salem, Va. The service of commissioning was held on August 3ist, in St. John's Church, Allentown, Pa., the chairman of the Foreign Missions Committee, the Rev. A. Spaeth, D. D., delivering the charge to the mis- sionary. The Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Kuder sailed from Phila- delphia on September 2d, and reached Rajahmundry on November 14, 1891. The year 1891 marked quite an advance in the foreign mission activity of the Church at home, due largely to the increase of women's missionary societies, mission leagues and kindred organizations. A beginning had been made, also, in the publication of special literature on our foreign mission work. Mrs. J. A. Bauman, of Allentown, Pa., published a small catechism on foreign mission work in India with special reference to. the Telugu Mission of the General Council, which was prepared by the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. H. C. Schmidt; and the Rev. G. H. Trabert, D. D., wrote and published a book on "Missions Among the Telugus." Both appeared WOMAN MISSIONARIES (1890-91) 279 with the hearty endorsement of the Foreign Missions Committee. In its report to the General Council at Buffalo, in 1891, the Foreign Missions Committee, besides giving the names of forty-two individuals, schools and societies supporting boys' scholarships, and eighteen supporting girls' scholarships, reported twenty teachers and other native workers supported by patrons in America. The Riverdale Hindu Girls' School was being supported by the Sunday schools of St. John's and St. Mark's churches of Philadelphia; the Mohammedan Girls' School, by the Young Ladies' Society and the Sunday school of Holy Trinity Church, New York City; the school at Gorlamudi by the Children's Missionary Society of Emmanuel Swedish Church of Chicago, and the school at Srirangapatnam, by the Ladies' Missionary Society of the church last men- tioned. 1 The average annual contribution from all sources for the biennium 1890-91 was $12,675.80; the average annual ex- penditure, $12,989.32, showing an excess of expenditure. The floating indebtedness of $1000 remained unpaid. Among the items of income noted were several hundreds of dollars each year, derived from the net proceeds of the German and English publications of the General Council. 2 The committee of the General Council on Woman's Work presented a report to the convention at Buffalo, which, in view of the development of the Women's Missionary Society, is of unusual interest. It reads, in part, as follows: "Whereas, In the providence of God a wide and effective door has been opened for zenana work, inviting effort and giv- ing encouragement to the labors of those who are concerned for the elevation and christianization of heathen homes, we 1 The plan of supporting schools, stations or districts is now being preferred by Mission Boards to that of supporting teachers and other native workers. 2 From October, 1889, to October, 1890, the cash transferred from the Genera Council's general expense fund to the treasury of the Foreign Missions Com- mittee was: One-third of the net proceeds of the German publications, $139.82, and one-third of the net proceeds of the English publications, $46.61: From October, 1890, to October, 1891: One-third of the net proceeds of the German publications, $333,34, and one-third of the net proceeds of the English pub- lications, $166.66. No income is derived from this source to-day. 280 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL earnestly call upon the women of our churches to embrace the opportunity presented of bearing the precious Gospel to those who can be reached only through their instrumentality. "Whereas, In view of the enlarged demands made upon the churches for the home and foreign fields, it is recommended that missionary societies be established in all our congrega- tions, wherever practicable, as a means of fostering a fervent missionary zeal through the collection of mission intelligence, of quickening responsibility in regard to mission work and of securing more general contributions to the treasuries of our various boards. "We further recommend the organization of local societies within the bounds of a Conference into one central body; and these Conference organizations shall unite in forming a general body, composed of delegates from the Conference societies, in such ratio as may be determined. "We recommend that the constitutions of the local societies be submitted to the Councils of the respective congregations for approval, and those of the Conference societies to the re- spective Conferences, and that of the general body to the Gen- eral Council. "We recommend that specific work undertaken by the general body shall be with the approval and under the direc- tion of the proper committee or board of the General Council." It is necessary to notice that, at the 1891 convention of the General Council, the official title of the Foreign Missions Com- mittee was changed to that of the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Council. In the place of the Rev. Dr. Mann and the Rev. G. C. Gardner, the Revs. A. Cordes and E. R. Cassaday were chosen, and in the place of Mr. F. Bauer, Mr. W. F. Monroe. The Board reorganized after the convention of the General Council by re-electing its former officers, the office of English recording secretary having already, in February, 1891, been separated from that of corresponding secretary, the Rev. J. L. Sibole having been elected to fill the former, and the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer, D. D., the latter office. JOHN H. HARPSTER CALVIN F. KLTER RUDOLPH ARPS ANDREW S. FICHTHORN HANS ERIC ISAACSON MISSIONARIES IN INDIA KATE L. SADTLER AND HER HINDI" lilKJ.S' SCHOOL . TEACHERS AND PUPILS OF EMILY L. WEISKOTTKN'S HINDU GIRLS' SCHOOLS CHAPTER XII INCREASING FRUITFULNESS (1892-93) IN order to secure the necessary funds for the Zenana Home which was being built to accommodate the zenana sisters, a unique method of raising money was proposed by Schmidt and adopted by the Board of Foreign Missions. The cost of construction was divided as follows: Masonry, 18 shares, at $20 a share $360.00 Doors, 16, at $8 a door 128.00 Windows, 10, at $6 a window 60.00 Pillars, 10, at $10 a pillar , 100.00 Beams, 12, at $6 a beam '. 72.00 Rafters, 200, at $i a rafter 200.00 Staircase 40.00 Roofs, 4, at $80 a roof 320.00 Roof, i, at $100 100.00 Trusses, 4, at $15 a truss 60.00 The responses to this method of appeal were prompt and enthusiastic, and by the time the building was completed enough money had been contributed to pay the total cost of construction, which was approximately $1500. The Misses Schade and Sadtler moved into the Zenana Home in May, 1892. As usual, the new year began with the conventions of the Mission Conference and Council, beginning on the first Sun- day in January. 1 Church Missionary Society missionaries from Dummugu- dem had gone into the hill country and made a number of con- verts, but, realizing that the territory in that direction really belonged to our Mission, urged our missionaries to provide for a more thorough and systematic evangelization of the dis- trict. Some time during the first half of the year 1892, there- fore, Edman visited that part of the field and baptized a few persons. In September Schmidt went up the Godavery River 1 Schmidt, as the senior missionary, was continued in the office of president McCready was elected English secretary. 281 282 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL beyond Sitanagaram, accompanied by his wife. Mrs. Schmidt described this tour as follows: "On the morning of September 27th 1 we started up the Godavery. At this time of the year the water is high and the current strong. Six sturdy men were engaged to take up the house-boat. Not one of them would go without the promise of double wages. It was hard work. At evening we an- chored near a sand-bank. The gorgeous sunset, covering the mountains with golden light, was followed by a fine moon- light. The coolies got out their prepared rice which they had brought from home wrapped in a piece of cloth, and sat down on the sand and ate it. Afterward they stretched them- selves out on a cloth spread on the sand to rest for the night. The boat started in the morning before we arose. While we were eating our breakfast, which we had to take without milk, because none could be gotten, we reached the village of Moonakodavelli. We went up to see the Christians who lived in this village. Many people gathered as we sat on the veran- dah. After singing a hymn Mr. Schmidt read the parable of the shepherd leaving the ninety-nine to seek the one lost sheep, and used it as a text for a sermon. The sermon was followed by a conversation during which the people asked for a teacher, because they wanted to be instructed in the truth. They had a teacher some time ago, who got the cholera, from which he recovered; but he had not the courage to remain. Nobody has since been found willing to go up there. "We went to Sitanagaram, where the Christians came to the shore to welcome us. In the evening we went to Vangala- pudi and sat down under a large tamarind tree in an open place, where a large crowd gathered . Mos t of them were caste people . The pariahs stood apart on one side. The catechist William played the violin and we commenced to sing 'Raro janulara' (Ye sinners come). Mr. Schmidt preached on the text, 'Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavily laden.' When we 1 Her description begins with an interesting paragraph. "There is gener- ally nothing we enjoy so much," wrote Mrs. Schmidt, "as going out on mission tours. Not for the sake of the pleasure or the comforts of travel, but because the missionary feels himself at such times in his real element, proclaiming the blessed word of salvation to the masses of various people wherever he goes." INCREASING FRUITFULNESS (1892-93) 283 returned to the boat a large crowd followed, among them the village munsiff. The next day Rapaka and Rahitavaram were visited in the morning, and Mr. Schmidt addressed three crowds of people in these places. Saturday morning Konda- pudi was visited, and in the evening we went again to Vangala- pudi. There is a school here with about twenty boys enrolled. Not a single girl could read. The munsuTs daughter, who is about twelve years old, and a few other girls of her age had mastered a few words; but the boys read fluently and wrote correctly on the ground as we dictated to them. "Sunday morning we went to the house of the evangelist Joseph, where the Christians from other places had gathered to partake of the Holy Communion. In a stable under a roof of palm leaves supported by a number of posts, with a little bench for a communion table, Mr. Schmidt using a box and I a bench for seats, mats being spread on the floor for the Christians, one could not help being reminded of Him who for our sakes was born in a stable. We felt assured that He was just as near to us gathered there in His name, few though we were, as in any other hallowed place of worship. Beautiful, large trees shaded us from the hot sun, and the birds seemed to join in the singing. Only two heathen were present, one an old man who confessed his faith in Christ and wished to be baptized, and the other an elderly woman who sought salva- tion through the Redeemer. "As we passed Tallapudi on our way down we made a call there, and reached home at noon on Monday, where we at once found plenty to do, as it was the beginning of the month, when all agents had to be paid." Correspondence was opened by Schmidt, in 1892, with the missionaries of the Ontario and Quebec Baptist Mission, which was beginning to encroach on the territory of our Mission, asking for an amicable adjustment of boundary lines, but fourteen years were to elapse before an agreement could be effected. J. John, who had been a teacher in the Seminary, became Edman's catechist in the Samulkot district, and together they visited one hundred and twenty-five towns and villages during 284 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL the first half of the year 1892. Those in which Christians resided were districted, so that each teacher had charge of from ten to fourteen villages, in each of which a service was held at least once a month. Pastor Joseph, who for a number of years had suffered from a disease of the eyes, became totally blind in one eye in 1892, and in other respects began to show signs of advanced age. St. Peter's Church at Tallapudi was completed in 1892. A baptismal font, donated by Professor and Mrs. Garber of Allentown, and a pulpit, the gift of Mrs. Mary Hunter of New York, were placed in the chancel. As a consequence of his supervision of the erection of the buildings at Tallapudi McCready became interested in the manufacture of tiles, and proposed to the Board of Foreign Missions that industrial work along this line should be begun at Tallapudi. Most of the converts in his district, he argued, being of the Madiga or Chuckler caste the lowest and poorest people desired after their conversion to better their conditions. McCready was convinced that this problem could be solved by teaching them to make tiles. The Foreign Mission Board, however, declined to finance the undertaking or to include it as a regular branch of mission work. Mrs. McCready taught some of the Christian women and girls in Tallapudi and neighboring villages how to crochet, knit and make lace. In 1892 she had a class of about twenty at work. In March, 1892, the Board of Foreign Missions authorized the erection of a church at Bhimawaram, which was to be a memorial to the late Rev. Dr. B. M. Schmucker and was to receive the name of The Church of the Transfiguration, because Dr. Schmucker at the time of his death was the pastor of a church of the same name in Pottstown, Pa. A scheme for raising funds in America similar to that employed for the Zenana Home was adopted, but it met with less pro- nounced success. The church was planned to seat 1000 people and to cost $300x3. l 1 Building operations in the lower portions of the Godavery delta are more expensive, because all the building material must be brought from Rajahmundry a distance of nearly fifty miles, in boats or bullock-carts. INCREASING FRUITFULNESS (1892-93) 285 The excellent condition of the Seminary at Rajahmundry under the supervision of Pohl was attested by the result of the examination by the government school-inspector, in January, 1892, when seventy-five of the ninety pupils in the school passed creditable examinations, and a government grant of 600 rupees was allowed. Pohl left the Mission on March 2, 1892, bound for Germany, on furlough. He had raised the standard of the Rajahmundry school from the grade of a Primary to that of a Lower Secondary school. On the last Sunday he spent in Rajahmundry, February 28th, he consecrated seven graduates of the school for work as teachers in the Mission. As a farewell token of esteem the teachers in the Seminary gave him a watch charm in the form of a gold cross. "On Monday we left the house," wrote Pohl, "where we had experienced so many hours of good fortune and peace hours filled with consolation in times of need and with joy in the pursuit of duties. Tuesday afternoon we went aboard the 'Dove of Peace' which, ten years ago, when I first came to India, carried us a good part of the way to our destination. The whole congregation and school assembled at Riverdale. Brother Kuder spoke a few farewell words in English, the people sang 'Jesus still lead on,' Pastor Paulus offered a prayer and I pronounced the benediction. A last warm hand- shake, a last kiss, and the bond of our common labor was severed. Many waded into the water a short distance after the boat to shake our hands again. As long as we could see the mission compound the people stood on the river-bank wav- ing us adieu. The setting sun plated the town with a golden glow. . Oh, how beautiful will be that city of golden streets, in which there will be no more farewells!" How much the service of Pohl was appreciated may be learned from the following letter, dated January 19, 1892: "The Board of Foreign Missions of the General Council to the Rev. E. Pohl, Greeting: "Reverend and Dear Brother: Your active connection with our Mission in Rajahmundry, that has been accom- panied by such happy results, being now terminated to our 286 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL sincere regret, we take occasion to express to you our estimate of your work and our sense of what we owe you for the good and valuable service you have been enabled to render. The confidence with which we were led to trust in you from the beginning has been fully justified; and the satisfaction we have felt in your mode of working and in its results con- tinued to increase to the end. You have co-operated with your colleagues in the spirit of intelligent enterprise, Chris- tian harmony and brotherly love. Your care of the schools has been wise, unwearied, devoted and successful; and we fondly cherish the hope that the results of your faithful administration of the schools will, by the divine favor, prove to be a blessing for many years. "We thank you with our whole heart and commend you to the favor of Him whose we are and whom we serve, trusting that wherever your lot may be cast, every blessing may rest upon you and upon all your work of faith and labor of love." 1 , The Rev. and Mrs. C. F. Kuder moved into the old mission house after the Pohls had vacated it, Kuder taking charge of the school and Mrs. Kuder succeeding Mrs. Pohl as the supervisor of the sewing-class. When Kuder assumed charge of the Seminary on March i, 1892, there were 10 teachers and 150 pupils of whom 50 were day pupils and 26 boarding girls, the rest being boarding boys. That was the largest number of pupils in the school up to that time. For a young man just arrived in India and un- familiar with the vernacular, the supervision of the Seminary was anything but a light task. A number of changes in the staff of teachers was unavoidable. M. Devadas was em- ployed in the place of J. John who had become Edman's catechist at Samulkot; R. Charles took V. Jacob's place, who resigned; C.James, the headmaster, M. William and Gopalam were retained. In a description of the Seminary written a few weeks after taking charge, Kuder wrote: "The school is under the rules 1 To the Breklum Missionary Society the Board of Foreign Missions addressed a communication expressing its deep gratitude for the loan of the Rev. E. Pohl whose work had been so satisfactory as to merit its praise. INCREASING FRUITFULNESS (1892-93) 287 of the educational department of the Madras Presidency. This body annually issues carefully prepared curricula to which all schools receiving aid from government must conform. The curriculum for our class of schools is thor- oughly suited to the work to be done, and we receive yearly a grant of several hundreds of rupees. The Department divides schools into Lower Primary, Upper Primary, Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary. The Seminary embraces the first three of these divisions, the highest class being the seventh standard, called also the third form. For this class or standard the curriculum demands a knowledge of arith- metic up through present worth and discount, thorough familiarity with Telugu and ability to write well. Under optional branches of study are a general knowledge of the geography of the world with special attention to Asia and India, English and English history, the four simple rules in Algebra, about fifty propositions in elementary geometry, simple physics, and an acquaintance with English grammar, reading and writing. The boys who pass out of these stand- ards are fairly well equipped to teach. They are well edu- cated in comparison with the masses whom they are to teach; and our school, it is hoped, will constantly improve, so that still better men may be sent out. The immense progress made since Mr. Groenning's coming and especially during Mr. Pohl's time, may be judged from the fact that we now have boys of twelve years more than twice as far advanced than men of twenty were then. This is due in part to better schools in the villages. We are now beginning to insist on having only young boys in the school, who have passed the second, if not the third, standard in the village schools." Speaking of the boarding department, Kuder said: "The greatest obstacle to thorough work is the uncomfortable and insufficient accommodations we have for our boys. There are three boarding houses, one for girls and two for boys. The one for girls has two stories, of which the lower is used as a dining-room for the boys and the upper for the girls' sleeping room. Of the six rooms for our boarders only one has a table, and chairs are not to be found at all. In all the rooms but one 288 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL the only furniture is a small kerosene-oil lamp and a number of little boxes in which the children keep their clothes and books. There are no beds. Nearly all the boys sleep on the floor, often in dust half an inch thick, lying down in the panchis and coats which they wear during the day and expect to wear the next day." At the close of the fiscal year, June 30, 1892, the missionaries reported 4 stations, 149 out-stations or villages, 93 native Christian workers, 2 church buildings, 97 adults baptized from January i to June 30, 1892, 118 children and infants baptized during the same period, 3388 Christians of whom 1205 were communicants, 84 schools, 1465 pupils in school, 4 married ordained foreign missionaries and 2 woman mis- sionaries. The estimates for the first half of the year 1892 called for Rs. 7100; for the second half, Rs. Sioo. 1 During the year 1892 S. Abraham, the evangelist supported by the Rampa Fund, brought quite a number of inquirers from the Rampa district to Rajahmundry to be examined, and Schmidt baptized twenty-four of them, three from the village of Rampa and the rest from the Yellavaram Division. Edman also baptized a number from the region around Addatigula. Concerning the future of the Seminary Schmidt wrote in 1892: "It will and must develop into a Theological Seminary and ought to have proper buildings and endowment. I bought land for its endowment many years ago and am ready to present our Seminary with this lot of about thirty acres as soon as our Conference and the Home Board are pre- pared for operations in this direction and decide to accept my offer." 2 Schmidt was still deeply interested in his industrial mission work. "When I left for India the second time," he wrote, 1 The estimates for the several districts and departments were as follows: First half: Velpur, Rajahmundry, Dowlaishwaram and Jegurupad districts, Dr. Schmidt, Rs. 4000; Tallapudi district, Rev. McCready, Rs. 600; Samulkot district, Dr. Edman, Rs. 900; The Seminary, Rev. Kuder, Rs. 1600. 2 The Board at its meeting on February 27, 1893, instructed its corresponding secretary to write to Dr. Schmidt and say that it had heard with pleasure his proposal of a gift of thirty acres of land in our Mission in India, and that when the time had come for more definite action, the Board would gladly take such action. This land is now the site of the Boy's Central School. INCREASING FRUITFULNESS (1892-93) 289 "I expressed it as my wish and aim during my second term of service to see an independent native congregation established. The last part of my second term is ebbing away, and still the steadily growing native church makes no visible effort toward self-support. By industrial training some have become useful artisans, but they show little pride in their church and hesi- tate to sacrifice a portion of their income for its support. To the Mission the industrial work has brought no profit, not even the lime-kiln. By land endowments and investments in land we have come so far that one or two native pastors can be supported by local funds. If we had two candidates for the ministry we would be able to pay them each a salary of Rs. 25 or 30 a month from the income of landed property and investments." In 1892 Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., conferred the degree of doctor of divinity upon the Rev. H. C. Schmidt, in recognition of his long and successful labor as our missionary in India. A decided forward step was taken by the Board of Foreign Missions when, in November, 1891, it called the Rev. J. Telleen, a member of the Swedish Augustana Synod, then located at Lindsborg, Kan., to be "Missionary Superintend- ent" to visit synods, conferences, congregations, missionary societies and individuals, to deliver addresses on foreign mis- sions and endeavor to increase the interest of the Church in the work of the Board. He was instructed to take up col- lections for the foreign missions of the General Council, to solicit contributions from individuals, to pay over all moneys received to the treasurer of the Board at least once a month, and to report monthly to the Board about his work. He entered upon the duties of this office on March i, 1892. In 1892 the Rev. Prof. A. Spaeth, D. D., resigned as Presi- dent of the Board of Foreign Missions, having served in that position for sixteen years. The Rev. Prof. C. W. Schaeffer, D. D., was elected as his successor. 1 1 In the place of the Rev. P. J. O. Cornell, resigned, the Rev. C. Elofson, Ph. D., was chosen a member of the Board in 1892. 290 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL McCready was given a leave of absence from the Mission in 1893. He had cabled to the Board in May, 1892, and afterward written to explain that he desired to study the manufacture of tiles in various parts of India with the view of establishing a factory at Tallapudi, where Christians could secure work. In granting the desired permission the Board said that "under the circumstances, if Mr. McCready's con- science assures him that such a course is right, he is justi- fied to do so, in which event he will be expected to report to the Board every three months as to his whereabouts and work, and to return to his position in the Mission at the end of the year, and that this leave of absence be without pay." McCready accepted the conditions, leaving Tallapudi in Feb- ruary, 1893. After his return he established a small private tile-works at Tallapudi. During his absence Kuder and Edman looked after the mission work in the Tallapudi district. Dr. Schmidt spent the month of February on tour in the Velpur-Bhimawaram district, visiting more than thirty-four villages in which Christians and inquirers resided. 1 In April he toured the Jegurupad district and then went up to Rampa, where he had not been for twenty years. "A prayer meeting was held in Peter's house, who was baptized in Rajahmundry last Christmas with his two children. Several expressed the wish to become Christians, among them a young man who had been in our mission school which was kept there for some time about twenty years ago. Peter had also attended this school at Rampa. It was a wonderful thing to us that the seed sown so long ago had not been sowed in vain but had borne fruit after so many years," wrote Mrs. Schmidt. The evangelist Abraham gathered a number of Christians from the district at Chodawaram, where a service was held, "very likely the first ever held in that place." Gokaram, Gonegudem and 1 The villages mentioned are: Mahadevipatnam, Annawaram, Kowada, Narasimhapalam, Gollalakoderu, Undi, Agraharam, Kolamur, Cheraigudem, Garrakaparru, Chilukur, Sagapadu, Aredu, Gutlapad, Annakoderu, Seesali, Kamarada, Bhimawaram, Ennamaduru, Dirusumarru, Peddamiram, Chinna- miram, Jakkaram, Bondada, Kopella, Ballasamudi, Gunapudi, Komadavelli, Vissakoderu, Srungavruksham, Konitallapalli, Taderu, Korapad. INCREASING FRUITFULNESS (1892-93) 291 other villages were visited and the Gospel preached to the villagers. Edman revisited Addatigula in March, 1893, and preached there and in the surrounding villages, where there were about fifty baptized Christians. Among those whom he interested was a rajah. "I have visited him twice," wrote Edman, "and preached in his house. He called all of his servants for the services and they listened attentively. He gave me a piece of land on which to build a schoolhouse and another in Addatigula to be used as a cemetery. I have two boys from the hills in the school at Rajahmundry." On this tour Ed- man baptized twelve persons. The growth of the Mission 1 led the Mission Council at its meeting in July, 1893, to pass the following resolution: "Re- solved, That we suggest to the Board that two stations be opened, one at Pittapur, nine miles northeast of Samulkot, the other at Tadepalligudem, a railway station half-way between Rajahmundry and Ellore." Pittapur was never occupied, but Tadepalligudem became a regular station several years later. In August, 1893, Dr. Schmidt went to Bellary to attend a meeting of the Telugu Bible Revision Committee and to arrange for the shipment of the India boxes sent from America, which were held at Madras for the customs duty. Among other things sent in the boxes that year was a solid silver communion set for the church of the Transfiguration, about to be built at Bhimawaram, donated by Mrs. Hunter of New York. Edman, who had studied medicine in America and secured a physician's certificate, found abundant opportunity to use his medical knowledge and skill. He claimed, moreover, that the government hospitals with their high caste native dressers were of little benefit to low caste people, and he urged the establishment of a Mission Hospital. Three additions were made to the force of ordained mis- 1 The total number baptized by the missionaries during the year 1893 was 1224; confirmed, 42. There were 3757 Christians and 1441 communicants reported. The number of pupils in all schools was 1794. THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL sionaries in 1893; an ^, moreover, the Board of Foreign Mis- sions succeeded in securing the continued service of the Rev. E. Pohl after the expiration of his furlough in Germany. The Schleswig-Holstein Society agreed to transfer him to our Board with the understanding that in case of emergency he was to be recalled to serve in the Society's field in India. Paul Baehnisch was called by the Board of Foreign Mis- sions to enter its service as a foreign missionary while he was a senior in the Theological Seminary at Mt. Airy, Philadel- phia. He was ordained by the New York Ministerium in 1893. He was commissioned on July 23, 1893, in St. James' German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. Three days later he sailed for Germany, where he married, his wife accompany- ing him to India. They reached Rajahmundry on December 15, 1893. Rudolph Arps, a son of Hans Adolph Arps, and his wife, Matilda Jeanette, nee D'Aubert, was born in Neuminster, Holstein, Germany, March 20, 1869. He was about to be graduated from the Mission Institute of the Schleswig-Hol- stein Society at Breklum, when, in October, 1892, he received and accepted the call of the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Council. Shortly after his graduation he married Anna, a daughter of the Rev. Edward Reuss. He came to the United States in the company of the Rev. E. Pohl, arriving in New York on September 6, 1893. He was ordained by the officers of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in St. John's German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, on Sunday, Sep- tember 24th, the Rev. E. Pohl preaching the ordination sermon. He was commissioned, together with the Rev. H. E. Isaacson, in St. Luke's English Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, on October 2d, and sailed from America two days later. Hans Eric Isaacson, a son of Isaac Eden, and his wife, Johanna, n6e Lundgren, was born in Odalslinden, Sweden, April 27, 1862. He attended Hermosamd College, Surden, Sweden, and then came to the United States. He studied theology at Augustana Theological Seminary, Rock Island, INCREASING FRUITFULNESS (1892-93) 293 Illinois. He married Olivia, a daughter of Alfred and Annetta Lundgren, who was born in Youngly, Sweden. After his ordination by the Swedish Augustana Synod he served a con- gregation at Port Allegheny, Pa. He was called in April, 1893, by the Board of Foreign Missions to go to India, and accepted the call. He was commissioned at the same time and place as the Rev. R. Arps. During their sojourn in America Pohl and Arps visited a number of conferences and congregations and presented the cause of our India Mission. They sailed from New York in the company of the Rev. and Mrs. Isaacson, on Octo- ber 4, 1893. In Europe the missionaries separated to meet again at Genoa, where they took ship for Colombo. Pohl took his two younger daughters to India, but left his three elder sons at Liegnitz, Germany, to be educated. Coconada was reached on Christmas Day. Mr. and Mrs. Isaacson remained for some time at Samulkot, while the rest went on to Ra- jahmundry, the Pohls going to Riverdale bungalow as the guests of Dr. and Mrs. Schmidt, and the Arps finding tempo- rary shelter in the Zenana Home. Urgent representations had been made by the missionaries in 1892, asking the Board to rule that new missionaries should be free during the first two years of their residence in India to study the language and customs of the natives. It was felt that a vital mistake had been made in assigning them work at once and thus burdening them with heavy responsibilities before they were familiar with Telugu or the mission opera- tions. The Board accordingly ruled that new missionaries should devote one year or, if possible, two years after arrival in India to the study of the vernacular. The Mission Council prescribed a curriculum under native munshis (teachers) and appointed an examining committee. After having passed an examination at the end of the first year, the missionary was to become the assistant of some older missionary and to con- tinue his study of Telugu during the second year. At the end of the second year, after having passed a second and final examination, he was to be given independent charge of some district or department. It was also decided that a missionary 2Q4 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL should be allowed a vote in the Mission Council after having passed his first examination. 