NRLF 
 
 B 3 ma 375 
 
1 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
S O^ <- ;>L 
 
OUR 
 
 ORIENTAL MISSIONS 
 
 VOLUME I. 
 
 INDIA AND CHINA. 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWARD THOMSON, D. D., LL. D., 
 
 Late Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 CINCINNA TI: 
 HITCHCOCK AND WALDEN 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 CARLTON AND LANAHAN. 
 1870. 
 
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, 
 BY HITCHCOCK & WALDEN, 
 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, Washington. 
 
t 
 
 EFACE. 
 
 r I ^HE following pages are substantially a 
 -^ Journal kept by the writer during a visit 
 to the missions of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church in the years 1864-65. It was not with 
 the intention of publishing it that the Journal 
 was written, but with a view to make out a full 
 report to the Church in case it should be called 
 for. Brethren, in whose judgment the narrator 
 confides, have latterly urged him to give it to 
 the public, and as it cost him but little pains to 
 revise it, he yielded to their opinion. In the 
 revision he has modified here and there an 
 observation, and put reflections in a new form, 
 but has made no material alteration. Our mis 
 sions in the East are, it is hoped, destined to 
 become very important, and the time may come 
 
 M309619 
 
4 PREFACE. 
 
 when their history shall be written. Perhaps 
 this volume may furnish some dates and mate 
 rials for such a history. It will certainly serve 
 as a mile-stone to mark progress. Scarcely four 
 years have elapsed since these pages were writ 
 ten, and yet the intensely interesting letters of 
 Bishop Kingsley, which the reader has most 
 assuredly read, and which ought to be given in 
 book form without delay, will show a marked 
 advance, not only in the progress of religion in 
 the East, but in the condition of the world. 
 Now one can circumnavigate the globe with 
 much more ease and safety than he could in 
 1864; and, go where he will, he will find society 
 advancing, and in the great centers where the 
 Christian religion is permeating the minds of 
 men. It is a matter of profound regret that the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church has not done more 
 for her missions than she has. The Centenary, 
 the vast field opened at home, and the results 
 of the war will naturally be referred to as 
 accounting for our want of enlargement abroad, 
 but we must not plead any excuses hereafter. 
 Let us look forward, not backward. If this 
 
PREFACE. 5 
 
 book shall in any measure contribute to awaken 
 the interest of the Church in our foreign mis 
 sions the writer will have no occasion to regret 
 its publication. 
 
 It is hoped the reader will not read with a 
 critical eye. One on a journey can not write 
 carefully; and he who knows what is required 
 of a preacher in the relation in which the writer 
 stands must know that he can give no time to au 
 thorship. He has attempted nothing but a plain 
 statement and the natural reflections thereon. 
 
 E. T. 
 
 EVANSTON, ILL., March, 1870. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER. PAGE. 
 
 I. FROM NEW YORK TO CEYLON, .... 9 
 
 II. VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA, 24 
 
 III. FROM ALLAHABAD TO AGRA 46 
 
 IV. AGRA TO DELHI, 58 
 
 V. A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS, ... 69 
 
 VI. INDIA CONFERENCE, 115 
 
 VII. GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA, . . . .143 
 
 VIII. OUR FIELD IN INDIA, 173 
 
 IX. VOYAGE TO CHINA, 205 
 
 X. OUR CHINA MISSION, 235 
 
Our Oriental Missions. 
 
 i. 
 
 FROM NEW YORK TO CEYLON. 
 
 I EMBARKED at New York on the 24th of 
 August, 1864, was safely borne across the 
 Atlantic in the Persia, and landed at Liverpool on 
 the 4th of September. Here I preached in one 
 of the oldest churches of the Wesleyan connec 
 tion, and within the walls of which the British 
 Conference authorized Dr. Coke to go out on his 
 mission to Ceylon ; a mission which he was not 
 allowed to plant, as he died on the outward pas 
 sage to the East. From Liverpool I proceeded 
 to London, and preached at Lambeth Wesleyan 
 Chapel. Engaging passage by the Messageries 
 Imperiales I was soon on my way to Mar 
 seilles. Embarking here on board the steamer 
 " Peluse," I had a pleasant passage across the 
 
 9 
 
10 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Mediterranean, touching at Messina, and debark 
 ing at Alexandria. 
 
 From Alexandria we are hurried by railway to 
 Cairo. Here we have an opportunity to see 
 something of the capital of Egypt, its citadel, its 
 celebrated mosques, the Nile, and those colossal 
 monuments of ancient art, the Pyramids. From 
 Cairo we are conveyed by railway through an 
 unbroken desert, under a burning sun, seeing 
 nothing but here and there a railway station, and 
 off in the distance a caravan of camels, until we 
 reach Suez. This is a small, miserable-looking 
 place, with unpaved streets, and houses of un- 
 dried brick, deriving all its importance from its 
 being a port on the overland route to the East, 
 and the terminus of the canal recently opened 
 for small craft, which connects the Red Sea and 
 the Mediterranean. It contains, however, a good 
 hotel for the accommodation of European travel 
 ers, a narrow bazaar, and a few shops for the sale 
 of European goods. It stands near the head of 
 the Gulf of Suez, and not far from where the 
 Israelites crossed on their exodus from the land 
 of bondage. While the sun was setting, and the 
 Muezzin was calling the faithful to prayers, we 
 embarked on a lighter along-side the quay, and 
 were soon off for the roadstead two or three 
 miles distant, where the "Tigre" rode at anchor, 
 
FROM NEW YORK 7V CEYLON. II 
 
 ready to receive us on our route to the distant 
 East. 
 
 Shortly after sunrise on the following day we 
 set sail for Calcutta. When we were barely 
 under way two sailors, standing on a plank, fell 
 into the sea. One, in falling, caught a rope, the 
 other, while floating, a life-preserver, and, after a 
 time, both were safe upon deck, though one was 
 very much exhausted. The Red Sea is of dan 
 gerous navigation, in consequence of its numer 
 ous coral reefs and concealed rocks ; and its 
 passage is uncomfortable by reason of its excess 
 ive heat. The temperature of the air is seldom 
 below 80 Fahrenheit at any season of the year. 
 The temperature of the water is as high, and, 
 sometimes, even higher. In November, 1856, 
 when the air was 82 Fahrenheit the water was 
 1 06 Fahrenheit. The wind is S. S. E. from Oc 
 tober to June, and N. N. W. from June to Octo 
 ber. Sailing down in September we had but 
 little wind ; just about enough to cancel the 
 breeze created by the passage of the vessel, and 
 produce a perfect calm. Most of the time the 
 air was at 92, the water nearly the same. Many 
 of the passengers slept on deck, but as the 
 amusements were sometimes protracted till late 
 in the evening, and the washing of the decks 
 commenced at A o clock in the morning, their 
 
12 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 slumbers were short, unless they took a supple 
 mentary sleep after descending to their berths. 
 Another objection to sleeping on deck arises from 
 the heavy dews of the night. There is but little 
 rain here, and the evaporation from the surface 
 amounts to eight feet annually. Many perish, in 
 their passage down this sea, from the excessive 
 heat. I suffered very much myself, and though 
 I took a bath every morning it did not afford me 
 much relief. 
 
 Our first stop is at Aden, in Arabia. It is on 
 an arid spot at the foot of rugged rocks, which, 
 but for the tower, would present a picture of per 
 fect barrenness and desolation. It derives its 
 importance from being a coaling station for ships 
 on the way to India, and a fort from which the 
 British Lion can keep guard over the path to its 
 most important colonial possession. Here are a 
 few stores, a tavern, a post-office, and a multitude 
 of laborers, some Arabs and some Somanlies 
 and Abyssinians. You can here obtain a glass of 
 water for a few cents, which, however, will hardly 
 bear examination with the microscope, or even 
 with the naked eye, and reminds us of the say 
 ing that water is a good thing for navigation, and 
 machinery, and washing, but a poor thing to 
 drink. A mile or two distant is a military sta 
 tion, where is a regiment of soldiers, a bazaar, 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO CEYLON. 13 
 
 and a series of spacious tanks, made at immense 
 cost, for receiving and preserving the rain which 
 now and then falls down the mountain s side. 
 The coolies here go nearly naked, and are very 
 skillful in diving for silver coin which travelers 
 sometimes throw into the water to test their 
 abilities. Before we left the Gulf we passed 
 within sight of the mountain range to which Si 
 nai belongs, though we did not see the venerated 
 summit from which the law was given. After 
 leaving the Gulf of Suez we see but little of the 
 shore, but wherever we do catch a glimpse of it 
 it is mountainous. 
 
 Leaving Aden we are soon in the Straits of 
 Babelmandeb. This is divided into two chan 
 nels by the Island of Perim. We take the little 
 strait, which is between the island and the Ara 
 bian shore. Perim is a black and barren rock, 
 without water and almost without vegetation, but 
 as it contains a good harbor, and commands the 
 entrance to the Red Sea, the British have taken 
 possession of it, and fortified and garrisoned it. 
 They had no right to do so except the right of the 
 strong, but they were induced to exercise this 
 in consequence of the construction of the Suez 
 Canal by the French. We are soon out of the 
 straits, coasting along the Island of Socotra, 
 whose bold shores, lofty mountains, and beautiful 
 
14 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 green surface afford a pleasant relief to the eye 
 wearied with the sea, and remind us of the date, 
 the aloes, and the dragon s blood. And now we 
 are fairly in the Indian Ocean ; the breezes be 
 come cooler, and, except where we have a touch 
 of the Simoon, the company feel their exhilarat 
 ing influence, so that music and dancing may be 
 heard far into the night. 
 
 This company is nearly all European mostly 
 English some in the military service, some in 
 the civil ; some capitalists, and some merchants ; 
 some ^.lone, but many with their wives and 
 daughters. Among the number are wives and 
 children returning to their homes, and maidens 
 going to their betrothed who are in danger of 
 losing their hearts on the way. All for wealth! 
 but, alas ! what a terrible tax to pay for it ! A 
 man, in the East, must reconcile himself either 
 to raise a family under heathen influences, or be 
 separated from them du ring their period of pupil 
 age. He must see his wife fade away prema 
 turely, or send her to the hills, or to the West. 
 No money could compensate me for such priva 
 tions. If, however, men can endure them for the 
 sake of gain, shall we not for the sake of Christ ? 
 It is pity that they who go from Christian lands 
 do not carry better principles, move with purer 
 motives, and set a better example. As a general 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO CEYLON. 15 
 
 rule Christians, who go to the East to make 
 money, never get their religion through the 
 Straits of Gibraltar. There is more known on 
 that subject than it is profitable to relate. No 
 wonder the heathen are so slow to receive the 
 Christian religion. They consider that eating 
 pork and drinking brandy are its characteristic 
 attributes. They are, however, now beginning to 
 distinguish between a nominal and a real Chris 
 tian. In India they denominate the first a cutcha 
 Christian, the other a pucca one. A new road 
 opened through the woods is cutcha ; a metaled 
 or turnpiked one is pucca ; a house made of mud 
 is a cutcha one ; a house built of stone and brick, 
 and covered with cement, is a pucca one. 
 
 The emigration to the East differs, in one re 
 spect, from that to our own country. The West 
 ern people go to Asia, not as colonists, but as 
 traders. They leave their homes behind them, 
 and look backward longing. They can never, 
 therefore, feel that interest in the country, nor in 
 its inhabitants, that they should. Indeed, the 
 climate is too hot for them, and they entertain a 
 prejudice against the dark races that belong to it 
 as strong as we have ever indulged toward the 
 African slaves. This is particularly true of the 
 British. The Portuguese, Spanish, and Dutch 
 have much less of this prejudice, and in their 
 
1 6 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 colonies marriages not unfrequently occur be 
 tween them and Asiatics. The Eurasians in 
 English possessions are generally illegitimate, and 
 often despised by both races ; and even where they 
 are the issue of lawful matrimony both they and 
 their parents are, to a great extent, excluded from 
 the society alike of natives and of foreigners. 
 
 At Ceylon, we land at Point de Galle ; a good 
 harbor on the southern side of the island. On 
 entering the tavern we heard of the terrible 
 cyclone of October 5th. The cyclone is a fear 
 ful storm. It is expected in the Fall with greater 
 or less severity every year, and it seems to recur 
 with excessive violence about once in ten years. 
 Thus it appeared with terrible force in 1833, then 
 in 1842, again in 1852, lastly, in 1864. It travels 
 in a circle; that of 1864 was seventy miles in 
 diameter, and its course was traceable for two 
 hundred miles. We, who live in this latitude, can 
 form no just idea of such a storm. The ships that 
 on the morning of the 5th of October lined the 
 bank of the Hooghly in tiers of three to four deep, 
 from Fort Point to Armenian Ghat, a distance 
 of two miles, one hundred and ninety in all, had 
 before night either broken from their moorings, 
 and been tossed at the mercy of winds and waves, 
 or had ground against each other until they had 
 sunk at their anchorage. The strand road, which 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO CEYLON. 17 
 
 runs along the river bank, six feet above high- 
 water mark, was, for two miles, strewn with shat 
 tered fragments of boats, fallen trees, railings, 
 etc. The opposite shore was lined with masses 
 of ships mingled in inextricable confusion, while 
 the bodies of men and animals by thousands 
 floated by. The barometer at one time sank to 
 28.50, and the pressure of the gale varied from 
 five to thirty-two pounds per square foot. At 
 Koogoree the storm-wave reached the height of 
 twenty-five to thirty feet above high-water level; 
 sweeping whole villages away, carrying ships into 
 the jungle, and leaving them high and dry among 
 the trees. One steamer was carried inland far 
 ther than a telegraph station, and others were 
 cast into gardens, on the tops of piers, and on 
 the public roads. Had the water risen six feet 
 higher the whole city of Calcutta would have 
 been submerged. 
 
 The following is an official list of the casual 
 ties in the city of Calcutta: 
 
 Natives killed, 41 
 
 Natives wounded, ...... 12 
 
 Pucca houses damaged, 1*383 
 
 Pucca houses destroyed, .... 18 
 
 Cutcha houses destroyed, 89,412 
 
 Europeans killed, ..... 2 
 
 Europeans wounded, 5 
 
 European houses damaged, .... 2,296 
 
 European houses destroyed, . , . . 92 
 
1 8 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 The loss of life from Saugor island up to Cal 
 cutta is estimated at two thousand men, women, 
 and children. After the storm, in many cases, 
 the mails for the country were returned, because 
 the villages to which they were sent were not 
 found. 
 
 The island of Ceylon is of great beauty. You 
 ride between hedges of luxuriant flowers, among 
 which are the Leuria, or American Currant, and 
 roses of great variety, and beneath the grand fo 
 liage of the bread-fruit-tree, the jack-tree, and 
 the cocoa-nut palm, and you inhale delicious fra 
 grance, sometimes of the cinnamon, the clove, 
 and the temple-tree, whose blossom is like a 
 white tulip, and whose odor is surpassing. The 
 people are a sluggish, dark-colored race, of but 
 little information, and little industry. The coo 
 lies, or laborers, at the port and in the interior 
 are generally nearly naked, and they wear their 
 hair as women do here ; done up behind with a 
 tortoise-shell comb. They are very numerous ; 
 living in villages overshadowed by their luxuri 
 ous woods, which are said to contain four hun 
 dred and thirteen varieties of trees. Of these 
 the cocoa-nut palm is the most valuable. The 
 large leaves furnish fences for the garden ; the 
 smaller leaves, (plaited,) roofs for the houses ; the 
 flower stalks, torches; the nutshell, household 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO CEYLON. ig 
 
 utensils ; the fibrous covering, ropes, matting, 
 and nets ; the sap, arrack ; the fruit, when green, 
 both food and drink, and when dry a most valu 
 able oil. Each tree rents for about five shillings 
 a year. Rice, cotton, tobacco, coffee, pepper, 
 and cinnamon are important productions of the 
 island. 
 
 The northern part of the island is inhabited by 
 Tamils, the southern by Singhalese people dif 
 ferent in their origin and characteristics. The 
 language of the first belongs to the Scythian 
 family, that of the second to the Sanscrit. It 
 was in Ceylon that I first made myself acquainted 
 with paganism. The temples are generally lo 
 cated in high, picturesque situations, and sur 
 rounded by pleasant grounds, which belong to 
 them. Near the temple is a pago.da, in which 
 the priests profess to keep relics and valuable 
 offerings. The images of Buddha are colossal, 
 and represent him either as sleeping, preaching, 
 or meditating. The usual offerings of the people 
 are flowers. Near the temple is a court, in 
 which, on certain days, the people assemble to 
 hear a harangue from the priests ; and, usually, 
 in the rear of this court is the dwelling of the 
 priests. With these are to be found some boys 
 and young men in training for the priesthood. 
 The priests are celibates and mendicants, and 
 
20 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 aie arrayed in yellow robes. Some of them go 
 out from each temple once a day to receive the 
 offerings of the people, spice, rice, etc. They 
 are, however, allowed to enter into busy life, and 
 marry, if they choose; and if they get tired of 
 domestic life they can divorce themselves and 
 return to the priesthood. The priests received 
 me very kindly, and at every temple presented 
 me with an orange or some other little present. 
 There is one among them of much learning and 
 distinction. He has established a printing-press, 
 and is issuing a series of tracts, derived from the 
 works of Colenso and other English infidels, 
 against the Christian religion. He recently vis 
 ited the King of Siam, who, to favor his project, 
 gave him a handsome subscription. He was po 
 lite to us, inquired about our war, and expressed 
 great pleasure at seeing an American clergyman. 
 Devil worship, which once prevailed all over 
 India, was the original religion of Ceylon, and 
 for thousands of years held the people in thrall- 
 dom. Nor has it ceased. Indeed, from what I 
 saw, I had reason to believe that it has far more 
 power over the people now than Buddhism. 
 When they are sick they send for the demon 
 priests ; and the doctors encourage this when 
 they have a difficult case. These priests are 
 shrewd men, who follow their business to make 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO CEYLON. 21 
 
 money. They are fantastically dressed, go in 
 companies, and entering the house dancing and 
 making noises, and going through ceremonies 
 which one would suppose must either kill or cure 
 the patient. Sometimes they pretend to trick 
 the devil by going through the ceremony of 
 burial, and then invoking the devil to leave the 
 house, because the patient is gone. 
 
 Polyandria once prevailed among this people, 
 and although the government has laudably en 
 deavored to break it up, it still obtains in some 
 regions. It is found very economical for several 
 men to join in supporting one wife, one enjoying 
 her society one week, another another week; or, 
 one having her one-seventh, another, two-sev 
 enths, and a third four-sevenths of the time, 
 according to the amount they respectively con 
 tribute to the support of the household. Eco 
 nomical as the arrangement may be, it does not 
 strike us as very good. With us, love ijs an ex 
 clusive affection. If we love a woman we do not 
 want any body else to love her, and should not 
 like any partnership in regard to our households. 
 But, if a rich man may have as many wives as 
 he can support, why may not a poor woman have 
 as many husbands as are necessary to support 
 her ? Pleasantry on this serious subject aside, we 
 see how necessary the Christian religion is to 
 
22 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 regulate the social relations of mankind. In 
 1630 the Portuguese conquered the island, but 
 the court of Lisbon overlooked both the duties 
 and the privileges which the conquest imposed, 
 and its agents did more to gratify their lust of 
 power and of money than to civilize the natives 
 and develop the resources of the island. In 1658 
 the Dutch drove out the Portuguese. The new 
 comers were rather merchants than statesmen. 
 They sought, however, to convert the natives to 
 the Protestant faith, though by means unsuitable. 
 They enforced attendance at school by fine ; ad 
 ministered baptism and solemnized marriages in 
 the schools ; making the schoolmaster keep a 
 register of these events. They forbade any one 
 to hold office or farm-land under government 
 who had not been baptized in the Protestant 
 Church. To extinguish the Catholic faith, intro 
 duced by the Portuguese, they declared Roman 
 Catholics ineligible to office, and, while confer 
 ring freedom on all children born of Protestant 
 parents, doomed the children of Catholics to 
 perpetual slavery. The result was that the peo 
 ple became hypocritical, and many lowland chiefs 
 and aspiring priests came forward for baptism 
 while secretly clinging to the symbols and the 
 principles of heathenism. The influence of this 
 policy is still seen in the desire of the people to 
 
FROM NEW YORK TO CEYLON. 2$ 
 
 be baptized, if they can without renouncing hea 
 thenism. In 1796, during a war between En 
 gland and Holland, the British conquered Ceylon, 
 and they have held it ever since. Their rule has 
 been good ; they have opened roads, established 
 schools, improved cultivation, extinguished slav 
 ery, introduced law, and, above all, through the 
 various missionary societies, spread abroad the 
 Christian faith. 
 
 It was my privilege to visit several missions 
 and mission schools, and I can bear testimony to 
 the fidelity of the missionaries, and the excellence 
 of their institutions. I examined classes in 
 English Grammar, Geography, Biblical History, 
 and Chronology, and found them well prepared. 
 Among the questions was this : " What prophe 
 cies of the Messiah are contained in the Old 
 Testament, and how have they been fulfilled?" 
 On Sabbath I preached in the Old Dutch Re 
 formed church, to a congregation composed 
 chiefly of descendants of the early Dutch set 
 tlers. Many of these are Eurasians. But, though 
 dark-colored, they speak European languages, 
 and have European dress and manners. In the 
 evening I preached for the Wesleyans, who are, 
 to a considerable extent, composed of a similar 
 society. 
 
II. 
 
 VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 
 
 AN opium steamer having been sent down to 
 convey us to Calcutta, we set sail for that 
 port, stopping at Pondicherry and Madras. On 
 the way we encountered the cyclone of the 2ist 
 of October. Our ship, however, outrode the 
 storm, though driven from her course. On our 
 way we met with many vessels damaged, and 
 when we reached the Hooghly we began to see 
 the terrible effects of the first cyclone. At one 
 place we saw the wreck of a vessel in which three 
 hundred coolies went down to a watery grave. 
 The ship was literally inverted. At another 
 point we saw the Bentinck, a ship of the largest 
 class, high up on the shore, and when we reached 
 Calcutta we beheld a city that looked as if it had 
 been shelled by an enemy. It was evening as 
 we drew near the port, and we beheld on the 
 banks of the stream for the first time the fires 
 of the funeral pile. It was to me a strange and 
 24 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 25 
 
 melancholy light. Fearing to damage the ship 
 ping in port, we anchored below Garden Reach 
 all night, and slipped up early in the morning of 
 the next day. 
 
 Eastward of Alexandria we meet with no 
 wharf. At Pondicherry, at Madras, is only an 
 open roadstead, and here we anchor in the stream, 
 and go ashore in a dingy, a small, narrow, native 
 boat. Reaching Calcutta we take a ghary for 
 the Spencer House, a large, airy, lofty tavern, 
 built in the Oriental style. After breakfast we 
 take our first ride in the palanquin. It is no 
 pleasant conveyance, and I soon exchanged it 
 for a ghary, in which I visited the Asiatic Socie 
 ty s Museum, the Geological Museum, the Public 
 Library, the Agricultural Museum, the Baptist 
 missions, the Wesleyan missionaries, etc. I was 
 not long iu Calcutta before I had the pleasure of 
 meeting Rev. Dr. Butler, who came down from 
 our mission field to accompany me up. Calcutta 
 has been called the city of palaces. Like all 
 Indian cities, it has a black town and a white 
 town ; the former for natives, the latter for Euro 
 peans. The one has narrow, un paved streets, 
 and mud or bamboo houses, the other has spa 
 cious avenues, high brick buildings, covered with 
 stucco, and ornamented with verandas. The 
 strand is a fine drive along the river bank. The 
 
26 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 public edifices are spacious and elegant, especially 
 the Bishop s College, the Cathedral of St. Paul, 
 and the Government House. Fort William lifts 
 up ramparts which require 600 cannon, and 9,000 
 men to man them. Garden Reach is a beautiful 
 suburb, with country seats and elegant gardens. 
 Among them is the residence of the late king of 
 Oude, who, with a royal salary, is always in debt ; 
 and no wonder, for they say he has one hundred 
 wives. 
 
 The population is between 600,000 and 700,000, 
 of which 10,000 are Europeans. The mean tem 
 perature is 66 degrees Fahrenheit in January, 69 
 degrees in February, 80 degrees in March, 85 
 degrees in April and May, 83 degrees in June, 
 8 1 degrees in July, 82 degrees in August and 
 September, 79 degrees in October, 74 degrees in 
 November, 66 degrees in December. The hot 
 season begins in April, and the heat increases 
 till June, when the thermometer is often 100 and 
 1 10 degrees. Numerous public monuments adorn 
 the city, commemorative of Gen. Ochterlony and 
 Lords Hardinge, Bentinck, Auckland, and others 
 distinguished in the Indian service. Then there 
 is a Burmese Pagoda in Eden Gardens, which, 
 when I saw it, was pretty well demolished by 
 the cyclone. At Messina, in Sicily, there came 
 on board a young Brahmin, who had been to 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 2/ 
 
 England to complete his education, and who, 
 having passed a competitive examination, had 
 received a commission in the Indian civil service. 
 He was a youth of fine abilities and most ami 
 able character, and I formed a very intimate 
 acquaintance with him. He is a son of Baboo 
 Tagore, of Calcutta, a Zemindar of great wealth 
 and influence, and who is the founder of the 
 Brahmo Somaj, an organization of Deists which 
 is becoming an important element in the moral 
 forces of India. The society was established 
 more than twenty-five years ago. Beginning in 
 a sort of Vedic philosophy, which recognized the 
 infallibility of the Vedas and the sanctity of the 
 Brahmins, and "blew the sacred couch, and rang 
 the sacred bell," it has at length reached a sim 
 ple theism. It at first took external nature as 
 its teacher of religious truth, but finding that 
 insufficient, it has learned to depend on the 
 internal light, or religious consciousness. Its 
 members study the works of Colenso, Newman, 
 Theodore Parker, and other English and Ameri 
 can skeptics. The writings of Thomas Paine 
 are to be found translated in India, but the 
 Brahmos are too cultivated to be pleased with 
 his blasphemy. It professes to be Catholic and 
 Eclectic ; recognizing some truth in all forms of 
 faith, and selecting from Western and Eastern 
 
28 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 religions those principles which it approves, 
 crying with Emerson, 
 
 "I am owner of the sphere, 
 Of the seven stars, and the solar year ; 
 Of Caesar s hand, and Plato s brain ; 
 Of Lord Christ s heart, and Shakspeare s strain." 
 
 It differs from the Deism of the West in two 
 important particulars. It maintains a devotional 
 spirit ; assumes an organic form ; it has a 
 Church, a liturgy, and a sort of priesthood; it 
 gathers in its converts, and sends out its 
 agents to preach alike against Hindooism, Mo- 
 hammedism, and Christianity ; it is thoroughly 
 iconoclastic, and, so far as it is destructive, 
 it is useful ; but it presents no definite faith, 
 and exercises no moral discipline over its mem 
 bers. Its mode of operating upon the nation is 
 peculiar. Regarding Hindooism as the repre 
 sentation of the national character, and desiring 
 to preserve the national life, it would adopt the 
 national religion and modify it, or, rather, adapt 
 the new religion to Indian Sociology, Philosophy, 
 and modes of action, so as to preserve the Hin 
 doo character and the whole machinery of 
 Hindoo society complete. Its ideas are, how 
 ever, unsettled. At first it deemed God too 
 merciful to punish, now it deems him too just to 
 forgive. The day after I reached Calcutta young 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 29 
 
 Mr. Tagore called upon me to say that in conse 
 quence of damage done by the cyclone to the 
 church of the Brahmos, the next meeting of that 
 body would be in his father s chapel, and that 
 they would be happy to see me there. Accord 
 ingly, at the appointed time, I set out for it in 
 company with Dr. Butler. We found, in passing 
 through the native city, an intolerable smoke, 
 and were assured that it is always experienced 
 in the evening, and results from the fires of the 
 natives, who do their cooking at this period ; 
 often in fire-places without chimneys, and filled 
 with cow-dung, which is the chief combustible 
 of the country. 
 
 The house of the Baboo is high and substan 
 tial, and built round a spacious court. In the 
 first story, extending across one side, is the 
 chapel ; a beautiful apartment, capable of accom 
 modating three or four hundred worshipers, with 
 a pulpit and orchestra. Every thing about it is 
 tasteful and Grecian. Behind the pulpit were 
 numerous inscriptions in Sanscrit, Hindoo, Ara 
 bic, Persian, etc. ; such as, " God is one, and 
 there is no second," "God is true," "God is 
 good," "God is beautiful." The worshipers were 
 all men, chiefly young, and dressed in white 
 robes. They sat upon the marble floor during 
 the whole service. Mr. Tagore and two other 
 
30 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 gentlemen seated themselves in the pulpit/ and 
 the worship commenced. It consisted in reading 
 select passages from the Shasters, prayers, chants, 
 and hymns with instrumental accompaniment 
 and excogitations from the breast of Mr. Tagore, 
 etc. The assembly was orderly, and, apparently, 
 devout. Many of them moved their bodies back 
 ward and forward ; a motion in which they 
 seemed to have imitated those who occupied the 
 pulpit At our entrance we were seated in two 
 arm-chairs that were provided for us. After 
 service the younger Baboo invited us to tea. 
 Besides himself, his brother and the chief lect 
 urer of the association appeared at the table, but 
 none of the rest of the family. The lecturer is 
 a well-educated and accomplished gentleman. 
 He goes to the different cities of India to de 
 claim against idolatry, and organize affiliated 
 societies. The meeting produced mingled feel 
 ings of joy and sorrow, hope and fear. 
 
 It is easy to understand how young men, edu 
 cated in the government schools of India, lose 
 faith in their own religion, and, as they have no 
 better presented to them, lose faith in all. It is 
 easy, too, to perceive how this institution, at 
 present simply theistic, will become otherwise. 
 The utterances of Baboo Tagore are taken down 
 and printed, and they already constitute a book. 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 31 
 
 This book will soon come to be regarded as 
 inspired, since its sentences are supposed to 
 come from the inner monitor, or divine guide. 
 
 From Calcutta we proceed by railway to Ben 
 ares, through Serampore, the seat of the first 
 Baptist mission in India, Shandernagore, Burd- 
 wan, Dinapore, Patua, and Buxar. The distance 
 is 540 miles. We crossed the Ganges on a 
 bridge of boats. It was night when we arrived. 
 The city, lighted up, made a fine appearance 
 from the stream. Here we were met by Mr. 
 Sherring and Mr. Blake, of the London Mission 
 ary Society, and kindly taken to the house of 
 the former. One can hardly enter such a place 
 as this without emotion. Benares is regarded by 
 the Hindoos as coeval with the birth of Hindoo- 
 ism, and is a place of holiness and heavenly 
 beauty. It calls forth the same longing as the 
 Mohammedan feels to visit Mecca, and, hence, 
 attracts crowds of pilgrims. It was here that, in 
 the year 588 B. C., Sakya Muni, the last and 
 only historical Buddh, on attaining Buddahood, 
 first "turned the wheel of the Law" in the mon 
 astery, now known as Sarnath ; a position which 
 he sought as one from which he could best influ 
 ence the nation. Benares must, therefore, have 
 been regarded as the ecclesiastical capital of the 
 country at that early period. The Hindoos have 
 
32 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 a foolish tradition that it existed before the Flood, 
 and that Mahades balanced it on his trident, and 
 thus saved it from the waters. It is, however, 
 but a sober opinion that Benares was flourishing- 
 while Athens was but beginning, and, perhaps, 
 may have furnished Solomon with gold to adorn 
 the Temple. Macaulay s famous description in 
 his "Warren Hastings" is still correct, only that 
 he puts the population too high. He says it is 
 "a city which, in wealth, population, dignity, and 
 sanctity was among the foremost of Asia. It was 
 commonly believed that half a million of human 
 beings were crowded into that labyrinth of lofty 
 alleys, rich with shrines, and minarets, and bal 
 conies, and carved oriels, to which the sacred 
 apes clung by hundreds. The traveler could 
 scarcely make his way through the press of holy 
 mendicants, and not less holy bulls. The broad 
 and stately flights of steps which descended from 
 these swarming haunts, and the bathing places 
 along the Ganges, were worn every day by the 
 footsteps of an innumerable multitude of wor 
 shipers. The schools and temples drew crowds 
 of pious Hindoos from every province where the 
 Brahminical faith was known. Hundreds of 
 devotees came thither every month to die; for it 
 was believed that a peculiarly happy fate awaited 
 the man who should pass from the sacred city 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 33 
 
 into the sacred river. Nor was superstition the 
 only motive which allured strangers to that 
 great metropolis. Commerce had as many pil 
 grims as religion. All along the shores of the 
 venerable stream lay great fleets of vessels laden 
 with rich merchandise. From the looms of Ben 
 ares went forth the most delicate silks that 
 adorned the balls of St. James and of Versailles ; 
 and in the bazaars, the muslins of Bengal and the 
 sabers of Oude were mingled with the jewels of 
 Golconda and the shawls of Cashmere." 
 
 Before daylight next morning we were in a 
 carriage, and on our way to Sigra, the site of the 
 Church mission. Thence we proceeded to the 
 celebrated temples of Trilochan, Nirbadeshwar, 
 Bisheshwar, Admahadeo, Gyanapi, etc. Going 
 down to the river, we took a boat and rowed 
 along the water-front of the city several miles, 
 charmed with the palaces and ghats. Stopping 
 at one of the latter, we saw a number of wor 
 shipers in the stream bathing and offering their 
 devotions both to the water and the sun. Among 
 these was an old woman with leprosy. On the 
 bank sat a Fakeer, the most miserable object I 
 ever beheld ; wan, worn to a skeleton, his limbs 
 apparently stiffened, his hair disheveled, his 
 whole person nearly nude, and covered with 
 ashes. And yet he was an object of worship as 
 
34 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 he stood silent and stupid before us. Passing 
 by numerous temples we proceed to the center 
 of the city to visit the Mosque of Aurungzebe, 
 built on the site of the magnificent Hindoo tem 
 ple, Bindoo Madhava, which was destroyed to 
 give it place. Ascending one of its minarets, 
 232 feet, we had a pretty good view of the eccle 
 siastical capital of Hindostan, so holy in the esti 
 mation of Hindoos that any one dying within a 
 circle of fifty miles of which a certain well in 
 the city is the center, is sure of heaven. This 
 brings multitudes from all quarters thither to 
 die. It is the seat of the Hindoo Sanscrit Col 
 lege, the chief institution of native Hindoo learn 
 ing, and it is crowded, not merely with scholars, 
 but mendicant priests. We next visited the 
 Man Mandil, an ancient Hindoo observatory, 
 many of whose coarse but curious instruments 
 are still preserved. Thence we passed through 
 some of the narrow streets, a part of the Chow- 
 kambia bazaar, and the market Beseshergunje, the 
 Queen s College, the College of Jay Narayen, 
 and the schools of the missionaries. 
 
 One of the strangest objects to a Western 
 man is the treatment of the dead. The corpse 
 is taken in a palanquin to the bank of the stream ; 
 here it is sprinkled with Ganges water. A fire 
 is kindled under it, the friends attending depart, 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 35 
 
 and the persons having charge of the cremation 
 do not wait for it to be consumed, but push it 
 half charred into the river, down which it floats, 
 the crows pecking it above, the fishes below. 
 
 Passing from temple to temple, and from 
 shrine to shrine, we could but think what an 
 awful thing Indian idolatry is. So filthy, so 
 vile, Christian pen dare not describe what the 
 eye may see in that classic seat of heathenism. 
 You must read the first chapter of the Epistle 
 to the Romans to understand it. The apostle 
 meant what he said when he told the Ephesians 
 that they were washed. Heathens now need 
 washing, not their feet and hands alone, but 
 their tongues, their minds, their consciences. 
 It is silly as it is vile. Monkeys are venerated. 
 In the neighborhood of one temple they crowd 
 the street, the sidewalks, and hang from the 
 roofs of the houses like grapes from the vine. 
 They fill the courts and gates of the temple 
 itself. Sacred bulls, too, wander the streets, fat 
 and impudent and dangerous, helping themselves 
 at the groceries, and turning the people from 
 the sidewalks. Occasionally one is enticed aside 
 by the Mohammedans, and slyly converted into 
 beef. At one time the Government was obliged 
 to deport a number across the river for the 
 safety of the city. When a rich man loses a 
 
36 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 relative he lets loose a bull, which is supposed 
 to be the recipient of the departed spirit, and 
 thenceforward he becomes sacred. A bull, how 
 ever, would be sacred without this, as this ani 
 mal is supposed to be one of the forms of 
 incarnation assumed by Vishnu ; and the Ganges 
 is supposed to proceed from the mouth of a 
 cow. Images, as well as natural objects, are 
 worshiped. Mr. Leupolt, a Church missionary, 
 said that after riding all one day, in the most 
 romantic and beautiful region of the valley of 
 the Nerbuddah, charmed both with the waters 
 and the fields, and especially the mountains, 
 whose gorges seemed to lift the mind irresist 
 ibly up to the Almighty, he came across a 
 Fakeer, who was in a dark, dirty cave, where 
 he had dwelt alone for thirty years, worshiping 
 an idol, which he had made himself. He was 
 curious to see the object of the man s devotion ; 
 and what think you it was made of cow-dung! 
 Now, said Mr. L., if the man had spent life 
 worshiping the mountains or the stream, I would 
 have forgiven him, but to make his adoration 
 day after day, year after year, to that bit of dirt, 
 was too horrible. 
 
 The worship is a piece of mosaic. At one 
 temple there stood at the gate a shivering ram, 
 which some one had brought to be sacrificed 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 37 
 
 to appease the god who was supposed to have 
 brought sickness upon his family. Near by was 
 the altar, and by its side the broad and bloody 
 knife wherewith the priest is accustomed to 
 sever, at a blow, the head of the animal from 
 the neck. Passing into the court we see the 
 temple. It is small. On a platform before it 
 stands the priest ; in the rear is the idol. The 
 worshiper enters with some water and flowers. 
 In order that the god may notice him and give 
 attention to his offering, he rings the bell which 
 is suspended above him. Having poured water 
 and sprinkled flowers upon the object of his 
 devotion, he sits down with a string of beads 
 in his hands to count his prayers, which gener 
 ally consist of a repetition of the word Ram 
 the name of his god. So shameful is the ap 
 pearance of one of the common objects of wor 
 ship that even Indian women, though veiled, are 
 too modest to present themselves before it by 
 daylight, and therefore they pay their devotions 
 at night. Such is the tendency to worship that 
 men are found worshiping telegraph poles, gas- 
 pipes, and ordinary men who do any extraor 
 dinary deeds. It is easy to conceive what must 
 be the literature and the common language of 
 such a x people. The curses and conversation 
 of even the children in the street would not be 
 
38 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 repeated in the vilest purlieus of New York. 
 If you ask the reason why the women are not 
 educated, you are told that there is no literature 
 in Hindoo fit for a decent woman to read. Of 
 course the mind of the people is dwarfed and 
 the conscience corrupted. As practice flows 
 from principles, it must needs be that Indian 
 morality is law. Notwithstanding the influence 
 of British magistracy and the power of British 
 laws, infanticide, slavery, dakoitee, thuggee, and 
 other forms of wickedness are practiced, though 
 concealed. 
 
 And yet there is hope for the people ! Sir 
 John Lawrence happened to be at Benares dur 
 ing my stay there, and four hundred pupils of 
 the Queen s College, and four thousand children 
 from the schools presented themselves before 
 him on the grass of the campus with their slates 
 and maps, and copy-books and diagrams, pre 
 pared to answer questions. One boy had ad 
 vanced to the fourth book of Euclid. This visit 
 of Sir John gave me an opportunity of seeing 
 more of the higher life of India in one day 
 than I could have done under ordinary circum 
 stances in years. A party of one hundred and 
 fifty persons, from the best families of the neigh 
 boring districts, came to the ball of the Maha 
 rajah of the city. The line of road through 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 39 
 
 which his Excellency passed six miles was 
 lighted with candles, the Ghat opposite to Ram- 
 nuggur was covered with white cloth, boats 
 with ; fire-works were anchored in the stream, 
 the fort was brilliantly illuminated, and the 
 whole stream seemed ablaze. We were behind 
 hand as to the ball, but not as to the Durbar 
 which the Viceroy held on the following day 
 for the purpose of investing the Rajah of Rewah 
 with the star of India ; an honor held in the 
 highest estimation, and which was conferred on 
 this occasion for fidelity to the British Govern 
 ment during the late Indian Rebellion. 
 
