AN ANCIENT GATEWAY IN THE HEART OF INDIA
THE DEFENDERS OF INDIA
BRITISH AND INDIAN TROOPS
IN THE HEART OF INDIA
The Work of the Canadian Presbyterian Mission
J. T. TAYLOR, B.A.
1916
BOARD OF FOREIGN MISSIONS
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN CANADA
TORONTO
INTRODUCTION
We welcome Mr. Taylor's book, giving the story of
our Central India Mission. Such a book is long overdue.
Formosa and Central India are the two Foreign Mission
Fields of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (Western
Section) whose origin dates back to the years immediate-
ly following the Union of 1875. The outstanding
personality and unique achievements of George Leslie
Mackay appealed to the imagination of Canadians and
created a demand for some permanent record of his
life and work. This story, so well told by himself and
edited by Dr. J. A. Macdonald, has familiarized the
whole Church with the history of our Mission in
Formosa ; but in the larger field of Central India, with
a greater number, of Missionaries and a more varied
type of work, no one personality commanded attention
in quite the same way. No one life story could give the
history of the Mission, and, apart from "The Redemp-
tion of Malwa," a very valuable account of the origin
and early development of the Mission by Rev. W. A.
Wilson, D.D., and those illuminating sketches of
"Village Work in India," by Rev. Norman Russell,
there has been nothing on Central India available for
Missionary Libraries and Mission Study Classes.
Mr. Taylor has written the book we need. In few
words he presents the call and claim of India with its
315,000,000 people — one-fifth of the world's inhabitants
and three-fourths of the population of the British
Empire. Briefly he sketches the history and describes
iii
IV INTRODUCTION
the physical features of Central India, makes us see the
people, their thoughts, their religions, their caste system,
their manner of living, and, in and through all, their
need of that new conception of God which comes with
the vision of Jesus Christ. Then, we learn how the work
began in these neglected native States, how the preach-
ing of the Gospel was accompanied by ministries of
healing, how the zenanas were entered, schools and high
schools founded, industrial work for the native Chris-
tian community established, and all crowned by a
Christian College doing University work. Streams
have broken forth in the desert.
Mr. Taylor tells his story simply and vividly, is
concrete and specific, yet does not overload with detail.
The book is such that any intelligent person who sits
down and reads it will rise with a comprehensive
knowledge of India and of what missionary work there
means ; but the aim has been to provide a suitable
text-book for Missionary Societies and Mission Study
Classes, and a group study of this book, taking up a
chapter a week with the suggested supplementary
readings, would be a liberal education.
No time could be more fitting for such a study than
the present when all Britishers are filled with a new
pride and joy in India because of the splendid loyalty
of her people to the Empire in this supreme crisis. The
intelligent loyalty of India has saved the Empire
billions of money and millions of lives. Nay, had the
people of India not proved loyal, we might to-day be
witnessing the breaking up of the British Empire ; and
who can tell how far India's appreciation of Britain's
INTRODUCTION V
righteous cause has been due to the Christian message,
the Christian schools and colleges, the Christian hospi-
tals and dispensaries, the kindly ministries and wise
teachings of the noble army of missionaries ? Titanic
as is the present struggle, it is small compared to the
conflict that will be if, in the future, East and West are
arrayed against each other. But in God's good Pro-
vidence India occupies the key position in Asia. Be-
longing to the Orient, India is at the same time a loyal
partner in a great Western Empire ; and may we not
hope that an India, Asiatic yet British, Oriental yet
Christian, will be the mediator between East and West ?
The Christian conquest of India may well appeal to
the heroism of our young men and the devotion of our
young women. Almost every congregation in the land
has to-day its Honor Roll attesting the fact that the
best can be spared when a need sufficiently great and
a call sufficiently noble are presented. The Church,
which can give thousands of young men to danger and
death in distant lands under the banner of King George
and cannot inspire even a few hundreds of its youth to
enlist for overseas service under the banner of King
Jesus, has stultified itself. However valuable as a
national institution, it has no claim to be called a
Church of Christ. This war has shown what sacrifices
can be made when the nation is threatened. Is there
to be no similar sacrifice when the peace of the world
and the whole future of Christ's kingdom on earth are
at stake ?
ALFRED GANDIER.
Knox College, April 3rd, 1916.
PREFACE
The Title chosen for this book has more than a
geographical significance. In some respects the Native
States of Central India are typical of the real heart of
conservative India. Large districts in Central India
are still without any knowledge of the Gospel, and the
sway of hoary Hinduism is unchallenged.
The task laid upon me in the preparation of this book
proved to be more difficult than at first appeared. To
write the history of the growth of a Mission is one
thing ; to make out of it a book suitable for study
classes on India is a more difficult matter. The com-
bination of the two has imposed limitations which will
be only too manifest to the readers. For instance, much
in reference to religious beliefs and religious and social
reform movements had to be omitted, and the history
of the Mission is at best a mere outline.
No attempt is made in this book to discuss women's
work as a distinct and separate phase of the work in
Central India. It is so closely related to the whole
work of the Mission that it was felt that any such dis-
tinction would be unnecessary and unwise.
There is much that has already been written on
Indian life and religion, and the author is largely
indebted to the writers referred* to in the foot notes.
He would also express his gratitude to his fellow-work-
ers in Central India and other friends there who kindly
supplied photographs which are reproduced in this
volume.
vi
PREFACE Vll
The book is sent forth with the prayer that it may be
used to help forward the evangelization of Central
India, which presents to our Church such unique claims
and opportunities.
April, 1916. J. T. T.
CONTENTS
PAGE
INTRODUCTION — By Rev. Principal Gandier, D.D. iii.
PREFACE
CHAPTER I.
CHAPTER II.
CHAPTER III.
CHAPTER IV.
CHAPTER V.
CHAPTER VI.
CHAPTER VII.
CHAPTER VIII.
vi.
The Claims of India i
The Mind of India 15
Central India and Its People 35
Beginnings, or, First Two Decades
of the Mission's History 55
The Widening Work 99
The Indian Church 135
Problems of Indian Missions 159
Looking Forward 181
APPENDICES
A. Present Staff in Central India, and Missionaries
who have retired or have died 205
B. Indian Census Returns 209
C. Forces on the Field 211
D. The Charter of Religious Liberty 212
E. Letter to Army Officers from Three Field-
Marshals 213
F. Extract Minute of General Assembly of Pres-
byterian Church in India 214
Bibliography 216
Index 219
Vlll
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Frontispiece i
The Defenders of India — British and Indian Troops 2
(i) The Old Palace— Indore City. (2) On the
Banks of the Sacred Narbadda 4
(i) Indore State Elephants. (2) Ships of the
Desert 5
Mahesar on the Narbadda — The Old Capital of
Holkar State 10
Devotees : (i) Worshipping ; (2) In the Midst of
the "Five Fires" n
(i) Feeding the Sacred Fish. (2) Religious Men-
dicants— Fakirs 22
The East and the West. Ox-Cart Towing a Dis-
abled Motor Car 23
The Mohurram Procession — Indore 30
Mohammedans at Prayer — Delhi 31
Political map showing Native States and British
India 42
Agricultural India : (i) A Field of Jowar 43
(2) A Load of Cotton *. . 43
(3) A Country Scene 43
A State Function — Durbar \ . . 46
(i) Temple Architecture. (2) Hall of Audience of
Moghul Emperors 47
(i) A Busy Railway Centre — Rutlam. (2) A Bit
of the Jungle 50
Our Pioneers — Rev. J. Fraser Campbell, D.D., and
Mrs. Campbell 51
(i) Rev. Nehemiah Goreh, Famous Brahman
Preacher.. (2) Mission Church and School —
Mhow 62
Itinerating : (i) The Start 63,
(2) A Shady Grove 63
(3) The Camp 63
ix
ILLUSTRATIONS X
PAGE
Some State Buildings, Indore 78
Girls' High School, Indore 78
Graduates and Undergraduates of Christian Boys'
School, Rasalpura 79
(i) Rev. and Mrs. Smith and a Christian Bheel
Congregation ; (2) Famine Refugees 106
(i) The Native Bheel ; (2) A Bheel House 107
Malwa Theological Seminary 118
(i) Marathi Girls' School, Indore : (2) Hospital
Patients moved out to the warm sunshine —
Neemuch 119
(i) "Inasmuch"; (2) Dispensary Patients 126
(i) On the Way to the Hospital. Dr. McKellar ;
(2) Motto over Door of Dispensary, Nee-
much ; (3) Where God and We Work 127
(i) Rutlam Mission Hospital ; (2) Carving on
Temple Walls 130
Bheel Theological Class, with Rev. H. H. Smith
and Dr. Buchanan 131
Pastor and Officers of Church at Mhow — Rev. Mr.
Drew (seated) and Rev. Mr. Taylor, Members
of Session 131
Christian Mela at Rutlam, 1913 138
(i) A Christian Family. (2) Mr. and Mrs. Johory 139
(i) The Banyan Tree- -A Parable of the Indian
Church. (2) Missionary's Bungalow at Kha-
rua 150
Balaram and Family 151
A Group of Enquirers — Kharua 166
Indore Christian College 167
Map of Mission Field - 190
Lord's Prayer in Two of the Vernaculars of Central
India 191
THE CLAIMS OF INDIA
Faith and the War. "How few of those who find
their faith perplexed now, were perplexed by the
darkness which covered the heathen world — a darkness
in which miseries and horrors reign from generation to
generation unrelieved." — Sir Wm. Robertson Nicoll.
"The great majority of the population of India con-
sists of idolaters, blindly attached to rites and doctrines
which, considered merely with reference to the temporal
interests of mankind, are in the highest degree pernic-
ious. In no part of the world has a religion ever
existed more unfavourable to the moral and intellectual
health of our race." — Lord Macaulay (Speech on the
Gates of Somnath).
CHAPTER I.
THE CLAIMS OF INDIA
The Charm of India. India has always been a land
of peculiar charm. From the days of Alexander the
Great down to the present it has had a fascination for
the peoples of Europe and the West. It was this
which led Columbus over unknown Western seas to
find a waterway to India. Then it was the desire for
her silks and spices, her gold and precious stones, which
drew the merchants of Europe to her shores. Now a
new element has entered in, and it is India's place in
the Empire that claims our attention and makes her
welfare deeply interesting to the people of Canada and
to British people everywhere.
The dramatic entry of the armies of India into the
European conflict, and the universal response of India's
people to the Empire's need when the fateful fourth of
August, 1914, brought the outbreak of hostilities with
Germany, will stand out as one of the most significant
events in the history of that great people. The Great
Eastern " Dependency" is now asserting its right to be
treated as a portion of the Empire, not as a mere
dependent, but as a partner.
There is a call, as never before, for a sympathetic
study of the needs and aspirations of the people of
India.
In this time of crisis the heart of India is revealing
itself. There is a keen sense of the greatness of the
4 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
issues at stake. There is loyal co-operation in helping
to win a victory for those principles which are funda-
mentally Christian ; and upon the Christian churches
of the Empire particularly lies the responsibility of
giving to India the message of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Early History of Christianity in India. The history
of Christianity in India is full of instruction, (i)
Primitive Christianity had its opportunity in the first
centuries of the Christian era. Traditions there are
of visits of Missionaries in the first century. It is
known certainly that Pantaeus of Alexandria was in
India near the close of the second century. But there
is no trace of any direct fruit of these early efforts. (2)
The oldest Christian community in India is known as
the Syrian Church, whose history can be definitely
traced back to the 6th century. It was founded by
Nestorian Missionaries who were driven out of Orthodox
Christendom and travelled to the East. They preached
the doctrine of a Human Saviour indwelt by the Divine
Word. A Church was planted in South- West India,
which now numbers over 700,000, but it has failed as
a propagating force, and has settled down alongside
of Hinduism in the spirit of mutual toleration. (3)
The Church of Rome came next. Its activities were
most marked after the coming of the Portuguese in
1498, who brought Missionaries representing various
religious orders. In the i6th and iyth centuries great
numbers were baptized. Chief among those sent out
was Francis Xavier, in 1542, and with his coming
began the labors of the Jesuit Order. Multitudes
THE OLD PALACE— INDORE CITY
ON THE BANKS OF THE SACRED NARBADDA
INDORE STATE ELEPHANTS
SHIPS OF THE DESERT
THE CLAIMS OF INDIA 5
were baptized, but baptism was not followed by the
needed instruction. The result was that the name
"Christian" came to have such an unworthy meaning,
that Protestants generally choose instead to call them-
selves "Isai" or "Masihi."* As a positive force for
the uplifting of the converts, the Church of Rome
had little success.
The Paralysis of Christianity. All through these
centuries, Christianity seems to have suffered from
paralysis, and to have been rendered largely fruitless,
conquered by the inertia of surrounding Hinduism,
and because of its own tolerant and compromising
spirit.
Protestant Christianity. (4) Protestant Missions
began e.arly in the i8th Century with the coming of the
Danish Missionaries, Ziegenbalg and Plutchau, in
1706 ; but not till the close of the century did England
put her hand to the work. To her shame be it said,
that English adventurers and English merchants had
long preceded the messengers of Christ to the people
of India ; and when they at last followed, they were
forbidden to land and had to begin their work on foreign
soil.
The past century has seen a steady growth in the
interest in India among the Churches of the West, and
a very striking growth in the Protestant Churches in
India. They have not succumbed to the influence of
Hinduism. The first attempt to tabulate progress was
in 1851. There were then 91,092 Protestant Christians.
In 1911 they numbered 1,636,731, and they are in-
*The people, or followers, of Jesus.
6 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
creasing much more rapidly than any other Christian
community.
The Stern Conflict. It is a stern conflict in which
the Christian Church is engaged. Hinduism, with its
caste system, is its great opponent. The latter has
proved more than a match for both Buddhism and-
Mohammedanism. Buddhism was once spread all
over the country. But it almost disappeared as an
organized faith. Hinduism overcame it, and in the
process, absorbed from it what have now become some
of its own most distinctive beliefs. For six centuries
Mohammedan power was dominant in India, and many
Hindus were forcibly converted to the Moslem faith.
But Hinduism was not conquered. The distinctive
features in which it differed from Mohammedanism
grew stronger by the conflict. Image- worship, so
offensive to Moslem teaching, is now everywhere
performed. Caste is as cruel as ever, and Mohamme-
danism is practically a caste outside of Hinduism. Saint-
worship by Mohammedans, and Image-worship by
Hindus exist side by side. Festivals of each of the
religions are frequently observed by followers of both
and the two religions have agreed to tolerate each other.
The British Government, of course, will not permit
violent outbreaks of hostility. Hinduism has great
powers of accommodation to various types and beliefs,
for its principles admit all religions as different ways of
Salvation, and all beliefs as true.
The Intolerance of Christianity. Hinduism is a
subtle and dangerous foe. The elements of truth it
contains, on the one hand, and its tolerance of error
THE CLAIMS OF INDIA 7
and vice on the other, make necessary on the part of
Christians a "loving intolerance." Were Christianity
to be tolerant as is Hinduism, it would be fatal. "Christ
is your Saviour, Krishna is ours ; you worship in your
way, we in ours ; but we are all striving after the same
thing ; let us live in peace and respect each other's
honest convictions." But Christianity must insist on
the Apostolic claim ; ' ' Neither is there Salvation in any
other, for there is no other Name under Heaven, given
among men, whereby we must be saved." There can
be no compromise where the unique place of Jesus
Christ in man's salvation is concerned.
One of the dangers to the Church of Christ is that o^
being content with half-victories, which, considering
the character of Hinduism, can only mean defeat in the
end. It is a striking fact, and one of great encourage-
ment, that there are multitudes in India convinced of
the truth of the Christian religion, but who are as yet
only "secret disciples." And there are those who, out
of a deep sympathy with the difficult position in which
such secret disciples find themselves, are disposed to be
lax in the requirements of Baptism, and even speak of
the rite as "Baptism into organized Christianity,"
which, being foreign in its type, can hardly be supposed
to commend itself to the thoughtful Indian. And
Hinduism itself will be quite tolerant of such disciples.
They may retain all their caste privileges if only they
will refrain from Baptism. There is great danger, if
Christians concede that the follower of Christ may
ignore his Master's explicit command in regard to
Baptism, that Christianity itself will become Hindu-
8 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
ized, and its power will go from it. Christians can best
show their love for India by a true intolerance of all
inconsistency between belief and conduct. The Church
cannot afford to make peace with Hinduism, which
has triumphed over two of the great missionary re-
ligions of the world, — triumphed by its tolerance and
its spirit of compromise. " Instead of the thorn shall
come up the fir tree and instead of the briar shall come
up the myrtle tree ; and it shall be to the Lord for a
name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."
(Is. 55 : 13).
Influence of Christianity on Indian Life and Thought.
The impact of Christianity on Indian life and thought
produces a variety of results. There is the influence
of the Supreme Government, which, while neutral in
regard to the Christian propaganda, is Christian in its
attitude to flagrant abuses and immoral practices.
Some of the crimes which were sanctioned by Hinduism
have been suppressed by Government, even in the face
of public opinion. Suttee, female infanticide, thuggism,
and human sacrifices, have been put down. Public
opinion has followed and endorsed such legislation,
although desire for the old practices lingers still in
unlocked for quarters. For instance, when there was
an outbreak of the spirit of suicide in Calcutta a few
years ago, and several young wives, on the death of
their husbands, burned themselves to death by soaking
their garments in coal-oil, locking themselves in their
apartments and perishing miserably, some Indian
papers lauded their action as a revival of the ancient
spirit of devotion and courage in India's women — the
spirit of suttee.
THE CLAIMS OF INDIA 9
Growth in number of Samajes. There is the growth
of a number of Samajes or Associations. It is the age
of Samajes in India. Some of these are like half-way
houses in the approach of earnest Indians towards
Christianity. They seek to form an amalgam of what
is good in all religions ; but no eclectic system ever
exerted much influence. Others are antagonistic, and
are intended to revive ancient Hinduism by stripping
it of some of its modern accretions, and throwing about
other of its features a borrowed glory. Such Associa-
tions aim also at providing mutual benefits for members,
along with social reform, and thus bear testimony to the
force of the Christian idea of human brotherhood.
In considering the impact of Christianity on the life
of India one has to take account of the presence of a
large European element. There are the tradesmen,
the British garrison, and the officials. These are the
representatives of Christianity in the minds of the
common people. In spite of all the blessings that have
come with British rule, it is a common experience that
the work of evangelizing, and that of building up the
Indian Church, is more difficult in garrison towns than
in places where European life and influence are compara-
tively unknown. And there is the large Eurasian, or
more properly, Anglo-Indian, community, who by
birth, by baptism, by name, and to a certain extent,
by upbringing, are Christians. These are largely
separate from both the European and the purely
Indian communities, and have not received the atten-
tion they deserve.
The Call to Service, (i) For Europeans. The call
10 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
to the Church for service in India is clear and insistent.
It comes on behalf of the European community. It is
true that Government provides for Chaplaincies, but
Christians at home cannot be indifferent to the influence
of those who are on the outposts of the Empire, the
representatives of British Christian ideas and ideals,
who serve their King and their God by maintaining
peace, and enforcing the principles of Truth and
Justice in the country's administration ; and those
too who have gone to India in the interests of trade and
commerce.
(2) For the Masses. But the call comes particularly
on behalf of the millions of India, the native-born, with
their countless gods and goddesses. It comes from the
50 million out castes, among whom there is a growing
spirit of unrest and dissatisfaction with agelong oppres-
sion. They are turning toward the Christian faith as
their only door of Hope. Wonderful mass movements*
have from time to time begun among them in different
parts of India, and these present to the Christian church
some of its gravest problems.
(3) For the Aboriginal Tribes. The way, too, in
which the aboriginal tribes are open and responsive to
the Gospel, constitutes a clamant call to evangelize
these neglected peoples. In their case it is a matter of
great urgency, for the Hinduizing process is going on
among them, and if this be accomplished, the barrier
of caste will make work among them difficult. Caste
is not now recognized by them.
(4) For India's Women. And there is the insistent
call of India's women. With a rapidly growing demand
*See Chap. VII.
DEVOTEE— WORSH I PPI NG
DEVOTEE— IN THE MIDST OF "THE FIVE FIRES
THE CLAIMS OF INDIA II
*
for education, and a wide-spread desire on the part of
Indian men that facilities should be provided, there is a
lamentable lack of teachers. The Medical needs, too,
are appalling. "It is computed that out of 150 million
women of India, not more than 3 million as yet are
within the reach of medical aid." Think what this
means !
(5) For the Nation. The National movement* is a
call to the Christian Church. To quote the words of a
leading Indian Christian writer :
"The problem of surpassing interest in every educated
centre is how to build up the one Indian Nation out of
all the diverse races and divisions. The picture of a
United India fires the imagination of the young, and
rouses the enthusiasm even of the older man .... A
great Indian Church is needed to form a great Indian
Nation."** The power of a Supreme Government may
hold together in peace India's diverse peoples ; but to
weld them into a nation, with common sentiments and
with a sense of true brotherhood, there is needed a great
motive force which the Spirit of Christ alone can
give.
The Fundamental Reason for Serving India. The
need, and the opportunity to meet that need, are a
sufficient call to rouse us to service for India. But a
deeper reason is found in our Lord's Great Commission
and Promise to His people. " Go ye therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
*See Chap. VII.
**Prin. Rudra from "Christ and Modern India" — The Student
Movement — Jan., 1910.
12 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ;
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have
commanded you ; and lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world." (Matt. 28 : 20).
No church can be indifferent to this Command, or
plead any excuse whatever, or limit the range of its
prayers and efforts, without suffering in itself. Holding
the Gospel in trust for the world, the Church which
fails in obedience to its Lord's Command, not only robs
the non-Christian world of its due, but robs itself of its
best blessings. "The light that shines the farthest
shines brightest nearer home." There can be no con-
flict between 'home' and 'foreign' claims. These act
on each other, as Dr. Duff used to say/'not by way of
mutual exhaustion but by way of mutual fermentation."
Even the greatness and seeming impossibility of the
task can become a means of richest blessing. It will
but serve to throw the Church back on its supernatural
resources — on God. It will drive it to prayer, which is
"the Christian's vital breath." It will compel it to
advance on its knees, the only sure way to victory.
Inner Compulsion the Impelling Motive. But deeper
even than obedience to a command, lies the true secret
of world-wide missionary activity. It is the inner
compulsion of the Christian life. It waits for no ex-
ternal command. Even had the Great Commission
never been formally given, the Church of Christ would
still have been Missionary. It had an experience which
compelled it to be such. Peter and John, when for-
bidden to preach, said, "We cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard." To have tasted and
THE CLAIMS OF INDIA 13
seen that the Lord is gracious, is to know the meaning
of that inner compulsion. "I cannot eat my morsel
alone." some one has said, "was the best Missionary ad-
dress I ever heard." Impelled by this motive, the
Primitive Church soon gave its testimony throughout
the known world. We need to be possessed anew with
the wonder, and fragrance, and sweetness, of the
Gospel Message, to realize afresh the saving power of
Christ, and the Non-Christian world will soon hear the
Good News. "The possession of Grace," said Mc-
Cheyne, "is different from the possession of everything
else in the world." It alone enables us to realize that
it is better to give than to receive. "There is that
scattereth and yet increaseth ; and there is that
withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to
poverty." (Prov. XI. : 24). Sir Robert Laidlaw, a
prince among India's merchants, said, "We merchants
come to India to get out of it what we can. You Mis-
sionaries come to put into it what you can. If I had
my life to live over again I would be a Missionary."
THE MIND OF INDIA
"This immutable and all-pervading system of caste
has no doubt imposed a mechanical uniformity upon
the people, but it has, at the same time, kept their
different sections inflexibly separate, with the conse-
quent loss of all power of adaptation and readjustment
to new conditions and forces. The regeneration of the
Indian people, to my mind, directly and perhaps solely
depends upon the removal of this condition of caste.
When I realize the hypnotic hold which this gigantic
system of cold-blooded repression has taken on the
minds of our people, whose social body it has so
completely entwined in its endless coils that the free
expression of manhood, even under the direst necessity,
has become almost an impossibility, the only remedy
that suggests itself to me is to educate them out of
their trance."
— RABINDRA NATH TAGORE.
CHAPTER II.
THE MIND OF INDIA
The Need of Knowing the Mind of India. "Behold
a sower went forth to sow. And when he sowed, some
seeds fell by the wayside : and some fell upon stony
places, where they had not much earth : and some fell
among thorns : and other fell into good ground."
Scientific farming lays much stress on a minute study
of the soil, the elements in it which are adapted to cer-
tain seeds, the extent to which it has become impover-
ished, and the best method of treatment in order that
there may be a suitable return in the time of harvest.
And the missionary who would sow the Good Seed of
the Kingdom must needs know the soil in which the
Seed is to be sown. There should be a knowledge of
the character and institutions of the people, and their
religious beliefs and practices, those things which it is
the office of the Gospel, to transform and sanctify, or it
may be to supplant and destroy. Mission work is a
lifelong study, not only for the acquisition of the lan-
guage, which is essential, but for the knowledge of the
people without which the missionary cannot intelli-
gently and sympathetically commend the Gospel to
their needs.
Difficulty : Mental Seclusion of the Indian. But it
has been often asserted that such a study must. in the
end prove a failure, for the mental seclusion of the
Oriental is such that his character can never be
18 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
understood, particularly by the Westerner. Meredith
Townsend in his book, "Asia and Europe," thus
describes this attitude, ' ' They are fenced off from each
other by an invisible, impalpable, but impassable wall.
The wall is not, as we believe, difference of manners,
or of habits, or of modes of association, for those
difficulties have all been conquered by officials, travel-
lers, missionaries, and others, in places like China,
where the external difference is so much greater. They
have indeed been conquered by individuals in India
itself, where many men — especially missionaries who
are not feared — do live in as friendly and frequent
intercourse with Irjdians, as they would with their own
people at home. The wall is less material than that,
and is raised mainly by the Indian himself who, what-
ever his profession, or grade, or occupation, deliberately
secludes his mind from the European, with a jealous,
minute, and persistent care .... But in his most facile
moments the Indian never unlocks his mind, never
puts it to yours, never reveals his real thought, never
stands with his real and whole character confessed, like
the Western European. You may know a bit of it, the
dominant passion, the ruling temper, even the reigning
prejudice, but never the whole of it." He gives his
explanation of this exclusiveness as follows : "We
doubt if any European ever fully realizes how great
the mental effect of the segregativeness, the separation
into atoms, of Indian society, continued, as it has been,
for three thousand unbroken years, has actually been.
We speak of that society as 'divided into castes,' but
it is, and has always been divided into far more minute
THE MIND OF INDIA 19
divisions or crystals, each in a way complete, but each
absolutely separated from its neighbor by laws, rules,
prejudices, traditions, and principles of ceremonial
purity, which in the aggregate, form impassable lines of
demarcation. It is not the European to whom the
Indian will not reveal himself, but mankind, outside
a circle usually wonderfully small, and often a single
family, from whom he mentally retreats. His first pre-
occupation in life is to keep his 'caste/ his separateness,
his ceremonial purity, from any other equally separate
crystal ; and in that preoccupation, permanent, and
all-absorbing, for thousands of years, he has learnt to
shroud his inner mind, till in revealing it he feels as if
he were revealing some shrine which it is blasphemy to
open, as he had earned from Heaven the misfortune he
thinks sure to follow .... This loneliness (of the mind)
has been increased in the Indian by the discipline of
ages, until it is not an incident, but the first essential of
his character."
Every one who has lived any length of time in India
has felt the difficulty of the problem ; but it has its
brighter and truer side, for a touch of Grace can make
the whole world kin.. Kipling has sung : "East is
East, and West is West ; and never the twain shall
meet," but Dr. Murray Mitchell, with a deeper insight
into the Indian mind, ventures to correct the bard of
the barrack-room, and says : "East is East and West
is West, and yet the twain shall meet, And Eastern men
join Western men in fellowship complete." The writer
considers some of the most cordial and helpful friend-
20 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
ships of life to include those which have been formed
with Indian Christians.
Conservatism. Closely allied to the above trait is
their conservatism. Naturally this is more marked in
the villages than in the towns and large centres ; and
inasmuch as 92 per cent of the population of Central
India, live in the villages, this trait is a very common
one. Methods of work in vogue hundreds, and even
thousands of years ago, are still followed. The potter
at his wheel, the blacksmith at his forge, the weaver at
his simple loom, and the farmer with his primitive
implements, work as their forefathers have worked as
the centuries have rolled by ; and it cannot be said
that they have reached perfection in their arts. The
Indian regards it as disrespectful to his ancestors for
him to depart in any way from their example. To do
so would be to commit a sin. Many of the everyday
proverbs of life give expression to this sentiment.
Anyone seeking to improve his house, or to introduce
better methods of work, or to adopt a different style of
clothing, would be treated as an upstart, and in many
cases such innovations would not be tolerated by the
caste.