1 As a result of the progress and growth of the Mission in India and the sending out of three ordained missionaries and their wives in 1893, the cause of foreign missions attracted more attention and aroused more interest in the Church at home. The treasurer of the General Council, who was still the treasurer of the Board of Foreign Missions, 2 reported receipts for the biennium, ending September 28, 1893, amount- ing to $32,856.52, which was $7504.92 more than during the previous biennium, and a total expenditure of $30,844.30. While the "Missionsbote" account showed a balance of $1923.81, turned into the General Fund, "The Foreign Mis- sionary" account had a deficit of $301.36, which was drawn from the General Fund of the Board. With the September, 1893, issue of "The Foreign Missionary" the Rev. Professor C. W. Schaeffer, D. D., and the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer, his son, severed their relations with the paper as the editor and associate editor, respectively; the Rev. E. E. Sibole, D. D., was elected editor and the Rev. E. R. Cassaday, associate editor. 3 In 1893 the General Council decided to set apart the first Sunday in Epiphany, each year, for the holding of foreign mission services and the collection of foreign mission offerings in every congregation and Sunday school. The introduction to the report of the Board of Foreign Missions to the convention of the General Council in 1893 ends as follows: "In this connection it must be remarked that the missionary societies and leagues in our congregations, 1 These regulations are still in force, except that the missionary is given a vote only after having passed the final examination, and that the curriculum of the Board of Examiners of the Protestant Missions hi South India has been adopted and that the examinations are conducted by a committee of the South India Missionary Association. 2 Mr., now Judge, William H. Staake, of Philadelphia. 3 The General Council at its meeting in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, October 5-10, 1893, elected the Rev. J. F. C. Fluck, the Rev. S. A. Ziegenfuss and the Rev. G. Nelsenius in the places of the Revs. M. C. Horine, A. Cordes and H. V. Hilprecht, Ph. D. The only layman retained on the Board, apart from the treasurer, William H. Staake, Esquire, was Mr. J. Washington Miller, Mr. William F Monroe having withdrawn some time during the biennium. INCREASING FRUITFULNESS (1892-93) 295 many of which are united in general bodies and hold conven- tions, have been of very great assistance in the presentation of our work. They keep the cause constantly before all the members of the churches they represent, they circulate our papers, they send out Christmas boxes, and some of them the leagues of the Pittsburgh Synod and the women's societies of the First and Second Conferences of the Pennsylvania Ministerium contribute toward the salaries of the two zenana sisters, the Misses Schade and Sadtler. "On every side it seems to be possible to discern a widen- ing and increasing interest in the work of the Board. Word comes to us of young men and young women, who are con- sidering the question of preparing themselves for the service of the Lord in the foreign field. New names appear on our list of contributors. The cause of foreign missions is more generally recognized as entitled to a place among the works of the Church, claiming the attention of all her faithful members." CHAPTER XIII FROM A MISSIONARY'S DIARY (1894) A PERPLEXING question which had been debated at the Mission Conference in previous years was again discussed in 1894, namely, whether a man with more than one wife should be baptized; and this time the answer was a decided negative. The ornamentation of the houses of the natives with chalk designs, however, was declared to be commendable because it promoted cleanliness. The rule was established that boarding boys should not be allowed to wear jewels in their noses and ears, and girls none in their noses. As for this custom among adults, it was resolved to discourage the wearing of nose jewelry at the Lord's Supper. All heathen rites and ceremonies at weddings and funerals were con- demned. After the convention of the Mission Conference the native agents and delegates from congregations, about one hundred and thirty in number, were given a reception at the Riverdale bungalow. Large heaps of rice and curry were served, the guests, according to Hindu custom, being seated in long rows on the ground in the open air, and eating their portions from fresh mango leaves spread out before them. On January 5, 1894, nine Danish Lutheran missionaries visited Rajahmundry. Divine services were held the next day in St. Paul's Church, at which four languages were used, namely, Telugu, German, Danish and English. After the Mission Conference a missionaries' picnic was held on January i yth, described by Mrs. Kuder as follows: "On the morning of the seventeenth of January at six o'clock a merry party, consisting of seventeen adults and three children, left River- dale wharf. The party consisted of Dr. and Mrs. Schmidt, in response to whose invitation the party had assembled, eight visiting Danish missionaries, Dr. Edman, Mr. Pohl, Mr. 296 THE GORGE OF THE GODAYERY RIYER MISSIONARIES LIYIXG IN A TENT \VHILE ON TOUR AFTER AN EXAMINATION OF VILLAGE SCHOOL CHILDREN A TELUGU VILLAGE FROM A MISSIONARY'S DIARY (1894) 297 Isaacson, Miss Sadtler, Miss Schade, Mr. Kuder and the writer. Those of our mission circle whose names are not mentioned remained at home from choice or necessity. All aboard the 'Shamrock,' a river steamer, the 'Dove of Peace' fastened securely at one side and carrying the cooks a most important part of the excursion we started on our way up the beautiful Godavery River, our destination being the justly famed gorge of that river. . . . From our starting place and beyond Tallapudi the river is very broad and the country on either side comparatively flat; but the scenery is not monoto- nous. Many villages could be seen along the shore, and they were at sufficiently enchanting distances apart to render them picturesque, while beyond in the distance were the 'rare blue hills,' toward which we were going. As we neared them the river became narrower and the scenery very lovely, oftentimes grand giant hills towering above us, clothed in tropical verdure. The bamboo is a very graceful, feathery looking tree, and many of the mountain sides were covered with them. At sunset the first day we anchored just this side of the gorge to spend the night. We were glad of the opportunity to go ashore here. Some of the gentlemen went to a neighboring village, where, Dr. Schmidt told us, many years ago we had a teacher; but he had to leave on account of the fever which prevails here. Some of the gentlemen took a small boat and gave the zenana sisters a boat ride to the other side of the river. Mrs. Schmidt and I walked on the sandy shore and watched the little children of our party playing in the sand. We were certainly far away from the 'madding crowd'; and with no sound to disturb us save the cry of some lonely bird, and with the charming landscape of river and mountain on which to feast our eyes, it was very restful to both mind and body and a delightful change from the perpetual 'tom-tom' of Rajahmundry. "Early the next morning we entered the gorge. Here the river is narrow and seems to have cut its way in and out between the lofty mountains which rise many hundreds of feet on each side. The effect of the light and shade of the early sunlight heightened the beauty of the scene. At the other 298 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL side of the gorge we again anchored and amused ourselves climbing the mountain side and hunting ferns. Coming upon a beautiful mountain stream, we seated ourselves on the rocks, and the man with the kodak took a shot at us. Our homeward way was enlivened by the sight of several alligators and crocodiles sunning themselves on the sand. At tea that afternoon many a vote of thanks were tendered our kind hosts. After a little delay, caused by sticking on a sand-bar, we reached Rajahmundry about 9 o'clock on the evening of the second day, a little tired, but congratulating ourselves that we had gone on this missionaries' picnic." During the first two weeks of February Mr. and Mrs. Pohl with their children, in a hired boat, accompanied Dr. and Mrs. Schmidt in the "Dove of Peace" on a tour of the Velpur-Bhimawaram district. The following extracts are taken from Pohl's diary. "Unikili, February 5th. Day before yesterday, the wind being favorable, we reached Velpur. . . . Directly after sunrise on Sunday a boy went out along the canal where the Christians live in their huts, ringing a small bell, which was a signal for a public service in the little, unadorned chapel. Several Christians came from neighboring villages, and the chapel was filled to its capacity. We preached of the wonderful love of God in Christ Jesus. In Arjulupalem, where five families had been baptized since I last went there, we held an evening service. "This morning Brother Schmidt and I went to Mallipudi, where as yet we have no school. Meanwhile the school children from Velpur and Arjulupalem had come to the boats to be examined and receive their Christmas presents of jackets, dolls and pictures. Quite a number of adults had come with the children, and while the children were being examined in the boat, Brother Schmidt attended to the sick who had come for medicine. At one o'clock in the afternoon we sailed farther down the canal in our boats and reached the locks at four o'clock. Brother Schmidt and I at once walked over to Konitivada, a distance of four miles, over crooked and rough roads. It was late and dark when FROM A MISSIONARY'S DIARY (1894) 299 we returned, and it was fortunate that we carried a lantern, for several of the ditches which had been dry in the afternoon were filled with water, and we were obliged to walk around them. In Konitivada we have only a few Christians but are sowing the seed in hope. We visited the zemindar to ask for a school-site and a parcel of ground to be used as a cemetery. If we only had a sufficient number of efficient native workers we could make much better progress everywhere. "February 6th. A busy day lies behind us. At sunrise Christians from Unikili arrived. They had been on their way to work in the fields when they spied the mission boat in the canal and, dropping their hoes and spades, came over to us. In the village we have a school but not a schoolhouse. Three years ago there was not a single Christian in the village. M. Lazarus was our first teacher there, and he did his work quietly and faithfully. Now we have quite a good congre- gation in Unikili, and all of them gathered this morning for service. We crossed the Gosta Nadi on two tree-trunks bound together and laid across the stream. . . . We went to Kinera- pur, where we have a few Christians but no school. The yards of the Christians were much better kept than those of other Malas. They brought mats and spread them on the ground for the audience. We spoke especially to the non-Christians. . . . The Christians of Kinerapur accompanied us to Kanza- mur, carrying us on their shoulders over a number of wide ditches filled with water. After a long search a shady place was found in Kanzamur, where we could hold a service. "Weary and hungry, we got back to our boats at two o'clock in the afternoon. The school children of Unikili and Koniti- vada were waiting to be examined. It was 4 o'clock when, finally, all of the children had been examined and received their presents. Then we went to Vandra, where at 8 o'clock we conducted a service in the roomy schoolhouse, forty Chris- tians being present. It had been a busy day, and yet we felt that much more should have been done; but how could we have found time to visit the other villages or to preach to the higher caste people in the villages we did visit? 'The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; pray ye, therefore, the 300 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Lord of the harvest that He would sent forth laborers into the harvest.' "February yth. This morning we visited the Christians of Vandra in their homes and also preached to the non- Chris- tians in the street. The rest of the forenoon we spent in ex- amining the school children of Vandra and of the evening school in Unikili, which enrolls seventeen persons. In the afternoon we sailed to Vissakoderu. ... It made us glad to see the large heap of stones intended for the new Bhimawaram Church. They were brought all the way from Dowlaish- waram in boats, and from Vissakoderu they are to be carted two or three miles in bullock-carts to the site of the church. "Gunapudi, February 8th. This morning we went to Vissa- koderu, where we have many Christians who live close to each other and quarrel a good deal. We stopped on our way at Kalamudi, where we have neither Christians nor a school. In the shade of several huts we preached the Gospel of the crucified and risen One. In Vissakoderu we held a service and examined the Vissakoderu and Srungavruksham school- children. All day long we were occupied receiving Christians of the vicinity who wished to speak with us, and we gladly gave them the opportunity. Toward evening we went to Gunapudi, where, somewhat late, we held an evening service. The schoolhouse was crowded and many stood on the outside, without, however, being prevented from hearing us, for the schoolhouse has no walls, being constructed of four poles on which a roof of palmyra leaves is stretched. Teacher C. Joseph had put up the motto 'Welcome' and decorated the interior with chains of colored paper. Many non-Christians were present, to whom also we addressed a few words after the Bible lesson. It was a good day and the evening was beautiful; and I am glad to be able to report about it, even though I must do so in the dim light of a lantern surrounded by innumerable insects. "February gth. This morning we were driven to Bhima- waram, whither the Gunapudi school children had been directed to come for their examinations. Near Gunapudi FROM A MISSIONARY'S DIARY (1894) 301 lies the site of the church. The excavation has been finished, 1 and in a few days the first stones will be laid. From this place we can reach many villages and at the same time superintend the building operations. This evening we held a service in Bhimawaram. "February loth. Here in Bhimawaram it will not be diffi- cult to gather over two thousand Christians for the consecra- tion of the church. The villages all lie within a narrow radius and everywhere the Gospel is rinding entrance. To be sure, only the Malas accept the message, the Madigas, a still lower caste, being converted by the Baptists. "Bhimawaram, February i4th. To-day the first stones of the foundation of the new church were laid. Brother Schmidt was fully occupied superintending the work, while I went to Chinnamiram and from there to Peddamiram. In the latter we have 120 Christians. "February i5th. The way to Vaimpad was a long one. P. Barnabas came to meet me with the school children. One after another of the Christians joined us as we entered the village. The little palm-leaf schoolhouse is altogether in- adequate. In this village sixty-five persons were baptized one day last year. They are near relatives of our Christians at Gorlamudi. After the Gorlamudi Christians had been bap- tized, one family after the other, their Vaimpad relatives refused to associate with them, and were very angry at them. Meanwhile our teacher continued to preach in Vaimpad. Pas- tor Paulus visited the village, and then the ice broke, and many came and asked to be admitted to holy baptism. "February igth. Day before yesterday work on the Bhimawaram Church had progressed so far that Brother Schmidt's personal supervision was no longer necessary. The corner-stones were laid and then the work was temporarily discontinued for lack of mortar. "February 2ist. My wife went with me in the evening to Vaimpad. The 'white lady' attracted the attention of the whole village. We grasped the opportunity to preach to the 1 The work of digging for the foundations had been begun on December 13, 1893. 302 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL non-Christians. William played the violin and we sang to his accompaniment. We trust our effort was not entirely fruitless. If we only had more time for such preaching! "February 23d. After a night enlivened by the songs and stings of mosquitos my wife and I went to Kopilla, where the Christians gathered around us. Many non-Christians looked over the wall or stood in the compound listening. We sang a hymn and then I preached to them. We prayed together and after the service visited the Christians in their homes. We also went to the noisy heathen temple and invited the Hindus there to come to Christ. ... In Kopilla the women are learning to sew, but the men had learned the art better than the women and showed us their work with pride. The teacher, S. Prakasam, had been an apt pupil in the sewing class in Rajahmundry. When we got back to the boat the Peddamiram school children were being examined by Mrs. Schmidt. "February 24th. We stopped at Gollapalem, where there are a number of inquirers. The principal industry here is the raising of cocoanuts. Through cocoanut gardens we walked down to the sea, where the breakers rolled, foam-crested and thundering, upon the shore. In the thick shade of palm trees we were treated by one of the inquirers to fresh cocoanut milk. It was delicious. The soil here is so fertile that the cocoanut trees bear fruit six times a year. It was nearly noon when we got back to our boats, and then we had to say fare- well to this beautiful spot and also to Dr. and Mrs. Schmidt and the 'Dove of Peace/ for, while they went to Taderu, we hastened to Narsapur and from there homeward." When Pohl got back to. Rajahmundry he found that Mc- Cready had returned to Tallapudi and resumed charge of that district, and that the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Arps had moved into the finished bungalow in Dowlaishwaram, which they shared for a while with Mr. and Mrs. Baehnisch. 1 Dr. and Mrs. Schmidt left Rajahmundry on their third furlough toward the end of March, 1894, bound for Denmark, where they had left their daughter, Dagmar, to be educated. 1 Schmidt had finished the building at an approximate cost of $1800. FROM A MISSIONARY'S DIARY (1894) 303 From Gjelstedt, where they resided during the fall and winter, Schmidt was frequently called away to deliver missionary addresses in the interest of the Danish Missionary Society; and he did so gladly, because of the indebtedness of our Mission to that society for its first missionaries. Mrs. Edman developed symptoms of mental disorder, and Dr. Edman was obliged to bring her back to America. They left Rajahmundry with their two daughters on April 6, 1894. After Schmidt and Edman had left, Pohl was given general supervision of all the territory from Rajahmundry to the sea, including the Velpur, Jegurupad, Samulkot and Bhima- waram districts, and was appointed treasurer in India to succeed Schmidt. Isaacson and Arps, besides studying the vernacular, assisted him in the mission work, the former moving to Samulkot and the latter living at Dowlaishwaram. In Germany Arps had learned the Franz Otto system of medicine, which he practised in India and with which he succeeded in relieving many natives of minor ills and aches. At Muramunda a new chapel was built and consecrated on December 6, 1894. All the missionaries except Isaacson were present and took part in the services of consecration. Pohl described the new building as follows: "It is fifty feet long and sixteen feet wide. The window-frames are filled in with so-called bee-hive work, made of round tiles, allowing air and light to enter. The floor, made of mud, is covered with a bamboo mat for the congregation to sit on. The elevated altar space is decorated with a window one foot wide and five feet high, constructed of stained glass, the work of one of our boys, Alexander. On one side of the window are the words, 'I am the way, the truth and the life, saith the Lord'; on the other side, 'Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out'; and above the arch, 'Behold the Lamb of God, Who taketh away the sin of the world.' The altar table is covered with a white cloth that has a red velvet border in which my wife embroidered the words, 'Lord have mercy upon us.' Of course, all these verses are in Telugu. The altar, pulpit and baptismal font were made in Rajahmundrv by our carpenter-boys." 304 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Concerning the Artman Poor Mohammedan Girls' School Miss Schade wrote: "In spite of the opposition or indifference shown by the different factions among the Mohammedans, the work has been carried on; but after a year's trial the prospects remained the same and it was thought that the time, strength, energy and money expended on this school might be much more profitably spent elsewhere, and that its present state rather hindered than furthered the cause among the Mohammedans. It has, therefore, been decided to dis- continue the school after August ist." The school, however, was continued somewhat longer. During the year 1894 the zenana work was reorganized by the Misses Schade and Sadtler. The former wrote : "When it was understood that we were prepared to begin work, we were visited by some of the native gentlemen, Brahmins and Sudras, who were anxious to have their wives taught. We agreed to come to their homes if they would form classes by getting other women to join their wives. To this they consented. We now spend two hours, from three to five in the afternoon, with each class. The women are very happy while we are with them. They listen quite willingly to the Bible lesson and are also taught sewing and fancy work. As our work grows we will certainly have to use native women as helpers." At the close of the year 1894 Kuder furnished the following resume of the work in the boarding schools: "The year just closing was a good one for the Seminary. For the first time in its history it has closed with over 100 boarding boys in attendance. The total number on the rolls on the last school day was 240. We accept the patronage of Hindu boys most unwillingly. To shield ourselves we imposed fees. These were, however, cheerfully paid. The number of Hindus in- creased almost daily until we were obliged to refuse admission to any more. The Hindu boys are required to attend Bible instruction and also some religious lessons, and seed may fall into waiting soil. A step in the right direction, that we hope soon to take, is the separation of our boys and girls into two distinct schools. Since we have zenana sisters who are willing FROM A MISSIONARY'S DIARY (1894) 305 and competent to assume control of the girls' schools, we will put an end to the co-educational system. The girls' boarding school is then to be made a medium for the preparation of Christian girls and women to assist in zenana classes. For this purpose we are trying to rent a house easily accessible from the Zenana Home. Another separation we would like to make is the divorce of the school from the present school- house. We have thirty acres of land in a lovely situation for the site of our new Seminary. The plans have been prepared and all that is now wanting is the command to go up and possess the land." In 1894 the need of a hospital and medical work in con- nection with our Mission began to be seriously agitated. At its meeting in November, that year, the Board of Foreign Missions resolved, "that we, as a Board, proceed to move in the direction of providing a hospital at such a place within our field in India as may hereafter be determined, and that the Mission Council be requested to give us its views on the sub- ject." The organized women's missionary societies in the General Council responded enthusiastically to this proposal of the Board and began at once to raise funds for a hospital for women and children at Rajahmundry, the Board having decided that if the women's societies furnished the necessary funds, the hospital should be for women and children only, for whose medical and surgical treatment the Government hospitals and dispensaries made no adequate provision. At the suggestion of the Board the Women's Home and Foreign Missionary Society of the Philadelphia Conferences of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania made an effort to secure a woman physician to be sent to India at once. The following appeal was published in the December, 1894, issue of "The Foreign Missionary": "Wanted, a woman medical mis- sionary. For some time past it has been well known to the executive committee of the Women's Home and Foreign Mis- sionary Society of the Philadelphia Conferences of the Evan- gelical Lutheran Ministerium of Pennsylvania that there is urgent need of a woman medical missionary within the 306 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL General Council's Mission in India. A committee was ap- pointed last August and instructed to secure the medical mis- sionary, if possible. Thus far the efforts of the committee have been unsuccessful, and, therefore, this public appeal is addressed to the women physicians in the General Council of the Lutheran Church. Will not one earnest, Christian woman volunteer for this important work? Address Mrs. H. E. Jacobs, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, or Miss Mary Welden, 871 Holly Street, Philadelphia." No one volunteered, and so the society reverted to the first suggestion of the Board and began to look for a young lady willing to take a course in medicine with the view of becoming a medical missionary. CHAPTER XIV THE JUBILEE YEAR (1895) THE year of the Jubilee of the foreign mission work of the General Council in India, 1895, came and went without any special celebration in America; but in India a three days' celebration was held in November at Rajahmundry, at which quite a number of missionaries from other Lutheran Missions in India were present. 1 The Guntur and Breklum Missions were well represented. Among those who delivered addresses were the Provost of the Leipsic Mission, the Rev. K. Pamperrien, and the Rev. Harless of the Breklum Mission. 2 At its meeting in February, 1895, the Board of Foreign Missions resolved to "instruct the Mission Council in India to take steps to provide a Seminary building, look up a proper site and send plans, with a view of laying the corner-stone this Jubilee Year." The condition of the school really de- manded new and more adequate buildings. Kuder wrote in 1895: "When I came here four years ago the number of pupils I found in the Seminary was between 125 and 150. It was then already generally admitted that the building was inconvenient, too small and too poorly equipped. Two years ago it became necessary to overhaul an old room adjoining the church building. Last year it was again necessary to repair another room, and when this was not found sufficient, a cheap shed, the walls of which are bamboo mats and the roof of palmyra leaves, was rushed up. This year a similar but larger shed will have to be erected. The school now contains 265 children and they are still coming." 1 At the same time the twenty-fifth anniversary of the arrival of Schmidt at Rajahmundry was celebrated. 2 In the following spring the Rev. Mr. Harless, on his way back from Madras, whither he had gone to send his wife and children home to Germany, was taken seriously ill at the railway station in Rajahmundry and was removed to the home of Rev. E. Pohl, where he died of fever on March 26, 1896. 307 308 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL A tract of land containing thirty acres just outside of Rajahmundry, presented to the Mission by Dr. H. C. Schmidt, was selected as the site of the new buildings. Plans were sub- mitted to the Board and approved by it. A building com- mittee in India was appointed by the Board, consisting of Kuder, chairman, Schmidt and Pohl. Kuder began by digging a well to insure a good supply of water. Material was being gathered and the foundations were about to be laid, when Schmidt again reached the field after a furlough in Germany and America. He objected to the arrangements which had been made and to the plans, some difficulty arose with regard to the transfer of the site to the Mission, the Board's treasury became somewhat embarrassed because of a lack of funds and the whole undertaking was indefinitely postponed. In India the Jubilee Year was inaugurated by the consecra- tion of the new Emmanuel Chapel a Dowlaishwaram, 1 on the gth of January, during the meeting of the Mission Conference. All the native agents, 160 in number, attended the service of consecration. McCready and Arps conducted the last service in the old schoolhouse. Ten missionaries, including a number of visiting missionaries, all in clerical robes, led the procession to the door of the new building, where the 24th Psalm was read responsively by Arps and the school children. Baehnisch read the first Scripture lesson (Genesis 28:16-19); Kuder, the second (Psalm 122); Isaacson, the third (Psalm 84); Pastor Joseph, the fourth (Luke 19:1- 10); Pastor Paulus, the fifth and sixth (Psalm 51 and I Kings 8:1-13, 22-30). Pohl preached the sermon and performed the act of consecration. Arps offered the prayer of consecration and baptized an infant, his first baptism as a missionary. Missionary Schultze of the Breklum Mission pronounced the benediction. In the evening a supper of rice and curry was served. All of the Rajahmundry missionaries attended the First 1 This chapel is 45 feet long and 15 feet wide with an altar niche 8 feet wide. It has now become entirely inadequate, and a larger building, for which plans and specifications have been approved by the Board, should be provided. EMMANUEL'S CHAPEL AT DOWLAISHWARAM THE HOME OF THE MISSIONARY AT DOWLAISHWARAM AUGUSTANA CHURCH AT SAMULKOT INTERIOR OF SAMULKOT CHURCH THE JUBILEE YEAR (1895) * 309 Joint Conference of Lutheran Missions in the Telugu country, held at Guntur, January 17-19, 1895. Besides the Guntur and Rajahmundry Missions the Schleswig-Holstein or Brek- lum and the Hermannsburg Missions sent delegates. 1 After this Conference Arps went back to Dowlaishwaram to take independent charge of that district, assisted by Pastor Joseph and 18 teachers. "Here in the town of Dow- laishwaram," he wrote, "four different denominations have congregations, namely, the Roman Catholics, the Plymouth Brethren, the Canadian Baptists and the Lutherans. This is to be deplored, but being the case it becomes necessary for our Christians and especially for our teachers to know what is Lutheran." Arps got a box of medicines for epileptics from Bielefeld, Germany, in January, 1895, and began the treat- ment of 19 persons afflicted with this dread disease, some of whom he was able to relieve. Concerning the work of a foreign missionary he wrote: "It is, indeed, a high honor to be a mis- sionary among heathen; but only for one who can accept the darker hours with a grateful heart and can subdue the evil powers with patient confidence of faith. Believe me, there are times when a missionary would rather break stones than do the work of a missionary. Nevertheless, love for the poor heathen will finally overcome all hindrances, all their wiles and wickedness, all their pride and blindness, all their un- gratefulness and hardness of heart." Miss Sadtler left Rajahmundry on April 8th, the Board having given her special permission to return to the United States in order to attend the golden wedding anniversary of her parents, the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Benjamin Sadtler, of Baltimore, Md. "Holy week," wrote Pohl, "saw the depar- ture of Miss Sadtler. Palm Sunday afternoon the congre- gation at Rajahmundry assembled for an hour of prayer, and we prayed God to give our sister a safe journey home. Our Christians presented her, whom they all respect and love, a 1 Those who took part in the program were Unangst, Uhl, Wolf, Harpster, Aberly, Dr. Anna Kugler and Miss A. L. Sadtler, of the Guntur Mission; Kuder, Pohl and Miss Agnes I. Schade, of the Rajahmundry Mission; Schultze and Harless, of the Breklum Mission; Woerrlein and Maneke, of the Hermannsburg Mission. 