 The large tent of the Maharajah of Benares 
 was pitched on the lawn for the purpose. The 
 Indian dignitaries came in Oriental style. They 
 themselves usually rode in elegant open car 
 riages, guarded by cavalry and followed by long 
 trains of attendants on camels or elephants. 
 The scene outside the tent was bewildering. 
 On all sides, drawn up in. a hollow square, with 
 perfect regularity and richly caparisoned, were 
 cavalry, camels, and elephants, the arms and 
 dresses of whose riders flashed in the sunbeams. 
 Within were the carriages of the Rajahs and 
 Nawabs, and between the two lines British 
 infantry and artillery, under the marshaling of 
 General Troup. Entering the tent early we 
 
40 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 had an opportunity of scanning the parties as 
 they entered. The Viceroy s arm-chair, of solid 
 silver, occupied the center of the tent, under 
 an embroidered canopy, supported by four sil 
 ver poles ; on the right of this was another 
 silver chair, set for the Rajah of Rewah, and on 
 the left a third, for his Honor the Governor 
 of the North-Western Provinces. To the right 
 of the Lieutenant-Governor were chairs in five 
 rows for the European ladies and gentlemen, 
 one of which I occupied ; and on the left side 
 after the silver chair of his Highness, the Rajah 
 of Rewah, were placed chairs for the other 
 Maharajahs, Rajahs, Nawabs, Princes, and the 
 nobility and gentry, each being seated according 
 to his rank ; all were dressed in the showy cos 
 tume of the East, loaded with diamonds, "bar 
 baric pearls, and gold ;" some probably had a 
 million s worth of property upon their persons. 
 Among those near the top were pointed out to 
 us two youthful Princes of the house of Delhi, 
 the Princes of Nepaul, the Maharajah of Niz- 
 ninagram, the Maharajah of Benares, and the 
 Rajah Dwa Narajen, and Sing Bahadoor. The 
 Star of India was placed on a velvet cush 
 ion on a table in the middle. The troops in 
 the station formed a guard of honor. At half- 
 past four, P. M., the Maharajah entered the 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 41 
 
 tent under a salute of seventeen guns. Shortly 
 after his Excellency entered under a royal sa 
 lute, with blast of bugle and roll of drum ; the 
 band then played the national anthem. 
 
 His Excellency, after being seated a few mo 
 ments, bid the Rajah rise, and addressed him in 
 a short speech in Hindee, of which this is the 
 substance : 
 
 "Forty years ago the British Government 
 made a treaty with your ancestors. You have 
 observed its conditions. In 1857 you behaved 
 well ; you belong to the tribe of Rajpoots, cel 
 ebrated for their bravery. Lord Canning gave 
 you jagheres ; Her Majesty now confers upon 
 you the most exalted Star of India, which will 
 raise you in the eyes of all the Rajahs and 
 Chiefs of Hindustan." 
 
 The Rajah, in his reply, acknowledged his ob 
 ligations, depreciated his services, and pledged 
 his life to the British Government. His Excel 
 lency then put the Star of India on the breast 
 of the honored Chief, and the ceremony was 
 over. After a moment s pause Sir John retired 
 under a royal salute ; the Rajah soon followed 
 him, under the salute of his rank, and the rest 
 of the assembly dispersed in due order. I 
 paused a short time outside the tent, to see the 
 carnages and cavalcades move off. Soon the 
 
42 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 long trains disappeared in the distance, covered 
 with a cloud of dust which enveloped the whole 
 horizon. I had seen much of high life in India, 
 and was impressed not merely with the fine per 
 sons and brilliant equipages of the nobles, but 
 with their elegant manners. I have never seen 
 a man of more benign aspect and more courte 
 ous behavior than the Maharajah of Benares. 
 To the favored Chief the day was the proudest 
 one of his life ; and yet, poor man, how miser 
 able ! His hands are bound up ; he could not 
 handle the Star he had received ; he was a leper ; 
 he would give millions, and honors, and offices, 
 and Star besides, to have the disease that was 
 consuming him, and making him an object of 
 horror to wife and children, arrested. 
 
 It is the policy of the British Government 
 when they unseat native chiefs to attach them 
 by stipends, and pensions, and honors. In the 
 Bengal Presidency alone the Government treas 
 ury pays annually for this purpose 3,673,946 
 rupees, of which 1,249,901 goes to the family of 
 Qude. 
 
 The festivals of the Hindoos are numerous, 
 and embrace two things, worship and sport. 
 The festival of the Dewalee occurred during my 
 stay at Benares. It is the festival of lamps, and 
 is celebrated in honor of Lukshmee, wife of 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 43 
 
 Vishnu, and the goddess of wealth. A day or 
 two before the festival the people whitewash 
 their houses, and when the day arrives they 
 bathe themselves and put on clean clothes. In 
 the evenings they illuminate their premises. 
 The city on this occasion was in a blaze, the 
 stores, streets, courts, and yards were filled with 
 little lamps. One Christian, I am sorry to say, 
 lighted up his compound. On this day mer 
 chants examine their accounts to see what have 
 been the profits and losses of the year, and wor 
 ship Lukshmee with their account books before 
 them. In the evening thieves go out on trial 
 trips. If they can steal any thing they take it 
 as a good omen for the year ; if they fail, as a 
 bad one. Confectioners make various sweet 
 meats and preparations of fried rice to sell to 
 the children, and cowherds paint the horns of 
 their oxen red. The chief amusement of the 
 festival is gambling, which is done openly. 
 
 Almost all labor is done with human muscles. 
 In leaving Benares we employ coolies to beai 
 our baggage to the station. Dr. Butler settled, 
 but the bearers were not satisfied. An old 
 woman of the company pursued him. 
 
 "Why," said he, "I have given you the wages 
 of a day for a few minutes work." 
 
 " Ah, but you have a Lord Padre in company." 
 
44 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Such was their idea of a Bishop. The coolies 
 elsewhere claimed that I was equal to a general, 
 and must give as much as he. But now we are 
 on our way to Allahabad, the capital of the 
 North-West ; we go by railway to the Jumna. 
 Here we find the bridge incomplete by reason 
 of the difficulty of building one of the abut 
 ments. We are conveyed over the stream in a 
 steamer, which takes soundings every few min 
 utes, because of the perpetual shifting of the 
 sands. Here we see multitudes of persons 
 men, women, and children carrying sand and 
 mud upon their heads, in little baskets, to lay 
 a new foundation for the last abutment of the 
 bridge. On our passage we were introduced to 
 a celebrated Mohammedan, Syud Ahmud, Prin 
 cipal Sudder Ahmeen, or native judge of Ally- 
 ghur, who, in the last rebellion, held the district 
 of Bijnour against the Nawab of Nujubabad 
 until obliged to take refuge in the cantonments 
 of Meerut. In consideration of his services he 
 receives a pension that descends to his eldest 
 son. He is writing an elaborate commentary 
 on the Old Testament Scriptures, which he 
 holds to be inspired and binding on all Moham 
 medans. He combats the arguments of Colenso 
 with great ability. He differs from Christians 
 only in this, that he does not believe Christ, 
 
VOYAGE TO CALCUTTA. 45 
 
 though a prophet, to be divine, and does believe 
 Mohammed to be a prophet. We were met at 
 the Ghat by the Chuprassee of Hon. Mr. Muir, 
 one of the Governor-General s council, who 
 placed us in a carriage and drove us to his 
 master s, where we were entertained with princely 
 hospitality, and met with many friends, among 
 them Mr. Owen, of the American Board. On the 
 next day we attended a meeting of the Directors 
 of the Bible Society, the Tract Society, and the 
 Anglo-Vernacular Education Spciety. Mr. Mo- 
 hun, a native preacher, insisting on the Hindee 
 language instead of the Ordu, which the British 
 are trying to make the common medium, said : 
 "You have taken away our country; will you 
 take away our language also ?" 
 
 We visited the Christian native school and 
 village, and the printing-office of the American 
 Mission, where w r e found native printers publish 
 ing, on their own account, "Bunyan s Pilgrim s 
 Progress " and " Holy War." 
 
in. 
 FROM ALLAHABAD TO AGRA. 
 
 LEAVING Allahabad we started for Cawn- 
 pore, 1 20 miles higher up on the railway. 
 On arriving at the latter city we hired a carriage, 
 and took a look at it. It contains over 100,000 
 people, is the seat of a large trade and extensive 
 manufactures, and the terminus of the Ganges 
 Canal. It is noted for an outrage committed in 
 the rebellion of 1857. Gen. Wheeler took refuge 
 in an intrenchment with 900 Europeans, most 
 of whom were women and children. He was 
 besieged by the Rajah of Bithoor, the Nana Sa 
 hib. When the Europeans were reduced to 
 one-half their original number, and out of ammu 
 nition, they surrendered, under a promise of safe 
 conduct to Allahabad, but the men were treach 
 erously murdered, and the women and children 
 confined. When the Nana heard of the approach 
 of Havelock, he caused his prisoners to be mas 
 sacred and thrown into a well. The Sepoys 
 46 
 
FROM ALLAHABAD TO AGRA. 47 
 
 refused to do the savage work, and the Nana 
 sent for the butchers of the city to execute his 
 command. Over the well a massive and beauti 
 ful monument, with a richly carved screen of 
 stone, has been erected, and around this a park 
 has been laid out, with gravel walks, flower beds, 
 and running waters. 
 
 I had the pleasure of traveling in company with 
 Major Thompson, the only survivor of the Cawn- 
 pore massacre. He escaped by swimming for miles 
 down the Ganges, fired upon from the shore. 
 
 From Cawnpore we proceed to Agra. This is 
 a city of 100,000 inhabitants, and, until lately, 
 the capital of the North-West Provinces. It was 
 the seat of Mohammedan power in India in the 
 days of the great Akbar. It is one of the keys 
 of Northern Hindostan, and was a central posi 
 tion in the rebellion of 1857. It contains a fort 
 a mile and a half in circuit, with battlements 70 
 feet high, within which is the palace of Akbar, 
 and the Pearl Mosque. Two centuries ago this 
 city was probably ten times the size that it is at 
 present. Cultivated fields now occupy what once 
 was covered with palaces, and the plowshare 
 runs over the remains of baths, subterranean 
 rooms, and other ruins of former palaces. We 
 were received very kindly by Major Ward, Can 
 tonment magistrate, who, with his family, had 
 
48 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 just returned from the hills, whither they had 
 found it necessary to resort in order to recu 
 perate. 
 
 The most remarkable object at Agra is the 
 Taj Mahal. It is perhaps the most beautiful 
 building on the earth. It stands on the left 
 bank of the Jumna, two miles from the city It 
 rises 296 feet from the platform to the crescent, 
 and is visible a distance of twenty miles. View 
 ing it from the lofty tomb of Akbar, five miles 
 Distant, it looks like a tent of snowy whiteness 
 and rich embroidery let down from heaven into 
 a paradise of earth to be the audience-chamber 
 of an angel on an errand of mercy to men. As 
 you approach it you catch different views of it, 
 but all charming. And now you are at the gate, 
 which arrests your attention at once by the 
 magnitude of its walls, the harmony of its pro 
 portions, and the chasteness and appropriate 
 ness of its ornaments. Around the lofty arch 
 way are Arabic letters in black marble, let into 
 the red granite, constituting chosen texts of the 
 Koran. Passing through the arch you find your 
 self in the hall, which reminds you of man} 
 passages of Oriental writings; such as, "The 
 gates of hell shall not prevail against it ;" for, 
 within this gate, if angels were sent to recover 
 Eden, Michael might hold a council of war, and 
 
FROM ALLAHABAD TO AGRA. 49 
 
 from it send forth a troop to sweep the demons 
 from the plains of the Ganges, which they have 
 so long polluted. Ascending successive flights 
 of stone steps, we gain the summit of the inner 
 wall of the gate, and move forward to the center 
 of a colonnade supporting a row of domes. Here 
 we sit down, fronting the Taj, while every sense 
 is intoxicated with enjoyment. Below and before 
 us is a broad stream of water, extending from 
 the gate to the platform of the building, like a 
 section of a sea of glass laid as a pavement for 
 the feet of the blest, and from whose tranquil 
 surface the beauties of the Taj are doubled by 
 reflection. On each side of this stream is a 
 gravel walk, shaded by a row of cypress trees, 
 whose perennial verdure is in striking contrast 
 with the crystal surface on which they cast their 
 shadows. Between these trees the choicest 
 shrubs bloom, and at their feet humbler plants, 
 children of the shade, display their modest 
 beauty. Beyond them, on both sides, out to the 
 lofty wall of the inclosure, the seisam, the neim, 
 the plantain, the orange, the lemon, and the 
 palm throw their shade, diffuse their fragrance, 
 and drop their fruits ; while here and there, 
 where the sun finds a free passage among them 
 for his beams, enchanting walks, bordered with 
 
 richest flowers, invite the wandering feet. Birds 
 A 4 
 
50 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 of choicest plumage hop from branch to branch, 
 while their companions of less attractive colors, 
 but sweeter endowments, fill the air with deli 
 cious song. But what, above all, draws the atten 
 tion is the building, whose polished marble walls, 
 standing against the blue of heaven and the green 
 of earth, give such strange charms to both, and 
 receive from the contrast even more than they 
 bestow. Descending to the hall of the gate, 
 we pass through the inner arch, and proceed 
 slowly up one of the graveled walks, to mingle 
 with the pleasures of sense the higher pleasures 
 of imagination and taste. Now we are upon the 
 lofty platform. What breadth of beauty ! To be 
 impressed with the magnitude of the edifice we 
 must walk the platform from end to end, and 
 survey those massive buildings of red granite, 
 which rise like sentinels, one on each side, corre 
 sponding exteriorly, but varied interiorly, to adapt 
 them to their respective uses, the one being the 
 hall of audience, the other the hall of prayer. 
 Then mark the marble minarets, 225 feet high, 
 one at each corner, rising as if to touch the 
 clouds, and help us heavenward by their spiral 
 staircases. Now we go from minaret to minaret 
 all around the platform, and look up at the Taj, 
 as we pass, at every side. No matter whether 
 we view it at this angle or at that, in front or 
 
FROM ALLAHABAD TO AGRA. 51 
 
 rear, on the right or the left, in one light, or a 
 brighter, or a dimmer, we see fullness of beauty. 
 What perfection of workmanship ! Look all 
 around the platform up the walls to the dome. 
 There is no crevice, between the closely fitted 
 stones, through which a spear of grass could 
 find an entrance for its slender head. The 
 meanest part of the pavement seems to have 
 felt the touches of an artist worthy to build a 
 throne, and the whole work, though it has been 
 exposed to the sun and air and lightning for 
 centuries, has not one stain upon its polished 
 breast, but looks like a gem fresh from the hands 
 of the lapidary. 
 
 What combination of charms ! as if the archi 
 tect had found out the sec ret of God how to 
 blend massiveness with delicacy, unity with 
 variety, simplicity with con plexity, grandeur 
 with beauty, and the utmost chasteness of de 
 sign with surpassing skill of execution. 
 
 But let us enter the Taj. Now new charms 
 break upon the sight. What strength and 
 breadth in the arches! What symmetry through 
 out! What richness in the adornments! Mark 
 the panels of the wall, how the marble is carved 
 into the most exquisite forms of shrubs, and 
 flowers in alto-relievo. Approach nearer and. 
 see that no two are alike, yet all are lovely. 
 
52 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Take any one for a minute inspection, that you 
 may realize how grace waits upon every stem, 
 and leaf, and blossom, and bud, and curve. Look 
 from the panels up the wall to the bright star 
 that beams upon you from the dome, and ob 
 serve how by combinations of the agate, the 
 amethyst, the blood-stone, and the carnelian 
 inlaid in the marble, the artist has imitated the 
 richest coloring as well as the most pleasing 
 forms of nature, and you will be at a loss which 
 most to admire, the exquisiteness of the draw 
 ings, the perfection of the execution, or the ap 
 propriateness of the designs. It is surprising 
 that amid so much spL ndor there should be 
 nothing gaudy ; amid so much variety, nothing 
 crowded ; and amid such profusion of workman 
 ship, nothing imperfect. Pass your finger over 
 any part of any flower, or place your microscope 
 upon it, and you will scarce detect where gem 
 meets gem to blend their colors, and show that 
 art may mold the stones of the mountains into 
 combinations charming as those which Nature 
 weaves to adorn the garment on her breast. 
 
 But look at that octagonal palisade in the 
 center. Each side is a block of marble fretted 
 by Florentine art, and bordered with mosaic, 
 the whole constituting a screen which for its 
 size, and for the depth, durability, and variety, 
 
FROM ALLAHABAD TO AGRA. 53 
 
 and richness of its carving, surpasses any thing 
 of the kind. 
 
 Enter its gate and you pass from the pleas 
 ures of imagination to the higher ones, awakened 
 by moral beauty. The Taj is a tomb. It is the 
 testimony of a rational soul to its own immor 
 tality. It is the sorrowing past pointing onward 
 to the happy future. It is the memorial of love, 
 a love inspired by beauty and a talent, unlike 
 Cleopatra s, inspired by goodness. It is associ 
 ated with purity too, for it is the memorial of 
 wedded love. 
 
 Here is the tomb of the Queen Moomtaj-i- 
 mahul, Ranoo Begum, for whom the building was 
 erected, and by its side that of her royal husband, 
 Shah Jehan king of the world who erected it. 
 Both simple, white, not obtrusive, but concealed, 
 like violets in a grove, to be sought for in order 
 to be seen. Nothing strikes us more than the 
 absence of all imagery here. Not a statue, nor 
 a statuette, nor a painting of beast or idol, or 
 man or angel not a name, not even on the 
 tombs, except the thousand names of God in 
 black marble inlaid in the white on the monu 
 ment of the Queen ; as if the artist had woven 
 and adorned a tent for God, but determined that 
 nothing should share the space with him, or 
 divert attention from his presence. As we stand 
 
54 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 and muse, the heart swells, and the thought 
 wells up, Lo, God is here ! and we feel as if it 
 would be a relief to weep. 
 
 We go out and sit down on the front steps, 
 while the sun fringes the West with those orange 
 robes so peculiar to the lands of the East. The 
 fragrant air is stirred only by the evening flutter 
 of the birds which serve to mark the stillness, 
 and silence, and peace that reign around. The 
 subdued light seems to add new charms to the 
 gorgeous coloring of the Oriental flowers, while 
 the water that wells up from the Jumna and 
 through its polished basin rolls in a calm, broad 
 crystal stream from the platform to the gate, 
 through the midst of the garden, reminds us of 
 the river of life. Soon the moon comes forth 
 attended by her train, showing the beauties of 
 the Taj, softened in her beams. Now let us 
 enter the building again. The magistrate, who 
 kindly attends us, has, without our knowledge, 
 sent thirteen or fourteen coolies before us, to 
 stand in the arches above and below. At a 
 signal each kindles a Bengal light, in whose 
 mingled blaze the brilliant stones and polished 
 marble are reflected. Presently, as the lights 
 burn dim, and while we stand within the pali 
 sade, beside the official tombs, looking up at 
 the star of the dome directly overhead, a native, 
 
FROM ALLAHABAD TO AGRA. 55 
 
 who had gone down into the dark vault in which 
 the ashes of the noble dead are inurned, utters 
 a few solemn words that come up like an organ 
 peal, and go echoing from arch to arch, majestic 
 as distant thunder, but varied as the aerial harp, 
 like the spirit of the past coming up from the 
 grave, and lingering around the memorials of its 
 love before it reascends to God. 
 
 We seem to be in the presence of the charm 
 ing Momtaza Tumanee she of the divinely del 
 icate face, with an eye more beautiful than the 
 evening star, and locks clustering on her bosom 
 more decorative than the feathers of the pea 
 cock. We call to mind that terrible day when 
 the palace was oppressed, and the servants were 
 afraid, and the physicians were assembled, and 
 the ministers wives gathered silently in the 
 chamber, and the priests with tremulous voices 
 read prayers, and the trembling nurses rubbed 
 the feet and hands of the poor Empress, and 
 the Emperor racked his mind for words of solace 
 and comfort to the Queen, and when, at last, 
 she ordered her gems and jewels to be brought 
 to her bedside, and said: "Pardon all my faults, 
 and every unkind word. I have lived with you 
 through joy and sorrow. God has made you a 
 great Emperor, and given you worlds to rule, 
 and sons and daughters to perpetuate your 
 
56 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. + 
 
 name; but novy I must leave you, and be a 
 traveler to worlds unknown. Build me such a 
 tomb as the world never saw." And the parting 
 husband and wife wept and convulsively laughed 
 and cried as they talked of death, and the prom 
 ise was made and received. 
 
 Round all things human cluster painful asso 
 ciations. Passing out of the building a native 
 says: "Alas! how many admire this structure 
 who consider not the tears and toils in which it 
 was built !" During seventeen years 20,000 work 
 men were forced to labor upon it without com 
 pensation, and even their rations were curtailed 
 by rapacious officials, so that great distress and 
 unusual mortality prevailed among them. Could 
 this beautiful marble tell its own story, it might 
 be one of sighs and tears. The noblest produc 
 tions in art, in science, and in song are generally 
 pressed from crushed souls. Besides this en 
 forced labor, $8,750,000 was taken from the 
 capital of the country when money was from 
 three to five times its present value. 
 
 There is another painful consideration con 
 nected with the Taj. Though complete in itself, 
 it is only a part of the design of the Emperor. 
 He intended to erect a tomb for himself on the 
 opposite side of the river of equal beauty and 
 magnificence with his wife s, and to connect the 
 
&ROM ALLAHABAD TO AGRA. 57 
 
 two by a bridge with railings of solid silver ; 
 but the children, on whose account, in accord 
 ance with their mother s dying request, he 
 abstained from a second marriage, proved in- 
 grates, inaugurated civil wars, imprisoned their 
 aged father, put out his eyes, and crippled his 
 empire. Rarely ; s it given in this world to per 
 fect a grand design. 
 
IV. 
 
 AGRA TO DELH:. 
 
 FROM Agra we went by Ghary to Futtepore 
 Sikra. On the way we were hindered by a 
 balky horse ; which reminds us that all the horses 
 in India are poor, excepj such as are imported 
 from Cabul or from England, and these can not 
 perform much service on account of the heat of 
 the country. They are seldom driven more than 
 ten miles at a time. A syce attends each horse, 
 running behind the carriage. A syce can go 
 much farther in a day than any horse. When 
 the horse has completed his journey the syce 
 feeds him, covers him, and walks him home. If 
 you keep two horses in India you must have two 
 syces ; but it must be remembered that the syce 
 cuts the grass for the horse the year round. Hay 
 is not provided, as it is not necessary. The 
 horses to be hired at the livery stable or dak are 
 very poorly managed. We seldom hired a horse 
 ghary without having trouble and delay. The 
 
AGRA TO DELHI. 59 
 
 driver often used the poor brute shamefully, and 
 in return it displayed its obstinacy. 
 
 The distance from Agra to Futtepore Sikra is 
 twenty-two miles. The road is bordered for some 
 distance with stately trees. This place was the 
 Buckingham Palace of Akbar, deservedly stir- 
 named the Great ; for he was the noblest of all 
 the emperors of Hindostan. He diminished 
 taxes, tolerated all religions, promoted agricul 
 ture, extended commerce, improved the roads, 
 reformed the government, and extended the 
 boundaries of his empire. 
 
 We approach the palace through a mass of 
 ruins, which indicate the magnificence that 
 reigned here at a former period. The buildings 
 are on a grand scale, and the views on all sides 
 are enchanting. In passing around the palace 
 three or four objects were particularly noticeable: 
 the stables and out-houses indicated a large stud 
 of horses and flock of elephants ; the platform 
 where the monarch sat to watch the boys diving 
 for the coin he threw into the water; the build 
 ing in which the ladies of the Zenana played 
 hide-and-seek ; the hall in which the emperor re 
 ceived ambassadors ; the diwan e khaz, in which 
 he held his cabinet counsels ; the diwan e am, 
 in which, each morning, he made his public ap 
 pearance, and the court where he sat before 
 
6O OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 his Bachise board, consisting of blocks of black 
 and white marble, to play backgammon with 
 his prime minister, using his wives for ivory 
 blocks, and making them trot from square to 
 square as the moves were made, are all well 
 preserved. We noticed, also, a separate build 
 ing in the Zenana, covered with paintings in 
 fresco by Persian artists, for a Christian wife. 
 She was a Portuguese, and is said to have had 
 great power over him. Among the decorations 
 of religious meaning in her apartments some are 
 Christian. At the foot of the hill is the small 
 village of Futtepore, which was probably built 
 of materials gathered from the ruins. The pal 
 ace was completed in 1/51. The architecture is 
 massive, Saracenic, and every part of it is elab 
 orately carved. The grandest part is the Dur 
 gah or tomb of the Sheikh Selim Chiste. This, 
 and the canopy over it, is of mother of pearl, the 
 floor is of jasper, and the walls are of marble 
 inlaid with carnelian. It is inclosed by screens 
 of marble of great richness. It stands in a 
 paved court 428 feet by 406 feet, which is en 
 tered by a gateway 120 feet high. In its center 
 is a fountain and tank, and on one side a mosque 
 with triple dome. The tomb was covered with 
 fresh flowers, and decorated with shreds of 
 cloth, so that you might imagine it to be, as 
 
AGRA TO DELHI. 6 1 
 
 it probably was to thousands, an object of 
 worship. 
 
 The palace is occupied by an agent of the 
 Government, who furnishes entertainment for 
 visitors at reasonable rates. After tiffin, while 
 we were seated for repose, a native brought to 
 us a tiger which he had just caught. It was 
 young, and we took it in our hands, but, as it 
 showed its teeth, we were very glad to get rid of 
 it. The happy captor doubtless soon slew his 
 prize, and received from Government a reward 
 for his scalp. The incident reminded us of the 
 story that Selim, the holy man, first obtained his 
 reputation by his intimacy with tigers, several of 
 which lived with him in a cave on the spot now 
 occupied by his tomb. We returned in good 
 time to Agra. Next day we went to Secundra, 
 the seat of a large orphanage under the patron 
 age of the Church of England. We attended 
 the Church service in the morning, and break 
 fasted afterward with Mr. Barbul, the missionary. 
 
 The printing-press of this mission occupies 
 the tomb of the Christian wife of Akbar, Begum 
 Munni. We next proceeded to Akbar s tomb, 
 near by. This is in a square garden inclosed with 
 a wall pierced by four gateways of red sandstone 
 seventy feet high, one on each side, whence four 
 stone walks lead to an elevated platform from 
 
62 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 which the tomb rises. This platform is of solid 
 stone, and four hundred feet square. The tomb 
 is square also, three hundred feet on each side, 
 and rises in five terraces to the height of one 
 hundred feet. The upper story is of white 
 marble, the rest of red sandstone. From the 
 main entrance we proceed to a vaulted hall in the 
 center, where the sarcophagus of Akbar is seen. 
 
 On the top of the edifice there is a platform 
 open to the sky surrounded by a marble screen 
 richly carved, and on this platform, beneath a 
 marble pavilion, is the second or official tomb. 
 This is beautifully carved. There are turrets at 
 each corner of this terrace. From this elevated 
 spot we had a view of Agra and of the Taj. 
 
 Returning to Agra we dined with Rev. Mr. 
 Grierson, of the Baptist mission, and in the 
 evening preached in his chapel to a good audi 
 ence of citizens and soldiers. Next day we 
 started for Delhi, having a good railway all the 
 distance. We had been invited in advance to 
 enjoy the hospitalities of Mr. Parry, manager of 
 the Delhi Bank, and his chuprassie met us at 
 the station. His residence is in an extensive 
 garden, and was formerly the palace of Begum 
 Sombre. Our first look at Delhi was through 
 the Chandnee Chowk, a broad and beautiful ave 
 nue, a mile long and 120 feet wide, comparable, 
 
AGRA TO DELHI. 63 
 
 almost, to the Parisian boulevards, and inter 
 sected by a canal or aqueduct in the center. It 
 is ornamented with trees, and, at times, crowded 
 with visitors. Many of the buildings are histor 
 ical; among them, we were pointed to the 
 mosque of Rooshun-ood-Dowlah, where Nadir 
 Shah sat during the massacre of the city, in 
 which from 800,000 to 1,000,000 people were 
 murdered, and where, too, he received Mahmoud 
 Shah, the emperor, accompanied by his nobles, 
 who, bursting into tears, besought him to spare 
 the lives of his people. From this city the Per 
 sian conqueror is said to have carried away fifty 
 millions of dollars in money, besides gold and 
 silver plate worth millions more, jewels of inesti 
 mable value, and the peacock throne, valued at 
 six million pounds sterling. Along this street 
 you see stores of every description, and artisans 
 at work manufacturing those articles for which 
 the city is so famous. Its works in gold and 
 silver are unsurpassed, and its shawls and scarfs 
 are surpassed only by those of Umritsir and 
 Lahore. 
 
 The modern city is on the western bank of 
 the Jumna, and was founded by Shah Jehan in 
 1620. It is surrounded by brick walls, and is 
 about seven miles in circumference. There is 
 another fine street, five furlongs in length, and 
 
64 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 ninety feet in breadth, leading from the Palace 
 to the Delhi gate. 
 
 In the evening we took a drive to see some 
 noticeable objects. We first went to the arse 
 nal so memorable for its connection with .the 
 mutiny of 1857. The mutineers from the first 
 fixed their minds upon Delhi, because it was the 
 richest city in the North- West Provinces, well 
 walled and fortified, and possessed of the grand 
 est arsenal and the richest treasury in Upper 
 India. The British were taken by surprise when 
 the troops mutinied and shot down their officers, 
 and all other Europeans within their reach. A 
 few English officers were in the magazine when 
 it was assailed. The spot was pointed out where 
 Forrest and Buckley together loaded and fired in 
 rapid succession four rounds from three six- 
 pounders and a howitzer, which had been hastily 
 got into position to command the gate of the 
 magazine. They were fired on by hundreds at 
 a distance of fifty yards. As the last round was 
 fired, musket balls disabled both of the gunners. 
 Lieutenant Willoughby then gave orders to fire 
 the magazine, and they were obeyed. We next 
 proceed to the point where General Barnard, on 
 his approach to the siege, found the rebels 
 posted, and whence he drove them within the 
 walls ; next to the crest, a mile and a half from 
 
AGRA TO DELHI. 65 
 
 the city, taken up by the British forces when 
 they commenced the siege ; then to the point 
 on which they planted three batteries, half a 
 mile nearer, to play day and night upon the city 
 wall, the mutineers all the while replying with 
 three batteries ; then we proceeded to the breach 
 in the wall, near the Cashmere gate, through 
 which the troops rushed after it was blown open. 
 The troops once entered, marched along the 
 ramparts to the Moree bastion and Cabul gate, 
 where the carnage was the most fearful, and the 
 victory decisive. 
 
 After this we took a drive into the gardens of 
 the late King of Delhi. 
 
 Next day, taking an early start, we drove out 
 to see the Khuttub Minar, the grandest column 
 of the world. It is eleven miles from the city. 
 The drive is a gloomy one, for it is amid ruins 
 and tombs. Arches, walls, columns crumbling, 
 piles of masonry are to be seen in every di 
 rection ; grass and shrubbery make their way 
 through the rubbish, and deserted buildings, and 
 tombs ; but the land, for an immense circuit, 
 seems spoiled, since the plow could hardly make 
 a passage through the bricks, sandstone, and 
 mortar; and jackals and foxes have undisturbed 
 possession. All this is easily accounted for. 
 The city has been frequently moved to gratify 
 A 5 
 
66 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the vanity of monarchs, and frequently destroyed 
 to satisfy the ambition of conquerors and the 
 love of spoil. We stop, after driving six miles, 
 to see the tomb of Suftar Jung, the founder of 
 the royal house of Oude. It is very fine, and 
 similar to the Taj, though by no means equal 
 to it. From the top of it the Khuttub Minar is 
 visible, though we must drive five miles further 
 to reach it. It is a round pillar 240 feet high, 
 thirty-five feet at the base, but diminishing grad 
 ually to about ten feet at the top. It has five 
 stories, decreasing in height in the same propor 
 tion as the diameter of the shaft. The three low 
 est stories are of red sandstone, fluted and belted 
 by bands of Arabic inscriptions ; the two upper 
 stories are of white marble. Each story has a 
 stone balustrade, and a richly sculptured and 
 heavy cornice. We ascend the shaft by a wind 
 ing staircase of 378 steps. Returning to the 
 base we reviewed it again at different distances. 
 When it was built, by whom, and for what pur 
 pose, are questions to which we could get no 
 answers, but the presumption is, I think, that it 
 was begun, if not completed, by the Hindoos, 
 and adopted and modified by the Mohammedans. 
 A short distance to the North of it is the be 
 ginning of another shaft of larger dimensions. 
 Near by are the ruins of a mSst gorgeous Hin- 
 
AGRA TO DELHI. 6/ 
 
 doo temple, which seems subsequently to have 
 been changed into a mosque. The arcades are 
 supported by hundreds of columns all tastefully 
 and elaborately carved. 
 
 Returning to Delhi we drove directly to the 
 Jumna Musjid. It stands at the junction of 
 four streets, and on an elevated platform. We 
 pass unobstructed up the broad flight of steps, 
 and walk the courts, and ascend one of the min 
 arets to survey the famous city. This mosque 
 is perhaps regarded by the Mohammedans with 
 more pride and veneration than any building in 
 India. It is worthy of admiration alike for its 
 magnitude, its beauty, and its associations. We 
 reached home weary and hungry. After dinner 
 we go to the site of the palace. The outer wall 
 is unimpaired, and the massive gates stand, but 
 the palace is demolished. The scene, however, 
 presents other things well worthy of attention 
 the pearl mosque, the throne-room, and the diwan. 
 The mosque is a most exquisite piece of work 
 manship. It is of the purest white marble, with 
 saracenic arches and three domes. It is beau 
 tiful from its form and portions, but without 
 any gaudy or doubtful ornament, simple, pure, 
 chaste, stainless fitted to be a shrine for the 
 Holy One. 
 
 The diwan is an arcade formed of three rows 
 
68 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 of arches, with a marble pavilion in the center, 
 inlaid with gold and precious stones. The roof 
 is said to have been solid silver, but when the 
 Mahrattas took Delhi they tore it off and bore it 
 away as spoil. It is now of some other mate 
 rial. The columns are very massive and grand. 
 Here the ancient Mogul emperors gave audience 
 to embassadors, and received their obeisance. 
 It is now occupied as a museum. 
 
V. 
 A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 W E rarely feel much interest in what we do 
 not see. Next to seeing is the report of 
 an eye-witness. With a view to awaken in our 
 brethren a deeper interest in the missions they 
 sustain, I undertake a pen portrait of our mission 
 stations in Hindostan. 
 
 In the year 1857 Rev. Dr. Butler was sent 
 out to found an Indian mission for the Meth 
 odist Episcopal Church. He was the man for 
 the work prudent, pious, sagacious, with a 
 courteous bearing, a just self-respect, an enter 
 prising spirit, and a profound regard to the 
 authorities by whom he was commissioned. By 
 his selection of a field, choice of stations, man 
 agement of the finances, and general oversight 
 of the work, he evinced eminent abilities ; and 
 although, in consequence of a want of facility in 
 inspiring in others the spirit of obedience and 
 
 69 
 
7O OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 respect for official superiors, which was both a 
 sentiment and habit with himself, and did not, 
 perhaps, call forth the affection of his fellow- 
 laborers to the extent to which he was entitled 
 to it, yet he could but provoke their admiration 
 at the proud monument which, in departing from 
 India, he left behind him. 
 
 In October, 1864, he met me at Calcutta, and 
 proceeded with me by railway up the Ganges, 
 about eleven hundred and fifty miles, to Delhi. 
 
 FROM DELHI TO MEERUT. 
 
 Leaving the railway at this celebrated city at 
 n o clock, P. M., we started by horse ghary 
 to Meerut. As the traveling in Hindostan, in 
 consequence of the heat, is by night, the con 
 veyances afford facilities for sleeping. On our 
 way we encountered a cyclone of dust, so dense 
 as to be almost suffocating. The driver, evi 
 dently alarmed, stopped, and inquired what 
 should be done ; but he was told to keep on as 
 long as he could find the road. In about an 
 hour we got out of the circle. 
 
 MEERUT TO BIJNOUR. 
 
 After taking a cup of tea at Meerut, we 
 started by dhooley dak for Bijnour. 
 
 The dhooley is not, as Burke supposed, a wild 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. *]\ 
 
 animal, but a cheap palanquin. It is carried by 
 four men, who are relieved every half mile by 
 four others, preceded by a musalche, bearing a 
 lamp, for the double purpose of lighting the way 
 and keeping off wild beasts, and followed by a 
 bangy wallah, carrying the luggage on a bamboo, 
 and are discharged after running about ten miles, 
 satisfied with about eight cents wages each and 
 bukshish, though sometimes they will run two 
 chowkies for double pay. Experienced travelers 
 can sleep in the dhooley, but not others. The 
 noise of the bearers, as if distressed, the motion 
 of the vehicle as they rushed forward, the shift 
 ing of the bamboo from shoulder to shoulder, the 
 torch, every now and then flashing in the face, 
 the conversation of the coolies, and their shouts 
 when they feared a wild beast, or approached a 
 relay, drove sleep from my eyes and slumber 
 from my eyelids. When morning came we were 
 threading our way, through water and mud, over 
 stubble ground, newly plowed fields, along hedges 
 and mud walls. The opening of the Ganges ca 
 nal on the country, in consequence of the 
 drought, so impaired our path that we did not 
 reach Bijnour until ten o clock next day. 
 
 When for the firrt time I saw the dhooley, I 
 thought, what a mercy that I, instead of some of 
 my colleagues, was sent! But when T saw my 
 
72 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 companion appropriating the shelves in my ve 
 hicle, on which he was stowing away bread, 
 bacon, pots, and kettles, I found that I was to be 
 brought up to a respectable weight avoirdupois, 
 and that our two sets of coolies had their burdens 
 equalized. While we cooked breakfast by the 
 roadside, the coolies, seated some distance off in 
 a circle, smoked the hooka, the stem of which 
 they passed from mouth to mouth. 
 
 BIJNOUR AND ITS OUT-STATIONS. 
 
 Arriving at Bijnour, a provincial city of Rohil- 
 cund, we were kindly met by Rev. I. L. Hauser, 
 the missionary. Our first attention is given to 
 the school. The average attendance is eighty- 
 nine, all boys. There are five teachers ; namely, 
 two Hindoos, two Mohammedans, and one Chris 
 tian. The head master is a Hindoo, but the 
 school is opened with prayer and the reading of 
 the Bible. Pagan and Mussulman teachers will 
 teach the Holy Scriptures as ours do Homer. 
 An examination of the classes in the ordinary 
 branches and the Bible was quite satisfactory. 
 The mission-house, of brick covered with cement, 
 sixty-four feet by seventy-four, with verandas, 
 stands upon a tract of eighteen acres. It cost 
 $3,250, and is valued at $2,650. Near by is a 
 bungalow belonging to the mission, situated on a 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 73 
 
 tract of two acres. Cost, $425 ; present value, 
 $300. A school-house, sixty-four feet front by 
 seventy-four deep in the clear, with veranda be 
 fore and behind, each ten feet wide, is building. 
 Its main walls are two feet thick, and it stands on 
 an inclosure of two acres. There are two native 
 helpers houses, which cost $150, now worth $75- 
 The chapel, used as a school-house, is worth 
 $100. There is also chapel furniture, $42 ; school 
 requisites, $160; tents, etc., $78; other property, 
 $10. The whole land belonging to this mission 
 is twenty-two acres. The deeds are quit-claim, 
 and subject to an annual rent. The Government 
 gives $1,875 toward the erection of a school- 
 house, and requires the rest to be paid by sub 
 scription. This building is suitable and substan 
 tial, and if finished according to the original 
 plan will be ornamental. In taking subscriptions 
 for it, the preacher promised that it should be 
 used for scholastic purposes only, his object be 
 ing twofold ; namely, to increase the liberality 
 of the non-Christian citizens, and put the Chris 
 tian under bonds to build a church. 
 