Spirit of Progress. The spirit of progress, however,
is slowly but surely forcing itself on India. The large
towns and cities are like another world. The Old and
the New rudely jostle each other. In a city street may
be seen the primitive ox-cart which from time immemor-
ial has jogged along at three miles an hour, and the
modern bicycle, ridden by old and young, men and
women (the Parsee ladies as yet are almost the only
THE MIND OF INDIA 21
ones who have taken freely to the bicycle) . And there
are strings of camels, swinging along at their easy gait,
symbolic of the leisurely East, and motor cars and motor
cycles shooting hither and thither, while policemen in
uniform regulate the traffic in up-to-date fashion. Tall
chimneys indicate the coming of the modern factory,
arid the telegraph, the telephone, and electric light tell
of the impact of the more strenuous Western life upon
the conservative East. For ages almost every detail
of life has been stereotyped by having the seal of re-
ligious authority placed upon it. It is not difficult to
see that even Western ways are influencing the minds
of the people and affecting the soil — the soil of religious
conceptions — in which the Seed of the Kingdom is be-
ing sown.
Proportion of Literates. The illiteracy of the
masses makes the work of seed-sowing one requiring
much patience. The appeal of the Evangelist or
Christian Teacher in the home land is reinforced by
countless influences which are at work in a community
which has the library, and the newspaper, and above
all, the Bible, to stimulate thought. In India it is far
different. In Central India, the proportion of illiterates
is very high. In the census of 1911, the test of a
"literate" person was — ability to write a letter and
read the answer to it ; and the returns showed 26 per
thousand of literates in the whole population. One
male in every 20 and one female in every 330 was able
to satisfy the test. It is interesting to note that among
Indian Christians, the percentage of literates is 46 for
males, and 34 for females ; that is, among "literates"
22 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
the proportion of Christians to general population is,
for males 9 to i , and for females, 1 1 2 to i . (The Census
returns include under the name "Indian Christian"
both Protestant and Roman Catholic).
Religious knowledge among the illiterate masses of
the Hindus, is kept alive by wandering bards who recite
or sing their sacred scriptures. It is no uncommon
sight to see the men of the village gathered together
after the day's work is done, listening attentively while
someone reads or sings by the hour portions of the
Ramayana or other of the sacred books. Stories of the
marvellous doings of their deities, and pithy sayings and
proverbs, expressive of religious and moral conceptions,
are the sole intellectual food of multitudes. While
occasionally women may be found who are versed in
their scriptures, for their sex as a whole, the ritual of
worship at the temple and the village shrine, and the
religious ceremonies associated with the various re-
lationships of life, with betrothal, marriage, motherhood
and death, fill up the measure of their religious instruc-
tion. It is no wonder that the women are proverbially
the stronghold of, idolatry and religious conservatism.
Among Mohammedans there is the public reading of
the Koran and preaching by the moulvies ; but as the
Koran is read in Arabic, which to the Indian Moham-
medan is a foreign tongue, it is not surprising that many
are almost entirely ignorant of the teachings of their
sacred book.
How and When to Preach the Gospel. How is the
Good Seed to be sown in soil such as this ? Must we
first educate and then preach ? Must the Good News
FEEDING THE SACRED FISH
RELIGIOUS MENDICANTS— FAKIRS
THE MIND OF INDIA 23
be held in abeyance till man's condition is bettered,
and a certain stage of culture be reached before the
preaching of the Gospel can be profitable ? Our an-
swer is that we can, and must preach a present salvation
to all men. The proclamation of a message, the testi-
mony to a great reality, must be the first and formative
thought in the life of the missionary. "If we had to
offer to the world a Gospel of rites, the form of our
ministry would be sacerdotal ; if we had to offer a
Gospel of thoughts, our ministry would be professional
and didactic, but we have a Gospel of fact ; therefore
we preach." (Dr. Alexander McLaren). We have a
Saviour so many-sided, so full of Grace and Truth, that
He meets the need of every man. And it is a Saviour,
not a system of abstract truth, that is to be preached.
Hence the Great Commission lays the emphasis first
of all on a right relationship, and lastly on growth in
knowledge. First jisjnple— then baptize — then teach.
On the other hand the Gospel is Truth, and Truth is so
comprehensive, that every enlightening agency can be
profitably employed as her handmaid. The Christian
school is invaluable in this respect.
The Element of Fear. Illiteracy is closely allied to
a trait in the Indian character which is painfully
manifest in so many of their religious ceremonies, —
the element of fear. Knowledge liberates, but ignor-
ance, especially when played upon by an unscrupulous
priesthood, brings bondage. uFor the Hindu, the fear
of malignant spirits is, like the atmosphere, all-perva-
sive. The readiest explanation of misfortune, loss,
sickness, calamity, is that it is due to an angry deity,
24 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
who must be propitiated. A crowd is seen gathered
outside the village, and a goat is being prepared for
sacrifice. You ask the reason, and are told that a
member of the village headman's family is ill with fever
and the deity is calling for a sacrifice of blood. Or a
grievous sickness afflicts the villagers. The particular
deity concerned is angry and must be appeased, and
if possible, persuaded to depart. A little cart is made
for his comfort, offerings are brought, and with much
shouting and noise, he is solemnly escorted to the bound-
aries of the village where he is bidden a glad farewell.
O, for the shedding abroad of that Love which casts
out fear, for fear hath torment!
The idols of India are invariably ugly. Those fash-
ioned by man's hand are made to appear terrible-
Sometimes a shapeless stone from the fields, unfashioned
by man, is set up as the village shrine, and is worshipped
and feared. But the image is no more ugly or unseemly
than their conception of the spirit supposed to dwell
there, which is their god. The thought of God as
malevolent, vindictive, waiting to pounce on them in
punishment for any false step, is a horrible conception
of Him whose name is Father. "Being then the off-
spring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead
is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and
device of man." (Acts 17 : 29). "No man hath seen
God at any time, the Only-begotten Son, which is in the
bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him." (John
i : 1 8). India needs the vision of God the Father, in
the face of Jesus Christ.
THE MIND OF INDIA 2$
People in whose minds fear is so marked a trait, are
always subject to panic. Though patient to a fault,
when excited they work themselves into a frenzy, and
this constitutes one of the perils of residence in India.
A false rumor, or a misunderstanding, especially if
religious feelings are concerned, may provoke a fanatical
outburst in which neither life nor property are safe,
as witness the terrible excesses of the Mutiny.
Things to be Admired. But there are traits of
character worthy of admiration. Their patience is
unwearied. The agricultural classes have provided
the sinews of war for the warlike hordes which have
swept over India again and again from time immem-
orial. Patience under changes of rulers with ac-
companying oppression, has become ingrained in their
nature. Impatience and angry outbursts are looked
upon as signs of weakness and excite their pity. In
this respect the impulsive Westerner has something to
learn from the Indian. "No words are sufficient to
tell how meek and lowly in heart the winner of souls
must be, what humility of speech, what quietness of
manner, what superlative self-effacement are necessary
in order that the Light of Christ may shine through him
into Hindu eyes."* There is also not a little in the
family life of the Indian which is admirable. The
greatest deference is paid to parents. The crippled or
otherwise unfortunate members of the family are
cared for by all. The social graces of forbearance,
helpfulness and submission to authority are fostered.
The Patriarchal system prevails, and while there is
*Crown of Hinduism, J. N. Farquhar, page 55.
26 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
little opportunity for the individual (except the head
of the household) to develop a self-reliant character, the
selfish individualistic spirit gets little chance to grow.
Religious Ideas of Hinduism. From the Christian
standpoint the soil of religious belief is what most deeply
interests us. What are the thoughts of this people ?
What ideas lie behind practices which often seem
unreasonable and conflicting ? What is the subsoil
of religious observances ? While certain philosophical
ideas seem to be like the air itself and pervade the life
of India as a whole, it will be well to consider the two
chief religions in order, viz., Hinduism and Moham-
medanism.
Hinduism, Karma and Transmigration. One of the
most distinctive marks of Hinduism is the belief in
Karma, or Works. The belief is that a man's char-
acter, his station in life, his joys and sorrows, his
temperament, indeed the whole sum of his present
existence, is the just recompense for his deeds, good or
bad, done in his previous births. The present life,
moreover, works itself out in retribution in another
birth, this in another and so on ; so that as one has
said : "As fast as the clock of retribution runs down,
it winds itself up again." No life, and no act of life is
free from this all-embracing law of Cause and Effect.
There is no one who believes with more consistency
and persistency than the Hindu, the cold, relentless
doctrine of retribution. As a man sows so shall he
reap, is accepted by the Hindu in all its implications.
Not only does he see this law linking up the future with
the present, but he sees it linking up the present with
THE MIND OF INDIA 27
the past. There is no room here for forgiveness. The
cup of retribution must be drunk to its bitter dregs.
The allied doctrine of Transmigration or successive
births, helped the Hindu to understand, or at least to
make less mysterious, the ever-pressing problem of the
inequalities of man's lot in life.
Their belief is that when this life ends the soul enters
into another body, it may be that of some animal, some
bird, or it may be some loathsome insect. The nature
of that rebirth will depend on the merit or demerit
accumulated in the present life. The practical out-
come of the doctrine is seen in the reverence for all
forms of life. Who knows but that the rat or the snake
that some would ruthlessly destroy may be the earthly
tenement of some deceased ancestor. Rewards or
punishment for deeds done in any given stage of exis-
tence are meted out by entrance into a higher or lower
stage of existence in a subsequent birth, as the case
may be.
The human heart is much the same in all lands. The
same problems press in on the Hindu mind that, for
instance, so perplexed the Patriarch Job. The prob-
lem of suffering and life's inequalities has to be solved
by every thoughtful man for himself. Job did not
find a philosophical explanation, but his heart found
rest in God. Hinduism has sought to find rest in a
theory of life which just pushes the problem farther
into the background, but does not solve it. Previous
births of which the soul has no consciousness do not
explain the problem of sin and suffering ; but the theory
may provide a hint whereby the message of a vicarious
28 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
atonement may not prove a stumbling block to the
Hindu mind.
These two beliefs rest like a pall over all human
action. India's condition reminds one of the famous
statue — the Laocoons — in which are represented a
father and his two sons, battling vainly in death
struggle with serpents which envelop and crush them
— "The miserable sire, wrapped with his sons in Fate's
severest grasp."
How many births are past I cannot tell ;
How many yet to come no man can say ;
But this alone I know, and know full well,
That pain and grief embitter all the way.
(South India Folk Song.)
Two results are everywhere manifest, (i) A dead-
ening of conscience, and a lack of the sense of moral
responsibility. A fatalism holds the people in its
grasp, and it seems at times impossible to arouse them
to any high and noble endeavor. (2) Inasmuch as
salvation can come only by the release of the soul from
this constant bondage of action, the stress is laid more
and more on quietism and retirement from the world.
Nirvana, or true blessedness, is a state of actionless
calm, where impulses of all kinds, good and bad, are
no longer felt. The practical result is seen in the in-
dividual withdrawing from the ordinary relationships
of life, with the consequent loss to both. The Christian
ideal is directly contrary to this. It emphasizes loving
service of God and man as its true expression.
The Doctrine of Illusion. Another belief which is
almost universal is that the world is unreal and illusive.
THE MIND OF INDIA 29
Brahma, the impersonal one, is the only reality, and
all that appears is unreal. We mortals are absorbed
in the things which are unreal, and these keep us from
attaining to the consciousness of our essential unity
with Brahma, and thus attaining to Deliverance which
is salvation. No saying is more frequently met with
than this : '"All is Illusion."
All that is historical is necessarily unreal, and the
preacher of a religion which is founded in the Historic
Person, Jesus Christ, has this inborn prejudice of the
Hindu mind to deal with. The philosophically minded
objector cannot accept Jesus as the universal Saviour
just because He is historical. He fails to see that no
one can be a Universal Saviour, unless He can and does
enter into touch with, and participate in, the course of
human History. This doctrine of Illusion is the inner
fortress in which the Hindu invariably takes refuge
when driven from his outer defences in argument.
What is Hinduism ? Within recent years a wordy
controversy has been carried on as to what -constitutes
Hinduism, and who may be included under the term
Hindus : but no entirely satisfactory definition of
these terms has been found. The chief characteristic
of Hinduism is its vagueness. A few typical definitions
will illustrate the difficulty. Sir Narayan Chandar-
varkar, a prominent Social Reformer says : ' ' Hinduism
is not one religion but many, a mixture of creeds, and a
cult of compromises." (i)
Dr. Lucas, a veteran missionary says : "By Hindu-
ism we mean pantheism, idolatry, transmigration of
(i) "India Witness," July 23, 1912.
30 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
souls through millions of births, and caste ; for if these
be given up, there is nothing left of Hinduism." (2)
An orthodox Brahman says : (3) "The fact that
people do not agree in their definition of Hinduism
points of itself to its all-comprehensiveness. Hinduism
baffles all definition, like Brahma (God) whom it
worships. The ancient rishis sought to define Brahma
as this and that, and failing, ended by defining him as
not this or that."
Another, defining the term "Hindu," says: (4) "that
while there is a real principle of unity in Islam, and
also in Christianity, the Hindus have neither faith nor
practice nor law to distinguish them from others. I
should therefore define a Hindu to be one born in India
whose parents as far as people can remember, were not
foreigners, or did not profess foreign religions like
Mohammedanism, or Christianity or Judaism, or who
himself has not embraced such religions."
This very indefiniteness makes it possible for Hin-
duism to accommodate itself to all forms of religious
influence, and to absorb even conflicting beliefs. Were
Christianity a mere system of truth, it too would pro-
bably be absorbed ; but it is a vital faith and centres
in a Person who claims absolute allegiance. Jesus,
the Son of God, cannot be placed in the Hindu Pantheon.
At least two-thirds of India's people are Hindus.
Hinduism itself is a gigantic social and religious struc-
ture. It is held together not only by those subtle, all-
pervasive ideas we have described, the belief in
(2) Article in Bible Record, 1911.
(3) "India Witness," July 23rd, 1912.
(4) Year Book of Missions in India, 1912, page 77.
THE MOHURRAM PROCESSION— I NDORE
THE MIND OF INDIA 3!
Transmigration, Karma and the Illusory nature of the
world, but it is riveted still more closely into a system
by the reverence shown to the Brahmans. Their
authority is well nigh absolute, and the curse of a
Brahman is feared more than anything else. To this
may be added the reverence for the cow.
Popular Hinduism. Popular Hinduism thinks of the
Impersonal Spirit as revealing himself under three forms
which are known as the Hindu trinity (i) Brahm£, the
Creator ; (2) Vishnu, the Preserver ; (3) Siva, the
Destroyer.- The worship of the first is of little import-
ance. His work is completed and he receives little
attention. Vishnu, the Preserver, appears in the
world as an incarnation whenever the need calls for it.
Nine times he is supposed to have appeared, and his
coming once again is looked for. Of his incarnations,
two are most popular among the common people.
One of these is Rama, the hero of India's most famous
epic poem, the Ramayana ; the other is Krishna, the
cowherd, the tales of whose marvellous doings have laid
hold on the popular imagination.
The worship of Siva is connected in the popular
mind with the creative energy of mankind. His special
emblem is often accompanied by the image of the
Sacred bull, while in the temples of Siva will be found
also an image of his spouse.
In regard to the members of the Hindu trinity, they
all have a tarnished moral record. Their jealousy and
sensuality and the impure stories of their deeds are
corrupting and debasing the thoughts and the life of
32 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
the people of India. Modern Hinduism is without any
motive power to purify and uplift India.
Mohammedanism. Among Mohammedans we find
a much more definite creed, and its points of contrast
with other faiths are more clear and explicit. It
challenges Christianity, as a world religion. It claims
to incorporate all preceding revelations, even Chris-
tianity, and to be the true and final revelation of God.
Their sacred Book, the Quran, "is believed to be the
word of God in the sense that every word, jot and tittle
is a matter of divine revelation, the angel Gabriel having
copied it from the original, inscribed upon the Preserved
Table kept under the throne of God, and committed
it to Mohammed who thus became the mouthpiece of
God.". .. ."The faith of the Muslim is summed up
under seven heads, as follows : ' I believe in God, in the
Angels, in the Books, in the Apostles, in the Last Day,
in the Decrees of the Almighty God, both as respects
good and evil, and in the Resurrection after death.". . .
"Faith in God is not only belief in His being as a
Personal God, but especially in His absolute unity.
It excludes all plurality of persons in the Godhead, and
repudiates every suggestion of Incarnation, and there-
fore rejects the Christian doctrines of the Holy Trinity
and the Eternal Sonship of Christ."*
NOTE — No attempt is made in this chapter to deal
with the reforming sects that have sprung up within
Hinduism, and Mohammedanism, especially within
recent times. In many cases they are the fruit of the
impact of Christian ideas on the teachings and practices
*"The Year Book of Missions in India, 1912," page 113!!.
THE MIND OF INDIA 33
of these religions, and are to be welcomed as evidences
of an awakening religious spirit. A study of the Re-
form Movements would require a much fuller treatment
than is possible in this volume. The subject is fully
treated in "Modern Religious Movements in India,"
see Bibliography.
\
CENTRAL INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE
"I have found in every page of the book of my
experience clearest evidence of the fact that human
nature is the same in the East as in the West, that
when we get below the surface we find that the desires
and affections, the needs and capacities of men, are
practically the same. And my experience tells me
that the power of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus to
cheer and purify the lives of men, and to elevate and
transform their characters, is the same in India as in
England. There may be flashes of light here and there
in exceptional cases, but it is darkness that prevails
among the non-Christian peoples whom I have known ;
and there is nothing more beautiful than to see the
Light of the Gospel breaking in on this darkness, not
among the educated and more influential classes alone,
but among the poor and depressed. I could tell of
bright and worthy Christians, in the humble homes of
India, just as I could tell of them among the humble
homes of the villages and glens of my own land." —
(Among Indian Rajahs and Ryots, pp. 268-69, by Sir
Andrew Fraser.)
CHAPTER III.
CENTRAL INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE
Location and Area. Central India is the name of a
political division or "Agency" — a collection of Native
States under the supervision of the Agent to the
Governor-General in Central India, and may be said
to consist of two large detached and irregular blocks
of country lying partly across the centre of the great
Peninsula of India. The term "Central India" was
formerly applied to the old geographical district of
Malwa only, but since 1854, when the Eastern block of
States was added to Malwa to form the Central India
Agency, the name was applied to the whole tract.
Central India is bounded on the North-east by the
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. OtiTheTjTast and
along the whole length of its Southern border, lie the
Central Provinces ; the South-western boundary is
formed by Khandesh, the Rewa Kantha Agency, and
the Panch Mahals of Bombay ; while various states of
the Rajputana Agency enclose it on the West and
North. The total area of this tract is 77,367 miles,
more than 2^/2 times the area of Scotland, or slightly
less than one-fifth the area of Ontario, and has a
population of just over nine millions.
Area Occupied. The Canadian Mission has con-
fined its operations to the Western Group of states and
has roughly defined its Eastern boundary at 76° 30"
E. longitude. Within this area there are approximate-
37
38 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
ly 30,000 square miles, 12,000 towns and villages, and
a population of considerably more than 3 millions. No
other Protestant Mission is at work in this area and
its evangelization is the special care of the Presbyterian
Church in Canada, in co-operation with the Indian
Church.
Physical Features. This area is for the greater
part an undulating plateau, with an average elevation
of i, 600 feet and rising in places to over 2,000. It
slopes gently to the north and its rivers drain into the
great river systems of the Gangetic plain. In the
South, draining the plain at the foot of the Vindhaya
Mountains, flows the sacred Narbadda, which can be
forded with difficulty, and only in the driest season of
the year ; while in the Monsoon it is a resistless torrent,
rising from 30 to 40 feet above its normal level ; but on
account of its deep-cut channel, doing little damage to
the adjacent country. Almost all the other rivers are
worthy of the name only during the rainy season.
For the rest of the year they are only winding ravines,
strewn with boulders or white sand, with here and there
pools of stagnant water. The scenery of the plateau
is not lacking in beauty. The monotony of the vast
rolling plains is relieved here and there by curious
flat-topped hills, which appear to have been all planed
off to the same level by some giant hand. Broad
winding belts of palm trees indicate the existence of
watercourses, while clumps of green trees thickly
dotting the landscape mark the sites of villages or way-
side wells. The fertile black cotton soil, with which
the plateau is covered, bears magnificent crops, and
CENTRAL INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE 39
the tract is well cultivated. Where no grain has been
sown the land is covered with luxuriant grass, affording
excellent grazing for the large herds of cattle which
roam over it. During the rains, the country
presents an appearance of unwonted luxuriance.
Each hill clothed in a bright green mantle, rises from
plains covered with waving fields of jowar,* corn, and
grass, and traversed by numerous streams, filled from
bank to bank. The luxuriance, however, is but
short-lived, and within little more than a month after
the conclusion of the rains, gives place to the monoton-
ous dusty yellow color which is so characteristic of
this region during the greater part of the year. Later
this is relieved by the broad patches of gram or pulse,
and wheat, and cotton, the growth of which has in-
creased so greatly during recent years.
Irrigation. Irrigation is almost entirely from wells
and tanks, or artificial lakes, the latter formed by
building great banks or retaining walls of masonry
and mud, wherever there is a suitable area ; and for
the most part the farmers have to depend on the
rainfall which begins usually early in July and con-
tinues with occasional breaks till the end of September,
the yearly average being about 30 inches. And how
it rains ! Bullen's description of rain in the tropics,
"an ocean out of which the bottom occasionally falls,"
is not absurdly inaccurate. Eleven inches in one day'
has been recorded, but this is unusual. The constant
beating of huge drops of rain on the mud walls of the
*A species of millet which is the staple food of most of the com-
mon people.
40 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
houses of the poorer classes causes many a collapse
with its consequent discomfort and suffering.
Seasons. There are three distinct seasons in Central
India. The Rainy Season is followed by the Cold
Season, which lasts from October till the end of March.
During these months India is a delightful land. Ad-
vantage is taken of the coolness and the continued
dry weather to make extensive tours all through the
District, the missionaries sometimes going one hundred
miles from the Central Stations and preaching in
hundreds of villages. It is the season, too, of the
globe-trotter, and of the annual migration of visitors
from the colds and mists of the winters in the Western
lands to the clear and sunny but cool climate of India.
Unfortunately they see India only at her best. They
rush from place to place, seeing the architectural
beauties and getting only a side glance at the real India
from the train windows, and hasten home again with
the first breath of the Hot Season ; but they have
not seen, and do not know India. They should spend
at least a full year in the East.
Next comes the Hot Season, from April till the rains
break in July. This is the time when man and beast
"ease off" and even Nature seems to sleep. The hot
wind blows continually, parching throat and nostrils.
The farmer leaves his fields in the heat of the day and
sleeps in the welcome shade of the village trees, or
under the tiled roof of his little verandah. Even the
birds seek the denser shades and sit with wings half
drooping and beaks expanded waiting for the cooler
hours of the evening.
CENTRAL INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE 41
But there are compensations. Some of the most
brilliant and gorgeous of the jungle trees and shrubs
choose this season to delight the eye with their beauty
and to spread abroad their fragrance. Other trees at
this season cast away their old garments, and put on a
coat of the most brilliant and delicate green.
Means of Communication. Western Central India
is only fairly well equipped with means of communica-
tion. A metre gauge railway goes through from North
to South ; and from East to West the broad gauge main
line from Bombay to Delhi traverses the field. Two
other short lines connect with these. Well built
macadamized roads connect all the larger centres, but
a great deal of the traffic has no other outlet than over
the "trails" or country roads which in the wet season
are impassable, and the rest of the year, abominable
—until one gets used to them. The Telegraph and
Postal systems of India are worthy of all praise. Most
of the larger centres of Central India have these facili-
ties, and new branches are constantly being opened.
Early History of Central India. Much of the early
history of Malwa is shrouded in darkness and fable.
The District is noticed as a separate Province about
eight centuries and a half before the Christian era,
and the name of a Bheel chief emerges from the mists.
It is believed that this now despised race enjoyed
extensive power in this part of India at a very remote
period. "The original prestige and power of the
Bheels, linger as a memory in a custom observed in the
Rajput State of Udaipore. When a new Rana ascends
42 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
the throne, his forehead is marked with blood from the
great toe of a Bheel."f
Nearer the time of Christ, the history becomes more
definite, and we read of the famous Hindu King,
Vikramaditya, who has given the era which is at this
day in general use over a great part of India. It is
computed, like the Christian era, by the solar year,
and commences fifty-seven years before Christ. Like
Solomon in Israel, this famous prince is said to have
raised the Hindu Monarchy to a degree of splendor
unknown before, while at the same time encouraging
Arts and Learning. The capital of his kingdom was
the city of Ujjain, which is said to have more undoubted
claims to remote antiquity than any other inhabited
city in India.* Later the capital was transferred to
Dhar where it remained till the Mohammedan conquest
of Central India, early in the fourteenth Century, when
it was ruled by Viceroys appointed by the Emperor of
Delhi. About the end of that century, one of these,
Dilawar Khan Ghori, taking advantage of confusion
in Delhi, made for himself an independent kingdom in
Malwa, and fixed his capital in Dhar, which still pre-
serves, in the ruins with which it is surrounded, the
history of this change. The materials of the finest
temples appear to have been used to make palaces and
mosques for the new ruler. It was not long, however,
before the capital was removed from Dhar to Mandu
fThe Redemption of Malwa, page 26.
"" Ujjain is one of the seven sacred cities of India, not yielding
even to Benares in sanctity .... It is also the first meridian of Long-
itude of the Hindu geographers." — Imperial Gazetteer of India,
Central India, page 189.
1
II
AGRICULTURAL INDIA
(1) A Field of Jowar. (2) Load of Cotton. (3) A Country Scene
CENTRAL INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE 43
only a few miles distant and picturesquely situated on
the very edge of the Vindhya mountains. The mag-
nificent ruins of this old city attract many visitors and
not a little has been done, chiefly by Lord Curzon, to
preserve its mosques and palaces from further destruc-
tion.
Although the Mohammedan monarchs of Malwa
attained to great power and influence, they never com-
pletely subdued the Rajput princes and petty chiefs
in their vicinity, but rather pursued, with these valiant
Hindus, the policy of compromise, being content with a
nominal submission and moderate tribute with military
service. Nor did the Mohammedan occupation of
Central India disturb greatly the social institutions of
the mass of the people, whose unit is the village, an
independent and distinct community ruled by its own
officers within its own limits.
Modern History. With the decay of the Moham-
medan power in the eighteenth century, Central India
was invaded by the warlike Marathas from the south.
At the same time the Pindarics, plundering hordes of
disbanded soldiers from the north, swept over Malwa ;
while the B heels came forth from their hill retreats,
whither they had been driven by centuries of oppression,
and raided the villages of the plains. In the early
years of the nineteenth century, the confusion had
reached a crisis. Several soldiers of fortune had carved
out kingdoms for themselves, conspicuous among
whom were the Maratha chiefs, Holkar and Scindia.
But these did little to establish settled forms of govern-
ment, sometimes sending out large military detach-
44 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
ments to collect the revenue. All feeling of security
was gone and the land was wasted by its oppressors.
At last the British Authorities, in 1817, gave Lord
Hastings, the Governor-General, authority to intervene,
and rapidly forming alliances with the Native Chiefs
who would accept his advances, he sent three divisions
of his army which closed in on Central India. The
opposing forces numbered no less than 150,000 troops
with 500 cannon, but in the course of four months this
formidable armament was utterly broken up.* The
robber bands were extirpated. The various chiefs
were confirmed in the possession of the lands that they
held, and a feeling of substantial security was diffused
through Central India. Save for some minor disturb-
ances and the uprisings of the Mutiny in 1857, there has
been since 1820 an era of peace and prosperity in Central
India.
Peaceful Years. The general settlement effected
among the Central India States at the close of the
Pindari war has continued with few changes till the
present. There are over 140 States and Estates in the
Agency, which range in size from Gwalior, with 25,000
sq. miles (larger than Nova Scotia and P. E. Island
combined) to small holdings of only a single village.
These do not all stand in the same relationship to the
British Power. Some of the larger ones, such as Indore,
Gwalior, and Bhopal, are known as " Treaty States"
which have entered into direct Treaty relationships
with the British. Others are known as "Mediatized
or Guaranteed." Agreements between certain small
"Imperial Gazetteer, page 24.
CENTRAL IlSfDIA AND ITS PEOPLE 45
States and more important ones claiming authority
over them, were arranged through British Mediation.
The conditions under which these smaller States are
"Guaranteed" in their rights vary in almost every
case.
Native State Defined. The term "Native State"
has been defined by Sir William Lee- Warner as "a bit
of foreign territory in the midst of the King's Do-
minions." But the relationship is closer than this indi-
cates. Native States, as distinguished from British
India, are directly governed by Indian Princes, but
under the oversight of the British Government.*
British Courts of Law have no jurisdiction in these
States, or over them, so far as the general population is
concerned. Britain does not ordinarily interfere in
matters of internal Administration. The British Gov-
vernment limits the number of troops which any State
may maintain. Their rulers are held responsible for
the good goverment of their States.
Area of India under Rule of Native Princes. About
one-third of the area of India is made up of these
Native States, and it is to the honor of Britain that she
has sought, even in the face of great difficulties at times,
to preserve the integrity of the States, and be faithful
*Sir Alfred Lyall, in his "Rise and Progress of British Dominions
in India," page 295, says : It became the universal principle of
public policy that every State in India (outside the Punjab and
Sinde) should make over the control of its foreign relations to the
British Government, should submit all external disputes to British
arbitration, and should defer to British advice regarding internal
management so far as might be necessary to cure disorders or scan-
dalous misrule. A British Resident was appointed to the Courts
of all the greater Princes as the agency for the exercise of these high
functions."