310 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL beautifully bound Telugu Bible. We shall miss her very much. She has the happy faculty of seeing the bright side of things." After Easter Pohl made his first trip to Gonegudem, Chodawaram and Rampa in the hill country. Of Choda- waram he wrote: "I had imagined it to be a small village, but it consists of nothing more than a police-station, a rest-house, a hospital of three little rooms, unoccupied, half a dozen small buildings for native officials, also unoccupied, and a few huts. Around each building a bamboo fence is built to about a man's height, as a means of defence against the possible attack of jungle tribes." Rampa he found to consist of only twenty huts built in two separate clusters of ten each, about half a mile apart in the midst of the jungle. Of the hill tribes he said, "How different they are from the Telugus in physiog- nomy and customs! With fiery patriotism they speak of the times of the Pituri, the rebellion and the loss of their ancient rights, which led them to rebel. In Rampa and Durachin- tapalem, ten miles apart, we have twenty-five Christians, nine of whom are communicants." 1 In accordance with a resolution of the Mission Council adopted in January, 1894, and approved by the Board, the boarding girls were withdrawn from the "Seminary" and or- ganized as a separate school under the direction of Miss Agnes I. Schade. A building was rented at 60 rupees a month, and the school was opened June 1 8, 1895, with 19 boarders and 25 day pupils. By the end of the first month the number of boarders had increased to 29. The school building contained but three rooms, each 14 feet long and 12 feet wide. The verandah had to be used to accommodate some of the classes. Besides her work in connection with this school, Miss Schade under- took to manage the Hindu Girls' School at Riverdale, the Artman Mohammedan Girls' School and the zenana work. After the girls had been withdrawn, the Seminary was con- 1 Pohl baptized two persons on this visit to Rampa. On his homeward way he visited Jembupatnam and Srirangapatnam, where a few inquirers resided; Nallakonda, where a service was held; Kateru and Gadala, where a few Chris- tians lived. THE JUBILEE YEAR (1895) 311 tinued as a Boys' Boarding School under Kuder; 134 boys were enrolled, 1 changes were made in the staff of teachers, 2 and the promising graduates of the Lower Secondary Depart- ment were sent to the Government High School in the town. A new curriculum of Bible studies for those who expected to become teachers in the Mission was introduced, including Biblical History, Church History, Biblical Introduction, Bible Geography, Catechism and a little Homiletics. The question of Industrial Schools in connection with the Mission was revived at this time, and the Board was pressed for a decision. Lace-making had been begun again; Mc- Cready continued to carry on the industry of tile-making at Tallapudi; and Schmidt had developed the work of the prin- tery at Rajahmundry. The Board discussed this question in its report to the General Council hi 1895, as follows: "Our missionaries, some hold, are sent out to preach the Gospel, and to allow them to spend their tune in the carrying on of this or that industry seems to them to be, to say the least, a misuse of their time and talents. On the other hand, it is said, they must necessarily do other things besides that of preaching the Gospel, as for instance, the erection of houses for themselves, of schools and churches; and whether the supervision of an industrial school is not only another branch of the work of a missionary is a question that is not so easily answered." The Board refused to assume any responsibility for the indus- trial work already established, discouraged its development and declined to approve any new industrial enterprise. 3 1 Of these, 120 were supported by scholarships in America. The school received Rs. 310 government grant during 1894-5. 2 R. Samuel took K. Gabriel's place. M. William was discharged and L. Johann employed in his stead. N. Charles, a son of Pastor Paulus, was added to the staff. M. Devadas was sent to the local Normal School; K. Gabriel and B. Anandam to the Government High School. A gymnastic master was em- ployed at Rs. 1 2 a month. 3 On January 27, 1896, the Board adopted the following resolutions: "This Board is not in a position either to institute anything new or to continue work now hi operation, unless it can be done without expense to this Board. Re- solved, therefore, That this Board in accordance with its action taken at its meeting July 15, 1895, will not institute any new industrial schools or continue those already established unless they can be continued or instituted without any expense to this Board at this time for financial reasons; and be it further Resolved, That if a missionary thinks it proper and desirable to continue or organize an industrial school such schools at no time to be an expense to our 312 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL The question of building a sanitarium for our missionaries and their families somewhere on the hills or at the seashore was also decided adversely by the Board, because "the demands of other parts of the work seemed to be of greater importance." Dr. and Mrs. Schmidt with their daughter came to America from Denmark in the spring of 1895, reaching Philadelphia April ipth. He was in great demand as a lecturer on our Telugu Mission in India and carried out an extensive itinerary. He met with the Board six times during the year, and his advice concerning the proposed hospital, sanitarium, Seminary site and buildings, new rules and regulations for the Mission and other matters was very useful. Among other matters that of establishing a High School for boys at Peddapur was dis- cussed, but no definite conclusion was reached. Dr. Edman, who had drawn the attention of the Board to this subject at a conference with the Board in April, urged that the boys' school which he had begun at Peddapur in 1891, as a primary school, and which was attended by a large number of Brahmin boys, should be raised to the standard of a high school or college, and Schmidt seconded the proposal, but the Board hesitated. 1 Another interesting subject which Schmidt discussed with the Board was his land endowment scheme. At its meeting on July loth, a letter was read to the Board from Mr. John G. Haas of Lancaster, Pa., in which he stated that he had given Dr. Schmidt the sum of $3000 with which to build a church in India, in memory of his departed wife, Charlotte Sophia, and $5000 in addition to be kept as a trust fund, the proceeds of which were to be used for the support of a native pastor who should serve the congregation worshipping in the memorial church. "Dr. Schmidt," continue the Board's min- treasury such work shall be under the supervision of the Mission Council, reports of its progress shall be made regularly to the Council, and all profits accruing therefrom shall be paid into the Mission treasury." 1 This school at Peddapur was continued by Isaacson, who, in March, 1895, raised it to the grade of a Lower Secondary School, and placed it in charge of Ramo Rao, as headmaster. This school met all of its expenses from fees and government grant and from the private purse of the Isaacsons. In 1897 a large building was rented and occupied by the Lower Secondary Department, the Primary Department remaining in the old building as a separate department. THE JUBILEE YEAR (1895) 313 utes, "explained that he had received these $8000 at differ- ent times for the purpose specified, that he had placed the money at interest, and that the reason he had not mentioned it before was that it was Mr. Haas' expressed desire not to have it mentioned. Dr. Schmidt stated that he had com- menced building the memorial church near Mahadevipatnam, which by resolution he was authorized to complete according to the desire of the donor; and the balance of the $8000 was to be invested in land in India." It was, furthermore, resolved by the Board to request the Mission Council in India to suggest some one who might be called as the native pastor of the con- gregation, when organized; and the thanks of the Board was expressed to Mr. Haas for his generous gifts. Other gifts for special objects received during 1895, were those of the Sunday school of St. Johannis' Church, Reading, Pa., and of two brothers, members of the same congregation, for the support of the native pastors Joseph and Paulus, and one of $600, secured through Mrs. H. E. Jacobs from two unnamed donors, husband and wife, for a new mission-boat which was named the "Margaret" and was used by Arps in the Dowlaishwaram district. While the Women's Missionary Society of the Philadelphia Conferences was looking for a woman physician willing to go to India, it learned of the desire of Miss Charlotte Swenson of Axtell, Kan., to become a foreign missionary, and presented her name to the Board. Upon the recommendation of mem- bers of the Swedish Augustana Synod and after having passed a satisfactory medical examination, she was called by the Board on May 27, 1895. Charlotte Swenson, the third woman missionary of the General Council, was born January 8, 1870, in Langhult, Himryd, Sweden. She was taken to America by her parents, Anders and Anna Maria Swenson, when she was eight years old. The family lived at Axtell, Kansas, where her father died in 1879. She was confirmed in the Swedish Lutheran Church near Axtell. She attended Bethany College, Linds- borg, Kan., and was graduated from its Normal Department. Having accepted the call of the Board of Foreign Missions, 314 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL she was commissioned on July 17, 1895, ' m St. James' German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia. This service was also a fare- well meeting with Dr. and Mrs. Schmidt, in whose company Miss Swenson sailed from New York on July 2oth. They reached Rajahmundry in the midst of a cyclonic storm on September 5th. After his arrival in India Schmidt resumed charge of the Bhimawaram and the Rajahmundry-Korukonda districts, Pohl taking the oversight of the newly formed Tadepal- ligudem district with headquarters in the town of the same name, where he supervised the erection of a missionary's residence. Unable to secure the material which he wanted, it became necessary for him to choose and cut down trees, have them sawed into boards and carted to the building place, make the lime and the bricks under his personal supervision, and, indeed, give his personal attention to every detail of construction. The Board reported the following statistics for the Jubilee Year at the convention of the General Council in Easton, Pa., October 9-15, 1895: Foreign missionaries .......... 8 Number of Christians ........ 4484 Wives of missionaries ......... 8 Communicants .............. 1 763 Woman missionaries .......... 3 Stations and out-stations ..... 198 Native pastors ............... 2 Schools ..................... 102 Native workers .............. 143 Pupils in school .............. 1893 In May, 1895, the Board increased the amount allowed per quarter for general expenses in India to $1400, and in October, to $1500. The receipts of the Board for the bien- nium, 1893-95, were $40,783.61; the expenditures, $37,333.39. This was an increase of receipts over the previous biennium of $7927.09, and an increase of expenditures amounting to 1 The Rev. Carl A. Blomgren, Ph. D., and the Rev. J. J. Heischmann, D. D., were elected by the General Council to take the places of the Revs. G. Nelsenius and E. Elofscn. At its reorganization meeting after the General Council the Board re-elected its former officers. CHAPTER XV DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) POHL was busily engaged during the year 1896 in the erec- tion of the Tadepalligudem bungalow and chapel. In Sep- tember he finished the latter, and occupied it temporarily with his family as a dwelling. On one of the last Sundays in February, 1899, while Miss Sadtler was on a visit to Tade- palligudem, the first service was held in the chapel. "Building is slow in India," she wrote, "especially as our missionaries have usually had the bricks and tiles burned, the logs sawed and then made into doors and windows under their personal supervision. This was the case with Mr. Pohl. When work was first begun on the site he sometimes lived in a small boat which he had fitted up, and later he slept in a shed with a palmyra-leaf roof. Still later he occupied the church which was the first building finished. During my recent visit Mr. and Mrs. Pohl and their children were living there. While the necessary supervision of the work went on, the Christians of neighboring villages were visited. It was odd to see the in- genious contrivances which were made to answer the purpose of necessary furniture. The box, for instance, in which the church bell came from Philadelphia, was converted into a table. During my visit we were only one day in the church, when Mr. Pohl proposed that we move to the kitchen. We moved Saturday afternoon and took possession of the three small rooms in it. ... The new bungalow is conveniently arranged, differing from most houses hi having gothic arches above the windows and on the verandahs, which greatly add to its appearance. The iron trusses which support the roof have just been placed, and as soon as the necessary carpenter work is done the tiles can be laid. After we moved from the church it was all cleaned and prepared for the service next day. Mr. Pohl had just had the altar, made of teak wood with 315 316 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL carving on it, brought from Rajahmundry. This was put in its place. On Sunday morning the new bell from Philadelphia, which has a clear, pleasing ring, called the people from Tade- palligudem and a neighboring village to service. A few benches were put in the rear and so placed as to allow room for the school-children and women, who prefer sitting on the floor. The altar cloth sent by Miss Emma Endlich was used, and Mr. Pohl wore the gown. A white gown is used during the hot season. It was the first service at which all was in order. The Telugu Church Book was used, the carpenter boys from Rajahmundry rendering good assistance in the singing. Mr. Pohl spoke to the congregation in the form of a catechisation, as this method suited the comprehension of the people better than a regular sermon. The church was well filled with Christians, and he made the parable of the sower very plain to them. At three o'clock he held a Sunday school for the children. At 4.30 p. M. I accompanied him to Pentapad, four of our Christian carpenters going with us. Reaching the place, we walked through the bazaar or market place, where grain, tobacco, cloths and other materials were for sale. Tracts, Telugu and English, were given to the people who could read and would take them. Mr. Pohl, the Christian boys and I, seated on a chair, were soon hid from view by the crowd of men and boys who listened to the singing of our hymns, and Mr. Pohl spoke earnestly to them. There was no disturbance. Occasionally questions were asked. It was quite dark when we again reached the house. At eight o'clock in the evening Mr. Pohl again held a service in the church, some Christians from a distant village being able to come then better than in the morning. After church, at 9.45 P. M., while we were seated in the house conversing, half a dozen men came to talk to Mr. Pohl about religion. He took a chair and a candle and went into the unfinished bungalow and talked with them until nearly eleven o'clock. They were earnest inquirers and wanted a teacher to be sent to their village, but their request could not be granted because, at present, instructions from the Board tell us not to undertake any new work. Do you not call this a full Sunday's work?" DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) 317 The Board and the Mission entertained the hope that Pohl would be allowed to remain indefinitely or, at least, long enough to complete the building operations at Tadepalli- gudem; but the Schleswig-Holstein Mission Society, after having given notice a number of times of its desire to recall him, insisted, in 1897, that he should withdraw from the Rajahmundry Mission; and in August, that year, he left the field to go to Parvatipur, Vizagapatam district, a station in the Breklum Mission. In its report to the General Council in 1897 the Board bore him the following testimony: "His seven years of labor before he came to our Mission gave him an experience that made him a valuable and efficient mission- ary, and his fidelity to his calling and his Lord secured for his labors a blessing from God that none could fail to recognize." Toward the close of the year 1895 Baehnisch was granted a six months' leave of absence in order to take his wife back to Germany, in the hope that her impaired health would be restored; but while in Germany he resigned and his resigna- tion was accepted to take effect on January 31, 1897. Mrs. Kuder, on account of weakness and desirous of pro- viding for the education of the elder children, came to the United States in the spring of 1896, and, after having made arrangements for their care and education, returned to India with a child who had been born in Virginia, in October, 1897. To take the places of Pohl and Baehnisch the Board called Mueller and Holler, neither of whom, however, remained in the Mission long enough to render any lasting service. Rev. Edward Hans Mueller was born at Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany, and received his preparatory training in Germany. He was called by the Board while still a student at the Theo- logical Seminary in Philadelphia, in 1896, was ordained that year at the meeting of the Pennsylvania Ministerium in St. John's Church, Allentown, Pa., was commissioned June 3, 1896, in St. Michael's Church of the same city, and sailed directly afterward for Germany, where during the summer he took a short course in medicine at Strassburg, and mar- ried. He reached Rajahmundry early in October, 1896, lived and studied Telugu at Samulkot and then at Tadepalli- 318 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL gudem, and after having passed his final examination in Telugu at the end of his second year, he assumed independ- ent charge of the Tadepalligudem district, and continued to look after its interests until his resignation in 1899. Rev. Peter Holler, pastor of a congregation at Schuyler, Neb., was called by the Board at its meeting on August 30, 1897. He was commissioned on October 5th, in St. Michael's Church, Germantown, Pa., sailed the next day, and arrived at Rajahmundry on December 21, 1897. He was the first mis- sionary to take his Telugu examination before a committee of the South India Missionary Association. After the return of Kuder to the United States in 1898, he was associated with Dr. Schmidt in the care of the Boys' Boarding School. He resigned on June 14, 1901, and his relation to the Board terminated a month and a half later. Miss Kate L. Sadtler returned to the Mission in 1896, and reaching Rajahmundry on November i2th, she resumed charge of the Hindu Girls' School in the Riverdale compound and assisted in the zenana work, until she finally left the field March 15, 1902, to come to the United States and care for her mother in her declining years. Just before leaving Rajahmundry she furnished the following review of her work as a foreign missionary: "The Caste Girls' School was started by Mrs. Schmidt in 1882 with four scholars. ... I was given charge of the school in July, 1891. Many girls have entered and left in the twenty years since it was opened. There have been even more changes than there would be at home, for in India girls are not, as a rule, allowed to remain in school after they are considered grown, that is, after twelve years of age. ... In October, 1893, I opened a Sunday school for the girls, which, except during my absence in America from 1895 to 1896, has continued uninterruptedly. ... I have formed a number of classes in the homes of former pupils of the school. I have always found them delighted to sing the Christian lyrics learned in school and to continue the Bible lessons. I find it very hard to leave many of these former school girls, now married women with children of their own, as I am attached to them and they to me. I also think some DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) 319 of them believe in Christ as their Saviour but have not the courage to confess Him before men. ... It was eleven years ago last December since I came to India. ... I find that my first zenana classes were formed in June, 1893. I began with three classes. The first of all was among some Sudra girls who had been pupils in the school, and I still teach them. There have been changes, but two of the young women are those with whom I started. They are married now and have children but still wish to be taught. Another class was com- posed of four Brahmin women, the wives of professors in the Government College here. The husbands asked me to come and teach their wives. When we began zenana work, not having so many classes, we also taught, after the Bible lesson, some fancy work. As the classes multiplied I could no longer, as at first, give an afternoon to a class, and the fancy work had to be discontinued. I have now twenty-four classes to attend to in five afternoons, and either teaching Bible lessons or singing Telugu hymns from 2 o'clock to half past five is very tiresome, but when the women are interested one forgets the fatigue. Since Miss Swenson left for America, now two years ago this month, I have had the oversight of all the zenana work. Ruth, Pastor Joseph's widow, is employed as a Bible-woman. Miss Dagmar Schmidt very kindly came to my assistance and took a number of Miss Swenson's classes, to which she has added many new ones. She does the teaching in the zenanas gratuitously for the love of the work. I regret greatly that circumstances should have arisen that call us both away from the work at the same time. Owing to Miss Strempfer's long- continued illness, she is unable to take charge of the zenana work at present. If Miss Schade, who has agreed to give the work oversight until Miss Strempfer is better, is successful in finding Bible- women, the work may be continued; otherwise, I fear, many classes will have to be dropped. We have now eighty-nine houses in which 290 pupils are taught. I have six classes in Dowlaishwaram, where I drive every Wednesday afternoon, leaving here at one o'clock and returning at six. These, I fear, will have to be dropped. . . . When the first trying years in which you can only study Telugu and feel 320 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL that you are not very useful, are passed, the work grows increasingly interesting. It is with regret that I leave India and the zenana work, for I am greatly attached to some of my women and girls, but I am called home for reasons which I cannot disregard. I have taught these women and prayed for them. I must now leave them in God's hands. If He will, He can cause the seed planted and watered to spring up and bear fruit. I may see them no more on earth; may God grant that I may see some of them in heaven!" Miss Charlotte Swenson was associated with Miss Sadtler in the zenana work from November, 1896, until she left the field in February, 1900, on account of ill health. During the hot season in May and June the missionaries usually take a vacation of six weeks on the hills, for which the Board grants an allowance. 1 The most popular summer resorts for missionaries are Waltair, Kodaikanal on the Pul- ney Hills, and Kotagiri on the Nilgiri Hills. Miss Swen- son and Miss Sadtler spent the hot season of 1899 at Kodai- kanal, and Miss Sadtler furnished the following interesting description of the journey to that resort: "We are fortunate in now having a short route to Madras, only twenty-four hours by rail. From there we continued southward from Madras about 350 miles, where our railroad journey ended. Then we rode for 30 miles by bullock bandy. 2 Straw is put in the cart, over which we spread our rugs and lie down. The jolting makes man)' people sea-sick. Starting at 4.30 p. M., we reached the foot of the Ghats at 2.30 A. M. There at a dak-bungalow we had lunch, previously ordered, and after putting on heavier clothing we started at 4.30 A. M. by starlight to ascend the Ghats, a distance of 12 miles. The ascent is made on a pony or by being carried in a chair to which poles are attached, the poles resting on the shoulders of the bearers. I chose a chair which broke when I was half-way up the mountain and had to be tied together with ropes, after which I felt uneasy, especially on the steep ascents. However, I reached our cottage safely at 10.30 A. M. It is beautifully situated on the 1 Rs. 75 for an adult and Rs. 25 for a child. * A "bandy" is a cart with or without springs; any vehicle. DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) 321 brow of a hill, with a fine view of the valley and surrounding hills. Sometimes we are far above the clouds which fill the valley with a billowy, fleecy effect like high banks of snow. The air is bracing and cool, the thermometer ranging from 58 to 72 degrees above zero." Besides the recreation afforded at the summer resort, there are many conferences and meetings of missionaries, which always prove to be helpful and inspiring. The weeks spent at these resorts are both a physical and spiritual refreshment to the tired missionaries, who return to their work on the plains with new vigor and interest. Several Missions have pur- chased property and erected cottages at Kodaikanal and Kotagiri for their missionaries. 1 Closely associated with the zenana work is the medical work for women and children, and the beginning of such work in our Mission was made during the period under review in this chapter, by the sending out of Dr. Lydia Woerner. Dr. Lydia Woerner, a daughter of the Rev. Gottlob Fried- erich Woerner and Friederica, nee Woern, was born at Spring Station, Tex., while her father served a congregation at that place. The family afterward moved to Roxboro, a suburb of Philadelphia. She studied medicine at the Woman's Medical College, Philadelphia, for three years at the expense of the Women's Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, and was graduated in 1899. The Board called her to go to India that year as the first medical missionary of the General Council, pledging itself to establish a Dispensary and a Hospital in Rajahmundry for women and children. Dr. Woerner was commissioned for her work on Friday evening, October 13, 1899, in St. John's English Lutheran Church, Phialdelphia, sailed from New York four days later and arrived at Rajahmundry on November 29th, having taken the overland route from Bombay. She applied herself to the study of Telugu, spent 1 In 1912 Mrs. J. H. Harpster donated a choice building site at Kotagiri to the Boards of the General Council and of the General Synod, giving each one- half or about an acre. The bungalows erected on this site are memorials to Dr. Harpster. The funds for the bungalows of the General Council's mis- sionaries were secured through Mrs. F. A. Kaehler's activity from women's missionary societies throughout America. 322 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL some time at Guntur, took Miss Schade's place as manager of the Girls' Boarding School while the latter was on furlough in 1901, and began the medical mission work in Rajahmundry. Before taking her first furlough 1 Miss Schade was able to complete the erection of new and adequate buildings for her boarding school for girls, which in 1897 enrolled fifty Christian boarders, twenty-three Christian day pupils and twenty Hindu day pupils. In December, 1896, a site of four acres was secured from the Government through Mr. Brodie, the Collector of the District, as a grant, by merely paying for the trees which grew on the lots. Miss Schade contributed from her private purse sufficient funds to build the main school building, and the Board appropriated Rs. 8100 ($27oo) 2 for the dormitory building. McCready supervised the building operations. The corner-stone of the Dormitory was laid April 22, 1898, and that of the main school building July i3th of the same year. On October 31 , 1898, Miss Schade and her pupils moved into the new dormitory. Miss Schade described the occupation of the building as follows: "All arrangements having been previously made, we started out in procession seventy-five strong, each child taking her belongings with her. In two hours we were quite settled and ready for the dedication service. The missionaries present at the station and many of the native Christian attended. First we assembled on the west verandah and the blessing of God was invoked upon the children who were to occupy the rooms. We next proceeded to the prayer-room where an interesting little service was held. A few addresses were made, and then one of the girls, after rehearsing some of the difficulties en- countered during the time of building, thanked Rev. Mr. McCready in behalf of all the girls for his great interest in the school and his untiring labors in erecting this building for them. We next went to the well, the kitchen, the work- 1 Miss Schade remained in India ten years and three months before taking her first furlough which lasted only eight months. In Sept., 1896, the Board passed a rule making the term of service for woman missionaries five years. It has since been lengthened to six years. . 2 Besides the Board's appropriation, Miss Swenson contributed Rs. 500; Miss Sadtler, Rs. 200, and Rev. Isaacson, Rs. 20, making a total 'of Rs. 8820 (or $2940) contributed and used for this building. MAIN BUILDING OF THE GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL AT RAJAHMUNDRY DORMITORIES OF THE GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL, RAJAHMUNDRY A GROUP OF MISSIONARIES E. Pohl Dagmar Schmidt H. E. Isaacson Mrs. E. Pohl Mrs. H. C. Schmidt H. C. Schmidt Mrs. H. E. Isaacson Sister Pohl Kate L. Sadtler THE \VELL IX THE COMPOUND OF THE GIRLS' CENTRAL SCHOOL, RAJAHMUNDRY DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) 323 room and the sick-room, and in every place appropriate prayers were offered. Finally, we reached the rooms of the zenana sister in charge, and there a very fervent prayer was offered for her who was to teach and guide all those who for a longer or shorter period of time would find their home within these walls. After a prayer at the gateway this simple and pleasing service was brought to a close with the Lord's Prayer, the doxology and the benediction." The main school building was completed and occupied on June 18, 1899. The estimate for this building was Rs. 5700 ($1900), of which the government gave Rs. 1900 as a building grant, so that it cost Miss Schade about $1300. Despite the commendable progress which was made in India the Board found itself unable to finance the work ade- quately on account of a lack of income. In September, 1896, it became necessary to negotiate a loan of $30x30 from the Board of Directors of the Theological Seminary in Philadel- phia on a note endorsed by the Rev. William Ashmead Schaef- fer and William H. Staake, Esq. A special appeal for larger contributions was published in the church and missionary journals, and the General Council at Erie, Pa., in 1897, re- solved to urge the synods to raise $50,000 a year for the next two years. These efforts, however, failed utterly, and the next two years actually showed a decrease of income. 