 The number of members at this station is 
 ten, excluding the missionary and his wife, all 
 adults ; there are seven probationers, also adults. 
 Class-meetings and prayer-meetings and Sabbath- 
 school are held weekly ; the last numbers but 
 
74 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 twenty-four pupils. Love-feast once a quarter. 
 On Sabbath we have English preaching- at half- 
 past 7, A. M. ; native Sabbath-school, half-past 9, 
 A. M. ; Hindoo preaching, 5, P. M. Wednesday 
 evening, English Bible-class. Mrs. H. teaches a 
 school of native girls at her own house. There 
 were six baptisms during the year. There is an 
 English congregation of about twenty-six persons. 
 I took occasion during my stay here to visit the 
 house of a native gentleman who belongs to the 
 merchant caste, and has grown rich by lending 
 money at from 23 to 30 per cent, per annum. 
 In it I found a room consecrated to his idol, and 
 on that part of the roof which covered it I was 
 cautioned not to step, as it is holy ground. The 
 gardens were showy, and abounded in marigolds. 
 On the way back we passed a beautiful tomb, in 
 closed with brick, planted with flowers, and built 
 for a courtesan by her Mohammedan admirers, 
 who, if their wives were to die, would probably 
 show but little respect to their graves. Our 
 next visit was to the jail, to which the magis 
 trate kindly attended us. An armed guard fol 
 lowed us from department to department, and 
 whenever we stopped drew up behind us, to pre 
 vent an attack, a precaution as necessary as if 
 we were moving among tigers. The prisoners 
 are engaged in various manufactures. For minor 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. ?$ 
 
 offenses whipping is the penalty, as confinement, 
 if caste be preserved, is not dreaded ; some, in 
 deed, are pleased with it, and one, on being dis 
 charged, asked in distress for what offense he 
 was turned away. Cattle stealing is practiced 
 extensively by companies at great distances, who 
 exchange spoil with each other. 
 
 Before leaving I delivered a discourse Mr. H. 
 interpreting and administered baptism to four 
 persons, and the sacrament of the Lord s-Sup- 
 per to thirteen natives and some others. While 
 seated in the parlor one day I could but con 
 gratulate Mrs. H. on her spacious and beautiful 
 home, its nice furniture, beautiful gardens, and 
 ample stores; but, alas! every one knoweth his 
 own sorrows ! She had but lately laid in the 
 grave her youngest child, and the remaining one, 
 as well as herself, was but slowly recovering from 
 diphtheria ; and when she said, " What should I 
 do if my husband should die?" I saw the tear 
 starting; and as I replied, "Trust God and his 
 Church," I thought it good to take the fresh air. 
 
 NUJEEHABAD. 
 
 Setting off at nine o clock at night we move 
 onward for Nujeebabad, an out-station of Bij- 
 nour. Severe shaking, perpetual chattering, no 
 sleep. At 4 o clock, A. M., we arrive at the 
 
76 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 city, encamping at daylight in front of the de 
 serted palace of the Nawab, who, during the 
 rebellion, forfeited his property and life. While 
 Dr. B. cooks breakfast, Mr. Hauser and I ex 
 plore. The palace is in ruins, but the Summer- 
 house is in repair. Some things particularly 
 attracted attention ; among them, the platform 
 where the Nawab surveyed the women bathing, 
 watching for Bathshebas ; the Zenana, which 
 was dark, with lower apartments open toward 
 the court, closed toward the exterior, without 
 a window or an aperture in the wall, though 
 with niches for the lamps; and the Government 
 distillery, where any one may come and make 
 arrack or sherab by paying twelve annas a gallon. 
 It is made from the juice of the sugar-cane, 
 which is fermented in cow-dung vats, then trans 
 ferred to a rude still, and received, after distilla 
 tion, in earthen pots sunk in the ground. 
 
 Before the English entered the country the 
 natives were temperate ; but now, despite their 
 religion, they are indulging in both liquor and 
 opium. 
 
 After breakfast we visited our school. It is in 
 an open court, in which is no fire at any period 
 of the year. It is taught by Mohammedans and 
 Pagans, the head master being a Brahmin. I 
 proposed prayer, but was told it was not admis- 
 
A VIE W OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 77 
 
 sible ; called for a class in the Bible, but there 
 was none prepared ; asked a large class if any 
 one could recite the ten commandments, but 
 found none ; examined classes in reading, gram 
 mar, arithmetic, and geography, and found that 
 although in pronunciation and orthography the 
 scholars were imperfect, they in other respects 
 acquitted themselves well. Since my visit the 
 missionary assures me that the school is on 
 more Christian foundations. I noticed a number 
 of citizens at the school, among them the mag 
 istrate or headman, and the doctor. The latter 
 took us to his hospital, where he has several 
 house patients, and prescribes for many out 
 ones. He has received a medical degree, and 
 performed most of the operations of surgery. 
 He rarely uses the lancet, but his dispensary 
 contains many active remedies, such as iodide 
 of potassium, mercury, and quinine. Being a 
 widower, he allowed us to enter his house, where 
 we found his only child, a girl eight years old, 
 seated upon the floor, decorated with gold ear 
 rings, and toe-rings, and silver bangles. She 
 arose and recited the Lord s Prayer as the high 
 est compliment she could bestow upon us ; after 
 which the doctor, bowing down and placing his 
 face to the floor, asked what good he should do 
 to me. 
 
78 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 At eleven o clock we are off for Nugeenah, 
 where we have a school and a native helper s 
 house, worth $150. Here, at the bungalow, I 
 was taken sick, but stimulus, applied both in 
 ternally and externally, so far revived me that I 
 was enabled to pursue my journey the same day, 
 but without examining the school at Nugeenah, 
 which, however, is similar to that at Nujeebabad. 
 The latter city is the larger, containing 20,000 
 inhabitants. From it may be seen the lower 
 ranges of the Himalayas, twenty miles distant, 
 as the crow would fly. Between the mountains 
 and the town is jungle, in which tigers, boars, 
 and elephants abound. 
 
 MORADABAD AND ITS OUT-STATIONS. 
 
 From Nugeenah we move on to Gurmaktezer, 
 passing through Chandpoor city of the moon 
 about midnight, and reaching at seven o clock 
 next morning the Mela, a great annual religious 
 gathering or camp-meeting on the holy stream 
 of the Ganges, where we were received by our 
 missionary, Parker. Intoxicated with strange 
 sights and sounds, we rode along the tents far 
 down the river, on which were encamped six or 
 seven hundred thousand people. Happily, among 
 the sounds was the Gospel s joyful one, which 
 we heard in the native tongues from the lips of 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 79 
 
 missionaries at different parts of the encamp 
 ment, and which was listened to with appar 
 ent interest by the groups of natives that 
 gathered round the speakers. O what an oppor 
 tunity to preach Jesus! 
 
 Now, off for Moradabad, forty miles distant, 
 which we reached about ten o clock the next day. 
 On Sabbath we have love-feast. As I entered 
 the congregation salaamed. The women and men 
 sat apart, both neatly dressed. The speaking was 
 prompt and brief; the singing in tunes, some 
 native, some American, but all melodious and 
 sweet. The whole service indicated that the 
 people are rising to American civilization, and 
 getting an idea of spiritual religion, one of the 
 hardest things for them to comprehend, accus 
 tomed, as they have been, to a religion of mere 
 ceremonies. I addressed them through an inter 
 preter. Messrs. Parker, Mansell, Cawdell, and 
 their wives, were present. At ten o clock Mr. 
 Cawdell preached. Several teachers and scholars 
 from the City Mission School were present, some 
 of them Hindoos and some Mohammedans. The 
 communicants of this Church are all living on 
 our ground, and in our employ. The native 
 preachers and exhorters, however, live elsewhere. 
 Our members are well instructed, being gath 
 ered together every evening for a Bible class. 
 
8O OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 There are small Christian congregations in the 
 villages, but they are not well trained. How to 
 get converts that are beyond the range of Eu 
 ropean employ is the great problem of the 
 missions. At three o clock we have Bible class 
 and Sabbath-school. At the close each pupil 
 recites a verse of Scripture. At four o clock 
 preaching in the bazaar in the center of the city 
 to three or four thousand natives. Five or six 
 hundred gathered close around to listen. They 
 were respectful and attentive, and the boys in 
 front behaved admirably. Two exhorters, one 
 native preacher, and brothers Mansell, Cawdell, 
 and Parker, delivered in succession, from a pub 
 lic well, short, animated discourses, like the suc 
 cessive peals of artillery. The city is better 
 built than Indian cities usually are. It contains 
 fifty-six thousand inhabitants, one-fourth of 
 whom are said to be Mohammedans. The Hin 
 doos, even the Brahmins, appear to tolerate and 
 almost befriend us ; but the Mussulmans are 
 very bitter against us. Both classes have been 
 moved to action by our bazaar preaching, and 
 propound questions to us publicly, the Mussul 
 mans often offensively. While the latter ad 
 mit much revealed truth, they deny the divinity 
 of Christ, and are obstinate fatalists. We quote 
 against them the Koran, which declares him an 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 8 1 
 
 infidel who denies the inspiration of the New 
 Testament, or makes any distinction among the 
 prophets. Mohammedans proclaim no atone 
 ment, and rely for salvation on the intercession 
 of the prophet alone. Among the interesting in 
 cidents of our visit was the baptism of two 
 children, and the administration of the Lord s- 
 Supper to thirty-three native communicants and 
 eight missionaries. A collection, as usual, was 
 taken up. During the year sixty-five dollars 
 have been given by the members for the mission, 
 besides the support of a native helper, notwith 
 standing the entire wages of each head of a 
 family is but two dollars per month. The Chris 
 tians here belong to the lowest caste of the 
 Sikhs. When some of their head men joined 
 the Christian Church, they, considering it equiv 
 alent to a change of caste, were ready to follow. 
 Four or five hundred of this people own them 
 selves Christians, and might become such under 
 suitable instruction. 
 
 The property of the station consists of three 
 and a half acres, for which a warranty deed in 
 fee simple is held. On this plot are, I. A sub 
 stantial house, seventy feet square, containing 
 fourteen rooms in ail, valued at $2,000; 2. A 
 chapel, ninety feet long, twenty feet wide, built 
 of sun-dried brick, with a pulka roof. It is 
 
82 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 valued at $625. The servants houses on the 
 mission compound are included in the estimate 
 for the house. The chapel furniture is valued 
 at $49; itinerating requisites, $78; miscellane 
 ous, $ii] school-house, $18; school-house fur 
 niture in rented premises, $20. 
 
 In this city reside Mr. Huntingdon, British 
 magistrate, and Mr. Power, district judge, by 
 whom we were kindly received. The prayer- 
 meetings of the mission are well attended, and 
 appear to be devotional. At the close of one I 
 was presented with a cane by some orphan boys, 
 and with a purse by the first native female 
 teacher employed in our school. 
 
 SUM B HAL. 
 
 On November I5th, at four o clock in the 
 morning, I started with Messrs. Parker and 
 Mansell for Sumbhal, an out-station, distant 
 twenty-two miles. The country is fruitful and 
 beautiful. We arrived at our destination for 
 breakfast at brother Cawdell s. Here our prem 
 ises consist of an acre and a half of land, on 
 which a mission house is building, at a cost of 
 $300. The ground was purchased for us from 
 Brahmins by the mayor or Tyceldar, who will 
 receive the money, and put it into the hands of 
 some person from whom they can secretly get 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 83 
 
 it, as it is contrary to their rules to buy or sell. 
 The city is very old and much scattered, but 
 contains 15,579 inhabitants. Among its ancient 
 buildings is a mosque, said to have been built 
 three hundred and fifty years ago, on the site 
 marked out as the place for the next and last 
 incarnation of Vishnu. When the Mohamme 
 dans demolished the temple that once crowned 
 the holy place, the Hindoos built another near 
 by, in hope that the coming savior will accept 
 it for the original. We have a school here, 
 which was found creditable. It is under the 
 superintendence of Ambica Churn, one of our 
 native helpers, who has several ushers, none of 
 whom, I am sorry to say, are Christians. Our 
 next station is Babukhera, fourteen miles distant ; 
 our journey thither was by night. We missed 
 our road, and had to seek the watchman of a 
 village through which we passed to guide us. 
 Arriving at our destination, we sank to rest in 
 a tent which Mrs. Parker had set up for us. 
 The place is a small one, containing one thou 
 sand inhabitants, dwelling in mud huts, and farm 
 ing the neighboring land. The Christians here 
 and in the vicinity are about eighty in number. 
 We held service next morning, at eight o clock, 
 in the unroofed church which they are building, 
 at a cost of $200, and where, after preaching, I 
 
84 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 baptized twenty-seven persons, who all seemed 
 delighted with their initiation, of which they 
 desired certificates. 
 
 After meeting I was presented with various 
 little gifts from the children, and also a cane 
 from a banyan-tree, held sacred by Mohammed 
 ans, as marking the tomb of a Mussulman 
 martyr. This was the gift of our oldest convert, 
 of whom Mr. Parker, under date May 9, 1866, 
 gives the following account : 
 
 "You will doubtless remember, that while you 
 were at Babukhera, when our little chapel was 
 dedicated, a very old man from among our Chris 
 tians there presented you with a cane. He was 
 the oldest of all our Christians in this district, 
 and probably the oldest Christian in our mission, 
 and was like a father to all our people in his 
 village. I write now to tell you of his death, 
 the news of which has just reached us. He 
 passed to his home on the 23d of April last, 
 aged about eighty-six years. He was among 
 the first of his tribe the Sikhs to embrace 
 Christianity, and has ever since been among the 
 most true and faithful Christians of India. He 
 was uneducated, could not even read or write at 
 all ; yet he received Christianity not as so 
 many ignorant people in India do, as a change 
 of caste, but as a religion of purity and holiness 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 85 
 
 of heart and life. Our converts readily renounce 
 idolatry, yet the principles and practices of idol 
 atry often have to be rooted out gradually. But 
 Father Dershni Singh, although he had .practiced 
 the deceptions of idolatry to his eightieth year, 
 so received Christ that from his baptism to his 
 death he lived a consistent Christian life. He 
 always seemed ready to do what he could to 
 help others in the true way. His influence was 
 very great over the little class of his village, and, 
 indeed, over all the Christians of his tribe ; and, 
 as he always tried to use this influence for good, 
 he was a great help to us in our work. 
 
 " When we endeavored to establish a Christian 
 colony in Wesleypoor, he went with his people 
 there, and was a great help to us in commencing 
 the work, and in keeping the people together. 
 His wife died during the sickness there, and his 
 eldest son, an excellent man, and an exhorter, 
 also passed away there. 
 
 "In his Christian life he counted three impor 
 tant events. The first, his baptism; to receive 
 which he walked nearly fifty miles in the eight 
 ieth year of his age, and was so thankful and 
 happy that in his old age he had received the 
 true Savior, and had been received by his people. 
 
 "The second was the visit of the bishop to his 
 little village, and the dedication of the little 
 
86 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 chapel on his land, so long devoted to idolatry; 
 and, to him, it added much to the interest of the 
 event that the bishop, on the day of the dedica 
 tion, baptized twenty-seven of his people, and 
 that his grandson, who was baptized, was per 
 mitted to receive the name of the bishop. 
 
 "The third was our camp-meeting, held last 
 November, where Father Dershni received a 
 fuller baptism of the Holy Spirit than he had 
 enjoyed before. His heart then became melted, 
 and he rejoiced with joy unspeakable. Although 
 so old, he remained with us during the entire 
 meeting, and attended every service, early and 
 late, to the end. Since that time, I have felt 
 that he was growing up into Christ, and being 
 perfected for his home. For some weeks past 
 he has felt that he could not live long, and has 
 talked freely of his death, and has always ex 
 pressed himself as ready to depart. 
 
 " How can I have fear, said he to me the last 
 time I was at his house, when all my trust is in 
 Christ, the true Savior? The native preacher 
 at Babukhera writes that he continued in this 
 same confident, trusting, happy spirit until the 
 end. 
 
 "His life was a living epistle , and his death 
 confirmed the epistle of his life to all around him. 
 
 "As he had always been a man of influence 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 8/ 
 
 among his people, many gathered at his death, 
 determined to have their usual ceremonies in 
 spite of the Christians. He had, however, antic 
 ipated this, and had charged all his friends so 
 strictly that they desisted, and his wish was 
 carried out in a simple Christian burial." 
 
 NYNEE TAL AND THE MOUNTAINS. 
 
 We must now turn attention to another sta 
 tion ; but, as Moradabad is not out of our way, 
 we return to it, and tarry long enough to visit 
 its mission schools, of which Mr. Mansell has 
 charge. In clean, whitewashed apartments, we 
 found about one hundred and fifty boys, dressed 
 for the occasion, who, though somewhat deficient 
 in Scripture, passed a satisfactory examination. 
 Returning to the mission house, we had an op 
 portunity of seeing the thronging population of 
 the city, which our companion, an English engi 
 neer, and friend of our mission, did not hesitate 
 to drive with his long whip, scarcely checking 
 his strong Cabul steed in its passage through the 
 mass that crowded the thoroughfares. 
 - Left Moradabad in the dhooley by night, and 
 arrived at Kaladoonge by six o clock next day. 
 We are now out of Rohilcund and in Kumaon. 
 I was disturbed during the night by the shouting 
 of the coolies in concert, which, we learned in the 
 
88 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 morning, was to keep off the tigers as we passed 
 through the Terai. Getting out of the dhooley 
 we found five or six elephants chained, whose 
 drivers were just getting ready to start, having 
 spent the night near our stopping place. We 
 start up the hills and reach Mongolia, a travelers 
 rest-house, where Mrs. Butler, who had come 
 down from Nynee Tal the previous evening to 
 meet us, has prepared our breakfast. Having re 
 freshed ourselves, we continued our journey up 
 the mountain. When within two or three miles 
 of Nynee Tal we saw Mr. and Mrs. Baume and 
 two of their sons on a precipice, waving their 
 handkerchiefs. 
 
 While here we dined with the Lieutenant-Gov 
 ernor of the North-West Provinces, who esti 
 mates their population at twenty-eight millions, 
 and thinks the Mohammedans as one to five. 
 Our mission property is eight and a half acres, 
 four acres and a half of which is unoccupied, on 
 which is a house, a chapel, and a school-house. 
 The last is valued at $1,750; the mission house 
 at $1,987; native helper s house, $225; chapel, 
 $2,500 ; six school-houses, $2,375 J a cemetery, 
 $125 ; chapel requisites, $144; school requisites, 
 $60; miscellaneous, $44. The chapel seems to 
 me over-estimated, some of the other property 
 under-estimated. Here is the place for a sani- 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 89 
 
 tarium, which, since my return, has been built. 
 Our mission residence, though large, is old and 
 out of repair. Our native congregation consists 
 of forty-five members, who enjoy one service on 
 the Sabbath, and usually attend the Sabbath- 
 school, where they receive instruction as valua 
 ble as preaching. We have bazaar preaching 
 from two to four times a week, when the season 
 is favorable. One of our members, John Barker, 
 is an exhorter. During the Summer we have 
 several schools, some toward the foot of the hills. 
 The average attendance is, at Nynee Tal, 45 ; 
 Bheemtal, 35; Akotah, 30; Kaladoonge, 15; 
 Huldwani, 40; Golapar, 12. All these are 
 taught by heathen teachers, under the supervi 
 sion of missionaries. The Scriptures are, how 
 ever, read in them all, and the Nynee Tal school 
 is opened with prayer. There is an English 
 congregation in our church every Sabbath after 
 noon, with an average attendance of seventy- 
 eight or eighty persons. Mrs. Baume teaches a 
 female school, which has an average attendance 
 of eighteen native children from the bazaar. 
 
 Not far from the town is the mission grave 
 yard, consisting of an acre and a half of ground, 
 the gift of the commissioner. It is in a sightly 
 spot, grandly encompassed, though near to land 
 slides and mountain gorges. It has been walled 
 
90 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 on three sides and fenced on the other, at a cost 
 of $125. Here are the graves of Mrs. Thoburn, 
 one of Dr. Butler s children, and one of Mr. 
 Pierce s, suitably ornamented with shrubbery, 
 which I found protected for the Winter by 
 matting. 
 
 On Sabbath Mr. Baume preached to a native 
 congregation of eleven, mostly servants and 
 children. After preaching came Sabbath-school. 
 At four o clock I preached to a good English 
 congregation, including the Lieu tenant-Governor 
 and his staff, and, after the sermon, administered 
 the sacrament of the Lord s-Supper to about 
 twenty-five persons, among them the Lieutenant- 
 Governor and family, Col. Ramsay, and some 
 English soldiers. After service Col. Ramsay 
 dined with us at the mission house. He re 
 marked that we ought to have a mission at Pil- 
 libheet and at Gurhwall. To begin the latter he 
 made an offer of $500, which, in a letter to Dr. 
 Butler next morning, he raised to $1,500, adding 
 $25 a month to sustain the proposed mission. 
 Col. Ramsay is the commissioner of the district, 
 and he has spent nearly thirty years in India. 
 
 On November 2ist we start for Bareilly by way 
 of Pillibheet, Dr. Butler and family in company. 
 Col. Ramsay, attended by a number of natives, 
 whom he had employed to work on the roads, 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 91 
 
 overtook us as we were descending the mountain. 
 Finding him on foot, I left the dhooley and 
 walked several miles to enjoy his society. It 
 may serve somewhat to illustrate the peculiarities 
 of the country, to note some points of our 
 conversation. 
 
 Just below the Jewteekot Mountain, the Col 
 onel pointed to a stone in a ravine, where he says 
 a tiger was accustomed to watch, until he had 
 killed thirty persons, among them three sons of a 
 widow. She, consulting a Fakir, was told that 
 her sons were changed into tigers, but that if she 
 could see the animal that devoured them she 
 would receive them again in human shape. Ac 
 cordingly she took her seat by the roadside and 
 there sat day and night, month after month, 
 watching for the beast, never asking alms, -but 
 being fed by the neighbors and the passing trav 
 elers. At length she was missed, and by her 
 blood was traced to a rock, where her body was 
 found partly eaten. The Colonel sent some 
 hunters to the spot, who, hiding behind bushes, 
 shot the tiger as he returned to his feast. 
 
 He pointed out another spot where a tiger fell 
 upon a mail carrier, and seizing the mail-bags, 
 sent his teeth through and through them, al 
 though they contained a large, well-bound army 
 list. The dry meal, however, so discouraged the 
 
92 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 animal that he was easily driven from his prey. 
 The Colonel spoke of a tiger which, to his 
 knowledge, had killed fifty persons, many of them 
 pilgrims on their way to the mountain shrines. 
 The pilgrims having become scarce, he took his 
 prey from a village. Three villages, with but 
 one gun and one bullet, joined to pursue him. 
 That bullet, fortunately, was lodged in the tiger s 
 leg. By the wound it inflicted the animal was 
 both disabled and made to mark his way with 
 his blood. The pursuers coming up with him, 
 assailed him with stones, until he turned upon 
 them ; in this way the conflict continued all day. 
 When night came the villagers encamped, and 
 next day they continued the pursuit. 
 
 On the morning of the third day they suc 
 ceeded in stoning and beating him to death. 
 Bears are a pretty good match for tigers. Buf 
 faloes, singly, fall an easy prey to a tiger, but in 
 a flock they form themselves into a living wedge, 
 by which they support each other and crush the 
 common foe. Leopards run from a tiger like 
 cats from a dog. Elephants are trained to hunt 
 them ; they stun them with their trunks, and 
 crush them beneath their feet. As we passed by 
 a hut the owner told us that a tiger was killing 
 his bullocks, and showed us the fresh horns of 
 one that had been killed the night before. The 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 93 
 
 Government pays $1.50 for killing a bear, $2.50 
 for killing a leopard, and $5 for killing a tiger. 
 
 We reached Katgodam by 4, P. M., where 
 we were detained getting ready the dhoolies 
 until seven. The dak having been mislaid, we 
 pursued a roundabout way during the night, so 
 that at dawn we found ourselves at Baharny, 
 where we extemporized breakfast, after which we 
 received a friendly call from the native mag 
 istrate. 
 
 PILLIBHEET, BAREILLY, BUDAON. 
 
 Off now for Pillibheet, where we are met by 
 Missionaries Waugh and Thomas. Here we 
 have two and a half acres, namely, two in fee 
 simple, and half an acre in perpetual lease pay 
 ing annual rent of $6 and a small, inferior 
 house. This property cost $312; its present 
 value is $269. Mr. Cawdell, once stationed here, 
 left it on account of its unhealthiness. There 
 are three English families here, and the joint 
 magistrate tells us it is healthy nine months in 
 the year. The city contains 39,000 people, and 
 is well built. At the conference we sent a mis 
 sionary to it. 
 
 On to Bareilly, estimated to contain 112,000 
 inhabitants, the most important station in Rohil- 
 cund. Our mission compound consists of 20 
 
94 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 56-100 acres, worth $484. The mission house 
 is very comfortable, newly whitewashed inside 
 and out, and tastefully, though not extravagantly 
 furnished. It is valued at $2,500. The Girls 
 Orphan School, of brick walls and cemented roof, 
 is fifty feet by seventy-four, exclusive of veranda ; 
 value between $2,000 and $2,500. The Orphan 
 age, worth $2,000, is inclosed by a wall, within 
 which a few shrubs are planted, and more might 
 be. Domestic outfit, $837 ; school requisites, 
 $132; three native helpers houses, $225; super 
 intendent s house, $3,500. This is of brick walls 
 and pucca roof. Itinerating outfit, $336 ; Bunga 
 low rented to bank, $1,750; Orphans graveyard, 
 worth $38, with cheap inclosure, and wanting a 
 bridge from the street, as the land is subject to 
 inundation. It has eight little graves without 
 monuments. 
 
 The chapel requisites are $180; school requi 
 sites, $41; itinerating requisites, $280; miscel 
 laneous, $14. Connected with this mission is a 
 printing establishment on a plot of ground con 
 taining five acres, worth $1,500. The house, used 
 as an endowment of the press, is set down at 
 $1,750. The printing-office is a koti sixty feet 
 by -forty-eight, value, $1,750. Press and stock, 
 value, $3,250. Dwelling-house for the manager, 
 a thatched bungalow, worth $2,000. There are 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 95 
 
 outhouses reckoned in, which are occupied by 
 native Christians and servants. Sixteen hands, 
 of whom six are Christians, are employed in 
 printing ; half the time, however, in job work. 
 The matter is in Hindee, or Urdu, or English. 
 The Urdu is sometimes set in Roman, Arabic, 
 and Persian characters. Among the books pub 
 lished are our hymn-book, catechism, and tracts, 
 and the Psalms of David. Before I left Mrs. 
 Thomas presented me with a beautiful Cashmere 
 gown, the gift of the girls of the Orphanage a 
 memorial on which I place great value. The 
 Orphanage is. doing well in all its departments. I 
 was deeply moved to see one little child in the 
 matron s arms which had been literally dug out 
 of the grave, where it had been placed by its un 
 natural parents. 
 
 We left Bareilly by carriage for Budaon ; one 
 of our horses was borrowed from a Moham 
 medan judge of the latter city. The distance is 
 thirty miles ; the road is tolerabje to the Ram- 
 gunga, intolerable over the deep sands in the 
 vicinity of that stream, and excellent beyond, 
 where it is a broad metaled highway, made by 
 the British before the mutiny. Along the road 
 many of the fields are well cultivated, but there 
 is a great deal of waste land adorned by pea 
 cocks, and infested by jackals and wolves. Mr. 
 
96 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Scott tells me that three old persons and two 
 children were carried off lately from Budaon by 
 wolves. The natives are not allowed to bear 
 arms without a license, and as this can not be 
 obtained without some reputation, or retained 
 without tax, the chief weapons of defense are 
 clubs. 
 
 The deeds of our property at Budaon are 
 satisfactory. The mission premises are well sit 
 uated, half a mile from the city, on three acres 
 of ground. The dwelling-house contains eight 
 rooms, and is worth $1,600. The church is sixty 
 feet by thirty, worth $565 ; both have pucca roofs. 
 Native helper s house worth $75 ; Zyat, $69 ; 
 Chapel requisites, $30 ; school requisites, $63 ; 
 itinerating requisites, $110; miscellaneous prop 
 erty, $5. The ground is subject to an annual 
 rent of $20. 
 
 Every Sabbath there is preaching in the native 
 language, a Sabbath-school, and a Bible class for 
 females. On Tuesday, English service, class- 
 meeting, Bible class. Every week a prayer- 
 meeting is held. Bazaar preaching is according 
 to circumstances, generally every third day. 
 During my stay we had an extra meeting, at 
 which I addressed the people and administered 
 the Lord s-Supper, and Mr. Scott preached in 
 the native tongue. We have here two native 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 97 
 
 preachers, three school-teachers, forty native 
 hearers at Sabbath service, twenty Sabbath- 
 school scholars, twelve Church members, three 
 probationers, ninety-two pupils, of whom eighty 
 are boys and twelve girls. The members, with 
 a single exception, are independent of the mission, 
 and all suffer social disability and other incon 
 veniences for their faith. The schools \\ere 
 carefully inspected. There is one in the church, 
 with an average attendance of thirty pupils, 
 having two teachers, a Hindoo and a Moham 
 medan ; another in the bazaar, average attend 
 ance twenty, one teacher, a Hindoo and an 
 inquirer. While I was at the mission a Moham 
 medan called on the missionary, and expressed 
 deep concern for his soul. 
 
 On our return journey to Bareilly we broke 
 down on the sands near the Ramgunga, walked 
 a mile or two, got on a bullock hackery, and 
 thus rode until we came to our last station. 
 We arrived at Bareilly in the evening ; next day 
 drove out to cantonments, where brethren are 
 putting up a chapel, to cost $150, and to be 
 used both for church and school. Returning, 
 we passed the spot where, in the mutiny, the 
 British officers were shot down in endeavoring 
 to escape. Prudently, before this event, Dr. 
 Butler s family had started for the hills. The 
 
98 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 cantonments, officers and Government quarters, 
 are all admirable. There is good English society 
 here. The city has the best bazaar and serai I 
 have seen in India; the former is three miles 
 long, substantial and ornamented. There are 
 here Government hospitals, a lunatic asylum, and 
 a prison, with two thousand prisoners. 
 
 Sabbath, we had Hindoostani preaching by a 
 native Joel and the sacrament of the Lord s- 
 Supper. When Dr. Butler first came here he 
 borrowed Joel from the Presbyterian Mission at 
 Allahabad, but he has never returned him, and 
 as Joel is a thorough Methodist, the lenders 
 probably do not want him. He is well informed, 
 and speaks with dignity, fluency, and force, and, 
 the missionaries add, with unction. He has a 
 young wife and four children, and lives in a mud 
 cottage, with a kitchen at one end, a study at 
 the other, and a dining-room between. Behind 
 his house is an inclosure, walled and protected 
 by tiles, where the family sit and sleep. There 
 is another native preacher here William who 
 lives within the Orphanage inclosure, in a sim 
 ilar habitation to Joel s. Each has a small 
 library. Joel has Benson s Commentary, William 
 has Clarke s. It is interesting to see the chil 
 dren at meals. They sit in rows upon the 
 ground, each having a metallic plate, but neither 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 99 
 
 spoon, knife, nor fork. After prayer they arise, 
 one row after another, go to a large kettle, where, 
 having had their platters filled, they return 
 and reseat themselves. The kettle contains a 
 mixture of rice and dahl, and ghee or melted 
 butter. A matron at another kettle dispenses 
 to such as desire it a small quantity of catsup. 
 After all have received supplies and reseated 
 themselves, a blessing is asked, and the com 
 pany depart by sixes or sevens to their respective 
 rooms, where, seated on the floor, they enjoy 
 their repast. Twice a week the children are 
 allowed meat. On Sabbath afternoon we had 
 English service. I preached, and afterward ad 
 ministered the sacrament to thirty or forty 
 persons, some white. The latter came first. A 
 gentleman and his wife, who were Baptists, par 
 took seated. 
 
 SHAHJEHANPORE, SEETAPORE, AND GONDAH. 
 
 In the dhooley for Shahjehanpore, fifty miles 
 distant, when within thirteen miles of the place, 
 we were met by brother Brown with horses, on 
 which we gallop to the Gurra, where, on the 
 opposite bank, Dr. Johnson is in waiting with a 
 buggy. At this station, on Sabbath, Mr. Brown 
 preaches in Hindoostani in the morning, holds 
 Sunday-school in. the afternoon, and class-meeting 
 
IOO OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 in the evening. Every Wednesday is prayer- 
 meeting ; every Sabbath, and four times a week 
 besides, bazaar preaching. The number of 
 members is twenty-one ; of probationers, five. 
 There is one native preacher, Rev. H. M. Daniel, 
 who understands Ordu, Persian, Sanscrit, Ara 
 bic, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, and English. He 
 has twelve hundred acres of land, which he visits 
 occasionally, preaching to his tenants. About 
 half the members here belong to the Orphanage ; 
 the rest are independent of the mission. Just 
 across the river stands Lodipoor, which Major 
 Gowan purchased for us at an expense of $2,500. 
 There are five acres of ground in connection 
 with it, and twenty-three acres in addition held 
 on perpetual lease at $70 a year. Mr. Brown s 
 school is in a large house, formerly the mansion 
 of a Nawab, now owned by a sugar company, 
 which gives the school accommodation at $5 a 
 month. The pupils enrolled are one hundred 
 and fifteen, of which there is an average attend 
 ance of ninety. There are four teachers, all 
 Mussulmans. The school is opened with prayer, 
 and the Scriptures are read every morning. The 
 smaller children are examined in the catechism, 
 and all are required to attend preaching every 
 Sabbath. In the city, near the Chowk, a site 
 has been purchased for a Zyat, where the mis- 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. IOI 
 
 sionary may hold conversation, sell books, and 
 preach the Gospel. The population of the city is 
 75,000, chiefly Mohammedans. Our boys Or 
 phanage is badly located, because in canton 
 ments, which subjects it to the control of the 
 military authorities, and because close by the 
 soldiers bazaar, which is infested by bad char 
 acters. In the institution, the buildings of 
 which are tolerably good, we have seventy-seven 
 boys and four teachers, besides monitors. Rev. 
 Mr. Daniel, native, is head-master. Arithmetic, 
 Geography, Ordu, Persian, English, Hindee, and 
 Sanscrit are taught. The Biblical instruction is 
 satisfactory, the writing of the pupils is good, and 
 their drawing excellent ; but in English gram 
 mar and arithmetic the examination was not 
 very creditable. The Orphanage is to be trans 
 ferred to the property purchased for the purpose 
 by Major Gowan. 
 
 The property belonging to the station is 
 as follows : Ten acres in cantonments, cost 
 nothing; rent, $i a month. On this stands a 
 double house, worth, including wells, native 
 preacher s house, etc., $4,000 ; a small building, 
 $750; church, $50; native helper s house, $250; 
 furniture for church and school, $128; itinera 
 ting and miscellaneous requisites, $23 ; Orphan 
 age property at Lodipoor, $2,525 ; Orphanage 
 
102 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 buildings, $2,240; school-house money, $2,750; 
 school furniture, $139; domestic, $288. 
 
 As we left Shahjehanpore the boys drew up 
 in a line on each side of the dhooley and sung, 
 under the direction of Mrs. Johnson, " I want to 
 be an angel " and " There is a happy land." The 
 sound of these familiar lines, in my native 
 tongue, and in well-known strains, coming from 
 Hindoo voices, and in a strange land, reminded 
 me of home far away, and my better home above, 
 in most overcoming modes. 
 
 In the morning we extemporize breakfast by 
 the roadside. At eleven o clock we reach Luck- 
 impore, where we are received with great cordi 
 ality by the commissioner, Mr. Kavanaugh, who 
 rents our mission-house here. This city has 
 5,000 inhabitants, and is improving. A large 
 column marks the center of a new town, which 
 the commissioner is encouraging the natives to 
 build. Our property is well situated, and com 
 mands extensive and delightful views. It con 
 tains ten acres, on which stands a dwelling-house 
 of six large rooms and seven small ones. It is 
 a bungalow, sixty feet by eighty, with tile roof 
 and pucca foundation, and is worth $1,750; but 
 the roof needs repairing, which will cost $400. 
 The church is small and decaying, and is worth 
 only what the material in it will bring. We 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 1 03 
 
 have a native helper s house, worth $50 ; other 
 property, $75. Our missionaries forsook the 
 place, perhaps not wisely, but the English resi 
 dents are anxious for their return. Near by is 
 Allegunj, which has 10,000 people; within three 
 miles is Keri, and within four a range of large 
 land grants made to English gentlemen who 
 were useful during the mutiny. We leave for 
 Seetapore on an elephant, in company with Dr. 
 B. and Mr. Gracey. At Hirgauo, fifteen miles 
 off, we are set down at midnight by the roadside, 
 and after refreshment, prepared under a tree by 
 starlight, we take the dhooley for Seetapore, 
 where Mrs. Gracy and Mrs. Waugh were wait 
 ing for us at table. Our property here consists 
 of nine and a half acres ; a dwelling-house, fifty- 
 four feet by seventy-four, containing four large 
 rooms and seven small ones. Its walls are 
 cutcha, with pucca foundations and capping; 
 its value is $2,000. We have also a native 
 preacher s house, $75 ; and other property worth 
 $187. The land rent which we pay is $18 per 
 annum. 
 
 This station, with which Luckimpore is con 
 nected, has four exhorters, four school-teachers, 
 seven male members and seven female, two pro 
 bationers, one class-meeting, at which the aver 
 age attendance is eight, an average native Sab- 
 
1O4 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 bath congregation of twenty, two schools with 
 eighty male and three female scholars, and an 
 English Sabbath congregation of twenty-five per 
 sons. Brothers Gracey and Jackson live very 
 comfortably. Nearly all our missionaries have 
 pianos. Mrs. Jackson has also a sewing-machine. 
 Seetapore has 6,000 inhabitants ; Khairabad, five 
 miles off, has 20,000. We are now in Oude, of 
 which the latter is the third city in importance. 
 It contains celebrated tombs and mosques. 
 Here we have a school of which a native has 
 charge. The Government wishes us to have a 
 large school here, and would pay half the ex 
 penses, both of buildings and teachers, including 
 a missionary, who ought to superintend it. At 
 our school here a Mohammedan was formerly 
 employed as master, under promise that he 
 would teach the Bible and catechise the chil 
 dren ; but as he omitted all allusion to the 
 Trinity, and other things distinctive of Christi 
 anity, he was discharged. On leaving, he took 
 all the Mussulman children with him. At first 
 we did not charge for tuition, and on requiring 
 a fee, the number of children diminished from 
 forty-five to thirty-seven, but they are increasing 
 now. The head-master is a merely nominal one. 
 The English barracks in Seetapore, which is a 
 military station, are very good, and even orna- 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 105 
 
 mental ; but those for the native soldiery are 
 low mud huts. 
 
 We had an interesting meeting here in Mr. 
 G. s parlor. The congregation was partly of 
 soldiers, partly of native citizens. I opened with 
 singing and prayer, and a discourse to the En 
 glish, to whom I administered the Lord s-Supper. 
 I then delivered a discourse to the Hindoos, 
 which, I am told, was interpreted beautifully by 
 the head teacher of the Government College in 
 this city, a native, who was converted under the 
 ministry of Dr. Duff. 
 