46 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
to the principle laid down in the Despatch of 1860
which says : "It is not by the extension of our Empire
that its permanence is to be secured, but by the charac-
ter of British rule in the territories already committed
to our care, and by showing that we are as willing to
respect the rights of others, as we are capable of main-
taining our own."*
Method of Administration. The Chiefships and
Estates of the Agency of Central India, are divided into
several groups, called "Political Charges," with each
of which is associated a Political Officer who represents
the British Power and who is under the authority of the
Agent who resides in Indore. He, on the other hand,
is the medium of communication between all the States
and the Government of India through the Foreign
Department.
A glance at the map of Central India shows a be-
wildering net work of boundary lines. One State may
have its territory scattered in a score of places, while the
intervening areas will represent isolated sections of
several ot4ier States, while here and there will be a bit
of British India. It will readily be understood that
administration under such conditions is a difficult
matter. The points of contact are many. In dealing
with disease and famine, in bringing to justice fugitive
criminals, and in all schemes for the welfare of the
public, the cordial co-operation of the States with each
other and with the Supreme Power is essential. Ab-
solute non-interference is impossible, and where it is
necessary, pressure has to be wisely exercised ; but it
*Quoted in "The Citizen of India," page 65.
TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE
HALL OF AUDIENCE OF MOGHUL EMPERORS— DELHI
CENTRAL INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE 47
has been found possible to combine these diverse ele-
ments into one Political System.
Mutual Advantages. The mutual advantages to the
Empire and to the Native States of the continuance of
the present relations between them has been thus
summed up by Sir William Lee- Warner :
"The States are a permanent object-lesson of the
faithful adherence of the Indian Authorities to their
engagements. They also enable the people of India to
compare the results of various systems of administra-
tion. Those who are curious to learn whether popula-
tion, education, commerce, and industry increase more
rapidly under one system of Government than under
another, can answer this question for themselves. The
British Government at present contributes more to
the States than they contribute to the welfare of British
India. The cost of the naval and military defence of
the Empire, the upkeep of the Ports and Dockyards, the
main weight of expenditure on Railways, and the
expense of Imperial establishments which benefit the
whole of India, are borne almost entirely by the British
Provinces. The small payments which some states
make under treaties more often represent a commuta-
tion charge for expenses of which they have been re-
lieved, than a contribution towards their share of
protection from a foreign foe. But the Princes and
Chiefs relieve the British Government not merely of
the cost of their local administration, but also of other
civil responsibilities. So long as the Chiefs are, in the
words of Lord Canning, ' loyal to the crown, and faithful
to the conditions of the treaties, grants, or engagements
48 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
which record their obligations to the British Govern-
ment,' they have nothing to fear from their powerful
protector. All observers testify that under British
advice great improvements have been effected in the
administration of the States, and all friends of India
look forward to the continuance of the union, and to the
growth of a friendly rivalry between the officers (of
the Emperor) and the Princes of the States in promot-
ing the prosperity of their respective subjects. The
British have brought from the far west to the east new
ideas of freedom and toleration. It may be hoped that
in the best governed of the Native States, the new
spirit will mix with the life of the Indian people, and
that we shall learn from them what changes are best
adapted to eastern habits."*
Internal Administration. The internal administra-
tion of the States varies, but most Chiefs exercise their
authority through a Dewan, or Minister. In Gwalior
the Maharajah himself presides over an Administrative
Board made up of the Heads of Departments. In
Indore, the Maharajah has a Prime Minister, assisted
by a Council, whose separate members control Finance,
Settlement, Revenue, and other departments. In
small States an Indian Minister is usually placed in
charge, and in cases where gross maladministration
occurs, or where the Chief, is a minor, the control is
vested in the Political Officer, who is assisted by a
council, or it may be, some one special Officer.
Diversity Among India's Peoples. There is great
diversity among the people of India. They have no
*"The Citizen of India," page 75.
CENTRAL INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE 49
common origin. They differ in personal appearance,
in religious beliefs, and social customs. They are a
heterogeneous mass of tribes, races, and tongues, and
only the widest generalizations are possible in describ-
ing them. Perhaps Central India more than other
parts shows this mixed character because of the diverse
races who have invaded its borders. For purposes of
study, however, the classification given by Sir Wm.
Hunter may be followed.*
Classification, i. The Non- Aryans. These repre-
sent the aboriginal races who inhabited the land before
the incursions of the light-colored Aryans from the
north. They now inhabit chiefly the hilly tracts, or
may be found on the plains as servants in the villages,
or as wanderings bands of marauders, jugglers, etc.
The aborigines in Western Central India are mostly
B heels. Formerly they were a wild lawless race, but
the kindly treatment of the British Government as
represented by such noble Christian men as Sir James
Outram in earlier days, and Capt. DeLassoe and others
in later times, has won the confidence of these people.
Drunkenness and theft are their outstanding vices,
but they have noble qualities, and are as a race truthful
and loyal and faithful to their friends. They have
been treated with such contempt by their Hindu
neighbors, and have for so long. been oppressed and
compelled to work for others, that habits of industry
are not easily learned. But when once their confidence
is gained, efforts for their intellectual and material
improvement meet with most encouraging response.
*"The Indian Empire," page 51.
50 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
Thus far they are not much influenced by their contact
with Hinduism, but the Hinduizing process is going on
and they are now much more susceptible to the en-
nobling influences of Christianity than will be the case
a few years hence.
2. The Aryans. The Brahmans and the Rajputs
pride themselves on being the purest descendants of
the Aryan stock which came into India. But it is
doubtful if in India, in spite of its rigid caste, there is
such a thing as pure Aryan blood. There have been
too many influences tending towards fusion to leave
any room for pride of racial purity. The Brahmans
enforce their claim to supremacy by the assertion that
their race issued from the mouth of Brahma, and they
claim the right to be the sole teachers and priests of the
people. The Rajputs, who sprang from the arms of
Brahma, claim to be "the sword of the Hindu faith."
They are the warrior caste. The Brahmans number
about 13% of the population, and a large proportion of
them are engaged in agriculture. They are sub-
divided into several sects, which refuse to intermarry
or even to eat with each other.
The Rajputs form an important section of the popu-
lation of Malwa. Some of the reigning Princes are of
this race, and many of the petty landowners. They
are proverbially hospitable, but now that their ancestral
occupation is practically gone, many have fallen vic-
tims to drunkenness and other vices of an idle life.
The Parsees are non- Indian Aryans of Persian
origin, who came to India in the eighth century to avoid
persecution by the Mohammedans. In Malwa they
A BUSY RAILWAY CENTRE— RUTLAM
A BIT OF THE JUNGLE
CENTRAL INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE 51
are few in number, scarcely more than 1,000, but are an
influential element in the community. In religion they
claim to be worshippers of the one God, the Creator,
whose appropriate symbol is fire, hence they are required
to face some luminous object when worshipping.
Hindus give a similar excuse for the use of images in
their worship — it helps to keep the mind fixed upon the
spiritual reality. Alas, the opposite effect is produced
and men "worship and serve the creature more than
the Creator, who is blessed for ever."
3. The Mixed Hindus. For a description of this
and the remaining class, the Mohammedans, one can-
not do better than quote from Dr. Wilson's " Re-
demption of Malwa" :*
"To this class, which has grown out of the Aryan and
non- Aryan races, belong the great mass of the people
of Malwa. It embraces elements as far removed from
each other as the merchant and the sweeper. The
banias or merchants claim to be Vaishyas, sprung
from the legs of Brahma, 'twice-born' and entitled to
wear the sacred thread. The low caste, or ' once-born '
had their origin in his feet and were destined to serve.
In these mixed peoples, the leading principle of
division into caste is found in occupation. Each
employment has become a separate caste, and at the
same time a sort of trade guild and religious sect.
Each division has its own social laws, customs, religious
rites, and practices, and hence one exercises little social
or moral influence on another.
*Page 27, ff.
$2 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
The more important castes among the middle class
Hindus are shopkeepers, farmers, cowherds, gardeners,
carpenters, and artizans of all sorts. At the low end
of the scale, and treated as unclean, are the leather
workers, and scavengers — the Chamars, Mangs and
Bhangis. In almost every village there will be found a
Brahman family to transact with the gods, and ward
off the evil influence of demons by securing the due
performance of religious rites ; a Bania or two to supply
grain, spices, tobacco and to make loans ; a carpenter
to make and mend ox-carts, yokes and ploughs, as well
as door frames for houses ; a blacksmith to make and
sharpen picks and spades ; a potter to fashion on his
wheel jars and bowls and cooking vessels ; a confec-
tioner to provide the sweetmeats which the vegetable
and grain-eating Hindu so dearly loves. The Chamar
families, too, are needed to remove the hides from dead
cattle, to make and repair shoes and leather water-bags;
and the sweepers to remove things unclean, so that
the higher castes may retain their ceremonial purity.
In the larger villages and towns artizans and menials
in greater number and variety work for the well-being
of the whole community, and each caste, whatever its
rank in the scale may be, proudly maintains its own caste
purity. Caste has come to mean as much for the
Bhangi (sweeper) as for the Brahman. This peculiar
organization in which caste and employment are closely
blended, makes the individual helplessly dependent
on the community of which he forms a part.
Jains. They are found in large numbers in the chiet
commercial centres of Malwa, and have in their hands
CENTRAL INDIA AND ITS PEOPLE 53
. . . the banking operations and the chief financial trans-
actions of the country. In religion they are akin to the
Buddhists. They deny the existence of God, or of any
god. They reject the Vedas and regard the universe
as under the control of "Karm" or Fate. They trust
their future to their own actions according to the law,
"as you sow, so shall you reap." They manifest a
scrupulous regard for animal life, and build hospitals
for sick animals. At night a gauze screen is placed
over their lamps to prevent helpless moths from de-
stroying themselves in the flame. Their temples are
large, elaborate and costly, the finest in Central India,
erected to the memory of ancient sages whom they
adore as men who have "crossed the ocean of exis-
tence." Of all the people- of India, none is more
irresponsive to the Gospel.
4. Mohammedans. About one-twentieth part of the
population of Central India is Mohammedan. This
element has been contributed from several sources.
Some are descendants of the Court and armies of the
Moslems who long ruled the country, and some are
villagers whose ancestors were converted to the faith
of the prophet. Bohr a merchants of Arab extraction
came in from Gujerat. These are found mainly in the
large towns, as tinsmiths, dealers in European articles,
and second-hand goods. The Mohammedans in Malwa
are little given to agriculture. They are employed in
subordinate positions in the Native Governments, or
follow weaving, dyeing, transporting goods, etc. The
lower classes among them have been much influenced
by Hinduism, and are given to the worship of saints, or
54 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
Pirs, and burn lights and make offerings at their
whited sepulchres, and even join in Hindu worship and
festivals."
This is the people among whom the Presbyterian
Church in Canada has chosen to send its representatives
to preach the Gospel. How different from ours is their
political and social atmosphere ; yet there are points
of similarity to our own great Dominion, (i) Central
India's wide stretching plains, where the vast majority
of its people are tillers of the soil, are in appearance, if
not in extent, not unlike the vast plains of our West
where agriculture is the mainstay of the people. In-
dians, like Canadians, are an agricultural people. (2)
The wide diversity of religious beliefs, and the variety
of her peoples, are not unlike the picture that Canada
presents with her multitudes drawn from the many
nations and languages of the whole world. The prob-
lem of the church in each is similar. It is to draw to-
gether in the fellowship of Christian life and service
the diverse peoples separated by religious and racial
prejudices, and to bring in the Kingdom of Christ
which is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost.
BEGINNINGS
or
FIRST TWO DECADES OF THE MISSION'S
HISTORY
' ' Only like souls I see the folk thereunder,
Bound who should conquer, slaves who should be
kings, —
Hearing their one hope with an empty wonder,
Sadly contented in a show of things.
Then with a rush the intolerable craving
Shivers throughout me like a trumpet-call,
Oh to save these ! To perish for their saving,
Die for their life, be offered for them all !"
-F. W. H. MYERS.
(Paul's feelings as he faced a crowd)
It is grand to be here, such opportunity ! Such
need !
Such work ! Oh, to be prepared for such a privi-
lege !"
— GEORGE MENZIES, M.D.
CHAPTER IV.
BEGINNINGS
or
FIRST TWO DECADES OF THE MISSION'S
HISTORY
IN CANADA
Awakening of Interest in Canadian Churches. Pre-
vious to the Presbyterian Union in 1875 the Churches
in Canada had begun to recognize the claims of the
Indian Mission field, and to share in its Evangelization.
, A "Juvenile Mission and Indian Orphanage Scheme"
was inaugurated in the Synod of Canada in connection
with the Church of Scotland, as early as 1856. The
attention of the Synod was that year called to the work
of Supporting and Training Injia^_Orphans carried
on by: the Edinburgh Ladies' Association for Fern a] p.
Education in India. Previous to this, some congre-
gations were supporters of the Association, and now
the Synod adopted the Scheme as one which would
appeal particularly to the Sabbath Schools of the
Church. This "Juvenile Mission" continued as a
stimulus and blessing to the Churches until 1884, when
it was discontinued.
Besides the support of children in the Orphanages,
which were managed by the Scottish Association, the
57
58 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
support of separate schools for girls in India was under-
taken and provided for by the contributors to the
Juvenile Mission. " The Canadian School was opened
in Calcutta on the first of September, 1858 a day
ever memorable from the proclamation which trans-
ferred that vast Empire from the sway of a Company
to the Christian Government of our Gracious Queen.
Under the Divine blessing the effort has proved emin-
ently successful. In a Mohammedan suburb of
Calcutta a_ neat house was found, over~wEich file
hitherto unknown name of 'The Canadian School' has
been inscribed, and, the services of an excellent Chris-
tian and his wife having been engaged, the day school
jts utmost capacity. Similar
Opened with encouraging
prospects and satisfactory results."*
The Eastern Churches further extended their work
in India in 1874 when the Synod of the Maritime
Provinces sent to Madras a lady missionary, Miss
Johns, to take part in Zenana work. Her entire
expenses were borne by the congregation of St. Mat-
thew's Church, Halifax. But soon after her arrival,
this accomplished and devoted lady contracted a serious
illness which necessitated her return, and which ter-
minated fatally in April, 1876. Moreover, on the eve
of the Union, the Synod of the Maritime Provinces
designated a missionary, Rev. J. Fraser Campbell, to
labor among the English-speaking natives of Madras,
but he did not leave for India till after the Union.
*Gregg's Short History of Presbyterian Church in Canada,"
page 128.
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION S HISTORY 59
In the Western Section, the attention of the Churches
was first turned towards India in 1854, when Dr. Duff
of Calcutta visited Canada, and by his fiery eloquence
stirred the Churches to a recognition of their responsi-
bility to the Great Eastern Dependency. An attempt
was made to begin a Mission there, but no Canadian
minister could be found for the work. The late Rev.
John Laing, D.D., then minister at Scarboro, was offered
the appointment, but his congregation pleaded for his
retention, and his Presbytery refused to release him.
jAn appeal was made to Scotland to lend a man, and
this was more successful. The Rev. George Stevenson,
with his wife, were sent out that same year as the
representatives of the Free Church in Canada. On the
recommendation of Dr. Duff they settled in Bancoorah,
Bengal. But after a short time, a violent outbreak
of cholera, followed by the terrible mutiny of 1857, so
interfered with the success of the work that the mis-
sionaries resigned and the Mission came to an encQ
The fires of missionary enthusiasm had, however, been
kindled, and, as is invariably the case, the Home land
reaped the benefit for work was then begun among the
North American Indians, the Rev. James Nisbet being
designated to this work in 1862.*
Pioneer Missionaries and Selection of Field. It
was fifteen years before interest in India was again
revived in the West ; and, as has happened so often
in the history of Missions, ^it_jw^_thewomen of the
Church who were instrumental in the reawakening of
interest. Two young ladies, Miss T^airweather and
*Vide Missionary Pathfinders, page 87.
60 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
Miss Rodger, offered themselves for work in_jndia.
They were accepted and sent out in 1873, to work,
however, in connection with the Mission of the Presby-
terian Church (North) of the United_States.
When the Union of the Presbyterian Churches took
place in 1875, Mr., now Dr., Campbell, the Synod's
appointee, was accepted ; and the following year,
Rev. J. M. Douglas, minister at Cobourg, was ap-
pointed ; these two being the first ordained missionaries
to be sent out by the newly formed Presbyterian
Church in Canada.
ON THE FIELD
Mr. Campbell reached India in December, 1876, and
was followed shortly by Mr. Douglas. The former
went to Madras, where for a few months he worked
among the English-speaking Indians. Mr. Douglas
visited the American missionaries to confer with them
about the work. Little had as yet been done among
the "Native States" of India and the great irregular
block of territory known as "The Central India
Agency" was as yet unevangelized and practically
untouched. This was the field which the Canadian
Church hoped to be able to enter, and on January 2$th,
1877, Rev. Mr. Holcomb, of the American Mission,
with Mr. Douglas, arrived in Indore, the chief city of the
Western part of the Agency, and the capital of Holkar
State, and remained for a short time to assist in opening
up 'work. Mr. Campbell came up from Madras in
July and began work in Mhow, a military Cantonment*
*A town, or part of a town, where troops are located, and which
is under military authority.
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 6 1
thirteen miles distant. Before the end of the year
Miss Forrester and Miss McGregor, with Mrs. Douglas
and children, arrived from Canada. The two ladies
who had previously come out had already joined the
Mission, and the end of the year 1877 saw work well
begun ; at Indore by Mr. and Mrs. Douglas, Miss
Fairweather, and Miss McGregor ; and at Mhow by
Mr. Campbell, Miss Rodger, and Miss Forrester.
Unfurling the Banner ; Previous Efforts by Cow-
ley Fathers. Thus was the banner of Jesus Christ
unfurled in Central India. It was pioneer work. Pre-
vious to this, almost nothing had been done for the
non-Christians of Central India. The Military Chap-
lains confined their efforts generally to their fellow-
countrymen. The 'Cowley Fathers had, some. years
before, visited Indore City, and remained for a time.
They lived in a native house and largely conformed to
Indian manners and style of living. Their leader,
Father O'Neill, who is described as a character of rare
saintliness, died of cholera and the Mission ceased to
exist.
The famous Brahman convert, Rev. Nehemiah
Goreh, had toured through part of Central India, and
had visited Mhow and Indore, where he lived for a time
with Father O'Neill ; »but when our missionaries arrived
they found the field unoccupied and uhevangelized ;
and, while other parts of Central India have since been
entered by other Missions, ours to-day is the only
Protestant force working in a solid block of territory
larger than Scotland.
62 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
In February, 1879, Miss Forrester and Mr. Campbell
were married ; and in the end of the same year, Rev.
and Mrs. John Wilkie were sent out and settled in
Indore. At the same time, the Mission Council was
formed for local administration. For four years no
further reinforcements came from Canada. Some
changes took place in the personnel of the staff, and
these, with the subsequent additions and other changes,
are indicated in the "list of Missionaries" in appen-
dix "A." The publication of this History marks the
completion of almost four decades of work in Central
India by the Presbyterian Church in Canada.
An Epochal Year in the Mission's History. For
convenience in study the history of the Mission may
be divided into two almost equal periods ; yet the divi-
sion is by no means an arbitrary one, for the year 1897
was, in some respects, epochal in the Mission. Initial
difficulties had been largely overcome, and during the
two preceding decades, almost all the phases of mission-
ary work had been established. The mere enumeration
of them shows how complete were the plans laid for
Central India's evangelization. Evangelistic work was
constantly carried on in its varied phases. Medical
work had proved itself invaluable as the hand-maid of
Evangelism, and had won the hearts of the people.
Educational work was well distributed through Primary
and Anglo- Vernacular Schools. In Mhow, a High
School* for boys, and in Indore also a High School
and Arts College were well established. Theological
*Since closed, owing to the pressure of other work and also to
the centralization of High School work at Indore.
H) REV. NEHEMIAH GOREH, FAMOUS BRAHMAN PREACHER
(2) MISSION CHURCH AND SCHOOL— MHOW
ITINERATING
1. THE START. 2. A SHADY GROVE. 3. THE CAMP
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 63
Training was provided for- by the Presbytery. A Press
had, from the very first, been constantly kept running.
Normal Classes for teachers had been in existence
for two -or three years. Industrial work was begun.
A class for the Blind had been opened ; and provision
made for segregation of lepers, who were numerous
in all the larger centres, and were a public menace.
The initial steps had been taken for work among the
aboriginal tribes — the Bheels. In five out of the six
centres occupied, organized congregations, with elders
and deacons, had been established ; and the annual
gathering of the Christians of the whole field in Con-
vention, or Mela, for conference and mutual inspira-
tion, had become a recognized feature of Church life.
Some of these phases of work have been modified since.
Changes in Administration. The year 1897 marked
also an important change in Mission Administration.
In that year the Zenana missionaries (who previously
had been in the Mission Council) were formed into a
"Women's Council" with control of their own funds,
while the male missionaries became a Finance Commit-
tee (later called the "Mission Council") for the ad-
ministration of other funds from Canada, and the Pres-
bytery was expected to discharge more fully its own
proper functions.
Trying Experiences. This year was epochal in an-
other respect. The Mission had for the first time to face
the awful spectre of famine, accompanied by its dread
consort, cholera, together with other diseases. The strain
was particularly severe in the Eastern part of the Cen-
tral India Agency, but a great deal of rescue work fell
64 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
to the lot of our Mission. So great a burden was laid
on the Mission by the famine of 1897, and still more by
that in Malwa two years later, that the whole work was
profoundly affected. It was a year of crisis in the his-
tory of the Mission, not only on the field, but in rela-
tion to the Home Church. The Mission had just passed
through one of those most harassing experiences, a
"cut" in the allowances from Canada, which so cripples
existing work and discourages the worker because of
the indifference it too often indicates at the Home Base.
Then came the wonderful outburst of sympathy when
the news of the famine reached home, and, best of all,
the definite association of scores of Christian men and
women with Indian work in the support, for purposes
of education and training, of the rescued orphans and
widows.
DIFFICULTIES
Those Peculiar to Work in Native States. Pioneer
missionaries in the Native States have special difficul-
ties to contend with as well as those which are common
to missions everywhere. Authority is largely in the
hands of the Indian Princes, and they sometimes look
with suspicion on the advent of the missionaries, whom
they consider to be associated somehow with the
paramount Power. In Malwa, too, the chief Maratha
princes had not forgotten their conflict with the British.
The masses of the people were as yet but little in-
fluenced by the Western forces of civilization, which
were noticeable in British India. New ground had to
be broken in several forms of educational and philan-
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 65
thropic work, and the message of the Gospel was a
strange new story to multitudes.
Of the physical inconveniences of these early days,
the insanitary and uncomfortable dwelling houses
and the lack of suitable buildings for school and medical
work, there is no need to write. These have been re-
peated in greater or less degree with the opening of each
new centre of work, and are accepted gladly as part of
the fellowship of the Cross of Christ.
First Converts. For a time all went well with the
Mission. Primary schools were opened, zenanas were
visited, the Gospel was preached in bazars, and ad-
jacent villages, and enquirers made their way to the
missionaries' bungalows to discuss the new religion.
A Printing Press was established, and it enabled the
missionaries to spread the truth far and wide. Two
Brahman youths of Indore named Sukhananda and
Narayan Singh, of good social standing in families
belonging to the Court, professed their faith in Christ,
and asked for baptism. This was made the occasion
of violent antagonism and opposition to Christianity,
which developed in such a way as to threaten the very
existence of the work in Indore and its expansion in
other parts of the Agency. On the day fixed for the
baptism of the young men, they were seized and taken
before Maharaja Holkar and threatened with imprison-
ment. They fled to Bombay. Later Mr. Douglas
met them at Borsad, Gujarat, where they were bap-
tized. Thus the first fruits of the Mission confessed
Christ at the peril of their lives. Caste is cruel to
66 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
those who dare to shake themselves free from its
bondage.
Principle of Religious Toleration at Stake. Not
long after this an order was issued by the Indore
Durbar* forbidding any Christian work in the State.
Violence was offered to the preachers, and hindrances
of various kinds were made. The issue raised was a
momentous one for missionary work. It was the ques-
tion of religious toleration in Native States. It seemed
to the missionaries that the alternative was either,
retiring from the field, or, seeking to gain for Christians
that same toleration that was enjoyed by Hindus and
Mohammedans alike in all the States of Central India.
The British Government would not tolerate any at-
tempt to violate this sacred principle in the case of
Hindus and Mohammedans ; would it now be equally
firm in the case of Christianity ? It was a principle
guaranteed by Queen Victoria's famous Proclamation
of 1858 (vide Appendix "D"). Widespread interest
was aroused. Some of the secular papers bitterly
criticized the missionaries. The religious press, ably
led by The Indian Witness, the organ of the Methodist
Episcopal Mission, championed the cause of freedom.
The Calcutta Missionary Conference, at that time the
most influential and active in India, took up the matter
and sent a memorial to the Viceroy, urging others
also to do the same. The appeal to the Secular Power
was an appeal only for liberty to proclaim the Gospel,
which is the primary duty of every Christian. If the
Gospel is not proclaimed, if the Christian life is not
*The Supreme Council of the State.
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 67
constantly going forth in glad service for mankind, it
cannot live. Christianity asks no favors but the com-
mon right to walk and breathe and express itself where
it can help and uplift mankind.
Toleration Secured. The reply of the Viceroy, Lord
Ripon, gave some relief ; but for a time the law" of
liberty was evaded, the native officials taking their cue
from the Agent to the Governor-General at that time,
who was unfriendly to Missions. The whole situation
was later laid privately before Lord Dufferin, who had
come from Canada to succeed Lord Ripon in the Vice-
royalty of India. Not long afterward he visited Indore
and took the opportunity not only of publicly showing
his deep personal interest in the work of the Mission,
but of impressing on the Local Officials, British and
Indian alike, the necessity of allowing Christian Mis-
sionaries to do their work without interference.
A Changed Atmosphere. From that time forward
the whole atmosphere was changed. Official opposi-
tion almost entirely ceased, and, on the contrary, the
Mission received many tokens of goodwill from both
officials and private citizens of Indore State. Perhaps
the most marked was the grant, by the Dowager
Maharani, of a splendid plot of ground, on which now
stand the High School, College, and Women's Hospital.
EVANGELISM
The Supreme Aim of the Missionary. Every true
missionary is a preacher of the Gospel in season and
out of season. Whether bending over the couch of the
sick, or conversing by the wayside with the chance
68 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
acquaintance, or gathering about him the little groups
of eager, bright-eyed school children, he remembers
that he is there to represent Christ.
Preaching. Preaching in India has little in common
with the methods in the Homeland. There are,
however, some well trodden ways, according to which
preaching is everywhere carried on. In the public
squares of the larger towns and cities and in the mo-
hullas,* this work can be carried on in all seasons. It
has many disadvantages. There are many interrup-
tions. A dog fight near by, some shrill-voiced women
quarrelling in front of their houses, the pungent odor
of condiments being prepared for food, and countless
other distractions, make the work exhausting for body
and mind. But it is almost always possible to gather a
crowd, and in it there are many who listen intently and
quietly to a simple earnest presentation of the funda-
mental facts of human need and Divine Grace. After
such preaching one longs to take the interested ones
aside and talk privately about their heart longings.
But there is no privacy in India. Unless the interested
ones have the courage to come to the preacher's home
for further instruction, there is little opportunity to
follow up effectivelly the preaching of the word.
False Rumors. Nothing is more distressing than the
foolish and often cruel and wicked rumors that are
circulated by unscrupulous persons, and such exper-
iences are not confined to the early and pioneer days
of the Mission. Most persistent are the reports that
*A mohulla is a part of the city occupied, as a rule, by the mem-
bers of one caste only.
69
the missionaries are the Agents of Government and are
paid in proportion to the converts won ; also that the
people will be carried away and made Christians by
force. As this book is being written, many villages are
practically closed to the Gospel because* the people
have been made to believe that the missionaries are the
agents of Government, sent to compel the people to
go and fight for the Empire in the great war now raging
in Europe ; the% sending of Indian regiments to the
front being, in the minds of simple villagers, all the
proof needed. (jDuring the ravages of the Plague,
rumors were so prevalent, as, at times, completely to
frustrate all attempts at preaching. It was said that
the missionaries were going about poisoning the wells,
of course on behalf of Government?)
Another story was that Kali, their bloodthirsty
murderous goddess, had demanded from King Edward
several hundred thousand victims as the price of being
allowed to sit on the throne. The King had complied
with the demand, stipulating however, that the victims
must be taken from among his Indian subjects.
Nothing is so painfuj_to_the missionary as to havejiite
friendliest approaches treated with suspicion. At one
place where a plague-smitten body was being prepared
for the burning, a missionary stopped his cart and en-
quired if he could be of any assistance to any others
who might be ill. In reply an old man joined his
hands, and in deprecating supplication said : "Bahut
ho gaye, miharbani kijie" — "many have gone, please
show kindness." His meaning was that the Europeans
had already destroyed plenty, and it was time to stop.