1 By strict economy, however, the Board was able to liquidate its indebtedness in 1899. It was exercised in two directions, namely: first, in a systematic reduction of the estimates for the regular work of the Mission and in stringent orders to the missionaries not to begin any new work; and, secondly, in dispensing with the full services of the Missionary Superin- tendent, the Rev. J. Telleen, who voluntarily withdrew to take charge of a congregation in Chicago during the year 1897, giving only a part of his time and attention to the Board on a greatly reduced salary. He again resumed his work in full ^he income for the biennium 1897-99 was $39,476.64, as compared with $41 ,051.12 for the previous two years. While the report of tie treasurer in 1897 showed receipts of $1333.33 from the proceeds of the German and English pub- lications of the Board of Publication, no such receipts are recorded in the treas- urer's report of 1899. This to some extent accounts for the reduced income. 324 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL on June i, 1898. On this subject the Board reported to the General Council in 1899, as follows: "To keep the subject before the people is the idea of the Board as well as of the General Council, and this can only be done by having a man constantly employed, as Mr. Telleen is at present, in visiting synods, conferences, missionary conventions, Luther leagues, congregations and individuals in the interest of the work. The activity and intelligent zeal of our Superintendent, who has headquarters both at Rock Island and Chicago, have been put to good service in the effort to increase the interest of the Church in the work of bringing the heathen to the knowledge of Christ Jesus." A number of important changes occurred in the Board during the period under review in this chapter. The Board sustained a decided loss in the death of its President, the Rev. Professor Charles W. Schaefler, D. D., on May 15, 1896. He had served as a member of the Board since August, 1880, a period of almost sixteen years, and had been its President since September, 1892. The Rev. H. Grahn was elected his successor on May n, 1896. The Rev. E. H. Pohle was elected the German Secretary of the Board June 12, 1896, succeeding Dr. Grahn in that office, but he resigned a year and a half later, Mr. Conrad Itter becoming his successor. Mr. J. Washington Miller, of Philadelphia, an efficient lay member of the Board, who served since the beginning of 1887, died in March, 1900, the Board paying him a just tribute for his service. Quite a change was made in the membership of the Board by the General Council at Erie, Pa., in 1897, when it was resolved that the Board should consist of eight clergymen and eight laymen. As a result the following new members were elected: Messrs. Albert Oettinger, Conrad Itter, J. A. Bremer, F. Veit, George W. March and Henry S. Cassel, taking the places of the Revs. E. Niedecker, J. F. C. Fluck, S. A. Ziegenfuss, J. J. Heischmann, and C. W. Schaeffer, D. D., deceased. Those who remained in the Board were the Revs. Carl A. Blomgren, E. H. Pohle, E. R. Cassaday, F. W. Weiskotten, W. A. Schaeffer, J. L. Sibole, E. E. Sibole, H. Grahn, and DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) 325 Messrs. J. W. Miller and W. H. Staake. Mr. L. Heist was elected by the Board in the stead of Mr. Cassel, who declined to serve. In 1899 the General Council elected Mr. Chas. A. Smith in the place of Mr. F. Veit and the Rev. L. G. Abraham- son, D. D., in the place of the Rev. August Fischer, who had filled the unexpired term of the Rev. E. H. Pohle. To fill the vacancy created by the death of Mr. J. W. Miller, Mr. Chas. B. Opp was elected by the Board, and when the Rev. J. L. Sibole resigned in September, 1900, the Rev. S. A. Ziegenfuss was restored to membership in the Board. Pastor N. Paulus died May 25, 1897, and less than two years later, on Palm Sunday, March 26, 1899, Pastor T. Joseph also fell asleep in Jesus. Concerning Pastor Paulus Dr. Schmidt wrote: "He was a remarkable man and one of the most influential native pastors in these parts of India. He dated from olden times when education was at a low ebb in India, especially among his class of people. He could not write English well enough to compose glorious reports, else the missionary journals would have printed them and not forgotten to record that this native pastor in little more than eighteen years baptized close to five thousand persons, not to speak of other ministerial acts. . . . He was a good speaker, had a powerful voice, and his language was plain and easily understood, even by the most ignorant. The secret of his success was his love for the people, even the poorest. He worked with great self-denial and to his end never grew tired of seeking the lost. He would go to the Mala quarters and preach to them, and when they were friendly he would go into one of their houses, put up with them for the night, sit on their cot and tell them of God's wonderful plan of salvation. That was his mode of working even after his ordination and to his very end. Pastor Paulus never was discouraged in his work and often said, 'It is only a question of time. They will all come. We must only wait a little.' For eight years he worked under me as a catechist, and when he was ordained at Christmas, 1878, he took charge of a large part of my field, where I considered him as the pastor loci. Although it remained part of my work and I 326 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL came twice a year to visit the Christian villages, examine the schools and congregations, still I never performed ministerial acts or interfered with his work, except as supervisor. He always consulted me on important matters, and he never did anything without my consent. He managed the work remark- ably well and showed as much sound judgment as if he had grown up in congregational work at home. He paid all the teachers and preachers, between fifty and sixty of them, and looked after buildings and repairs. I always found that he got more help and labor out of the Christians than a mis- sionary could have done. But he was principally an evan- gelist and understood how to bring the people into the Church." Pastor T. Joseph's health for some time before his death was such as to interfere with his activity. For years he was almost blind. Still his ministry was abundantly blessed up to the last, and he preached the Sunday before his death. After his death Dr. Schmidt wrote: "Oh, that we had more such native pastors! When we see so many missionaries leave on account of ill health and for other reasons, we cannot but pray that the vacancies caused by the deaths of these native ministers may be filled soon, and that we may get even more of them to look after the growing con- gregations." For the better administration of the Mission a revised set of Rules and Regulations, which had been worked out by the Board while Dr. Schmidt was on furlough in the United States, was adopted and published in 1895. Under these Rules the Mission Council in India, composed of all missionaries, women as well as men, who had been placed "in charge of mission work," constituted the governing body, "the executive com- mittee of the Board on the mission field." Through official correspondence between this Council and the Board the mission work was to be regulated; but unfortunately several of the missionaries wrote private letters to certain members of the Board, and these letters were sometimes read to the Board and made the basis of its action. The inevitable result was dissension among the missionaries, which came to a head DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) 327 in connection with the ordination of J. William Garu; 1 but it is due Mr. William to state that he was the innocent cause of the trouble. It was not his fitness for the holy office, but the manner in which his ordination was effected, that was in question. After the death of Pastor Paulus the need of ordaining some one to take his place in the Bhimawaram district was strongly urged by Dr. Schmidt. The first native worker suggested for this high honor was P. V. Ratnam, who, how- ever, just at this time withdrew from the Mission and went over to the Church Missionary Society. 2 At a meeting of the ordained missionaries held at Dr. Schmidt's residence, "Riverdale," in October, 1897, it was moved to license J. William to perform marriages rather than to ordain him at once. Three of the missionaries voted for this motion and three against it. In due form and order this meeting and its action was reported to the Board ; but in pri- vate letters two of the missionaries urged the immediate ordi- nation of J. William. The Board decided to have him ordained and, after having obtained the authorization of the President of the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, directed the officers of the Mission Council in India to perform the act of ordination. This action of the Board was taken on January 24, 1898. The officers of the Mission Council, Kuder and McCready, joined by Arps and Mueller, thereupon wrote to the Board, explain- ing that the Mission Council, as such, had not yet acted on the question of ordination, and that the only question then before it was that of licensing to perform marriages. However, when the Mission Council again met, in April, 1898, the ques- tion of the ordination of J. William was formally presented and debated, and the final vote stood two for the motion to recommend for ordination and three against it. Schmidt, who was absent from this meeting, was known to favor the ordina- tion, and as a matter of courtesy his vote was recorded in the affirmative. The officers of the Mission Council now declared themselves ready to ordain J. William, if the Board so ordered; 1 "Garu" signifies Mr. 2 Subsequently he returned and was ordained at Rajahmundry. 328 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL but instead of renewing its former action, it rescinded it, at a meeting held May 23, 1898, and authorized and instructed Schmidt and Isaacson "to ordain J. William to the office of the holy ministry, said ordination to take place in the presence of the missionaries or at such time and place as the circum- stances of the case may demand." It was this order of the Board that led to the resignation of four of its missionaries, Kuder, McCready, Mueller and Arps, who resented the Board's nullification of the constituted authority in the Mission. Kuder, who had not been well for some time, left Rajah- mundry on November i, 1898, and returned with his family to the United States. He sought and obtained an audience with the Board at its meeting on January 16, 1899. The Board, however, refused to hear him concerning the matter in question between the Board and four of its missionaries, whereupon Kuder handed over the written resignations in his charge. Arps meanwhile had written to the Board, asking that his signature to the paper presented by Kuder be erased, and that his resignation be withdrawn. Jeriprolu William was ordained, as ordered by the Board, on January 8, 1899, by Dr. Schmidt and Rev. Mr. Isaacson, assisted by the Revs. P. Holler and E. Pohl. He was forty years old when he was ordained, having been born at Guntur in 1859. At a special meeting of the Board, on January 30, 1899, the resignation of Kuder was accepted to take effect on Decem- ber ist, that year, with sick-leave allowance of one-half salary and with permission to deliver addresses in America in the interest of foreign missions under a special financial arrange- ment with the pastors of congregations inviting him. Mc- Cready's and Mueller's resignations were also accepted to take effect on April i, 1899. At its meeting on February 26th, that year, the Board resolved to cut the Gordian knot by sus- pending the Mission Council in India, and the notification of its suspension was cabled to the Mission. This most unfortunate state of affairs was reported in full by the Board to the General Council at Chicago, in 1899, DISSENSION IN THE MISSION (1896-99) 329 which resolved to direct the Board to send a suitable person to India as a special agent to settle the difficulties there. The action of the Board in accepting the resignations of three of its missionaries was approved, as was also the ordination of J. William, with an expression of regret that such an im- portant step had been taken "while the Mission Council in India had postponed its final vote on the recommendation of the candidate." 1 J The General Council adopted the following resolution: "When native pastors are needed for the pastoral care of congregations, the ordained mem- bers of the Mission Council, who are entitled to vote, shall examine and pro- pose the candidate for ordination to the Board of Foreign Missions; and if two-thirds of said ordained members of the Mission Council agree in such recommendation, and if the Board of Foreign Missions, by a two-thirds vote, decide in favor of the applicant, the Board shall authorize the ordained officers of the Conference to ordain the candidate as a member of 'The Telugu Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in India.' No one shall be ordained except for the direct ministration of the pastoral office." CHAPTER XVI RECONSTRUCTION (1900-02) THE re-election of the Board of Foreign Missions at the Chicago Convention of the General Council, in 1899^ was an expression of willingness on the part of the Council to give the Board an opportunity during the next two years to cope with the unfortunate conditions in the Mission and to demon- strate its ability to bring order out of chaos. 2 To reinforce its greatly depleted force of missionaries 3 the Board, in 1900, called two new men and two woman mis- sionaries, and finally yielded to the repeated requests of Dr. Edman to be returned as a missionary to India. The Rev. Gomer B. Matthews was called by the Board of Foreign Missions while he was a senior in the Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He was commissioned and sent out in August, 1900, and reached the field hi India in October, that year. A few months after his arrival his health failed, and in a letter under date of May 31, 1901, he informed the Board that he would leave India the next day. The Board terminated its relation with him on June i, 1901. The Rev. Ernst William Neudoerffer, the nineteenth foreign missionary of the General Council, was born in Brazil, South 1 Before the next convention of the General Council the following changes in membership took place: Rev. J. L. Sibole resigned and Rev. S. A. Ziegenfuss was elected in his place; Rev. F. W. Weiskotten died and Rev. R. Bielinski was elected to fill the unexpired term. 2 It was during this period that the Board began mission work in the island of Porto Rico. The original motion to make this beginning was made by the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer, D. D., on February 16, 1899; and the first missionaries, the Rev. H. F. Richards and B. F. Hankey, sailed from New York for Porto Rico on October 23d, that year. Inasmuch as this book deals only with the history of the mission work in India, and inasmuch as the General Coun- cil, in 1 901, created a separate Board to administer the affairs of the Porto Rico Mission, we omit every reference to that Mission in these pages. 3 Only the following missionaries remained in India: Dr. Schmidt, Isaacson, Arps, Holler, Miss Schade and Miss Sadtler. 330 ERNST NEUDOERFFER OSCAR L. LARSON KARL L. WOLTERS OLAUS O. ECKARDT FREDERICK W. WACKERNAGEL AUGUST F. A. NEUDOERFFER MISSIONARIES IN INDIA AGATHA TATGE MARY S. BORTHWICK SlGRID EsBERHN MRS. OSCAR V. WERNER MRS. ERNST NEUDOERFFER EMILY L. WEISKOTTEN HEDGWIG WAHLBERG MRS. JOHN H. HARPSTER WOMEN MISSIONARIES RECONSTRUCTION (1900-02) 331 America, while his father was a missionary in that country. The date of his birth is November 5, 1877. His father is now the pastor of congregations in and around Neustadt, Ontario, Canada, where he has served for many years. His mother's maiden name was Barbara Spohn. After having been gradu- ated from Wagner Memorial Lutheran College, Rochester, N. Y., he entered the Theological Seminary at Philadelphia in 1897, and was graduated in 1900. While still a student in the senior class he received and accepted the call to go to India. He was ordained on June 17, 1900, in his father's church at Neustadt, Ontario, at a convention of the Canada Synod. He received his commission, together with Miss Emily L. Weiskotten and Miss Martha Strempfer, at a service held hi St. James' German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, Sep- tember 2, 1900, and formed one of the missionary party which sailed two days later from New York City on the steamship "Deutschland." When Miss Charlotte Swenson, on account of ill health, left Rajahmundry in April, 1900, the zenana work which she had developed was left in charge of Miss Kate Sadtler, whom Miss Dagmar Schmidt voluntarily assisted. Miss Agnes I. Schade's furlough was overdue. The situation, therefore, looked quite as ominous for the women's work as for the dis- trict evangelistic work. The Board at this crisis published an appeal for additional woman missionaries, and almost imme- diately Miss Emily Weiskotten and Miss Martha Strempfer volunteered to go to India as missionaries. Both were called on July 30, 1900, and were commissioned, as already noted, on September 2d, that year. This commissioning service was unique and interesting from more than one point of view. All of the new missionaries were children of Lutheran pastors : the Rev. E. Neudoerffer, a son of the Rev. E. Neudoerffer, Sr., of Canada; Miss Martha Strempfer, a daughter of the Rev. J. Strempfer, then of Toledo, O., and Miss Emily L. Weis- kotten, a daughter of the Rev. Frederick W. Weiskotten of Philadelphia. Moreover, at the same service the Rev. Mr. Weiskotten, the pastor of the congregation, was publicly com- missioned and sent out by the Board of Foreign Missions, of 332 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL which he was a leading member, 1 to "investigate the work of the missionaries and carry out the order of the resolution adopted by the General Council." The following letter of instruction was given to the Rev. Mr. Weiskotten: "The Board of Foreign Missions of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America has appointed the Rev. F. W. Weiskotten to visit our mission field in India, in order to gain a clear insight into its condi- tions, workings and necessities, and to devise, in conjunction with our missionaries, plans and means by which pending questions may be settled, difficulties removed, and, by a harmonious working together, the prosperity of the field under the blessing of the Lord may be enhanced. "As the representative of the Board Rev. Weiskotten is authorized to confer with our missionaries and co-workers, severally and in meetings called by him. He may decide questions before them, give instructions and settle disputed points. "He is to examine into the financial system and into docu- ments and books belonging thereto, and also into the accounts of any member of the Mission who keeps such accounts. "He is to examine the school system of the Mission as to appointments of teachers, plans of instruction, location of buildings, etc., and is empowered to make changes, if consid- ered desirable by him; the same with reference to the indus- trial interests of the Mission. "He is to visit the different stations of our field and ac- quaint himself, as far as possible, with their conditions and wants. "He will also give our brethren opportunity to make sug- gestions as to improvements in our Rules and Regulations. "Finally, we commit to his discretionary action whatever seems to be necessary without being specified in the foregoing, whilst the Board has the assurance that our brother under- takes such an important and responsible task with an eye 1 He had been a member of the Board since October, 1881, and editor of the " Missionsbote " since December, 1889. RECONSTRUCTION (1900-02) 333 single to the blessed cause of Christ and the saving of souls, and with a loving heart to the brethren in particular. "We trust they will honor in him the authority of the Board, receive him with confidence and brotherly affection and work with him in Christian harmony, so that all they do may redound to the glory of God and to a lasting blessing to the Mission. By Order of the Board, H. Grahn, President, A. Oettinger, English Secretary. Philadelphia, August 30, 1900. Inspector Weiskotten and his party of missionaries started from New York on September 4, 1900. They were enthu- siastically welcomed at Rajahmundry on October 2oth. Dr. Edman, who had joined the party, at once took charge of the Tallapudi district, and the four new missionaries began the study of Telugu. The Inspector spent thirty-six days in the Mission and, among other things, ordained C. James to the office of the holy ministry, the ordained missionaries assisting in the service. Having finished his work of inspec- tion, he left India about December ist, and started on his homeward way; but soon after leaving Marseilles, France, a port at which the ship called, he died at sea on December i5th, and his body was committed to the waters of the Mediter- ranean. "At home were loving hearts awaiting his return and an anxious Board expecting great results from the journey on which it had sent him. Imagine, then, the shock they all sus- tained when on the last day of December, 1900, the news reached them that, two weeks before, he had departed this life and his body had been consigned to a watery grave. The expectations of the Board were all dashed to the ground." "The time of his sojourn- hi India was too short," the Board acknowledged in its report to the General Council, "and the work in hand too vast for him to engage in any lengthy corre- spondence, and consequently his letters to the Board were few and brief, fully expecting, as we all understood, to give, on his return, a full and detailed account of all he had seen and 334 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL done. One thing, nevertheless, he did. ... In consultation with the missionaries he prepared a revised form of the Rules and Regulations. . . . Apart from these, little was found that could assist the Board in its work or relieve the situation on the field." 1 In connection with the visit of the Rev. Mr. Weiskotten to the Mission the Board learned of the desirability of having the titles of all the properties of the Mission held by the Trustees of the General Council for the Board, which was as yet an unincorporated body, instead of by the individual missionaries, as had been customary; and the Rev. H. E. Isaacson, on July 12, 1901, was duly appointed the attorney in India to take charge of the matter of obtaining the legal transfer of titles. A list of properties in the Mission thus transferred appeared in the report of the Board of Foreign Missions to the General Council in 1901. Considerable difficulty, however, was encountered in the transfer of the titles of some of the property held by Dr. Schmidt, and years elapsed before this matter, which developed into an unpleasant controversy, was finally and satisfactorily settled. Arps left Dowlaishwaram on furlough in March, and Miss Schade left Rajahmundry on furlough in May, 1901. Both appeared before the Board and reported concerning their re- spective departments of work and the Mission as a whole; and both were directed to attend the convention of the General Council at Lima, O., at which a thorough investiga- tion of the affairs of the Mission was anticipated. The main topic of discussion at the Lima Convention of the General Council was the difficulties in which the India Mission was involved and which had aroused a great deal of dissatis- faction with the administration of affairs both in the Mission and in the Board. The report of the Board of Foreign Mis- After the death of the Rev. Mr. Weiskotten an " F. W. Weiskotten Memorial Fund " was suggested by his family and congregation, and, in 1005, contributions for such a fund began to flow into the treasury of the Board. Up to the present time (1914) two thousand dollars have been raised and invested; but the fund is intended to reach the sum of ten thousand dollars, the interest of which is to be devoted to the education of native workers. RECONSTRUCTION (1900-02) 335 sions was referred to a special committee 1 which was author- ized to go over the whole matter, hear the missionaries on fur- lough and any complaints or representations that any member of the General Council might desire to make, and propose a plan of action which would unravel the tangled skein of mission difficulties. After reviewing the peculiar difficulties of the Mission the committee submitted the following recommendations which the General Council adopted: "Even though it should involve increased expense the Board is advised to seek the services of a man of experience and standing in the Church, who would be willing and able to labor in our Mission for a term of years. He should be a man of such wisdom and tact that, although not put over his fel- low-workers, his example would soothe the present irritation and his experience would inform the Board and the Church. "It is imperative that more missionaries be sent into the field and that they should be men and women from our own churches and speaking our own tongue. "The. Board is directed to recall the Senior missionary, Rev. H. C. Schmidt, D. D. "We advise that in the election of the new Board of Foreign Missions one-half of those nominated and elected shall be new men. "The committee has noted with satisfaction and thanks- giving that the contributions to Foreign Missions during the past two years have reached the amount of $50,000. The care of a distant Mission, the direction and maintenance of 125 workers, the supervision of various stations, have occupied the diligence of the Board; and when to this is added the discouragements to which reference has been made, the Board deserves our sympathy. The work of Foreign Missions should engage our sincere interest. We 1 The committee consisted of the Rev. Edward T. Horn, D. D., chairman; the Revs. J. A. W. Haas, D. D., G. W. Mechling, D. D., C. A. Evald, D. D., E. Bel- four, D. D., M. L. Wagner, Prof. C. W. Foss, Ph.D., J. Boyd Duff, Esq., Messrs. Wm. Hengerer, James M. Snyder, I. G. Romig, L. W. Kaufmann. Another committee, to which that part of the report which related to the Porto Rico work was referred, recommended a separate Board for that work, and its recom- mendation was adopted by the Council. 336 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL hope for God's blessing upon our Mission in India. We, therefore, commend it to the prayerful co-operation of our churches." It may be noted that the number of Christians in the Mission had risen to 6159 at the close of the year 1900, and that there had been no less than 1157 baptisms during the years 1899 and 1900. The number of out-stations was 210, and, in 120 of these, schools were being conducted, attended by 3500 children. The blessing of God was, therefore, evi- dent, despite the chaotic condition of the administration in India and the disagreements between the Board and some of its missionaries. The new members of the Board elected by the General Council for four years were: the Revs. Edward T. Horn, D. D., and C. E. Slaett and Messrs. Samuel C. Seiple, M. D., James M. Snyder and James Dangler: For two years: the Revs. Prof. Henry E. Jacobs, D. D., and J. J. Heischmann, D. D., and Philip S. Zieber, Esq. Those re-elected for four years were: the Revs. Edward E. Sibole, D. D., and R. C. G. Bielinski, and William H. Staake, Esq.: For two years: the Revs. William A. Schaeffer, D. D., Carl A. Blomgren, Ph.D., and Ernest R. Cassaday, and Messrs. Conrad Itter and Albert Oettinger. These met on October 31, 1901, and re- organized by electing the following officers: the Rev. Prof, Henry E.Jacobs, D. D., President; the Rev. Wm. A. Schaef- fer, D. D., Coriesponding Secretary; Mr. Albert Oettinger, English Recording Secretary; Mr. Conrad Itter, German Recording Secretary. Mr. Oettinger resigned in June, 1902, and Mr. James M. Snyder succeeded him as English Record- ing Secretary. Mr. Staake who by virtue of his office as treasurer of the General Council had served as treasurer of the Board of Foreign Missions for a period of twenty-five years, resigned both as treasurer and member of the Board, Mr. Philip S. Zieber succeeding him as treasurer and Mr. William F. Monroe as member of the Board. Dr. Grahn, the retiring President, was made business manager of the "Missionsbote," and the Rev. E. R. Cassaday was continued as business manager of "The Foreign Missionary." The RECONSTRUCTION (1900-02) 337 Rev. R. Bielinski who had succeeded the Rev. F. W. Weis- kotten as editor of the "Missionsbote," was re-elected to that position, and the Rev. E. E. Sibole, D. D., who had been the editor of "The Foreign Missionary" since 1893, was continued in that office. The Board, thus reorganized, set itself resolutely to solve the problem of reconstruction. It began by notifying the Senior Missionary, the Rev. H. C. Schmidt, D. D., of the action of the General Council recalling him. It appointed the Rev. H. E. Isaacson Treasurer in India in the stead of Dr. Schmidt, and the Rev. E. Neudoerffer temporary manager in charge of the Boys' Boarding School. 1 All books, papers, accounts, moneys and properties were ordered to be trans- ferred to Mr. Isaacson by August i, 1902, in order that Dr. Schmidt might leave India as soon as possible after that date. Nine hundred dollars were sent to defray the travelling ex- penses of Dr. and Mrs. Schmidt and their daughter Dagmar to the United States. While the Board interpreted the recall of Dr. Schmidt as a summons to withdraw from the field and return to America for the further consideration of his case, Dr. Schmidt inter- preted it as a dismissal, arbitrarily and unjustly ordered by the General Council, without any formal charges brought against him and without giving him the least opportunity to state his side of the case. He demanded a trial in India before an im- partial tribunal; but the Board replied that the only course it could pursue was to insist upon his leaving the field and com- ing to America, assuring him that every opportunity would be given him here to present his side of the case. He declined, however, to come to the United States. After the return of Miss Schade from furlough Dr. Woerner gave all her time and attention to the beginning of the medical work. A Dispensary was opened on March 26, 1902, in Bazaar Street, Rajahmundry, in a rented house. The sign- board over the door of this house read: "A. E. L. Mission Dispensary for Women and Children. Open daily from 8 to 10 A. M." The attendance from the opening day to the 1 The name Seminary had been dropped as a misnomer. 338 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL first of July, that year, was 1914; and during that period Dr. Woerner made 138 house visits. On February 20, 1902, a part of Halkett's Garden, on the road from Rajahmundry to Dowlaishwaram, containing eight acres, surrounded by a substantial stone wall and including a bungalow, was purchased as the site of the proposed hospital, the Board having previously cabled its acceptance of the terms of purchase. The price paid for this site was Rs. 13,000, or $4500, which, with the exception of less than $500, was de- frayed by contributions of $2000 each, from the Women's Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium and the Women's Missionary Society of the Swedish Augustana Synod. These two societies and that of the New York and New England Synod began at this time to contribute $125 each, annually, toward the equipment and expenses of the medical work. The bungalow on the premises was fitted up as a residence for the medical missionary and was called "The Medical Home." On Sunday, March 2, 1902, P. V. Ratnam was ordained in St. Paul's Church, Rajahmundry, by the order of the Board. The Rev. Ernst Neudoerffer conducted the Telugu service. The Rev. E. Edman, M. D., preached the sermon and performed the act of ordination. As soon as Neudoerffer took charge of the Boys' Boarding School in Rajahmundry, he aimed to raise its standard to that of a High School and succeeded in doing so on April i, 1902. The school was recognized by the educational department of the government as a High School in September, that year. When Neudoerffer, by order of the Board, handed over the school to his successor, Fichthorn, there were 120 pupils en- rolled in the High School department, and 194 in the Primary and Lower Secondary departments. 1 While negotiations with Dr. Schmidt were pending, the Board secured the services of a tried and experienced missionary to direct the work of reconstruction at Rajah- mundry. 