 We left Seetapore by dhooley at 4 o clock, P. 
 M., and traveled incessantly until ten o clock at 
 night of the following day before we reached 
 Gondah ninety miles passing through Byram 
 Ghat and Secrora. Until we reached the latter 
 place the road was bad, and the sands near the 
 Goggra were exceedingly heavy. Thence we had 
 a pucca road. We were entertained very kindly 
 by the magistrate, Mr. Knighton, an alumnus of 
 Dublin University. He had retired when we 
 arrived, but arose and insisted on giving us a 
 warm supper. In the vicinity lives the Mahara 
 jah of Bulrampoor, a man of liberal principles 
 and liberal spirit, who keeps five hundred soldiers 
 just to play soldiering and add to his dignity. 
 Gondah has 8,000 people, and was formerly a 
 
106 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 military station, though now it has but a few 
 English families. The district of which it is the 
 head is three hundred miles long, and numbers a 
 million inhabitants. Its chief towns are Gondah, 
 Bulrampore, 5,000; Uttroulah, 6,000; Shahpore, 
 7,000; Nawalying, 6,000; Toolesepoor, 10,000; 
 Purruspoor, 8,000; Murkipore, 10,000; Sallgunj, 
 10,000. The district is chiefly agricultural. The 
 Maharajah of Bulrampoor and the Rajahs of Sin- 
 ga Chunda, Purruspoor, Murkipoor, and Mahara 
 jah Mann Sing are the chief landholders. There 
 are in the city many Shiwallahs built by wealthy 
 families, either to the goddess of fortune Lak- 
 shim or the goddess of health, some of which 
 are evidently new. In them, families to which 
 they belong pay their regular devotions. Dr. 
 Butler preached on Sabbath morning a very ap 
 propriate sermon in the parlor of Mr. Knighton, 
 to a company of eight or ten persons, mostly 
 English-speaking natives in the employ of Gov 
 ernment. At this city, on an island in a lake 
 made artificially about three hundred years ago, 
 is a temple. The lake, eight feet deep, was made 
 by excavating for the island. From its waters to 
 the temple platform the island is fronted by solid 
 masonry, stone steps being placed at each end. 
 The worshipers cross in canoes hewed out of the 
 trunk of the seisam-tree. The temple is built 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. IO/ 
 
 over the tomb of a Brahmin, who was a Rishi 
 and the founder of a new order. Here he lived 
 and died, thus consecrating the spot ; and here 
 priests minister, and also train disciples. Around 
 the lake are many tombs, some quite expensive, 
 and much like Mohammedan sepulchers. They 
 are a curiosity, as the Hindoos generally burn 
 their dead. I could not leave that million of 
 people without resolving to send them a mis 
 sionary. 
 
 FYZABAD, ROY BAREILLY, LUCKNOW. 
 
 On we go to Fyzabad, which we reach in the 
 morning, and where we are entertained by the 
 assistant magistrate, Mr. Smith, who drove us 
 round the city, the second in Oude, and through 
 the neighboring city, Ajoudia, the most remarka 
 ble place in Northern India. It is supposed by 
 Buchanan to have been founded 1366 B. C, and 
 is said by some native authorities to have been, 
 at one time, two hundred miles long. Its antiq 
 uity is not, however, its chief charm. It contains 
 the fort of Hanuman, in honor of the fabulous 
 monkey god, which has an annual revenue of 
 $25,000 settled on it by Sujah ud Dowlah. 
 Here, too, is the ruined fort of Rama, hero of 
 the Ramayana. Our approach to the temple of 
 Hanuman is through a busy market, in which 
 
IO8 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the principal thing sold is flowers for offerings. 
 We ascend the temple by a long flight of stone 
 steps, flanked by living monkeys. It is a college 
 or theological seminary, endowed with lands, and 
 attended by four hundred priests, who are monks 
 under the control of a superior, said to be one 
 hundred years old. He was seated on a platform 
 besmeared with the symbols of his god, while a 
 young priest was rubbing him to revive him. In 
 a veranda the novices are attentively and rever 
 ently hearing the sacred books read and ex 
 pounded. 
 
 When a Rajah builds a temple he sends hither 
 for a priest. The number in this community is 
 large. When it is in need of funds it sends out 
 a priest to receive alms or levy tax. The offer 
 ings are many and costly. The idol is a misera 
 ble-looking object, under a gold canopy, and hav 
 ing a crown of pearls, which on special occasions 
 are replaced by diamonds. One of the latter was 
 presented by Maharajah Mann Sing, and is said 
 to be next to the Kohinoor. Many of the priests 
 wear long hair plaited and twisted round the t head 
 in form of a cap. One said that his hair had not 
 been cut in nine years. Entering the court-yard, 
 we saw a large elephant marked as a worshiper. 
 He belonged to the temple, and was chained by 
 his forefeet. We were advised to beware of him. 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 1 09 
 
 On we go to a temple just built by a Rajah at a 
 cost of $200,000. The painting is fresh, and bet 
 ter than we have elsewhere seen in India. Many 
 gods are represented on the wall, such as the 
 Triad, earth, sun, fire, water. The moon is de 
 picted as a human form surrounded by twenty- 
 seven rivers. The most noticeable image is that 
 of a man out of whose head and back seven ser 
 pents are growing. The priest said, " That is the 
 supreme god," and supposing we did not appre 
 hend him, he added, "Jesus Christ." We noticed 
 a newshiwallah near by. On we go to the Ghat. 
 Here worshipers are bathing in the Goggra. A 
 priest being informed who we were, cried out, " I 
 am a priest of the Hindoos ; I teach them ; they 
 do as I bid them." He had just been feeding an 
 enormous monkey. We pass now to see the most 
 sacred spot in India, Ram s birthplace. It is 
 marked by a simple broad platform of pucca 
 work, on which rest the floral offerings of the 
 faithful. When the Mohammedans took posses 
 sion of the place they transformed the adjacent 
 temple into a mosque. The Hindoos, after a 
 dreadful fight, retook the place, but could not 
 retain it until the British gave it to them. They 
 have not yet ha-d courage to take down the 
 mosque, which, however, is separated from the 
 sacred spot by a stone wall. Fyzabad has 75,000 
 
IIO OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 people, and is increasing. It is the seat of con 
 siderable trade and manufactures. The hospital 
 is a noble structure, which was built by a resi 
 dent Rajah at a cost of $25,000. It is under the 
 care of Dr. Wishaw and native subordinates. 
 The patients were nearly all outside in the sun, 
 without protection even for the head ; many of 
 them were from the hills. Most of this class 
 had goiter, which is treated successfully with 
 binoxide of mercury applied externally. 
 
 On our way through the city we are delayed 
 by elephants, who take up the road and move 
 slowly. Fyzabad is in our bounds, and ought to 
 have been occupied by us ; but the Church Mis 
 sionary Society has anticipated us, not kindly. 
 
 Our next journey is to Roy Bareilly, distant 
 eighty miles, or seven stations, which we reach 
 after twenty-one hours travel. We breakfast by 
 the roadside near Mahangunj. On arriving at 
 brother Wilson s we at once set out for the city, 
 calling on the way upon Major Orr, the commis 
 sioner. He was once in the service of the king 
 of Oude, but during the mutiny he did good 
 service on the staff of Sir James Outram. The 
 district is agricultural. The land is owned by 
 Talookdars, of whom the Government requires 
 half the produce of the land, besides half a dollar 
 per cent, for roads, and another for schools. As 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. Ill 
 
 Government oppresses the Talookdars, so they, 
 in turn, oppress the ryots. 
 
 Our station has, first, a house in cantonment, 
 value, $350, to be used in the new building ; 
 second, three acres of land, near the city, on 
 which we pay a yearly rent of $16. On this is 
 a native helper s house, value, $175. Third, 
 church and school furniture, itinerating appara 
 tus, etc., $26. We are building a new house to 
 cost $550. This station was founded March, 
 1864. Its staff is the missionary and his wife 
 and two exhorters. We have a native congrega 
 tion, with an average attendance of ten, and we 
 already number three members and three proba 
 tioners. The services are, Sabbath morning, 
 preaching in the church, bazaar preaching daily, 
 except Tuesdays and Saturdays, generally in two 
 places at the same time ; class-meeting every 
 Tuesday; prayer-meeting every Thursday. Our 
 native members are dependent on the mission ; 
 namely, native helpers and the moonshi. There 
 are two out-stations. 
 
 Our next journey is to Lucknow, by dhooley ; 
 but when within twelve miles of the city we 
 meet with a dog-cart sent out for us. We reach 
 Mr. Judd s at six o clock, having enjoyed, on the 
 way, a fine view of the civil and military lines, 
 the royal palace and gardens, and been deeply 
 
112 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 impressed with the Oriental appearance of the 
 city, and its remains of former grandeur. 
 
 Next day is Conference. Before this, however, 
 a committee waited upon me to read a memorial 
 protest, setting forth that the Conference about 
 to be formed would not have the usual rights of 
 such a body, answering certain real or imaginary 
 arguments for the restrictions under which it was 
 to be placed, and finally asking that these be 
 removed ; a document which will, doubtless, re 
 ceive respectful consideration at the General 
 Conference. The session was remarkably har 
 monious. Natives were admitted and ordained 
 upon an equality with their brethren from Amer 
 ica. There was some misgiving in regard to this 
 policy, but I feel certain that it is right. The 
 preachers admitted are well qualified, and could 
 pass a satisfactory examination in any of our 
 Conferences. To exclude them, or put them un 
 der any disability on account of color, would be 
 at once a blunder and a sin. 
 
 In Hosinabad, a part of Lucknow, we have five 
 acres, on which are two dwelling-houses, one 66 
 by 69 feet, containing five large rooms and tei 
 small ones, value, $2,850; the other, 45 by 73 
 feet, having ten rooms, value, $2,400. Both are 
 pucca. 
 
 In this estimate we include native helpers 
 
A VIEW OF OUR INDIAN MISSIONS. 113 
 
 houses, gates, walls, and wells. We have also 
 a school-house in the bazaar. It is 76 by 90 
 feet, containing eight rooms and a basement with 
 six. It stands on a quarter of an acre, free of 
 rent, value, $3,000. We have a school-house 
 and dwelling at Sadatgunj, the former worth 
 $250, the latter $300. In the east part of the 
 city we have a residence and church worth 
 $3,000; in Hosinabad we have a graveyard in 
 which are the graves of Downey and others. 
 This is estimated at $50. Add church and 
 school furniture and itinerating facilities, $630, 
 and we have a total of $12,466 in this station. 
 
 To the property of the mission must be added 
 the outfits of the treasurer, secretary, and sani 
 tarium, $110. The station of Lucknow has one 
 native preacher, one exhorter, eight school-teach 
 ers, an average native congregation of thirty 
 persons, a Sunday-school of fifty-five pupils, a 
 native church of eleven adult members and eight 
 probationers, a class-meeting, with an average 
 attendance of twelve members, a day-school of 
 one hundred and fifty-seven pupils, and an av 
 erage daily attendance of one hundred and thirty. 
 We had an English congregation, but it passed 
 into the hands of the Wesleyans. They, how 
 ever, returned the church to us during my visit. 
 Our school is in competent hands. 
 A 3 
 
114 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 What Julian said of Damascus we may say of 
 Lucknow: "Surpassing every [Indian] city both 
 in the beauty of its temples and the magnitude 
 of its shrines, as well as the timeliness of its 
 seasons, the limpidness of its fountains," if not 
 the volume of its waters, and the richness of its 
 soil. 
 
 The plain statement of facts and estimates 
 given in these papers is deemed due both to the 
 missions and the Church. The facts may at first 
 sight seem uninteresting, but they throw light 
 upon the condition and character of the country. 
 The estimates, it should be borne in mind, are 
 upon a gold basis, and the property having been 
 built in a land where wages are exceedingly low, 
 is far superior to what the mere figures might 
 indicate. 
 
 On the whole, it will be seen that our India 
 missions deserve the confidence of the Church, 
 and the more fully they are understood the more 
 strong will that confidence be. No one could 
 have been a more pleasant companion than Dr. 
 Butler. Had I been a son he could not have 
 treated me with more kindness. 
 
VI. 
 
 INDIA CONFERENCE. 
 
 THE following is the address which I deliv 
 ered at the opening of the first session of 
 the India Mission Annual Conference: 
 
 Before we proceed to organize I beg to submit 
 a few remarks which our unusual circumstances 
 suggest. 
 
 I come from your native land, bearing from 
 your brethren greeting and love. The country 
 and Church which sent you hither remember 
 you. Identified as you are with the cause of 
 God in this great and populous peninsula, it is 
 natural that we should bear you up in our 
 prayers. Nor are we unmindful of your trials. 
 It is no small matter to bid farewell to home 
 and native lands ; to settle in a climate which is 
 pretty sure to disturb our health, if it do not 
 abridge our life ; to rear our children under in 
 fluences and institutions which we disapprove, 
 and forfeit for them literary, social, and political 
 
Il6 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 privileges, to which, in our own land, they would 
 have fallen heirs ; to move amid foes, and to be 
 regarded as intruders. It is a. still greater trial, 
 far from a land of Sabbath bells, separated from 
 the watch-care of the Church, and deprived of 
 the communion of the saints, to be subjected, 
 through every sense, to pagan influences. He 
 who moves amid the temples of idolatry moves 
 in a great moral pest-house. Nothing but open, 
 perpetual, prayerful resistance to the forces that 
 play upon him can keep him safe. The human 
 mind, unsustained by grace, gravitates to relig 
 ious error. The Mohammedans entered India 
 enemies both to idolatry and caste, but instead 
 of destroying them they gradually adopted them. 
 Christianity, too, on its first introduction into 
 this land, compromised its principles. Even the 
 primitive Church, when she relaxed her war 
 upon idolatry, became polluted by it. 
 
 You do not, however, ask our sympathy. Pen 
 etrated with your high calling, you are ready to 
 deny yourselves, endure afflictions, make full 
 proof of your ministry, and through perils either 
 by sea or land, by robbers or false brethren, re 
 main unmoved ; willing, if need be, to die for 
 the Lord Jesus, and when you do, to commend 
 to your children the battle you fought, commit 
 ting them confidently to the care of your Father, 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 1 1/ 
 
 and their Father, to whom you ascend through 
 the grace of his Son. 
 
 We know, indeed, that no lower standard is 
 set before us. We, too, have learned to bear 
 the reproach of Christ. But we discern that in 
 you the Christian conflict is more than ordina 
 rily severe, and -we inquire what more can we do 
 for you, what new comforts, auxiliaries, and sup 
 ports can we send you ? Engaged as we are in 
 a war for the national life, against an unprovoked, 
 wanton, and wicked rebellion I say unpro 
 voked, for no encroachment on the rights of the 
 South was either inflicted or threatened ; wan 
 ton, for the insurgents controlled all branches of 
 the Government when they rebelled, and might 
 have held them to this day ; wicked, for what 
 more so than to sever States 
 
 " Which mutual league, 
 United thoughts and counsels, equal hope 
 And hazard in all glorious enterprises," 
 
 had joined, and plunged them into war, even to 
 the verge of ruin? Yet we have never once 
 thought of withholding support from our mis 
 sions, or even slacking the combat which we 
 carry on through the earth against the powers 
 of darkness. Saying this, we say much, for our 
 war is one of awful magnitude, counting its bat 
 tles by the hundred, its dead and wounded by 
 
Il8 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the million, and its expenditures by figures like 
 those in which we compute the celestial spaces. 
 Yet we say to you, stand to your post ; we will 
 not only supply but re-enforce you. You can not 
 do our Church justice without considering that 
 she has poured out more blood and suffered 
 more losses for her country than any other. 
 
 " Many a bleeding father hath borne his valiant sons 
 In coffins from the field." 
 
 The tears of orphans, and the sighs of widows, 
 and the lamentations of weeping Rachels that 
 will not be comforted, make the whole Church 
 like a funeral procession. But I need not tell 
 you, for the crape is upon you also. Do you 
 ask why this expenditure of life? Because there 
 are things dearer than life. The Church regards 
 the war, terrible as it .is, as, on the part of the 
 Government, unavoidable and righteous, arising 
 out of the existence in some of the States of an 
 institution incompatible alike with the genius of 
 our republic, the spirit of our age, and the prin 
 ciples of our religion ; an institution toward 
 which, in former days, she was tolerant and 
 hopeful, but which she has now placed under 
 unequivocal ban. Seeing that law, liberty, and 
 light are on one side of this conflict, and rebell 
 ion, slavery, and darkness on the other, we can 
 but hope concerning the issue. Men, indeed, 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 1 19 
 
 tell us that reunion is impossible, as if our ad 
 versary had 
 
 "The unconquerable will 
 And study of revenge, immortal hate 
 And courage never to submit or yield." 
 
 Such spirit is not found outside of hell ; least 
 of all, among those who bow at the altar of Jesus. 
 While 
 
 " Devil with devil damned firm concord holds, 
 Shall States of creatures rational, though under hope 
 Of heavenly grace, forever disagree ?" 
 
 and while earth and heaven cry peace, 
 
 " Yet live in hatred, enmity, and strife, 
 Among themselves, and levy cruel wars, 
 Wasting the earth each other to destroy ;" 
 
 as if the Union had not foes enough besides, 
 
 "That day and night for its destruction wait." 
 
 Should the war end as we anticipate, it will 
 leave us a stronger Government, a more homo 
 geneous people, and a higher civilization, while 
 it removes the only motive for disunion. 
 
 Of the noble warriors that have fallen in the 
 conflict on both sides, we say, let loving friends 
 give them honorable graves ; but of slavery, as 
 the poet says of Tamora, 
 
 "No funeral rite, nor man in mournful weeds, 
 No mournful bell shall ring her burial ; 
 But throw her forth to beasts and birds of prey. 
 Her life was beastlike, and devoid of pity; 
 And, being so, shall have like want of pity." 
 
I2O OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Then shall our land be the hope and refuge 
 equally of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and color. 
 At such a consummation men might utter praise, 
 and angels halleluiahs ; none more so than mis 
 sionaries. When we come proclaiming the father 
 hood of God and the brotherhood of man, and 
 those two precepts founded on them, upon which 
 hang both the law and the prophets, the heathen 
 might say, "Go back; preach them to your own 
 people first." A native newspaper has just ad 
 monished us not to boast of the results of 
 Christianity, since American Christianity sanc 
 tions slavery. The United States, planted be 
 tween the Atlantic and the Pacific, as if to 
 throw her influence over both, given to the best 
 races, unequaled in the products of her soil 
 and treasures of her mountains, unembarrassed 
 by the political complications and institutions 
 of the Old World, and free from temptation to 
 conquer the distant lands, seems intended to 
 be the great missionary nation. Is it no advan 
 tage to say, " We own no provinces, we desire 
 none ; we exercise no authority over you, and 
 seek no gain of you ; all we seek is to bring you 
 to Christ ?" 
 
 Our difficulties in spreading the Gospel in 
 this land are great, yet in all of them we find 
 grounds of encouragement. One of the greatest 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 121 
 
 difficulties arises from a deep conviction in the 
 minds of the natives that strangers in propagat 
 ing- their religion have some selfish end in view. 
 While our national relations relieve us in great 
 measure from this imputation, it is hoped that 
 our neat, though inexpensive homes, our health 
 ful but frugal tables, our kind consideration of 
 the poor, and our whole life and conversation, 
 will convince the natives that not personal inter 
 est but the love of Christ constraineth us. In 
 deed, if this be in us it will be known, for the 
 world is a "palace full of tongues, and eyes, and 
 ears," each thrilling with deep and scrutinizing 
 intelligence. 
 
 Another difficulty lies in the fact that Chris 
 tians who preceded us have depreciated their 
 religion. An emperor of Japan being asked 
 what was the religion of the Dutch, replied, 
 "They are merchants;" and when the question 
 was asked again, answered, " Merchants ; mer 
 chants have no religion but to make money." 
 And what of the English ? It is not the whole 
 truth to say, as Lord Bentinck did, that the fun 
 damental maxim of British rule is strict neu 
 trality; or as Lord Macaulay, "We abstain from 
 giving any encouragement to those engaged in 
 the work of converting the natives to Christi 
 anity ;" or as Lord Ellenborough, "We withhold 
 
122 f OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the aid of the Government from schools with 
 which missionaries are connected." The East 
 India Company withheld private aid. Lord 
 Landsdowne declared that if Lord Canning had 
 subscribed to a Missionary Society he ought to 
 be removed. They neglected religion themselves. 
 For fifty years they had no place of worship. 
 For two hundred years they sought to prevent 
 attempts to convert the natives. Down to 1813 
 they refused all missionaries passage in their 
 ships, denied them permission to land, and if 
 they effected a landing drove them from their 
 shores. In 1814 they debarred native Christians 
 from offices of respectability. Nor was this neg 
 ative support of idolatry all. They repaired pa 
 godas by taxing pilgrims, expended large sums at 
 the request of priests for the support of heathen 
 and Mohammedan worship, administered reve 
 nues in connection with pagan temples, and even 
 took a share in heathen festivals. 
 
 The Company, we grant, advanced the intelli 
 gence, developed the resources, and diminished 
 the crime of the country ; and after it allowed 
 the Christian faith to enlighten the native mind, 
 it drew a distinction between morality and relig 
 ion, and forbade the destruction of human life 
 in heathen ceremonies, as under other circum 
 stances ; but its whole course was characterized 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 123 
 
 by a proud bearing, an insatiable avarice, and an 
 all-devouring encroachment. The personal influ 
 ence of the English rulers did not counteract 
 their political course. While they did not prac 
 tice polygamy, many of them did worse. The 
 natives therefore thought either that we despised 
 our own religion, or that, concealing our designs, 
 we intended to convert them to it by a trick, 
 such as greasing cartridges ; a thought which 
 never could have entered their minds had they 
 understood our faith. Rebellion, instead of con 
 version, was the natural result. 
 
 In suppressing it martial law was proclaimed, 
 the property of rebels confiscated, searches and 
 seizures made without warrant, suspected persons 
 hung, and Sepoys blown from guns. We do not 
 say all this was unnecessary, though we may be 
 allowed a parenthesis in which to remark that 
 the people who put down an insurrection in this 
 way should not reproach another for seeking to 
 put down a more formidable revolt by means 
 less severe ; and to add, what is more to our 
 purpose, that this bloody process had a tempo 
 rary tendency to hinder the spread among the 
 conquered of the religion of the conquerors. 
 Horrible as it was, however, it was hardly to be 
 deplored, since it seems to have settled the ques 
 tion of the permanence of European civilization 
 
124 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 and Christian faith in this peninsula, and to have 
 placed the country under the direct government 
 of a Christian sovereign of distinguished virtues, 
 whose present viceroy and subordinate governors 
 are worthy representatives of such a queen. Our 
 Articles of Religion require us not only to be 
 subject to the supreme civil authority, but to use 
 all laudable means to secure obedience to the 
 powers that be. Happy are we that our civil 
 duty is our personal pleasure. Under the flag 
 whose protection we accept, we may see every in 
 terest of the country, political, commercial, and 
 religious, steadily and rapidly advancing, and the 
 fabled reign of Tisso realized : precious metals 
 and gems buried in the earth rising to the sur 
 face, treasures sunk in the sea appearing on the 
 shore, and bamboos rearing themselves laden 
 with richest flowers, quadrupeds, and fruits. The 
 providence of God moves in 
 
 " Mazes intricate, 
 Eccentric, intervolved, yet regular 
 Then most, when most irregular they seem ; 
 And in their motions harmony divine 
 So smooths her charming tones, that God s own ear 
 Listens delighted;" 
 
 while even the wrath of man praises him. 
 
 Formerly, Indian patriotism may have sug 
 gested the expulsion of the Christian faith ; now 
 it suggests its adoption. For as soon as India 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 12$ 
 
 shall accept the religion of Christ and the civili 
 zation which grows out of it, England will vol 
 untarily retire from her shores. Should she do 
 so before she would commit a great crime, and 
 India suffer a great misfortune. 
 
 But greater difficulties confront us. Caste 
 stereotypes humanity, and bids defiance to any 
 force to break up its plates. It makes him who 
 becomes a Christian an outcast; it deprives him 
 of the advantages of association, of the profits 
 of business, of all the sweet charities of father, 
 son, brother, and often even of wife and child. 
 It drives him from men to dwell among beasts. 
 It enters not only into the social but the national 
 life. It can not be defied without a ripeness for 
 martyrdom. None can appreciate it but such as 
 come in contact with it. Originating with the 
 priesthood, and designed to perpetuate their 
 power, it is guarded by them with a sleepless 
 eye. Yet it is nevertheless doomed. There is a 
 revolution which it can not resist, a revolution 
 without pomp, or retinue, or violence, or corrupt 
 ing gold ; it is the revolution of ideas. Every 
 movement of the pen over the paper, or the 
 electric stream over the wires, or of the school- 
 house door upon its hinges, or of the fire-breath 
 ing horse over his iron track, marks its progress. 
 Caste is inconsistent with principles which are 
 
126 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 self-evident and rights which are inalienable. 
 All men are naturally free and equal, and ought 
 to be allowed life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap 
 piness, unembarrassed by hinderances which the 
 providence of God does not impose, and unaided 
 by distinctions which merit or its consequences 
 do not confer. 
 
 Below caste lie greater difficulties : supersti 
 tion, bigotry, idolatry. Among minds unaccus 
 tomed to patient and vigorous thought, events 
 which are merely connected by accidental asso 
 ciation are often viewed in the relation of cause 
 and effect. Hence unlucky days, absurd reme 
 dies for disease, and omens of good and evil. 
 Among those unacquainted with natural sci 
 ences and unguided by a divine revelation, noth 
 ing is more easy than to attribute unusual events 
 to supernatural powers. From this it is a slight 
 step to body forth and name these images of the 
 mind, and thus people heaven and earth with 
 supernal and infernal divinities. Then we must 
 pour forth our gratitude to the one and appease 
 the malignity of the other. Hence oblations and 
 sacrifices. These require a priesthood ; and a 
 profane priesthood once created will secure its 
 permanence and enlarge its power by keeping 
 the people in ignorance. Even could we suppose 
 men enlightened without revelation the same 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 
 
 127 
 
 result might be expected. The human heart is 
 made to reverence something. It is to the credit 
 of India that she reasoned herself up to the most 
 sublime theology, and to her shame that she 
 reasoned herself down to the lowest depths of 
 idolatry. She said, Let us worship Brahma, the 
 greatest. Where shall we find it? Not in the 
 stream that fertilizes the land, nor the sun which 
 warms it, for the parts are not so great as the 
 whole. Shall it then be the universe? But 
 what were the universe without eyes to see its 
 beauty, ears to catch its harmony, and hearts to 
 enjoy its bounty? Spirit is greater than matter. 
 Let it then be greatest. But what spirit? The 
 spirit of man is greater than that of beasts. 
 Shall man then worship his own spirit ? If so, 
 in what mood ? for it has various moods. The 
 spirit awake is impressed and modified by mate 
 rial objects. The spirit dreaming, which sees 
 only spiritual objects, must be greater than the 
 spirit waking. But this is moved to laughter or 
 to weeping, and is after all conscious of the un 
 real nature of its scenes. Is not the spirit in 
 repose, unagitated by passion or motion, greater 
 than either the waking or dreaming one? But 
 this is an unconscious state ; there must be 
 something greater: the Spirit which created it 
 and all other things, the Spirit of the universe. 
 
128 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 But this is infinite, invisible, intangible, and 
 therefore can not be comprehended. But his 
 functions can creation, preservation, destruc 
 tion ; hence Brahma, Vishnu, Siva. But these 
 are abstractions. The masses said to the phi 
 losophers, We can not love what AVC can not 
 understand, and we will not worship what we 
 can not love. We will have gods nearer and 
 warmer. In looking for a god they found a man. 
 Rama had extraordinary virtues. They said, 
 " Here is one greater than human, he must be a 
 god." When he dies he is transported in imag 
 ination to the heavens. In process of time it is 
 found easy, among a credulous people, without 
 contemporaneous literature or knowledge of the 
 laws of evidence, to enlarge his powers and ex 
 aggerate his virtues by myths. One god having 
 been introduced into the Pantheon others follow. 
 Moreover, if that which brings deliverance or 
 pleasure is to be deified, then the stream which 
 waters and the sun which enlightens the land, 
 and the rock which throws its shadow over the 
 weary path, may be worshiped, and that which 
 affords the greatest pleasure with the least 
 trouble may be worshiped most. Thus gods are 
 multiplied until they number three hundred and 
 thirty-three millions. The character ascribed to 
 them and the devotions devised for them, com- 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 129 
 
 ing from the human heart, where lurk evil 
 thoughts, murders, adulteries, etc., must be cor 
 rupting and degrading. No wonder that at 
 length thieves, and drunkards, and adulterers, and 
 beasts become gods, and riot and lasciviousness 
 crown the ceremonies of the sanctuary. When 
 men come to model heaven, 
 
 " How they wield 
 
 The mighty frame; how build, unbuild, contrive 
 To save appearances ; how gird the sphere 
 With centric and eccentric scribbled o er, 
 Cycle and epicycle, orb in orb;" 
 
 yet every progress of thought " making con 
 fusion worse confounded." Indian idolatry has 
 touched bottom. As I stood in the holy city 
 Benares, every sense disgusted, and every feeling 
 merged in indignation, contemplating the stupid 
 ity, the odiousness, the obscenity, the discord, 
 the beastliness of that center of pagan worship, 
 I thought, Surely it can get no lower without 
 opening the mouth of hell. I exclaimed, within 
 myself, " Almighty God ! to what depths of dark 
 ness and depravity are thy rational creatures 
 capable of descending, when they turn away 
 from the revelation of love and mercy !" As I 
 looked upon a Fakir seated by the Ganges, 
 naked, haggard, worn to a skeleton, and covered 
 with ashes, I thought I knew what it i.s to be 
 damned. 
 
 A 9 
 
130 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 The human mind having reached its limit of 
 false theology must recoil. Hindooism is like a 
 building whose walls are honeycombed, and whose 
 rafters are tunneled by ants. That a system so 
 monstrous has stood so long, we can easily com 
 prehend. The power of the priesthood has been 
 cemented for ages ; the religion is inwoven with 
 the national life and social habits of the people. 
 The distinctions transmitted through ages, the 
 festivals to which the people are used, the arts 
 and manufactures, the literature and science in 
 which they excel, the laws and courts which 
 kindle their bosoms with a patriot s flame ; all, 
 it is feared, must fall with the national faith. 
 Moreover, all religion has a foundation in truth ; 
 namely, that the universe is under the guidance 
 of supernatural powers. And the more vener 
 able the truth, the more permanent the error 
 grafted upon it. The god that is first associated 
 with our sacred thoughts, to which we lift up 
 infant hands, and which we bless with lips 
 fresh from a mother s breast, can not be easily 
 displaced from the heart. We know how su 
 perstition lingers even in Christian lands and 
 philosophic minds. Yet even this should not 
 discourage us, but rather teach us the proper 
 modes of assault. 
 
 Harmless as doves, let us be wise as serpents. 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 131 
 
 111 pouring contempt upon the Puranas, and ex 
 posing the institutes of Menu, we may point 
 Hindoos to their more venerable and pure theol 
 ogy. The Veclas afford us a stand-point. The 
 nation that was among the earliest to syllogize 
 and geometrize, and to reason up to the sub- 
 limest heights of metaphysics, can be shamed 
 out of that idolatry which so degrades and stu 
 pefies man, and misrepresents, and abuses, and 
 slanders God; substituting blocks and beasts for 
 Him who makes the clouds his chariot, the 
 thunder his voice, the earth his footstool, and 
 the heaven his throne. Then there are tradi 
 tions which we may press into our service. The 
 incarnation is admitted by Hindoos ; we have 
 only to identify Christ with it. I envy the 
 brother to be stationed at Sumbul. Beneath 
 that temple guarded and venerated as the cradle 
 of an incarnate God, who is to come as a Savior 
 of mankind, I would preach as Paul did at the 
 altar of the unknown God. I envy, too, those 
 who preach to intelligent Mohammedans, the 
 privilege of quoting the testimony of the Koran 
 to the Law, the Prophets, and the Evangel. 
 We must teach the Natural Sciences, and show 
 how the universe is governed by fixed laws 
 devised by an infinite and eternal mind, who, 
 nevertheless, answers prayer according to his 
 
132 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 promise, not perhaps by altering physical laws, 
 but by adjustments of humanity to them through 
 the higher laws of the spiritual world. Thus 
 men will learn to dread only sin, and seek relief 
 only in prayer to our Heavenly Father, through 
 Jesus Christ, his Son ! We must teach the 
 young, both because of the ease with which im 
 pressions are made upon their minds, and be 
 cause of the durability of such impressions, 
 which are inwoven with the very texture of the 
 soul. If you would write your words in a book; 
 if you would cut them on the lead with stylet 
 of iron ; if you would drive them with chisel and 
 mallet into the rock; if you would send them 
 down the ages, and centuries, and millenniums, 
 ay, into eternity, write upon the young soul. 
 The knowledge of late years seems to crumble 
 off in the storms of time, leaving the impres 
 sions of the sweet period of prime. How often 
 do we see the Ceylonese or Hindoo convert re 
 lapse in age or sickness! According to Lucian, 
 the name Ptolemy was inscribed on the Pharos 
 that proud monument of Alexandria. But the 
 artist, to secure the glory of the work, cut his 
 own name in the stone, and the monarch s in 
 the stucco that covered it ; so that in process 
 of time the stucco falling, revealed the record 
 of the architect. In teaching youth, beware 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 133 
 
 whom you employ. Remember the power of a 
 master, ipse dixit. I have no faith in heathen 
 teachers. The Brahmin teaching the Bible is 
 the Greek bearing gifts to Troy. You could 
 teach the Koran so that no pupil would believe 
 it. In estimating your work, men may count 
 your one hundred and sixty-four converts. Look 
 rather to your thirteen hundred and twenty-two 
 scholars. A few years will reduce the former to 
 zero, but multiply the latter by five. Especially 
 may we regard with hope the education of fe 
 males. Inferior, ignorant as the Hindoo mother 
 may be, her influence is well-nigh irresistible. 
 She needs but breathe her faith upon her little 
 one, and though her lord may instruct, and 
 argue, and confound, she knows, alas ! too well 
 how to intermix grateful digressions, 
 
 "And solve high dispute 
 With conjugal caresses." 
 
 From her lips flow sweeter things than words. 
 Even British officers have painted themselves 
 and danced to idols, to please woman less than 
 wife. Satan needed not to trouble himself about 
 Adam after he had captured Eve. Nor will 
 India be retaken from him until we imitate his 
 tactics, and attack it at that side which, though 
 strongest for our defense, is weakest to our 
 assault ; for woman is oppressed and depressed 
 
134 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 by idolatry. If she lost Paradise by her desire 
 of knowledge, may she not be induced to regain 
 it by tasting the same inviting fruit ? 
 
 Our greatest difficulty arises from the opposi 
 tion of our enemies, and our apparent want of 
 success. Temples are multiplying, priests are 
 active, emissaries of error are abroad, tracts are 
 distributed from Benares, the abominations of 
 the temple are explained to intelligent natives as 
 symbolical, dying pagans make continued faith 
 in paganism on the part of their legatees a con 
 dition of their bequests. But all this indicates 
 a fear that their religion is in danger. 
 
 And have we no success ? Is it nothing that 
 old pagan civilizations are crumbling ; that re 
 ligions originating centuries before the Christian 
 are giving way at its advance ; that people who 
 boasted letters, and arts, and arms when our 
 ancestors were painted savages, pursued in Brit 
 ish woods or sold in Roman markets, are obedi 
 ent to a Christian sovereign ; that heathenism is 
 every-where hedged about by civil law; that 
 Juggernaut is deprived of his prey, and the 
 widow saved from the funeral flames ; that the 
 sharks of the Ganges are suffering a famine of 
 living human flesh ; the priests often confessing 
 that they minister only for their stomach s sake ; 
 the pundits declaring that there is nothing in 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 135 
 
 the idol ; that the whole population of the pen 
 insula is accessible to Christian teaching; that 
 pice will purge a man for contempt of caste ; 
 that missions are established in all the cities of 
 the land, and school-houses planted in the hills 
 and the valleys ; that we have had an increase 
 of forty-four thousand converts in the last dis 
 turbed decade ; that sluggish mind is awaked 
 from its sleep of ages ; that Naamans, while 
 they bow in the house of Rimmon, say in their 
 hearts, " The Lord pardon thy servant in this 
 thing ;" that Mohammedan and Pagan Nicode- 
 muses come to Christian teachers by night ; that 
 the pulpit, like the Master, is constrained to 
 cry out, " Were there not ten cleansed, but 
 where are the nine ?" 
 
 Earth s birthday was when God said " Let 
 there be light," though this light was diffused, 
 penetrating the void, chasing the darkness, 
 warming, preparing. It was not until the fourth 
 day, after an earthly and heavenly convulsion, 
 that God gathered the beams to their chambers 
 in the sun, and showed the earth where her 
 breast was warmed, the moon where her horns 
 were filled with light, and day and night how 
 their clocks were set. Soon "may God collect 
 the scattered beams, and make great lights in 
 the moral firmament of India ! 
 
136 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Suppose we had no success. Hath not God 
 commanded, and shall not we obey? Has he 
 promised immediate and invariable success ? 
 Christ divides the seed sown into four portions, 
 only one of which brings forth abundant fruit. 
 What if some of our seed fall by the wayside, or 
 on the stones, or among thorns ? Did the be 
 trayal of Judas silence the apostles, or the denial 
 of Peter ruin their cause ? How many converts 
 had Noah, though he preached righteousness by 
 the century ? And what shall we say of the 
 prophets of whom the world was not worthy ? 
 And what of the Son of man, who closed his 
 labors, crying, "O Jerusalem, how often would I 
 have gathered thee as a hen gathereth her chick 
 ens under her wings, but ye would not !" and 
 who, instead of blessing those only who succeed, 
 said, " Blessed are they which are persecuted for 
 righteousness ?" 
 
 Suppose we had no reward, would we not 
 preach ? Can we see man debased, self-cor 
 rupted, self-mutilated, self-imbruted, self-damned, 
 and not speak ? Though no man hear and no 
 man pity you must plead, though you tell your 
 truth and sorrow to the stones. But this is not 
 your case. India s sons are not strangers to 
 thought nor to feeling. Beneath their caps they 
 carry fertile brains, and under their ribs human 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 137 
 
 hearts. Hypocritical, false, ungrateful from the 
 oppression of ages they may be, but in their 
 breasts is gentleness, and patience, and love, 
 while religion enters largely into their national 
 life. They have characteristics which if sancti 
 fied would enable them to enjoy the plerophory 
 of grace. Europe is too proud, America too 
 worldly, and both too materialistic. India, 
 brought to Jesus, may lie like John in the 
 Master s bosom. Is not the Indian mind, too, 
 peculiarly adapted to our form of faith? It 
 needs something to arouse it from its fatalism, 
 to teach it the immutability of moral distinctions, 
 the moral quality of intention, and to inspire it 
 with a sense of human responsibility. It is 
 adapted also to our type of piety, the emotional, 
 the hopeful. It demands, too, our form of prop- 
 agandism ; we employ lay agency ; we teach 
 men to preach Christ crucified so soon as the 
 divine coals burn within them. We have a sys 
 tem of itinerancy just fitted to set fire to these 
 plains. If India is brought to God it must be 
 chiefly through the agency of her own sons ; 
 and the sooner we take converted and called 
 helpers to our confidence and commission them 
 for our service the better. God forbid that we 
 should hold them at arm s length ! We have 
 trusted such men in other hemispheres, we may 
 
138 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 in this. Train them, teach them, guide them, 
 but send them forth. They will build churches 
 over their heads, and map out self-sustaining 
 circuits over these provinces. 
 
 The theism which is spreading here, and 
 which inspires many good men with dread, but 
 others more wise with encouragement, illustrates 
 the national character. Unlike that of Europe, 
 it pours itself out not in satire, and blasphemy, 
 and spleen, but in prayers and paeans. It devel 
 ops itself not in moral anarchy, but in church 
 order. 
 