70 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
Persecutions. The earlier days of the Mission were
not without persecution in its more violent forms, the
brunt of which fell on the faithful Indian preachers.
One worker in Ujjain was seized and put in prison, his
only offence being that he kept the school open. God,
however, opened the way for his release. The head
moulvi of the Mohammedans took up his cause, and
freedom was given to him to continue his work. In
Mand^saur, two Indian preachers were one evening
hooted and pelted with mud and stones and driven
out of the city. In this city on another occasion, and
in Manasa also, Dr. Wilson and his assistants were
mobbed and pelted with mud and stones and compelled
to abandon preaching. On other occasions, the police
with sticks would violently drive away the people and
make all work impossible. In Barwaha the local
officials openly countenanced the abusing of some
Christians. A reference to the Durbar brought a
rebuke to the Headman and later his removal. In
Padlia the preacher was forbidden to draw water from
any of the village wells, although the well dug for his
use had been drained dry by a deeper and larger well
dug only a few yards away. In another town false
charges of robbery were brought against the Christian
converts. They were seized and tied up by their
wrists until the blood burst from their finger tips ;
they were also beaten to make them confess.
The story of persecution is a long one, and much of it,
especially that meted out to enquirers and converts,
never can be written, it is so subtle, so secret, and so
cruel. In spite of the protection afforded by a Chris-
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 71
tian Supreme Government, there is always some mea-
sure of risk. In a land like India, the danger is that one
is never quite sure what an Indian crowd may do. A
false rumor, a misunderstanding, a wound to religious
susceptibilities, even when unintentional, and the
crowd may be roused to a mad fury.
Itinerating. Itinerating has from the beginning been
a chief feature of the evangelistic work. From October
till March, while the weather is comparatively cool, and
almost no rain falls, the missionaries, both men and
women, accompanied by Indian helpers, go forth to
tour their Districts unless prevented by station work.
Dr. Campbell in the early years of the Mission toured
far and wide covering hundreds of miles, which was of
great value as the work expanded ; and he was per-
mitted to preach the Gospel in hundreds of towns and
villages which had never before heard a Christian
preacher. One of the first fruits of this work, was the
baptism of the headman of one of the lower castes,
about sixty miles from the central station. For many
years this man witnessed a good confession among his
caste followers, and his memory is cherished by them
still.
Camping in the District. Touring in the district is
strenuous but delightful work. As a rule the village
people, the great agricultural class, hear the preachers
gladly. It is customary to pitch tents in some shaded
grove near a large town, visiting the adjacent villages
in the mornings, and spending the afternoons and
evenings in the town. Often the people gather in
such numbers to the tent that there is no need to go
72 IN THE HEART OP INDIA
afield. Sometimes late into the night the interested
enquirers will tarry, anxious to hear more and yet more
of the strange good news. 2JThe ^a<^Y missionaries also
visit the villages and find all the opportunities they
desire, being called to one house after another where the
women all gather in the secluded courtyards to listen)
Preaching to these is a much more different matter than
addressing the men. They seem unable to keep their
minds for more than a few minutes on anything. The
hymns set to native airs, and short conversational
addresses, gain their attention. yWork among men and
women is carried on separately ; but when it is possible
to have lady missionaries accompany the male mission-
ary and his wife on tour, it is greatly to the advantage
of the work of both. The incidents of travel while on
tour with the slow-going ox-carts, make up an exper-
perience never to be forgotten. Life in the open, more-
over, is so healthy, that apart from the limitless op-
portunities for preaching the Word, those who can get
away, are glad to spend the cold season under canvass
among the villages. One result of this method is that
the religion of Christ is advertised far and wide, and
for many a day the visit of the preacher and his new
and startling message will be discussed about the vil-
lage fires.
Women's Evangelistic Work. A large part of the
special field of Evangelistic work by the lady mission-
aries is in the zenanas. The zenana system, that of
seclusion for the female members of the family, came
into India with the Mohammedans, and was adopted
by, or rather forced upon, the Hindus in self-defence.
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION S HISTORY 73
Except among the poor classes, who cannot afford it,
and the Marathas, the haughty opponents of the
Mohammedans in days gone by, this system prevails^
generally. But the closely-drawn veil, as tHe^women
go about their duties, shows how the spirit of seclusion
is everywhere. ) When preaching in the public bazaar
it often happens that a group of women will be seen
gathered at the rear of the crowd of male hearers ; it
is nevertheless true, however, that if the women of
Central India are to be reached with the Gospel, it
must be by those of their own sex. It :s well that our
Church has, from the very first, recognized the extreme
urgency of women's work. In the illy-ventilated
houses where the atmosphere is foul and stiflingly hot,
and where there is often much to offend both sight and
smell, the Gospel is preached. Teaching of reading,
knitting, or sewing is frequently the price to pay for
entrance. Many sad and longing hearts are touched,
and slowly, oh, so slowly, the women of India are being
brought into touch with Him who has in all lands been
the Emancipator of womankindj
Special Problems of Work in Zenanas. It need
scarcely be said that there are difficulties and problems
peculiar to this work. Many, we believe, in these
secluded Indian homes have been truly born again and
have learned to love Jesus Christ and pray to Him.
yBut so interlaced is the whole family system that con-
fession of Christ by baptism to many of them appears
impossible. Frequently the expression of a desire for
baptism means the closing of the door to the zenana
missionary and the work seems to have been for naughtTj
74 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
But there is the sure promise, "My word shall not re-
turn unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which
I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I
sent it" (Is. 55 : n). There is for the faithful worker
all the time the glad consciousness that a better day is
dawning for India's daughters. Often young men, near
to the kingdom, declare that the only hindrance to their
open confession of Christ is in the home. That is the
stronghold of idolatry, and they participate in idola-
trous ceremonies rather than cause trouble in the home,
but their hearts condemn them all the while. ^The
zenana missionary is helping "to roll away the stone"
of offence ; for undoubtedly many women are led to
abandon idolatry and have had their minds awakened
to higher and better things. There is great need that
work for men and work for women should be closely
associated/^
MEDICAL WORK
Pioneering by Medical Ladies — Indore. In the
story of Medical Missions in Central India, the work
of the lady missionariesjtakes a leading place. Govern-
ment Medical merTHidTwhat they could for the Indians,
but medical work for women by women doctors was an
unheard of thing. It was pioneer work, and much of
suspicion and deep-rooted prejudice had to be over-
come. The Church was fortunate in its choice of
pioneer lady doctors for Central India. In December.
i884,_the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society sent
\ out their first Medical Missionary, Dr. Elizabeth
Beatty^ who began work at Indore. She was of a
singularly sympathetic nature, one that could "weep
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 75
with those that weep and rejoice with those that
rejoice," and she soon won the confidence and the hearts
of the people. Within two years the work had grown
too heavy to be carried on single-handed, and in Decem-
ber, 1886, Dr. Beatty wasjained by Dr. Marion Oliver.
Their Medical work had an important bearing on the
growth of the Mission. Dr. Beatty had barely begun
her work when patients came from far-distant places
for treatment ; and the influence was seen in some
marked ways. In 1885, a high official of nv>ar sent
his wife and their Tamily doctor_down for consultation,
and after that several others came. Ten years later
Dhar was opened as a Central Station under cir-
cumstances which gladdened the hearts of the whole
Mission. But it is significant^ that it was the hope of
having a lady doctor there,_which secured for the Mis-
s'lon a cordial welcome to that station.
Medical Work Begun in Neemuch. In 1892 Dr.
Margaret McKellar began Medical work in Neemuch,
the most northerly of our stations, and for many years
work was carried on in dispensaries, in the city, and
outstations, and in Cantonment. _Npt always_ are
^the_jnessengers of^ mercy received gladly. Soon after
beginning work there, some one with no love for the
lady doctor thought to hinder the work by placing
on_the doorstep of the dispensary the symbol of the
curse he hoped would comeupon her. It was a vessel j j
Half filled with blood and beside it some lemons cu t" 1 1
in two and a corncob. On asking what it meant, the
servant replied, "Oh, Miss Saheb, an enemy has put
it there, something dreadful will befall you. This is
76 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
the worst thing that any one could do to you." To the
astonishment of all, the lady doctor was not disturbed
in the least byThe thought of the impending disaster.
She dismissed the matter b^telling them shejbelieved
m"the pro"tecting power of God^wTio said, " There shall
no evil befall tEee, neither shall any plague come nigh
thy dwelling." The jables were soon turned, and blind
superstition and demonolatry received their hardest
blows, when medical skill ^and Christlike, loving service
of the sick and afflicted, were freely given.
Tribute to the Pioneers. The story of the later
development of this work is left to another chapter,
but tribute may here be paid to the two pioneer medical
missionaries, Drs. Beatty and Oliver ; one, still spared,
though no longer able to continue her chosen work ;
and the other, after a long term of service, called to her
Eternal Rest. Eminently Christ-like in all their work,
every door their skill opened for them was entered, not
alone by them, but Christ was with them. A patient
who afterwards became a Christian and herself con-
tinued long to minister to the sick, told how, when she
was first brought sick to the Hospital and laid on the
cot in the ward, she was filled with terror, not knowing
how she would be treated by the foreign Miss Saheb.
When Miss Oliver came into the ward to see the patients
with that kindly look so well remembered, all her fears
vanished, "but," she said, "when she came and put her
hand on my fevered brow, I loved her ; she had won
my heart." She had done more, she had won her for
the Saviour.
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 77
The Need for Medical Men. Compared with a land
like China, it maybe said that the need for male medical
missionaries is not so clamant in India. Wherever
British officials are found, there also, as a rule, is the
European medical man and "there also the charitable
dispensary and, usually, Hospital equipment in some
degree. Government Medical schools turn out num-
bers of men each year. Year by year also, more is being
done by the Native States to have medical relief pro-
vided at accessible centres. But when one considers
the vast amount of unrelieved suffering, and especially
the proportion of medical men to population compared
with that in Western lands, one can only say that the
need is appalling. It is estimated that not more than
five per cent of the people have any medical treatment
in their last illness.
The pioneer missionaries felt they must do something
and dispensaries were opened where it was possible to
secure Indian men with some knowledge of medicine —
along Western lines ; and where these were not avail-
able, the missionaries themselves did what they could.
John Buchanan, First Male Physician, Opens Work
in Ujjain. Dr. John Buchanan was the first medical
man sent out ; and he with his wife, formerly Dr. Mary
MacKay, began work in Ujjain, which has been con-
tinued with much success up to the present. The only
place available there for some years was a small shop
opening into a crowded busy street. The door was the
only place for ventilation, and every morning crowds
gathered there so that the doorway had to be cleared
frequently to allow the workers inside to get fresh air.
78 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
On the little verandah in front, the Catechist read and
sang and preached the Word. Hour after hour the
healing message for the sin-sick soul, and healing skill
for the diseased body, went hand in hand ; and so it
ever is in our medical Mission work. Later Dr.
Buchanan secured an excellent sight just within the
city gates, and on one of the main thoroughfares, and
there erected a serviceable brick building. The lower
story contains rooms for medical work and also a hall
used daily for preaching to the patients and on Sundays
for services. The upstairs has room for patients. It
was built with subscriptions raised by the missionaries,
and every brick represents sacrifice and speaks of love
for the sick and suffering.
Ujjain is one of the sacred cities of India. It had a
population of about 34,000 and was a peculiarly needy
and therefore inviting field for medical work. Thou-
sands of pilgrims gathered there at certain seasons and
in consequence disease was rife.
EDUCATIONAL WORK
The Crying Need for Schools. It was inevitable that
the attention of the missionaries should be early turned
to educational work. The masses were almost en-
tirely illiterate. Even after nearly four decades, in
which the Mission has done much, and the Native
States have increasingly encouraged the establishment
of schools, the illiteracy is appalling, only i in 20 males,
and i in 330 females, being able to read and write. In
the large centres the youth were eager to be taught, and
the school was an ever-open door for the dissemination
SOME STATE BUILDINGS— INDORE
GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL— INDORE
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 79
of Christian ideas. The value of schools as a method of
evangelization has been much discussed and the
almost universal verdict is favorable to the schools.
They have been known by their fruits. The Edin-
burgh Conference Report* gives these in substance as
follows :
Fruits of Mission Schools, (i) A very large pro-
portion of the best moral and spiritual influences of
Missions have emanated from the schools and a great
part of the harvest hitherto reaped by evangelization
has sprung from seeds sown by the schools.
(2) The most striking public witness for Christianity
in India has been the power Missions have exhibited,
by means of education, to raise the lowest classes.
(3) In India, Missions have led the way in female
education, and have immensely raised the status of
women in the community.
(4) Excellent as was the system of education of the
British Government, it was hampered by its policy of
neutrality and its desire not even to appear to interfere
with religious beliefs. It has been the particular glory
of Missions that their schools have presented an all-
round educational ideal in which moral and spiritual
instruction have had their place.
(5) In the fusion of East and West, "whatever has
been accomplished in the direction of realizing the fel-
lowship of humanity, and this is one of the greatest
of all human enterprises, — has been accomplished by
no class of men so much as by the missionaries .... and
while these results .... have been due to the missionary
*Page 365, Vol. III., "Christian Education."
80 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
enterprise as a whole, there can be no question that in
bringing them about, missionary schools and colleges
have played a prominent part."
Desire to Learn English. In the large cities, the
desire to learn English was very marked. Government
service was the goal of many students, and for this,
English was needed, But once learned, the door of the
treasure-house of Christian literature was opened. In
Mhow, Indore, Ujjain and Neemuch, the little primary
schools rapidly developed into Angles Vernacular ; and
in the case of 3 of them, into High Schools. In
Indore, the High School developed still further up to
the full University course, and the "Canadian Mission
College,* stands to-day as the answer of the Christian
Church to the deep-rooted craving of the youth of
Central India, not only for knowledge, but also for
deliverance from false philosophies, from corrupt moral
ideas, and for soul-satisfying views of duty and of
God.
Development of Higher Educational Work in Indore.
In May, 1884, Rev. Mr. (now Dr.) Wilkie opened a
High School in the Camp, Indore. In July the attend-
ance had risen to 100 per month. Compulsory re-
ligious instruction raised difficulties, but these were soon
surmounted, and ever since the Bible has been a regular
part of the day's teaching. This first Christian High
School in Central India created great interest. Some
of the native Officials looked askance at it. Some
frankly welcomed it. Some European Officers and
The name has recently been changed to "The Indore Christian
College,''
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 8 1
business men in other places aided by scholarships, and
before long the local British authorities sanctioned a
substantial monthly grant. The ground was won, and
it remained for the institution to prove itself indispensa-
ble in the community. It was not long until Dr.
Wilkie was urged to start a "First Arts Class," i.e., to
develop the High School into a College teaching up to
the second year of University work. Lack of room
made the plan impossible. The demand for such a
College increased, and. in 1888 a First Arts College was
opened in affiliation with Calcutta University. This
was the first institution of such a grade in Central India.
In 1893 it became a First Grade College, teaching up
to the B.A. degree. An event of prime importance
was the opening of the spacious new College Building
on November 22nd, 1895, by Col. Barr, the Agent to the
Governor-General in Central India. This fine struc-
ture is well situated near the Railway Station, and is
central to the life of the great city of Indore.
Such is the outline of the growth of the College. It
is a monument to the persistent energy and enthusiasm
of Dr. Wilkie. Many difficulties were met and over-
come in its erection, and all the time the College classes
had to be kept up in an efficient manner. With the
completion of the building, it was possible to organize
the general work of the institution and the related
activities with some comfort and satisfaction to those
in charge. The growth of the class lists in recent years
has shown the wisdom of making generous plans in the
pioneer days, and laying large the foundations.
82 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
Women's Work for the Girls of Central India. In
the work of female education in Central India, the
Mission has been conspicuous from the very beginning.
Everywhere that opportunity afforded, the ladies,
married and single, put their hands to this work ; but
more often they forced the doors of opportunity.
They boldly challenged the right of India to keep her
daughters in darkness, and knocked loudly at the doors
of age-long prejudice and contempt for the intellectual
and spiritual powers of womankind. It was theirs to
"Hear a clear voice calling, calling,
Calling out of the night
Oh you who live in the Light of Life,
Bring us the Light."
The difficulties to be surmounted were many.
Many Hindus thought, or wanted to think, that women
were incapable of education. It was said that the do-
mestic virtues of India's women would suffer if educa-
tion were introduced. Now, young men who have
even a smattering of education, want their wives to be
educated ; and a wise Mission policy demanded that
female education should keep pace, so far as possible,
with that for males.
Difficulties Overcome. In the actual working ot
Girls' Schools the difficulties that confront the teacher
would appal any one not possessed of a great faith in
God and a great love for India's womanhood. It is
almost impossible to insist on regularity and punctual-
ity, for the homes from which the children come know
little of these virtues ; and just when the teacher, with
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 83
much patience and pains, has brought the girls to a
stage when their education begins to be of real use to
them, they are removed from school. The marriage-
able age has been reached, and the disappointed teacher
sees the girls whom she has learned to love, removed
from her influence, and often taken away to distant
homes where there will be little chance to improve the
mind.
Violent Opposition. Girls' schools had their share
of violent opposition also in the early years. In Indore
city, toleration for girls schools was only attained after
serious difficulties. An Indian Magistrate had for
some time been trying to close the Girls' School in this
neighborhood, and had been guilty of a series of petty
persecutions, until it was thought best to rent another
house at a distance. The zealous official found this out,
however, and continued his persecutions. A sejaoy
was sent to break open the door of the school and remove
all Christian books. This was a clear case of theft and
it was thought necessary to take a decided course. A
complaint was made to the Magistrate in the vicinity
who took up the matter warmly. Indian friends ad-
vised that an appeal should be made to the Prime
Minister, who was an enlightened and liberal man. He
immediately took such measures that the offenders
were brought to justice, and the result of his interference
was most beneficial to the work.
Provoked Unto Good Works. One result of the
Girls' Schools was that others were provoked unto
good works. A striking illustration of this was seen
in Ujjain. After the ladies had carried on their schools
84 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
for some years, the Durbar announced the opening of a
State School for Girls, which would be liberally sup-
ported, and to which the people were urged to send their
girls. Men were sent to every street taking the names
of the girls, small rewards were given every day, and
liberal grants of clothing were made to the children,
and there was the additional inducement that there
would be no danger of children becoming Christian.
Naturally the Mission schools suffered in attendance.
But this misplaced generosity could not last. The
sequel is interesting. In that same city a Christian
woman has been for years a trusted teacher in one of
the State Girls' Schools, while in other places Christian
women have been similarly employed.
Girls' High School, Indore. Female education has
been most fully developed in Indore, where there is now
a good High School, teaching all grades up to Univer-
sity Entrance. Early in the Mission's history, in 1887,
Miss Rodger began a Boarding School with a class of
three Christian girls whom she received into her own
bungalow. The number grew, and no suitable ac-
commodation being available, the girls were sent to the
Boarding School in Nasirabad, which was carried on
by the Scotch Mission adjoining our Mission on the
north.
In 1889 Miss Harris was sent out from Toronto, and,
in Neemuch the following year, reopened the Boarding
School. But Miss Harris' health broke. down, and she
died at London on her way home to Canada. In the
meantime a fine commodious building was being erected
in Indore. Miss Jean Sinclair, (now Mrs. J. S. Mac-
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 85
Kay) was put in charge, and began work in the still
unfinished building with about twenty Christian girl
boarders. The idea of training the girls for domestic
duties was never lost sight of. The school grew stead-
ily in numbers and importance. When the Great
Famine came, the capacity of the school was more than
taxed, about two hundred of the brightest of the orphan
girls being sent there.
Recognized as a High School by Government. In
1898 the Boarding School, having been for some years
inspected annually by the Government Inspector of
Schools, was recognized as a High School in affiliation
with Calcutta University, and the next year one of the
Christian girls, who had received all her education in
the school, appeared for the Entrance Examination to
Calcutta University, and failed in only one subject.
It is of interest to note that as early as 1894 a branch
of the Indian Y.W.C.A. was organized in the Boarding
School, the second Indian Christian Girls' Branch in
all India. It was a source of blessing to many, and the
girls, for many years, raised by self-denying effort, a
contribution in aid of the work for lepers.
Communities Influenced. Other activities of the
early years can be only briefly referred to in this chapter.
The influence of the Gospel of Christ was manifested
in many ways. Time and again whole communities
were strongly moved. Great mass movements in
various parts of India are to-day sweeping thousands
into the fold of the Christian Church. Our pioneer
missionaries were early confronted with these move-
ments. But, like the flowing and ebbing tides of the
J
86 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
great ocean, there were fluctuations. Sometimes the
hearts of the missionaries would be greatly encouraged
by what seemed to be genuine spiritual movements.
In the city of old Neemuch the meh£ars, or sweeper
caste, became deeply interested. One of them who
had been practically blind for four years was given
the use of his eyes. He brought his friends with him
to the daily services which were held at the dispensary.
Then meetings were held in their mohulla. Night after
night intense interest was shown. The people professed
great joy and repeatedly declared their readiness to
abandon heathenism and to follow Christ, Finally
they were asked to bring out their idols and break them
in the presence of the missionaries. They went to do
so, but returned^sayin^ that thejr whresjwpuld-riot give
.TEem up. Ifjthey^became Christians they would come
all together, but the women hesitated wEen it was seen
to mean a "clean cut" with idols and idolatrous rites.
The lady missionaries began systematic instruction
oFthe women, BuTthe tide had turned. Thejwomen
had won the day, and the emancipation of that despised
down-trodden community was, for a time at least,
deferred.
A few years later in Ujjain a section of that same
community became much interested, first in the dis-
pensary meetings, and then in the regular services.
So marked was this, that many of the high castes raised
the old complaint laid against the Master, that the
missionaries were ' ' receiving sinners ' ' — out castes . The
work of the school was seriously threatened on this
account ; and then, through some mysterious influence,
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 87
they entirely ceased coming to any of the meetings.
Downtrodden so long, the threats, doubtless, of the
higher castes drove them away from the door of Hope.
The " Mang " Movement in Indore. In Indore
in 1892 a similar caste movement began among the
Mangs — a community of very poor people, low down
in the social scale. A school had been in existence for
some time, and was well attended by both boys and
~
girls. jUM~K^in~SingEu aT Christian convert from
North India, gave himself to this community, and so
faithfully presented the truths of Christianity, that the
whole caste was profoundly stirred, and over three
hundred declared their purpose to become followers of
Jesus Christ. At first the force of the movement was
not realized by the caste itself, but soon all the powers
of evil seemed to join forces to check it. Wives in-
clined towards Christianity were shut up as close
prisoners, wives and children were taken from husbands
looking in the same direction.
Social intercourse with the rest of the caste people
was forbidden. Indeed all that seemed formerly to
make up the sum total of their circumscribed lives, was
snatched away from the enquirers. Their caste people
from all the surrounding towns and villages were called
together, and in solemn conclave it was decided that
all who were looking toward Christianity should be
refused any share in the perquisites that fell to the lot
of the Mang caste during the wedding celebrations
among the higher castes ; for, as the drum beaters and
trumpet blowers on such occasions, the Mangs received
a share of the food provided for the marriage feasts.
88 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
This was only one of the methods adopted to bring
the waverers into line. Becoming Christians, for these
people, meant the overturning of their whole social
fabric, for the old life was inseparately bound up with
idolatrous practices. The social life of caste crushes
out individual action.^ No wonder these people come,
when they do come, in the mass. To baptize such and
receive them into the Christian Brotherhood, is a great
responsibility. After a time of probation a goodly
number were received by baptism into the Christian
Church at Indore ; and from time to time others have
been added to the Church from the same community.
This movement has not fulfilled all the hopes that
were entertained in its beginnings. Possibly the stress
of other work, and the fewness of the workers, prevented
the giving of all the care that was demanded. The
great famine of 1898 dealt sorely with the newly enrolled
Christians. Many were scattered abroad. But from
that despised community, some, both men and women,
grew to be us^fuH:eachers and preachers of the Gospel.
Industrial Home grew out of Mass Movement. One
direct result of this movement was the establishing of
an Industrial Home in 1893, the support of which was
undertaken by the congregation of Indore. The social
upheaval among the Mangs made it necessary that the
Christian community should care for the women and
girls rendered homeless. From this beginning has
grown a "Home" which has been a helper to the whole
Mission Field of Central India. ]\Jrs. Johpry has been
its presiding genius, and has rendered a service FcT the
Indian Church which has been invaluable, Quiet and
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 89
unostentatious, she has been a succorer of many.
Industrial work, such as weaving, knitting, and sewing
were combined with ordinary educational work ; and
the training has been such that those who have gone
forth from the "Home" to houses of their own have
helped to spread abroad the Light which is emanci-
pating India's women.
Residence in Native States. One of the most
delicate problems confronting the Mission throughout
the whole course of its work, has been that of residence
within the bounds of the Native States. In Mhow,
Indore, and Neemuch, the stations occupied previous
to 1885, the missionaries were resident on land under
British jurisdiction. But when the time came to
launch out and seek permission to live within the bounds
of the Native Rulers, and secure land for permanent
residence there, it was evident that new problems would
have to be faced. There was (i) the fact that ordinar-
ily land in Native States is held directly by the State,
making it necessary for the Mission to deal directly with
the Indian Princes or their Durbars, instead of securing
land by private purchase. (2) The Indian Rulers are,
not unnaturally, somewhat timid about the entrance of
foreigners, as permanent residents, into their territories,
because of possible difficulties in the matter of juris-
diction. British law in India makes it impossible
for a British subject to be entirely under the jurisdiction
of a Native State, and even where a missionary might
be perfectly willing to renounce his rights, it is doubtful
whether the Government would consent to any one
occupying such a position, because of its prestige as the
go IN THE HEART OF INDIA
suzerain power. This is a problem, the solution of
which does not lie within the power of the individual
missionary. (3) From the standpoint of the mission-
ary it is extremely desirable that his residence in the
Native State should be with the cordial assent of those
in authority, and therefore no step should be taken
which even appears to force their hands by official
influence. They much prefer to have the missionary
deal directly with them, and not to approach them
through the resident British Political Officer ; and it is
generally the case that Political Officers are of a similar
mind.
Dr. and Mrs. Campbell begin Work in Rutlam.
In 1885, the first steps were taken for the definite
occupation of Native territory ; and as was fitting, the
most experienced missionaries, Dr. and Mrs. Campbell,
were chosen for the work. They had just returned
from their first furlough, fresh and strong for work, and
all their physical powers and all their patience of hope
were needed for the testing days that lay before them.
Their hearts were drawn to Rutlam, the capital of the
Native State of that name. Their reception there had
been encouraging on their first visit in 1879 (when Dr.
Campbell gained permission to carry on Christian work
in the State) and on subsequent visits. As soon as
possible after returning from furlough, Dr. Campbell
revisited it and had interviews with the authorities,
from which he understood that they would be willing
to have him open a mission station, but that the
"punches "* would also need to be consulted. This the
*The local authority within the "caste."
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY QI
Dewan promised to do. Dr. Campbell brought the
matter before the Mission Council, explaining the
situation, and Council accepted his offer to move to
Rutlam. After touring over and revisiting some of the
outlying districts, Dr. and Mrs. Campbell arrived in
Rutlam on February 8th, 1886. Then they got the
depressing news that the authorities did not wish them
to make Rutlam a Mission Station, though they would
be pleased to have them come for a few weeks at a time
or to come and live there without carrying on Mission
work.
Dr. Campbell replied to the Dewan that he had
waited in vain for his promised intimation of the
punches' attitude, had taken silence as consent, had
accordingly been appointed to Rutlam, and that the
appointment had been intimated to the Church in
Canada, and now that they had come, it was too late to
say that the punches objected.
They pitched their two small tents in the grove shown
them, and were thus afforded shelter for a time. They
tried to rent, and then to buy, a property, but the owner
after agreeing, drew back, saying he was forbidden.
They moved about among the people who seemed
friendly. The month of March that year was un-
usually hot, and they felt the heat in tents greatly.
Early in April through an Indian friend, they secured
a small house in the city and went into it though with a
good deal of misgiving as to whether or not they could
stand it. There was no way of keeping the hot wind
out, the rooms were tiny, and there was no ground
around it. Even the lane in front was very narrow.
02 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
But this was our Mission's first attempt at occupying
purely Native territory ; and the missionaries realized
how much depended on their gaining an entrance to
/ Rutlam, and that even a te^n^oraryjetreat at that time
! might permanently__mjure the cause of Missions. If
Rutlam f ailed Jx) receivejthem, it_would be a precedent
for other States to follow, and all doors might be shut.
The missionaries, therefore, preferred putting up with
discomfort rather than bring the matter before the
British authorities. They rented the native house for a
year, paying six months' rent in advance. It was well
they did so, else they would probably have been turned
out. The weeks and months went on. There was more
to try them than merely the uncomfortable house and
its surroundings, but they thought it wise to keep
quiet, and neither friends at home nor their Indian
J neighbors knew all it cost them. Every care was taken
that even in the household arrangements there should
be no offence to Indian prejudices. Gradually as the
people about became more friendly and gained con-
fidence, they felt less restricted. About six months
after their arrival the Dewan met Dr. Campbell and
said to him : "Well, since you seem determined to
remain, there is no use in our making you uncomfort-
able," to which sentiment Dr. Campbell agreed.