1 The Lower Secondary Department corresponds approximately to the Grammar School in the United States. RECONSTRUCTION (1900-02) 339 The Rev. J. H. Harpster, D. D., brother-in-law of the Rev. Prof. H. E. Jacobs, D. D., a foreign missionary of the General Synod, who had served in its Mission in India from 1872 to 1876, and again from 1893 to 1901, happened to be in the United States on furlough, and the attention of the Board was called to him as a most suitable man to entrust with the reorganization of the General Council's Mission. "It was not, however, an easy matter to secure his consent and that of the Board he was serving, as it interfered with plans that had been formed, called for many sacrifices on his part, and offered a most uninviting prospect in a field so thoroughly confused and discordant." After a committee of the Board had made a presentation of its extreme need to the Board of the General Synod in Baltimore, they most cordially consented to arrange to have Dr. Harpster give his services to the Rajahmundry Mission for a period of not less than three years. Dr. Harpster was called by the Board on March 6, 1902, to be the "Temporary Director" of the Rajahmundry Mis- sion. He accepted this call and entered upon his work on April i st. During the spring and summer he visited a num- ber of synodical and other conventions, besides a large number of congregations, and delivered addresses in the interest of foreign missions. He was eminently successful as a speaker and everywhere aroused increased interest in the cause of christianizing the heathen. He met with the Board and aided in the administrative work in the home-land. In consultation with him, as well as with Miss Schade before her return to India in November, 1901, l the Board went over the Revision of the Rules and Regulations, which had been made in India daring the visit of the Rev. F. W. Weiskotten; and they were adopted by the Board in their final form and printed in August, with the understanding that they were to go into effect on the arrival of the "Temporary Director" on the field. "Whatever temporary authority of an extra- ordinary character was committed to Dr. Harpster was in- 1 Miss Schade reached Rajahmundry again on December 18, 1901, after a furlough of only seven and one-half months. 340 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL tended only to prepare the way for reconstructing the entire administration in accordance with the revised rules." "The chief change made by these Rules in the administration in India was to transfer the responsibility for decision from the Mission Council to an Executive Committee, composed of a chairman, appointed by the Board, one member for every seven ordained missionaries or fraction of that number in the field, elected by the missionaries, and representatives of zenana sisters in the same proportion." Among other changes made by the new Board was the abolition of the office of Missionary Superintendent on June i, 1902, "since its maintenance was found to involve the ex- penditure of about 10 per cent, of the income of the treasury, and its duties were not really those of superintendence, but almost exclusively those of collections and the diffusion of information among a very limited number of congregations. In dispensing with the office the Board duly recognized the zeal and fidelity with which for nearly ten years, excepting two interruptions, the Rev. J. Telleen, D. D., had discharged its duties." Several new missionaries were called in 1902, to accompany Dr. Harpster to India and assist him in the work of recon- struction. The first one called was the Rev. Andrew S. Fich- thorn, who was born at Lewistown, Pa., in 1859. He was a graduate of Pennsylvania College of Gettysburg, Pa., and of the Theological Seminary of the same place. He taught the classical languages at Carthage College, 111., for a short time and served brief pastorates at Lutherville, Md., Cairo, Pa., and Allegheny, Pa. On June i, 1894, he became pastor of Trinity Church, Norristown, Pa. The second one called was Miss Hedwig Wahlberg, a trained nurse from Chicago, who was sent out with special reference to the hospital and medical work. She left America early in August, in order to visit her home in Sweden before pro- ceeding to India. The third one called was Miss Susan E. Monroe, of Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, who offered her services to the Board as a woman missionary to labor under the Rules but to provide RECONSTRUCTION (1900-02) 341 for her own travelling expenses and support. Her offer was most gratefully accepted. The fourth one called was the Rev. F. W. Wackernagel, the eldest son of the Rev. Prof. William Wackernagel, D. D. of Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa., who had been graduated from that college and from the Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and for five years had served a congregation at Millersville, Pa. Trinity Church, Lancaster, Pa., pledged itself to provide for his support. All of the outgoing missionaries, with the exception of Miss Wahlberg, were commissioned at an impressive service in St. Mark's English Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, on October 14, 1902. "In the morning there was a full service with communion and a sermon by the Rev. Prof. A. Spaeth, D. D. In the evening, with an audience crowding the church, addresses were made by the departing missionaries, Revs. Harpster, Fichthorn and Wackernagel, and the President of the Board, the Rev. Prof. H. E. Jacobs, D. D., with a few words from the Rev. G. Sholl, D. D., Secretary of the Board of the General Synod, who had been sent as its representa- tive to testify to its interest and sympathy in our work." Two days later the whole party sailed from New York. At Naples they were joined by Miss Wahlberg and the Rev. and Mrs. Arps, who had left their son and daughter in Ger- many to receive an education. Rajahmundry was reached on Christmas Day, 1902. Dr. Harpster carried with him a letter of instructions, which, after defining his position and duties as the special agent of the Board and the appointed Chairman of the Executive Committee in India, called for the reorganization of the Mis- sion under the new Rules as soon as convenient after his arrival at Rajahmundry, and charged him with an inspection of all the departments of the work of the Mission. 1 Dr. Harpster's mission was an exceedingly delicate and difficult one, and he fulfilled it as a faithful servant of the Board and the General Council. He rendered our Telugu Mission a great and lasting service. 1 See General Council Minutes, 1903, pages 38-40. CHAPTER XVII UNDER DR. HARPSTER'S LEADERSHIP (1903-05) AFTER the arrival of the reinforcements of 1902, no time was lost in organizing the Mission under the new Rules and Regulations. The Mission Council of all the missionaries was reconvened on December 30, 1902, elected officers and thereafter met regularly every third month. Arps was chosen as the representative of the ordained men and Miss Schade as the representative of the woman missionaries in the Exectuive Committee. 1 Dr. Harpster, as the chairman of this committee appointed by the Board, was the official correspondent. He succeeded Dr. Schmidt as the missionary in charge of the Bhimawaram and the Rajahmundry-Koru- konda districts. Fichthorn was the treasurer in India and the superintendent of the boys' schools in Rajahmundry and Peddapur. He also conducted an English service every Sunday evening in St. Paul's Church, Rajahmundry. At Peddapur, an almost exclusively Brahmin town, about two miles west of Samulkot, a boys' school had been begun, in 1891, by Edman as a private school of the primary grade. When Isaacson succeeded Edman as the missionary in charge of the Samulkot district he continued the school and devel- oped it, until in April, 1903, it was handed over to the Mis- sion as a High School, recognized by the Government. The Board accepted it on condition that a Christian Bible teacher should be employed. This condition was met the next year by the appointment of Pastor P. V. Ratnam to that position. The teaching staff, with M. Ramo Rao as headmaster, then consisted of eighteen qualified Hindu teachers. The enroll- ment for the year 1904 was 475, most of the pupils being of the Brahmin caste. Two buildings were used, one for the Primary, the other for the Secondary and High School depart- 1 Later Isaacson was added to the committee. 342 UNDER DR. HARPSTER'S LEADERSHIP (1903-05) 343 ments. The school grew so rapidly that the accommodations soon became inadequate, and a new site was purchased, in 1904, for $200 (Rs. 600). After his return to the Mission Arps resumed charge of the Dowlaishwaram district but devoted a good part of his tune for about a year to the building of a new bungalow on a new site, purchased for $500. The old building had been con- structed on black cotton soil and had to be condemned as not tenantable. The new bungalow, completed in 1904, to- gether with the digging of the well and some improvements, cost $2937. Meanwhile Arps also superintended the con- struction of a new mission house-boat which cost $600, and was named "The Augustana." It was used by Dr. Harpster in the Bhimawaram district. The old "Dove of Peace" was rebuilt for Neudoerffer's use in the Tanuku taluk. Dr. Edman, who after Arps' return devoted himself entirely to the Tallapudi district, employed more native Christian workers than he could pay with the mission funds appro- priated for his district, and contracted a considerable debt. The Board officially disapproved of his course of action and, when it learned that he nevertheless continued to increase the amount of his indebtedness, it requested his resignation. He left the Mission in May, 1903, and returned to the United States. Miss Martha Strempfer, who gradually succumbed to the trials of the climate, left Rajahmundry March 8, 1903, and returned to her home in Toledo, O. Miss Weiskotten, who succeeded Miss Kate Sadtler as the manager of the Hindu Girls' School at Riverdale in 1902, was assisted by Miss Monroe, who also aided Miss Schade in the zenana work. On January 25, 1904, a Training School for Mistresses was opened in connection with the Girls' Central School, 1 which in May, that year, was recognized by the Government. Before that Miss Schade had been obliged to send the gradu- ates of her school to Guntur for training. Five girls were 1 In 1904 the names of the boarding schools were changed to " Boy's Central School" and "Girls' Central School." 344 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL enrolled in the first training class which was of a lower secondary grade. In order to make provision for this new department an addition was made to the main school build- ing, in 1905, at an expense of $740, Miss Schade contributing $140 out of her private purse. Miss Schade also began a school for Hindu girls of the weaver and shepherd castes in Jamipetta, Rajahmundry, in January, 1904, which commenced with an enrollment of thirty-five pupils, and another for girls of the Sudra caste in Mangalavarampetta, Rajahmundry, in March of the same year, which enrolled forty-three pupils. Both schools were conducted in rented buildings and with both Sunday schools were connected. Meanwhile Miss Weiskotten organized three additional schools for Hindu girls : one in Old Rajahmundry, in Decem- ber, 1903, which was called the Bethlehem School, because it was supported by Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Phila- delphia; 1 another in Lakshmivarampetta, Rajahmundry, in January, 1904, for girls of the Panchama caste; and a third in Aryapuram, Rajahmundry, in March, 1904, for girls of the Brahmin caste. These also were held in rented buildings and Sunday schools were connected with them. At the close of the year 1904, the enrollment in these schools was as follows: Bethlehem, 90; Lakshmivarampetta, 13; Aryapuram, 35; Riverdale, 70. The pupils in these schools are not Christians but Hindus. The teachers, however, are, as far as possible, Christian teachers, though the headmasters, as a rule, have been Hindus, it being a difficult matter to secure qualified Christian headmasters. For the Aryapuram school a site was purchased with funds contributed by Miss Weiskotten's friends in America and Germany, and a fine school house was erected by a Brahmin lawyer, M. Achutaramayya, as a gift from his wife. This building was opened with impressive exercises on January 23, 1907. 1 The Riverdale School was still being supported by the Women's Missionary societies of St. John's and St. Mark's churches, Philadelphia. After Miss Weiskotten's furlough in America," Riverdale School was assigned to St. John's alone, and St. Mark's assumed the support of the Aryapuram School. THE ARYAPURAM HINDU GIRLS' SCHOOL This building is the gift of a Brahmin lawyer. PUPILS OF THE ARYAPURAM SCHOOL This school is attended by Brahmin girls. CHARLOTTE SWEXSON TEACHING A CLASS OF BIRLE WO.MKX UNDER DR. HARPSTER'S LEADERSHIP (1903-05) 345 Isaacson with his family came to the United States on furlough in May, 1903, and Arps, in addition to his own dis- trict, assumed temporary charge of the Samulkot district. Neudoerffer, who went to Tadepalligudem in March, 1903, took charge also of the Tallapudi district after Edman's departure two months later. One of the first achievements of Dr. Harpster was the settlement of the difficulty with Dr. Schmidt with regard to the transfer of certain mission property to the Trustees of the General Council for the Board. Writing from Rajahmundry under date of January 19, 1903, he communicated the follow- ing to the Board: "In the letter of instruction given me for my guidance when I should arrive in India, occurs the following: 'Dr. Harpster may note and report to the Board any proposition Dr. Schmidt may make with reference to the property which he has not yet transferred to the Mission.' In another letter, dated October 31, 1902, the following instruction is given: 'Resolved, That the Executive Committee be instructed to treat with Dr. Schmidt, first, to decide what properties belong to this Board; and, secondly, what is the just value of Dr. Schmidt's interests in any property to which our Mission has a claim, and to report to this Board at what price Dr. Schmidt's interests may be purchased, itemizing the proper- ties.' The properties in which Dr. Schmidt claims an interest are the following: i. The Riverdale land, which he values at Rs. 36,300. 2. The parcel of ground once selected as a site of the 'Seminary' and containing thirty acres, more or less, which he values at Rs. 3000. 3. The plot of ground on which the mission church at Velpur stands, containing two acres, which he values at Rs. 400. 4. The land along the street opposite the Rajahmundry church, occupied by some native houses, valued at Rs. 400. 5. Mission property or so much of it as required by the Mission, no value fixed. Total, Rs. 40,100 ($13,367). All the above property Dr. Schmidt agrees to convey to the Mission, under a duly executed con- veyance, on the following conditions: i. That the General Council, acting through its Board of Foreign Missions, pay 346 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL to his wife and himself, or to the survivor during life, three hundred dollars ($300) annually. 2. That it pay to his daughter, Miss Dagmar Schmidt, one years' salary, viz., five hundred dollars ($500). 3. That it pay him the salary which was due him at the rate which he had hitherto received, up to August i, 1902, viz., six hundred dollars ($600). "Yours faithfully, J. H. Harpster." "I hold myself in readiness to carry out in good faith the above agreement, provided the General Council, through its Foreign Mission Board, will, under a formal document, guarantee to myself and wife, or the survivor during life, the annual payment of the sum of three hundred dollars. "H. C. Schmidt." 1 After mature consideration the Board resolved: "That in consideration of the transfer by Dr. Schmidt to the Gen- eral Council by good and sufficient title, clear of all incum- brances, of the properties mentioned, this Board agrees that Miss Dagmar Schmidt be allowed the sum of $500, and Dr. Schmidt be allowed the sum of $600, and that the same be paid by the appropriation of $900 out of the $1000 pre- viously sent Dr. Schmidt, and a cash payment to Dr. Schmidt for the balance, viz., $200; and that the Board recommend to the General Council that it agree to pay annually to Dr. Schmidt and wife, or the survivor of them during life, $300, from the date of the conveyance of the properties and giving possession thereof." Dr. Schmidt vacated Riverdale bungalow in March, 1903, and moved to Kotagiri, Nilgiri Hills, where he had built two houses. Dr. and Mrs. Harpster at once moved into this bungalow and continued to occupy it as long as they remained in India. The payment of the stipulated annuity began in 1 After having read over the correspondence one cannot avoid the impression that Dr. Schmidt felt that he had to bring pressure to bear upon the Board in order to secure a pension. The Board would unquestionably have granted the pension without such pressure. Moreover, it must be remembered that the property to which he laid claim, was largely such as he had already donated to the Mission, but which had not yet been legally transferred. UNDER DR. HARPSTER'S LEADERSHIP (1903-05) 347 April, 1903, although the deed of transfer was not actually executed until April, 1904. During the first year of medical work substantial progress was made. As many as 2026 new patients came to the Dis- pensary, making 4998 visits. Dr. Lydia Woerner also made 432 visits to patients in houses and performed 84 surgical operations. Sunday schools were conducted for patients and Eurasian children in the Dispensary and Medical Home. A temporary hospital was opened in 1904 in a rented build- ing in Rajahmundry. In 1903 the Board began to pursue a more liberal policy in the matter of allowances to missionaries. A horse was pur- chased for each missionary needing one, and horse allowance of $80 a year was granted. The summer vacation was length- ened to eight weeks. The heavier furniture in the bungalows was provided. Munshi (teacher's) allowance was granted new missionaries while studying the language, and additional batta (travelling allowance) was allowed for missionaries on tour. The travelling expenses of the members of the Board, when attending meetings, were also paid. When Isaacson returned to the Mission in 1904, the allowance for each child of a mis- sionary, over seven years of age, separated from its parents to be educated, was raised from $50 to $100 a year. At the convention of the General Council 1 in the church of the Trinity, Norristown, Pa., on Friday evening, October 9, 1903, the Rev. Edward H. Trafford, then pastor of the Pike- land charge near Kimberton, Pa., was commissioned as a foreign missionary. He arrived at Rajahmundry in Decem- ber, that year, and after having studied the vernacular and assisted several of the older missionaries, he resigned in January, 1908, and returned to the United States. The Rev. Karl L. Wolters, called as the missionary to be supported by the Luther Leagues of Buffalo, was commis- 1 Several changes occurred in the membership of the Board in 1903. The Rev. J. J. Heischmann, D. D., and Mr. James Dangler resigned. The General Council that year elected the following new members: The Revs. John A. W. Haas, D. D., and George Drach, and Messrs. P. A. Rydberg, W. F. Monroe and J. Martin Rommel; but the last named declined to serve and the Board elected Mr. Charles B. Opp to fill the vacancy. 348 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL sioned on Sunday evening, June 12, 1904, in Christus Church, Buffalo, the Rev. T. H. Becker pastor, in the presence of the New York Ministerium. He was born October 26, 1863, in Hamburg, Germany. He is a son of the Rev. Karl J. Wolters and his wife Mary Louise, nee Averdieck. His father served as a pastor of St. Peter's Church, Hamburg, for many years. After having studied at the Imperial Gymnasium, Flensborg, Germany, he came to the United States when he was twenty- four years of age. He studied theology in the Lutheran Seminary at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, from which he was graduated in 1890. For three years he served the Lutheran congregation at Phcenixville, Pa., and then went to Utica, N. Y., where he served eleven years. On his way to India he spent several months with his father in Hamburg, Germany, and then he proceeded to Rajahmundry, which he reached in December, 1904. Mr. and Mrs. Isaacson with their four younger children left the United States October 3, 1904, to return to the Mis- sion. Their two sons were left in Bethany College, Linds- borg, Kansas. The daughters who were taken to India were later sent to a school at Kodaikanal. Fichthorn, having suffered severely from the climate of South India, asked to be permitted to return to the United States. Permission was given, and after the Board had heard him at its meeting on April 21, 1904, it accepted his resignation in the following resolution: "Resolved, That the Board accepts the resignation of the Rev. A. S. Fichthorn with regret, the resignation to take effect May ist, and hereby gives expression to its sense of the value of the service he has rendered, and its deep regret that he has been unable to con- tinue in its employment." By contributions from his private purse and by largely increased offerings from the influential congregations which he afterward served the church of the Holy Communion, Philadelphia, and the church of the Trinity, Norristown, to whose pastorate he returned in November, 1907 he more than made up what the Board had expended to send him to India and bring him back. From October, 1905, to October, 1907, he served as a member UNDER DR. HARPSTER'S LEADERSHIP (1903-05) 349 of the Board. He died on January 29, 1912, in Norristown, aged fifty- three years. Wackernagel succeeded Fichthorn as the treasurer in India and the manager of the boys' schools. After the title to the property just outside of Rajahmundry, which Dr. Schmidt had donated as the site of the new build- ings for the Boys' Central School, had been established beyond all uncertainty, it was decided to proceed at once with the erection of the much-needed buildings. Ten acres of adjoining land, containing a lime-kiln, were purchased for $458. Plans and estimates for a main building, a dormitory and a missionary's dwelling, prepared in India, were approved by the Board in September, 1904. Mr. F. J. McCready, formerly one of the missionaries, was employed as the super- intendent of construction. The corner-stone of the main building was laid with appropriate ceremonies on July 25, 1905, and the contract called for the completion of all the buildings in eighteen months, but the illness of Mr. Mc- Cready from cholera, and other matters, delayed the building operations. Charges were preferred against Pastor C. James and were investigated by the ordained missionaries, meeting as a Ministerium on February 2, 1905, the result being the definite suspension of James from the office of the holy ministry by the Board of Foreign Missions on the recommendation of the Ministerium. In 1905 Neudoerffer purchased for the Mission a house- boat for $200, giving it the name of "The Canada." The year 1905 was marked by the return of Miss Charlotte Swenson to the Mission, and the addition of two ordained men and one woman missionary to the force in India. Miss Swenson, after having regained her health in Cali- fornia and having been pronounced by competent physicians to be entirely free from every trace of tuberculosis, requested the Board to send her back to the Mission. Recalling her excellent work during her first term of service in India, and being very much in need of some one to take charge of the zenana work, the Board decided to send her back. A fare- 350 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL well service was held in the Gustavus Adolphus Swedish Lutheran Church, New York City, January 13, 1905. Miss Swenson reached Rajahmundry on February 24th. She threw all her restored energy into the zenana work and managed it with marked success for over a year. In 1906 she reported four Bible-women at work in Rajahmundry and one in Dow- laishwaram, 230 houses visited weekly in the former and 40 in the latter town, and over 1200 women and children re- ceiving regular religious instruction from her and her Bible- women. She also began and conducted a number of Sunday schools in different parts of Rajahmundry. Her health, however, suffered under the strain of her work, and in January, 1908, she was granted a sick-leave in Australia. She returned from this trip in a few weeks only slightly benefited and gradually succumbed to consumption, which caused her death on July 20, 1908. Her life was a beautiful example of self-sacrificing ministry to her Lord. All the mis- sionaries and native Christians paid tributes to her noble character and her valuable service. She was the first woman missionary to lay down her life on our foreign mission field. Her body was buried in the Christian cemetery at Rajah- mundry. In her last will and testament she bequeathed all her earthly possessions to the Mission which she had so faithfully and lovingly served. 1 As the time of Dr. Woerner's furlough drew near, the neces- sity of sending out a woman physician to take her place during the time of furlough and to co-operate in the medical work became pressing. Neither Miss Amy B. Rohrer nor Miss Betty A. Nilsson, under preparation as medical missionaries, were ready to be sent out at this time. Fortunately the Board heard of the willingness of Dr. Julia Van der Veer to go to India at once, and after having been introduced to the Board by Dr. Mary Baer of the Guntur Mission, then on furlough, 1 In the Arbuthnot failure of 1906 she suffered the loss of all her deposits in that bank, but generous friends in the United States reimbursed her account. Six hundred dollars of the Charlotte Swenson Fund have been invested by the Board in the United States. Several of the women's missionary societies are gathering money to increase this fund in the hope that ultimately enough will be secured to erect a Charlotte Swenson Memorial. UNDER DR. HARPSTER'S LEADERSHIP (1903-05) 351 she was duly called. She was born in Bushnell, 111., but afterward moved with her parents to Peabody, Kan., where she attended the public school and was graduated from the High School of that place. She took her medical course in the Woman's Medical College, Baltimore, the Woman's Medical College, Philadelphia, and Johns Hopkins Univer- sity. She then entered the Deaconess Home and Motherhouse of the General Synod at Baltimore, and was a consecrated sister in that institution when she was called to go to Rajah- mundry. The Baltimore Motherhouse released her from every obligation in order to permit her to accept the call of the Board. She was commissioned on September 24, 1905, in St. Mark's English Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, and arrived at Rajahmundry November 23d, that year. She took Dr. Woerner's place in the medical work at Rajah- mundry while the latter was on furlough in America. She was married on January 22, 1907, to the Rev. Ernst Neu- doerffer in St. Paul's Church, Rajahmundry, by Dr. Harp- ster, the ceremony being performed in the presence of the missionaries and a large congregation of native Christians. This was the first wedding of General Council missionaries on the field. The three years of the special arrangement with the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Synod for the services of Dr. Harpster expired on April i, 1905. The General Council's Board requested that he be permitted to remain at Rajahmun- dry, inasmuch as his removal would be disastrous to the work. Upon this representation the General Synod's Board very courteously decided not to disturb the arrangement and to make it indefinite in its duration. In 1906 Dr. Harpster transferred his membership from the Maryland Synod to the Pennsylvania Ministerium and thus became a missionary of the General Council in the service of its Board. The two ordained men sent out in 1905 were the Revs. 0. L. Larson and O. O. Eckardt. Oscar Leonard Larson, son of Lars Peter Larson and his wife Maria, nee Johnson, was born July 2, 1876, in Mead, Neb. He studied at Luther Academy, Wahoo, Neb., and 352 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL then entered Augustana College, Rock Island, 111., from which he was graduated in 1902. Three years later, having taken the theological course in Augustana Seminary, he was ordained at the meeting of the Augustana Synod, June n, 1905, in Stanton, la. Ten days afterward he married Lillie Olivia Liliedahl of Swedesburg, Neb. Having accepted the call of the Board of Foreign Missions, he was commissioned at the convention of the General Council in the church of the Redeemer, Milwaukee, Wis., October 12, 1905. In the com- pany of the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Eckardt they sailed from Philadelphia, and, after spending a few weeks in Sweden, they proceeded to Rajahmundry, which was reached January 16, 1906. Olaus Olson Eckardt, son of Olaf Martin Anderson and his wife Agneta, nee Anderson, was born May 19, 1872, in Lur, Bohnslaen Province, Sweden. He came to the United States at the age of seventeen. He studied at Upsala Col- lege and completed his classical course in Augustana College. After having begun his theological studies in the Lutheran Theological Seminary, Chicago, he finished at Augustana Seminary from which he was graduated in 1905. He was ordained at the same time as the Rev. Mr. Larson. On September 27, 1905, he married Julia Amelia Swanson, of Cambridge, 111. Commissioned together with Mr. Larson, he accompanied him to India. The Young Ladies' Foreign Missionary Society of the First Swedish Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn., for a number of years has contributed a part of Mr. Eckardt's salary. Parallel with the development of the Mission and the in- crease of missionaries an effort was made by the Board, in 1905, to provide for a more efficient home administration by the distribution of its members into standing committees, each charged with some particular branch of the mission work. On the recommendation of the Finance Committee a special fund was created and maintained in India, in 1905, known as the Emergency Fund from which small, incidental expenses are paid as needed, thus obviating the necessity of continually sending little sums of money for special purposes. A form of UNDER DR. HARPSTER'S LEADERSHIP (1903-05) 353 contract between the Board and its missionaries, still in use, was adopted in 1905.* The business management of "The Foreign Missionary" was transferred on July i, 1905, to the Board of Publication of the General Council. At the close of that year the Rev. E. E. Sibole, D. D., resigned as the editor of "The Foreign Missionary," after twelve years of efficient and faithful service in that capacity. The editorship of this paper, after a brief period under the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer, D. D., was entrusted to the General Secretary of the Board, the Rev. George Drach. 2 During the early part of 1905, much attention was given by the Board to the matter of securing some one who could attend its meetings and who should give all his time to its interests and act as its executive. This officer was to be called the General Secretary and his duties were defined as follows: "He shall give the President, Secretaries and Editors of the papers, such clerical assistance as the Board may deter- mine from time to tune. "He shall present at each meeting of the Board a list of all letters and reports received from the missionaries since the former meeting, together with an outline of the contents and a statement of the points requiring action; and he may offer suggestions for proper action and shall be ready to furnish any letters included in the list, for consideration by the Board. "He shall file and preserve an index of all letters etc., to and from the missionaries, also copies of all correspondence from the Board, and he shall keep for reference an account of the business, treasury, schools and other work of the missionaries. "He shall represent the Board before the synods, conven- tions and congregations, as directed by the Board, or during the interval by the President. "He shall devise and recommend means to the Board for 1 See General Council Minutes, 1905, page 45. 2 In the place of Dr. J. A. W. Haas, resigned July, 1904, the Rev. John A. Weyl was elected a member of the Board, and in the place of Dr. C. A. Blomgren, resigned October, 1904, Dr. G. Nelsenius was elected. 