 We need not lower our standard for the sake 
 of success. We sometimes envy Catholics their 
 triumphs. It is their boast that Romanism took 
 South America, and the aborigines became Chris 
 tian, while Protestantism took North America, 
 and the natives remain Pagan ; that Romanism 
 took Mexico, and it became religious ; Protestant 
 ism took India, and it remains heathen or infidel. 
 Moreover, that since Romanism entered India 
 she has planted twenty vicariates and counted 
 nearly a million converts. But what is the 
 Christianity which she gives ? We know many 
 of her sons, and would be unjust to none. While 
 she elevates man above Paganism and Moham 
 medanism, we must note that her monachism, 
 holv water, baptismal regeneration, purgatory, 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE, 139 
 
 pantheon, penance, priestly absolution, visible 
 sacrifices, and gorgeous ceremonial, all tend to 
 bring down Christianity to Paganism. My breth 
 ren, come not into her secret. When you report 
 a convert let it be one in whom faith works by 
 love to purify the heart. We can wait till by 
 the fire of such walking evangels others shall 
 light their lamps and set India ablaze. 
 
 Finally, brethren, be of one mind ; live in 
 peace ; correspond with each other ; bear with 
 each other ; love and help each other, and grap 
 ple to you the Church at home as with hooks, 
 not merely of silver, but of love. 
 
 The controversies and divisions of the Church 
 have greatly hindered the spread of truth. 
 When every man has his psalm, his interpreta 
 tion, his doctrine, the heathen is confused. One 
 cried, "You must have as many Christs in Amer 
 ica as there are gods in China." Let our peace 
 and unity be manifest. We are happily situated. 
 We occupy a field almost alone. We are within 
 eas) v reach of each other, and we preach in a 
 common language. Compare with ours the 
 Presbyterian missions, stretched along a line of 
 a thousand miles, among a people speaking at 
 different points five different languages, while 
 missions of other Churches intervene. The 
 choice of the field and the organization of the 
 
I4O OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 missions reflect the highest credit on him whom 
 the Church selected to lay her foundations in 
 this land, and whom she will not fail to honor ; 
 and the prosperity of the missions indicates both 
 the energy of the administration and the industry, 
 and faithfulness, and ability of those who have 
 worked the field. 
 
 And now Methodism is to organize her first 
 Mission Conference on the soil of India ; the 
 continent on which Paradise bloomed, the ark 
 rested, the law thundered, and the cross warmed 
 with atoning blood ; the land of prophets and 
 apostles, of martyrs and mysteries, of the arts of 
 man and the revelations of God. We bring back 
 to her a Bible all whose pages were written on 
 her soil, and are so illustrated in her living cus 
 toms that they may be read by the roadside with 
 out a commentator. We bring to her a religion 
 whose first and fullest enjoyments were felt in 
 the hearts of her noblest sons. 
 
 The location of our Conference is worthy of 
 remark. We meet beneath earth s loftiest mount 
 ains. If the Lord s house were established in 
 the top of the mountains, we should be under 
 the droppings of its sanctuary. I stood upon 
 the top of Cheena, and looked over a field of 
 mountains, their bosoms encompassed by the fir, 
 the pine, the cedar, and the sal, but their heads 
 
INDIA CONFERENCE. 141 
 
 cold and bare granite, embraced by a semicircle 
 of the snowy range whose peaks rise from 
 twenty-three thousand to twenty-five thousand 
 feet high, covered with eternal snow, on which 
 the foot of man never trod, and never will tread. 
 I walked a few paces and looked down upon the 
 plain of the Ganges, stretching out like an im 
 mense ocean fringed with sea-weed, but with no 
 sign of life. And yet I knew that in the mount 
 ains on the one side there beat six hundred 
 thousand human hearts, and in the plains on 
 the other fifty millions ; and I said, " These all 
 belong to Christ." The voice of the prophet 
 came over me : " The idols shall he utterly 
 abolish;" and the voice of the Father, "Ask of 
 me and I shall give thee the heathen for thine 
 inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
 for thy possession ;" and that other voice, " A 
 nation shall be born in a day" a prophecy to 
 be realized in the crystallized civilizations of the 
 East. We have had the planting, and it has 
 been long ; the harvest may come soon. There 
 is a plant which it requires a century to mature, 
 but it blossoms in a day. God has great and 
 precious promises that have not yet been ful 
 filled. " He will arise to shake terribly the 
 earth." Already I hear the precursors of the 
 coming storm, and see the idols swept before 
 
142 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the flood, and the whole land rising as by a 
 divine force into light and love. 
 
 Now unto Him that is able to keep us from 
 falling, and to present us faultless before his 
 presence with exceeding joy, be all honor, might, 
 majesty, and dominion, now, henceforth, and for 
 ever ! Amen. 
 
VII. 
 GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 
 
 THAT immense triangle stretching from the 
 Himalayas to Cape Comorin, a distance 
 of nineteen hundred miles, and from the Hindoo 
 Coosh on the west to the borders of Burmah on 
 the east, a distance of fifteen hundred, is, in 
 many respects, the grandest peninsula on earth. 
 It has an area of 1,446,576 square miles, and is 
 much larger than France, Great Britain, Austria, 
 Germany, Portugal, Spain, Denmark, Greece, 
 Switzerland, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Turkey, 
 Prussia, and the Ionian Republic, united. 
 
 It is divided by the Vindhya Mountains into 
 Hindostan and the Deccan, each of which has 
 a table-land and plains. The table-land of the 
 former is supported on the south by the Vindhya 
 range, and on the north by a lower one in the 
 Bundlecund, sloping gradually into the basin of 
 the Ganges. The table-land of the Deccan, fif 
 teen hundred feet above the sea level, is sup- 
 
144 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 ported on the north by the Vindhya, and on the 
 other three sides by the Ghats, which run round 
 the peninsula near the coast, leaving low plains 
 between their bases and the sea. The Nerbtid- 
 clah River forms the dividing line between the 
 two table-lands ; the Warda marks the southern 
 boundary of a woody tract which is peopled by 
 aboriginal tribes ; the Godavery flows through a 
 valley that might supply the world with sugar ; 
 the Indus makes an Egypt in the north-west. 
 Eastward of this stream, and westward of the 
 Aravalli chain, lies a desert, with here and there 
 an oasis. 
 
 Between the ranges of the Himalaya and the 
 Vindhya mountains is the plain of the Ganges, 
 with the Punjab at its head and Bengal at its foot, 
 the latter of which seems to be the united gift of 
 the Ganges and the Burrampootra. This great 
 peninsula is walled in on the north by the snowy 
 range of the Himalaya, and protected both on 
 the east and west by mountain chains ; and al 
 though it has gates alike on the east, the north 
 west, and the west, through which the Affghan 
 the Tartar, and the Persian invasions have a 
 different periods poured upon the plains below, 
 yet with the instruments and science of modern 
 warfare these passes may readily be guarded. 
 Off its southern extremity lies the fragrant 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 145 
 
 island of Ceylon, sustaining the same relation to 
 India that Sicily does to Italy. 
 
 This fair land, extending from the eighth par 
 allel of north latitude to the thirty-sixth, furnishes 
 almost every vegetable, animal, and mineral prod 
 uct. Cereals abound in the plains, gems in the 
 mountains, spices in the breeze; tea in Assam, 
 coffee in the Nilgherry Hills, indigo in Bengal, 
 and opium and jute in the basin of the Ganges. 
 As to cotton and sugar, they are both indigenous 
 to India, which, under improved methods of cul 
 tivation and of intercommunication, and a wise 
 government, could stock the markets of the world 
 with both commodities. 
 
 Although the manufactures of India, through 
 want of proper encouragement, have declined, 
 yet its muslins and works in the precious metals 
 are still unrivaled, as well for their texture as 
 their beauty. 
 
 The population of India is thus estimated : 
 
 British territory in India, .... 131,990,901 
 Native " " ... 48,376,247 
 
 French and Portuguese, .... 517,149 
 
 Total, 180,884,297 
 
 Dwell for a moment upon these figures. Sup 
 pose Providence take India from Great Britain, 
 and, as a compensation, give her all the rest of 
 
 A 10 
 
146 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Asia, the Chinese empire alone excepted. Would 
 she gain or lose as to the number of her sub 
 jects? Let us see. Arabia, with its celebrated 
 deserts and mountains, and famed cities and un- 
 conquered tribes, contains eight millions. Asi 
 atic Turkey, land of the Bible, the primitive seat 
 of civilization, the scene of great victories and 
 seat of great monarchies, ten millions ; Georgia, 
 two ; Persia, nine ; Afghanistan, six ; Beeloo- 
 chistan, one ; Independent Tartary, seven ; Sibe 
 ria, stretching from sea to sea, three ; Farther 
 India, including Burmah, the kingdom of Siam, 
 the empire of Anam, Cochin China, and Malacca, 
 twenty millions ; the Japan empire, thirty. Add 
 these together and you have not much more than 
 half the population of India. Set down now, in 
 addition, Thibet, and Chinese Tartary, and Corea, 
 and all other parts of the Chinese empire except 
 China proper, say thirty-four millions, and you 
 have one hundred and thirty millions. Next 
 throw in Borneo, Sumatra, Java, the Philippine 
 Isles, Celebes, Spice Islands, Floris, Timor all 
 Malaisia ; next Australia, New Guinea, New 
 Zealand, Van Dieman s Land, Louisiade, New 
 Britain all Australasia; then the Sandwich Isl 
 ands, Society Islands, the Ladrone Islands all 
 Polynesia ; in fine, Oceanica, one whole quarter 
 of the globe, and you only raise the number to 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 147 
 
 one hundred and fifty-six millions ; still thirty-four 
 millions short of the population of India. 
 
 Take another view. The Barbary States, Be- 
 lud ul Gered, Egypt, Nubia, Abyssinia, Sahara, 
 Soudan, Eastern Africa, Western Africa, Ethio 
 pia, and the African Islands, all contain, accord 
 ing to our books generally, but sixty-two millions. 
 To the population of Africa add that of Green 
 land, Iceland, British America, Russian America, 
 Mexico, the United States, Central America, the 
 West Indies, Bermudas, Brazil, Argentine Repub 
 lic, New Grenada, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, Pat 
 agonia, Equador, Chili, Guiana, Uraguay, Para 
 guay, and the Falkland Islands, in fine, the whole 
 continent of America, seventy millions in all, and 
 you have only one hundred and thirty millions, 
 more than fifty millions short of the population 
 of India. Add to the people of both these con 
 tinents those of Oceanica, and you raise the num 
 ber to only one hundred and fifty-four millions, 
 thirty millions less than India. 
 
 These people are of different origins, customs, 
 and faiths, and speak various languages, not less 
 than twenty-nine, twenty-four of them derived 
 from the Sanscrit, and five from other sources. 
 They have much knowledge and a wonderful his 
 tory. India s astronomy dates fifteen centuries 
 before Christ, and long ere the mind of the Med- 
 
148 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 iterranean awoke. Her trigonometry was a thou 
 sand years in advance of that of Europe. Her 
 logic and philosophy preceded and inspired those 
 of Greece. The fascinating Pantheism which Ger 
 many elaborates, and England servilely echoes, 
 and Emerson discourses as if it were a new dis 
 covery, has been proclaimed for two or three 
 thousand years among a people to enlighten 
 whose darkened minds Berlin, and London, and 
 Boston send missionaries, and many a dirty 
 devotee expounds it more adroitly, ay, and elo 
 quently, too, than either. 
 
 The intellect of India is still the speculative 
 mind of the East, sustaining the same relation to 
 Asia that Greece does to ancient Europe, and 
 Germany to modern. The Hindoos, a people of 
 Caucasian origin, and of Indo-Germanic family, 
 entering India through the Hindoo Coosh, three 
 thousand years ago, and gradually spreading over 
 the country, enslaving or driving to the southern 
 mountains the aboriginal inhabitants, introduced 
 Brahminism. This is a magnificent polytheism, 
 systematic in form, with power to modify science, 
 mold art, inspire literature, shape social life, sus 
 tain civil government, identify itself with nation 
 ality, and appeal to the strongest feelings of the 
 native character, reverence for the past. Its 
 hymns of devotion and formulas of worship, the 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 149 
 
 Vedas, four in number, are older than the Psalms 
 of David, strongly imbued with patriarchal theol 
 ogy, deemed eternal, and supposed to have been 
 written in the language of the gods. The Shas- 
 ters, six in number, contain some scientific treat 
 ises, and a cosmogony in many respects reminding 
 us of the book of Genesis, though it divides eter 
 nity, and gives us eras of millions of years. It 
 has a theology resting upon the triad Brahma, 
 Vishnu, and Shiva. 
 
 The language in which the sacred books are 
 written Sanscrit is of unfathomable antiquity, 
 and, according to Sir William Jones, more perfect 
 than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and 
 more excellently refined than either; and, in the 
 judgment of the learned, capable of expressing 
 every movement of the human will, every form 
 of human thought, and every wave of human 
 passion, with unsurpassed clearness, elegance, 
 and force. 
 
 The deities of Hindooism are generally wor 
 shiped in shapes in which they are supposed to 
 have become incarnate. The popular theology 
 is founded upon the code of Menu and the Pu- 
 ranas. The latter, eighteen in number, is a col 
 lection of legends concerning the gods, who 
 marry, quarrel, sin, and suffer, and are thirty 
 millions strong. 
 
150 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 There is a striking resemblance between the 
 earlier mythology of India and that of ancient 
 Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Thus Brahma cor 
 responds to the Ammon of the Egyptians, the 
 Zeus of the Greeks, the Jupiter of the Romans ; 
 Saraswati to the Neith of Egypt, the Athena 
 of Greece, the Minerva of Rome ; Cama to 
 Cupid; Chrishna with the Gopias dancing around 
 him, to Apollo and the Muses ; Rama to the 
 Osiris of Egypt and the Bacchus of Greece. 
 Shiva in India becomes Typho in Egypt, and 
 Pluto in Greece ; while the Isa of the first land 
 is the Isis of the second, and the Diana of the 
 third. Transmigration is modified in the west 
 into Tartarus and the shades of Elysium, and 
 absorption into the Deity into ascent to the 
 gods. Both the East and the West believed 
 that man had a prior existence, and they taught 
 the doctrine of purification by punishment ; but 
 the Greeks, too busy with this world, postponed 
 purgatory to the next ; while the Hindoos pre 
 ferred torture on this side the grave to Pluto 
 and his fires on the other. The gods and myths 
 of India were probably the originals of which 
 those of the classic West were the copies. The 
 latter are now known only to song, the former 
 still live in the faith of the people. The types 
 of Osiris and Bacchus, of Isis and Diana, are 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 151 
 
 still worshiped under the shade of mango groves, 
 and the descendant of the original bull Apis 
 may be seen in every Hindoo city, and under 
 the shadow of every temple of Shiva. Whether 
 Indian mythology is older or not, it is supe 
 rior to the European. While the Grecian gods 
 become incarnate for purposes of lust, preju 
 dice, or passion, those of India come in flesh 
 for purposes of benevolence. Is Vishnu a fish ? 
 It is to rescue truth from a demon, or humanity 
 from the deluge. Is he a tortoise ? It is to 
 sustain the earth when sinking in the ocean. Is 
 he a boar? It is to draw forth upon his tusks 
 the land that had been submerged. Is he a lion 
 bursting from the marble column? It is to save 
 a pious son from the hands of a blaspheming 
 monarch. Is he a dwarf? It is to serve the 
 gods. Is he a warrior ? It is to destroy op 
 pressors. Does he become Ram ? It is to over 
 come Ravanna and liberate Ceylon. Does he 
 appear as Krishnu ? It is to slay monsters and 
 demons, and abound in benefactions. Is he a 
 Buddha ? It is to counteract perverted power. 
 In his future incarnation Kalki he is to come 
 on a white horse to restore pure religion, punish 
 the impenitent, and bring back the golden age. 
 The substance of these mythologies is the 
 same, whether modified by the gloomy mind of 
 
152 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 India, the heavy one of Egypt, the cheerful one 
 of Greece, or the stately and steady one of 
 Rome ; and this substance is evidently of higher 
 antiquity than any a primitive revelation. The 
 existence of God, the garden of Eden, the fall 
 of man, a future state, an incarnation, a possi 
 bility of reunion with God, the certainty of pun 
 ishment, and the doctrine of substitution, may 
 be traced through them all, but perverted and 
 obscured. The Supreme Being is often exhib 
 ited without attributes, the void. Depravity is 
 from the evil nature of matter ; the future state 
 is substituted by transmigration ; and pardon 
 and purification are sought by ceremonies, con 
 templation, self-torture, and presents to priests. 
 The ancient mythologies are the solid gold of 
 truth beaten into flimsy tinsel, and molded by a 
 depraved imagination into forms which dazzle 
 and bewilder, but are no longer capable of being 
 the current coin of the moral universe, or bear 
 ing the image of its Maker. 
 
 This history of Indian idolatry, and indeed of 
 all, shows that when men forsake revelation their 
 minds grow darker and darker. There is an 
 awful descent from the Vedas to the Institutes 
 of Menu, and a still greater from these to the 
 Puranas. 
 
 The greater permanence of Indian religion is 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 153 
 
 due, in great measure, to the fact that while the 
 spiritual ideas of Greece and Rome assumed the 
 fascinating- but perishable forms of statuary and 
 painting, those of India took the enduring form 
 of books. The original volumes, however, being 
 in a language unknown to the common people, 
 are, so far as they are concerned, dead. 
 
 The living and degenerated faith has defiled 
 the whole literature of the land. I once asked 
 why native ladies were not educated. The an 
 swer was, " There is no literature in the lan 
 guage fit for a lady to read." The common 
 thoughts and conversation of the people are 
 defiled. 
 
 Nor is this surprising when we consider their 
 god and myths, or even their temples. It is 
 creditable to the modesty of Indian women that 
 they visit the temples at night. How they pass 
 the streets without blushing it is difficult to tell, 
 for the public places are made odious by the ob 
 jects of adoration set up within them. Behold the 
 steps of descent. Beginning with the true God, 
 they advanced to the triad, then multiplied their 
 avatars, finally worshiped things inanimate, till 
 now the waters, the sun, the monkey, are wor 
 shiped, and the gods of the country are more 
 numerous than the men, while the objects most 
 adored are those that are most disgusting. Their 
 
154 UR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 general conduct is what we might expect, ac 
 cording to the spirit that now worketh in the 
 children of disobedience. They have indeed a 
 standard of morality, falling below which one is 
 condemned, for " when the Gentiles do by nature 
 the things contained in the law, these, having 
 not the law, are a law unto themselves." In 
 deed, without this no business could be carried 
 on, and no community exist. Hence, when the 
 dhooley bearer receives his charge he takes the 
 same care of it that a Christian would. But be 
 yond the outward act it is to be feared the mo 
 rality of Hindoos rarely goes. Little do they 
 feel of love to God or to man, or the spirit of 
 peace and good-will which the angels expressed 
 at the birth of Jesus. 
 
 The institutions of Hindooism illustrate its 
 character. Prominent among these is caste. 
 The code of Menu divides society into four 
 castes the priest, the soldier, the husbandman, 
 and the servant. The first was said to proceed 
 from the mouth of Brahma, the second from his 
 arms, the third from his thighs, and the fourth 
 from his feet. These have almost disappeared 
 except the first. The Brahmins, from ten to 
 twelve millions, still, by monopoly of knowledge, 
 maintain their position at the head of the social 
 edifice, beneath which there are now numerous 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 155 
 
 castes, varying from sixty to a hundred and sev 
 enty, according to locality. 
 
 How a system so utterly at war with funda 
 mental, political, and Gospel principles could 
 prevail for two thousand five hundred years is 
 amazing, unless you consider that it is rooted in 
 the popular religion, is deemed the divine order, 
 and confers immunities on the lower castes in 
 proportion to their descent in the social scale. 
 The Brahmin is in perpetual danger of losing 
 caste, for if he but touch a mehter s button he is 
 defiled. The tenacity with which caste is held 
 is wonderful. A Fakir, on being imprisoned, 
 determined to starve himself to death, and die 
 with a curse upon the magistrate upon his lips. 
 When he was nearly gone, the jailer read to him 
 an order that he should, when a corpse, be 
 wrapped in an ox-hide, carried out by men of 
 low caste, and buried in the earth ; he immedi 
 ately said, " Give me food, or I lose my caste." 
 At Jyepore, in Rajpootana, a bazaar that could 
 not be cleared with police or artillery was at 
 once cleared by some sweepers with brooms. 
 Sir John Lawrence, who attributes the Sepoy 
 rebellion to the greased cartridges, related to me 
 this story : On a field of battle an officer and a 
 Sepoy lay side by side, wounded and suffering, 
 in the hot sun. All day the Indian said nothing 
 
156 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 but " Water ! water !" Toward night a woman 
 came with a skin of water. The Englishman 
 drank and was refreshed. The Sepoy asked the 
 wfnan of what caste she was, and being in 
 formed that she was of low caste, he turned away 
 his parched lips. The officer remonstrated, 
 "You and I only are present; I pledge my 
 honor as a soldier never to mention it. Drink, 
 and you may live ; refuse, and you die." " No," 
 said he, better die than lose my caste." If the 
 Sepoy were a Brahmin, we may cease to wonder 
 when we reflect that, according to the code of 
 Menu, whatever exists in the universe is all in 
 effect, though not in form, the wealth of the 
 Brahmin, since he is entitled to it by his primo 
 geniture and eminence in rank. To him knowl 
 edge is shut up, for the sacred books are too 
 holy to be studied by any but a Brahmin, or 
 even to be read by a Soodra. He who men 
 tions a Brahmin with contumely should have an 
 iron style, ten fingers long, thrust red-hot into 
 his mouth. 
 
 Some, perhaps, may tell us that something ex 
 actly like this exists in this country, and that if 
 we substitute a certain word for Brahmin, and a 
 certain other for Soodra, we shall find here an 
 unwritten code of the same spirit as that of 
 Menu. I am aware that customs and feelings 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 157 
 
 akin to caste may be found in the Christian 
 world as when a man is compelled to follow the 
 trade of his father, or a people are doomed to 
 inferiority in consequence of their color. But 
 mark the difference : these things are in defiance 
 of Christianity. 
 
 Kindred to caste is slavery, which has existed 
 from time immemorial in India, and which, de 
 spite British law, exists there to this day, and to 
 such an extent that there is scarcely a Rajah or 
 wealthy native family that has not its slaves. 
 Mark, this in accordance with the native religion ; 
 but where it exists in Christian lands it is con 
 trary to conscience and faith, and destined, with 
 the cultivation of the one and the progress of 
 the other, to utter extermination. Suttee, the 
 burning of the woman upon the funeral pile, was 
 often done against her own remonstrance, and by 
 means of her own children binding her to the 
 flames. Infanticide is still practiced secretly by 
 the Rajpoots and Kshatryas, in order to avoid the 
 expense of marrying their daughters, and it is 
 authorized by the sacrifices to the river god 
 Gunga. 
 
 More terrible still is the practice of Thuggee 
 a system of hereditary murder, carried on by a 
 fraternity spread all over India, having secret 
 signs and a peculiar dialect, who are taught from 
 
158 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 boyhood to look upon murder by the noose as 
 their calling. We have bands of robbers, coun 
 terfeiters, murderers, in Christian lands ; but note 
 the difference. The Thug is religiously inducted 
 by his spiritual guide ; he uses an instrument 
 consecrated by religious solemnities. He wor 
 ships Kali, a murderous goddess, who has given 
 him the privilege of killing his fellow-beings for 
 a livelihood, to whom after every murder he 
 makes an offering of silver and of sugar, whose 
 wrath he would incur if he failed, when the 
 omens were favorable, to suffocate the victim, 
 and whose name is so venerable with the people 
 that the native rulers are afraid to deal with her 
 murderers. Similar to this is the system of 
 Dekoitee, practiced religiously by a set of robber 
 castes. 
 
 These are legitimate moral results of Brahmin- 
 ism. I need not speak of polygamy, nor of the 
 degradation of woman, nor of the monasticism 
 and devoteeism so prevalent. The priests are 
 often celibates and mendicants. The fakirs are 
 numerous ; some holding their hands clinched 
 until the nails pass through the skin, others sus 
 pending themselves by hooks, others rolling 
 themselves across the country, measuring hun 
 dreds of miles with their bodies. 
 
 The priests profess to worship not the idc\ 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 159 
 
 but God in the idol, as they pay homage to the 
 queen in the person of the viceroy. They, how 
 ever, seem to have no knowledge of the Infinite 
 Being, who, they say, is incomprehensible to 
 finite minds, and to whom, in all India, there is 
 neither priest nor temple. The philosophers are 
 generally pantheists, and teach either that both 
 matter and spirit are manifestations of Brahma, 
 or that Brahma is the only existence, and crea 
 tion an illusion, or that matter is eternal, and 
 Brahma, uniting himself with it, gives it life. 
 Each system confounds God and the creature, 
 and destroys all moral distinctions. The Ve- 
 dants, when asked who is God, will generally 
 point to themselves. They allege that if men lie 
 or murder, it is not they, but God in them, that 
 is chargeable. The common people do not rea 
 son much, but bow credulously before the idol. 
 India gave birth to another idolatrous system, 
 Buddhism, which originated with Sakya Muni 
 six hundred years before Christ. It is full of 
 absurdities and false philosophy. It teaches the 
 doctrine of transmigration, embraces no idea of 
 forgiveness, asserts that punishment follows trans 
 gression as the cart-wheel follows the ox, enjoins 
 the building of monasteries and temples, and the 
 making and worshiping of gods, which deeds will 
 elevate us to pleasant spheres where we may eat 
 
160 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 fruits and gather flowers reared by the hands of 
 angels. It is, however, atheistic, and teaches 
 that all things end in annihilation. Rejecting 
 caste, it provoked the opposition of Brahminism, 
 and after a long and fearful conflict it was driven 
 out of India. It took refuge, however, in the 
 island of Ceylon, the slopes of the Himalayas, 
 and the table-land beyond, gradually spread along 
 the eastern shores of the Bay of Bengal, and 
 finally took root in China and Japan. It is now 
 the faith of three hundred millions of the human 
 race. It is seen in India now in a modified form 
 called Jainism, which embraces caste. The num 
 ber of Buddhists under the British government 
 must be many millions, as the people of British 
 Burmah, Ceylon, and Tennasserim are chiefly of 
 that faith. 
 
 There is another great heresy, Mohammedism, 
 that has also a strong hold in India. The false 
 prophet had scarcely been in his grave fifty years 
 before the Arabian cavalry was reined up on the 
 banks of the Chenaub. Mahmoud of Ghuznee 
 conquered Guzerat and the Punjab ; Arabs and 
 Abyssinians formed settlements upon the coast ; 
 Tamerlane sacked Delhi, and his descendants 
 founded the Mohammedan dynasty of the great 
 Mogul. Persian and Affghan invasions of Mus 
 sulmans from the West, and of Tartars from the 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. l6l 
 
 North, have also been seen, and rarely rolled 
 back, from the Indian plains. 
 
 Of Mohammedism we need say but little. 
 The Koran borrows facts and principles from the 
 Bible, but incorporates with them fables and 
 errors. It admits the truth that there is one 
 God, but perverts it by representing him as 
 equally the author of sin and holiness ; it teaches 
 a gloomy fatalism, and puts the Hadees or tra 
 ditions before the Koran. Its moral code is 
 cruel and bloody, and allows both slavery and 
 polygamy ; its worship consists of external cere 
 monies ; it is without any plan of propitiation or 
 pardon, and it holds out to the believer a para 
 dise of carnal delights. The results of the sys 
 tem are terrible. I expected to find the Moham 
 medans more upright than the Pagans, inasmuch 
 as their creed is better ; but I was assured by 
 credible testimony that they are more profligate, 
 licentious, and cruel than their heathen neigh 
 bors, and they have introduced forms of sin into 
 India too shameless to be named. 
 
 The Mussulman population of India is proba 
 bly twenty-seven millions ; among these, all the 
 sects of that faith, Shiites, Sunnites, and Waha- 
 bees. In the shadow of these colossal forms 
 of error you find various offshoots, such as the 
 Sikh faith, and among the aboriginal inhabitants, 
 
 A II 
 
1 62 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 idolaters who have not yet abandoned human 
 sacrifices. 
 
 When mankind were dispersed the most pop 
 ulous and enterprising tribes moved eastward ; 
 thither was the path of empire. On the Eu 
 phrates, or beyond, arose the Assyrian, Baby 
 lonian, and other great kingdoms, and even before 
 they arose the children of Noah had probably 
 founded on the banks of the Hoang Ho the 
 great empire of China. Arts and arms seemed 
 to be the inheritance of Shem and Ham, and to 
 find their first theaters in Asia or Africa. After 
 a time the tents of Japheth began to grow pow 
 erful, and the scepter of the world to be trans 
 ferred to the basin of the Mediterranean. 
 
 When our Lord ascended and gave gifts to 
 men, he taught his disciples that his empire was 
 universal, and, sending them forth into all the 
 world, he exhibited to them in millennial vision 
 the North, the South, the East, and the West 
 sitting down together in the kingdom of God. 
 They obeyed his command. While some went 
 north, others south, and others west, a few pene 
 trated the denser and darker populations of the 
 East. But upon the sun-worshipers of Persia, 
 and the philosophic Pagans of India and China, 
 they seem to have made little or no impression. 
 Turn to the map of the countries traveled by the 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 163 
 
 apostles, as the historian has traced it, and you 
 will observe that it does not extend eastward of 
 the Orontes. Westward from Calvary has been 
 the march of Christianity, through Asia Minor, 
 around the ^Egean, over the classic soil of Greece 
 and Macedonia, and the peninsula of Italy, and 
 still westward through Spain, Gaul, Scandinavia, 
 Great Britain, and still westward over North and 
 South America. 
 
 Account for it as we may, the East has stub 
 bornly rejected the Word of Life. Neither the 
 idolatrous systems of classic Rome and Greece, 
 which had no Bible, nor the rude superstitions 
 of Gaul and Goth, and Celt and Briton, whose 
 divinities were local, nor the fetichism of Africa, 
 nor the spirit-worship of aboriginal America, has 
 presented such formidable obstacles to the relig 
 ion of Christ as are found in the lands of the East. 
 
 There stand Brahminism, Buddhism, Moham- 
 meclism systems in which philosophy and su 
 perstition, priestcraft and kingcraft, have com 
 bined their powers to rule the human mind, and 
 which stand like moral Himalayas against the 
 march of truth. 
 
 Although in the days of John the Revelator 
 the eastern nations contained the bulk of man 
 kind, as they have done ever since, yet they are 
 not once named in the Apocalypse. 
 
164 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 The reason is apparent. The Bible gives no 
 account of nations but as they are connected 
 with the Church ; and God, foreseeing that the 
 peoples of the East would resist the truth until 
 they were finally put into the power and under 
 the tutelage of Christian rulers, saw also that 
 their history, so far as connected with the his 
 tory of redemption, would be a part of that of 
 the Western powers. God governs nations as 
 we govern men. He uses moral means first, 
 then physical. He will give to his Church the 
 heritage of the heathen, if not by mercy, then 
 by power. When he set up his king upon his 
 holy hill of Zion, he declared the decree, and 
 threatened to break those nations to pieces that 
 disregarded it. When the Jews crucified Messiah, 
 destruction fell alike upon their city, temple, and 
 nation. So Roman emperors went down one 
 after another, until a Christian ascended the im 
 perial throne. God bore long with the lands of 
 the East, but he has at length taken them in 
 hand. 
 
 Russian guns upon the banks of the Amoor, 
 English and French at the gates of Pekin, have 
 broken down the walls which so long barred 
 China from the rest of the world. The thunders 
 of artillery have also opened the way through 
 the empire of Japan, not only for commerce, but 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 165 
 
 for science and religion. By being brought 
 within the range of cannon, Australia and the 
 islands of the sea have been brought within the 
 range of truth. But the most remarkable in 
 stance in which God has broken nations like a 
 potter s vessel is India that land in which, as a 
 focal point, the three colossal systems of relig 
 ious error converge and radiate. 
 
 Nothing in history is more wonderful than 
 that a clerk in a factory should win one of the 
 largest empires in the world ; that a trading 
 corporation should for so many years hold and 
 acquire territory as did the East India Company; 
 that, having failed to accomplish its purposes, it 
 was overthrown by one of the bloodiest revolu 
 tions the world has ever seen ; that such a rev 
 olution should be put down by a little island 
 nine thousand miles distant ; that it should prove 
 to be the grandest step in India s progress ; and 
 that one hundred and eighty millions of Pagans 
 should be easily and safely governed by eighty 
 thousand Christian sabers. This is the Lord s 
 doings, and it is marvelous in our eyes ; none 
 the less so because wicked men have accom 
 plished the work, often from bad motives, and 
 by unjustifiable means. God knows how to use 
 bad men, and overrule bad motives and deplor 
 able events for the welfare of the world. Among 
 
1 66 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 angels, progress doubtless is through reason, and 
 by the path of peace ; but, owing to the perver 
 sity of man, national preservation and progress 
 are by violence. What prevented Asiatic des 
 potism from overspreading Europe ? What pre 
 vented ancient Rome from becoming Punic ? 
 What saved mediaeval Germany and Gaul from 
 becoming Mohammedan ? What prevented the 
 United States from being the great slave empire, 
 and the propagandist of despotism in its worst 
 form ? Arms. The elements of our civiliza 
 tion Greek culture, Roman law, Christian mor 
 als, Protestant faith, and political freedom were 
 all both procured and preserved by steel. What 
 wonder, then, if God break down with a rod of 
 iron those despotisms which for three thousand 
 years have doomed the East to superstition, 
 sluggishness, idolatry, and corruption, and pre 
 pare the peoples for a baptism of water by a 
 baptism of blood? 
 
 Will the ascendency of the British in India be 
 permanent ? Yes. How came they to put down 
 the rebellion ? The people were divided. The 
 masses, long oppressed, cared nothing for the 
 issue. Had they simply retired from their vil 
 lages to the interior, carrying their effects with 
 them, the British army must have starved to 
 death by the roadside. But it was well supplied. 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. l6/ 
 
 Besides this division between the ruler and the 
 ruled, there were others. The Bengali hates the 
 Madrasse, both despise the natives of Bombay, 
 all three look with jealousy upon the hardier 
 race of the North-West Provinces, while the 
 Sikhs and Ghoorkas have little respect for any 
 of the rest, or they for them. Then there are 
 religious divisions. Mohammedans and Brah 
 mins can never unite. Though they joined the 
 mutiny with the watchword, "Two faiths in one 
 saddle," the Brahmin soon perceived that the 
 back seat was for him. The Mohammedans 
 themselves are divided into Sunnites, Shiites, 
 and Wahabees ; and the Hindoos into nearly 
 two hundred castes and eighty-four thousand 
 sects, whose interests are diverse. The intelli 
 gent Rajahs perceive the advantages of English 
 rule, and shudder at the anarchy and conflicts 
 that would ensue from its overthrow. Mean 
 while, while the natives are disarmed, the Brit 
 ish have a controlling army and full possession 
 of all the strongholds of the country, and are 
 strengthened by perhaps twenty-five thousand 
 European residents and a hundred thousand 
 Eurasians. 
 
 What will this power effect? Judge by what 
 it has already effected. It has reduced anarchy 
 to order, given law, established justice, protected 
 
1 68 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the land from invasion, and prevented it from 
 being ravaged by intestine wars. It has sup 
 pressed Suttee and Dekoitee, forbidden human 
 sacrifices, repressed infanticide, and made slavery 
 illegal. It has woven a network of telegraphs 
 around the empire from Galle to Peshawar, and 
 from Peshawur to Rangoon. It has established 
 a regular system of postage for letters, papers, 
 and books at low charges and uniform rates. It 
 has improved old roads, and made new ones ; 
 sent steamers up the principal streams ; con 
 structed a canal nine hundred miles long, and 
 will probably soon construct others in the val 
 leys of the Mahanuddy, the Kistna, and the 
 Godavery. It has commenced a system of rail 
 ways embracing about five thousand miles of 
 trunk lines, at a cost of nearly three thousand 
 millions of dollars, which, when completed, will 
 unite the extremes of the peninsula, open hith 
 erto inaccessible tracts, and bring all parts close 
 to each other and to the civilized world. Al 
 ready the steam-horse traverses the peninsula 
 from Calcutta to Bombay, crosses the peninsula 
 from Madras to the western shore, and prances 
 from Bombay to Nagpore. 
 
 It has steadily increased the trade of the 
 country, which, before the days of Clive, could 
 be conveyed in a single Venetian frigate, until 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. 169 
 
 it now reaches nearly five hundred millions of 
 dollars annually. It has raised the revenues of 
 the Government to two hundred and fifteen 
 millions. It has given India the newspaper 
 that great educator so that there are twenty- 
 eight newspapers published weekly in Bengal 
 three of them in English, by the natives thirty 
 native presses in Madras, and I know not how 
 many in Bombay and Ceylon, and twenty-five 
 presses among the missions alone. It has estab 
 lished schools in all parts of the land, in which 
 those sciences are taught that undermine the 
 prevailing systems of superstition and error. It 
 has made the English language classical in the 
 country, and by this means it is furnishing the 
 native mind with the rich and Christian stores 
 of which that noble tongue is the medium. It 
 has protected missionaries of Christ and their 
 converts. 
 
 Since the mutiny eight or ten new missionary 
 societies have entered India, bringing large ad 
 ditions to its evangelizing forces, so that in 
 1862, according to Dr. Mullins, there were in 
 British India, including Burmah and Ceylon, 31 
 societies, working in 386 stations and 2,307 out- 
 stations ; 541 missionaries; 186 native mission 
 aries; 1,776 catechists ; 1,542 native churches; 
 49,688 communicants; 213,182 native Christians ; 
 
I/O OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 48,390 vernacular day-schools ; 23,963 boys in 
 Anglo-vernacular schools ; 39,647 girls in day 
 and boarding schools, showing an increase of 
 over forty thousand Christians in ten years. 
 Meanwhile the Bible has been translated into 
 fourteen different languages of India, and circu 
 lated to the extent of 1,634,940 copies, and other 
 Christian publications to that of 10,000,000. 
 
 Look, then, at this great peninsula, linked to 
 the continent and the world by its languages, 
 commerce, and religions ; source of false faiths 
 which together insnare six hundred millions of 
 the human race, and the stronghold of a delusion 
 that blinds a hundred and eighty millions more. 
 This great moral pest-house, this Babel of devils, 
 God has put into the power of one of the most 
 enlightened Christian nations on earth. There 
 are more Mohammedans under Victoria s scep 
 ter than under any other on earth. The Sultan 
 has but twenty-one millions ; she has twenty-five 
 millions at least. There are more heathen under 
 the same Christian queen than under any sov 
 ereign, except the emperor of China. And this 
 mass is all through and through, and more and 
 more, subjected to Christian influences. The tel 
 egraphs are so many ganglia in a great nervous 
 system, diffusing new sensations ; the railways 
 are so many iron arteries, pumping Christian 
 
GENERAL REMARKS ON INDIA. if I 
 
 blood through the native veins ; the newspapers 
 are so many digestive powers, preparing health 
 ful moral food ; the schools are so many batter 
 ies, thundering at the crumbling battlements of 
 error ; the missions are so many brains, think 
 ing new and better thoughts.* 
 
 Knowledge must be diffused through the earth. 
 We know two things more ; namely, that our 
 religion can withstand modern science and make 
 it tributary to itself, and that no other religion 
 can ; for every other faith has linked its science 
 with its doctrines, so that they must both fall 
 together. As to take Paris is to take France, 
 and to take Sebastopol is to shake Russia to the 
 Arctic seas, and to take Richmond is to shake 
 out the rebels of the United States from the Po 
 tomac to the Rio Grande, so to Christianize In 
 dia, owing to its key position in heathendom, is 
 to shake out the idols from the face of the whole 
 earth. Intellectual and moral power has both 
 rights and responsibilities, and it is destined to 
 rule the earth under the providence of God. 
 Should Christian nations do for China what En 
 gland has done for India, would not the people 
 be wiser, better, happier? would not the bounda 
 ries of science, philosophy, and true religion be 
 
 *The annual expenditure for missions is $1,400,000, and the 
 expenditure of the Government for schools about the same. 
 
OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 enlarged, and all the best interests of the world 
 be promoted ? Should the decrepit empire of 
 the Sultan perish, and Great Britain receive 
 Egypt and the Barbary States, France Asia 
 Minor, and Russia European Turkey, who does 
 not see that peoples long oppressed and dark 
 ened would be delivered, enlightened, raised to a 
 higher and nobler civilization, brought into more 
 intimate communion with mankind, and made to 
 contribute immensely more to the wealth, the 
 wisdom, and the worth of the world ? They may 
 do wrongs which may justify superior nations in 
 exercising power over them ; and if they give to 
 them governments better adapted to their con 
 dition, and fitted to secure the protection of all 
 their interests, let us bid them Godspeed. 
 
 We have entered upon a grand era. The Al 
 mighty is shaking the nations preparatory to 
 giving them to his Son. The lines both of 
 prophecy and providence converge at a point to 
 which our feet are rapidly tending. In the new 
 dispensation to which we hasten India will be a 
 grand actor. 
 
VIII. 
 OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 
 
 FROM the general survey of India, let us 
 take a particular survey of our particular 
 field. 
 
 Our mission field in Hindostan lies between 
 the 25th and 3Oth parallels of North latitude. 
 It is chiefly in the plain of the Ganges, though 
 it crosses the Terai, and embraces a part of the 
 lower spurs of the great chain of mountains 
 on the north. Westward and southward it is 
 bounded by the Sacred River, which, issuing 
 from a chasm in the Himalayas at Hurdwar, 
 proceeds, first southward, then south-eastward, to 
 the Delta. Through this district, in a south 
 eastern course, flow the Goomtee, the Gogra, the 
 Saee, the Ramgunga, and the Raptee. Our field 
 extends from east to west, 400 miles, and from 
 north to south, nearly 150 miles. 
 
 With the exception of the jungle and a portion 
 of the hills beyond, it is all arable, and is the 
 
174 OUK ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 richest soil in India ; consisting mainly of a rich 
 alluvial mold, and containing gold in some local 
 ities, and saltpeter and lime in others. The cli 
 mate during the months of November and De 
 cember, when I was there, was delightful. The 
 sun rose day after day without a cloud, marched 
 up to the zenith and down to the horizon un- 
 dimmed, and set with promise of a brilliant dawn. 
 Nowhere did I ever see Aurora unbar the gates 
 of the East on goodlier hinges, or spread beauty 
 over the landscape with more gentleness and 
 serenity. Indeed, the blue sky, the green earth, 
 the gay gardens, the many-colored fields ripening 
 to the harvest, the mango groves alive with play 
 ful monkeys, the orchards displaying their varie 
 gated fruits beneath dark-green foliage festooned 
 with the plumage of Oriental birds, and the still 
 warm air, sweet with a thousand perfumes, re 
 minded me of Paradise itself. True, this is the 
 best season of the year. There are periods July 
 to November when warm rains almost inces 
 santly fall ; and others March to June when 
 dusty and sultry winds blow from the west, or 
 damp ones, laden with the malaria of Bengal or 
 Assam, from the east, and when constitutions 
 accustomed to more temperate latitudes languish ; 
 but with proper precautions and appropriate 
 comforts, even these seasons may be safely 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA, 175 
 
 passed. The thermometer rarely rises above 
 112 degrees Fahrenheit. Many Europeans in 
 health and vigor are found here, and many Cau 
 casians, well developed and active, both in body 
 and mind, claim this fair region as their native 
 land. The children of the English are usually 
 sent home to be educated, but it is that they 
 may escape the corrupting influences of the so 
 cial and religious life of the East rather than 
 the enervating effect of its climate. At Benares, 
 our hostess, though born in India, is healthy, 
 remarkably fair, and blessed with offspring as 
 promising as herself. At Lukempore we met a 
 native of English parentage who would compare 
 favorably with European ladies in all respects. 
 At Allahabad, our hostess, of English stock and 
 Indian birth, has thirteen vigorous children, and 
 is so healthy, beautiful, and vivacious, that one 
 might suppose she may be the mother of thirteen 
 more. We met with many soldiers in India who 
 were in good health, and though anxious to 
 return to England, this was rather because they 
 were weary of military life than tired of the 
 country. * 
 
 It is well to note that the mission field is not 
 exclusively in the plain of the Ganges, but em 
 braces some hill territory. This affords an op 
 portunity for those missionaries who have been 
 
1 76 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 exhausted by the climate of the lowlands to ren 
 ovate themselves without surceasing- from their 
 labors. Our field contains two choice spots for 
 Sanitaria ; namely, Nynee Tal and Pouri. The 
 former is built around a lake six thousand feet 
 above the level of the sea, in a mountain basin 
 on which magnificent peaks cast their shadows. 
 Looking up when the morning is moist, you may 
 see their summits putting on their misty hoods 
 as a judge puts on his powdered wig, or ascend 
 ing an eminence you may look clown and see 
 the clouds below you encompassing the mountain 
 bosom like a girdle. Around the picturesque 
 lake of pure water, with fish in its caves and 
 fowl on its surface, runs a graveled road, on 
 part of which is a bazaar. 
 
 From the shore up the mountain sides, wher 
 ever the situation is favorable for building, rise 
 palatial residences in European style, though 
 modified to adapt them to a warm climate. 
 Thither English officers and their families resort 
 in the hot season, and find a bracing air, a charm 
 ing scenery, and facilities for swimming, racing, 
 boating, hunting, fishing, cricket, and other ath 
 letic amusements. Ladies may ride around the 
 lake on fleet horses, or, taking a jampan, visit the 
 mountain gorges, or by an ascent of five miles 
 reach the top of Cheena, and after looking down 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 177 
 
 two thousand feet to the lake, or eight thousand 
 to the plains, may, by walking a short distance 
 over a grassy platform, look up twenty-one thou 
 sand to the snowy range of the Himalayas, stretch 
 ing half round the horizon in a vast amphitheater, 
 rising to the heavens as if to support the throne 
 of the Almighty, and inclosing within their semi 
 circle a field of mountains of lower elevation, up 
 whose sides climb the yew, the holly, the pine, 
 and the cedar, here and there creeping up the 
 crevices nearly to the cold granite tops. 
 
 Should the company linger till evening, they 
 will pause in their descent to mark the shadows 
 cast by the mountains upon one another, and the 
 pink tints of such slopes as are exposed to the 
 setting sun, and to ride in those chariots of God, 
 the clouds, as they rise from the valleys, but not 
 to reach the peaks covered with eternal snow. 
 Earth has no spot better fitted to invigorate both 
 body and mind. Here we should build a spa 
 cious house for our missionaries, that thither, 
 while weary pilgrims of the plain, they may cast 
 their longing eyes, and there may tune their 
 divine harps when they are unstrung. 
 
 Our field is as fruitful as it is fair. It pro 
 duces wheat, maize, barley, grain, various species 
 of dahl, bajra, peas, beans, mustard seed, from 
 which oil is made, the castor-oil bean, til, rice, 
 
 A 12 
 
1/8 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS, 
 
 cotton, indigo, and opium. Several vegetables 
 have been introduced from Europe, such as the 
 tomato and potato. The fruits are numerous, 
 healthful, and luscious, among which are the 
 mango, the guava, the banana, the plantain, the 
 tac, the lime, the pumalo, the tamarind, the cus 
 tard apple, the pine-apple, the apricot, the plum, 
 the pear, the peach, the orange, the musk-melon, 
 the water-melon, the pomegranate. Small fruits, 
 such as grapes, raspberries, and strawberries, 
 abound. In the lowlands we find the bamboo, 
 and in the forests the sissoo, toon, beech, syca 
 more, chestnut, acacia, oak, pepul, nim, saul, and 
 various species of palm, while here and there we 
 see the sandal shed its odors, and the banyan 
 spread its ample arms and arches. 
 
 The shrubs are numerous, and many, such as 
 the box, the mandy, the cactus, and the jait, are 
 used for hedges. The flowers most common are 
 the balsam, the convolvulus, the heart s-ease, the 
 mimosa, the fuchsia, the amaranth, the wax- 
 flower, and the aloe. Roses are found all the 
 year, and marigolds are extensively cultivated, as 
 they are used in the temples, both to adorn the 
 worshipers and to be cast upon the shrines. 
 Animal life abounds. Of the horse, you may 
 meet with the tatoo, the mule, the Cabul steed, 
 a fine creature ; the Australian, a large one ; the 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 179 
 
 Arabian, a fleet one, though the climate will not 
 allow any of them to be used, except very mod 
 erately. The animals chiefly employed for draft 
 are the ox, of Tartary, and the buffalo. The 
 elephant is used by those who can afford it. 
 Near the cities may be seen donkeys, in long 
 lines, with panniers upon their backs ; camels in 
 droves, laden with the traffic of the West, and 
 tied by ropes extending from the tail of one to 
 the nose of the next. Now and then a swift 
 camel may be seen with a skillful rider upon his 
 back, carrying express messages from camp to 
 camp, at the rate of ten miles an hour and a 
 hundred a day. Sheep follow their shepherds to 
 the plain, and goats of great variety range the 
 mountains ; swine, lean and lank, are driven from 
 gutter to gutter by swineherds, now, as in the 
 Savior s time, deemed the lowest of mankind ; 
 the shepherd dog is with the flock, and the mas 
 tiff at the door ; the mongoose seizes the snake, 
 as he moves through the grass ; jackals, foxes, 
 porcupines, and hares start from the thicket ; the 
 wild elephant and boar, roused by the passing 
 dhooley, and alarmed by the sight of the mu- 
 salch and the shout of the coolies, rush into the 
 jungle ; the wolt often enters the village and 
 carries off an aged person or stray child ; the 
 leopard leaps upon his unsuspecting victim ; the 
 
ISO OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 tiger watches by rock or stream for the passing 
 pilgrim ; the bear, black, brown, or white, accord 
 ing to elevation, ranges the mountains ; eagles 
 perch upon the peaks, vultures fight over the car 
 casses of city or field ; cranes, storks, swans, 
 ducks, ami kingfishers are seen by the streams ; 
 parrots and peacocks adorn the groves ; quails 
 and partridges run through the heather; cocks 
 crow before the door ; geese cackle at the barn ; 
 and crows hover over the fields or alight upon 
 the half-burned bodies floating down the rivers. 
 Fishes swarm the streams, and crocodiles and 
 sharks watch at their mouths ; worms spin their 
 silk, or distill their lac ; musquitoes sting the un 
 wary traveler; locusts devastate large tracts of 
 country; while white ants honeycomb the cut- 
 cha walls, tunnel beams and rafters, consume 
 carpets and books, literally destroying houses 
 and consuming their furniture. A banker, who 
 had a large deficit, charged it to profit and loss 
 account, saying that the ants had eaten up his 
 missing bags of silver, though the stockholders 
 were rather incredulous on the subject. It is 
 astonishing that such little creatures can do such 
 mischief. They are small, soft, gelatinous, and 
 the birds devour them by the thousand, as if they 
 were masses of jelly, and yet there is scarcely a 
 beam unless it be of sal timber or a wall 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. l8l 
 
 through which they will not make their passage. 
 They often push their march through solid col 
 umns of burnt brick. 
 
 But it is time to speak of the noblest animal. 
 The population of our field is set clown at fifteen 
 millions. Politically they belong to the late 
 kingdom of Oude, the province of Rohilcund, 
 the native state of Rampore, and the hill prov 
 inces of Ghurwall and Kumaon. They are of 
 black color, graceful forms, straight hair, and 
 Caucasian features. Physically, they are hand 
 somer than the tribes of the Deccan, and 
 stronger than the Bengalese or the Madrassese ; 
 morally, they are braver, prouder, more warlike 
 than all, consisting largely of the Rohillas and 
 Rajpoots, tribes noted for their daring and prow 
 ess, and having among them a considerable num 
 ber of Mohammedans, a people every-where dis 
 tinguished both for energy and arrogance. Both 
 Rohillas and Mussulmans entered the country 
 sword in hand, and though subdued, have not 
 been conquered. The long conflict between the 
 Talookdars and the cultivators of this region 
 trained both to arms, and made most of them 
 professional robbers. 
 
 From this quarter, chiefly, the British obtained 
 the Sepoys with which they filled up the lines of 
 the Bengal army. There are over a million of 
 
1 82 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 people iii the district of Roy Bareilly, and only 
 one large town in it. This fact is attributed to 
 the circumstance that under Mohammedan rule 
 this part of the country was inhabited by a tribe 
 from which the king s troopers were taken. It 
 was comparatively lawless, and it rendered both 
 life and property insecure, so that a few years 
 ago it was dangerous to go even through the 
 city unarmed. 
 
 The people of the hills are industrious, provi 
 dent, and happy. Every man seems to have his 
 wife, and cow, and little plot of land, generally 
 three acres. In the cold season they go down to 
 the plains with their flocks, furniture, and fami 
 lies, and engage in some useful labor till the 
 return of Spring. The women are often seen at 
 the roadside bearing burdens upon their heads. 
 I have seen them carrying stone from the quar 
 ries in this way. 
 
 The civilization of our whole field is quite dif 
 ferent from American. The houses are usually 
 mud or unburnt brick, the walls rising six or 
 seven feet above the roof to form an inclosed 
 court for the women, which is protected during 
 the rains by a temporary covering of bamboo. 
 The floors are of earth, and the rooms are with 
 out ceiling. We often find a court in the rear 
 of the habitation, where the goats and cattle find 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 183 
 
 refuge at night, the cooks prepare the meals, and 
 the family sleep during the hot season, safe from 
 wolves, who avoid walls, fearing traps inside. 
 
 Some of the farms have low walls, or fences 
 made of mud, or hedges, but usually they have 
 no inclosures. A sort of crate on four high 
 poles overlooks each plantation, and here sits a 
 watchman with a long whip to frighten off in 
 truders, whether biped or quadruped, usually the 
 former, as the flocks and herds are attended 
 by their keepers. The agricultural implements, 
 plow, harrow, roller, wooden spade, axes, two 
 inches by four, sharp-pointed hoe, small sickle, 
 and grass-cutter, are usually of the rudest kind. 
 The plow merely scratches the ground, and the 
 harrow is often only the branch of a tree, though 
 the earth is frequently prepared for the seed 
 with a spade. Fertilizers and rotation of crops 
 are rarely employed. Stock is kept to a limited 
 extent only, as the religious prejudices of the 
 people prevent the use of animal food. The 
 ordure of field and stable, strange to say, is used 
 either for fuel or sacred purposes. The lower 
 classes will eat mutton and fowl when they can 
 obtain it. The British are slowly introducing 
 improvements ; the labor of man is, however, too 
 cheap to afford much encouragement to the in 
 troduction of machinery. Our missionaries once 
 
184 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 introduced an American plow, but the cattle 
 could not draw it. No pumps or windlasses are 
 used in the wells, the water is drawn either by 
 human hand or by cattle. Women still sit at the 
 mill, and the sound of the grinding is heard every 
 morning. The grain is trodden out by oxen, 
 and winnowed in large baskets, or in blankets 
 shaken by men. Burdens are generally borne 
 upon the head. In crossing the Jumna I saw 
 hundreds men, women, and children carrying 
 earth upon their heads, in little baskets, to lay 
 the foundations of the abutments. If you were 
 to give them wheelbarrows they would probably 
 use them in the same way. Freight is conveyed 
 either in this manner or on bamboos. The 
 bridges are pontoon, and the boats often wear 
 canvas hewed out of seisam logs. By the insti 
 tution of caste, laborers are so classified that 
 every gentleman s house needs a dozen servants 
 or more. The bearer takes care of the house 
 furniture and lamps ; the kitmutgar buys and 
 prepares the food ; the musalche is a subordinate 
 to the kitmutgar in the kitchen ; the mehter 
 sweeps the floors and attends to the bath-rooms ; 
 the syce cares for the horse and drives it; the 
 grass-cutter provides for the stable, since no 
 hay is made in India; the beestee draws and car 
 ries the water ; the dhoby washes the clothes ; 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 185 
 
 the durzee tailor makes and mends the gar 
 ments ; the chokedar watches through the night 
 the house and aviary ; the ayah has charge of 
 the nursery ; the mettrannie is the chamber 
 maid ; and the t\vo punkah-wallahs pull the fans 
 which are needed in the hot season. The above 
 are all that are found in missionary families, and 
 of these the durzee and the punkah-wallah are 
 not needed more than half the time. Should 
 any think this force too great, let him try it. 
 But, in addition to these, rich European families 
 have a khansana or steward, a chuprasse or mes 
 senger, a dhai or wet nurse, and an extra bearer, 
 ayah, cook, durzee, and from two to ten syces, 
 according to the number of horses kept, making 
 a staff of from twenty-three to thirty servants, 
 besides the coolies necessary to bear the jampan 
 or the dhooley, when one goes where the roads 
 do not admit of carriages. This staff is not, as 
 we might suppose, ruinous. The wages are, per 
 month, taking the servants in the above order, 
 
 <# ^- r /~\ C?j G?^ tf -> ^ ^> r* r\ $. *") <tk ^ CSfor*/^ ^ / "> $ ^ & A 
 
 $2.50, #>4, $3, #>2, $2.50, $2, $2, $3.50, #$2, $2, J&4, 
 
 $2, $1.50, amounting to $33; but as punkah- 
 wallahs are not constantly needed, and as the 
 syce is often grass-cutter also, say $28. As 
 these laborers support themselves, you perceive 
 that their united cost is not equal to that of 
 one hired girl among us. 
 
1 86 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Manufactures in India are by slow and coarse 
 processes, but the patience and skill of the arti 
 sans make up for the imperfection of their in 
 struments. In cotton and silk, fine fabrics are 
 found in northern cities ; in gold and silver 
 works, the shops of Delhi are unrivaled ; in fur 
 niture, Bareilly is scarcely surpassed ; at Secrora 
 you meet with extensive factories of children s 
 toys ; at Tyzabad I saw manufactures in wood, 
 such as bureaus and dressing cases, that would 
 have done credit to any establishment. The 
 mechanics generally sit at their work, using 
 their toes as vises, etc. They are not inventive, 
 but imitative. Their best productions are from 
 European copies. Hindoos are so particular in 
 copying that they should be supplied with a per 
 fect pattern. We heard of a gentleman who 
 gave his native tailor a pair of pantaloons as a 
 pattern, and who found that the new garment 
 was an imitation of the old, even to the patch 
 on the knee, and the rent in another place. 
 
 The methods of traveling are not very com 
 fortable. The British have, however, made some 
 fine spacious metaled roads, and shaded them 
 with trees, generally of the tamarind species. 
 The lime used for this purpose is found near 
 the surface. When burning it makes an oxide, 
 with some impurities. In the form of a hydrate 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 187 
 
 It makes an excellent finishing for houses, inside 
 or outside ; mixed with sand and well pounded 
 it makes a hard and durable cement, so beauti 
 ful that it has often been mistaken for marble. 
 
 The native roads are poor and narrow, so that 
 traveling by carriage over them is impracticable. 
 Usually the traveling is in light conveyances, 
 borne on the shoulders of men by means of 
 poles. Thejampan is like a large chair, with a 
 canvas attachment for the feet, and is carried 
 by two men, relieved when weary by others ; it 
 answers for short distances, and in ascending 
 mountains ; the dandy is similar to it. The pal 
 anquin is a covered conveyance of light wood, 
 often ornamented, large enough for a couch, and 
 heavy enough to require four bearers. It has 
 sliding doors at the side, and is the usual car 
 riage of native gentlemen. The dhooley is a 
 less expensive structure of the same size and 
 style, usually covered with colored cotton cloth. 
 The accommodations for travelers are imperfect. 
 The Government has established, on the princi 
 pal roads, taverns or bungalows, furnished with 
 bedsteads and chairs, and kept by natives who 
 understand European methods of cooking. Here 
 you may either provide or order your own meals, 
 and you are charged according to a fixed scale. 
 Sometimes, however, we find ourselves compelled 
 
1 88 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 to cook our meals by the roadside. There are 
 serais for natives. The serai is a tavern built 
 round a court, surrounded by a high wall, and 
 entered by lofty gates, through which the cara 
 vans or carts are driven, and which are closed 
 at night-fall. Around the court are rooms where 
 the travelers may rest, and which may be rented 
 for a cent a night ; here, too, are to be found 
 shops at which necessaries may be procured, 
 persons who may be employed as cooks ; here 
 also are wells, and places of worship. 
 
 Sometimes traveling is by elephant. My first 
 ride on this animal was a pleasure excursion at 
 Bareilly. The elephant was driven to the door 
 by the mahout seated on his neck, with an iron 
 instrument having a point to urge the animal 
 forward, and a hook to hold him back. At a 
 signal the elephant went upon his knees, and 
 a ladder having been placed at his back, we 
 mounted and seated ourselves in a houdah, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Thomas on one side, Mrs. Wangh and 
 I on the other. As the animal arose and moved 
 off a chuprasse climbed up his tail and seated 
 himself above it, and we were ready for an aris 
 tocratic ride. On we go through the narrow 
 streets of the city, sometimes looking down 
 upon the mud houses, and sometimes trembling 
 lest the elephant should not work his way 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 189 
 
 through without mischief to himself or others. 
 At Lukimpoor we borrowed an elephant of the 
 commissioner to go to Hugauo, fifteen miles 
 distant, where we were to be met with a dhooley 
 to convey us to Seetapore. A crimson pad was 
 placed upon the elephant s back, on which Dr. 
 Butler, brother Gracey, and myself were seated. 
 We started before sunset, and reached Hugauo 
 at midnight. I could not repress the fear that I 
 should roll off and be crushed under the ani 
 mal s feet. A few days after we received a note 
 from the owner, saying that the elephant had 
 returned without any indication of the burden 
 she had borne. This reminded us too strongly 
 of the fly on the ox. 
 
 What has been said shows the facility with 
 which our missionaries may pass from point to 
 point during the season of itinerancy. Each 
 station is provided with a tent and other itinerat 
 ing requisites. At the suitable period the mis 
 sionary sending his tent before him on a camel, 
 follows on horseback or in a dhooley, and finds 
 all things in readiness on his arrival. By writing 
 in advance to the Tyceldar he can secure all 
 necessary provisions for his comfort, and facili 
 ties for his work. 
 
 Within our mission field are various shrines 
 and melas of great veneration and celebrity, such 
 
IQO OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 as Hurdwar, Gurmakteser, Bithoor, Ajoodiha, 
 which afford fine opportunities for preaching the 
 Gospel. On our way from Meerut to Bijnour, 
 and from Nugena to Gurmukteser, we found the 
 road thronged with devotees. On arriving at the 
 last place we saw, by estimation, 250,000 people 
 encamped on one side of the stream, and 500,- 
 ooo on the other. The camps were in regular 
 avenues, watched by a strong police. Here rows 
 of jewelers shops from Delhi, there rows of toy 
 sellers from Secrora ; on this side provisions, on 
 that offerings for the gods. Riding along the 
 lines we stopped at a hollow square of amused 
 spectators, formed round a company of priests 
 who were disfigured with paint, arrayed in saf 
 fron robes, and seated cross-legged on the 
 ground, singing the praises of the Ganges in a 
 song, the chorus of which called for pice 
 money which one of them on his feet stretched 
 out his hand along the lines to receive. On we 
 go to a similar square, within which a dancing 
 girl, bedizened as to her ears, wrists, fingers, 
 nose, and toes, was performing and singing for 
 rewards more freely given than those to the 
 priests. Idols in boats on the water are collect 
 ing pice in cloth aprons. In the morning the 
 people bathe in the river, the women at a very 
 early hour, the more devout men next, those less 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. IQI 
 
 so when the water is warmer ; in the evening 
 the Ganges is lighted up with lamps placed in 
 boats, so that it seems a river on fire. The peo 
 ple remain together a week, during which time 
 our missionaries can preach to them. We heard 
 Mr. Hernle, of the Church mission, preach from 
 a wagon on one side of the stream, and Mr. 
 Parker, of our mission at Moradabad, and his 
 assistant, Andreas, on the other. The people 
 listened with attention, often asked questions, 
 and always laughed when the idols were ridi 
 culed. This camp-meeting, attended with so 
 much privation, is for a religious purpose. At 
 the close of the Mela, at the propitious moment 
 of the full moon, of which the priests give the 
 signal, the people together rush into the water 
 to wash away their sins. By these occasions we 
 can reach masses not only from India, but from 
 Thibet and other States north of Hindostan. 
 
 Many think of the Hindoos as of the Africans 
 or Indians. The lower classes are indeed igno 
 rant, pressed so hard by poverty that they have 
 little opportunity for culture ; and as they move 
 before the stranger without hats or shoes, and 
 with but little covering on other parts of the 
 body, they impress him as a rude and barbarous 
 people. Yet India had a high degree of cultiva 
 tion in early ages, and her upper classes still 
 
I Q2 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 exhibit a good degree of learning and refinement. 
 Within our field are three different civilizations. 
 There are none of the Bheels, Ghonds, or other 
 aboriginal tribes. Nearly three-fifths of the 
 population are Hindoos, one-fifth Mohammedan. 
 The Mussulmans, intelligent, enterprising, and 
 occupying the cities in which their ancestors 
 were once the rulers, exert no little influence. 
 The British, though few, exert their power 
 through the magistrates, the laws, and the army. 
 
 The vernacular of the Hindoos is Hindee, a 
 soft, beautiful, and flexible language, derived 
 from the Sanscrit. This, though it has long- 
 ceased to be a spoken tongue, lies at the foun 
 dation of almost every dialect of the East, but is 
 now appropriated to religious records, and, till 
 the Asiatic researches of the English, was shut 
 up for ages in the libraries of the Brahmins. 
 
 The language of the Mussulmans is Ordu or 
 Hindustani, derived from the Arabic through 
 the Persian. It is more light and elegant than 
 the Hindee, and better adapted to conversation. 
 The Persian is the learned language of Moham 
 medans, and the medium of their choicest liter 
 ature. Many Rajahs have educated Englishmen 
 as tutors in their families, and are themselves 
 acquainted with several tongues of modern Eu 
 rope. Children of all castes attend the schools 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 193 
 
 of the Government and of the missionaries, 
 which are in all the cities and large towns, and 
 their chief desire is to acquire the English, as it 
 is considered the first qualification for employ 
 ment, either by the Government or European 
 houses. An illustration of this I found at Gon- 
 dah, where a negro is employed by the Rajah of 
 Bulrampoor. He was a slave in the United 
 States, escaped to England, embarked in an 
 East Indiaman as a Lascar, remained in Calcutta 
 till he acquired the Hindee, and then went into 
 the service of the Maharajah as a teacher, all 
 his want of qualification being overlooked in his 
 ability to speak English. 
 
 The Hindoo literature in the Sanscrit medium 
 consists of poetry, treatises on music, painting, 
 ethics and medicine, systems of philosophy and 
 works on arithmetic, mathematics, astronomy, 
 logic, and law, but nothing to add to our stores of 
 useful knowledge. The literature in the Hindee 
 is very far below this, and that in the Ordu not 
 much above it, though that in Persian is proba 
 bly an improvement. The Sanscrit literature is 
 confined to the Pundits, and the Persian to the 
 Moonshees, the learned men respectively of the 
 Hindoos and Mohammedans. The whole native 
 literature is full of idle theories, impossible fa 
 bles, and unsystematized truths. Formerly, in 
 A 13 
 
194 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the Government colleges, Persian as well as San 
 scrit was taught under the Mogul emperors, and 
 a long time after it was the language of the 
 court and of the law, but Hindustani has taken 
 its place. The change is a wise one. The char 
 acter of any people depends upon the literature 
 of its leading minds, and this, in turn, upon their 
 language. How different might have been the 
 issue of our rebellion had Spanish been our com 
 mon medium of thought, or had that tongue even 
 taken the place of the German among us! The 
 political influence coming down upon Hindostan 
 from Western Asia will be less and less. Be 
 sides Ordu, Government schools teach Sanscrit, 
 Latin, and Greek, though the last two are elect 
 ive. Of habits and manners in our field I say 
 little. 
 
 The Hindoos are naturally indolent. One of 
 their proverbs is, " If I can ride on horseback, 
 I will not walk ; if I can ride in a conveyance, I 
 will not go on horseback ; if I can stand, I will 
 not ride ; if I can sit, I will not stand ; and if I 
 can lie down, I will not sit." Both Hindoos and 
 Mussulmans are polite. At Benares, the Gover 
 nor-General examining a school asked, " How 
 does the world turn round ?" " By your pleas 
 ure," was the prompt reply. On leaving the 
 house of a native, the holder said, " I am your 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 195 
 
 servant, what can I do for you ?" When I re 
 plied, " I ask only your good-will," he bowed 
 down on hands and feet and touched his fore 
 head to the floor. Both Mohammedans and Hin 
 doos listen attentively to preaching, even at the 
 roadside and market-places. Even they who op 
 pose controvert respectfully, and while uttering 
 hard words, and putting searching questions, ab 
 stain from personalities, and concede to the mis 
 sionary both talents and learning. At several 
 points in my journey the head man of the village 
 called to make his salaam. At Bareilly, I said to 
 a native lawyer, who called upon me, " You are 
 the most polite people in the world." "We are 
 obliged to be," he replied ; " we are a conquered 
 people." The speech of the masses is highly 
 figurative. To say you lie, their form is, " You 
 say there is no oil in the Til." To express pros 
 perity, " He sits with his five fingers in melted 
 butter." To describe the moderation of the 
 Government, " The cloth is between the iron and 
 the skin." Excessive devotion is " an ass s load 
 of religion." A widow who lost her last child 
 said, " The widow s dove has fled to the bosom 
 of his Savior." 
 
 The Hindoos are superstitious. They have 
 countless omens and prognostics. A vulture 
 alighting on the roof of a house, a sneeze, the 
 
196 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 howl of a jackal in the day-time, the cry of a liz 
 ard, the croaking of a raven on the housetop, 
 stepping over a string, pronouncing a monkey s 
 or a miser s name the first thing in the morning, 
 are omens of evil, a lizard falling to the right an 
 omen of good. Plowing, sowing, reaping, are all 
 done with certain ceremonies and on propitious 
 days. Multiplied incantations attend both mar 
 riage and death. Each day of the week is de 
 voted to some god, and thought to be connected 
 w,ith some form of good or evil. Sunday is sa 
 cred to the sun and to Shiva, and is suitable 
 either for building or sowing seed ; Monday to 
 the moon and Mahadeva, and is the time to 
 mount a new horse or set out on a journey; 
 Tuesday, sacred to Mangal, answering to Mars, 
 is the day to fight battles and open forges ; 
 Wednesday, sacred to Buddha, corresponding to 
 Mercury, is the day to collect debts and wash 
 clothes ; Thursday, sacred to Vrihaspati, is the day 
 for opening a new shop or wearing ornaments ; 
 Friday, sacred to Shukra, is when women wor 
 ship for children lost or on a journey; Saturday, 
 sacred to Shani, answering to Saturn, is the day 
 for acquiring magic, exciting quarrels, and enact 
 ing enormities. To a great extent the supersti 
 tion is hypocrisy. They who arrest the march 
 of armies lest they should destroy insects, build 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 197 
 
 hospitals for disabled animals, and, as Sir James 
 Forbes relates, hire beggars to lie quiet while 
 vermin feast upon them, can shoot, mangle, and 
 cut up their adversaries. 
 
 The morals of this region are bad. The Ve- 
 dants are pantheists, and maintain that God s om 
 nipotence excludes all other power, and his om 
 nipresence all other existence. They deny the 
 immutability of moral distinctions, attribute evil 
 acts to the gods, and think Fakirs may do as 
 they will. The priests teach purification by ex 
 ternal means water, fire, etc. ascribe efficacy 
 to rites independent of the mind of the worshiper, 
 and think sin may be atoned for by presents to 
 the Brahmins. 
 
 Mohammedans seem to ignore immorality of 
 thought. Their prevailing sect is the Sunnites, 
 whose faith has been tinctured with the doctrines 
 of the Shiites through the intercourse between 
 Oude and Persia, and has felt the influence of 
 Paganism, so that its observances in honor of 
 the Imaums, its offerings at the tombs of saints, 
 and the respect it allows to Hindoo divinities 
 very much resemble idolatry, while it has re 
 ceived but little impulse from the reformers. 
 This, perhaps, is not much to be regretted, as 
 the Wahabees themselves are in fundamental 
 error. Maulavee Imail says, "If one alone com- 
 
198 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 mits faults equal to all sinners yet he shall be 
 pardoned through the blessings of the doctrine 
 of unity." " If he believes this his very sins will 
 be more acceptable than the worship of others." 
 The Hadees, or traditions, the chief guide of 
 Mussulmans, confound moral distinctions. Take 
 the following: There was a holy man who did 
 nothing but righteousness, and a bad one who 
 did nothing but sin. When the latter committed 
 an enormity, the former said to him, "God will 
 punish thee." He replied, "Leave that to God 
 and me." At that moment dying, they came to 
 judgment. God said to the holy man, "Can I 
 save this sinner ?" He answered, " Thou art al 
 mighty." To this God replied, "Well;" then 
 turning to the bad man he said, "Enter heaven," 
 and to the good, "Go thou into hell." 
 
 The practice is like the theory. At Budaon I 
 was told that five at least out of every twenty 
 women are "strange," in the sense of Solomon, 
 and that hundreds of men commit the sin of 
 Sodom ; the magistrate said, " Half the men of 
 the city." A man was in jail under sentence 
 of death for killing another under the influence 
 of a boy who stood in the same relation to him 
 that Helen did to Paris. At Seetapore we saw 
 a mosque built by a courtesan with her vicious 
 earnings, and near it an expensive tomb in 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 199 
 
 which her honored remains lie. This is the 
 more remarkable, as Mohammedans do not agree 
 as to the possibility of a woman entering heaven. 
 The houris are celestial females, and the faithful 
 who gain paradise are spoken of in the Koran 
 as masculine. At Calcutta the courtesans have 
 petitioned the Governor, setting forth that they 
 perform services connected with the popular re 
 ligion, and they ask that their rights be pro 
 tected. Fakirs are consulted as confessors, and 
 often meddle in domestic disputes and lead to 
 the separation of families, while some of the 
 lower class consider it an honor for these holy 
 men to take sinful liberties in their households. 
 The sacred books of the Hindoos limit the 
 learning of females to three things sweeping 
 the house, cooking food, and ornamenting their 
 persons. Widows can not remarry, and must eat 
 but one meal a day, sleep on the .ground, and 
 do the drudgery of the house. Children are 
 often treated with neglect and cruelty, and some 
 times repay the unkindness by exposing their 
 parents on the banks of the Ganges. Such are 
 only a few of the enormities practiced here. 
 
 Hindoo religion is complicated. There are 
 orthodox and heterodox sects. The former are 
 five the Shiva, Vishnava, Saura, Sakta, and 
 Ganapatya. In our field, the first and second 
 
2OO OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 are the prevailing ones, but their subdivisions 
 and their objects of worship are many, though 
 the most popular are Ram and Krisha. The 
 Vishnavas consider all as heretics who worship 
 other gods than Vishnu, and they avoid all Brah 
 mins who do not belong to them. They adore 
 their god in a series of different forms, as the 
 ministrant ascends the scale of -.perfection. Their 
 teachers are generally celibates, living in com 
 munities, and pursuing a wandering and mendi 
 cant life. They have convents, (Maths,) gov 
 erned by superiors, (Mahants,) and occupied by 
 (Elders) resident disciples. 
 
 Initiation in all sects is by whispering in the 
 ear of the disciple a sentence called the " man 
 tra," never to be uttered to profane ears. 
 
 The great sacraments of the Hindoos are, i. 
 The worship of spirits, progenitors, gods, vedas, 
 and men ; 2. Obsequial rites ; 3. The study of 
 the sacred books ; 4. Oblations by fire ; 5. Hos 
 pitality. There are daily, weekly, monthly, and 
 yearly duties. A Brahmin should divide his day 
 into seven equal parts, and assign to each a re 
 ligious duty. Usually, however, he spends but 
 four hours a day in devotion. Worship consists 
 in bathing, pouring out drink-offerings to de 
 ceased ancestors, repeating certain formulas, 
 making offerings of flowers, water, etc., and 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 2OI 
 
 uttering, for some time, the name of the guard 
 ian god. To facilitate the last operation a 
 rosary of the seeds of either the Tulasi or the 
 Rudrah is used, care being taken that the fore 
 finger shall not touch the beads, for this would 
 render the worshiper unholy. I have one, ob 
 tained of a Brahmin through Mr. Jackson. It 
 consists of one hundred and eight beads, on 
 which the name of Ram used to be repeated. 
 Every worshiper is marked after he has made 
 his offering, so that you can see who has paid 
 his daily devotion and before what god. The 
 Vishnavas are marked with white paint. The 
 Ramanujas draw two perpendicular white lines 
 from the root of the hair to the commencement 
 of each eyebrow, a transverse streak across the 
 root of the nose, and a perpendicular line of red 
 in the center ; they have also patches on the 
 breast and arm. Some, by means of stamps or 
 cicatrization, impress emblems on their bodies. 
 The subdivision of sects are so numerous that 
 it is said there are 84,000, each founded by a 
 Rishi. Priests are numerous. No particular 
 caste or special qualifications are requisite to 
 either a priest or Fakir, though such as are 
 Brahmins or Celibates are most respected. 
 
 Many temples are endowed, but, generally, 
 priests are supported by voluntary contribu- 
 
2O2 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 tions ; fees on occasion of marriages, births, and 
 deaths ; offerings to the manes of the departed ; 
 gifts made at the time of worship, and presents 
 offered by pilgrims at the celebrated shrines. 
 The last is a source of great revenue. The 
 Budrinath, alone, is said to receive sixty thousand 
 dollars a year. 
 
 The objects of worship are innumerable. In 
 dia is as full of reverence as the world is of 
 electricity, and worship may be excited in a 
 Hindoo as sparks from a charged and insulated 
 jar. Having no knowledge of the true God, 
 any thing may become god to them, especially 
 if it excite fear, gratitude, or admiration. Some 
 of the Sikhs of the Punjab worship the late 
 General Nicholson, whose heroism made them 
 think him an incarnation. Before his death they 
 built a temple, and set apart a priesthood for 
 him; they did not believe him when he denied 
 that he was a divinity, and they assured him, 
 when he flogged their priests, that they would 
 continue his worship though he killed them. 
 
 When the faith of Hindoos was older and 
 purer it inspired art and science. There still 
 remain many monuments of their creative gen 
 ius, such as the rock temples of the Deccan, 
 and on the island of Salsette. Now that India s 
 religion is degenerated, its science is reduced to 
 
OUR FIELD IN INDIA. 2O3 
 
 proverbs, and its art to mechanical rules. It 
 must be admitted that many of the temples in 
 our field, which are all small, are noteworthy for 
 their proportion, symmetry, and taste, and con 
 tain some good specimens of carving, especially 
 in the delineation of animal forms, while the 
 mosques, palaces, and tombs of Lucknow are 
 fine monuments of Saracenic skill ; but all these 
 are imitations. 
 
 Such, then, is our mission field. It is amply 
 protected by the civil authorities, so that life, 
 limb, and character are as secure as here. It 
 is unoccupied, save only at Tyzabad and Luck- 
 now, by any other missionary society. It is 
 accessible, being just north of the great railway 
 arch which spans the peninsula from Bombay 
 to Calcutta, and traversed with good roads and 
 telegraph lines. It is inhabited by an active 
 and energetic race of men, who, in former ages, 
 have shown a capacity for the highest achieve 
 ments in philosophy, art, and song, and who 
 are so thickly settled that they may easily be 
 reached in masses. It is healthful. There are 
 regions in which the white men can not long 
 live. Yea, let the line of graves be drawn 
 around the globe, but even then let the Sav 
 ior s command be heeded. Still we should be 
 grateful and cheerful when Providence calls us 
 
204 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 \ 
 
 to a charming and salubrious land. And In 
 dia is healthful enough for the temperate and 
 prudent, and beautiful enough for the angels 
 of God. 
 