Later on the Political Agent, Col. Martin, visited
Rutlam with his family and was very friendly, and let
the authorities know that he would be very favorable to
the missionaries getting a settlement there. Dr.
Campbell had previously seen him, and asked him not
to do or say anything officially, as they did not wish
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION S HISTORY 93
either the authorities or the people to feel that the
Mission had been forced upon them. Early in 1887
they were allowed to rent from the State pait of the
Dak or Travellers' Bungalow, and their position was
thus officially recognized. ' Residence there was a
delightful change from the house in the foul-smelling,
crowded city street, which was their abode for the first
year.
Some months elapsed before His Highness the Rajah
kindly consented to sell a site on which to build, a site
which is a most desirable situation for Mission premises.
The settlement of the Mission in Rutlam was gained,
subject to no hampering conditions as to work, which
was cause for gratitude to God, by whose permission
Princes rule, and who willeth that all men should be
saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.
Ujjain, the Holy City, Occupied. Additions to the
Mission staff made possible a further advance in 1887.
Ujjain, the "Sacred City," in the territory of Gwalior
State, had as yet no resident missionary, though
Indian helpers had worked there for several years.
Mr. and Mrs. Murray were appointed, but had to live
in Indore 40 miles away, as no accommodation was
available. Before the year was done, both were called
to Service in the presence of their Lord, the first of the
now long roll of those who have laid down their lives
for Central India's redemption.
They came from Pictou County, Nova Scotia, the
county which has given the Church of Christ so many
noble servants, and among them all, Robert Murray
and Charlotte Wilson hold no inconspicuous place.
94 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
They were cut off in the very beginning of their career.
Their bodies rest together in the beautiful little ceme-
tery at Indore.
Dr. and Mrs. Buchanan stepped into the breach, and
Ujjain became theirs to win for Christ. From 1888
to 1892 they had no certain dwelling place. Sometimes
in tents, sometimes Mrs. Buchanan in Mhow 50 miles
away and the Doctor living in a native house in the
crowded city ; sometimes having respite from discom-
fort in a rented bungalow, but always healing and teach-
ing the people, they won their way through. Land to
build was given, and a comfortable house erected.
But why these struggles for land some may ask, when
He whom we serve, had not where to lay His head.
Can the missionaries not be content to be "pilgrims"
and "strangers" in India, to be apostolic (?) in their
labors, live as do the people of the land, and thus avoid
all the criticism to which their present policy exposes
them ? To those who know Indian conditions, the
apostolic answer is sufficient : "To abide in the flesh
is more needful. ..." With all the care that can be
taken, there is still an alarming wastage of the mission-
ary forces, due to breakdowns of health.
Friendly attitude of Indian Rulers. But the Mission
has had experiences of a different character from these.
Some of the Rulers of Central India have from, the first
been sympathetic. One of the most interesting in. con-
nection with our Mission history, was the late Mahara-
jah of Dhar. His tolerant spirit may be seen in the
fact that, even before a Mission station was opened in
his State, on the occasion of the proclamation of Queen
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION'S HISTORY 95
Victoria as Empress of India, he asked a missionary,
who happened to be present at the ceremony, to engage
in prayer.
Influences Leading to the Opening of Dhar as a
Station. Many convergent lines of influence were pre-
paring the way for the opening of this Native State to the
Gospel messengers. One of the smaller kingdoms, it had
been kept intact by British intervention. Some of its
officials had reaped the benefits of, and had learned to_
appreciate, women's medical skill, their families in some
cases having gone to Indore for medical treatment.
The Maharajah had made himself acquainted with the
work of Girls' Schools, and had on one occasion when
in Indore, invited Miss Sinclair and her pupils to his
residence that he might hear the children sing, and ex-
pressed his pleasure at what he heard. The mission-
aries, moreover, had often visited the State where they
were always well received. On one occasion Dr.
Campbell was introduced to his audience by the Super-
intendent of Education, Mr. Dike, a Brahman, in words
of profound appreciation of the Christian message.
In the autumn of 1894, Revs. Norman and Frank
Russell accompanied by other helpers, camped for some
weeks outside the walls of the capital city of Dhar, and
night after night great crowds flocked to their tents to
hear the preaching, In the mornings, the various parts
of the city were visited, and so general was the interest
aroused that it was estimated that the whole population
of the city of 17,000 inhabitants must have heard the
Gospel, some of them several times. The missionaries
were summoned to the palace to preach and sing the
96 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
Christian hymns there. One evening they were asked
to speak in the State School, and nearly all the officials
and educated young men of the city were present.
Addresses were given in English and Hindi, and one of
the officials asked permission to repeat the substance
of the address in Mar at hi, the mother-tongue of many
of them.
Thus a temporary visit had resulted in the Gospel
I being preached and_heard gladly from the humblest
portion of the city right up to the throne. But what
- would happen when the Mission proposed settling there
permanently and opening a station ? The opening
out of a station is like the staking of a claim, and it is a
claim, — the claiming of that place for Jesus Christ.
To the people it is the unfurling of the banner of Jesus
Christ and an indication that the casual visitors have
come to stay, and to be a part of the life of the com-
munity. And it is just here that many Indian Rulers
hesitate. It means the permanent entrance of persons
who are not, and cannot be, in all points, subject to
their authority. They dislike alienating their land to
foreigners who cannot become their subjects.
'• It was with some hesitancy, therefore, that the mis-
sionaries sought an interview with the Maharajah to lay
before him their plans) They were referred to the
Minister of State, and on entering his office they noted
as a good omen that a Christian Bible was lying on his
desk, (jf he missionaries frankly presented their re-
- quest telling of their interest in Dhar, and adding, that
a lady doctor would be included in the staff. As no
immediate answer could be given, the missionaries
BEGINNINGS OF THE MISSION S HISTORY 97
began to look for sites for opening work, and modestly
selected an unoccupied piece of land some distance from
the city wall. The lady doctor decided to go ahead and
open a dispensary and work in the city and surrounding
villages. On July 8, 1895, Dr. Margaret 0' Kara began
:work in Dhar as the first resident missionary, having '
rented, for a time, partToTthe Travellers' Bungalow, the
only place available. So, alone in a non-Christian city,
thirty miles from the "nearest European, she began to
minister, ~not^6nly_to the bodily needs of the women,
but to the spiritual needs of airclags.ejg^f ^jbhe^cornrnunity.
It was not long before the male missionary appointed,
Mr. F. H. Russell, was called to make final arrange-
ments for handing over the necessary land for buildings.
By the Maharaiah's_ personal choice, jm_excellent_site
was given quite close to the city. In spite of his palsied
frame, he had traversed the roads and paths inspecting
every available site, and finally selected the best
possible. After himself paying the owner one thousand
rupees compensation, he handed over the land as a free
gift to the Mission.
One day the lady doctor was considerably disturbed
to hear that the Maharajah was delaying to sign the
deed of gift until he had a promise from her. "What,"
she asked herself, "can it be ? Surely he does not want
me to promise not to preach the Gospel ?" Thank
God, it was no such demand, but a request for a promise
that was only too willingly granted, a request that
showed the difficulty with which they understood the
Christian's complete indifference to caste ; he wished_^
to have the promise that all comers to the women's
98 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
.hospital, rich and poor, and of every caste, would be
treated alike.*
The speed with which this station was opened
established a record in our work. Within six weeks of
the first arrival of a resident missionary in the station,
sites were granted, buildings, started, and almost every
branch of the work established. In the years that
followed, and under the rule of the present young
Maharajah, the friendly and sympathetic attitude to-
ward the Mission has been maintained.
The end of the second decade of the Mission's His-
tory saw work well established in six centres, three of
which were within Native State territory. Phases of
work, other than those already outlined which had their
beginnings in these early years, will be described in
another chapter. At the close of 1896 there were
k eleven nmlgjnksjonaries and~eighteen lady missionaries,
a_tota^,^cludkig...w.Lves i of missionaries, of forty on the
Canadian Staff.
*The story of the opening of Dhar has been told with literary
skill and enthusiasm in "Village Work in India" by the late N. H.
Russell.
THE WIDENING WORK
"The only thing that will save the Church from the
imminent perils of growing luxury and materialism, is
the putting forth of all its powers on behalf of the world
without Christ .... The Church needs a Supreme World
purpose — a gigantic task, something that will call forth
all its energies, something too great for men to accom-
plish, and therefore, something which will throw the
Church back upon God Himself."
— DR. JOHN R. MOTT.
In the secret of His presence how my soul delights to hide.
Oh, how precious are the moments which I spend at Jesus' side;
Earthly cares can never vex me, neither trials lay me low :
For when Satan conies to tempt me, to the secret place I go.
When my soul is faint and thirsty, 'neath the shadow of His wing,
There is cool and pleasant shelter, and a fresh and crystal spring ;
And my Saviour rests beside me, as we hold communion sweet;
If I tried, I could not utter what He says, when thus we meet.
Only this I know : I tell Him all my doubts and griefs and fears ;
Oh, how patiently He listens and my drooping heart He cheers ;
Do you think He ne'er reproves me ? What a false friend He would
be,
If He never, never told me of the sins which He must see.
Would you like to know the sweetness of the secret of the Lord ?
Go and hide beneath the shadow — this shall then be your reward;
And whene'er you leave the silence of that happy meeting place,
You will bear the shining image of the Master in your face.
-ELLEN LAKSHMI GOREH, daughter of Nehemiah Goreh, pioneer
Evangelist to Central India.
CHAPTER V.
THE WIDENING WORK
Times of Stress : Famine. There are outstanding
events in the History of Central India from which the
common people reckon the years. With the older ones,
it was the "Great Mutiny." Now, it is the "Great
Famine." The horror of it hovers over the land still
as a sad memory. jn^iSg;, the Eastern part of the
Agency was visited by a severe famine, which only
Malwabhe area in which the
Mission was at work ; but the work of the Mission -v »
itself was profoundly influenced. An area of 36,000
square rrnTelTwas affected by~~famine, and systematic
measures of relief were inaugurated by Government.
The total number who came to the relief works was
2,900,000, an average of 320,000 persons daily. Mis-
sions in that vicinity rendered every possible aid to
Government, but so appalling was the distress that the
local missionaries appealed to our Mission to help.
The result was that great numbers of starving children,
most of them orphans, were brought to the several
stations of our Mission. Such accommodation as was
possible was provided, and the strength and time of
many Missionaries and Indian Jielpers were given to
this new and pressing work. iTwo years later, 1899-
1900, Malwa itself, in which famines rarely occurred,
and which is noted for the extraordinary power of
retaining moisture possessed by its soil, was visited
101
102 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
by the most terrible famine in all its history. The area
over which famine prevailed was 47,700 square miles,
or 60% of the total area of the Central India agency,
and the cost to the Native States was 148 lakhs* of
Rupees. The results of that famine are still apparent.
In hundreds of villages large numbers of ruined houses
are to be seen, which the villagers explain as relics of
Chhapan Ka Sal, i.e., of "the year 56" (1956 being the
Hindu year corresponding to A.D. 1899.) Much land
was then abandoned also which has not yet been fully
reoccupied. During those terrible days the prices of
food grain often rose over 100%. Jowar sold at 10
seers (i seer = 2 Ibs.) per rupee, instead of 24 to 30
seers per rupee ; wheat at 8 seers, instead of 15 per
rupee, and other grain similarly. Of the mortality, no
accurate figures are available, but it is noteworthy that
the census returns for Central India covering the decade
showed a decrease of over 16% in a population of 10,3 1 8,-
812 (1891). As the normal increase had previously
been about i% per annum the enormous loss of life
occasioned by the famine can be roughly estimated.
Its Wide Extent. But it was not confined to Central
India alone. Its extent will be seen from the following
extract from a report, by the Viceroy, on the famine of
1899-1900. "This famine, within the rangeToTits in-
cidence^ has been the severest that India has ever
known. It has affected an area of over 400,000 ¥quare
miles, and a population of about 60,000,000 of whom
25,000,000 belong to British India and the remainder
to Native States. Within this area the famine con-
* A lakh =100,000.
THE WIDENING WORK 103
ditions have, during the greater part of the year, been
intense. Outside it they have extended, with a gradual-
ly dwindling radius, over wide districts In a greater
or less degree nearly one-fourth of the entire population
of the Indian continent have come within the range of
famine operations .... At normal prices, the loss was
at least seventy-five crores, or 50,000,000 sterling. . . .
It was not merely a crop failure, but a fodder famine,
on an enormous scale, followed in many parts by a
positive devastation of cattle .... both plough cattle,
buffaloes and milk kine. In other words, it affected,
and may almost be said to have annihilated, the work-
ing capital of the agricultural classes."
Aid Rendered by Missions. Missionaries all through
the famine area were able to render timely aid to Gov-
ernment in its schemes of relief, and Government
officials readily availed themselves of the proffered
help. In many cases the missionaries were the only
Europeans in a position^to^reach certairi'~cTassesTT" Tn
helping to oversee public relief works, and in distribut-
ing relief sent from America and Britain, their intimate
knowledge of the people was of great value. The
assistance given was gratefully recognized by Govern-
ment. Lord Curzon, in reviewing the methods of
famine relief, said : * ' Particularly must I mention the
noble efforts of the various Christian denominations.
If ever there was an occasion in which their local knowl-
edge and influence were likely to be of value, and in
which it was open to them to vindicate the highest
standards of their beneficent calling, it was here ; and
104 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
strenuously and faithfully have they performed the
task."
The Legacy of the Famine. Government relief had
specially in view the helping of the people to tide over
the days of stress ; and when the rains again came, the
giving of such aid as would enable them to resume their
usual occupations. On the Missions, there came the
special burden of caring for the orphans and widows,
those whom the famine left destitute, uncared for, and
unprotected. And what a burden ! One that taxes
physical powers to the utmost to nurse the emaciated
bodies back to health ; and that taxes all one's spiritual
energies, for the missionaries had to be fathers and
mothers to those orphaned children. There was no
need to go out to hunt for needy cases. They crowded
to our doors, and it was necessary to give shelter to
practically every child who came. Sometimes parents
would leave children with the missionary, while they
themselves went wandering on in the hopeless quest of
food. At one time the total of orphans and widows
who were sheltered by our Mission was over 1,750.
The numbers varied greatly. Many left after regaining
a measure of strength. Many died. Some were
reclaimed by relatives when the fragments of the
shattered homes regathered in their villages after the
famine. When the stress was over and normal con-
ditions again prevailed, about 1,000 remained as wards
of the Mission.
During the years of stress, practically every member
of the staff who could be spared from the established
institutions of the Mission was engaged in this famine
THE WIDENING WORK 10$
work ; and even in the institutions — Hospitals, Col-
leges, and Schools, — the care of the sick refugees and
the nursing of them back to health and strength, and
the providing for their instruction, became a large part
of the work of those in charge. Touring and preaching
in the villages gave place to feeding the hungry, and
some of the schools for non-Christians had to be closed.
INDUSTRIAL WORK
The Industrial Problem Thrust on the Mission.
What was to _be done with the thousand helpless
creatures thrust upon the Mission ? Feeding and
clothing them was the least part of the work. . Habits
of order and decency must be taught. Elementary
Christian morality must be enforced, and suitable
provision be made for educating youthful heads and
hands. With little in the previous experience of the
Missionaries to guide them, they would have been
more than human had no mistakes been made. How
were the children to be prepared for life's duties ?
How utilize to the best advantage this army of prospec-
tive Christians ? Should each station provide for its
own, and thus keep the children in as near proximity
as possible to their original homes and their acquaint-
ances ? Or should there be a policy of concentration
for the sake of economy in men and money, and to
make the work of training easier ? What trades
should be taught ? The attempt to solve these prob-
lems filled a large part of the thought and time of the
staff for years. The famine forced the Mission to
undertake what the normal growth of the Christian
106 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
community would sooner or later have forced upon it,
the work of Industrial Training. Indeed a beginning
had been made even before the famine came. In
the "Home" at Indore, under Mrs. Johory's care,
something had been done along this line to provide
training for the women who had been thrust out by
their relatives during the movement among the Mangs
towards Christianity.
Training Girls and Boys. The education of the or-
phans in secular subjects was not a serious problem.
Teachers for such can be secured without much diffi-
culty. But to get teachers for training in the various
trades was a more serious matter. For the girls,
the range of possible occupations was not large. To
training in household duties, there was added instruc-
tion in sewing, knitting, fancy work, etc., and, where
possible, instruction in gardening and out-door work.
For the boys, provision has been made from time to
time in printing, carpentry, black-smithing, weaving,
shoemaking, tailoring, rug-making, and, to a very
limited extent, in farming. It was felt that the last
named should have been the first in importance, and
for years the Mission endeavored to secure land for the
purpose, but to our disappointment suitable land could
not be got.
Teachers Scarce. A course in theology, which is the
normal preparation for a missionary, is not the best
preparation for managing a workshop or for giving
expert instruction in carpentry, shoemaking, etc.
Trained Indian teachers were difficult to obtain.
Caste has divided the lower orders of Hindu Society
REV. H. H. SMITH AND MRS. SMITH WITH THEIR CHRISTIAN BHEEL CONGREGATION
FAMINE REFUGEES
THE NATIVE BHEEL
BHEEL HOUSE
THE WIDENING WORK 107
into a great number of "Trades-Guilds" and each
trade is kept scrupulously within the bounds of its
particular caste. On this account it was next to im-
possible to get any non-Christians to teach the Chris-
tian lads. Christian trained men were very few even
in all India. It is no wonder that the industrial part
of the work for the orphan boys has been a somewhat
slow evolution. A Christian weaver, C. V. Noah, was
secured from South India. His coming has been a
blessing to the boys. An expert weaver, he is, more-
over, a man of strong character and an earnest Christian.
His influence over the boys has been for righteousness,
and he has devoted himself to their welfare with a fine
zeal, refusing tempting offers to go to more lucrative
posts in business concerns.
Concentration : Rasalpura. In 1901 the Mission
Council decided on the policy of concentration for the
boys ; and, after not a little negotiating with the
British and Indian authorities, a piece of land, about a
mile to the north of Mhow Cantonment, was leased
from the Indore Durbar. Here in 1902 the foundations
of "Rasalpura" were laid by the late Norman Russell,
and the village now bears his name. The name of this
settlement has since become widely known throughout
India, particularly because of its silk and cotton-woven
fabrics.
Industrial Training and Church Growth. Industrial
training is now recognized as a phase of educational
work that is vital to the development of the Church in
India. The dignity of labor needs to be asserted in a
land where all manual labor has been relegated to the
108 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
lower castes. Faith in Jesus, who was not ashamed
to be a carpenter in Nazareth, must bring in its train
an entire revolution in India's ideas of manual toil.
The Mission cannot force new ideas on the Church,
but it has determined that there shall be an opportunity
for the youth of the Indian Church to learn some useful
trade ; and, further, that all boys who are helped to an
education by the Canadian Church, shall ordinarily
enter the workshops for at least part of their life
training. Such training, it is considered, can best be
accomplished, not in a school for training alone, which
is always expensive, but in connection with actual
business. With this in view, the Mission sought to
secure capital to carry on the various trades referred
to above without constant appeal year by year.
New Workers. For a time the Industrial Missions
Aid Society of London, which is in close touch with
Industrial Mission work in various parts of the world,
came to our aid. But the expansion of the work made
it desirable to seek more capital in order to put the
institution in a position to accomplish the work for
which it was founded. The Foreign Mission Board
generously responded to the appeal made. Mr. F. H.
Russell was called from his work in Dhar to organize
more fully the Industrial work, and in 1914 two young
men, Messrs. L. D. S. Coxson, and A. R. Graham, with
special business training, were sent out from Canada to
co-operate, Mr. Coxson having in addition the duties
of the Mission Treasurer ship.
Growth and Fruitage. Established at first to meet
a temporary and urgent need, the Industrial work is
THE WIDENING WORK IOp
now increasingly meeting a more constant need.
There is a steady influx of children from Christian
homes. During 1914 for instance, twenty-four boys
were added to the enrolment. These came from several
parts of the Central India Field, showing that parents
are coming to recognize the advantages the institution
offers for the efficient training of Christian youth. The
orphan element which originally constituted the school
is gradually disappearing, its place being taken, in many
cases, by children of those who were rescued as orphans.
We are thus beginning to reap, in the second generation,
some of the fruits of the good work which was begun
when orphans were first taken in by the Mission in
1897.
The Press. The one industry with the longest
history in the Mission is the Printing Press. Begun
in Indore by Mr. Douglas, it was later transferred to
Rutlam, where for many years it afforded training for
young Christian lads and also published a large amount
of Christian literature. There were printed tracts,
hymn-books, catechisms, The Confession of Faith, and
Christian newspapers, largely in the vernacular, but
also in English, notably the organ of the Alliance of the
Presbyterian Churches. Millions of pages of these
silent messengers of the Kingdom have been issued from
the Press Room. With the consolidation of Mission
Industries, the Press was removed to Rasalpura in 1912,
where it continues, with evergrowing opportunities, to
serve the double purpose of training Christian workmen
and evangelizing India. Recently, at the request of the
110 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
Bible Society, this Press has printed the first Scripture
translated into the Bheel language.
Fruits of Work for Orphans. The time has not yet
come to estimate fully the value of the Industrial work.
When a work becomes an integral part of Mission
policy, its value cannot be judged apart from other
agencies. But it is possible to look back over the inter-
vening years since the great famine and trace the good
hand of God in bringing blessing out of the dread
calamity.
1 . Practically all the children who remained with the
Mission when the famine ceased, have since been re-
ceived into the fellowship of the Church of Christ.
2. A large proportion of the present staff of Mission
helpers, preachers, teachers, hospital assistants, nurses,
etc., have come from the various Industrial Institutions
of the Mission.
3. From these Institutions have gone forth a large
number to form homes of their own, homes where both
husband and wife are educated much beyond the aver-
age of the non-Christians about them, and where both
make good use of the manual training they have re-
ceived from the Mission. A goodly proportion of those
trained in the Central Institution at Rasalpura, after-
wards continue there as regular workmen to the ad-
vantage of the work as a whole. By enlisting these
in voluntary Christian service in the adjacent villages,
the Institution becomes a training school for Christian
service.
4. The workshops provide one of the best possible
recruiting grounds for Christian workers. The man
THE WIDENING WORK III
who can "make good" as a workman, will, if called of
God to the wider field of evangelism among his fellow
countrymen, ordinarily prove himself a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed.
Industrial Training for Girls. The Industrial train-
ing of the orphan girls and widows, while more circum-
scribed and therefore less expensive than that for boys,
has received every care at the experienced hands of
Mrs. Campbell, Dr. O'Hara, Miss Campbell, Miss
White, Mrs. Johory and others. After marriage the
young wives, to add to the family income, frequently
continue the work in their homes, hence the develop-
ment of this work is becoming increasingly important.
THE BHEELS
The Hill Tribes : Work among the Bheels. One
of the most difficult, as well as one of the most hopeful,
phases of work in Central India, has been that carrie_d
on among the aboriginal tribes, the Bheels. , -Along
with the Irish Presbyterian Church and the Church
Missionary Society, our Canadian Church has under-
taken its share of the responsibility of evangelizing
these wild jungle folk.
The Bheels originally cultivated the fertile plains of
Central India, but centuries of Hindu, Moghul, and
latterly and chiefly, Maratha oppression drove them
to the Vindhya Hills, from which no power has been
able to dislodge them. Goaded on by cruelty, they
have maintained themselves by plunder, especially
cattle stealing from their more prosperous Hindu
neighbors on the plains. The British Government by
112 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
kind treatment, and direct dealing with them, and
especially by enlisting Bheel regiments, has done much
toward restoring law and order among them. "Short
black men, thin-limbed and wiry, with fierce-looking
faces, high cheek bones, thick-matted hair, and scanty
clothing, the Bheels are a quick, active race, famous as
hunters, handling the bow and arrow, which are their
only weapons, with remarkable skill, and fearless of
danger." But they are suspicious ^ of_gtrarigers. When
first our_Mjssionaries went among them, they would
hide in the jungle or in. their . .hutsjtinThey had gone.
It was a sad comment on the injustice they had endured
for many years, that in many cases it was only the men
who fled, fearing lest the missionaries were the agents
of the money lender, or representing someone in
authority. The Bheels, too, are greatly addicted to
drinking, often keeping up their carousals for days.
The liquor they brew from the toddy palm and from
the blossoms of the Mowa tree. In religion, while,
due to Hindu influence, they recognize Mahadev,*
and claim to be his descendants, they are really fetich
worshippers. What appealed to the Mission in open-
ing work among them, apart from their deep need, was
the fact that as a people, they were largely untouched
by Hinduizing influences. "They had not been won
over from their primitive superstitions to either of the
more permanent religions of India, and they were not
burdened with caste."
*Mahadev or the "great god" is the third in the Hindu triad.
He is the austere and terrible one, an object of fear. He represents
creative activity.
THE WIDENING WORK 1.13
Tours into the Hill Country. As early as 1885, Dr.
Campbell had toured into the Bheel country, and
realized the great need of opening a Mission among
these oppressed and despised Hill tribes. When Dr.
Buchanan arrived in India in December, 1888, he ac-
companied Dr. Campbell on an extended tour into these
same jungles, and from that time forth the desire to
save these wild hill-people became the consuming
passion of his life. Not for another seven years did the
way open, however. The exigencies of existing work,
coupled with depletion of the staff by the sad death of
Mr. and Mrs. Murray, and the (as it proved to be) fatal
illness of Mr. Builder, made expansion impossible. In
November, 1895, the Council formally set apart Dr.
Buchanan for the Bheel work, at his own request,
and as his furlough was then due, he left for Canada
where he was successful in raising a special fund for the
Bheel Mission.
In the Heart of the Jungle. In the meantime, on
the invitation of Captain de Lassoe, the Bheel Agent,
Messrs. Norman and Frank Russell went down to the
Bheel country to seek a suitable site. The place
chosen was a beautiful valley in the very heart of
Bheeldom, far from the Hinduizing influence of the
towns. The situation was recommended by Captain
de Lassoe, one of God's noblemen, who loved the
Bheels, and who said he thought that with faithful
work for a few years, we should have a Christian nation
in the Bheel country. The site was difficult of access,
but, "there," he said, "you get the real Bheel." There
it was that, in December, 1897, Dr. Buchanan began
114 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
the work, alone, for Mrs. Buchanan had to remain for
a time in Canada.
Guiding Principle in Beginning Work. One guiding
principle from the first was to make every feature in the
opening of the work an evangelizing agency, and to
allow no Hinduizing influences from the outside to be
introduced. Dr. Buchanan declined to take with him
any Hindu or Mohammedan contractors for the work
of building ; and, rather than take heathen servants
along, he began with two Christian orphan lads as
personal attendants to act as cook and house-boy,
although they knew almost nothing of their work.
Three Christian catechists accompanied him, and with
these he determined somehow to complete the con-
struction of bungalow and all else necessary.
The first lesson was one for the missionary himself —
the lesson of waiting. The timid people would not
come near the missionary's tent. An officer of the
State offered to give them as much "forced labor"
as was" required, but it was declined. After some days
a lad of ten years of age offered to go and cut grass for
the pony. He was paid for it, and, his confidence
increasing, he next day brought along three other boys,
and with this insignificant band Dr. Buchanan began
building operations. Gradually suspicion was dis-
armed, and bungalow, school and dispensary, were
erected, all by the labor of these jungle people. After
some months a Christian overseer was secured from a
neighboring Mission, but at first the missionary was
overseer, paymaster, and everything, working daily
with his hands. "Down on his knees with a brick
THE WIDENING WORK 115
mould in one hand and a lump of plastic mud in the
other, he showed them how to make bricks. It was
not a clean job, but, what was far more important,
there was a clean lesson in it." The catechists, who
unfortunately sometimes feel that the call to preach has
nothing to do with labor of the hands, followed his
example with enthusiasm.
Doors Opened by Medical Skill. Candid treatment
in every way, and above all medical skill, which was
a priceless boon to these neglected people, won them
over. This was the key which unlocked .the heart's
door of the timid superstitious B heels. Dr. Buchanan
writes : "We have had at times waves of confidence,
and again all but panics, among the people. While
we have taken care in treating the people and done our
best, still we cannot ascribe it to skill or chance, but to
the special Providence of God, that during the 14
months (since the work was begun) so far as we know,
not a single patient under medical treatment has died.
Some were dangerously ill, and we almost despaired of
them. One man, Gulab, brought his ox for treatment,
but through some superstitious dread, refused to take
medicine himself. The ox got better, but the man
died. A stupid or malicious Hindu gave the warning :
' Don't take the Saheb's medicine. He will give good
medicine at first, but afterwards he will give you bad
medicine and kill you.' Only on seeing the dread
that spread suddenly through the neighborhood, could
one appreciate God's tender care that even these simple
ones might not be offended. Some of the cases have
been specially helpful in gaining the goodwill and con-
Il6 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
fidence of the people. One poor old woman, Ditali,
who was supposed to be dying, away from her home,
was brought to Amkhut in an ox-cart over about 12
miles of rough road. I was asked to go and see her, and
found her barely alive, and unable to speak or take food.