23 354 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL increasing the income and developing the interest of the Church. "He shall, as circumstances may require, gather and pre- sent to the Board information as to the methods of other Missions. "He shall at every meeting of the Board give a detailed report of his work. "He shall be ready to spend at least six months and not more than a year in India, to study the conditions, in case the Board should so require." The Rev. George Drach, a member of the Board, then pastor of St. Stephen's Church, West Philadelphia, was chosen to fill this new office. George Drach, eldest son of John Peter Drach and his wife S. A. Pauline, nee Simon, was born September 3, 1873, ^ Greenport, Long Island, N. Y. After having attended the public school in that village and passed through the two lower grades of the High School, he went to Rochester, N. Y., to study in Wagner Memorial Lutheran College from which he was graduated in 1892. He studied theology in the Seminary at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, and was ordained in 1895, a * the meeting of the New York Ministerium, in St. Peter's German Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. After having supplied the pulpit of the church of the Ascension, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, during the summer months of 1895, he became the assistant pastor of Trinity Church, Reading, Pa., remaining, after the resignation of the Rev. J. Fry, D. D., to supply the pulpit until a successor had been elected. Having received and accepted a call to become pastor of St. Stephen's Church, West Philadelphia, he began his pastorate there in June, 1897, serving for eight years, until he became the Gen- eral Secretary of the Board. He married on October 19, 1899, Marie Douglas Sterr of Philadelphia, a granddaughter, on her mother's side, of the Rev. C. F. Welden, D. D. In its report to the General Council in 1905, the Board recommended "that November 29th or a date near then be duly commemorated in our churches as a bicentenary of the sailing of Bartholomew Ziegenbalg and Heinrich Pluetschau UNDER DR. HARPSTER'S LEADERSHIP (1903-05) 355 to India and of the foundation not only of Lutheran but of Protestant Foreign Missions." This recommendation was heartily adopted and in many churches the bicentennial was observed. The Board issued a special appeal for its obser- vance, and its President and General Secretary delivered a number of commemorative addresses at large gatherings in Philadelphia and elsewhere. In the Introduction of the Report of the American Evan- gelical Lutheran Mission in the Godavery District, India, for the year 1904, presented by the Board to the General Council in 1905, Dr. Harpster wrote: "We call especial atten- tion to the statistical exhibit of the year. Unless this is given, an intelligent grasp of the work cannot be gained. In almost every item our report shows an increase. The additions by baptisms during the year were 2056. Our baptized mem- bership now numbers 11,938. The number of inquirers, viz., the number undergoing instruction in the fundamental doc- trines of Christianity, with more or less earnestness on their part, is 2228. The pupils in our mission schools number 5227 a very gratifying increase over the previous report. In money and in kind our people gave during the year Rs. 2577-9-11 ($859), or an increase of Rs. 1779-7-2. The num- ber of congregations according to the statistical table increased by 24." The following table of statistics shows the notable increase in every department of the mission. 1890. 1893. 1900. 1905. Foreign missionaries 4 7 5 9 Woman missionaries 2 3 5 7 Native pastors 2 2 2 2 Native helpers 89 138 140 235 Congregations 127 200 210 270 Christians 3056 5036 6159 12,822 Pupils in school 1473 2719 3500 5>736 CHAPTER XVIII MANIFOLD ACTIVITY (1906-09) Miss Emily L. Weiskotten and Dr. Lydia Woerner took their first furloughs in 1906, the former leaving Rajahmundry on February i9th, that year, and returning on December 22, 1007; the latter leaving on April 13, 1906, and returning on January 28, 1908. In the United States and Canada they delivered many addresses to women's missionary societies, congregations and conventions, and succeeded in developing a deeper and wider interest in woman's work for women in India. 1 After Dr. Harpster, in 1906, had urged that a catechist be sent from Rajahmundry to Rangoon, Burma, to care for the Telugu Lutheran Christians employed in and near that city, he was sent personally to inspect the field, and having reported favorably, Vungara Sriramulu of Rajahmundry was located in Rangoon, in May, 1907, but after six months of fruitless effort he returned to Rajahmundry. It was felt, however, that something further ought to be done for the Christian Telugus in Rangoon; and when the Mission Council recommended a second attempt, Kuder was directed to investigate the field anew. He went to Rangoon in May, 1911, and six months later, on the recommendation of the Ministerium in India and with the Board's authorization, Catechist A. Anandap- pan of Tallapudi was sent to make a second effort to gather and organize a congregation. He arrived in Rangoon on Nov. 14, 1911, and in a year he gathered a congregation of 238 Telugu Lutherans, of whom 194 were communicants. On January 6, 1906, representatives of our Mission and that of the Canadian (Ontario and Quebec) Mission met and formulated an agreement on boundary lines and principles of 1 Dr. Woerner was painfully injured in an accident on the Lake Shore Electric Railway near Toledo, Ohio, September 19, 1907, but recovered in time to leave the United States on December 10, 1907. 356 CATECHIST A. ANANDAPPAN, WIFE AND SONS This catechist is now stationed at Rangoon, Burma, where he has organized a large congregation of Telugu Lutherans. TEACHERS AND PUPILS OF THE BOYS' CENTRAL SCHOOL, RAJAHMUNDRY This picture was taken in front of the Main Building in 1913. MANIFOLD ACTIVITY (1906-09) 357 mission comity, which was ratified by both of the Boards in America. In the Ramachendrapuram and Bhimawaram taluks certain boundary lines between the two Missions were established. The following principles were adopted: i. "Neither Mission will receive any agent or member from the other without the full and written consent of the missionary of such agent or member. 2. Neither Mission will enter a village to do mission work where the other has established itself and is making a fair effort to bring the people to the knowledge of the truth." The Lutheran Mission agreed not to locate a station at Pittapur on condition that the Baptist Mission agreed not to put a station at Jaggampetta. All issues relating to this agreement are to be referred, first of all, to a committee of six missionaries, three from each Mission. On February 14-16, 1912, committees of both Missions met at Samulkot and drew up a further agreement, fixing addi- tional boundary lines, providing for a territory common to both Missions and arranging for the sale of the bungalow at Peddapur to the Lutheran Mission for $2,640.00 and the withdrawal of the Baptists from that town. After Dr. Harpster's appeal for a new Mission Press had been presented at the convention of the General Council in 1905, Mr. James G. Finley of Philadelphia secured the dona- tion of a double demy press from the firm of R. Hoe and Co., of New York City, which was shipped to Rajahmundry in 1906. Mr. William P. M. Braun of Philadelphia supplied the Print- ery with a first-class outfit of type and other material, and has become the patron of this important branch of the Mission, which has received the name of The Braun Industrial Mission Printery. Under the efficient management of Kuder the Printery did admirable work in the dissemination of Chris- tian literature in the Telugu language, and by the publication for a number of years of "The Gospel Witness," the English organ of the Lutheran Missions in India, of "Bible Story," Stump's "Catechism" and other publications in the vernacu- lar. In 1912 a second-hand and larger press was ordered and sent from England, Mr. Braun furnishing a portion of the necessary funds. 358 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL "A financial disaster that came upon the Mission like a bolt out of the blue sky was the failure of the banking-house of Messrs. Arbuthnot & Co., in October, 1906. For upward of forty years the Mission had been depositing its funds with this firm which had back of it a record of 106 years of honor- able business. At the end of a century and more this honored house of Arbuthnot, under the criminal manipulation of a dis- honored scion, became the greatest confidence game of modern times. It has been designated as one of the most gigantic insolvency cases ever known in the world. Eight thousand creditors went down in the crash, many of them reduced to absolute poverty. The Mission, together with a number of the missionaries, lost upward of twenty thousand dollars. Several of the missionaries lost every cent they had in the world." When the Church at home learned of this calamity, many friends of the Mission and of the missionaries at once came to the rescue, and in a few months more than enough to make up the loss to the Mission, amounting to $6,000.00, was con- tributed, and the private purses of the unfortunate mission- aries were replenished either wholly or in part. Later, about twenty-five cents on the dollar were paid back by the bankrupt firm. Dr. Harpster met with a painful accident on July 2, 1907, while on a vacation at Kotagiri, Nilgiri Hills, when he fell from a bicycle and sprained his thigh. Fortunately his recovery was complete. After his return to Rajahmundry he resigned, in September, 1907, as "Temporary Director" of the Mission, inasmuch as the work by that time had been thoroughly reor- ganized under the Rules. He continued, however, to discharge the duties of Chairman of the Executive Committee. The missionaries, dissatisfied with certain features of the form of government in the Mission, petitioned the Board, in 1907, for the abolition of the Executive Committee in India and for more autonomy in the administration of the Mission. This led eventually to a revision of the Rules. The cause of missions in the Church at home sustained a severe loss by the death of the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer, MANIFOLD ACTIVITY (1906-09) 359 D. D., on July 27, 1907. He had served continuously as a member of the Board of Foreign Missions for a period of more than twenty-five years. He was identified with "The Foreign Missionary," as editor or associate editor, with occasional brief interruptions, from the tune of its first publication, hi 1880, to the day of his death. He was the Board's English Recording and Corresponding Secretary from October, 1888, to February, 1891, and then its Corresponding Secretary until November, 1906, when he resigned on account of the illness which eventually caused his death. He served in these positions without the slightest remuneration. He was always willing and ready to sacrifice his time and give his talents for the cause of foreign missions, and his familiarity with the history, problems, needs and prospects of the Telugu mission gave him a commanding position in the counsels of the Board. In his last will and testament he generously remembered the Mission which he had so faithfully served during his life. In 1907 the long drawn-out negotiations with Dr. Schmidt concerning the transfer of all the mission property to the Trustees of the General Council for the Board were finally ended by the completion of the transactions relative to the so- called "Haas lands." Two hundred and eighty-eight acres of land were transferred under secure title, registered in the land office at Bhimawaram. In 1912 the "Haas Lands" were sold for $8,335.00 (Rs. 25,000) to M. Ramanayya and the proceeds were devoted to the erection of a building for the Boys' High School at Peddapur, which is known as the Char- lotte Sophia Haas Memorial. The development of the lace industry in the Mission was surprisingly rapid under the personal, efficient management of Mrs. Harpster. In her last report of this department, made at the close of the year 1908, Mrs. Harpster gave a brief account of some of the features of the work. "In February, 1904," she wrote, "we sent two small, sample boxes of lace to America. The lace met with great favor, and orders for more were at once received. From that tune on the industry has gradually grown, until to-day employment is given to 240 women. For several years the industry was 360 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL carried on with private funds which we ourselves advanced; and no assistance has ever been received from any outside source. In March, 1906, all indebtedness was paid and the industry became self-supporting, and ever since then it has been well supported by the sales of lace in America. In addition we have been able to undertake some work, beside that of the direct work of the industry. In 1907 three women from the Bhimawaram district were sent to the Lace School of the Church of Scotland Mission in Madras for a number of months to learn better and more advanced patterns. Our object in sending these district women was, that they might afterward organize classes and teach in certain centres in the district, for our plan has always been that the advantages of this industry should be especially for our Christian village women. As the work progressed and the receipts increased, we found that there was money to contribute to some other object of mission work ; and after consultation with the Lace Committee in America, we offered Rs. 1000 toward the erec- tion of a new building for the Bethlehem Hindu Girls' School. Our offer was accepted and Rs. 1000 were handed to the Mission Treasurer for this object." This contribution was made in 1907. The next year two girls, ten years old, were sent to Madras to the United Free Church of Scotland Mis- sion School, to be trained to fill any positions in which they might be needed in our Mission. "A number of women," continued Mrs. Harpster, "have received help from the funds of the industry. Sometimes it has been a lone widow with no means of support; and sometimes a widow with a family of children, whose monthly earnings for lace-making will not support the family; sometimes it has been the old widowed mother who feels she is a burden to those with whom she lives. To many aid has been given, now and then a rupee or two or three. . . . Forty boxes of lace have been sent to America. ... To the Lace Committee in America and, especially, to its chairman, Mrs. A. Woll of Philadelphia, is largely due the success of the industry. Without their part in the work it could not have been carried on." In 1912, the sum of $2175, and again in 1913, the sum of $2,000.00, FREDERICK W. SCHAEFER OSCAR V. WERNER THURE HOLMER HIRAM H. SIPES, JR. MISSIONARIES IN INDIA REV. C. THEODORE BENZE, D. D. PROF. CLAUDE W. Foss, Ph. D. COMMISSIONERS TO INDIA IN 1909 A GROUP OF LACKMAKKKS BUILDING IX RAJAHMUXDRY RENTED FOR USE AS A MISSION DISPENSARY Dr. Betty A. Nilsson is standing in front of the Dispensary with a group of her patients. MANIFOLD ACTIVITY (1906-09) 361 profits of the industry, were contributed for the purchase of sites for the Bethlehem, Mangalavarampetta and Laksh- mivarampetta Hindu Girls' Schools. The industry is now under the supervision of Mrs. E. Neudoerffer. It should be a pleasure, as it doubtless is, to the patrons of the industry at home, to know that they are helping to raise the Christian women socially, morally and religiously; socially, because poverty is the great problem in India among the non-property possessing classes to which our Christians belong; morally, because a good deal of truth and character-building are in- volved in earnest and honest lace-making; and religiously, because it teaches cleanliness, self-help and self-reliance, and affords constant opportunity to speak to the women about all manner of spiritual subjects, especially the Ten Com- mandments. . Another project which Mrs. Harpster inaugurated is the sale of India Pictorial Post Cards for the benefit of the Book Store in Rajahmundry, which also was under her supervision. Several sets of twelve views of our mission field and mission work were made in India, sent to America and sold for fifty cents a set. Mrs. William P. M. Braun has attended to the sale of these cards. For many years Women's Missionary and Young People's Societies throughout the Church sent a number of boxes each year to India containing clothing, toys, food, etc., which were either used by the missionaries or distributed by them to school-children and Christians as Christmas presents. At a meeting of the Mission Council in India, held December 30, 1907, it was unanimously resolved, "that in view of the effect upon our native Christians of the gifts of clothing, etc., which have been sent so liberally each year from the Home- Church in the so-called 'Christmas boxes,' we, as a Mission Council, respectfully ask that our kind donors present their gifts in money to the Foreign Mission treasury, and that this arrangement begin, if possible, with the year 1908." Never- theless, material which could be used in the lace industry, and articles which were of use in the Hospital and medical work, were solicited and sent through Miss Mary Miller of 362 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Philadelphia, the chairman of the India Box Committee of the Women's Missionary Society of the General Council. 1 Several protests and petitions from individual missionaries, sent directly to the President of the General Council, were by him presented in his report to the General Council at Buffalo, N. Y., in 1907, and then submitted to a special committee whose report, as amended and finally adopted, was, in part, as follows: "i. That the General Council direct its Foreign Mission Board, after consultation with the Mission Council in India, at once to revise its present Rules, especially in the direction of giving the missionaries and the Mission Council better facilities to communicate with the Board, and leaving the matter of local government, as much as feasible, in the hands of the Mission Council. "2. That two practical, well-qualified men, one of whom shall be a layman, be sent out as soon as possible, as a Com- mission of Inspection, to visit the field, and to report to the Board and through it to the General Council at its next con- vention. These men shall be of different synods and shall be selected by the Board of Foreign Missions, subject to the approval of the President of the General Council; but neither of these commissioners shall be a member of the said Board." Both of these items of instruction were carried out. In the place of the Rev. William Ashmead Schaeffer, D. D., deceased, the General Council, in 1907, elected the Rev. Lars G. Abrahamson, D. D., and in the stead of the Rev. Andrew S. Fichthorn, D. D., the Rev. William E. Frey, re-electing all others whose terms had expired. The Rev. Prof. Henry E. Jacobs, D. D., who had served as President of the Board since October, 1901, declined a re-election, when the Board was reorganized in October, 1907, and the Rev. Edward T. Horn, D. D., was elected to succeed him. Mr. Philip S. Zieber resigned as Treasurer of the Board in Novem- ber, 1908, having served since November, 1901, and Mr. James 1 The Mission Council in India in October, 1913, again requested that the sending of Christmas boxes be discontinued and that, instead of clothing, sheets and pillow cases, contributions of money should be solicited and sent by the Board. MANIFOLD ACTIVITY (1906-09) 363 M. Snyder was elected his successor. The duties of English Recording and Corresponding Secretary were entrusted to the General Secretary, the Rev. George Drach. In 1907 the third medical missionary, Dr. Amy B. Rohrer, was sent to India. Amy Belle Rohrer, daughter of Israel B. and Anna Elizabeth Rohrer, was born near Eden, Lancaster County, Pa. She attended the public school at Eden until she was sixteen years of age, and then became a student in the State Normal School at Millersville, Pa. In September, 1895, she was baptized and confirmed in Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church at Leacock, Pa. Three years later, on removing with her parents to Lancaster, Pa., she united with Grace Lutheran Church of that city. From April, 1900, to October, 1901, she lived at the Mary J. Drexel Home and Motherhouse of Deaconesses, Philadelphia. After nursing for several months in the Ladd Hospital, Carlisle, Pa., she accepted the position of an assistant in the Lutheran Orphans' Home, Germantown, Philadelphia, remaining in this position from March, 1902, to June, 1903. In the fall of 1903, she entered the Woman's Medical College, Philadelphia, to prepare for work as a medical missionary in India. She was supported as a medical student by the Women's Home and Foreign Mis- sionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium. She was graduated in 1907, later took the Massachusetts State Medical Board examination and, having accepted the call of the Board of Foreign Missions, was commissioned by the President of the Board on December 3, 1907, in Grace Church, Lancaster, Pa. In the company of Dr. Woerner she sailed from New York on December 10, 1907, and arrived at Rajahmundry on January 28, 1908. September 26, 1907, the Rev. C. F. Kuder was again called to go to India and, having accepted the call, was commis- sioned by the General Secretary of the Board on December 29, 1907, in Trinity Lutheran Church, Lehighton, Pa., served by his brother, the Rev. John H. Kuder. Leaving his family behind in Salem, Va., he sailed from New York on January i, 1908, and reached Rajahmundry twenty-six days later. The Board agreed to allow him to return after five years of 364 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL service, should circumstances in his family demand it. Soon after his arrival at Rajahmundry he took charge of the Boys' Central School, Wackernagel having resigned in November, 1907. Three months later Wackernagel returned to the United States, accompanied by Trafford. Miss Susan E. Monroe left on furlough, accompanied by Miss Hedwig Wahlberg, in April, 1908. Miss Wahlberg remained for a while in Sweden , recuperating from an illness contracted in India, and in November, 1908, wrote from Sweden, resigning as a missionary under the Board. The Board accepted her resignation to take effect on April i, 1909, and paid her expenses to the United States. Miss Monroe reached Philadelphia on July 7, 1908. She spent some of her time on furlough delivering addresses and toward its expira- tion again offered to return to the Mission on the same terms as before, namely, at her own expense but subject to the Rules of the Mission. The Board most gratefully accepted her offer, and after her return to Rajahmundry in December, 1909, she was placed in charge of the zenana work, which Miss Schade had managed after the death of Miss Swenson. After a serious epidemic of cholera in the Girls' Central School, in the fall of 1906, during which five pupils died of this dread disease, the school was closed for several weeks. Miss Schade then planned a separate Epidemic Ward to the School, which was begun in 1908 and finished in 1912, the First General Council Mission League of Monaca, Pa., assisted by other leagues of the Pittsburgh Synod, furnishing the sum of $600 for this purpose. In 1908 two woman missionaries were added to the force in India. Sigrid A. Esberhn, daughter of Bud Petersen Esberhn and his wife Sigrid Anna, was born in Koebenhavn, Denmark. She received her education in Copenhagen. With her parents she emigrated to the United States and settled in Chicago. She was called by the Board in May, 1908. Betty A. Nilsson of Rockford, 111., received her medical education in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Uni- MANIFOLD ACTIVITY (1906-09) 365 versity of Illinois, where she was supported by the Women's Missionary Society of the Augustana Synod. After her graduation in June, 1907, she served for a year as interne in the Cook County Hospital, Illinois. Both of these young ladies were commissioned by the President of the Board, the Rev. Edward T. Horn, D. D., on October 15, 1908, in the Immanuel Swedish Lutheran Church, Chicago. On their way to New York they stopped in Philadelphia for a farewell service on Sunday evening, October i8th, in St. Mark's English Lutheran Church of that city. They left New York several days later, and after spending a few weeks in Europe they proceeded on their journey to India, reaching Rajahmundry December 9, 1908. After Wolters had passed his second examination in Telugu, in 1907, he was assigned to take charge of the Korukonda district with residence at Rajahmundry. Shortly thereafter he was seriously ill with typhoid fever, but recovered, and took a voyage to China to recuperate and visit his sister, the wife of a merchant in that country. In 1909, after the de- parture of Dr. Harpster and Rev. E. Neudoerffer's transfer to the Bhimawaram district, Wolters became the missionary in charge of the Tadepalligudem district. Larson, in 1908, moved to Tallapudi and took charge of that district. At the same time Eckardt, living at Rajahmundry, became the mis- sionary in charge of the Jaggampetta district and extended his work into the Korukonda district. The Boys' Central School buildings at Luthergiri, 1 just out- side of Rajahmundry, which had been begun in January, 1905, were finally finished in May, 1908, but the school was removed from the old building to its new quarters in February, 1908. The new buildings, consisting of a main school building, a dormitory and a residence for the missionary in charge, occupy an elevated site, giving a commanding view of the Godavery River, and can be seen for miles. The main building has a frontage of 100 feet facing the river. It is flanked at either end by a massive tower. The lower story lu Giri" is a Telugu word signifying hill. 366 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL is divided into class rooms, while the upper story is devoted to the purposes of a chapel and assembly room. The Hostel or Dormitory furnishes accommodations for 150 boarders. It is a one-story structure, built in the form of a quadrangle. The outer wall is solid with no break in it except for the small, barred apertures near the top for purposes of ventilation. All the sleeping rooms, living rooms, bath rooms, granaries, cook rooms, storerooms, hospital rooms, etc., open into the inner quadrangle. The cost of the buildings was as follows : Main Building Rs. 22,600 $ 7,533-34 Dormitory 17,700 5,900.00 Bungalow 13,94 4,646.66 Out-houses 825 275.000 Total Rs. 55,065 $18,355.00 At the close of the first year in the new buildings Kuder wrote: "Our plant is quite new and is located on a plot of ground containing forty acres, lying on a gentle eminence about a mile north of Rajahmundry. Probably few mis- sions in the Madras Presidency have anything superior. This institution is meant to be the power-house of the Mis- sion. Its agents, or, at least, its male agents receive their training for future usefulness here. The school ranks, at present, as an Incomplete Secondary, the highest form being the third; but we have higher aspirations. As is cus- tomary in institutions of this kind, there are taught, besides the usual branches of secular knowledge, also religious sub- jects, according to a curriculum that is the outgrowth of a moderately long experience. By the time a boy entering the third standard our lowest class passes out of the third form, he will have gone through two explanations of the Small Catechism (Loehe's and Stump's, supplemented from Nissen), and also twice through Bible History, from specially prepared text-books, in the standards, and from the Bible itself, following Buchrucker, in the forms, together with the introduction to each book in the Sacred Volume, as it is taken up. It is primarily the aim of the educational work of DORMITORIES OF THE BOYS' CENTRAL SCHOOL, LUTHERGIRI, RAJAHMUNDRY THE HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS AT PEDDAPUR MARY WELDEN LAVRA V". KECK EMMA A. ENDLICH MRS. SAMUEL LAIRD MRS. CHARLES L. FRY MRS. EMMY EVALD WOMEN OF THE GENERAL (HH'NCIL WHO HAVE I'.EEX PROMINENT IN THE WORK OF MISSIONS MANIFOLD ACTIVITY (1906-09) 367 the Mission, at present, to prepare a body of teachers possess- ing a fair general education, a good knowledge of Christian truth, and normal training. No excursions into theological lore are as yet being attempted. The course mapped out contemplates special instruction in religious subjects for a year or two after students have passed out of the third form; and that is to be followed by a course in normal training, prescribed by the Educational Department of the Presidency. We have not been able as yet to add the year or two for religious instruction exclusively, but we did succeed in estab- lishing a normal training-school in the beginning of the year, of which not only our own youths but also a respectable number of the teachers in the Mission, as well as some out- siders, have availed themselves." After the Boys' Central School had been removed to Luthergiri, the High School Department was discontinued by order of the Board, and a Normal School, called the Training School for Masters, was established. Twenty-one normal pupils were enrolled during the first year of its history, eight in the Higher elementary class and thirteen in the Junior elementary lower class. Kuder succeeded in getting a govern- ment grant, in 1909, for the Normal School, amounting to Rs. 1288, in addition to Rs. 1800 for the Boys' Central School. During the second year 55 pupils were enrolled in the Normal School and nearly Rs. 4000 were received in grants from the government. The Boys' High School at Peddapur was continued under the direction of the missionary of the Samulkot district, Isaacson, and, in 191112, a new building was erected, cost- ing over $14,000, one-fourth of which was given by the govern- ment as a building grant. The corner-stone of the new build- ing was laid with impressive ceremonies on November 25, 1911, and the completed building was opened and dedicated on October 29, 1912. In order to carry out the instructions of the General Council the Board of Foreign Missions selected Prof. C. W. Foss, Ph. D., of Augustana College, Rock Island, 111., and the Rev. C. Theodore Benze, D. D., then pastor of St. Stephen's 368 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Evangelical Lutheran Church, Erie, Pa., and President of the Pittsburgh Synod, afterward President of Thiel College, as the Commissioners of Inspection, the President of the General Council having sanctioned these selections. The Commissioners were given a letter of instruction by the Board to define their duties and work in India, and after having met in Colombo, Ceylon, on December 8th, and arrived at Rajahmundry on December 28, 1908, they spent six weeks in the Mission, finished their work of inspection and returned to the United States. They submitted a carefully prepared report to the Board covering every district and department of the Mission, making a number of recommendations con- cerning the government of the Mission, urging an increase of missionaries and funds as imperative for the proper develop- ment of the work, and concluding with the following para- graph: " Notwithstanding human frailties and error and the insufficient supply of laborers and means, the Lord has sig- nally blessed and prospered our Mission, and thereby indi- cated that the work is His and not of men. There is much that is successful and much that is encouraging, and from this point of view the outlook for the future is bright. Let the Church give thanks to her Redeemer for thus prospering her feeble efforts, and awaken to a great sense of her respon- sibility and duty." The expenses connected with the sending out of this com- mission amounted to $2466, but the money was well spent, for the report of the Commission set the mind of the Church at rest, created new confidence in the Board and in the mission- aries, and won a more hearty support for the cause of foreign missions. This attitude of the Church was indicated, more- over, by the election of the commissioners as members of the Board at the next meeting of the General Council. The service of the Rev. E. E. Sibole, D. D., who had been a member of the Board for nearly twenty-five years and the editor of "The Foreign Missionary" for twelve years, ceased with the convention of the General Council in 1909. The 'General Council Minutes, 1909, pages 160-169. MANIFOLD ACTIVITY (1906-09) 369 Board adopted a minute, expressing its high appreciation of his long and faithful service. 1 The Rules and Regulations of the Telugu Mission, as revised by the Mission Council in India in 1908, and endorsed by the Commissioners, slightly amended by the Board, were adopted in 1909, and the Mission is now being administered under these Rules. 2 They provide for the government of the Mission by a Mission Council, consisting of all missionaries in charge of work in the Mission, and by a Ministerium of the ordained missionaries, to which the affairs of the district evangelistic work are referred. 