IX. 
 
 VOYAGE TO CHINA. 
 
 T3EFORE leaving Lucknow I witnessed some 
 JJ feats of jugglery. Performances with snakes, 
 causing the ascent of balls up an inclined plain 
 made of two strings without any agency, the pull 
 ing of keys, trinkets, rings, etc., from the mouth 
 of a bystander, the putting a sword down the 
 throat, are the more common feats of the juggler. 
 They none of them struck me as supernatural, 
 though they were all difficult to account for. It 
 is said that the last is done by long practice, 
 which gradually adapts the esophagus to the 
 instrument. 
 
 After the Conference was closed the preachers 
 and their wives sat down to a sumptuous repast 
 at the house of brother Messmore. Before the 
 cloth was removed kindly greetings, of which the 
 stranger was to be the bearer, were voted to our 
 missionaries in China, and brother Baume was 
 requested, at the expense of the company, to 
 attend me to Calcutta. 
 
 205 
 
206 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 At eight o clock at night I departed in a ghary, 
 in which was a bed arranged for brother B. and 
 myself. Next morning we arrived at Cawnpore, 
 but being too late for the train we rested for a 
 time at the tavern, and here we heard the grati 
 fying news of Mr. Lincoln s re-election, which 
 produced a shout inside. At 5, P. M., we are off 
 for Calcutta, and at 12 midnight we reach Alla 
 habad, where the train stops until 2, P. M. The 
 trains run at night to avoid the heat of the day. 
 In the leading cities taverns are found, which are 
 conducted in English fashion. Here we stop at 
 Brown s. Stay in hotel, rs. 1.8; breakfast, 1.8; 
 tiffin, hot, 1.8; do., cold, i.o.o; dinner, 2 ; board 
 and lodging, per day, rs. 5 ; chota hazeree, rs. 
 i ; meals, in room, rs. I extra ; tea, per cup, rs. 
 0.4.0; coffee, 0.4.0; cherry cordial, pint, rs. 2.8; 
 spirits, per glass, rs. 0.4.0 ; wines, rs. 0.8.0 ; soda 
 water, per bottle, 0.4.0; lemonade, rs. 0.6.0; tonic 
 water, rs. 0.8.0; Champagne, rs. 5.8.0; Claret, rs. 
 3.0.0; Sherry, 3.8.0; brandy, rs. 4.0.0; beer, rs. 
 i; porter, rs. i.o.o ; Port Wine, rs. 4.0.0; Old 
 Tom, rs. 4.0.0 ; gin, per square, large, rs. 4.0.0 ; 
 a carriage and pair per day, rs. 8.0.0 ; a carriage 
 and horse, rs. 6.0.0 ; a buggy and horse, rs. 5.0.0 ; 
 billiards and bagatelle. Surely, a Christian civ 
 ilized man can find in such a place a supply for 
 all his physical necessities. 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 2QJ 
 
 At twelve we are off for Calcutta, but it is two 
 o clock before we reach the station on the other 
 side of the Jumna. At present it is difficult to 
 get freight up and down from the station to the 
 stream. This is done by coolies, who manage to 
 convey the heaviest loads by means of bamboos, 
 and are marched by the officials like a little army. 
 
 At Mogul Serai two men, representing them 
 selves as guards of the railroad, and belonging to 
 the Dinapore station, came into our carriage, or 
 car, one of them so drunk that he could not 
 stand. It was said that he had been to court as 
 a witness but was too much intoxicated to tes 
 tify. Intemperance is very common among the 
 Europeans in India, and the use of intoxicating 
 beverages almost universal. This diminishes the 
 influence of missionaries over the natives. 
 
 Riding along, we see large quantities of cotton 
 and rice on the way to market. Men in the ele 
 vated fields are gathering the rice crop, others 
 in the lowlands are sowing rice for another 
 season. 
 
 At 8 o clock, P. M., next day, we arrive at 
 Calcutta, where, according to previous arrange 
 ment, I put up at Mr. Remfrey s. Mr. R. is a 
 jeweler, who has. long resided in India. Mrs. R. 
 is the daughter of the late Rev. Mr. Young, ex- 
 President of the British Conference. She had 
 
208 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 just returned from England, bringing with her 
 three brides, one for each of the Wesleyan 
 preachers here, and one, a daughter of the "Suc 
 cessful Merchant," for a Mr. Meakins. 
 
 On Sabbath morning following, attended the 
 Wesleyan service. Mr. Highfield preached. He 
 is stationed at Barrackpore; his colleague, Mr. 
 Broadbent, resides here, but they exchange. Mr. 
 H. wears the gown and bands, reads the English 
 service, and gives the people a brief discourse 
 from manuscript. I preached in the evening. 
 The imitation of the English Church seemed to 
 me unfortunate. When you invite comparison 
 and do not excel your rival, you fall pitiably low. 
 If men want Episcopalianism they will go to 
 head-quarters for it. There is no room for an 
 other Episcopal Church, but there is plenty of 
 room for a downright Methodist one. The Wes- 
 leyans here are but beginning. They worship in 
 a hired room, have but a bare dozen of mem 
 bers, and but a few hearers. They have, how 
 ever, purchased a site for ,14,000, and expect to 
 borrow .5,000 of the Missionary Society to put 
 up a building. They receive 200 rupees a month, 
 but pay 130 of it for their hall. The preachers 
 are respectable men, and it is to be hoped that 
 many families, like Mr. Remfrey s, out of respect 
 to the religion of their fathers, will cleave to them. 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 2CX) 
 
 The Wesleyans have not invaded Northern 
 India, but are confined chiefly to Ceylon, Mad 
 ras, and the Mysore. In the cool of the evening 
 it is customary to take a walk upon the house 
 top. Here tea is served, while you stand or sit 
 enjoying a view of the city, and the peculiar 
 orange tinge of an Indian sunset. 
 
 The mosquitoes are very troublesome. The 
 temperature is 75 degrees Fahrenheit at midday, 
 and is but little below that in the morning or 
 evening. While here I met with two of the 
 missionaries of the United Presbyterians on their 
 way home from Lahore. Inquiring as to their 
 support I learned that they received, when on 
 duty, 135 rupees a month. 
 
 Mr. Broadbent tells me that he has a small 
 congregation of Madras Christians under his 
 care. They worship apart from the whites, but 
 commune with them. The prejudice against 
 color is as great as it is in America. An En 
 glishman would lose caste at once, and probably 
 be disowned by his relatives, if he were to marry 
 a native or even a Eurasian. Not a word was 
 said to me against slavery here, and some dis 
 appointment was manifested when I declared 
 
 against it. 
 
 Mr Jacobs, our Consul-General, was kind 
 
 enough to call and take me out for a ride upon 
 A 14 
 
2IO OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the strand. Mrs. Remfrey invited Dr. Mullens 
 to take tea with me, but he was out of town. 
 The Governor-General invited me to dine with 
 him. He was remarkably pleasant. I gave him 
 an opportunity of discussing the subject of our 
 war by remarking that in the Indian mutiny 
 Americans sympathized with England, but that 
 in the American rebellion England did not recip 
 rocate our sympathy. He replied, "In the begin 
 ning of the war Englishmen generally took the 
 part of the North, but in the progress of the strug 
 gle they had veered round." When I referred to 
 the election of Mr. Lincoln, and observed that 
 foreign nations had not done him justice, that he 
 was a man of wonderful sagacity, he replied, 
 " Well, if Mr. L. has made some mistakes we 
 should not blame him, for he has not been upon 
 a bed of roses." He maintains that the Sepoy 
 mutiny originated in the offense given to caste 
 by the greased cartridges ; caste and religion be 
 ing identical with the Hindoo. Sir John is evi 
 dently a great man, a wise ruler, and a true 
 patriot, and he is universally admired. He should 
 be all this, for his position is one of immense 
 power and influence. 
 
 In regard to missions his opinion is that we 
 can do little with the adult population. W^iile 
 multitudes of them have lost faith in their relig- 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 211 
 
 ion, few will apostatize. Our hope is in the 
 children. 
 
 December 2ist I embarked on the Thunder. 
 She is one of the vessels which the cyclone cast 
 high and dry upon the shore, and she had just 
 been refitted for sea. Being late in getting oft 
 we anchor for the night at Garden Reach, within 
 sight of the palace of the late king of Oude. 
 He lives in fine style, and although he receives 
 thirteen lacs of rupees per annum he is half a 
 million in debt. He is exceedingly wasteful, and 
 it is said he has been known to pay ^500 for a 
 bird. Our passengers are few; some of them 
 Armenian Christians from the neighborhood of 
 Mt. Ararat, some Jews from Bagdad. Of Arme 
 nians, there are said to be 300 families in Cal 
 cutta. As we proceed down the bay the north 
 east monsoon blows, giving us a beam wind, and 
 keeping all passengers from the table but myself. 
 Our sailors are Lascars, and speak Bengali. 
 They lie down, wherever they may be when their 
 time of rest comes, and sleep. It is a singular 
 sight to see servants sleeping by day in the halls, 
 gateways, parks, and even sidewalks of Indian 
 cities, sometimes under a broiling sun. When 
 ever an Indian has a few moments to spare he 
 spends it in this way. 
 
 The navigation of the Hoogly is very danger- 
 
212 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 ous. India has no good harbors but Calcutta, 
 and that can not be approached without a hun 
 dred miles of perilous sailing. Pulo Penang and 
 Singapore are excellent harbors, and accessible 
 at all times. 
 
 On Sabbath the crew is mustered to see that 
 all are present ; they appear neat and clean ; 
 some of them are in showy garments. They 
 have but one name apiece, and that is usually 
 short. Several of them had come on board as 
 substitutes for others, and had forgotten the 
 names to which they had originally answered, 
 which caused embarrassment to them and amuse 
 ment to us. Lascars are fast taking the place 
 of European sailors in these seas ; they are obe 
 dient, submissive, and cheap. The change is 
 attended with some friction. 
 
 A number of European sailors being out of 
 employment at Hong Kong, attacked and de 
 stroyed the boarding houses of their Malay rivals. 
 When the police came to produce order, the 
 soldiers re-enforced the disturbers, and a serious 
 row ensued. 
 
 The Lascars are very devotional at times, but 
 often sportive. It is amusing to see them wash 
 ing each other with the hose after the decks are 
 cleaned. 
 
 Our crew consists of fifty seamen, thirty-five 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 21$ 
 
 firemen, and eight or ten cooks and waiters, 
 The steersmen are from Manilla, the gig men 
 from China, the firemen from Chittagong, the 
 rest from Bengal, except a few from Muscat in 
 Arabia. All are Mussulmans, except the Chinese, 
 who are Buddhists, and the cooks, who are Chris 
 tians Catholics. The officers are English. 
 
 I preached to the Captain, first and second 
 mates, engineer, and three passengers about all 
 on board who understood English. I asked the 
 Captain if he had prayers when he had no 
 clergymen. "No," said he, "we. so habitually 
 violate Divine Law that it would seem like 
 hypocrisy." 
 
 At Christmas dinner we had a cake festooned 
 with flowers, surmounted by an image of Santa 
 Claus, and surrounded by bottles of Champagne 
 and the usual dishes of turkey and plum-pud 
 ding. Our vessel is an opium steamer. There 
 are two lines of these steamers running in con 
 nection the one conveying the sales of one 
 month, the other those of the next. We have 
 on board 2,500 chests, each weighing 250 pounds 
 gross. We are to leave forty-two chests at Pe- 
 nang for the local consumption. Opium is pro 
 duced in India in increasing quantities, and the 
 demand for it is extending over the East. The 
 Government advertises 5,355 chests for sale each 
 
214 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 month of the year 1865, except December, when 
 the sales are to be 5,362. This is an increase 
 on the sales of 1864, and a great increase on 
 those of 1863. The opium sold at Calcutta is 
 chiefly from the districts of Bahar and Benares, 
 of which the last is generally preferred. Each 
 chest contains a ticket giving an analysis of its 
 contents, and a warrant of them signed by a 
 Government officer. Formerly the price of 
 opium fluctuated much, and there was great 
 gambling in it, but latterly the price has been 
 firmly maintained. It is now worth about $510 
 a chest, at Hong Kong. Budaon, the seat of 
 one of our missions, is in the opium district. 
 The process of raising it is simple. The cap 
 sules of the poppy being cut, the opium oozes 
 out, and is gathered and sold without much 
 preparation. The Government monopolizes the 
 business ; it allows no one to raise it without a 
 license. It pays five rupees for two pounds, and 
 sells it at a great advance, thus keeping up the 
 revenue. Many natives have conscience enough 
 to refuse to raise the drug. 
 
 These opium vessels bring back, as their re 
 turn cargo, besides money, English bale goods, 
 spices, camphor, etc. 
 
 The coal used by these ships is English. 
 Bengal coal is inferior and bulky. The coal on 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 21$ 
 
 the island of Labuon is excellent, and yet the 
 company owning it can not compete with the 
 English in the Eastern markets. 
 
 A part of our cargo is a flock of sheep. It is 
 said these animals can not be raised at Singapore, 
 though they easily fatten there. ^The shepherds 
 attending them on shipboard water each with a 
 bottle, which is said to be necessary in order that 
 each may have his portion. 
 
 These vessels must be profitable. They get 
 twenty-five rupees for each chest of opium they 
 carry, plus one rupee returned as brokerage. 
 The return cargo also pays well. 
 
 And now we are at anchor in Penan g, extend 
 ing from latitude 50 degrees, longitude 100 de 
 grees. It is about fifteen miles long, with an 
 average breadth of twelve miles, with an area of 
 one hundred and sixty square miles. There are 
 perhaps ten thousand acres in fruit-trees, ten 
 thousand in paddy fields, and from seven to ten 
 thousand in spices, nutmegs, cloves, etc. There 
 is a mountain range of granite in the center of 
 the island, with level plains on each side, bor 
 dered on the shore with cocoa-nut-trees. The 
 pine and the butter-nut flourish ; tin is found in 
 the mountains ; its exports of spices, cotton, to- 
 .bacco, coffee, sugar, and rice amount annually to 
 two or three million dollars. Horned cattle and 
 
2l6 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 pigs are raised to advantage here. The seasons 
 scarcely exhibit any change, the thermometer 
 seldom rising above 90 or falling below 80 de 
 grees Fahrenheit at midday. Flowers, and fruits, 
 and fragrance are perennial, and the earth is as 
 beautiful in December as in May. By ascending 
 the hills you get a cooler temperature by ten 
 degrees. Our common vegetables, such as the 
 potato and cabbage, can not be raised. The peo 
 ple would gladly exchange pine-apples for pota 
 toes in equal quantities. A strange disease has 
 overtaken the clove and nutmeg trees, and they 
 are fast dying. The island was purchased by 
 Great Britain of Captain Light, who received it 
 as a marriage portion with his wife, the daughter 
 of the king of Queda, and here is a British fort 
 with a regiment of Sepoys. Georgetown, the 
 port, is the capital and seat of government of the 
 strait s settlement. It contains a population of 
 2,200. The island, with a strip on the main 
 land opposite, of which the English have the 
 sovereignty, contains about 100,000. The Brit 
 ish, though the rulers, are few. The original 
 inhabitants are Malays, but since the island fell 
 under British rule Hindostanese, Burmese, Siam 
 ese, and above all, Chinese, have entered in. The 
 last are generally merchants, manufacturers, and 
 mechanics. They frequently marry into Malay 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 2 1/ 
 
 families, and from this union the more industri 
 ous and honest citizens arise. The Malays form 
 the lowest stratum of society, the Chinese the 
 highest, the Indian the middle class. The last 
 are usually coolies from Madras, who are at 
 tracted by high wages thirteen cents a day 
 and after laying up money usually return to In 
 dia to enjoy it. The European population, though 
 small, consists of representatives from many na 
 tions, English, Dutch, Portuguese, and French. 
 The Malay language is the Lingua Franca of the 
 East. It is soft and to a great extent monosyl 
 labic. The people are fond of figures of speech ; 
 thus, the sun is the eye of day, the police officer, 
 the man of eyes. The Catholics have here a 
 bishop, a cathedral, and a number of priests, 
 some of whom spend their lives in self-denying 
 labors in the jungle, and of course make progress 
 among the people. I was told that the Church 
 of England minister is of the Colenso school. 
 The London Missionary Society had a station 
 here, but upon the opening of China they aban 
 doned it. Germans occupied the abandoned sta 
 tion until death carried them off. The premises 
 are now in the hands of Mr. Chapman, of Bris 
 tol, who, with Mr. Grant, is preaching and carry 
 ing on an orphanage on Mr. Miiller s plan. 
 Thus far, he says, the Lord has sustained him. 
 
2l8 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 He professes to be of no sect, though he evi 
 dently sympathizes with the Plymouth brethren. 
 Mr. Bain, our consul at Penang, was very polite, 
 and took me to his house for dinner. Here, on 
 the 29th of December, we have peas and as 
 paragus with our meats, water-melons and plan 
 tains with our dessert. 
 
 The Armenian Church is very powerful, widely 
 extended, and greatly influential. It is found in 
 all the great cities of Asia Minor, Egypt, India, 
 China, and the eastern islands. Its members are 
 generally merchants, and are often men of wealth, 
 talents, and enterprise. They are not Protestant, 
 though they are separated from the Greek Church 
 in consequence of the accidental absence of their 
 Bishop from the Council of Chalcedon, whose de 
 crees they never received. A majority of the 
 Church, as early as the sixth century, adopted 
 monophysite views. They insert four apocryphal 
 books among their canonical ; namely, the his 
 tory of Joseph and Asenath, and the Testament 
 of the Twelve Patriarchs, which they add to the 
 Old Testament, and the Epistle of the Corinthi 
 ans to St. Paul, and the third Epistle of Paul to 
 the Corinthians to the New. 
 
 With some of the Armenians on board we 
 have free conversation. They say their creed 
 differs in nothing essential from that of the 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 2ig 
 
 Greek Church. When asked why they do not 
 return to it, they reply, " We have no means of 
 preserving our nationality but by our religion and 
 language." They claim that the country origin 
 ally extending from the east side of the Euphra 
 tes to the Koordistan Mountains, was the primi 
 tive seat of the human race, and that their 
 language was that of Adam, and they bring 
 many arguments for this opinion. They say 
 their people embraced Christianity under the la 
 bors of St. Bartholomew and St. Thaddeus of 
 the apostolic college. They, after having suffered 
 a gradual religious declension, in the year 318 
 religion was revived among them under the la 
 bors of an apostle of their own, St. Gregory. 
 Armenians now claim three millions, of whom 
 perhaps ten thousand are scattered abroad, the 
 rest are in their primitive seats, Georgia, Persia, 
 and Armenia. Like the Poles, they are parti 
 tioned between three great empires, the Russian, 
 Persian, and Turkish. They are somewhat su 
 perstitious, and lay great stress upon the fasts of 
 Wednesday and Friday. They are governed ec 
 clesiastically by a Patriarch. The Patriarch ap 
 points the Archbishops one at Jerusalem and 
 one at Constantinople as well as the bishops 
 and the prelates of Julpha, who control the Ar 
 menian Churches of the East. At that place is 
 
220 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 a college of priests. These are sent out to the 
 Churches of Bombay, Calcutta, Penang, Singa 
 pore, Batavia, etc. They go without their fami 
 lies, and remain five years, when they return to 
 their homes and others are sent out in their 
 places. Although the Churches have no voice in 
 the selection of their pastors they are well pleased 
 with the itinerancy. As the compensation in 
 their Churches is unequal an effort is made to 
 equalize by sending a clergyman whose last ap 
 pointment was poor to a good one, and vice 
 versa. In two instances, namely, at Penang and 
 Calcutta, this itinerancy was recently interfered 
 with, but in both cases, the interference being 
 injurious, was abandoned and regretted. The 
 Church at Penang consists of only one family, 
 Mr. Anthony s, and pays fifty rupees a month 
 besides furnishing house and servant for the 
 priest. The Church at Batavia is rich ; hence, 
 formerly, the priest sent to Penang after remain 
 ing at Penang three years was sent to Batavia 
 to spend the remaining two years of his term. 
 The Church of Calcutta being rich a pastor so 
 licited and obtained a permanent settlement, but, 
 growing proud and arrogant, insulted his supe 
 rior and was excommunicated. The compensa 
 tion allowed the priests of Calcutta is 2,400 
 rupees a year, $1,200 each. They reside in the 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 221 
 
 church, and are three in number. The Arme 
 nians are liberal. The Church at Calcutta, for 
 instance, disburses* 400 rupees a month to the 
 poor from property received by will. They often 
 endow their churches. As we entered Singapore 
 it rained so copiously as to interfere with our 
 view of its magnificent harbor. The shores of 
 the mainland and the beautiful islands, both those 
 off the coast of Sumatra and those to the south 
 of Singapore, are charming. They do not expe 
 rience the droughts from which England suffers, 
 but enjoy frequent rains, so that their surface all 
 the year round is like an English lawn in Spring. 
 Going on shore I called upon Mr. Stone, the 
 American consul, who gave me a note to Rev. 
 Mr. Keasbury. Getting into a cab I drove 
 through the city, which has an appearance of 
 bustle and thrift ; the Chinese being both mer 
 chants and mechanics ; the stores and the shops 
 of the artisans were side by side ; the barbers 
 were at work out-of-doors ; the cocks were crow 
 ing in the stores, and pigs were exposed for sale 
 in baskets. The surface of the country, its hedge 
 rows, its trees, and its gardens were beautifully 
 green. Many of the coolies were seen at work, 
 naked from the umbilicus upward and from the 
 thighs downward. The Madrasses, or Klings, as 
 they are called, are the boatmen and the most 
 
222 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 industrious of the laborers. They have a dislike 
 to their rivals, the Chinese, which gives rise to 
 frequent rows between them.* 
 
 Mr. Keasbury was one of the missionaries of 
 the London Missionary Society. When it or 
 dered its forces here to China he determined to 
 remain, and for fifteen years he has been labor 
 ing on his own account, sustained by local sub 
 scriptions. I judge, however, that Protestantism 
 has nothing of importance here. New- Year s on 
 shipboard was ushered in by ringing the bells, 
 shouting, laughing, frolicking, which commencing 
 on the quarter-deck was soon removed to the 
 main deck and afterward the forecastle. The 
 passengers had all left ; the rain descended in 
 torrents ; the ship took in freight all day, although 
 it was Sabbath ; it was too inclement to be on 
 deck, too dark to read, and there was no one to 
 converse with ; the rain coming through the sky 
 light drove me to my state-room. 
 
 The Christians have some good churches in 
 Singapore, nor are they altogether inactive. The 
 Ladies Bible Society distributes a large number 
 of Bibles and tracts, but their operations, al 
 though extended over the Indian Ocean from 
 Borneo to Ceylon, and from Bali to Siam, and 
 embracing English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, 
 Tamil, Malay, Hindostani, Teloogoo, and Boo- 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 22 3 
 
 gese beneficiaries, do not cost over $1,300 a 
 year. 
 
 Now near the equator, the north star is out 
 of sight, the southern cross in view. We are off. 
 The wind is high and contrary ; the white waves 
 dash against the shores of Sumatra, Malacca, and 
 especially Bintang and the reef of rocks extend 
 ing from it to the light-house. The rain pours 
 down. My boots being so wet that I could not 
 get them on I borrowed a pair of the captain 
 and ventured on deck when the rain relaxed, but, 
 having left my port-hole open, when I returned I 
 found my bed, bedding, books, hat-box, and trunk 
 saturated. Day after day might be written rough, 
 rougher, roughest. The "Thunder" bears up 
 nobly against the monsoon. The waves roll 
 over the quarter-deck ; one can take no exercise ; 
 the ports being closed the air of the cabin is 
 impure ; the ship is filled, even the state-rooms, 
 with opium, fish, and melted ghee, part of which 
 is rancid. The small-pox appears among the 
 sailors, and the sick man, in order to prevent the 
 spread of the disease, was brought into the cabin 
 and placed in a state-room near mine ; we have 
 no physician on board ; the thermometer stands 
 steadily at 85 degrees Fahrenheit. On we go 
 through the Palawan Pass, with shoals and break 
 ers on both sides. Now and then we see the 
 
224 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 sun, but the clouds return after the rain. At 
 length the storm seems to do its worst. The 
 jib-boom is carried away ; the figure-head is 
 clashed to pieces ; the cry of a man overboard 
 pierces our ears ; the frightened Lascars cry 
 Allah ! allah ! and throw a life-preserver, but the 
 man misses it ; the captain runs astern, and with 
 encouraging words throws a rope; at the lucky 
 moment when the ship lurches the sailor seizes it 
 and is saved. A moment more he had been lost ; 
 for no boat could have lived a minute in the sea. 
 
 Passing the Royal Charlotte Shoals the sea 
 abated, but a ring around the moon portended a 
 renewal of the storm. 
 
 On Sabbath we had service in the cabin by 
 my urgent solicitation. A few officers of the 
 boat attended. 
 
 Now we are in the Palawan Straits, with shoals 
 on each side of us. Three sailors are on the 
 yards of the foremast all day, looking out for 
 breakers, and we frequently stop for soundings. 
 My head, which was bruised against the guards, 
 and my arm, which was skinned against my 
 berth, begin to feel better. 
 
 We carry cannon as a protection against pi 
 rates, who are partly Chinese and partly Malays. 
 The northern coast of Borneo is a great resort 
 for them. Sir James Brooke s settlement at Sara- 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 22$ 
 
 nac has done great service in putting them down. 
 He keeps a gun-boat, which sails to Singapore 
 semi-monthly, and which sometimes -pursues dep 
 redators, though it receives no reward for its serv 
 ice. On one of these occasions, we are told, the 
 Bishop of Labuan was on board and did good 
 execution with his rifle. These pirates usually 
 sell their native prisoners into slavery, but kill 
 their British. The British Government should 
 take Sir James Brooke s settlement under its 
 protection. 
 
 We have probably made a mistake in sailing 
 by the Pass ; we could hardly have had worse 
 weather by the direct route, which would have 
 been five hundred miles shorter. 
 
 Four more sailors fall sick. The sailor and 
 blacksmith are extemporizing a jib-boom. The 
 storm having abated we set the spanker and tri- 
 sail to steady the ship. Now we are in sight 
 of Mandaro and several other of the Philippine 
 islands. 
 
 The captain one evening, having caught one 
 of his Lascars smoking opium, captures his pipe, 
 lamp box, etc., and notifies him that he can not 
 allow the practice, because it renders the men 
 useless, subjects the ship to great expense; for 
 when the stock of opium gives out the smokers 
 can be kept alive only by expensive medicines, 
 A 15 
 
226 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 such as camphor, and exposes the smokers to 
 great temptation, especially when in loading or 
 unloading a chest is broken and the balls spilled. 
 
 As we get near to Manilla we have a clear 
 clay and a glorious sunset. 
 
 Long confinement, bad air, resulting from the 
 cargo and the sick room, and depression of spir 
 its began to take away my appetite and disorder 
 my system. The table, at the same time, grew 
 less inviting; the red ants were in the bread; 
 they crept out of the rice, the sugar, the nuts ; 
 they crawled over the plates and the cloth, the 
 floors and the berths. 
 
 Now we are abreast Manilla. We coast the 
 Island of Luzon nearly all day, charmed with the 
 beautiful shores, the green and luxurious vegeta 
 tion, and the hills in the distance. 
 
 Having passed the island the storm rages 
 afresh. Sails are torn, crockery broken, rain, 
 wind, horrors on horrors, darkness, thick dark 
 ness! Next day storm continues without abate 
 ment. Toward noon tripsail and topsail are up 
 but reefed, and the wind is bearing us at eleven 
 knots an hour, and promises to bring us to port 
 at 4, P. M. But now the wind veers and the 
 storm increases. Four o clock comes and no 
 land in sight ; five o clock, and no land ; six, and 
 no land. We spend the night outside the harbor 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 22 / 
 
 waiting for the clay. Morning comes and by nine 
 o clock we are ready to land. I was the only 
 passenger. As I stepped into the Chinese boat 
 all alone the coolies got into a quarrel over me, 
 and accidentally threw me down and hurt me, 
 but not seriously. I could not remonstrate, for I 
 knew not Chinese, and could only use my cane. 
 Having landed I cried out "Oriental," and was 
 soon piloted thither ; coolies carrying my lug 
 gage behind me. Calling for a room I was shown 
 into a narrow apartment without furniture, save 
 a bed, table, and chair. It had a hole for a win 
 dow near the ceiling and eight small panes of 
 glass, equal to about two of our common ones. 
 I called for chicken broth, but what was brought 
 me was more like brine than broth. I sent for a 
 physician, but his prescription was unfortunate. 
 The mail was to go to Foo Chow at eight o clock, 
 but I was unable to go. Wrote to Mr. Conger, 
 American Consul, but he had gone to Macao. 
 As a last resort dropped a line to Rev. Dr. 
 Legge, who kindly called and took me to his 
 house. Next day being Sabbath, went to church 
 and heard Dr. Legge in the morning. He an 
 nounced me for the night, but I was unable to 
 fill the appointment. Dr. Kane was called in 
 to see me, and pronounced that I was sinking 
 from fatigue and want of nourishment. Next 
 
228 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 day went in a chair to the Consulate, the public 
 gardens, the terraces overlooking the harbor, and 
 returned fatigued but better. In a few days, un 
 der the good management of Dr. Kane and the 
 kind treatment of. Dr. Legge s excellent Chris 
 tian family, I was able to start for Foo Chow by 
 the Undine. I did not leave until I had called 
 upon the chaplain, Dr. Irvine, a jaunt of four 
 miles, and taken a general survey of the city. 
 Bishop Smith, of the English Church, has gone 
 home discouraged. He was a weak man ; for he 
 refused to serve as Vice-President of an Asiatic 
 Society because it put Dr. Legge upon a par 
 with him. Some years since the chaplaincy of 
 Victoria was exchanged for a parish in Hamp 
 shire. The Hampshire incumbent, being uncom 
 fortable, was glad to get safely out of England, 
 while the colonial chaplain, having got tired of 
 the East, would have been glad to get back with 
 out a parish, and doubly glad to get back with 
 one. There was no power to unsettle the ar 
 rangement after it had received the sanction of 
 Government. 
 
 The missions here are, first, Dr. Legge s. It 
 has one hundred members, many of them in good 
 circumstances, and three preaching places ; sec 
 ond, the Church Mission, which has fifty mem 
 bers ; third, the German or Basle Missions, say 
 
VOYAGE TQ CHINA. 2 29 
 
 thirty members ; fourth, the Roman Catholic Mis 
 sion, which is not doing much. 
 
 It was a painful thing to land sick in this great 
 empire without a knowledge of the language and 
 without a single friend. Mr. Piercy, of the Wes- 
 leyan Mission, came to China without knowing 
 any man in the empire except one who was dead 
 when he landed, and without having any re 
 sources of his own to draw upon, or any Mis 
 sionary Society to sustain him. He was a local 
 preacher, who visited China from a sort of im 
 pulse within which he could not resist. Dr. 
 Legge kindly took him to his home, where he 
 was overjoyed with his reception. He worked 
 for his living, learned the Chinese language, and 
 as soon as he could converse in it began his mis 
 sionary labors. A crazy man in England wrote 
 to him that he would sustain him, and that as an 
 earnest of what he would do he had deposited to 
 his credit ;ioo with the Wesleyan Missionary 
 Society, for which he could draw. He showed 
 the letter to a banker, who took his check and 
 cashed it. When the draft with Mr. Piercy s 
 letter arrived the Society inquired into the cir 
 cumstances, and were so well pleased with the 
 result that they paid the draft and adopted Mr. 
 P. as their missionary. He is now superintend 
 ent of the missions in Canton. 
 
230 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 It is delightful to find a friend in a foreign 
 land. I can not express the gratitude I feel to 
 Dr. Legge. By all the missions I was kindly 
 received, but by none so kindly as by those of 
 the London Missionary Society. Their mission 
 aries seem to be men of large heart, large cul 
 ture, broad views, and catholic feelings, and their 
 wives admirable specimens of exalted Christian 
 womanhood. 
 
 During my stay at Hong Kong I met Dr. 
 Kerr of the American Mission at Canton, Mr. 
 Kongar, the American Consul at Hong Kong, 
 Mr. Jones, American Consul at Macao, Dr. East- 
 lake, the Principal of St. Paul s College, and the 
 missionaries of the Church Mission. 
 
 In my walks about the city I called at the 
 Catholic Cathedral, and found in connection with 
 it, i. An English school numbering forty-five 
 scholars, some of them Eurasians ; 2. A Portu 
 guese school, not so large; 3. A Chinese school, 
 in which are ten young men training for the 
 priesthood. The Cathedral is plain and spacious. 
 It contains a marble arch which was presented 
 by Victor Emmanuel. My next point was Miss 
 Baxter s school. She has about thirty boys and 
 as many girls, and is sustained partly by fees and 
 partly by donations. Next, the Orphan Asylum, 
 sustained by the ladies of Berlin. They have 
 
VOYAGE TO CHINA. 23! 
 
 thirty infants in care, one of which has lost both 
 feet by frost. Near by is a Diocesan school, in 
 a building of imposing appearance, though it has 
 not done much yet. 
 
 From thence we proceeded to St. Paul s Col 
 lege; a fine building, the front of which was in 
 tended for the Bishop s palace. They have a 
 small class, say of sixteen or twenty boys, whom 
 they are teaching English in hope to employ 
 them in the ministry ; but they complain that as 
 soon as the youth get acquainted with the En 
 glish language they go into secular business as 
 clerks, etc. The Catholics have the advantage 
 over the English Church in this respect ; they 
 teach their young pupils Latin only, which is of 
 no use to them in secular business. The Ger 
 mans have a similar advantage. 
 
 The English Mission only claims forty Chinese 
 communicants. 
 
 Now we are off for Foo Chow. The boat is a 
 beauty, the captain a gentleman. Next day we 
 arrive at Double Island. Here Mr. Johnston, a 
 missionary from Maine, resides. He occupies 
 very good premises. His wife teaches a board 
 ing-school, which is independent, and is sup 
 ported, in part, by the labors of the girls. When 
 Mr. J. first entered upon duty, in 1848, he found 
 the prejudice against foreigners intense; arising 
 
232 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 from the coolie slave-trade, of which this island 
 was the seat. Bin: the influence of this is grad 
 ually subsiding. He has baptized forty since he 
 arrived, and thinks his prospect fair. He is, 
 however, about to remove his location, as the for 
 eigners have deserted the island and gone to 
 Swatow, and the natives are following them, so 
 that the island will soon be nearly deserted. 
 There is here a small temple of polished granite, 
 admirably carved in alto relievo. It is to the 
 goddess of Mercy, or Queen of Heaven, and re 
 minds one of Mariolatry and the resemblance 
 between Buddhism and Romanism. 
 
 On we go to Swatow, where we remain some 
 time. It is a poor-looking place, on a low strip 
 of land with here and there a green spot, but 
 beyond that, presenting the appearance which 
 the whole coast does of cold granite. Swatow 
 contains about 20,000 inhabitants, a small num 
 ber of whom are Europeans, who, however, are 
 increasing. The custom-house officers are Brit 
 ish. Mr. Hart has the general superintendence of 
 them. Baron Meriton, a Frenchman, is collector 
 at Foo Chow. January ist we arrived at Amoy, 
 in the neighborhood of which was an insurgent 
 force, that caused much uneasiness. We were 
 all day discharging cargo, the most valuable of 
 which was opium, though there was grain of 
 
VO YA GE TO CHINA . 233 
 
 various kinds, chiefly different species of pulse. 
 Here is a mission superintended by Mr. Stronach. 
 The shipping in the harbor is nearly all junks, 
 attractive by their gaudy decorations in anticipa 
 tion of New-Year, which in China begins the 
 twenty-sixth of the month, January, and remark 
 able for the cannon they carry, which is said to be 
 a necessary defense against pirates in these wa 
 ters. The foreign shipping is mostly English 
 not an American flag to be seen. Much of the 
 shipping is damaged, probably by the typhoon. 
 
 Next day we are off, and on the following 
 morning we are approaching the mouth of the 
 Min. It was Sabbath, and I proposed preaching, 
 but we could not get more than three or four to 
 gether, and as the captain could not leave the 
 deck because the navigation was dangerous, he 
 deemed it best to decline. The perilous ap 
 proach to the Min is a serious drawback to the 
 commerce of Foo Chow. Now we are in the tor 
 tuous stream. Foo Chow is about forty miles up. 
 When within twelve miles, at Pagoda Island, we 
 come to anchor. The hills on each side of the 
 river look cold and barren, yet they are terraced 
 to the top, and in Summer present an appearance 
 of luxuriant vegetation. The cultivation is mostly 
 by hand. The irrigation is sometimes artificial ; 
 sometimes by springs in the mountain-sides. 
 
234 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 Here and there is a tomb cut out of the granite. 
 A boat belonging to Russel & Co. came along 
 side to convey me to the city. Eleven oarsmen 
 strike their oars into the blue waters, but soon 
 they drop them with a shout. A favoring breeze 
 had arisen, and rilling the yellow sails it soon 
 brought us to our wharf. Obtaining a chair we 
 passed through a crowded street, very narrow 
 and paved with stone. Merchants were very 
 busy on each side, and appeared to have a great 
 variety of business. Suddenly, turning under an 
 arch, we rise by a long flight of stone steps to 
 the house of Mr. Maclay. The family were ab 
 sent, but in a few minutes came home from 
 church. 
 
 Weary, wan, ghost-like, 20,000 miles and more 
 from home, the sight of an American, a brother, 
 a minister was almost too much for me. I was 
 at home. Here was brother Maclay, as kind as 
 a natural brother could be, and Mrs. Maclay, as 
 considerate as a sister or a mother; here was a 
 fireside where the Bible was read, and happy 
 Christian children joined in the songs of Zion. 
 It was an overcoming joy, and the silent tears 
 stole down my wan cheeks as I sat back in my 
 chair and leaned my head against the wall. 
 
X. 
 
 OUR CHINA MISSION. 
 
 IN this chapter I propose to give a view of 
 our China Mission as I found it in the year 
 1865, touching missionaries, mission property, lo 
 cation, and general prospects of usefulness. 
 
 The mission force is as follows : Rev. Mr. 
 Maclay and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Gibson, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Baldwin, Mr. and Mrs. Sites, and the Misses 
 Woolston. The latter are sisters in charge of 
 the girls orphanage; sensible, neat, devout, well 
 educated, and thoroughly devoted to their work. 
 Mr. Sites is a man of imposing appearance, good 
 attainments, ardent piety, strong attachments to 
 the Church, and full consecration to his mission. 
 He exceeds the expectations of his friends in the 
 facility with which he acquires the Chinese lan 
 guage, and the influence he exerts over the peo 
 ple. Mr. Baldwin is scholarly, and has a mind 
 keen, rapid, well fitted for the literary labor of 
 the mission. Mr. Gibson : s an able missionary, 
 
 235 
 
236 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 and it is greatly to be regretted that the failing 
 health of his wife should render it necessary for 
 him to return. Mr. Maclay, the superintendent, 
 is worthy of his place. He has a quick, well- 
 educated, and well-disciplined mind, and to hab 
 its of business and a heart for his work, he joins 
 correct judgment and a strong will. Yet, with 
 his great firmness he has great kindness, and he 
 avoids all parade of authority. Careful investi 
 gation proves his administration to have been 
 judicious throughout. Of the happy wives now 
 in health and in the prime of life of these good 
 men, I need only say, May God long preserve 
 them to his Church ! One brother, (Martin,) 
 who was active in the mission when I started to 
 it, was in his grave when I arrived. The cholera 
 carried him off, and one of his children with him. 
 His widow was in the mission, inquiring what 
 was God s will concerning her, and had just con 
 cluded before I left to return to the United 
 States. The last words of brother Martin were, 
 " Tell my friends at home that it pays to be 
 religious." 
 