She rallied and was about once more. The news
spread. A man from the neighboring community
came and asked me to give his family medicine. He
did not even think it necessary for me to go to his
house, as it had been reported that Detali, whom he
knew, had been dead and was alive again ; still he was
not displeased that I did go."
The Gospel is the Power of God. The best argu-
ment for the truth of Christianity is its fruit in non-
Christian lands. The transformation of those looting,
drunken, despised "monkey-people" into self-respect-
ing, God-fearing, soul-seeking Christians was not, and
is not, merely a matter of preaching. It had to in-
clude the "All things." The young converts, in addi-
tion to receiving Scripture truth daily, were taught to
use their hands more deftly, to saw, plane, construct,
and to read and write, to the confusion of their scornful
Hindu neighbors, "provoking them to jealousy by
them that were no people." They were taught to join
together what India has seldom joined, religion,
intelligence and honest labor. Dr. Jno. Buchanan,
Rev. H. H. Smith and Mr. D. E. McDonald are the
Church's representatives, and now Miss Bertha Robson
has come to help as a teacher. The Christian com-
munity has made long strides forward. They are
temperate, industrious, zealous for the evangelization
THE WIDENING WORK 1 17
of their fellow Bheels, ambitious to learn. The "Star
of Hope" has risen for this people.
The Government of India has recognized the bene-
ficent work done, by conferring on Dr. Buchanan the
. Kaiser-i-Hind medal of the First Class.
THEOLOGICAL TRAINING
Training the Evangelists. There is no more impor-
tant work than the training of Indian Helpers. The
employment of Indian Christians of suitable gifts as
preachers and teachers of the Gospel, has been a promin-
ent feature of the Mission's policy, as it is indeed of
almost every Mission in India. As the question is
sometimes raised of the wisdom of using "foreign
money" for the support of Indian Agents, it may be
well to present the missionaries' point of view.
The Presbyterian Church in Canada has been
committed, by the Great Commission, and by the
Comity of Missions, to the evangelization of the
millions of Western Central India. It has wealth —
itself a fruit of Christianity, and it has men and women
to send. The problem is how most effectively and
speedily to give the Gospel to the people of Central
India. Experience has shown beyond doubt that
Indian Christians are themselves the most effective
agents in bringing their fellow countrymen to Christ.
As in Apostolic times, so to-day, men and women
spread the Truth among their fellows while pursuing
their ordinary avocations. But daily toil and its
attendant cares, make it almost impossible for them to
Il8 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
give time to concentrated and systematic study of the
Truth. Those who are divinely impelled to this
work, and give evidence of ability to carry it on,
should be set free from daily toil, as is the foreign
missionary, to give themselves wholly to this sacred
ministry. How shall they be supported ? If the
Indian Church can undertake their support, by all
means let it do so. But if not, is the foreign Church
absolved from all responsibility ? The Indian Helper
without suitable opportunities for study, cannot be
as effective as he is capable of becoming ; and, when
held down by secular work, cannot reach the fields
which invite on all sides. It is assumed of course
that the worker is worthy. Mistakes in the selection
of helpers have been made on the mission fields just
as they have been made at the Home Base. But
granted ordinary care in the selection of workers,
both at home and in the Mission field, the question of
supreme importance is : How is the work to be best,
and most speedily, accomplished ? The source of
financial supply is a minor matter. So long as the
gloom of idolatry hangs over the land, we do not well
to speak of "Foreign" and "Indian." The Church of
Christ is one, and in the conflict with sin must use its
available resources to the best of its ability. The
ideal would seem to be, send the best procurable at
Home, those who can be sympathetic and wise leaders
and helpers of others, and let there be ample provision
for the employment of Indian workers until such time
as the Indian Church can assume the whole responsi-
bility.
MARATHI GIRLS' SCHOOL— INDORE
HOSPITAL PATIENTS MOVED OUT TO THE WARM SUNSHINE— NEEMUCH
THE WIDENING WORK Up
Methods of Training. There is the further problem
of the best way to train these workers. In the early
days of the Mission, each missionary did what he could
with his own band of helpers. Daily instruction when
in the station, or gathering in the helpers regularly
from the outstations for a few days at a time, enabled
him to give a measure of teaching. When on tour,
Indian workers accompanied the missionary and many
opportunities were given to enforce useful lessons.
Making a Beginning. But, as the preachers are
constantly confronted with the subtle minds of India,
, and with false systems of thought, and are ever meeting
a bewildering medley of religious ideas and practices,
from the grossest idolatry to the theories of reforming
sects who talk in Christian phraseology and think
that they are uttering the sublime truths of Hinduism,
it was early realized that systematic training of the
Indian leaders would be a necessary part of the Mission's
policy. In 1894 a beginning was made. For two
months Dr. Wilson and Rev. Norman Russell conducted
theological classes. The intercourse with the students
in the classes revealed more fully the defects in their
knowledge and training, and emphasized the need of
giving more attention to this work than had yet been
done. The next year a course of study covering
four years was arranged by Presbytery, which required
two months' attendance in classes yearly, and the ten
months were given to practical work. The classes were
held in different stations wherever suitable accommoda-
tion could be provided. Thus they continued until
in 1907 the Presbytery decided more fully to organize
120 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
the work of training, and the "Malwa Theological
Seminary" came into being. Rev. W. A. Wilson,
D.D., to whose untiring efforts this step was largely
due, became its first Principal, a position he still holds.
The action of the Presbytery was commended by the
Synod, and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in India has recognized the Seminary as one of
those "well-fitted to give Theological instruction in the
vernaculars of their respective areas."* The classes
have been held in part of the Arts College building in
Indore. Since the opening of the Seminary in 1908,
over fifty students have been enrolled, of whom about
twenty have received their graduation diplomas.
Teaching is given for six months each year, there being
two sessions, and the course of study covers four years.
It presupposes a good general education. The course
is adapted to the needs of the field, and, in addition to
general and detailed Bible knowledge, Theology,
Church History, Homiletics and Pastoral Theology,
lays stress on the study of Christian Evidences and the
non-Christian religions of India. The Presbytery
has made the best provision in its power for its students,
but the buildings required are as yet beyond the ability
of the Indian Church to provide.
A course of study covering two years, preparatory
to the Seminary, is provided for by the Mission. For
two months each year, usually in the rainy season, the
students of this course, known as "Bible Readers" are
assembled for training in Bible knowledge and practical
*In Chap. VI., The relation of the "Mission" to the courts
of the Indian Church is stated.
THE WIDENING WORK 121
work. Some students whose opportunities for literary
study have been limited, receive no further training
than these classes provide. With a growing Christian
community in the villages, this Preparatory Course
will become increasingly important.
For the Bheel Christians, the Presbytery has ar-
ranged a course of study adapted to the special needs
of that field. But with the gradual raising of the
standard of education among these, the time may not
be far distant when they will hold their own with their
fellow-Christian students in Malwa.
HIGHER EDUCATION
Higher Educational Work. There has been steady
development in Higher Educational work, and the
present institutions, with such additional equipment
as the growing numbers of students demand, should be
sufficient for some time. Higher education for the
Christian community, which should be always the first
care of a Mission Institution, is well, provided for.
In 1904 the "Indian Universities Act" came into op-
eration, with the result that the Indore College became
affiliated to Allahabad University, instead of Calcutta,
as formerly, the arrangement now being territorially
more convenient. The new Act also imposed more
stringent regulations regarding the staff and equipment
of the affiliated colleges. Periodical inspection was
begun. All this made it more and more necessary that
the College should be well equipped with a sufficient
staff. The lines were more clearly drawn between the
College proper and the High School and Vernacular
122 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
departments. Recently the Government is laying
more stress on the providing of suitable Hostel accom-
modation, so that students may be more directly under
the care of the College authorities. In 1915, 155
students were enrolled in the Arts classes which, with
510 in the High School and Vernacular Departments,
gave a total of 665 young men and boys daily under
Christian influences and receiving Christian instruction
in the formative period of their lives.
Value of Such Work. The value of such Educational
work is felt in the general work of the Mission, and
particularly in the work of preaching throughout the
field. Indian officials who, in the intimacy of the Col-
lege life, have come to understand the missionary, and
to receive the impress of Christian ideas, are usually
friendly and sympathetic, and doors of opportunity
are opened as the common people see the friendly
attitude of their officials, which would probably other-
wise remain sullenly closed.
In the matter of religious teaching a recent writer,
Rev. C. F. Andrews, has well said :*
" The Christian Church has in this matter a record of
achievement upon which she may look back with thank-
fulness. It would not be too much to say that but for
her efforts education in India to-day would be entirely
secular, as it is in Japan. Having regard to the deep
religious instincts of the people of the country this
would have been nothing less than a national calamity.
But the dual basis of the missionary institutions side
by side with those of Government saved the situation
* " The Renaissance in India," page 43.
THE WIDENING WORK 123
at the outset and gradually the principle of religious
education has come to be widely recognized even by
those who were ready at one time to abandon it."
Mission Schools Throughout India. The vastness
of tne Educational Problem in India may be under-
stood when it is remembered that, assuming that 15%
of the population is of school-going age, there must be
at least 45 million young people of school age in India,
five-sixths of whom are growing up without any educa-
tional opportunity. The share which Christian mis-
sions have in the work of education is important.
There were in 1912, controlled by Protestant Mission-
ary Societies, 38 Colleges, with 5,447 students, including
6 1 women ; 23 of these Colleges prepared students for
the B.A. Degree, the other 15 having only a two years'
course of study and finishing with the First Arts
qualification. All the students were daily taught the
Christian Scriptures. 92% of the students were non-
Christian. There were 1,163 Boarding and High
Schools, with 110,763 students. In the Christian
Elementary Schools, were about 45o,ooo,pupils, of whom
146,000 were girls. The Christian children in these
schools numbered 170,000. In the 160 Industrial
schools were 9,125 pupils.*
Shifting • the Emphasis. Throughout India as a
whole, the emphasis is being placed more and more on
the development of Primary Schools. The base of
Indian education must be broadened. Not less educa-
tion for the higher classes, but more for the lower
classes, the great patient, toiling masses, is what is
*See " History of Christian Missions " by Robinson, page 128.
124 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
needed to restore the balance which has been so long
on the side of the privileged classes.
HIGHER EDUCATION FOR GIRLS PROVIDED
Indore Girls' High School. Shortly after the great
famine the Girls' Boarding School at Indore which had
been affiliated as a High School with Calcutta Univer-
sity discontinued the Higher classes for a time. But
in 1908 it was deemed advisable again to seek the
status of a High School, and affiliation with Allahabad
University was granted. Two years later the first
student matriculated, marking one more stage of
progress in woman's work for women in Central India.
A suitable working arrangement was made with the
Indore College, then under Dr. King's Principalship,
whereby the Girls could attend the science classes —
another innovation to startle conservative India.
(Previous to this, Dr. Wilkie had opened the Christian
"Training Classes" to both sexes.) But the proud
Hindu and Mohammedan students were to learn too
that the "weaker sex" could be their equals in the class
room. India, however, is not yet ready for co-educa-
tion on any extensive scale. It is planned that the
Girls' High School will soon be accommodated in larger
and more suitably located premises, and, under the
experienced principalship of Miss Duncan, with two
trained university graduates, the Misses Robertson
and Smillie, to assist, the outlook is bright.
Primary"Schools for Girls. Thus far in Central India
the Mission High School for Girls stands alone. Of
Primary and Secondary Schools for girls there has been
THE WIDENING WORK 12$
a striking increase in recent years. In some of the
smaller places spasmodic attempts to establish schools
have been made ; some States, Gwalior for instance,
have issued regulations for the establishing of Girls'
Schools, but the lack of female teachers and the fact
that rural India is not yet convinced of the need for
female education, have retarded progress. The tide
has not yet risen in its power. When that day comes,
as come it must, the results will be incalculable.
Transformation in Public Opinion. A change, grad-
ual, but sure, is taking place in India in regared to
female education. "Ten years ago," Miss de Selin-
court writes, "statements about the ignorance of
Indian women were often lightly dismissed as the out-
come of blind prejudice or of well-meaning hysteria.
Missionaries were told that they were unable to appre-
ciate the Indian ideal ; that they must not imagine
culture to be dependent on literacy ; that Indian
women in their secluded homes stood for a type of
spiritual beauty impossible of attainment under any
other conditions. To-day there is little need for the
missionary to raise the voice of protest ; champions
of the woman's cause are springing up on every side.
On every hand in India there are signs of new life stir-
ring, of a nation shaking off its sleep. In no direction
is this more evident than in the number of non-Chris-
tians who desire education for their wives and daughters.
" In town after town committees of Indian gentlemen
are being formed to push forward the cause of female
education. Women's societies are also being founded
with the same object in view. There is a widespread
126 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
and growing desire to deal with the whole question
fundamentally and effectively."*
Work for the Blind. Work for the blind will always
be associated in the Mission history with the name of
Miss Jamieson. India has over half a million blind
persons. In a land of alms-giving they manage to exist
but in times o'f stress they suffer greatly. A home for
the blind was opened in 1897, the year of the Famine,
and it met a pressing need. As many as forty were at
one time cared for. They were taught basket-making
and coarse blanket-weaving as well as reading. It was
a source of constant astonishment to the people to see
and hear the blind lads sitting by the wayside reading
the scriptures and explaining them to the groups of
interested listeners that gathered around. In 1909 the
Home was closed, the inmates being provided for in
other institutions.
Normal Training. Normal training, particularly for
male teachers, has never received the attention it
demanded in the Mission. The first systematic efforts
were made in connection with the Training Classes in
the College in 1896, Miss White and Miss Ptolemy, both
Normal graduates, having charge. As early as 1883,
however, Miss McGregor had organized a Teacher's
Training Class, but it did not long continue. In this,
too, the Mission led the way in Central India. But it
with other work suffered during the lean years of famine.
Miss White has lately carried on a successful Normal
Training work for female teachers. There is no more
important work along educational lines. Knowledge
*Quoted in "Renaissance in India." p. 231.
MISS McHARRIE— " Inasmuch . . .
DISPENSARY PATIENTS— RUTLAM
ON THE WAY TO THE HOSPITAL. DR. MARGARET McKELLAR
MOTTO OVER DOOR OF DISPENSARY— NEEMUCH
WHERE "GOD AND WE" WORK
THE WIDENING WORK 127
of the art of teaching is lamentably defective. There
are weary repetitions and memorizings to excess, but
thought-provoking instruction is rare.
The latest development in teacher training was to
give instruction in Primary methods. Miss Sinclair,
a trained primary teacher, taught the Normal classes
in this subject. There is a growing demand for teach-
ers of this kind. Unfortunately, ill-health made neces-
sary Miss Sinclair's return to Canada. There is an
open door for a skilled teacher who can adapt primary
principles to Indian conditions.
MEDICAL WORK
Medical Men Few. During the last twenty years
the Canadian Church sent out five medical men to
Central India, and as two of these were needed to fill
vacant places on the staff, and one has lately retired
owing to illness in his family, the advance in men's
medical work is not great. The most satisfactory
progress is the opening of the Hospital in Rutlam.
Formerly a dispensary only was carried on there.
Through the kindness of the State officials, an excellent
plot of ground, conveniently situated, was given ; and
Dr. Waters has been permitted to build there, what the
Mission has long needed, a Men's Hospital. It is
centrally located in the Mission field, easily reached by
rail, and is being built in such a way that wards can
be added from time to time as funds permit and as the
work requires.
The Needy Nimar Valley. For three years Dr. Mc-
Phedran has waited for permission from the Native
128 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
State to build a Hospital in Barwaha. This is a key
position to the far-reaching fertile Nimar valley. It
is the distributing centre for miles around. The resi-
dents have petitioned for the Mission to be allowed to
open a Hospital there, and still the door remains closed
to it. Under conditions that sorely try faith and
patience, he has worked by means of a small dispen-
sary for the bodily and spiritual healing of the multi-
tudes of that needy valley. As in the days on earth of
the Great Physician, so now, His healing servants in
Central India never lack the open door of service.
No occasion to seek for patients here. "A great
multitude of impotent folk" awaits the coming of those
who are skilled in the sympathetic healing art.
Medical Ministry Among the Bheels. Among the
aborigines medical skill has proved a mighty power
preparing the way of the Gospel. A good central
Hospital in the land of the Bheels, carried on by a
missionary who could give his whole time to that work,
would be a mighty factor in bringing the Bheel country
to the feet of the Great Physician. Since the mission-
ary doctor began work in that land the business of the
witch doctors has greatly diminished.
Expansion in Women's Medical Work. The growth
in medical work for women has been more satisfactory.
Well-built and fairly well-equipped Hospitals in Indore,
Neemuch, and Dhar, are doing an invaluable work, and
a Hospital is being built in Hat Piplia, a town of Bagli
State, which was urgently desired by the local authori-
ties.
THE WIDENING WORK
In Indore Hospital a missionary ward, known as
"Jessie L. Forrester Ward," has been provided by
and Mrs. Campbell, of Rutlam and relatives, in memory
of Mrs. Campbell's sister, whose brief sojourn in India
will thus be gratefully remembered. The ward has
already proved a boon to the Mission staff.
Testimony to the Value of Women's Medical Work.
The importance of medical work, both men's and
women's, is well described in the report of Dr. Margaret
McKellar in 1909 :
"Medical Mission work is coming into its own. At
the recent Pan-Anglican Congress, the Mission Section
decided that the watchword which should guide the
future Christianizing efforts in India was to be ' Strength-
en, reinforce, the Medical arm.' Brigade-Surgeon,
Lt.-Col. D. F. Keegan, — the first medical man whose
acquaintance the writer made in India, — nearly two
years ago, — in commenting on the above watchword,
wrote: 'The Government of India might well adopt
the same motto and apply it to their own medical
service in these days of unrest in their Great Depend-
ency. There can be no clashing of interests between
the Indian Medical Service and the Association of
Medical Missionaries, for charity in its widest accepta-
tion is the bedrock principle of both. Members of the
Indian Medical Service know full well what noble work
the Medical Missionary Association, which now num-
bers more than 300 fully-qualified medical practitioners
of both sexes, has done for many years in India, and
how much this charitable work has tended towards
inducing the native to view the Great Sarkar with a
130 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
more and more trustful and kindly eye. And the
Association has done this by the proficiency of its
members in medicine and more especially in operative
surgery .... the aggregate number of important surgical
operations performed in one year by the combined
members of the Association throughout the length and
breadth of India is immense. The members of the
Medical Missionary Association and the Indian Medical
Service are potent instruments of conciliation between
the governing Briton and the subject races in our Great
Dependency, and no strangers in India know the native
more intimately than they do, for it is their lot to watch
and tend him when stricken by disease or accident.
And it is then that his many fine qualities are best seen
and recognized, and the doctors are amply rewarded
by the gratitude and implicit trust reposed in them by
the native.' "
The report continues : "In comparing our own work
with a like number of Hospitals for women supported
by Native States, the administrative medical officer in
Central India in his last Official Report to hand says,
'It is to be noted that the first three (Mission Dispen-
saries and Hospitals in Indore, Dhar, and Neemuch)
are for women only and show (in the time under review)
839 in-patients ; this compares favorably with the 346
in-patients of the separate Women's Hospitals maintaiii-
tained by the States. Again the out-patients of these
missionary Dispensaries number 18,804, against 11,748
of the Women's Hospitals.' '
India's Medical Needs. A recent writer says :
"In spite of all that Government and missionary efforts
RUTLAM MISSION HOSPITAL
CARVING ON TEMPLE WALLS
BHEEL THEOLOGICAL CLASS WITH REV. H. H. SMITH AND DR. BUCHANAN
PASTOR AND OFFICERS OF CHURCH AT MHOW
Rev. Mr. Drew (seated) and Rev. Mr. Taylor are members of session
THE WIDENING WORK 131
combined have been able to accomplish, it is computed
that out of the one hundred and fifty million women of
India not more than three million as yet are within the
reach of competent medical aid. The unrelieved
suffering implied in such statistics is almost unimagin-
able. At present the shortage of women doctors is so
great that hospitals have been closed for want of
qualified workers. It is clear that the increasing needs
of India in this direction cannot be met without the
education of Indian women themselves as doctors and
nurses. Government is fully alive to this fact, and just
as in the matter of literary education, is ready to
welcome and support financially Christian Medical
schools."
Ludhiana Medical College for Women. The
Women's Christian Medical College in Ludhiana is
doing a valuable work for the whole of Northern India.
The Women's Missionary Society of Canada through
one of its medical missionaries is represented on the
Board of Management. The Panjab Government has
cordially supported the Institution, recognizing its
valuable work.
The report for 1914-15 showed "that 40 medical
students have already received their diplomas as
Licensed Medical Practitioners, and are working in
connection with 19 different Missionary Societies in all
parts of India. At present there are 41 students in
attendance ; 18 compounders, 29 nurses, and 16 mid-
wives are enrolled, making a total of 104 under in-
struction."
132 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
The Leper. Medical work for lepers early claimed
the sympathy and help of the Mission. Dr. Buchanan
in Ujjain in 1895 inaugurated the first attempts to
segregate these helpless people. A graveyard was the
only segregation camp available, and the tithes of the
little congregation at Ujjain were the only source of
supply for their needs. Influential people, who had
probably never given a thought to the danger of so
many lepers daily mixing with the people in the crowded
streets, suddenly became alarmed when they saw them
gathered together in one place. They looked on the
missionary as one who had brought a pestilence to the
city. Entreaties, and then threats, were used to pre-
vent the lepers being gathered together. But the leper
camp continued. In Ujjain there is now a Leper Asy-
lum built by the State. In Dhar, another has been
built with funds raised by Mr. Henderson of Toronto,
as a memorial to his wife. This latter Asylum is under
the care of the "Mission to Lepers in India and the
East," the missionary at Dhar acting as their Super-
intendent. From the beginning, the leper work has
never been a charge on the funds of the Canadian
Church. A goodly number of these poor outcastes
have been received into the fellowship of the Christian
Church.
Consumptives. No special provision has yet been
made for consumptives, although there is need among
the Christians for some such provision. There is a
sanatorium near Indore on one of the highest points of
the Malwa plateau begun by an energetic and public
spirited Hindu gentleman, the medical officer of Indore
THE WIDENING WORK 133
State, and built by the wealthier members of various
sects, each sect having its own special ward.
The work is ever widening. The doors of service
are always wide open. The dark clouds of famine, and
later the awful ravages of Bubonic plague, came to test
the faith of the missionaries, but the last two decades
have seen a growing intensive work, and a widening of
the range of activity. Fourteen stations are occupied,
and the mission staff has increased until it now numbers
seventy-four. But each step forward shows greater
possibilities of service. Instead of fourteen stations,
there should be forty-four centres. With such a
disposal of the forces, and with the training facilities
now established, growing with the increasing needs, it is
possible for the eye of faith to see the coming of the
Kingdom of Christ in Western Central India.
THE INDIAN CHURCH
" Experience has already shown that by far the
most hopeful way of hastening the realization of true
and triumphant Christian Unity, is through the enter-
prise of carrying the Gospel to the non-Christian
world." — DR. JOHN R. MOTT.
"The simple peasant and scholarly pundit, the
speculative mystic or self -torturing devotee, the
peaceful South-man, and the manly North-man, the
weak Hindoo who clings to others of his caste for
strength, and the strong aborigines who love their
individuality and independence ; one and all possess a
power which could find its place of rest and blessing
in the faith of Christ and in fellowship with one another
through Him. The incarnate but unseen Christ, the
Divine yet human Brother, would dethrone every idol ;
God's word would be substituted for the Puranas ;
Christian brotherhood for caste ; and the peace of God
instead of these and every weary rite and empty
ceremony, would satisfy the heart. Such is my ideal
which I hope and believe will one day become real in
India." — DR. NORMAN MACLEOD, (address to General
Assembly of Church of Scotland).
CHAPTER VI.
- THE INDIAN CHURCH
The Key to the Problem. An indigenous Christian
church is the key to the problem of India's Evangeliza-
tion. At the present time, the Foreign Mission
organization and the Indian Church exist side by side,
the Foreign Missionary and the Indian Worker of the
Mission being in some cases the predominating in-
fluence ; in others, where the Church has reached
greater maturity, acting as helpers to the Indian
Church.
What is a Mature Church ? Where ecclesiastical
maturity has been attained in any community we expect
to find (i) Pecuniary self-support, (2) Complete self-
government, (3) Self-propagation. This is the ideal.
The Indian Church is far from full attainment, but
there is a growing self -consciousness, the ability to
control its own affairs is becoming increasingly manifest,
and its evangelizing activities, when one considers the
resources of the Church, compare favorably with those
of Western Churches.
The Indian National Conference which met in Cal-
cutta in December, 1912, which was the most represent-
ative missionary body that has yet met in India, ex-
pressed itself as follows :
"This Conference notes with profound thankfulness
to God that, as the outcome of Christian effort in this
Empire, there is now an Indian Church firmly estab-
137
138 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
lished which, not only in its numerical growth, but also
in the reality and vigor of its spiritual life, in the
development of its organization and in the growth of
its missionary zeal, affords great cause for encourage-
ment. It is the conviction of this conference that the
stage has been reached when every effort should be
made to make the Indian Church in reality the most
efficient factor in the Christian propaganda in this land.
To this end it is essential that the Church in Western
lands should continue to co-operate in the further
development of the Indian Church, that it may most
effectively accomplish its providential mission in the
regeneration of India."
Interesting Figures. According to the last census,
taken in 1911, the Christian population of India is
3,876,203, or about 12 per thousand of the population.
Of these it is estimated that 3,574,000 are natives of the
country, the balance being made up of Europeans and
Eurasians, or as they are now called, "Anglo-Indians."
Not more than 200,000 are Europeans and Americans,
domiciled, or of pure descent, and these include nearly
75,000 British troops. What may be described as the
resident or sojourning white civilian element is little
more than three per cent, of the Christian population.
Of the above 3,876,203, the Roman Catholics number
1,490,864 ; the Syrian Church, 728,304 ; the Pro-
testants, 1,636,731. Of the Syrian Church more than
half hold allegiance to Rome and with this addition the
Roman Catholics number 1,904,006. The following
table gives the growth of the total Christian community
during the past 4 decades :
A CHRISTIAN FAMILY
MR. AND MRS. JOHORY
THE INDIAN CHURCH - 139
Increase per cent.
1881 — 1,862,634.
1891 — 2,284,380 22.6
1901 — 2,923,241 27.9
1911—3,876,203 32.6
The comparative percentages of growth in the past
decade are as follows : Roman Catholics, 25% ;
Syrian (Protestant), 27% ; Protestants, 41^"%. It
is estimated that, "at the present rate of increase the
whole population would be Christian in about 160
years, which would be faster than the conversion of the
Roman Empire."
Within the bounds of our own mission field in Central
India the numerical increase has been encouraging.
Since the Mission began in 1877, over four thousand
have been baptized into the fellowship of the Christian
Church. The statistics for the year ending Sept. 30,
1915, show a total Christian commuaity of 3,126, of
which 1,048 are full communicants.
A Statesman's Tribute to Christianity. Bare stat-
istics, however, give but an imperfect idea of the in-
fluence of the Christian Church. Striking testimony
in this regard was recently given by one who stands
outside at least of the visible church. Sir Narayan
Chandarvarkar in addressing the Y.M.C.A. of Bombay
used these words :
"And this message has not only come, but it is finding
a response in our hearts ; for, as I have already in-
dicated to you, the old conception of a spiritual worship
of God has not entirely perished from the minds of the
140 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
people, though it may be buried below a mass of
ceremony and superstition. The process of the con-
version of India to Christ may not be going on as rapid-
ly as you hope, but, nevertheless, I say, India is being
converted ; the ideas that lie at the heart of the Gospel
of Christ are slowly but surely permeating every part
of Hindu society, and modifying every phase of Hindu
thought. And this process must go on, so long as
those who preach this Gospel seek, above all things, to
commend it, not so much by what they say, but by
what they do and the way they live.
"And what is it in the Gospel of Christ that com-
mends it so highly to our minds ? It is just this, that
He was 'the Friend of sinners,' He would eat and drink
with publicans and outcasts ; He was tender with the
women taken in sin ; all His heart went out to the sin-
ful and needy, and to my mind there is no story so
touching and so comforting as the Prodigal Son.
Christ reserved His words of sternest denunciation for
hypocrites and especially for religious hypocrites whose
lives and conduct utterly belie the great professions
that they make. The Gospel of the Kingdom of Christ
has come to India, and when it is presented in its ful-
ness and lived in its purity, it will find a sure response
among the people of the land ....
"I have no right to speak at all about the Kingdom
of Christ ; but I believe that it is working amongst us
to-day ; It is the little leaven that will in time leaven
the entire mass. The Kingdom of Christ, I say, is
working out its own ends slowly, silently and yet
securely."
THE INDIAN CHURCH 141
The Church in Central India. The church in Central
India has undergone a rapid transformation within
recent years. At first the membership consisted largely
of the preachers, teachers and other helpers who, with
their families, formed the nucleus of the Indian Church.
While this seemed a necessary stage in the establishment
of the church, it was not a condition of things congenial
to the growth of a spirit of independence or self-reliance.
To-day the conditions are far different. A large and
ever-growing proportion of the membership is entirely
independent of the Mission, and the Indian Church has
a goodly number of the Helpers under its own control
and is responsible for their support.