1 At its meeting in 1909 the General Council elected the Revs. M. C. Ranseen, D. D., and S. C. Franzen, the latter in the place of the Rev. C. E. Slaett, re- signed; and retired Samuel G. Seiple, M. D., and R. A. Rydberg, Ph. D., who had served faithfully since 1001 and 1903, respectively. Dr. Seiple, however has continued to be the Medical Adviser of the Board. 2 See General Council Minutes, 1909, pages 137-153. 24 CHAPTER XIX RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) DR. and Mrs. Harpster left Rajahmundry on furlough, April 7, 1909, and after having visited the Rev. Frisby D. Smith in Tokyo, Japan, they crossed the Pacific Ocean, land- ing at San Francisco, and reaching Redlands, Cal., in June, 1909, where they were entertained by a friend until they came East to attend the convention of the General Council in Minneapolis that fall. Thereafter Dr. Harpster travelled and delivered addresses in the interest of the General Council's Telugu Mission. He was an exceptionally able speaker and his presentations won the interest of a large circle of sup- porters. While on a tour of the churches in Ohio, in January, 1911, he contracted a severe cold and hastened back to his wife who was visiting her brother, the Rev. Henry E. Jacobs. D. D., at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia. There he died on February i, 1911, after a brief illness. The funeral service was held in the Schaeffer-Ashmead Memorial Church, Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, on February 3, the General Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Synod, the Rev. L. B. Wolf, D. D., and the General Secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Council, the Rev. George Drach, delivering the addresses. The service was conducted by the Rev. Prof. J. Fry, D.D., and the Rev. A. S. Fichthorn, D. D. His body was interred in the cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa. The following is a brief sketch of his life up to the time of his becoming a missionary of the General Council. John Henry Harpster, the son of George and Frances Harpster, was born at Centre Hall, Pa., April 27, 1844. His education was interrupted by the Civil War, through which he served. He was captain and staff officer of the Second Corps, Army of the Potomac, and twice was danger- ously wounded in battle. After the war he resumed his 37 RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 371 studies at Selinsgrove and Gettysburg, Pa., preparing for the holy ministry. He was ordained in 1871, and went at once as a foreign missionary of the General Synod to its Telugu Mission in India, in which he served until 1876. Impaired health led to his return to the United States, and he served congregations in Ellsworth and Hayes City, Kan., Trenton, N. J., and Canton, O. He married Julia, daughter of Pro- fessor Michael Jacobs, of Gettysburg, Pa., in 1882. In 1893 he returned with his wife to India and served as a missionary in the Guntur and Sattenappalli Taluks of the General Synod's Mission until 1901, when he came home on furlough. The next year he entered the service of the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Council. 1 1 The following resolutions were passed by the Board at its meeting in March, 1911: Whereas God in his Providence removed by death on the first day of February, 1911, at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, Reverend John Henry Harpster, D. D., our missionary on furlough in America, and Whereas Reverend John Henry Harpster, D. D., one of the great foreign missionaries of the Lutheran Church in America, began his career as a foreign missionary in 1872, when the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the United States sent him to its Telugu Mission at Guntur, India, where he labored until 1876, returning to this Mission, after having served congregations in the United States, in 1893, for a second term lasting eight years, and then at the urgent call of the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, went to its Telugu Mission at Rajahmundry, India, in 1902, with the special titles and commission of "Temporary Director" and Chairman of the Executive Committee, then the highest office in the Mission, to re-organize it under new rules and regulations, and having fulfilled his mission and resigned his special office and position, returned to America in 1909, where he was spend- ing his furlough in the service of our Board which had called him to return to Rajahmundry as a regular missionary, and Whereas, while he served our Board in its India Mission, he labored faith- fully and well, erected new and adequate buildings for the Boys' Central School at Rajahmundry, extricated our mission property from the confusion of un- certain titles, improved the mission plant, and won many converts to Christian- ity, and Whereas, while on furlough in America, in 1909-1910, he attracted the interest of many by his addresses and efforts, spread information, deepened the sense of our foreign mission obligation, and won the prayers and consecra- tion of those who learned to know him; Be it Resolved, that we, the Board of Foreign Missions of the General Council, express our high appreciation of his long and successful career as a foreign missionary in India, and especially of his service, both in our Telugu Mission and at home in our churches, and our sense of the great loss we have sustained in his death, and Resolved, that we express our deep sympathy to his widow whom we com- mend to the tender love of our Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, His Son, Our Lord. 372 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL After his removal from Rajahmundry Dr. Schmidt had lived in retirement at Kotagiri, Nilgiri Hills, India, where he died on March 6, 1911, about a month after Dr. Harpster's death. His body was interred in the Basle Mission cemetery at Kotagiri. The Mission Council in India adopted the following minute of appreciation : "Three men in the history of the Rajahmundry Mission have, in the eyes of the Church, stood out among their fel- lows. Of these, the first, Dr. C. F. Heyer, has long since been gathered to his fathers and his works do follow him. "The second was the Rev. Hans Christian Schmidt, D. D., who departed this life on March 6, 1911. Others in other places have given the salient facts of his life. Our endeavor shall be to fix the place of Dr. Schmidt in this Mission and the value of his services to it. He came first to Rajahmundry on August 4, 1870, when the only missionary to greet him was Father Heyer. Six months later Father Heyer, under the weight of many years, left the country never to return. The strength of the Mission then was 241 adult Christians living in nine villages, and nine teachers. The buildings were dilapidated and the Mission had but a slender hold on the in- terest and support of the Church at home. It was the most critical time in the entire history of the Mission, and during the first decennium a living martyrdom for its missionaries. But in spite of every discouragement Dr. Schmidt and his col- league remained at their posts of duty; and God mightily blessed their slender means, so that before the close of the decade another bungalow, a church and a house-boat had been added to the material equipment of the Mission, and the number of adherents had been more than doubled. It seems to us, that it was in this period that Dr. Schmidt rendered the most valuable service in his life. The temptation to leave the work amidst so much discouragement and apathy on the part of the Church that had inaugurated it can scarcely have been wanting; and had he left, the probability is very strong that the work would have been permanently abandoned and the foreign mission activity of the General Council diverted to RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 373 some other field. The credit of being the real founder or, at least, savior of the mission, belongs far more truly to him than to Father Heyer. The latter was a bird of passage; the former came to stay and give permanence to the work. "In the eighties reinforcements began to come, and with their advent interest in the work grew at home. The path, therefore, became easier; but the economy and the careful expenditure Dr. Schmidt had been forced to practice in the first decade of his service adhered to him always. He was a wise buyer, a cheap builder, a shrewd manager; and much of the excellent property now owned by the Mission is the fruit of his foresight. As a fellow-missionary he was genial and easy to get along with. His long experience with new mis- sionaries, all of whom for a period of thirty years he was here to welcome, made him patient and sympathetic with them. He was quick to recognize merit and rejoiced in it for the sake of the Mission. His judgment was safe and his tenacity of purpose great. Connected for so many years with the Mission, there is scarcely a phase of its work to-day that does not, to a greater or less extent, bear his impress. After his withdrawal from the Mission he lived in dignified and contented retire- ment, dividing his time between his home on the hills and that of his daughter in the Breklum Mission. His failing health was quite obvious to his many friends throughout the last year of his life, and the end was quiet and peaceful. "The third of the three was the Rev. John Henry Harpster, D. D., whose connection with this Mission dated from 1902. That was a time of great difficulty, and the task set him was one of unusual responsibility, involving transfer and reor- ganization. Friction seemed inevitable. Frequently he had to shape his course to fit rules for which he had not been responsible; and the wonder is, that with such burdens on his shoulders, he succeeded as well as he did. Ninety-nine other men in a hundred would have failed utterly. Had his dis- position been less generous, his spirit less sanguine, his patience less lasting, he would have left the field in confusion worse confounded, instead of on the highroad to harmonious co- operation and general good-will. Arguments there were, to 374 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL be sure, but through them all strongly pulsed the beat of a courteous man's warm friendship. As a missionary he was indefatigable, as a preacher eloquent and inspiring. He labored in season and out to inculcate self-support. Alto- gether this was a man to love. He left the work, worn out by his many burdens; and when the news of his passing came, there was not a heart in the Mission that was not the sadder for it." Miss Agnes I. Schade came to the United States on fur- lough in 1909, leaving Rajahmundry June 26th, and arriving at New York on August 3d, that year. On account of an affliction of the eyes she was under treatment in Philadelphia for some time and was unable to do much travelling. Never- theless, she found opportunity before the expiration of her furlough to help the cause at home by a number of addresses at different places. Before the close of the year 1910 she had returned to her work at Rajahmundry as the manager of the Girls' Central School. During her absence Dr. Amy B. Rohrer served temporarily as manager of the school. Furloughs were given E. Neudoerffer in 1910-1911, R. Arps in 1911-1912, and H. E. Isaacson in 1912-1913. Neu- doerffer, with his wife and child, came to America by way of the Pacific Ocean and spent the most of his time in the United States and Canada delivering sermons and addresses, especially to German and German-English congregations, in order to arouse them to greater effort in behalf of foreign missions. He also succeeded in interesting a number of young pastors to such an extent that two recruits were secured and sent out with him to India, the Revs. Oscar V. Werner and F. W. Schaefer; and his younger brother, August, followed him a few months later. Arps spent a year in Luebeck, Germany, with his son and daughter, who were being educated there, before coming to America in May, 1912, with his wife and daughter. Among the more recent events of importance in the Mis- sion have been the erection of the Augustana Church at Samulkot, the gift of the Foreign Missionary Society of Augustana College and Seminary, Rock Island, 111., which RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 375 was consecrated on January 15, 1911, while the Conference of missionaries and native workers was in session at Samulkot. The building cost $2700. The same day that this new church was consecrated the sixth native Christian pastor, Pantagani Paradesi, was or- dained by the officers of the Ministerium in India, the Rev. H. E. Isaacson, D. D., 1 and the Rev. Karl L. Wolters. Pantagani Paradesi was born at Mahadevipatnam, Bhima- waram taluk. He attended the Boys' Central School at Rajah- mundry, from which he was graduated, and then went to the Mission College at Guntur. After having served for a while as teacher in the Girls' Central School, he was added to the staff of teachers in the Boys' Central School, where he was at work when the call came to become the pastor of St. Paul's Church, Rajahmundry. He was installed as the native pastor of the congregation in Rajahmundry, under the super- vision of the missionary in charge, on Sunday, February 5, 1911, by the Rev. C. F. Kuder, assisted by the Rev. R. Arps. Under the direction of Kuder the congregation became self- supporting and agreed to pay its pastor's salary. 2 Self- government, also, was introduced under a panchayet or council, consisting of the missionary in charge, the native pastor and five members of the native congregation. The membership of the congregation at the close of 1910 was 356, exclusive of boarding-school children and teachers at- tending the Training School. Before Kuder returned to the United States in April, 1913, he nearly finished the preparation of the Telugu Lutheran Church Book, a translation of the Church Book of the General Council, not however including all of the hymns, the publication of which is an event of far-reaching significance in the history of the Mission. One of the outstanding events of importance within the past few years was the erection of the Hospital for Women and Children at Halkett's Garden, about half-way between *In 1911 the Rev. H. E. Isaacson received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas, in recognition of his long and faith- ful service as a foreign missionary. * The pastor's salary is Rs. 40 ($13) a month. 376 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Rajahmundry and Dowlaishwaram. This site, as we have already had occasion to narrate, was purchased in 1902, for the sum of $4500, and plans for a building had been drawn and approved by the Board in 1905, but they proved to be unsatisfactory and Dr. Woerner's furlough delayed the preparation of new plans until the year 1009, when they were finally approved by the Board in August of that year. Arps was appointed superintendent of construction. He se- cured the service of M. Ramanayya, a converted Brahmin, as contractor, and inasmuch as the women's missionary societies of the General Council had already gathered most of the funds needed, the building operations, once begun, made rapid progress. The corner-stone of the main building was laid on January n, 1910, by Mrs. E. B. Elwin, the wife of the Collector of the Coconada district. The Collector delivered an address in English, and Missionary Arps an ad- dress in Telugu. After the buildings were completed, the Hospital was opened and dedicated on July 20, 1911, the Collector of the District again taking part in the exercises. Concerning this occasion Dr. Woerner wrote: "At last we have realized our long-desired hospital. The formal opening day was a day of joy and gladness. Crowds of people were present. A portion of the second floor was reserved for Hindu ladies. It was remarkable how many attended this public function. Some years ago hardly one would have been present. The people, as they went about the place, were full of praise and admiration. On July 24th the sick were moved over from the nurses' quarters, where they had been kept temporarily, and filled the first large ward. The second is now filling up with new patients. After years of cramping in small, incon- venient rooms, the work of arranging is a great pleasure. We feel very grateful to all who have worked so long and faith- fully to give us this abiding place for the sick." The Hospital buildings consist of a two-story main build- ing, a separate, one-story building used as a Maternity Ward, and a number of smaller buildings for use as kitchen, contagion ward, Eurasian and native helpers quar- ters and stables. They are built of stone with dressed BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN, RAJAHMUNDRY MAIN BUILDING OF THE HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN, RAJAHMUNDRY "Till-: MEDICAL HOMK" The residence of our medical missionaries at Rajahmundry. PATIENTS OF THE CHILDREN'S' WARDS. HOSPITAL FOR \VOMEX AND CHILDREN, RAJAHMUNDRY. WITH THEIR NURSES RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 377 stones at all angles of the buildings. The iron girders and steel beams used in the construction were shipped from England. The cost of the buildings was as follows: Hospital Main Building, $21,315; Isolation Ward, $500; Native Helpers' Quarters, $333; Morgue, $133; European Nurses' Quarters, $1000; Kitchen, $200; Stables, $166; Compound Wall, $533; Hospital Total, $24,180. Maternity Ward, $3533; Grand Total, $27,713. The Women's Missionary Society of the Pennsylvania Ministerium gathered and con- tributed one-half of the amount required to build the Main building, and the Women's Missionary Society of the Swedish Augustana Synod the other half. The Women's Missionary Society of the New York and New England Synod, assisted by the Women's Missionary Society of the Synod of Central Canada, paid for the Maternity Ward. A number of socie- ties and individuals provided the furniture of the hospital buildings, which cost $2900. The growth of the medical work in our Mission has been truly remarkable. The total number of visits at the Dispen- sary in Rajahmundry during the year 1910 was 21,394. The number of new patients treated was 6488. In the temporary hospital 1 88 cases were treated, while 316 private patients were visited 1470 times. The dispensary minor operations numbered 140, the hospital general operations 100. The average daily attendance at the Rajahmundry Dispensary in 1912, varied between fifty and ninety. Counting the rela- tives of patients probably one hundred people each day heard some message from God's Word in this Dispensary. A Dispensary was begun by Dr. Betty A. Nilsson in Dow- larshwaram in August, 1911, which was open three after- noons each week. The number of patients in the Rajah- mundry Hospital rose to 738 in 1912. About Rs. 3000 ($1000) were received that year as medical fees. After having demonstrated their unity of spirit and effort in the completion of the hospital without a cent of debt, and in other united work, the various synodical women's mission- ary societies felt that the time had arrived for a federation in one General Council Society. A preliminary step in this 378 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL direction was taken by a number of women who met in Minne- apolis and St. Paul, Minn., Friday and Saturday, September lo-n, 1909, in connection with the convention of the General Council. They represented the various synodical societies, and resolved to recommend to their respective societies that a General Council society be organized. All of the synodical societies adopted this recommendation and sent delegates to the Federation Convention, held in connection with the meeting of the General Council, September 11-12, 1911, in Trinity Church, Lancaster, Pa. A constitution was adopted and officers were elected as follows: President, Miss Laura V. Keck, Allentown, Pa. ; Recording Secretary, Mrs. G. L. Eck- man, Jamestown, N. Y. ; l Corresponding and Statistical Sec- retary, Mrs. Frank E. Jensen, Buffalo, N. Y.; Treasurer, Mrs. H. N. Miller, Columbus, O. ; 2 Literature Secretary, Mrs. Charles L. Fry, Philadelphia, Pa. ; Mission Study Chairman, Mrs. F. A. Kaehler, Buffalo, N. Y. ; Life Membership Chairman, Mrs. L. K. Sanford, Lancaster, Pa.; Foreign Missions Chairman, Mrs. F. F. Fry, Rochester, N. Y. ; Home Missions Chairman, Mrs. G. H. Schnur, St. Paul, Minn.; Porto Rico Mission Chairman, Mrs. A. E. Anderson, St. Paul, Minn.; India Lace Chairman, Mrs. A. Woll, Philadelphia, Pa.; Mission Exhibit Chairman, Mrs. S. C. Weiskotten, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Organ- izing Chairman, Mrs. M. J. Bieber, Toronto, Can.; Inner Mission Chairman, Mrs. A. J. D. Haupt, Albert Lea, Minn.; Junior Work Chairman, Miss Bertha Ziebarth, Frankford, Ind. "The Lutheran Mission Worker," which for many years had been published by the society of the Pennsyl- vania Ministerium, under the editorship of Miss Emma A. Endlich and Mrs. Charles L. Fry, was made the official organ of the General Council Society and Mrs. Fry was continued as the editor of this excellent quarterly. The Augustana Society publishes a separate quarterly in Swedish, called "Missions Tidning." The Rev. Theodore R. Beussel, a graduate of the Theological Seminary at Kropp, Germany, serving a congregation in 1 Mrs. Walter C. Weier, Toledo, O., is now the Recording Secretary. 2 Mrs. M. A. Reeb, Buffalo, N. Y., is now the Treasurer. RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 379 Bristol, Conn., was called by the Board and commissioned as a foreign missionary in St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Brooklyn, N. Y., October 9, 1910. He reached Rajahmundry on November 23, that year. Four months later he resigned, and his resignation was accepted to take effect July i, 1912. The largest number of foreign missionaries ever sent out by the General Council at one time was commissioned in 1911. Three ordained missionaries and two woman missionaries were sent to India, and one ordained missionary and his wife were sent to Japan. Those sent to India were the Revs. Oscar V. Werner, Frederick W. Schaefer and August F. A. Neudoerffer, and the Misses Margaret C. Haupt and Agatha Tatge. Oscar Victor Carl Werner was born November 9, 1886, in Brooklyn, N. Y. He attended the German Parochial School of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brooklyn and the public school in that city. Then he went to Tuebingen, Germany, where from 1896 to 1901 he attended the Royal Gymnasium. Returning to the United States he entered Wagner Memorial Lutheran College, Rochester, N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1904. He took his course in the- ology at the Evangelical Lutheran Seminary, Mt. Airy, Phila- delphia, was graduated and then went to Columbia College, New York City, where he took a special course. He was ordained in 1909, and followed a call to become pastor of Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church, Freeport, Long Island, N. Y., which he served until in September, 1911, he resigned to accept the call of the Board of Foreign Missions to go to India as a missionary of the General Council. Frederick William Schaefer was born in New York City, November 22, 1883. He attended public schools in New York City, and then went to Wagner Memorial Lutheran College, Rochester, N. Y., from which he was graduated in 1902. He studied theology in the Seminary at Mt. Airy, Philadelphia, was graduated and was ordained in 1905. After serving a congregation at Lockport, Pa., from 1905 to 1907, he became 380 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL pastor of the Church of the Ascension, Brooklyn, N. Y., where he was serving when called to go to India. Both of these missionaries were commissioned by the Presi- dent of the Board, the Rev. Professor Edward T. Horn, D. D., Sunday evening, September 10, 1911, in the Church of the Holy Trinity, New York City. On the morning of that day the President commissioned Miss Agatha Tatge in the Church of the Advent, New York City, and the General Secretary, the Rev. George Drach, commissioned Miss Margaret Haupt in the First Lutheran Church, Pittsburgh. Agatha Marie Dorothea Tatge was born in Chicago, 111. Her mother died when Agatha was twelve years old. She was confirmed the next year by the Rev. Zenan M. Corbe. When she was fourteen she was taken out of school by her uncle and aunt, her guardians, but later went to the Lutheran Ladies' Seminary, Red Wing, Minn., where she took the regu- lar four years' course, being graduated in 1906. That fall she entered the Hackley Hospital Training School for Nurses, Muskegon, Mich., and was graduated three years later. Then she entered Teachers' College, Columbia University, New York City, majoring in Hospital Economics, and was graduated on June 7, 1911. Her special work in the Mission is the manage- ment of the Department of Nursing in the Hospital for Women and Children, Rajahmundry. Margaret Cecelia Haupt is a daughter of the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. A. J. D. Haupt. She was born in St. Paul, Minn., while her father was pastor in that city. She spent the fall, winter and spring of 1910-1911 at the Mary J. Drexel Home and Motherhouse of Deaconesses, Philadelphia, as the first student in the special course arranged for the training of woman mis- sionaries in that institution. For all of these outgoing missionaries, as well as for the Rev. Edward T. Horn, Jr., and his fiancee, who were going to Japan, and for the Rev. and Mrs. Ernst Neudoerffer, who were returning to India after furlough, a farewell service was held in connection with the convention of the General Council, in Trinity Church, Lancaster, Pa., Thursday evening, Septem- RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 381 her 14, 1911. Those who had the privilege to attend that service will never forget it. The President of the Board in a most admirable manner introduced each missionary in turn and each in well-chosen words responded. Finally the President of the General Council, the Rev. Theodore E. Schmauk, D. D., in a most happy manner acknowledged for the whole General Council the introduction of the missionaries and encouraged them with the assurance of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom all power is given in heaven and on earth. During the service, as one after the other of the missionaries spoke, tears came to the eyes of those who heard their solemn and impressive words; not tears of sorrow but of joy, because such a numerous and noble band of young men and women had been found willing and ready to carry the Gospel to the heathen. At ten o'clock on Saturday morning, September i6th, those bound for India sailed from New York, six adults and two children, and reached Rajahmundry, October 25, 1911. Two or three days later the new missionaries began their study of the Telugu language. 1 After this band of missionaries had sailed away, the Rev. August F. A. Neudoerffer, a younger brother of the Rev. Ernst Neudoerffer, whom the Board had twice called to go to India, offered to follow his elder brother to the mission field, was accepted and commissioned in St. Johannis' German Lutheran Church, Philadelphia, Wednesday evening, Novem- ber 29, 1911. August F. A. Neudoerffer was born June 18, 1896, at Santo Leopolidina, Brazil, where his father, the Rev. Ernst Neudoerf- fer, Sr., was a missionary for seven years. About a year after the birth of August the family went to Germany, and from there to Canada, where his father has since served, at Neustadt, Ontario. He attended public school at Normandy, Ontario, and in the fall of 1897 he entered Wagner Memorial Lutheran College, Rochester, N. Y., from which he was graduated hi 1 New missionaries devote the entire first year to the study of the vernacular. During the second year, while continuing their language study, they are associ- ated with an older missionary. After having passed the second examination at the end of the second year, they are placed in charge of work. 382 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 1 902. After the regular course in theology at the Seminary in Philadelphia, he was ordained June 19, 1905, and then took charge of St. Paul's Church, Hainesport, N. J., which he served six and one-half years. He left New York December 9, 1911, and reached Rajahmundry January 17, 1912. Among the more recent developments in the home admin- istration was the incorporation of the Board. In accord- ance with the instruction of the General Council, convened in Minneapolis in 1909, the Board sought and secured a Charter of Incorporation, which was granted by the Decree of Judge William H. Staake of Philadelphia, on November 18, 1910, and accepted by the Board at its meeting on February 2, 1911. In this charter the Board is given the following Con- stitution : " i . The name of the Corporation is and shall be ' The Board of Foreign Missions of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America.' "2. The object for which the said Corporation is formed shall be to conduct the foreign missions of the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, and maintain the same in accordance with the Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as accepted by the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, in such places as may from time to time be determined by the said Corporation, and provide ways and means for the carry- ing on and extension of said work, and to perform such other duties as are usually incumbent upon and pertain to a Board of Foreign Missions. "3. The business of said Corporation shall be transacted in the city of Philadelphia, Pa. "4. The said Corporation has no capital stock and is to exist perpetually. "5. The management and control of said Corporation shall be vested in a Board not exceeding sixteen members, who shall be elected by the said General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America, for a term of four years, one-half of this number being chosen at each biennial conven- CORPORATE SEAL OF THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN NORTH AMERICA THE CHURCH COUNCIL QF ST. PAUL'S CONGREGATION, RAJAHMUNDRY R. Charles M. Devadas Pastor P. Paradesi V. Sriramulu Rev. C. F. A. Paul Kuder M. Samuel REV. PROF. ADOLPH SPAETH, D. D., LL.D., 1876-1892 REV. PROF. CHARLES W. SCHAEFFER, D. D., LL.D. 1892-1896 REV. HUGO GRAHN, D. D. 1896-1901 REV. PROF. HENRY E. JACOBS, D. D., LL.D., 1901-1907 REV. PROF. EDWARD T. HORN, D. D., LL.D., since 1907. PRESIDENTS OF THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 383 tion of the said General Council, provided, however, that the said Board shall have the power to fill any vacancies that may occur in its membership between the conventions or meetings of the said General Council." At the subsequent meeting of the Board the following action was taken: "In accepting the Charter of Incorporation this Board interprets the clause, 'in accordance with the Confes- sions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church as accepted by the General Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America/ to mean, that all the work of this corporation shall be on the basis of the Principles of Faith and Church Polity of the General Council, according to the directions of the General Council in session at Minneapolis, September 9-14, 1909." Under this Charter and Constitution the Board re-organized by the election of its former officers and the adoption of the former by-laws. The Rev. H. Grahn, D. D., resigned as business manager of the " Missionsbote " at the close of the year 1910, having served in that capacity since 1901, and the Rev. R. C. G. Bielinski, editor of that paper, took charge also of the business management. The Rev. Prof. H. E. Jacobs, D. D., resigned as a member of the Board in February, 1911, and the Hon. Frank M. Riter was elected to fill the unexpired term. In August, 1910, the Rev. P. J. O. Cornell succeeded the Rev. S. C. Franzen as a member of the Board. The General Coun- cil in 1911 elected the following new members of the Board: The Rev. F. Jacobson, Ph. D., and Messrs. A. Raymond Bard, Robert Gaskell and B. F. Cressman. The present officers of the Board are: President, the Rev. Prof. Edward T. Horn, D. D., LL.D.; Treasurer, Mr. James M. Snyder; English Recording Secretary, the General Secre- tary, the Rev. George Drach, by appointment; German Recording Secretary, the Rev. R. C. G. Bielinski; Swedish Recording Secretary, the Rev. P. J. O. Cornell. Dr. S. C. Seiple, of Centre Square, Pa., a former member of the Board, is the Board's Medical Adviser. The other members of the Board are the Revs. L. G. Abrahamson, D. D., S. G. 384 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL Youngert, D. D., 1 C. A. Miller, D. D., 1 W. E. Frey, John A. Weyl, R. C. G. Bielinski, and Messrs. Prof. C. W. Foss, W. F. Monroe, Frank M. Riter, A. Raymond Bard, Robert Gas- kell and B. F. Cressman, making sixteen members, represent- ing five different synods of the General Council. A Swedish District Secretary of the Board of Foreign Mis- sions was elected in 1911. The first incumbent of this office, the Rev. Carl Solomonson, began his work December 15, 1911, but one year later obtained leave of absence for a year or more to act as a solicitor of funds for Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn., his alma mater. The duties of this office are denned as follows: i. To represent the Board in the congregations of the Augustana Synod. 