 It will be a satisfaction to the Church to know 
 that our missionaries are comfortably situated. 
 They have good houses and furniture, and are 
 amply supplied with the necessaries and comforts 
 of life. The number of servants usually em- 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 237 
 
 ployed by a missionary in China is five ; namely, 
 cook, waiter, cooly for rough work, washerman, 
 and nurse. Each receives $3.50 per month and 
 boards himself. 
 
 There is in the city, besides the missionaries, 
 a considerable Christian society, consisting of 
 a number of English, French, and American of 
 ficials and merchants, and several very respect 
 able physicians. 
 
 The native force in our mission last year was 
 as follows : 
 
 NATIVE HELPERS. Hu long Mi, Tang leu K ong, Hu 
 Po Mi, Li lu Mi, Ling Ching Ting, Li Tai Sing, Yeh Ing 
 Kvvang, Li Seng Mi, Hu Sing Mi, Ngu Siu Mi, Hu Hieng 
 Mi, Li Cha Mi. 
 
 CHAPEL KEEPERS. Li Taik Ong, Ting Neng Seng, 
 Ung Sing La, Ting Neng Taik, Sie Chai Mi, Ung Sieu 
 Mi, Wong Heng T ung, Ngok Hing Liong, Wong Taik 
 Kwong. 
 
 SCHOOL TEACHERS. Wong T ai Hung, Ling Kie Ping, 
 Ting K aik K ung, Tang K eng Ming, Ting Ka Ch ung, 
 Sie Chung Chung. 
 
 The work, for the present, is divided into cir 
 cuits as follows : 
 
 I. Nantai circuit, with three appointments ; 
 namely, Tienang Tong, in the southern part of 
 the city of Foo Chow, and two out-stations ; 
 namely, Changlok and Yeuping. At the first 
 brother Hu Po Mi has been laboring. The latter 
 
238 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 is a prefectural city, where we have been seeking 
 to gain an entrance, though under much opposi 
 tion and difficulty. 
 
 II. South Ta Chan circuit, with the following 
 appointments : Ching Sing Ting, (in the city,) 
 Lien Kong, (a neighboring city where native 
 helpers have been employed,) Mingan, (a city be 
 tween the other two, which is occasionally visited, 
 and where books and tracts are distributed as 
 opportunity offers.) 
 
 III. North Foo Chow circuit, containing East- 
 street Church, in the city, and no other appoint 
 ment, although the missionary organized a class 
 at Tien long, twenty-five miles distant, and vis 
 ited, in company with brother Sites and some 
 other native helpers, the district cities of Ku- 
 cheng, Long Wong, and many other places new 
 to Protestant missionaries. 
 
 IV. Western circuit, consisting of Ngukang, 
 Yeh long, and other adjacent places. The mis 
 sionary has been very enterprising, making ex 
 cursions with native helpers, preaching and dis 
 tributing books and tracts, and has opened a new 
 place of preaching; namely, Minchiang. 
 
 V. South Nantai circuit, consisting of Sieu 
 Liang, in the suburbs of Foo Chow, and the 
 Hokch ang district, south of the city. In both 
 places a chapel is found. 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 239 
 
 The plan of the work for the year was as 
 follows : 
 
 1. EAST Foo CHOW CIRCUIT, comprising the Min and 
 Changlok districts: S. L. Baldwin, Missionary; Tang leu 
 K ong, Hu long Mi, Hu Sing Mi, native helpers. 
 
 2. NANTAI CIRCUIT, comprising Hokch ang and Ingkok 
 districts, O. Gibson, Missionary ; Yeh Ing Kwang, Ling 
 Ching Ting, native helpers. 
 
 3. NORTH Foo CHOW CIRCUIT, comprising Long Wong 
 and Lien Kong districts : R. S. Maclay, Missionary ; Hu 
 Po Mi, Ngu Siu Mi, Li Tai Sing, native helpers. 
 
 4. WESTERN CIRCUIT, comprising Aukwang and Min- 
 ch iang districts : Nathan Sites, Missionary ; Li lu Mi, Li 
 Seng Mi, Li Cha Mi, native helpers. 
 
 5. INTERIOR CIRCUIT, comprising the Kuch eng and 
 Pingnang districts : missionary to be supplied ; Hu Hieng 
 Mi, native helper. 
 
 6. BOYS BOARDING-SCHOOL Otis Gibson, Principal. 
 
 7. GIRLS BOARDING-SCHOOL Miss Beulah Woolston, 
 Preceptress ; Miss S. H. Woolston, Assistant. 
 
 8. PRINTING-OFFICE S. L. Baldwin, Superintendent. 
 
 9. TRANSLATING COMMITTEE R. S. Maclay, Otis 
 Gibson. 
 
 10. FOUNDLING ASYLUM Mrs. H. C. Maclay. 
 
 11. AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL Mrs. Ettie E. Bald 
 win. 
 
 We have begun our literary labors auspi 
 ciously. A colloquial New Testament has been 
 published, with a colored map of Palestine, and a 
 list of the miracles, parables, and discourses of 
 Christ. A revised edition will soon appear. The 
 work has been adopted by all the Protestant mis 
 sions in the city, and it has been translated 
 
240 
 
 OUR ORIENTAL All SS IONS. 
 
 chiefly by our own missionaries, assisted by those 
 of the Presbyterian Board. Dr. Maclay has pre 
 pared an English and Chinese dictionary in the 
 Foo Chow dialect, alphabetically arranged. Our 
 Discipline has been printed during the year, and 
 also the Methodist Hymn-Book, a small arithme 
 tic by brother Gibson, and a monthly record. 
 
 The expenses of the office for the year were 
 $1,379.90. The receipts were, from the Amer 
 ican Bible Society, $966.41 ; American Board of 
 Missions, $133.27; for English printing, from 
 mercantile community, $450.65. Besides numer- 
 erous copies of the Methodist Catechism, General 
 Rules and Ritual, and minor matters, our print 
 ing-office issued during the year of 
 
 I. Scriptures. 
 
 Copies. 
 
 Pages. 
 
 Colloquial Matthew, 
 
 4,000 
 
 208,000 
 
 Classical " ... 
 
 6,000 
 
 252,000 
 
 Reference " . 
 
 500 
 
 40,000 
 
 Gospels and Acts, 
 
 500 
 
 158,000 
 
 Galatians and Hebrews, . 
 
 2,500 
 
 1 70,000 
 
 James to Revelation, . , 
 
 2,500 
 
 135,000 
 
 Colloquial New Testament, 
 
 1,500 
 
 669,000 
 
 Printed for American Board of Mis 
 
 
 
 sions portions of New Testament, 
 
 3,500 
 
 173,000 
 
 Total of Scriptures, . 
 
 21,000 
 
 1,805,000 
 
 II. Tracts, Scientific Books, etc. 
 
 Copies. 
 
 Pages. 
 
 Ten Commandments, . 
 
 I3550 
 
 133.500 
 
 
 T 82< 
 
 90, i oo 
 
 Gibson s Arithmetic, 
 
 500 
 
 2I,OOO 
 
 C. C. Baldwin s Catechism, 
 
 15 
 
 19,500 
 
 In all, 2,071,100 pages. 
 
 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 24! 
 
 Besides the mission force already described, we 
 have a Christian boarding-school teacher, and six 
 hands in the printing-office, all Christian. We 
 have a boarding-school with twelve boys, another 
 with twenty-three girls. The property belonging 
 to the mission consists of, 
 
 i. A printing-office, worth $5,000; 2. The mis 
 sion compound, on a healthy, eligible spot over 
 looking the city of Foo Chow. It contains six 
 lots, each being 150 feet by 100. On this are 
 six dwelling-houses, all except two of brick, with 
 stone foundations, and valued as follows: Number 
 one, $600; number two, $600; number three, 
 $1,500; number four, $1,500; number five, $3,- 
 ooo ; number six, $5,000. There are three church 
 edifices valued as follows ; namely : One in the 
 city, $2,500; one on the north side of the river, 
 $2,500 ; one on the south side of the river, $3,- 
 ooo ; all brick. At Ato a small chapel, on rented 
 land, worth $250. Nine chapels at out-stations, 
 all rented but two, one at Ngukang, valued at 
 $500; one at Kinchang, valued at $250. A 
 chapel at Quaninchang, $50. An orphanage for 
 castaway children, valued at $600. The number 
 of children in it was thirty-one, and they were 
 supported by local contributions. As to the 
 sphere of operation, on week-days our congrega 
 tions are composed of all classes, on Sabbath of 
 A 16 
 
242 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 members and other serious persons. There are 
 five preaching-places in the city, and an average 
 attendance on Sabbath including pupils and 
 servants of fifty persons at each place. Beyond 
 the city we have six Sunday congregations, with 
 an average attendance of fifteen at each. The 
 number of communicants is 131 ; of probation 
 ers, 28; of baptisms during past year, 51 ; and 
 of additions, 34. The Sunday-schools are eight, 
 and their scholars 150. The amount contributed 
 by the members for missionary purposes, $55. 
 The probable number of Pagans to whom we 
 preach weekly is 3,000 ; namely, 2,000 within the 
 city and 1,000 without. Our members are gen 
 erally intelligent and pious Christians. About 
 fifty of them are dependent, more or less, upon 
 the mission for support. 
 
 The location of our mission is healthful and 
 beautiful. The country in the valley of the Min 
 is mountainous. In our evening walks we pass 
 down the mountain on the east side of the city. 
 It is covered with graves. I thought at first they 
 were hewn out of the granite, but, upon exami 
 nation, found that they are made of Chunam. On 
 the way we come to a set of graves belonging to 
 the royal family of the Loo Choo islands. They 
 are showy; and in the midst of them is a mon 
 ument expressing the imperial will that the 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 243 
 
 ground should be thus appropriated. There is 
 much intercourse between the Loo Choo islands 
 and Foo Chow, which contains a Loo Choo 
 quarter. When the officers come over to pay 
 their annual tribute, they generally leave their 
 subordinates here while they go to Pekin. These 
 very frequently engage in trade while waiting. 
 Foo Chow has also much intercourse with For 
 mosa, which is only sixty or eighty miles from 
 the mouth of the Min, and which is an important 
 granary for this prefecture. The stranger, in 
 walking upon the hills, is struck with the num 
 ber of vaults, or houses in which coffins awaiting 
 interment are found. The doors are usually 
 open. There is no effluvia from these, for the 
 coffins, though usually of wood, are so cemented 
 and varnished as to be air-tight. People often go 
 to great expense at a funeral. It sometimes hap 
 pens that when death occurs the family do not 
 feel able to endure the expense of interment. In 
 that case they send the coffin to a waiting-hall, 
 or, perhaps, conclude to keep it in the house, 
 until they obtain means for the funeral. Thou 
 sands do the latter, sometimes using the inclos- 
 ure of the corpse for a settee. 
 
 At marriage, also, the Chinese go to great 
 expense, often impoverishing themselves at a 
 wedding. 
 
244 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 It is painful to see the poor Chinese women 
 hobbling along on their little feet. But custom 
 reconciles all things. Women here are generally 
 betrothed in their infancy, often with the specific 
 understanding that their feet shall be crippled. 
 
 The public roads are all narrow four feet 
 wide as if made for foot-passengers. If the 
 emperor were to come from Pekin to Foo Chow, 
 he must come by palanquin. The rivers are 
 used as far as may be, and the boats are gener 
 ally drawn by men on the banks, by means of 
 ropes. When they come to a rapid in the 
 stream, they wait until forty or fifty have col 
 lected, when they join and draw the boats over, 
 one by one. 
 
 In my evening walk on the day before New- 
 Year s I saw a fight. A young man knocked an 
 old one down, and was beating him severely, 
 when some coolies bearing a palanquin dropped 
 their burden, seized the stronger combatant, and 
 handled him roughly, saying, "You must not 
 beat an old man." His reply was, "He owes 
 me. This is the last day of the year. If I do 
 not collect my debt to-day it will be canceled." 
 New-Year s is the only Sabbath of the Chinese. 
 Then all business is suspended, all respectable 
 people gather their families and friends for feast 
 ing, and the streets are abandoned to beggars 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 24$ 
 
 and gamblers. The law against gambling is by 
 custom suspended for twenty days after New- 
 Year s, and during all this period groups of 
 gamblers may be seen at every corner. 
 
 The hill-sides are generally cultivated wherever 
 there are no graves, and in the valleys is luxuri 
 ant vegetation. The fields are cultivated, not 
 mined. What we call agriculture is usually min 
 ing. We take all out of the soil and put nothing" 
 back, leaving it so much poorer than before as 
 the crop is worth. Not so in China. The fields, 
 which need no fences, so closely are they watched, 
 are daily enriched by the offal of the city, which 
 is carried in buckets on the shoulders of men to 
 be spread over their surface. The city needs no 
 drains. All its garbage and offerings to Cloacina 
 are sold and carried off day by day ; but the 
 stranger needs a handkerchief well perfumed to 
 hold his nose in his evening walks afield. 
 
 The city is the capital of Fokien, one of the 
 five ports thrown open to the British by the 
 treaty of 1842, and contains seven hundred 
 thousand inhabitants. It stands on a plain on 
 both sides of the Min, but the old city is on the 
 left bank, defended by a wall of ten miles circuit, 
 thirty feet high and twelve thick, which has tow 
 ers at short intervals, that look gay with flags 
 and bear the marks of activity, as the city is 
 
246 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 threatened by a rebel force said to be very strong 
 and intrenched near Swatow. The entrance is 
 by seven gates commanded by towers. A bridge, 
 four hundred and twenty paces long, resting on 
 an island in the stream, and supported by forty- 
 nine stout piers, crosses the river, and connects 
 the two parts of the city. Foo Chow has fine 
 residences for the civil and military authorities, 
 and large granaries. It is celebrated for the 
 manufacture of porcelain, and is said to contain 
 hundreds of furnaces. It has also factories for 
 cloth and cotton goods. Lead mines are near 
 by, but its trade, which is supposed to amount to 
 seven or eight millions, is its chief support. The 
 streets are very narrow, not more than twelve 
 feet from house to house. A fire having oc 
 curred in the main street, the Government or 
 dered that it should be widened three feet. The 
 stores are built of wood, and touch each other, 
 so that if one in a block gives way the rest fol 
 low. A block of fifty houses fell down a few 
 days since. The fronts are movable, so that 
 there is no need of doors. When the shop is 
 closed it presents to the street a wooden wall, and 
 when it is opened this is taken down. The chief 
 security against fire consists of large tanks of 
 water in the street above ground. Another ar 
 rangement is a number of fire-proof walls by 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 247 
 
 which the houses are separated. Usually, when 
 a fire begins and can not be at once subdued, it 
 is allowed to advance until it is arrested by one 
 of these walls. The houses are low, and the 
 roofs project over the street to form a protec 
 tion against the sun, which almost shuts out its 
 light. 
 
 There are numerous remarkable wells just out 
 side the city wall, all more or less mineral, and 
 some strong of sulphur. They differ very much 
 in temperature, some being 104 degrees Fahren 
 heit ; one 140 degrees. The Catholics say they 
 first taught the Chinese the use of them. Bath 
 houses are constructed all around them. In 
 these you may have an ordinary bath for four 
 cents, and a swimming bath for twenty cents. 
 You may also have refreshments to order. It is 
 somewhat disgusting to a European to see the 
 bathers going from their baths in a state of nu 
 dity to the refreshment apartment, and returning 
 to the baths again after having partaken. The 
 poor people bathe in the springs in the open air. 
 A dozen may sometimes be seen in one spring. 
 Their only expense is a cash or two, that is, a 
 mill or two, which is given to the boys who 
 watch their clothes. The waters are supposed 
 to be especially valuable in cutaneous diseases, 
 which are common in China. 
 
248 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 The population of the city is not homogene 
 ous. There is a Tartar garrison, where daily ra 
 tions are distributed to two thousand soldiers. 
 The population of the Tartar quarter is said to 
 exceed twenty thousand. Besides soldiers and 
 their families, there must be some engaged in 
 other pursuits. There is a mosque in the city, 
 quite inferior, however. The worshipers are 
 chiefly Mongols, of whom there are about thirty 
 families. 
 
 But it is time we took a particular look at our 
 churches. Brother Gibson takes me in a chair 
 to a chapel on the right side of the river, where 
 services are held three times a week besides Sab 
 bath. It is probably well located to catch stran 
 gers, but is a small, dirty, forbidding room, kept 
 by an old man, whose son, as we entered, lay in 
 the aisle unconscious, having taken too much 
 opium, probably with a view to kill himself. The 
 old man offered me his pipe filled and lighted, 
 but on my declining he applied it to his own 
 lips. It was in the shape of a cane, and of the 
 same length. Returning we called at a large 
 temple, which presented nothing elegant, either 
 in architecture or decorations, and seemed to 
 have a large space for a worshiping congrega 
 tion. The gods are various and infamous, and 
 incense was burning on every altar. 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 249 
 
 Another day we go to see a church in the city 
 proper. Down successive flights of stone steps 
 to a tnronged street, along this which runs par 
 allel with the river for some distance, then turn 
 ing north, we cross the stone bridge to the 
 island ; through the island, which is thickly popu 
 lated ; then over another stone bridge to the city 
 proper. After traveling some three miles through 
 a crowd we reach the city wall, and pass through 
 gates and massive arches to the interior. About 
 a mile from the south gate of the city is our 
 church, called East-Street Church. It is a plain, 
 neat structure, with a parsonage in the rear, and 
 stands on the spot where, a year ago, there was 
 a mob which tore down the buildings we formerly 
 occupied, and abused the women and children. 
 After repeated applications for redress we got an 
 indemnity sufficient to build our new house, but 
 the Government was too weak to bring the of 
 fenders to justice. A native helper, one of the 
 Hu family, lives in the parsonage. As soon as 
 the doors were open for worship the people be 
 gan to enter, one with a basket of live poultry, 
 another with vegetables^ another with a string of 
 money, or cash, round his neck. They took 
 seats, and some remained to the close ; but many 
 arose and departed after hearing a short time, 
 their places, in some instances, being supplied by 
 
250 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 fresh comers, so that at the termination of the 
 meeting we still had a good congregation. After 
 a short prayer a sermon was delivered, and then 
 I made an address, which the missionary inter 
 preted. In the vestibule tea was prepared for 
 the preachers. It is said that on any day, dur 
 ing business hours, you may have a crowd by 
 opening the doors. Curiosity brings them in. 
 One aged man, after service, asked for and re 
 ceived a copy of the Chinese Bible. On Sab 
 bath, in the church on the mission compound, 
 we had Chinese service in the morning. Yeh 
 Ing preached. He is one of our native helpers, 
 and apparently a man of power, culture, and pi 
 ety. After his discourse I addressed the assem 
 bly through an interpreter. 
 
 In the afternoon I preached in English. There 
 were present, besides the members of our mission, 
 some persons from the Presbyterian, and other 
 Europeans, the American Consul, etc. Mrs. 
 Baldwin played the melodeon. In the evening 
 the missionaries assembled in Mr. Maclay s par 
 lor for prayer and sacred song, thus closing the 
 holy day delightfully, and in a way to remind us 
 of home, sweet home. During the next week I 
 had the happiness to attend a monthly meeting 
 of the missionaries, in which their bills are aud 
 ited. These bills are for native helpers and 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 25 1 
 
 incidental charges. They are announced, ex 
 plained, and, if no objection be made, allowed 
 and recorded. 
 
 On February ist I went with Mr. Sites to his 
 residence, Ngu Kang. This is up the river some 
 distance. For the purpose of communicating 
 with the mission he hires a boat at $16 a month. 
 The boatmen own it. Once the mission owned 
 a boat, and these boatmen worked it. Some of 
 the native Christians wished to manage it, and 
 were of course preferred, but being unskillful 
 they soon lost it. This boat resembles the flat- 
 boats of the Mississippi, and is remarkably neat. 
 It is said that the boats in China are among the 
 neatest things in it. Many of them, like this, 
 are occupied by families. The head man of this 
 boat lives in it. He has a wife and child, and 
 the former takes her place at the oar with other 
 rowers. We go part way by oars, then the boat 
 men get out and draw the boat by ropes, as a 
 canal-boat. When the wind favors sails are 
 used. 
 
 After landing we had a three-mile journey to 
 reach the mission residence, which contains a 
 chapel in the center. One each side is a little 
 village, the one entirely Pagan, the other partly 
 Christian. Our cause here gained rapidly for a 
 time, but now the line is sharply drawn between 
 
252 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 the Pagan and the Christian community, and the 
 opposing forces are hostile. 
 
 We next go to the Peach Farm, "To Cheng;" 
 here there is a chapel. Near by is a large house, 
 in which several Christians dwell. The houses 
 of the peasantry are usually wooden, and of great 
 length and uniform style. I was in several of 
 their parlors or audience rooms. They were 
 open-roofed, supported by large wooden columns, 
 without any floor but the earth, and without any 
 furniture but a table and some rude benches. 
 In one I saw a plow and a rake, and in another 
 a hen sitting in a basket. This region is 
 mountainous, but here and there the valleys open 
 into rich plains. In these wheat is growing, 
 which I am told will be followed during the sea 
 son by two crops of rice. On the hill-sides, on 
 terraces, potatoes and many other vegetables are 
 raised. An acre in the valley is said to be worth 
 $300. 
 
 Before leaving Ngu Kang the Christians were 
 assembled in their church ; they represented five 
 different classes. After the usual religious serv 
 ices brother Sites gave the people an opportunity 
 of speaking, and interpreted their addresses to 
 me. They abounded in thanks for my visit, 
 prayers for my safe return, desires that I would 
 ask the prayers of American Christians for China, 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 
 
 and that Chinese Christians might stand fast in 
 the Lord, and solicitations that I would bear 
 these salutations to my country. Sia Seh de 
 sires, above all things, that the Bishop should 
 ask the American Church to pray that Chinese 
 Christians may be filled with the Spirit, and that 
 converting power may come down upon the 
 nation. 
 
 Li Moi Sing, a sister sixty-four years old, prays 
 that Christians on both sides of the globe may 
 be of one mind and heart. She has unutterable 
 joy in Christ. 
 
 Li Anna, a sister seventy-four years old, says 
 she has great peace in believing, thanks the 
 grace of the Father and the Son that she meets 
 a Bishop, and prays that he may safely reach his 
 home on earth, and finally his home in heaven, 
 where she expects to meet him again. 
 
 I closed the meeting with an address and 
 prayer. In due time I returned to Foo Chow. 
 Our land journey is performed in chairs ; it is 
 over a path concerning which there are many 
 legends of robbers in the olden time. Our voy 
 age down the river is nine miles, and we make 
 but three miles an hour, as the tide is against us. 
 
 Next day I visited Miss Woolston s school. 
 The furniture is plain, rough, and cheap, but 
 clean ; the children are plainly but neatly dressed. 
 
254 UR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 There are benches for chairs, mattresses for beds, 
 and bamboo frames for pillows. All this is that 
 they may not be discontented on returning home. 
 Misses Woolston are much encouraged by acces 
 sions recently received. There are now twenty- 
 three girls under instruction. 
 
 One of the first objects of my attention was 
 Mr. Gibson s school, the scholars of which, thir 
 teen in number, had been dismissed for the New- 
 Year s holidays. The boys are generally Chris 
 tians. 
 
 One day we had in our city church a sort of 
 reception. All our members were collected, with 
 the members of other missions and all the mis 
 sionaries of the American Board, except Mr. 
 Baldwin, who was sick. After singing and 
 prayer, and reading the Scriptures, I made an 
 address, or sermon, brother Maclay interpreting. 
 Then the brethren spoke voluntarily, each deliv 
 ering a short address. They spoke with remark 
 able readiness, earnestness, and grace. Their 
 words were reported to me and translated by the 
 superintendent, but they are too voluminous to be 
 inserted here. They were full of gratitude to 
 the American Church, of compliments to her 
 representative, and prayers for God s cause in 
 both America and China, and for the universal 
 coming of Christ s kingdom. 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 255 
 
 On the succeeding Sabbath we had quarterly- 
 meeting in the church on the mission compound 
 Tien Ang Tong. Brother Gibson held a love- 
 feast at half-past nine, A. M., which continued 
 till near twelve. Tea and cake were distributed 
 instead of bread and water. Brother G. alluded 
 to his departure, and intimated that it might be 
 his last service. Mr. Baldwin favored me with 
 an abstract of the speaking. Dr. Maclay preached 
 at twelve on the Eighth Commandment, one of a 
 series on the Decalogue. He writes his dis 
 courses, but studies them well. At two o clock 
 I preached in the same church to an English 
 congregation. 
 
 My next visit was to the church under the care 
 of Mr. Baldwin Ching Sing Tong. It is a sub 
 stantial brick building. In the vestry we found 
 Hu Sing Mi, who visited the United States in 
 company with Dr. Wentworth, and found a home 
 for two years in the family of J. Stephenson, Esq., 
 New York City. His room contained many con 
 veniences ; such as, cooking stove, iron bedstead, 
 and bedding, of American manufacture, all, I 
 understand, presented to him by his kind bene 
 factor in America. Also, portraits of Messrs. 
 Stephenson, Odell, and other well-known faces. 
 A local preacher Tang len Kong lives in the 
 parsonage adjoining the church. The bell hav- 
 
256 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 ing been rung, the people came in from the street 
 and took seats, not so many as usual, in con 
 sequence of New- Year s. The local preacher 
 preached. I followed with a brief address, which 
 seemed to interest them. Mr. Baldwin inter 
 preted for me. 
 
 CONTROVERSY. 
 
 Harmony prevails among the mission with the 
 exception of a dispute about certain terms. 
 
 Two hundred years ago a controversy arose in 
 the Roman Catholic Church in China concern 
 ing the proper name for God ; the Jesuits using 
 the term Shangti, the Dominicans Shin. The 
 matter was referred to the Pope, who compro 
 mised by adopting a new term, Teen Chu, Heav 
 enly Lord. The first Protestant missionaries 
 used Shin for God and Hung for Spirit. Dr. 
 Medhurst advocated the use of Shangti for God 
 and Shin for Spirit. About the year 1846 those 
 who used Shin for God adopted Ling for Spirit. 
 The Protestant missionaries are now divided into 
 two parties, about equal in number. In 1847 the 
 missions in Foo Chow adopted Shin and Hung, 
 often using Shangti as an appellative ; subse 
 quently they adopted Shin and Ling. This con 
 tinued until 1860. About this time the Church 
 of England used Shangti and Shin, and in the 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 
 
 following year all the missionaries of the Amer 
 ican Board here adopted the same terms. In 
 August, 1865, a majority of our mission being in 
 favor of them, waived their preference, and 
 adopted, on Mr. Gibson s motion, the following, 
 after some months of consideration : 
 
 "WHERFA.S, The members of this mission are 
 divided in opinion as to the best terms to be 
 used in China for God and Spirit, and also with 
 reference to the best version of the Scriptures 
 in Chinese ; therefore, 
 
 "Resolved, That the several members of the 
 mission, and the native helpers in our employ, 
 should, for the present, use the Chinese terms 
 they severally prefer for God and the Spirit, and 
 also the version of the Scriptures which they 
 deem best." 
 
 At that time the mission stood, three for 
 Shangti and Shin, two for Shin and Ling. 
 Among the Protestant missionaries of Foo Chow 
 the vote stood, eight in favor of Shangti and 
 Shin, two in favor of Shin and Ling. Our na 
 tive helpers stood, eight in favor of Shangti and 
 Shin, one in favor of Shin and Ling. All the 
 native helpers of other missions were in favor of 
 Shangti and Shin. There was a prospect that 
 under this compromise resolution harmony might 
 be secured ; but it seems that the minority, as 
 A 17 
 
258 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 they studied the question, found it magnifying in 
 importance, ceasing to be a philological question, 
 and becoming a moral one. Not content with 
 the liberty to use the terms they preferred, they 
 felt bound to contend with those who used oth 
 ers. One would not allow his native helpers 
 to use them, withdrew his members from the 
 monthly concert, and kept his scholars from our 
 public meetings. Two refused to circulate the 
 version of the Scriptures preferred by the mis 
 sion distributing that of Drs. Bridgman and 
 Culbertson and all books in which the ob 
 jectionable terms occur, and could not allow to 
 be sung in their churches the hymns in which 
 they are employed. One of these has returned, 
 the other remains ; but, no doubt, time will cure 
 the discord. I must confess that after hearing 
 the whole question discussed, I could but look 
 upon the difference as of but little consequence, 
 though the controversy may be very evil in its 
 results if it should be continued. 
 
 OTHER MISSIONS. 
 
 There are in Foo Chow the following missions 
 besides our own : i. The missions of the Amer 
 ican Board. They have four missionaries, with 
 their wives ; namely, L. B. Peet, C. C. Baldwin, 
 Charles Hartwell, and S. F. Wood in. The 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 259 
 
 Church of England Mission has two mission 
 aries, with their wives ; namely, J. R. Wolfe and 
 A. W. Cribb. The premises of the American 
 Board are partly within and partly without the 
 city wall. 
 
 Calling upon the missionaries of the American 
 Board, I found they had just purchased an eligi 
 ble piece of property for $3,400. On one occa 
 sion I dined with Mr. Baldwin whose wife has 
 an interesting school, to which she seems de 
 voted and on another occasion with Mr. Peet. 
 I also called upon Mr. Wolfe, Church Missionary, 
 by whom I was kindly received. His house is 
 on an eminence commanding a fine view of the 
 city, in which stand prominently both the Cath 
 olic and Episcopal churches, substantial, orna 
 mental, and admirably located. The former is 
 very large, and its architecture, arrangements, 
 and ornaments are all in Chinese taste. It has 
 a garden and a nunnery attached to it, and a 
 foundling hospital opposite. It claims to have 
 three thousand members. 
 
 The missionaries of the different Protestant 
 missions come together in a monthly concert of 
 prayer. I led the meeting on one of these occa 
 sions, opening it with an address. These breth 
 ren seem to regard each other as members of one 
 body, and work together in harmony. 
 
260 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 ENCOURAGEMENTS. 
 
 The following sources of encouragement may 
 be noted: I. The decline of prejudices against 
 foreigners and against the Gospel ; 2. The re 
 moval of all legal obstructions to the spread of 
 Christianity among the people, and to its propa 
 gation throughout the country; 3. A steady in 
 crease of the influence of Christian nations in 
 China; 4. Legal protection for both native and 
 foreign Christians; 5. The readiness of the peo 
 ple to receive missionaries, and the invitations 
 from them in various parts ; 6. Proofs of conver 
 sion and the power of the Gospel in the lives of 
 Chinese Christians ; 7. Gifts, graces, and useful 
 ness of our native helpers. They are well-formed, 
 well-dressed, noble-looking men. One of them, 
 of the celebrated family of Hu, told me he was 
 stationed one hundred miles off, in a sickly place. 
 Sometimes he gets the ague and comes back to 
 recruit, but is soon at his post again. 
 
 BUDDHIST MONASTERY. 
 
 Before leaving Foo Chow I went to the cele 
 brated Buddhist monastery at Kushan Mountain. 
 We descend the river in the mission boat about 
 six miles. Then landing, we take a chair and 
 ascend the mountain, up which a broad stone 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 261 
 
 pavement leads all the way to the monastery. 
 There are rest-houses on the way, where refresh 
 ments may be obtained. The mountain is rocky 
 and sterile, though a few pine-trees are making 
 slow progress here and there, where the soil al 
 lows them to take root. The views of the river, 
 and city, and surrounding country from the dif 
 ferent rest-houses are charming. As we approach 
 the monastery we see a number of disabled cat 
 tle, which are in charge of a herdsman, and 
 which, it is said, are preserved from death and 
 suffering by the monks, who deem it a high vir 
 tue to preserve life. There are springs near the 
 monastery, and the water is received in a large 
 tank, which seems filled with fishes. The build 
 ing is in a very concealed but romantic spot. 
 Though only one story, it covers a large space. 
 The images at the entrance are colossal. We 
 were just in time to see the monks assemble for 
 worship ; they are said to be seventy in number. 
 They are of various ages ; all have their heads 
 shaved, are clad in yellow robes, and look melan 
 choly. The worship consists of genuflections, 
 recitations from their sacred books in Pali, which 
 few, if any, understand, singing, etc. The exer 
 cises are regulated by bells, though time is kept 
 by beat of drum. In passing through the library 
 a priest politely insisted on our taking tea, and 
 
262 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS 
 
 heartily rejected money that was offered for it 
 A short time since there was a devotee locked 
 up in a cell for meditation and purification, but 
 having served out the time of his vow he had 
 passed out. 
 
 The camphor-tree spreads its ample shadows 
 over this sacred spot, and the tea-plant grows on 
 the hills around. The location is so cool and 
 healthful that our brethren resort to it as a sani 
 tarium. They have a contract with the monks, 
 by which certain rooms shall always be ready for 
 them at a dollar a week each. The missionaries 
 furnish them, and provide their own meals ; but 
 how revolting to take a family to such a place, 
 making them familiar with the forms of idolatry! 
 It is like hiring a spot in the suburbs of hell in 
 which to pass the cold weather. 
 
 EXPERIENCE OF NATIVE HELPERS. 
 
 My coming to Foo Chow excited much curi 
 osity and conversation, not merely among the 
 missions but beyond. My visit and my relations 
 became generally known through the members 
 of the Church and the servants of the house 
 holds of the missionaries. As I was passing, 
 with brother Maclay, a group of heathen Chinese, 
 one of them said, "There goes the Bishop. He 
 is like Jesus Christ ; he goes round the world 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 263 
 
 preaching the Gospel." This shows that the 
 common people know something of Christ, and 
 the nature and scope of his religion. 
 
 Before I departed the missionaries assembled, 
 and delivered to me in writing a grateful and af 
 fectionate address, signed by all their number, to 
 which I replied as best I could. The chief mem 
 bers of the mission favored me with their auto 
 graphs, and preceded them with remarks which 
 the superintendent translated. The substance 
 of some of these remarks I give. Yek Ing 
 Kuang says: "Entering the Christian Church I 
 had two thoughts ; namely, Christ died for me 
 and for the sins of the world. My nation is 
 given up to idolatry. Your face is as the face of 
 an angel. Pray for me." 
 
 Hu Po Mi said : " I rejoice in your visit to 
 Foo Chow, because it is a proof that the Western 
 nations are constrained by the love of Christ to 
 love us who live in the East. Before seeing 
 your face I seemed to be with you in the Gos 
 pel. Ten thousand thanks to you and the 
 Churches of America." 
 
 Li Ju Mi says : " My heart rejoices when I 
 read, He that believeth shall be saved/ and sor 
 rows when I read, He that believeth not shall 
 be damned. I have seen believers enjoy great 
 peace and die in the Lord. We are three broth- 
 
264 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 ers, but the youngest, King Sing, twenty-four 
 years old, died last year, ninth moon, twenty-sev 
 enth day. He had great peace, and in departing 
 said, My sins are great, but my Savior is suffi 
 cient. To go home is better than to stay. Be 
 diligent in preaching, for Christ only can save. " 
 
 Sia Seh Ong, native exhorter, said : " Thanks 
 to the Heavenly for the joy of seeing your face. 
 Pen can not record the fullness of grace I have 
 in my inmost soul. May you return in safety, 
 and cease not to pray that God may pour out 
 his Holy Spirit upon us that China may be 
 saved !" 
 
 Trong Tai Hung says: "I believe in Jesus. 
 Neither is there salvation in any other." 
 
 Hu Hieng Mi says: "As to my entering the 
 Church, see John v, 24; viii, 51 ; iii, 18." 
 
 Trong Keng Chung says : "A great blessing 
 to observe the love which the Bishop has shown 
 in leaving his country, home, and kindred, to en 
 dure the sufferings of a long voyage, and meet 
 the perils of travel in strange lands, to encourage 
 feeble Christians in trying to serve God. I 
 thank him for his exhortation to filial piety and 
 brotherly love. My salutations to the Christian 
 Churches of America." 
 
 Lai Tai Sing says: "Seeing the Bishop, and 
 hearing his words, I rejoice. Salutations to 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 26$ 
 
 the Churches in the United States. From you 
 we have received the Gospel missionaries, who 
 crossed the ocean to preach the Word of Life 
 and establish Christian schools. In Mr. Gibson s 
 school I received instructions, and the Holy 
 Spirit opened my heart to receive the Savior. 
 Pray that I may be a useful disciple." 
 
 Le Sing Mi says: "Joy and gladness that I 
 behold thee. Thou hast received the love of 
 Christ to bear thee over oceans to meet here the 
 disciples of the Lord. God grant thee great 
 peace of soul in returning to thine own house ! 
 Greet the elders and the brethren for me." 
 
 Ting Ka Chung and son say: "Coming to Ngu 
 Kang, and seeing the face of the Bishop, my soul 
 is filled with joy. The Heavenly Father hath 
 brought thee to China to encourage his holy 
 Church." 
 
 The Koi Hung class of fourteen members 
 write : " Through the grace of the Savior we see 
 you. God grant you grace and a peaceful re 
 turn ! Greet the American Church, and pray 
 for China." 
 
 Tang Yeu Keong says: "When I beheld the 
 Bishop s face my heart greatly rejoiced. When 
 I saw his feebleness, and considered that it was 
 for Christ s sake he suffered, that he might cross 
 the wide oceans to come for God s people, and 
 
266 OUR ORIENTAL MISSIONS. 
 
 that he did not fear the discomforts and dangers 
 of the voyage, only desiring to aid the few sheep 
 in these ends of the earth, truly, my heart is lost 
 in wonder and love. I thus know you to be a 
 genuine Bishop. See John x, n. Your visit 
 and your example will be a great blessing to us 
 all. May God abundantly bless you, and bring 
 you to the end of your voyage in peace !" 
 
 Nu Sin Mi says : " Through God s grace I 
 know to travel in the way to heaven. In my 
 heart I love you with the love of Christ. God 
 grant you a prosperous voyage ! Though parted 
 from you in body, we shall still pray for you and 
 your family, and the whole Church of God in 
 America. We heartily thank you all for sending 
 us the Gospel and a messenger to strengthen us 
 in the faith of Christ." 
 
 Sing Ching Ting writes: "My salutations. 
 With regard to my sins, see I Tim. i, 15. As to 
 my darkness, see Matt, iv, 16. As to my light, 
 see I John iv, 10 ; John iii, 16 ; Romans viii, 32. 
 As to Christian love, it is shown in the labors 
 and sufferings of the missionaries and their 
 Bishop, enabling us who were dead to live in 
 Christ. Now, seeing the Bishop s face, we re 
 joice with exceeding joy. I love the Bishop, the 
 missionaries, with their wives and children, as 
 my own brothers and sisters. China is given up 
 
OUR CHINA MISSION. 267 
 
 to idolatry. Pray for us ! Grace, mercy, and 
 peace be with you all !" 
 
 Hu Yong Mi writes: "Peace and myriads of 
 blessings upon the Bishop ! Thanks to God, who 
 hath given you a prosperous journey. Seeing 
 your face reminds me of the joy of Joseph when 
 he beheld the face of his father, Jacob ; but I am 
 unworthy of the comparison. Forgive this bold 
 ness. Unceasing thanks to the Triune God, who 
 hath saved sinners. The joy is unspeakable. 
 Your eye hath seen the fellowship of saints. 
 You have not shrunk from peril that you might 
 increase our knowledge and joy. Having re 
 ceived such favor, I beg you accept the thanks 
 of one less than the least of all saints. May 
 God evermore be merciful to you ! You have 
 told us to bear the cross. My soul answers, 
 Thy cross, Lord, will I bear. We send out the 
 Macedonian cry. Pray for us. Paul desired the 
 Thessalonians to pray for him. Be pleased, also, 
 to convey our salutations to the bishops, pastors, 
 and members of the Church in the United 
 States." 
 
 I make the quotations without embarrassment, 
 because, though they are no compliment to me 
 personally, they show the feeling of our Chinese 
 brethren toward the Church at home. 
 

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