There is no work more important, or more interesting
than to help in the healthy development of the church.
It is a work which lies near to the heart of every true
missionary who shares something of Paul's spirit when
he wrote to the Galatians : ' ' My little children, of whom
I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you ..."
(Chap. 4 : 19). The hardest work of the missionary
begins when the converts are received by baptism into
the company of the disciples of Christ. Then must
follow the work of "teaching them to observe all
things, whatsoever I have commanded you." It has to
be done patiently, perseveringly and systematically,
training them in temperance, purity and holiness of life.
Christian worship, so different from the temple worship,
has to be exemplified. Some form of organization is
necessary and indigenous leadership has to be developed.
How Maturity is to be Attained. As to the ideal
for the Indian Church, self-governing, self-supporting
142 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
and self-propagating, there is unanimity among all
missionaries. As to the method of attainment, there is
considerable difference of opinion. Some place self-
support as the primary consideration, and powers of
self-government are held strictly in abeyance until the
Church has learned "to pay." Others lay the emphasis
on self-government, believing that when the Indian
Church is trusted with responsibility, the grace of
benevolence will more speedily develop and the work
of propagating the Gospel be stimulated. Others
again see only the pressing need of India's evangeliza-
tion and would bend all the energies of Foreign and
Indian Christian alike to this end.
The problem of the development of the Indian
Church is bound up with the work of a well-organized
and wide-spread, but foreign, missionary propaganda.
For this reason the problem in one important aspect
has to do with the relation of foreign missionaries to the
Indian Church. The ideal which Christians in India
have before them will largely determine the way in
which this latter question will be treated. If an
** Indian Church" be the ideal, there will almost cer-
tainly be on the part of Indian members a measure of
dissatisfaction with the place foreign missionaries hold
in the Church.
The^ missionary on the other hand may fail to merge
himself with the Church for whose welfare he toils.
He may regard himself as belonging to the Mission
rather than to the Church, as having his Church mem-
bership at Home rather than on the field, and as being
himself merely lent to this work until such time as
THE INDIAN CHURCH 143
his presence is longer required. The Indian Christian
is led to regard the Church as "for Indians only."
In such a case, "The ideal of the Church is not the most
effective organization for the accomplishment of the
largest work but the attainment of absolute independ-
ence at all costs, as soon as possible. With such a
thought constantly in mind, the foreign missionary is
not looked upon as a desirable element in the Church,
but one that is to be rendered unnecessary as soon as
may be." But let the ideal be : "The Church of Christ
in India," and the distinction of Indian and Foreign
will tend to disappear. A merely "national" outlook
is injurious to the true spirit of the Church of Christ.
Nations tend to mingle more and more. India will
for long be the home of many Europeans and Americans,
East and West will meet, and where more fittingly
than in the Church of Christ which knows neither race
nor speech, nor color, but all are one in Christ Jesus.
With such an ideal, "the controlling thought would
not be, the difference between Indian and foreign
members or workers, the rights and privileges of the
one or the other, but the possibility of using both to the
greatest interest of the supreme work of the Kingdom.
In such a church the relation of the missionary would
be that which would enable him to make the largest
contribution to the enterprise. From his thinking
would be absolutely ruled out the idea that he is there
to dominate or control the situation, reserving to him-
self such rights and prerogatives as belong only to the
missionary ; while from his Indian brother's mind
would disappear the thought that the missionary, so
144 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
long as necessary, must be tolerated, but that true
advance on the part of the Church will render him
unnecessary, and thus happily remove the one class
of persons that now prevents the Church from coming
into its own rightful position and heritage."* So great
is the work that remains to be done that even a mature
church in India may well need and welcome the aid of
the foreign missionary. The attainment of self-support,
self-government and the spirit and ability to propagate
itself, does not, as we understand it, absolve all but the
Church in India from responsibility for India's evan-
gelization.
The Mission and the Chaplaincy. Having as its
aim the wider conception of the Church of Christ in
India, the mission has, almost from its beginnings,
shown a practical interest in the work among Anglo-
Indians and domiciled Europeans including the troops.
These latter are stationed at Neemuch and Mhow,
with small detachments also in Indore. At the two
first-named the Church of Scotland, through its Colonial
Committee, has held itself responsible for the spiritual
needs of the Presbyterian troops. In 1890, on account
of the illness of the regular chaplain, the missionary at
Mhow, Rev. Geo. MacKelvie, was asked by the Church
of Scotland to assist in caring for the troops, and part
of his salary was guaranteed. This was the beginning
of co-operation with the Church of Scotland in chap-
laincy work. From that time to the present, except
a few brief intervals when chaplains were appointed
directly by the Church of Scotland, the work has been
*Rev. B. T. Badley, Indian Witness, July 8, 1915.
THE INDIAN CHURCH 145
entrusted to the Canadian Mission, and its nominees
have been endorsed by the Church of Scotland, and a
substantial annual grant has been paid into the funds
of the Mission. Various members of the staff have
officiated from time to time, and the Mission thus forms
a living bond of union between European and Indian.
The chaplaincy is now under the care of Rev. E. J.
Drew, who, in recognition of his long and faithful
service, has been given the status of a missionary by the
Foreign Mission Board of our Church. Mr. Drew is an
Englishman who went to India in the Army, but after
a few years withdrew and engaged in business. For
over thirty years, first as a voluntary worker, and later
as an assistant-missionary, he has been closely identified
with the work of the Mission in Mhow. A man of
boundless energy and wide experience, he has well
earned the mark of confidence which the Mission and
the Foreign Mission Board have bestowed on him.
He was ordained by the Presbytery in 1905. Two
years later he was appointed chaplain, and still con-
tinues rendering acceptable service to the troops as
well as giving valuable aid in the vernacular work.
English Services at Rutlam. For the little Anglo-
Indian and European community in Rutlam, services
were begun by Dr. Campbell, and missionaries of that
station have continued to minister to the needs of that
community for more than 25 years. The maintenance
of an English service and occasionally of a Sabbath
School, have been greatly appreciated.
Church Union in India. One of the most striking
features in the growth of the Church in India has been
146 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
in the direction of Union. The Presbyterians led the
way, and in 1902 the "South India United Church"
was formed by the union of the Churches in connection
with the United Free Church of Scotland and the
Reformed Church of America. As a result there was
co-operation in Theological instruction, in training of
teachers, in the publication of a joint paper, in bene-
volent and Home Mission work, and a new impetus
was given to self-support and self-government. These
results became still more evident when in December,
1904, there was formed a larger union of the above
Church and five other Presbyterian bodies working in
India. It chose to be called ' ' The Presbyterian Church
in India." By this union, the Presbytery and its
congregations in Central India ceased to have organic
connection with the Canadian Church on the other side
of the world, and were organically united to their
Presbyterian brethren throughout India. The Mission
and the missionaries retained their former connection
with the parent Church in Canada, but as members
of an "Indian" Presbytery and its congregations they
are fully identified with the Church in India.
A still more comprehensive union movement was in
the meantime being contemplated in South India, and
in 1908 the Churches in connection with the London
Missionary Society, and the American Board of Com-
missioners for Foreign Missions, united with the Pres-
byterians of the South in "The South India United
Church." The Synod of South India was, with a
cordial Godspeed, released from the newly-formed
THE INDIAN CHURCH 147
Presbyterian Church in India to merge itself in the
wider union in the South.
Federation. A strong movement also towards
Federation is gathering momentum and promises soon
to be widely adopted. Its aim is that, "The Federa-
tion shall not interfere with the existing creed of any
Church or Society entering into its fellowship, or with
its internal order or external relations. But in accept-
ing the principle that the Church of God is one, and
that believers are the Body of Christ, and severally
members thereof, the Federating Churches agree to
respect each other's discipline, to recognize each other's
ministry, and to acknowledge each other's membership
by a free interchange of full members in good and re-
gular standing, duly accredited, welcoming them into
Christian fellowship and communion as brethren in
Christ."
The basis of Federation has been accepted by the
missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the
English Baptist Church, by the American Marathi
Mission, the South India United Church, and our own
Presbyterian Church in India. It is hoped that
shortly Provincial Federal Church Councils will be
organized.
The Spirit of Union in India. These movements are
doing much to remove the offence which a divided
Christendom presents to thoughtful minds in the
Indian Church. Why should the Church in non-
Christian lands be made heir to the differences which
have had their origin, often in strife, in the Church in
Western lands ? The planting of Churches along
148 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
denominational lines was perhaps inevitable. All the
more necessary is it that the work of union should not
be left to the Indian Churches to accomplish alone when
they reach the stage of maturity, lest the differences
with which they have Jiad no special concern in the past
should become fastened upon them for all time ; but
that the Missions should endeavor to see realized the
Unity of the Church of Christ.
The situation in India compels the spirit of unity
because :
(1) Indian Christians generally desire the fullest
possible fellowship. For them the simple confession,
"One Lord, one faith, one Baptism," stands out in
bold relief against the dark background of a cruel
heathenism which has cast them off forever. They
chafe against denominational barriers which tend to
hive off the Christians into separate folds.
(2) The perspective of the missionary himself is
different when he is on the foreign field. He may
have gone there with the idea that the particular tenets
of his denomination — its doctrinal statements and forms
of government — should be repeated on the foreign field.
But he soon finds that he is confronting everywhere
the same pressing problem — the evangelization of the
countless multitudes. The evangelistic note dominates
the Church's life, and the emphasis is shifted away
from the thought of denominational differences. He
sees that creeds forged in times of controversy and
directed against errors then prevalent, may be viewed
differently by his Indian fellow-Christian, who has
his own controversies with the errors of India. He
THE INDIAN CHURCH
149
may discover also that forms of Church Government
need to be adapted to the character of the people and
their forms of social life. He will discover that his
work as a foreign missionary is "not to carry moulds
but to plant living seed" ; to teach the fundamental
principles of the Gospel, leaving to the growing Church
freedom to adapt its creed and its form of Government
to suit the special circumstances. The Living Lord
is in His Church, and can be trusted to lead it into the
fullest measure of usefulness and blessing.
(3) All branches of the Christian Church face a
common and an implacable foe. As Sir Herbert
Edwardes long ago said : "differences about bishops,
etc., seem very small under the shadow of an idol with
twelve heads." In face of the opposition of the great
non-Christian world of India, any refusal on the part
of Christ's followers to co-operate in the fullest possible
way seems almost criminal.
Christian Melas. Perhaps no single feature of
Church life has been so potent in developing the sense
of unity among Indian Christians as the Melas or
Conventions which are very common in all parts of the
land. They are according to the genius of the Indian
people. Their gregarious instincts find happiest ex-
pression in these large and enthusiastic gatherings for
spiritual inspiration and fellowship. These Melas have
discovered to the Church as a whole not a few men of
wonderful gifts as preachers of the Word and as leaders
in spiritual things. The Annual Mela held under the
auspices of the Presbytery in Central India has been
invaluable for the development of the corporate life of
150 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
the Church there. Four or five days are spent each
year in united prayer, the imparting of some definite
phase of Scripture teaching, and the delivering of
inspirational addresses. For missionary and Indian
Christian alike, these days have been times of much
blessing.
Indigenous Missionary Activities. With the growth
of self-consciousness and the spirit of unity in the
Church in India, there is a growing desire to assume
responsibility for India's evangelization. The growth
of indigenous missionary associations, denominational
and otherwise, has been a feature of recent years. In
Central India the growth in this respect has been
gratifying. In 1915, with 13 organized congregations,
and a communicant membership of 1,048, and a total
baptized community of 3,015, a total of 3,286 Rupees (3
Rupees = i dollar) was spent on extra-congregational,
or specifically Mission work. Congregations were
responsible for one or more Home Missionaries each,
and in some cases assumed the entire up-keep of out-
stations. Some employed Bible women, others were
responsible for local schools. Three congregations had
settled pastors. The amount spent on Mission work
was equal to three-fourths of that spent on congrega-
tional needs including pastoral support. But apart
from financial gifts was the gratifying fact that much
personal work in bazaar preaching, conducting of
Sunday Schools, etc., was carried on.
The Banyan Tree. The growth of the Church in
India is typified in that of the banyan tree. First is the
parent trunk, which throws out its far-spreading
THE BANYAN TREE— A PARABLE OF THE INDIAN CHURCH
MISSIONARY'S BUNGALOW AT KHARUA
THE INDIAN CHURCH 151
branches. From these in course of time rootlets drop
downwards until they touch the earth, and in a mar-
vellously short space of time these take firm hold of the
soil and become strong supports to the branch above.
The overhead branch extends farther and drops other
rootlets which also in time become supporting pillars
to the branches above. The parent trunk is thus soon
surrounded by a mass of pillars each like the parent
stem ; and trees may be seen where the original trunk
has decayed almost entirely away, leaving the wide-
spreading tree supported by its newly formed trunks.
Not yet, however, has that time come for the Church
in India. Co-operation between the Foreign and the
indigenous Church, is the need of the present. The
Macedonian cry, ''Come over and help us," is still the
cry of the Church in India to the Church in Canada.
Some Indian Leaders. Did space permit it would be
profitable to the reader to make the acquaintance of
many who are leaving their impress on the young
Church in Central India. For instance, the pastors.
In 1900 the first Indian pastor, Jairam B. Makasare,
was ordained and settled over the Rutlam congregation,
which then had 3 elders, 49 communicants, 146 bap-
tized and 174 unbaptized adherents. The pastors from
the first were not permitted to be a charge on the
Foreign Mission Funds of the Church in Canada. Had
some scheme of augmentation been adopted, the num-
ber of settled pastorates would doubtless have been
greater ; but it is questionable if there has been any
real loss to the Church by insisting on self-support.
The Rev. Benjamin Ellis, a scholarly minister from a
152 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
neighboring Presbytery, was inducted as first pastor
in Indore in 1912. Mhow, the same year, called the
Rev. Samuel Karim, the youngest of our pastors, a
man who has been trained from boyhood in the Mission.
To rare gifts as a teacher, there is added the true
pastor-spirit and zeal in preaching the Gospel. The
Rev. Bhagajee Gaekwad, after long years of service,
and having completed the prescribed course of study,
was ordained as Minister-Evangelist, and given the
oversight of a District. The Rev. Yohan Masih, grad-
uate in English of the Theological Seminary, Clerk of
the Synod, Instructor in the Seminary, and zealous
evangelist, is a born leader. Mr. J. W. Johory, ver-
satile, zealous Home-Missionary, first Indian extra-
mural B.D. graduate of Serampore College, teacher in
Arts College and Theological Seminary, tutor in the
Maharajah's household, has his whole life been devoted
to the Church in Central India. (His picture and that
of Mrs. Johory are seen on another page.) For these
able godly men, and many others, we give God thanks.
The writer recently gathered some personal testimonies
from leading members of our Central India Christian
community ; and in answer to the question ' ' Why are
you a Christian ?" the following among other replies
were received :
Personal Testimonies. "I do not know how I can
live a holy life in this world and be in communion with
the Divine, without being a Christian. Since accept-
ing Jesus as my Saviour I have got such a victory over
temptations and my sins in which I used to fall often.
The vision of the loving Father through Jesus is so clear
THE INDIAN CHURCH 153
that there is perfect peace and joy, and love to help
and save my fellowmen. That's why I am a Chris-
tian."
Another says : "I am a Christian because the love
of Christ constrains me. He lived and died for me.
He is now my living personal Saviour. His loving
presence is all-sufficient for me. He satisfied all the
cravings of my heart. Without Him I find life to be
not worth living. I cannot but be a Christian, most
unworthy though I am to be called so."
Another replied :
"Because Christ came to save sinners and He has
saved me, and because Christ purchased me by His
own precious blood, therefore now I am not my own,
but Christ's."
Another :
"Because Jesus has bought me with a price and re-
deemed me with His precious blood. I looked unto Him
and was lightened. Thanks be unto God for His un-
speakable gift. The God of Glory was not ashamed to
pick me up, but called me out of darkness and unclean-
ness into His marvellous light."
And still another writes :
"'I am a Christian because in my own experience I
have found a personal Saviour in our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is to me not an abstract, philosophic Ideal nor a
mere Historical Person, but a Living Presence, realized
in my every day life, leading and guiding me through
the vicissitudes of life notwithstanding my weaknesses
and frailties. I have found Him a ready Helper in
all my trials and difficulties, and a loving and sympath-
154 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
izing Friend in my life struggles through this world,
giving me assurance that He will be the fulfilment of
my hope when this life ends to be resuscitated again in
the glory of resurrection. In communion with Him I
have found that peace of mind and spiritual strength
which enabled me so far to battle through indifference
and misunderstandings of the world. In the knowledge
that I am also one of His — a Christian, I have felt that
joy and peace which the world had not given me. I
am fully convinced that there is nothing in this world
which can give that assurance of salvation and divine
life that Christianity can give."
These testimonials reveal the longings of the heart
of India for a faith which satisfies and gives power to
live victoriously. ' ' Show us the Father and it sufficeth
us " is the cry of earnest souls. Jesus is the only answer
which will satisfy. It is the confession of men and
women such as these that gives hope for the Church
in Central India. So long as our leading Christians
have a vital experience of the Saving Power of Jesus
Christ, there need be little fear for the progress of the
Church. And it is a striking fact that the men of
outstanding gifts as leaders in the Church in India as a
whole are men of a deep spirituality.
Problems of the Church in India. The Church in
India has special difficulties to cope with, (a) In the
matter of Sabbath observance. The Day is, of course,
officially recognized as a Day of Rest. Offices, schools,
and public buildings are closed as a rule, and many of
the larger shops in the chief cities. But in the non-
Christian communities generally, the convert sees all
THE INDIAN CHURCH 155
about him the people engaged on the Lord's Day in
their ordinary occupations. Shops open, vendors
crying their wares, temptations on every hand. The
Christian has the unique privilege of giving, by his
reverence for the Day, a marked testimony to his
faith.
" Upholding the sanctity of the Sabbath law is a
matter of extreme difficulty in a non-Christian commun-
ity where employers of labor pay no regard to it, and
where many Government operations of various kinds
are continued on the Sabbath under the control of
Europeans, and where many Europeans bearing the
Christian name pay no heed to the claims of the day.
The Native Christians, who are poor (as most of them
are) and dependent for daily bread on their service for
non-Christian masters, are practically compelled to
work at least a portion of the day, and so also are those,
in some cases, in Government offices and in State and
railway employ."*
(b) In the matter of polygamous converts. The
presence of such in the Church is a cause of offence to
very many ; but the refusal to give the rite of baptism
until the convert consents to retain the one wife only,
raises serious difficulties. This is well expressed in the
report of the Edinburgh Conference as follows :
"One great difficulty is that in many non-Christian
lands the practice of polygamy is not contrary to the
natural and unenlightened conscience. You can show
a man without great difficulty that an idol is notfiing,
or a witch doctor an impostor, but you cannot easily
*Edinburgh Conference Report.
156 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
lead him, as it were from without, into our Lord's high
and spiritual view of Holy Matrimony. As Bishop
Callaway remarks : ' It is not so much that polygamy
hinders conversion, as that it is the converted man alone
who can see that polygamy is wrong.' Once again,
when polygamy has been thus entered upon by both
parties in the times of ignorance, and where there are
children recognizing the two parties as their parents,
for the Church to insist on the breaking up of the re-
lationship is to deprive the children, either on the one
hand, of the protection of their father, or on the other
hand, of the care of their mother ; while the woman
thus put away finds herself, according to many letters
before us, in the position of gravest moral danger —
' relegated ' as one correspondent bluntly put it, ' to the
position of a prostitute.' "*
Times of Refreshing. No account of the growth of
the Christian Church in Central India would be com-
plete without a reference to the "Revival" of 1906-07.
Following the remarkable revival in Wales in 1905 the
Churches in several parts of India were visited by a very
wonderful outpouring of the Spirit of God. Like a
fire, trying the hearts of men, it swept through whole
communities of Christians. This had been preceded
by much earnest prayer for spiritual reviving, and the
answer came in such an overwhelming sense of the pre-
sence of the heart-searching God, in such a deep sense
of sin, and open confession, in such agony of prayer for
the Church and for the unsaved, as few had ever seen
before. Sometimes whole audiences seemed to be
*Edinburgh Conference Report.
THE INDIAN CHURCH 157
moved by some invisible power and the meeting would
be taken entirely out of the hands of the leader. One
after another would rise, and sometimes several at once,
to pray, confess, or read a portion of scripture. The
deep spiritual intensity, preserved the sense of unity.
Restitution was made for wrong done, old grudges
confessed and put away, enemies were reconciled,
consciences made tender as never before. There was
deep distress at sin, the sin which caused the death of
the Divine Saviour. The cry was often heard : "It
was not the Jews or the Roman soldiers that crucified
Thee, it was I," or "My sins were the thorns in Thy
brow" ; "My sins pierced Thee." It was a time of
gracious ' ' reviving ' ' and particularly in those phases of
the spiritual life where there is frequently a great lack
among converts from heathenism.
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS
"Oriental thought is on the march, and you cannot
stop it, do what you will. If you ask me what is safe
for the future — if you ask me to indicate a safe and
expedient policy to the Government, I say an open
Bible. Put it in your schools. Stand avowedly as a
Christian Government. Follow the noble example of
your Queen. Declare yourselves in the face of Ihe
Indian people as a Christian nation, as Her Majesty
has declared herself a Christian Queen, and you will
not only do honor to her, but to your God, and in that
alone you will find that true safety rests."
— SIR HERBERT EDWARDES.
"Many persons mistake the way in which the con-
version of India will be brought about. I believe it
will take place wholesale, just as our own ancestors
were converted."
— SIR CHARLES TREVELYAN.
CHAPTER VII.
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS
There are problems that are ever present and others
that are peculiar to their time. Some are more in-
sistent at one time than another. The Living Spirit
of Christ has been given to His Church for guidance
to solve the problems as they arise.
i. MASS MOVEMENTS
The normal growth of the Christian Community in
India is generally thought to be by individual acces-
sions from the non-Christian communities ; and
ordinarily such converts confess Christ at great sacrifice
— a sacrifice which puts to shame the critic who asks :
" How much does it cost to convert a Hindu ? " Suffice
it to say that the cost is negligible compared with what
it costs a Hindu to become a Christian. The individual
who confesses Christ by baptism, forsakes all to follow
his Master. But it frequently happens that whole
communities, as such, are moved to cast away their
idols and turn to Christianity. Such are known as
"Mass Movements." The expression is intended to
indicate "the movements towards the Church, of
families, and groups of families, sometimes of entire
classes and villages, rather than of individuals. The
impulse that gives rise to such movements is a ferment
of some kind of new life in the mass, rather than any
161
162 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
definite aspiration separately realized by each indivi-
dual."* When such movements occur, it is found that
caste influence, which destroys individual initiative
and makes the cross so heavy for the individual con-
vert, gives added force to the "Mass Movement," for
such movements usually run along the lines of caste
relationships.
The Eastern Type of Mind. A Westerner with his
strongly individualistic cast of mind, finds it difficult
to appreciate the way the Indian thinks and acts.
Mind in India moves in the mass. Life is communal
in its expression. In the West, each individual counts
as an integer ; in India, he counts as a fraction. Com-
munal interests determine all his social ties, his work,
his whole life. It is not surprising that the Christian
appeal should be responded to by the community as
such.
Of the whole Christian population of India, it is
estimated that nearly 90% has come from the depressed
classes or the outcaste communities — those who are
considered too degraded to have a place in the Hindu
social system. There are over 50 million of these in
the whole of India. They live, as a rule, outside the
village walls or in districts strictly removed from their
Hindu neighbors. Mass movements have largely
characterized the approach of these people to the
Christian faith. In earlier days in South India large
numbers were baptized, and latterly work in North
India has been characterized by widespread movements
* World Missionary Conference — The Church in the Mission
Field, page 85.
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS 163
among the chuhras, chamars, and other depressed
classes.
The Poor of India. These are the poor of India.
In a land where wealth is but ill-distributed and where
the average earnings per capita has been estimated at
£2-10-0 to £3-0-0 per annum, the depressed classes
represent the extreme of poverty. Millions of them
travel life's journey always hungry and near to the
border line of death. They are so poor that they are
not afraid of death, and when the grim shadow falls
over their path they do not struggle hard but just lie
down and die as though the gloomy visitor were not
unwelcome.
India Christianized from the Base Upward. The
history of the growth of Christianity in communities
is usually from the base upward. In the early days of
Christianity the reproach was cast upon it that, "the
new sect was composed almost entirely of the dregs
of the populace, of peasants and mechanics, of boys and
women, of beggars and slaves." Paul wrote to the
Corinthians of his day : " Behold your calling, brethren,
that not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty,
not many noble are called, but God chose the foolish
things of the world that He might put to shame them
that are wise ; and God chose the weak things of the
world that He might put to shame the things that are
strong ; and the base things of the world, and the
things that are despised did God choose ; yea and the
things that are not that He might bring to nought the
things that are ; that no flesh should glory before God."
(i Cor. i : 28-9 R.V.) And our Lord, when making
164 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
His first announcement of the character of His earthly
ministry, said : "The spirit of the Lord is upon me
because He anointed me to preach good tidings to the
poor. ..." (Luke 4 : 18 R.V.) To the poor the Gospel
is preached, — is the dominant note of Indian evangelism,
and we may be sure this work is very near to the heart
of Jesus Christ. The test of a genuine Christianity is
its attitude to the poor.
Mass Movements in North India. Of Mass Move-
ments in the North, with which our Mission is more
closely related, the growth has been remarkable. The
Methodist Episcopal Mission of the U.S.A. in 1912
baptized 30,000, and in 1913, 40,000. In these two
years as many were received as in the whole of the first
40 years of their mission in India. In 1914 they had
to refuse baptism to 40,000 enquirers because of lack
of helpers to give the needed instruction. The United
Presbyterian Church of North America has a member-
ship of over 60,000, and the Presbyterian Church in
the U.S.A., of over 26,000, very largely drawn from
the despised classes as a result of mass movements.
Movement Among Ballais and Others. The Central
India Mission has touched but the fringe of such move-
ments as yet, but they are so important and so full of
possibilities for the future that they deserve careful
study. The experiences of the Mission in this respect
in its earlier years have been told in a previous chapter.*
More recently there has been manifest a widespread
interest among the Ballais, who are the hired helpers
of the higher castes and are also the weavers of a coarse
*See Chap. IV.
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS 165
kind of cloth, commonly used by the farmers. In the
North-Eastern section of our field especially, numbers
of enquirers have been enrolled. In Kharua station,
300 families were under instruction in 1914, and many
have since been baptized. The interest is spreading
and many more are asking to be instructed. The fer-
ment of Christian ideas is permeating the Ballai
community as well as other low castes. The strength
of the Mission staff will have to be directed more to
these people, and our greatest problems in the future
will be those raised by the movements towards Chris-
tianity among the "untouchables."
The Motives which Move Them. It cannot be s
that the motives which actuate these peoples are of a
high order, if judged by the standards of those who are
the products of centuries of Christianity. They are
turning to Christianity from a condition of degradation
and ignorance. By centuries of oppression they have
become reconciled to their lot and even speak of them-
selves, without any sense of the injustice of it, as the
"untouchables." The preaching of the Gospel among
them may not strike at once the highest possible
responsive chord, but the Message of Christ to the out-
caste calls forth the recognition of their own manhood,
the hope of social betterment, and of relief from age-
long oppression.
From their point of view, these motives may be as
far superior to those which ordinarily move them, as
the heavens are above the earth. "The tyranny and
oppression to which the outcastes are subjected in
India, as a result of the caste system, is a material
l66 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
factor of the whole movement. They find themselves
admitted to a new fellowship, treated as brothers and
potentially equals. They find thus offered to them a
new dignity and a new status. When the members
of some families have dared to join the Christian
Church, their friends have at first persecuted them, then
have learned to watch them with interest, and finally
have been convinced that these converts were changing
in character as well as in outward circumstances, and
changing undoubtedly for the better. Thus family
ties, which in the beginning formed a hindrance, be-
came helpful to the growth of the Church. Families
join themselves to the Christian movements because
their friends have done so, and in doing so have pros-
pered. Many come because they see that Christian
children are cared for and educated, and have in every
way a better prospect in life than ' children of the non-
Christian community around them."*
A Challenge to the Church. These mass movements
began in South India and have since spread to parts of
Burmah, the Central Provinces, the United Provinces,
and the Pan jab. The extent to which these movements
have grown in the Northern and Central parts of India,
is challenging anew the faith and consecration of the
Churches in these areas. A heavy responsibility rests
on the Church to be ready to cope with such problems.
She dare not baptize without having a reasonable hope
of being able to shepherd and educate, as well, these
masses. The moving of these multitudes is not of man
'Edinburgh Conference Report, page 87 of " The Church in the
Mission Field."
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS 167
but of God. Prayer for the outpouring of God's Spirit
on India is being answered by the outpouring of a great
unrest among these despised ones, and the turning of
them in thousands to the Christian Church for the
satisfying of a hunger, the meaning of which they but
dimly understand. In all the years of work in Central
India, there never was such a wide-open door for service
as that which these "poor" now present to us, and yet
we are but at the beginning of this work.
These movements are full of hope for the future.