2. To spread information, awaken interest and solicit funds for the support of the foreign missions of the General Council. 3. To interest and recommend young men and women for service in our mission fields. 4. To keep the people informed of our work at home and abroad through the papers of the Augustana Synod and such literature as may be ap- proved by the Board. 5. To perform such other duties as the Board from tune to time may determine. 6. The relation of the Swedish District Secretary to the Board shall be (a) to labor under the direction of the Board and report to it at each regular meeting through the General Secretary concern- ing his work and expenses ; (b) to attend the regular meetings of the Board as often as possible and to be present whenever called by the President of the Board ; (c) to remit monthly all money received for our foreign missions to the treasurer of the Mission Board of the Augustana Synod, and report the same to the Board of Foreign Missions. Among the sure indications of a more intense and wide- spread interest in foreign missions is the support of individual missionaries by societies and congregations. Those now being supported are: The Rev. C. F. Kuder by the Men's Bible Class of Holy 1 The Rev. Dr. Youngert and the Rev. Dr. Miller were elected by the Gen- eral Council in 1913, taking the places of the Rev. M. C. Ranseen, D. D., and the Rev. C. Theodore Benze, D. D., the latter having been elected American professor in the Theological Seminary at Kropp, Germany. RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 385 Trinity Church, Buffalo, N. Y., the Rev. F. A. Kaehler, D. D., pastor; the Rev. Karl L. Wolters by the Luther Leagues of Buffalo; the Rev. Edward T. Horn, Jr., by the Men's Foreign Missionary Society of Holy Trinity Church, Reading, Pa.; the Rev. O. O. Eckardt by the First Swedish Lutheran Church of St. Paul, Minn, (in part) ; Miss Sigrid Esberhn by the Ice- landic Evangelical Lutheran Synod; Miss Susan E. Monroe by herself; Miss Betty A. Nilsson, M. D., by the Women's Missionary Society of the Augustana Synod; Miss Lydia Woerner, M. D., by the Women's Missionary Society of the Eastern Conference of the New York and New England Synod; Miss Agatha Tatge by the Church of the Advent, New York, the Rev. William M. Horn, pastor; Miss Agnes I. Schade by the Women's Missionary Society of the Pitts- burgh Synod; Miss Amy B. Rohrer, M. D., by the Missionary Society of the Church of the Reformation, Rochester, N. Y., the Rev. Frank F. Fry, pastor; Rev. Oscar V. Werner by St. John's Church, Allentown, Pa., the Rev. A. Steimle, pastor. There has been a decided increase in the income of the Board of Foreign Missions during the past few years. In 1905 the income was $29,552.87; five years later (1910) it was $48,451.57; in 1911 it rose to $60,263.13, and in 1913, to $66,546.41. These figures do not include the sum raised by the Women's Home and Foreign Missionary Societies for the new hospital, which flowed into the Board's treasury in 1910 and 1911, and amounted to over $30,000. The expenditures have steadily kept pace with the income, due in part to the increase of the number of missionaries, and in part to increased appropriations for the expanding mission work. Thus, while hi 1905, $8000 were sent to India for the regular expenses of mission work, $18,000 were sent for that purpose during 1911, and $20,625.00 in 1913. These figures do not include the salaries and allowances of the mssionaries. Two of the main factors in the development of the foreign mission spirit and effort in our churches have been the organ- ization of women's missionary societies and the Laymen's Missionary Movement. 25 386 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL The following table of statistics shows the growth of our Telugu Mission since it became the General Council's Mission: 1870. l88o. 1890. IQOO. I9OS. IQIO. IQI*. Christians 160 335 1056 6159 13,823 16,953 19,751 Communicants 70 216 978 3000 6,135 9.9 2 6 10,845 Foreign missionaries 24 4 5 16 12 21 Native workers 9 16 90 142 314 347 411 Pupils in school 138 440 1473 3500 5,275 6,099 6,559 In 1912 the Rev. and Mrs. Arps returned to India and Dr. Lydia Woerner left Rajahmundry on sick-leave and furlough; and the Revs. Thure Holmer and Ivar F. Witting and Miss Mary Borthwick were sent out as missionaries. Rev. Ivar F. Witting, after a residence of four months in India, re- signed and, although urged to reconsider his resignation, insisted on it and returned to the United States. The Rev. Thure Holmer was born in Sweden, June 5, 1882, and came to the United States with his parents when he was eight years of age. The family settled at Falconer, N. Y. Mr. Holmer entered Augustana College in 1902, and was graduated from the Theological Seminary and was or- dained in 1912. On July I'jih, that year, he married Miss Pauline Celia Bjork. Sailing from New York on July 3ist, Mr. and Mrs. Holmer reached Rajahmundry on October 23, 1912, the day on which the Rev. O. V. Werner and Miss Margaret C. Haupt were married in St. Paul's Church, Rajah- mundry. Miss Mary S. Borthwick was born in Chestnut Hill, Phila- delphia, where she was baptized and confirmed in Christ Church. She took the one year's course at the Mary J. Drexel Home and Motherhouse of Deaconesses, and was commissioned in her home congregation on October 15, 1912, by the President of the Board. She accompanied the Rev. and Mrs. Arps to Rajahmundry, arriving November 21, 1912. Mr. Hiram H. Sipes, Jr., a graduate of Thiel College, class of 1913, accepted the call of the Board to go to our Telugu Mission in India and assist in its educational work. He married Miss Elsie Ashe of Greenville, Pa., on Aug. RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 387 21, 1913, was commissioned on Sunday evening, October 1 2th, in Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Greenville, Pa., and reached Rajahmundry in November, 1913. During that month Dr. H. E. Isaacson returned to India, leaving his wife and children in Lindsborg, Kansas, and Dr. Betty A. Nilsson came back to America on furlough. The year 1912 opened at Rajahmundry with the con- vention of the All-India Lutheran Conference, December 31, i9ii-January 4, 1912, which was attended by 93 dele- gates. "They represented the Leipsic, Swedish and Danish Missions of the Tamil country, the Hermannsburg, Schleswig- Holstein, Rajahmundry and Guntur Missions of the Telugu country, and the Gossner Mission of Chota Nagpur in the North. Greetings were received from the Santal Mission, the Missionary Society of Stockholm and the Moravian Mis- sion. If not in the strictest geographical sense, at least as far as Lutherans go, the comprehensiveness of the term "All India" was justified. The delegates came from the South of India, where the breezes have not yet spent all their spicy fragrance, of which, softly blowing, they robbed Ceylon's isle; they came from the sun-scorched plains of Central India, where great rivers roll seaward in tepid sluggishness; they came from the far North, where the vast, snowy reaches of the Himalayas abruptly bound the view. There were young men still in the newness of the first years of their service, still studying the respective vernaculars of their fields of work; men in the prime of life, who had tested their strength upon the tasks God gave them to perform amidst surround- ing heathendom, and who were wise in counsel and strong in deed ; older men whose whitening hair confirmed the story told by their battle-scarred faces, of decades of service against the forces of Satan, and who yet burned at heart with the zeal of young warriors. Moreover, there was not a department of woman's work in missions that had not its representative among the goodly complement of women present at the Conference. Finally, by the type of their manhood and by their faith, the twelve Indian delegates, almost all of them ordained ministers of the Lutheran Church, gave proof of the 388 THE TELUGU MISSION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL quickening power of the Gospel of Christ, and were distinct encomiums upon the work for the furtherance of which the Conference and its individual members were human agencies." "Federation" was the main topic of discussion, and the desire for closer co-operation and union, especially in educa- tional and literary work, found expression in a set of resolu- tions and in the appointment of a permanent committee, each Mission being represented by one member, to which was entrusted, among other things, the duty of the furtherance of the federation of Lutheran Missions in India, which, accord- ing to the census of 191 1 , have a constituency of nearly 250,000. One of the resolutions of the All-India Lutheran Con- ference, held at Rajahmundry, reads as follows: "The All- India Lutheran Conference, in session at Rajahmundry, strongly urges and approves of the establishment of a United Lutheran Theological Seminary at Madras. It recommends that every mission represented in the Conference, uniting in the establishment and maintenance of such a united insti- tution, pay its share of the original cost involved in the starting of such an institution, including the land and buildings, set aside and support a missionary professor, if desirable, and pay its part of the salaries of Indian teachers and other general expenses. It recommends that, as soon as possible, the first class be formed. It recommends that all professors and teachers in this Seminary be bound to an acceptance of the Bible as the infallible rule of doctrine and life, and that they be required to subscribe to the Augus- tana Invariata. It recommends that the Synodical Books be an essential part of the curriculum of studies." The General Council at its convention in Toledo, O., September 11-16, 1913, discussed this project and adopted the following recommendations of the Board of Foreign Missions : "Resolved, that we approve the resolution adopted by representatives of the Lutheran missions in India, namely, that the All-India Lutheran Conference become a permanent body; but the details of its organization should depend upon REV. B. M. SCHMUCKER, D. D. Secretary, 1876-1888 REV. WILLIAM ASHMEAD SCHAEFFER, D. D. Secretary 1888-1906 REV. F. W. WEISKOTTEN Commissioner to India in 1900 REV. T. TELLEEN, D. D. Agent and Superintendent, 1891-1902 REV. GEORGE DRACH General Secretary, since 1905. MR. TAMES M. SNYDER Secretary 1902-"l908; Treasurer, since 1908. EXECUTIVE OFFICERS OF THE BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS ,", A THE ALL-INDIA LUTHERAN CONFERENCE OF MISSIONARIES Held in St. Paul's Church, Rajahmundry. in January, 1912. RECENT DEVELOPMENT (1909-12) 389 the further action of the Boards concerned. In reference to co-operation in this Conference, as well as to the Joint Theological Seminary proposed for all Lutheran missions in India, the General Council advises, as precedent to all action on the subject, an amendment to the Confessional Statement, to wit, the acceptance of the Old and New Testaments as the infallible Rule of Faith and Practice, the adoption of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession and the Small Cate- chism of Luther as the statement of our faith, and the rec- ognition of the other Confessions contained in the Book of Concord as a correct answer to the questions concerning the faith which arose in the Lutheran Church after the adoption of the Augsburg Confession. "The Board of Foreign Missions is hereby authorized, upon the approval of our suggestions by all the other Boards or a number of them, to proceed to the consideration of the further propositions of the All- India Lutheran Conference." If the Home Churches in America and Europe will do their full share of foreign mission work by sending a sufficient num- ber of missionaries and furnishing an adequate financial sup- port, the day cannot be far distant when the Lutheran Church in India, united, strong and vigorous, will stand in the front rank of the great army of the Lord Jesus Christ, righting with the spiritual armor and weapons which He furnishes, for the Christian conquest of India; and one of the largest and strongest divisions of the Lutheran part of this army should come from the field of the Telugu Mission of the General Council in the Godavery and Kistna districts of the Madras Presidency. INDEX AARON, too Aberly, J., 309 Abraham, S., 288, 290 Abrahamson, L. G., 325, 362, 383 Achutaramayya, 344 Addatigula, 288, 291 Adigopula, 99, 109, 123 Advent, Church of, N. Y., 385 Agartipalem, 151, 178, 189, 203, 220 Agraharam, 290 Akron, O., 5 Albert, L. E., 128 Alexander, B., 303 Alexander, Canon F. N., 130, 191 All India Lutheran Conference, 387 Allen town, Pa., 16 Allowances, 347 Amalapur, 178 Amelia, M., 205 American Baptists, 46 American Bible Society, 56, 65 Anandam, B., 311 Anandappan, A., 356 Anna, R., 178 Annakoderu, 203, 290 Annawaram, 290 Appiah, 80 Arbuthnot & Co., 56, 350, 358 Aredu, 290 Arjulapalem, 298 Arps, R., 292, 302, 303, 309, 327, 328; first furlough, 334, 342, 343, 345, 374 Artman, H. G. B., 198-200, 201, 204, 209, 213, 216, 219, 220; dies, 222 Askam, Wm. B., 76 Augustana Foreign Mission Society (Rock Island), 374 B BAEHNISCH, Paul, 292, 317 Baker, J. C., 14, 16, 21, 35, 37, 67, 76, Ballapadu, 237 Ballasamudi, 290 Baptists. See Canadian Baptists. Bard, A. R., 383, 384 Barlow, 51 Barnabas, 80, 101, 103 Bastar, 208 Bauer, F. R., 241 Baugher, H. L., 16 Baugher, Isaac, 16, 56 Bauman, Mrs. J. A., 271, 278 Beates, Wm., 14, 16, 35 Becker, C. F. J., 128, 135, 143; dies, 144 Beer, 46, 78 Belfour, .,335 Bender, L. P., 253 Benze, C. T., 367 Berger, J. 18, Bethlehem School and Church, 344 Beussel, T. R., 378-9 Bhimawaram, 157, 203, 252, 290, 300-1, 365 Bhimawaram Church, 284, 301 Bible Society of Lebanon County, Pa., 19 Bible, Telugu, 166-7, iQ r 2 9 r Bible women, 319 Bielinski, R., 330, 336, 383, 384 Black, Wm., 122 Blomgren, C. A., 314, 324, 336, 353 Board incorporated, 382-3 Bondada, 290 Book Depot, 209, 361 Borthwick, Miss M., 386 Bothmann, H., 208, 220 Bowden, 46 Boys' Boarding School, 80, 99, 100, 145, 178, 189, 204, 209, 216, 220, 226, 235, 242-3, 250, 273, 276, 285- 6, 287, 288, 304, 307-8, 311, 349, 365 Boys' Schools, 65 Braun, Wm. P. M., 357 Bremer, J. A., 324 Brenda, 38 British Bible Society, 56, 65, 209 Brobst, S. J., 14 391 392 INDEX Brobst, S. K., 137, 173 Buckel, Gen., 51 Buehler, Martin, 88 Buffalo Luther Leagues, 347, 385 CALEB, P., 227 Canadian Baptists, 156, 162, 170, 171, 173, 225, 283, 356 Cape Girardeau, Mo., 31 Carey, Wm., 191 Carlisle, Pa., 29 Carlson, A. B., 187-9, J 96, 201; died, 204 Cassaday, E. R., 280, 294, 334, 326 Cassel, H. S., 324 Caste Girls' Schools, 207, 215, 225, 233, 235, 246, 275, 278, 310, 318, 344 Catechisms (Telugu), 57, 99, 213. See Publications. Central Missionary Society, 13, 15, 32 Chamberlain, J., 191 Chambersburg, Pa., 16 Charles, N., 311 Charles, R., 286 Cheraigudem, 290 Chilukur, 290 Chinnamiram, 290 Chinsa Ramurdu, 101, 103 Chittipet, 257 Chodavaram, 290, 310 Christine, 107 Christmas Boxes, 246, 255, 295, 361 Church Book (Telugu), 206, 375 Church Missionary Society (Anglican), 46, 130, 156, 171 Coconada, 121, 126 Combs, Md., 28 Commissioners, 362, 367-8 Conference, 189, 206, 210, 218-19, 226, 242, 248, 255, 273, 296 Cooper, C. J., 271 Cordes, A., 272, 280, 294 Cornelius, 165 Cornell, P. J. O., 253, 289, 383 Cotton, Sir Arthur, 84, 104, 248 Cran, Mr., 45 Cressman, B. F., 383, 384 Cully, E. R., 123, 140 Cumberland, Md., 27, 28 Cutter, Wm. J., 89, 98, 102, 103 DACHEPALLI, 79 Dangler, 336, 347 Darling, Mr., 82, 130 Dawson, Mr., 45 Day, Mr., 47 Deck, J. P., 241 Dederick, R., 76 Demme, C. R., 14, 19, 21, 35, 76, "3 Desgrange, Mr., 45 Devadas, M., 286, 311 Devalapilly, 66 Devasikamani, 80 Devipatnam, 164 Diehl, Mrs. R. A., 255, 271 Dietrich, F. S., 212, 216, 220, 226, 229, 238, 240, 244, 248, 250-1, 254; dies, 258-9 Dirusumarru, 290 Douglass, Mr., 46 "Dove of Peace," 175 Dowlaishwaram, 84, 96, 97, 124, 141, 156, 178, 213, 220, 238, 240, 244, 250-1, 254, 257,308,309 Drach, George, 347, 353, 354, 37, 383 Duff, J. Boyd, 335 Dulla, 178 Durachintapalem, 310 EASTON, Pa., 14 Eckardt, O. O., 351-2 Edman, E., 261, 281, 290, 291, 303, 312, 330, 343 Eglund, M. J., 253 Ellore, 48, 80, 86, 87, 95, 130 Elofson, C., 289 Elwin, E. B., 376 Endlich, John, 173 Endli:h,Miss E., 316 Ennamaduru, 290 Enoch, 103 Erhard, Fr., 14 Ernst, W. G., 88 Esberhn, Miss S., 365 Evald, C. A., 335 Evans, Dr., 51 Executive Committee, 342 Ezra, loo FAMINE, 179-80 Father Heyer Missionary Society, 201 222 Fell's Point, Md., 33 Fever line, 291, 226 Fichthorn, A. S., 340, 342, 348, 370 INDEX 393 File, J. C., 182, 241 Financial exhibits, 16, 19, 55, 56, 67, 88, 89, 103, 107, 113, 127, 171, 172, 181, 193, 200, 218, 221, 225, 239, 279, 2 94, 3i4, 323, 385 First Church, Pittsburgh, 88 Fischer, Aug., 325 Fischer, C. G., 211, 241, 264 Fluck, J. F. C., 204, 324 "Foreign Missionary, The," 193, 201, 225, 254, 204, 337, 353, 368 Foreign Missionary Society (G. S.), 17, 18, 59, 60, 182 Foss, C. W., 335, 367, 384 Fox, Mr., 46 Frank, H., 241 Franzen, S. C., 369, 383 Frederick, Md., 12 Friedensburg, Pa., 28 Frey, A. E., 182 Frey, Wm. E., 362, 383 Fry, E., 32 Fry, J., 137, 173, 213, 370 GABRIEL, K., 311 Gadala, 310 Garrakaparau, 290 Gaskell, Robt., 383, 384 Gebhart, G., 29 Geissenhainer, A. T., 137, 173, 188 Giessenhainer, F. W., 76, 206 General Council: organized, 133; early mission efforts, 133-4 General Secretary, 182, 247, 289, 323, 340, 353 General Synod: early history, 12, 13, IS George's Hill, 28 German Foreign Missionary Society (G. S.): organized, 15; early oper- ations, 16-17 Germany, Md., 28 Gilbert, D., 16 Girls' Central School, 310, 321, 343, 364 Girls' Schools, 54, 64, 77; in Rajah- mundry Mission, 98, 100, 109, 120, 205, 220, 305 Glades, Md. 28 Gnananandam, B., 277 Godavery District, 156-9 Godavery gorge, 296-7 Gokavaram, 178, 219, 290 Gollalakoderu, 290 Gollapalem, 302 Gonegudem, 290, 310 Gopalam, K. V., 286 Gordon, Mr., 191 Gorinta, 208, 245 Gorlamudi, 236, 279, 301 Gowripatnam, 141, 144, 178 Graeff, J. E., 128 Grahn, H., 173, 182, 187, 212, 231, 241, 264, 324, 336, 383 Greenville, Pa., 28 Greenwald, E., 128, 173, 225 Gribble, Mr., 163 Grigg, Mr., 220 Groenning, C. W., 77, 84-5, 86, 120, 122, 123, 124, 125, 128, 139, 144, 184, 243, 252 Groenning, Wm., 226, 233, 234, 242, 258; dies, 260-1 Gudaparti, 208 Guddigudem, 218, 219, 220, 230 Guetzlaff, Carl, 13, 14 Gunapudi, 290, 300 Gunn, Walter, 58, 77, 78, 80; dies, 93 Guntur, 48, 51, 63, 70 Gurjal, 79, 80, 82, 99 Gutlapad, 290 HAAS, J. A. W., 335, 337, 353 Haas lands, 276, 289, 312, 359 Haeger, Ch., 14 Haeger, E., 16 Haesbert, J., 16, 35 Hager, C., 35 Hagerstown, Md., 14, 15, 29 Hapler, J. 137 Harpster, J. H., 309, 321, 338-40, 341, 342, 345, 351, 356, 358, 365, 370-1, 373-4 Harrisburg, Pa., 19 Hartwick Synod, 61, 88 Hassler, J. W., 137, 173 Haupt, Miss M., 380 Hay, J., 191 Hecht, J. P., 14 Heckel, F. W., 14 Heelis, J., 208, 257 Heinitsch, J. F., 16, 35 Heischmann, J. J., 314, 324, 336, 347 Heise, A., 77, 78, 84, 85, 86, 102; fur- lough, no; in India, in, 120; resigns, 122, 145 Heist, L., 325 Hengerer, Wm., 335 Henry, J., 137, 169, 235 Hermannsburg Mission, 124, 138, 168 394 INDEX Heyer, C. F. (Father): chosen mis- sionary of Central Missionary So- ciety, 13; early life, 22-25; early ministry, 26-29; agent of Sunday School Union, 29-30; pastor at Somerset, Pa., 30; home missionary, 30^32; in Pittsburgh, 31-33; ap- pointed as foreign missionary, 17, 19, 33; first journey to India, 35-41; arrival in Guntur, 46-50; early labors in Guntur, 51-58; returns to United States, 69; first furlough, 72- 74; returns to India, 74, 77; labors in Palnad, 79-82, 98, 99; in Rajah- mundry, 102-111; returns to United States, in; again home missionary, 114-18, 132; hears of transfer of Rajahmundry Mission to Church Missionary Society, etc., 134; third journey to India, 137, 139-140; in Rajahmundry the last time, 144, 146, 147, 150; returns to United States, 153-4; dies, 154-5. 165 Heyer, C. F., Jr., 73 Heyer, Mrs. C. F., 32 Heyer, Theophilus, 73 Hilprecht, H. V., 241, 294 Hinterleiter, G. A., 113 Hobbs, Mr., 39 Hoffmann, J. N., 16 Holler, P., 317, 318, 328 Holmer, T., *86 Horine, M. C., 294 Horn, E. T., 335, 336, 362, 365, 383 Horn, E. T., Jr., 380, 385 Hospital, 375 Hunter, Mrs. Mary, 273, 291 Hutter, C. J., 14 Hutway, Mr., 51 Hymn book, 242 ICELANDIC Synod, 385 Industrial work, 311 Iron Mountain, Mo., 31 Isaac, A., 227 Isaac, N., 211, 217 Isaacson, H. E., 292, 303, 312, 322, 328, 334, 337, 345, 348, 367, 374 Isenschmidt, P., 165 Itter, Conrad, 324, 336 JACOB, 80, 103 Jacob, V., 237, 250 Jacobs, H. E., 336, 362, 383 Jacobs, Mrs. H. E., 273, 313 Jacobson, F., 383 Jaggampetta, 121, 156, 178, 365 Jagganathpuram, 151, 152, 162, 178, 189, 203, 220 Jaggareish, 123 Jakkaram, 290 James, C., 145, 165, 178, 206, 211, 213, 226, 230, 242, 248, 286, 349 Jegurupad, 141, 142, 144, 152, 178, 185, 218, 221, 225, 229, 290 Jembupatnam, 310 Jeremiah, 144, 162, 164, 201 Jewell, Mr., 46 Jewett, Mr., 191 John, 80 John, B., 1 80 John, J., 211, 217, 283 John, Martin Luther, 103 Joint Conference, 309 Joint Theological Seminary, 388-9 Joseph, 1 01 Joseph, K., 219 Joseph, Pastor T., 142, 145, 178; or- dained, 185-6, 189, 218, 225, 229, 230, 250, 284, 313, 328 Joseph, T. Samuel, 211 Jubilee, 397-8 Jugdalpur, 209 Juggernaut, 214 Kaehler, F. A., 385 Kaehler, Mrs. F. A., 321 Kamarada, 290 Kanzamur, 299 Katchalur, 164 Kateru, 310 Kaufmann, L. W., 335 Keiser, J. R., 76 Keller, F. A. M., 113 Keller, M., 14 Kinerapur, 299 Kohler, J., 137 Kohlhoff, 40 Kois, 163 Kolacotta, 99, 109 Kolamur, 290 Kondamodalu, 169 Kondapudi, 283 Konitalapalli, 290 Konitivada, 298 Kopella, 290, 302 Korapad, 290 INDEX 395 Korukonda, 156, 170, 178, 217, 230, 237, 257, 365 Kotagiri, 258, 320, 324 Kotalingam, 52 Kotlamur, 100, 208 Kottapetta, 53 Kottapilli, 165 Kovur, 218, 257 Kovvada, 290 Krauth, C. Philip, 15, 16, 17, 18, 28 Kremmer, C. F., 166, 168 Krotel, G. F., 272 Kuder, C. F., 278, 286, 290, 304, 307, 3(39, 327-8, 356, 363, 366-7, 375 Kuendig, J. J., 137, 173 Kugler, Dr. Anna S., 309 Kummadavelli, 203, 290 Kunkleman, J. A., 182 Kurtz, Benj., 28, 62 Lace, 184-5, 3n, 359-6* Laird, S., 193, 212, 222 Laird, Mrs. S., 273 Lancaster, Pa., 14 Land endowment, 177 Lankapuram, 276 Larson, O. L., 351, 365 Lauer, F., 137, 173 Lavel, S., 103 Lazarus, M., 299 Lee, Mr., 45 Lehmanowsky, Mr., 31 Leipsic Mission, 235 Lewis, Mr., 191 Lilja, B., 211 Lintner, G. A., 18, 61, 92, 113, 128 Lochmann, Mr., 36 Lolla, 178, 189 London Missionary Society, 45 Long, A., 112, 119, 120, 121, 122; dies, 126 Lydia, 107 M MACHERLA, 82, 99, 209 Madagascar, 38 Madras, 40 Madura, 40 Mahadevipatnam, 189, 193, 202, 290 Mallaishwaram, 220 Mallipudi, 174, 189, 298 Mandada, 123 Mann, Wm. J., 113, 250 Mantur, 164 March, Geo. W., 324 Marie, 107 Martin, Chas., 76 Martz, G. W., 80, 87 Masulipatam, 62 Matthew, 80 Matthews, G. B., 330 Mattes, H. L., 173 Mayer, Dr., 55, 76, 88 Meadville, Pa., 26, 27 Mechanicsburg, Pa., 13 McCready, F. J., 223, 227, 229, 236, 238, 244, 251, 257, 269, 284, 290, 302, 311, 321,327 McCron, D. J., 32, 76 Mechling, G. W., 335 Medical work, 305, 321, 337-8, 347, 349, 350, 375-7 Medtart, J., 14 Mennig, Mr., 88, 113 Mertz, G. W., 14 Metcalf, E. P., 236 Metta, 141, 152, 162, 178, 213 Meyer, Val. L., 234, 243 Miller, C., 14, 19 Miller, C. Armand, 384 Miller, N. S., 16, 19, 35 Miller, J. Wash., 241, 294, 324 Ministerium Missionary Society, 14, 15, 19-21, 59-60, 87 Ministerium of Pennsylvania, 12, 14, 136, 137, 171, 173 Mission Council, 249, 255, 273 Missionsblatt, 182, 183 Missionsbote, 185, 187, 201, 211, 225, 254, 263-4, 294, 337 Mohammedan Schools, 220, 221, 233, 235, 245, 251, 255, 275, 278-9, 304, 310 Monroe, Miss S. E., 198, 340, 343, 364 Monroe, W. F., 280, 294, 336, 347, 384 Moonakodavelli, 282 Moparti, 100 Morris, Henry, 124, 126, 144, 152 Morris, J. G., 36, 59, 62 Moses, P., 219 Mueller, E. H., 317-18, 327 Mueller, Mr., 16, 19, 39 Muhlenberg, F. A., 137 Muhlenberg, H. H., 137, 173 Muhlenberg, Henry Melchior, n, 87 Muramunda, 97, 124, 141, 142, 146, 152, 178, 185, 189, 250, 303 Mutakuru, 123 Mylius, Aug., 125 396 INDEX NAGEL, Mr., 86 Nallakonda, 310 Nallapadu, 53 Nandamur, 218, 230 Narasimhapalem, 290 Narsapur, 46, 78, 151, 157, 162 Nellore, 46-7-8 Nelsenius, G., 294, 353 Neudoerffer, A. F. A., 374, 381-2 Neudoerffer, E., 330, 337, 338, 345, 3Si, 365, 374 Neumann, R., 128, 134 Nevalikanner, 100 Newill, Mr., 51, 52, 78, 109 New York Synod, 88 Nicodemus, 77 Niedecker, E., 324 Nilsson, Dr. Betty A., 350, 364 Nizam's kingdom, 174 Noble, Mr., 46 North German Missionary Society, 83 86, 90 Norton, C. F., 172 Noxendorf, Mrs E. V., 268 OCHS, Mr., 65 Ockershausen, G. P., 128 Oettinger, Albert, 324, 336 O'Neil, Capt., 51 Ongole, 48 Opp, C. B., 325, 347 Organization in India, 248, 265-8 PALAMCOTTA, 16, 39 Palkole, 86, 203, 220 Palnad, 78, 79, 98-9 Pamperrien, K., 307 Paradesi, P., 375 Paradesi, Raya, 178 Parravalli, 152 Passavant, Wm. A., 88, 114 Paulus, Pastor N., 80, 142, 145-6, 164, 178; ordained, 185-6, 189, 211, 218, 224, 229, 230, 237, 313; dies, 325-6 Peddahem, 141, 178, 213, 220, 230 Peddamiram, 290, 302 Peddapur, 121, 152, 169, 208 Peddapur High School, 312, 342, 359, 367 Peeru, 103 Peixotto, E., 14 Penakalametta, 220 Pennagonda, 220 Pentapad, 316 Peravaram, 141, 178, 189 Peter, too Peter, 180 Petri, C. J., 193 Pfatteicher, Mrs. E., 271 Pillutla, 109, 123 Pittapur, 121, 291 Pittsburgh, 31 Pittsburgh Synod, 88, 253 Pluetschau, n, 40, 354 Plymouth Brethren, 156, 257 Pohl, E., 208, 220, 262-3, 273, 276-7, 285-6, 292, 298, 303, 309, 310, 314, 315-17, 328 Pohle, E. J., 253, 324 Pohlmann, H. N., 18, 60, 76, 91, 128 Polavaram, 213, 219 Polepalli, 79, 80, 82, 99, 123 Pondicherry, 40 Porter, Mr., 49 Potteiger, Mr., 173 Poulsen, I. K., 152-3, 162, 163, 166, 169, 174, 178, 185; furlough, 192, 196; returns to India, 208, 218, 223, 226, 227, 229, 230, 238, 240, 242, 244; retires and dies, 249 Prakasam, N., 164, 219 Prattipadu, 53 Pretz, C., 137 Pritchett, Mr., 45 Printery, 236, 257, 357 Probst, Miss C., 273 Publications, 255, 278, 357 Purushottapatnam, 164, 219 RAGAMPET, 208, 235 Rahitapuram, 283 Rajagopalem, 208 Rajahmundry, 77, 83, 90, 96 Rajahmundry (under General Coun- cil), 141, 168, 178, 195, 221, 229 Rajanagaram, 178 "Rama dandu," 224 Rampa, 288, 290, 310 Rampa Fund, 227, 242, 288 Ramsay, Gov., 115 Rangoon, 356 Ranseen, M. C., 369 Rapaka, 283 Rath, Wm., 137 Rebecca, 78 Reck, A., 28 INDEX 397 Reddis, 163 Reformation, Church of, Rochester, N. Y., 385 Reichert, G. A., 16, 76, 113 Rettivardu, 80 Rhenius, 14, 15, 16, 39 Richards, J. W., 15, 87, 88, 113 Riter, F. M., 383, 384 Riverdale, 197, 201 Rohillas, 209 Rohrer, Dr. Amy B., 350, 368, 374 Romig, I. G., 335 Rules and Regulations, 219, 225, 248, 326-7, 339-40, 362, 369 Ruth, 58, 107, 1 20, 166 Ruthrauff, F., 14 Ruthrauff, Miss E., 75 Rydberg, P. A., 347 S SADTLER, Miss K. S., 269, 271, 278, 304, 309, 318, 321, 322 Sagapadu, 290 Sahm, J., 14 Salary scale, 263 Salem Church, Lebanon, Pa., 74, 88 Salur, 209, 221 Samuel, 80 Samuel, A., 219 Samuel, R., 311 Samulkot, 121, 122, 126, 178, 208, 218, 219, 222, 223, 229, 235, 238, 240, 250, 260, 374 Satur, 39 Schade, Miss A. I., 268-9, 271, 2 ?8, 304, 309, 310, 322, 334, 343-4, 364, 374 Schaefer, F. W., 374, 379-80 Schaeffer, C. W., 14, 74, 137, 173, 200, 289, 294, 324 Schaeffer, Wm. Ashmead, 193, 200, 211, 253, 294, 323, 324, 336, 358-9 Schantz, F. J. F., 137, 173 Schmauk, B. W., 137, 173 Schmauk, T. E., 381 Schmidt, Fr., 16, 35 Schmidt, H. C., 128, 135, 147-9, J 62, 167, 168, 175, 178, 191, 197; first furlough, 214, 225, 228-9, 236, 239, 242, 243, 248, 256, 257, 275, 281-3, 288-9, 290, 291; second furlough, 302, 308, 312, 314, 328; recalled, 335, 337, 34S-6, dies, 372-3 Schmucker, B. M., 137, 173, 182, 193, 223, 252-3 Schmucker, S. S., 16, 19 Scholl, Wm. N., 76, 91 Schultze, Dr., 45 Schwartz, C. F., 39, 40 Schwartz, Mr., 65 Scudder, Dr., 81 Seesali, 290 Seiple, Dr. S. C., 336, 369, 383 Self-support, 187, 207, 211, 226, 244 Senderling, J. Z., 60, 76, 91, 113, 128 Sharkey, Rev., 82 Sibole, E. E., 231, 294, 324, 336, 353 368 Sibole, J. L., 280, 324, 330 Sibole, Mrs. J. L., 273 Simeon, 100 Sipes, H. H., 386 . Sitanagram, 282 Slaett, C. E., 336 Smith, C. A., 325 Smith, Chas. A., 76, 91 Smith, Dr., 51 Snyder, Jas. M., 335, 336, 362, 383 Snyder, Wm. E., 92, 102, 103, 107, 120; dies, 1 20, 145 Somerset, Pa., 28, 31, 114, 117 Solomonson, C., 384 Spaeth, A., 149, 154, 182, 187, 212, 272, 278, 289 Spieker, G. F., 173 Sprecher, S., 16, 19 Sringaram, 220 Sriramulu, V., 227, 249, 256, 356 Srirangapatam, 257, 310 Srungavruksham, 290, 300 Staake, Wm. H., 182, 294, 323, 324-5, 336 Statistics, 66, 102, 103, 163, 179, 192, 200, 221, 225, 230, 239, 250, 275, 288, 291, 314, 336, 355, 386 Stephen, 77, 78, 100 Stoever, Miss S. M., 64 Stohlmann, C. F. E., 76, 88 Stokes, H., 48, 51, 52, 55, 62, 65, 74 75, 79, 8,2, 101, 104, 244 Stork, T., 64, 76 Stoystown, 28 S track, Chr., 14 Strempfer, Miss M., 319, 331, 343 Stroebel, W. D., 76, 80, 91 St. James', N. Y., 76 St. Johannis' Church, Philadelphia, Pa., 149, 292 St. Johannis' Church, Reading, Pa. , 3i3 St. John's, Allentown, Pa., 278, 385 St. John's, Baltimore, Md., 72 INDEX St. John's, Easton, Pa., 88, 113 St. John's, Philadelphia, Pa., 16, 19, 36, S3, 55, 76, 88, 225, 272, 344 St. Luke's, Philadelphia, Pa., 292 St. Mark's, Philadelphia, Pa., 198, 222, 225, 344 St. Matthew's, Philadelphia, Pa., 64, 76 St. Michael's, Philadelphia, Pa., 15, 88, 113, 214 St. Paul's, Rajahmundry, 184, 230 St. Peter's, Tallapudi, 251, 254, 255, 273, 284 Subbarayudu, V., 213, 216, 250 Sultan of Muscat, 38 Sunday School Union, 29 Swamp Church, Pa., 113 Swedish District Secretary, 384 Swedish Emmanuel Church, Chicago, 279, 363 Swedish Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minn., 385 Swenson, Miss C., 313-14, 310-20, 321,322, 331,349-5 Synod in India, 100, 101, 102 Synod of South Carolina, 36, 64 TADEPAIXIGUDEM, 156, 291, 314, 315, 317, 345, 365 Taderu, 203, 302 Tallapudi, 156, 213, 218, 220, 221, 227, 229, 230, 244, 289, 345, 365 Tanjore, 40 Taralla, 123 Tatge, Miss A., 380 Taylor, Capt., in, 112, 124, 126, 151, 166, 228 Taylor's petta, 144, 151, 152 Telleen, J., 289, 323, 340 Telugu: country, 42-45; examination, 293-4; language, 159-61 Thompson, Mr., 40 Timothy, N., 219 Tinnevelly, 19 Todd, Capt., 121 Trabert, G. H., 278 Trafford, E. H., 347 Training School for Masters, 367 Tranquebar, 40 Trexler, H., 137, 173 Trichinopoly, 40 Trinity Church, Buffalo, N. Y., 385 Trinity Church, Kutztown, Pa., 113 Trinity Church, Lancaster, Pa., 88, 225, 236, 380-1 Trinity Church, New York, 279 Trinity Church, Pottsville, Pa., 88, 113 Trinity Church, Reading, Pa., 113, i 20, 385 Tumurucotta, 80 Tuticorin, 39 Tutigunta, 230 UHL, L. L., 309 Uhl's, Md., 28 Unangst, E., 112, 119, 120, 126, 129, 130, 39 Undi, 290 Ungalur, 164 Unikili, 298-9 VAIMPAD, 301 Valett, 64, 65, 77, 83, 84, 95 Vanderslice, Mrs. H. M., 273 Van der Veer, Dr. Julia, 350-1 Vandra, 236, 299-300 Vangalapudi, 283 Van Husen, 47 Van Somering, 56 Van Stavern, T., 213, 222, 240 Veit, F., 324 Veldurti, 80, 82, 86, 99, 123 Velpur, 151, 178, 203, 218, 220, 222, 224, 229, 298 Venkataratnam, P., 180, 189, 207, 215, 230, 241, 275, 327, 338, 342 Vissakoderu, 236, 290, 300 Vodali, 203, 220 W WACKERNAGEL, F. W., 341, 349, 363 Wagner, M. L., 335 Wahlberg, Miss H., 340 Walker, Mr., 54, 55 Walter, Judge, 51 Walz, F., 173 Wedekind, Mr., 128 Weidner, R. F., 211 Weiskotten, F. W., 211, 263, 324, 330, 332, 333 Weiskotten, Miss E. L., 331, 343, 344, 356 Wellersville, Pa., 28 Werner, O. V., 374, 379 West Pennsylvania Synod, 13, 29 Weyl, J. A., 353, 384 Weyman, G., 31 INDEX 399 Weyman, Miss H., 99, 109 Widows, 44 Widows' Fund, 249 William, J., 145, 165, 178, 206, 213, 220, 220, 254, 327-8 William, M., 180, 286, 311 Wischan, F., 182, 187, 231, 263 Witting, I. F., 386 Woerner, Dr. Lydia, 321, 337, 347, 35, 356, 3?6, 386 Wolf, L. B., 309, 370 Wolters, K. L., 347, 365 Women's work, 267-8, 269-71 Women's Societies, 15, 273, 278, 279- 80, 295, 305-6, 321; federation, 377-8; of Augustana Synod, 385; of New York and New England Synod, 385; of Pittsburgh Synod, 385 Wood, Judge, 51 Wynekin, Mr., 83 YAIMIGALOGUDEM, 164 Yeager, N., 113 Yellaishwaram, 227 Yellavaram, 288 York, Pa., 13 Yough, Md., 28 Young, Miss L., 75 Youngert, S. G., 384 ZACCHEUS, 123 Zanzibar, 38 Zenana Home, 281, 318 Zenana work, 205, 304 Zieber, Philip S., 336 Ziegenbalg, 11,4, 354 Ziegenfuss, S. A., 294, 324, 325, 330 Zion's Church, Philadelphia, Pa., 88 "3 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 50m-7,'69(N296s4) 0-120 239 481 T