G. S. Eddy says : "The numbers gained in the mass
movements alone are greater than in any other mission
field, and place India among the most hopeful and ur-
gent mission fields of the world."*
Effect on the Caste System. They are a fatal blow
at the whole caste system. The existence of the
depressed classes, a great army of over 50 million, is the
degradation of the whole social system of Hinduism.
In the words of the late Dr. Booker T. Washington,
"You can't keep a man down in the ditch without
staying down there with him." The redemption of the
depressed classes will mean the collapse of the caste
system in its objectionable features, for it needs them
to preserve its ceremonial purity.
But still another influence is at work among the high-
er castes as a result of the uplifting of the depressed
classes. It is common testimony that where this work
has been most successful, there has also been the great-
est success with the high caste people. They are
*"The New Era in Asia," page 153.
l68 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
drawn by the evident power of the Gospel to uplift
those for whom Hinduism has no message. The story
is told of a Brahman, visiting a missionary and seeing
on the wall a picture of Christ washing the disciples'
feet, saying, "You Christians pretend to be like Jesus
Christ, but you are not ; none of you ever wash peo-
ples' feet." The missionary said, "But that is just
what we are doing all the time. You Brahmans say
you sprang from the head of your god Brahma ; that
the next caste lower sprang from the shoulders ; the
next lower from his loins, and the low caste sprang from
his feet. We are washing India's feet, and when you
proud Brahmans see the low caste and the outcaste
getting educated and Christianized — washed clean,
beautiful, and holy inside and outside — you Brahmans
d all India will say, ' Lord, not my feet only, but also
my hands and my head.' '
Hinduism Being Aroused. These movements have
been a stimulus to social service within Hinduism
itself. The publication of the successive census
reports has awakened even the orthodox Hindu to note
the defection from Hinduism of great numbers of low
castes ; and here and there movements are set on foot
to lift the depressed, and attach more firmly to the
Hindu system, the Mahars, Pariahs, and others of that
type. Whether, when they become educated enough
to be conscious of their claims to manhood and begin
to assert their rights to equality of treatment, their
high caste sympathizers will be so anxious for their
welfare, is another question. In the meantime we
welcome every agency that tends to the intellectual
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS 169
and moral enlightenment of those whose uplift is long
overdue.
II. EDUCATION
Agitation in Regard to Education. The problems
of education are being discussed in India as never
before. The great question so ardently discussed a
generation ago as to whether Mission schools for non-
Christian pupils were a legitimate Mission agency, is
now seldom raised. The principle is now generally
recognized, but new problems as to method or ex-
pediency constantly arise. There is a growing demand
for free and compulsory primary education. Just
recently Indore State has issued Regulations enforcing
this. Greater efficiency is being demanded by Govern-
ment in higher educational work. Industrial educa-
tion has been tardily recognized, but is being given
its rightful place, and thus the balance is being restored.
The literary side of education has been unduly empha-
sized. The neglect of technical teaching and in-
struction along industrial lines has been to the loss of
India and the loss of the growing Christian community.
In the several Native States of Central India, there was
for years no serious attempt made systematically to
organize schools. But recently the States are giving
more attention to this problem, and are raising the
standards of efficiency.
In India as a whole, the education of girls is no longer
treated with indifference. Hindus and Mohammedans
have established large and prosperous schools for female
education.
I7O IN THE HEART OF INDIA
The Effect on the Mission. All this means for our
Mission greater expense in the maintenance of its
schools if it is to continue this phase of missionary
service. In the primary schools the attention of the
Mission is being increasingly given to the needs of the
Christian community. State regulations make the
existence of the distinctively Christian schools for
Hindu and Mohammedan children, more difficult ;
and in one State at least schools may be opened only
on the condition that the Christian religion shall not
be taught therein. Among the low castes generally
there is, however, a large field for the Christian school.
University Regulations, and Gran ts-in- Aid. In the
higher departments, the work is determined by the
University regulations, and to that extent is under
Government control. It must not be assumed that
this "control" necessarily interferes with the dis-
tinctively Christian aim of Mission Institutions,
especially when they receive Government aid. The
position in regard to the matter of Grants-in-Aid, has
been expressed thus : "Government, finding it im-
possible with the funds at its disposal to fulfil what it
recognizes as its duty to the people in the matter of
education, and finding voluntary workers in the same
field devoting to it money and valuable services, aid
them with Grants whereby they can overtake such
work more cheaply than Government could." This
system of Grants-in-Aid is "based on an entire ab-
stinence from interference with the religious instruction
conveyed in the schools assisted." This Rule has en-
abled Missions conscientiously to accept Government
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS 171
aid for the secular instruction given in their schools,
and in this way our Mission has received for some years
a grant, small, it is true, in comparison with the run-
ning expenses of the institution, from the British local
authority for the work of the High School in Indore.
But the stringent requirements of the Universities,
with which the Colleges are affiliated, entail so much
greater expenditure in these aided institutions, such as
most Mission schools and Colleges are, that for some
of them the question arises whether some other means
of influencing the student classes should not be adopted.
It has been recommended that hostels under Mission
management be attached to non-Mission institutions ;
and that there should be co-operation in higher educa-
tion among Missions so that, at a smaller cost to each
co-operating Mission, a thoroughly efficient institution
may be maintained rather than two or three poorly
equipped Colleges.
The Need of Strengthening Indore College. So
far as the Indore Christian College is concerned, there
is no opportunity for such co-operation. It alone in a
wide-reaching field stands for higher education along
Christian lines. The other alternative of using the
purely "Hostel" scheme is practically unworkable
in our Central India field. Further, it is recognized
that nothing can fill the place of an efficiently managed
Christian School or College. The alternative is either
to keep the College up to the standard required, or
retire from the field of Higher Educational work — a
field which has been honorably occupied from the
beginning, and in which the Mission was the pioneer
172 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
in Central India. Adequate Hostel accommodation
and a strong staff must be constantly maintained.
Girls' High School, Indore. All this is equally
true of Higher Education for women, which at present
is cared for in the Girls' High School, Indore. What
it would mean for the future of Christianity in Central
India to have a thoroughly well-equipped institution
with adequate accommodation, and a strong permanent
staff of teachers, it is hard to overestimate.
III. THE HINDU PROBLEM AND THE NATIONAL
MOVEMENT
Canada's Hindu Problem. Within recent years
Canadians have been giving not a little attention to
India because Canada has a Hindu Problem on her
hands, and the solution is not easy to find. There are
probably not more than 4,000 Hindus in Canada,
practically all in British Columbia. The number is
considerably less than a few years ago. Only 3 Hindu
women (it is said) have been permitted to enter and
remain. In 1914 a shipload of over 400 Hindus came
direct from India on a Japanese boat, the Komagatu
Maru, but were turned back. As British subjects,
their coming was an attempt to challenge the right of
Canada to exclude them.
Growth of a " National " Spirit. The treatment in
the "Dominions beyond the Seas" is, for the Hindu, a
phase of his National problem. He meets it in South
Africa, in Australia, and in all the Self-Governing
Dominions of the Empire, and among alien peoples as
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS 173
well. What he feels most keenly is being treated as an
"outcaste" within the Empire.
In India, this treatment has caused intense feeling*
for India has been rapidly growing into a sense of
nationhood. In this respect she has shared in the
general awakening among Eastern nations. British
rule has made this possible, or rather has, unconsciously
perhaps, encouraged it. The freedom of the press,
the opening the doors for Higher Education on Western
lines, and the liberty given for free discussion of political
questions, as seen in the National Congress — a de-
liberative^ body representative of Educated India —
all these have tended to develop the National movement
in India. Christian Missions have spread abroad ideas
of man's dignity and worth, and of human brotherhood.
The Russo-Japanese war was a new revelation of the
possibilities open to an Oriental people.
Cause for Anxiety. It is not long since India was
causing anxiety to her best friends. The freedom of the
press, as jealously cherished in India as in England, was
being abused. Sedition was printed and preached.
A sense of nationhood, it is true, was growing, but there
were extravagances shown which served no useful
purpose except to draw attention to India. Foreign
goods were boycotted to India's loss. Bombs were
freely used, and the lives of prominent officials were
often in danger.
A Change for the Better. But the past four or five
years have seen a change. A more generous policy
on the part of the late Liberal Government of Great
Britain, when Lord Morley was Secretary of State for
I74 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
India, did much to change the attitude of Indian
leaders, and the hands were strengthened of those
leaders who maintained that India would make surest
progress toward the goal of self-government, under the
protection of Britain. Then followed the visit to India
of the King and Queen, and their triumphal coronation
as King Emperor and Queen Empress in Delhi, the old
historic capital of North India, and henceforth to be
the new capital of that mighty Indian Empire. It was
a brave thing for their Gracious Majesties thus to
challenge the loyalty of their Indian subjects, and to
establish a precedent by going as the first reigning
British Sovereigns to visit India's shores. The en-
thusiasm evoked was wonderful. Their personal con-
tact with the people swept aside the veil of officialdom
which hung between the people and their supreme ruler.
India loves a potentate. The "Government of India"
was now embodied in the person of their King-Emperor
and their allegiance to him was pledged in a new sense.
And it must be remembered also that the personal
conduct of the King and Queen in India won the deepest
respect. As Christian rulers their example in regard
to the Christian institutions of the Sabbath Day and the
public worship of God, was unequivocal. Their
Majesties left India with the impression strong in the
minds of the people that they were brave, sympathetic,
Christian rulers.
The War— A Test of the National Movement. The
declaration of war was a testing time for the leaders of
India, and it was a revelation of the heart of our Indian
Empire. As though moved by a common impulse,
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS 175
native princes, leading citizens, and the educated
classes generally, realizing the tremendous issues at
stake, were filled with enthusiasm, and there was
scarcely a note of discord. Every class and every race
hastened to show its loyalty, and its anxiety to share
the burdens and duties of citizens of the Empire.
If a mark of nationhood is the possession of a common
sentiment, then it would appear that the war has done
much to make India a nation. Never in the past have
the diverse races of India been united in the face of
danger. Internal dissension has always made the way
easy for invading armies. Never in the past was there
any common sentiment to bind this nation of nations
together. The war has brought about this "new thing "
— oneness of sentiment expressed in loyal support of the
Empire in its great moral struggle.
The Significance of Indian Loyalty. The full signi-
ficance of the participation of India's troops and India's
people in this struggle is not very generally recognized.
It is epochal in the development of India's place in the
Empire. India is now asserting its right to be treated
as a portion of the Empire, not as a mere dependent,
but as a partner. Nor is it a calculating loyalty that
is expressed. Indians of intelligence and education
now recognize that the interests of India are bound up
with the interests of the British Empire.
The Importance of the Problem ; Principles of
Settlement. It is in the light of these facts that the
Hindu Problem for Canada becomes so important.
Its solution is a work for Christian statesmen and there
are some principles which Christian citizens of Canada
176 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
should insist on in its settlement, (i) It must be on the
basis of mutual respect, and with a recognition of brother-
hood. When Indian and Canadian armies have fought
side by side in a great moral cause, no other attitude
can be permitted. No subterfuge, such as the Continu-
ous Passage Regulation,* can ever again be tolerated
in an effort to control immigration. Canada suffers
more injury than India by such actions. (2) It should
be recognized that India desires a fair solution of what
is a difficult Imperial problem, and is not desirous
simply of overrunning Canada. Is it likely that the
leaders of Indian public opinion, who themselves look
forward to the time when India shall be self-governing,
will entirely ignore the fact that the various Dominions
of the Empire are self-governing and can control
immigration as they deem best for their own interests ?
Some features of India's attitude to the Canadian
grievance and the Imperial crisis have been worthy of
all praise. It was at the time when feeling in India was
growing strong in reference to Canada, when Indians
were feeling humiliated and aggrieved at the treatment
received, and at the fact, as they believed, that their
citizenship in the Empire was being questioned, that
the opportunity came to show their attitude to the
Empire. In the same meeting of the Viceroy's Coun-
cilf when Canada's Exclusion Policy was under con-
*This Regulation required that immigrants should come by
continuous passage from their own land. There were no ships sailing
direct from India, so it meant, without saying so, the absolute
exclusion of Indians.
fSept. 1 8, 1914.
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS 177
sideration, an Indian member suggested, and it was
unanimously and enthusiastically approved, that the
cost of the Indian armies sent to Europe should be.
borne by the Indian peoples themselves. The Cana-
dian grievance was forgotten in the thought of India's
partnership in the Empire's burden. Let not this be
forgotten so long as Canada cherishes the Imperial tie.
(3) In any policy of immigration, nothing immoral
should be tolerated. To exclude the wives of the
Hindus, while admitting the husbands, introduces a
grave moral peril. Wherever East Indians have gone
to British Colonies, e.g., Trinidad, British Guiana,
Jamaica, etc., and there is a preponderance of males
over females, there arises a grave moral situation.*
(4) The off-hand suggested solution of absolute ex-
clusion is impossible ; or is possible only temporarily
and at too great a cost. The world is too much a
neighborhood for such a dog-in-the-manger policy to
succeed for long. Autonomy has its obvious limita-
tions. It is vain to say that others have adopted an
exclusion policy without loosening the Imperial tie.
Actions which embitter, and provoke resentment, and
desire for retaliation, cannot strengthen the Imperial
tie.
Lord Hardinge's Suggestions. The suggestions of
Lord Hardinge in the Vice-Regal Council, of a policy
of restricted immigration, limiting by agreement the
number of passports to be issued, commends itself
to many influential Indians. The following extracts
are from Indian newspapers :
*Government of India, Report on Indian Immigration.
178 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
"Sober Indian opinion has perceived the futility of
pressing the inherent right of the citizen of the Empire
to go and settle in any part of the Empire, and it will,
therefore, have no difficulty in agreeing with Lord
Hardinge, when he says that 'the colonies naturally
place above all other considerations the interests of
their own country, as they understand them, just as
we in India should put the good of India in front of our
motives for legislation.' It is natural that no colony
would quietly submit to the prospect of an unrestricted
Asiatic invasion, leading eventually to its economic
ruin, which, again, might react upon its political
integrity and independence. Free movement within
the empire is also conditional on the exercise by the
local legislatures of their undoubted powers. The
colonies enjoy virtual autonomy, and may pass what
laws they may please, with reference to their internal
administration. But, as component parts of the
Empire, this power is limited by moral obligations to
the Empire, which if the entire fabric were to stand in
co-ordination and harmony, it would be a grievous
mistake to ignore."*
"There is nothing here like a question of rights —
rights which the colonies could admit or be made to
accept as the basis of negotiations in the matter.
All that is possible is a working arrangement based on
mutual interests ; and this could be made for practical
purposes so satisfactory and advantageous to both sides
as to ensure every prospect of permanence. And Lord
Hardinge recommended this to the consideration
*Bombay Samachar.
PROBLEMS OF INDIAN MISSIONS 179
of the country. If there was ever the chance of
India getting a really honorable and fair settlement of
this big outstanding question of far-reaching Imperial
importance, it is this when both England and the
great self-governing colonies have been so greatly
impressed by India's loyalty and devotion to the in-
terests of the Empire. To Lord Hardinge therefore
belongs the honor of having promptly sought to take
advantage of the occasion. We are confident that the
country would approve of his advice ; and by support-
ing his Government in taking the course he suggested,
put an end to the ill-feeling which has so long continued
to grow and to menace the future of the Empire."*
But so long as Indians are within our gates, our
duty as Christians is clear. Every effort must be made
to Christianize them. Every Indian who returns from
Canada to his native land is a missionary, for good or
ill, and can have an untold influence on his country-
men's attitude to the religion of Jesus Christ. • It is
this which gives point to the appeal of the General
Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in India.f
These are some of the pressing problems which India
presents. The mass movements are God's answer to
the Church's prayer that the time may come when
"nations should be born in a day." At the opposite
extreme of the social scale, the problem of the educated
classes presses on the Church. And the national
movement brings the whole question of Missions to our
very threshold. It relates it to our national life and
*"Jam. e. Jamshed," Bombay.
fVide Appendix E.
l8o IN THE HEART OF INDIA
ideals, and makes us have some share, for good or
evil, in the world- wide enterprise of Missions. May
our Christianity be such that those who come to our
shores from non- Christian lands shall be drawn to
seek the Saviour of all men !
LOOKING FORWARD
A PLEA FOR INDIA'S WIDOWS
"And think upon the dreadful curse
Of widowhood ; the vigils, fasts,
And penances ; no life is worse
Than hopeless life, — the while it lasts.
Day follows day in one long round,
Monotonous and blank and drear ;
Less painful were it to be bound
On some bleak rock, for aye to hear
Without one chance of getting free —
The ocean's melancholy voice.
Mine be the sin, — if sin there be,
But thou must make a different choice."
-From Savitri — By TORU DUTT, Indian Christian
Poetess.
The Son of God goes forth to war
A kingly crown to gain ;
His blood-red banner streams afar :
Who follows in His train ?
Who best can drink his cup of woe,
Triumphant over pain,
Who patient bears his cross below,
He follows in His train.
—REGINALD HEBER, Bishop of Calcutta, 1822-1826.
CHAPTER VIII.
LOOKING FORWARD
Survey Made in 191 1. At the request of the Foreign
Mission Board the Central India Mission in 1911
made a careful survey of its whole field with a view to
finding out what would be necessary to make the Gospel
Message adequately known there. The Mission then
had nine Central Stations and a missionary force of 19
married, and 2 single men, and 19 single women. The
Survey showed that 35 other centres (44 in .all) should
be occupied if the people of Western Central India were
to be given a reasonable opportunity to hear and re-
ceive the Gospel message. It was estimated that a
total force of 76 men would be required of whom not
less than twenty per cent should be medical men, and
that the number of lady doctors, teachers, and zenana
missionaries should be similarly increased.
It was not forgotten that the Mission shared with the
Indian Church the work of Evangelization ; and it is
of interest to note that the local Presbytery has since
decided to undertake the opening of one of the selected
centres as its special Home Mission field. Thirteen
centres are now occupied. Another has been tempor-
arily abandoned, except as an outstation, because of
the return to Canada through family illness of the
missionary in charge.
Almost four decades have passed since the Church
in Canada began to evangelize Central India, and the
184 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
field is yet largely unoccupied. By the comity of
Missions this field is left to the care of the Canadian
Church. More than one generation has passed away.
For the present generation we have a definite and im-
mediate responsibility. If they are to be evangelized
it must be by the forces at present represented there.
Can It Be Done ? There are those who feel that
because of the present distress — the terrible drain of
men and money for the war — there should be retrench-
ment rather than expansion in Foreign Mission work.
Some would even recall missionaries and close up work
and turn every energy towards the battlefields of
Europe — till the danger be overpast. But what
would that involve ? Some day the work would have
to be taken up again, and what explanation of the
abandonment could be given to the non-Christians of
Central India ? How could it be explained that the
fight with sin and Satan, who have been so long en-
trenched in India, was considered as of only secondary
importance ? The ground lost would perhaps never
be regained for there would be a loss of spiritual force
in Christianity itself.
Retrenchment Disastrous. Retrenchment would be
disastrous. It is the lack of those very things for which
Foreign Missions stand which has brought about the
world war. How different would the world now be had
there been in European Christianity a sympathy wider
than national boundaries, a recognition of human
brotherhood, an ideal of service such as Christ's who
came not to be ministered unto but to minister ; and
a love for fellowmen broad as the love of God ! Besides
LOOKING FORWARD 185
there is the danger, in time of war, of fostering the spirit
of hate. The Church, for the sake of its own spiritual
life, should cherish the foreign mission enterprise as
never before.
The Lessons of the War. Retrenchment would
mean that the Church fails to learn the lessons of the
present crisis. All things are made to yrork together
for the fulfilment of God's great purpose — that the
Kingdoms of this world should become the Kingdom of
His Son. The war is teaching men and women the
meaning of sacrifice. They never knew before, as they
do now, how to give and how to suffer. It cannot be
that they will refuse self-sacrifice for a Heavenly King.
Loyalty to Him will not permit entrenchment in His
great world purpose to give the Gospel to the nations ;
rather will it inspire His people to new endeavor.
And there will , be need of sacrifice in the days to
come. Some Missionary Societies are already feeling
the strain. The London Missionary Society is faced
with the necessity of closing all its work in Calcutta
unless funds are speedily forthcoming.* When the
steady drain of war taxation comes, and the enthusiasm
of the campaign has changed to the quiet but laborious
work of recuperation after the war, the Church will
need to brace herself for a sustained effort lest the work
abroad be hindered. .
It Can Be Done. Some of our best men in every
walk of life are giving themselves in a noble spirit of
*It is gratifying to learn that the remarkably liberal response of
the Christian people of Britain has averted a crisis in the Society's
work.
l86 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
self-sacrifice for the war. They are ready to die, if
need be, that freedom and goodwill and truth and
righteousness be not crushed to the earth. And for
the Mission field men and women are available. The
Honor Roll' of many a congregation attests the fact
that they can spare their best when a need sufficiently
great and impelling is presented.
There are funds for the work. Millions of dollars
have been given willingly and enthusiastically to help
the sick and wounded in the war, and those dependent
on them. None feel themselves the poorer. There is
no appreciable change in the manner of living, and no
serious retrenchment in the use of luxuries. Canada
is prospering in spite of, perhaps because of, the war.
In 1914 the savings per capita of the people averaged
$101.93. When the amounts paid for life insurance are
added, the average is greatly increased. The Church
can send, and suitably equip, the men and women
needed fully to man its Central India field. The cost
is not great. The whole plant of the Mission at the
present time, its College and High Schools, its Day
Schools and Dispensaries, its Hospitals and Industrial
establishments, its Bungalows and all the equipment
of the Mission may be approximately valued at $250,000
which is about the cost of some large modern city
churches ; and the whole plant is employed every day
and for long hours. The money invested in Central
India Mission work is in constant use. The ornamental
is made to wait on the practical. There is no depart-
ment where the work and the opportunity is not greater
than the equipment provided. When vast sums of the
LOOKING FORWARD 187
people's money in the homeland are so lavishly spent
on works of doubtful utility, and when costly edifices
are built for the worship of God, to be used for only
a few hours in the week, it ill becomes us to complain
of the cost of Missions.
The Seeming Impossibility of the Task. But granted
the men, the money and the equipment, the work then
is just begun. It still seems too great to be accom-
plished, and well it is if the Church realizes that the
work is beyond its power. Such a task will drive it to
lay hold of its resources in God. It will drive it to
prayer, and continuance in prayer, till the task is
done.
Divine Help Needed. The Wonderful Opportunity*
When in the actual work of seeking to win the people
of India for Christ, one realizes how absolutely neces-
sary is the Divine help. There is no lack of opportunity.
Religion is so closely related to every phase of life,
that not only is there no offense given, but it is the
most natural thing in the world to engage a chance
acquaintance in religious conversation. And how
overwhelming the opportunity ! There are 12,000
villages and towns, in any one of which the preacher
can usually secure an audience any day of the week.
The Weekly Fairs give a still larger opportunity.
In most of the towns and larger villages, a weekly
market day is observed, and people come from far and
near. While there are the distractions of buying and
selling, there is also a greater sense of freedom felt by
the hearers than in their own villages where they are
so well known. They are, therefore, more ready to
l88 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
purchase Scripture portions and other literature.
Then there are the Great Fairs, or Melas, that last for
a fortnight or more. Thousands come to these, to
bathe in the Sacred waters, or to worship at some
particularly famous shrine.
Feelings of the Preacher. Imagine the feelings with
which one stands before such audiences. Although
intent on receiving some spiritual benefit, their whole
thought of sin and its cleansing is perverted. They are
dead in earnest, willing to pay handsomely for the
priests' aid in securing the thing desired. The vile and
filthy associations of the temple worship are treated
with levity. They jostle and strive with each other
to get a glimpse of the god — to get the "vision." It
may be nothing but a shapeless stone, or a vilely sug-
gestive image. The preacher stands before an audience
intent on such things. He holds before them another
"vision," the beauty of holiness as seen in Jesus Christ.
The story of Jesus is a rebuke to the whole conception
of religion as seen in the "sacred places." The preacher
sees the looks of scorn that come over the faces of
some. In others is a look of hatred, for they realize
that if this Jesus should come to India to reign in the
hearts of men, the hope of their gains would be gone
In other faces there is the look of intense interest, for
they are hearing what their souls have craved for.
That which they have sought for in vain, they hear
now with strange wonder. It is this that sustains the
preacher. There is an attitude of the human heart
that makes Divine truth credible as soon as heard, and
the preacher is sustained by the thought that some of
LOOKING FORWARD 189
God's chosen ones may be receiving the very Bread of
Life from his discourse.
India Needs the Vision of Christ. It is the vision
of Christ which India needs. Idolatry does not help
the mind toward spiritual realities, as the Hindu claims.
Idolatry is the concrete expression of a perverted idea
of God. The idols of India are ugly. They suggest
a cruel, malevolent God. India needs the vision of
Jesus that her people may know God. The Holy men
of India do not help the people toward the knowledge
of God. They present a perverted view of life and
religion and service. They are far removed from Him
who went about doing good, healing the sick, casting
out devils. He came "not to be ministered unto but
to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many."
"Where there is no vision the people perish."
India needs to see Jesus Christ interpreted in the lives
of His redeemed followers, living the Christlike life
in India, and manifesting His love to mankind. And
India needs to hear as well. "And how shall they
hear without a preacher ? and how shall they preach
except they be sent ? even as it is written, how beauti-
ful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of
good things !" (Romans 10 : 14-15).
The Glory of the Missionary's Task. The comment
of Dr. Moule on this verse is beautifully appropriate.
"We take first of what is written last, the moral
beauty and glory of the enterprise. ' How fair the feet.'
From the viewpoint of heaven there is nothing on the
earth more lovely than the bearing of the name of
IQO IN THE HEART OF INDIA
Jesus Christ into the needing world, when the bearer
is one 'who loves and knows.' The work may have,
and probably will have, very little of the rainbow of
romance about it. It will often lead the worker into
the most uncouth and forbidding circumstances. It
will often demand of him the patient expenditure of
days and months upon humiliating and circuitous
preparations ; as he learns a barbarous unwritten
tongue, or a tongue ancient and elaborate, in a stifling
climate ; or finds that he must build his own hut and
dress his own food, if he is to live at all among 'the
Gentiles.' It may lay on him the exquisite — and
prosaic — trial of finding the tribes around him entirely
unaware of their need of his message ; unconscious
of sin, of guilt, of holiness, of God. Nay, they may not
only not care for his message ; they may suspect or
deride his motives, and roundly tell him that he is a
political spy, or an adventurer come to make his private
gains, or a barbarian tired of his own Thule and irresist-
ibly attracted to the region of the sun. He will often
be tempted to think 'the journey too great for him' and
long to let his tired and heavy feet rest for ever. But
his Lord is saying to him all the while, ' How fair the
feet.' He is doing a work whose inmost conditions even
now are full of moral glory, and whose eternal issues,
perhaps where he thinks there has been most failure,
shall be, by grace, worthy of 'the King in His beauty.'
It is the continuation of what the King Himself ' began
to do* (Acts i : i) when He was His own first Mission-
ary to a world which needed Him immeasurably, yet
did not know Him when He came."
CENTRAL
INDIA
MAP OF MISSION FIELD
Showing Central Stations marked thus, • , and other proposed centres of work
needed for the adequate evangelization of the whole field
Specimen of Vernaculars used in Central India.
(The Lord's Prayer in Urdu and Hindi.)
J'5 ^
A
fir^rr
<jfMrrr ifl" ft^r
LOOKING FORWARD igi
Will India Be Won ? Will India be won for Christ ?
Not until the Church of Christ realizes that it can and
ought to be won. The conquest of India must begin
in the hearts of God's people, with the conviction that
it is the will of God ; and then in definite plans for
its accomplishment. The business of the King should
be as jealously and systematically pushed forward
as any commercial enterprise. The Standard Oil
Company wished to introduce kerosene into a backward
city in Mexico. They put a lamp, rilled and trimmed,
in every dwelling. It cost a great deal, but it accom-
plished its purpose, and the tallow dips disappeared
forever. The missionary enterprise is worthy of
similar zeal. There is the promise "Men shall be
blessed in Him, all nations shall call Him blessed"
(Ps. 72 : 17). "He shall have the uttermost parts of
the earth for His possession" (Ps. 2:8), and when the
Church has lit its lamps it may claim the fulfilment of
the promises.
Non-Christian Prophets. Even non-Christians are
found among the prophets. "None but Jesus ever
deserved this bright, this precious diadem — India, and
Jesus shall have it" said Keshub Chunder Sen, India's
noblest spiritual genius, over forty years ago. "I
want to learn all I can about the Christian religion,
because in fifty years India will be a Christian coun-
try," said a Buddhist priest of Southern India.
The Imperial Side of Missions. It sometimes hap-
pens that those who are not moved by ordinary mis-
sionary appeals are stirred to sympathy with the aims
of the missionary, for Imperial reasons. They are
192 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
interested in the fact that the 315 millions of India are
under the sway of their own King Emperor, and that
these make up almost one-fifth of the world's popula-
tion. They are interested in the welfare of these
millions. The testimonies to the value of Missions
from men of wide influence and experience would fill
many pages.
Testimonies. The better the work is known the
more it is approved. "The sending of missionaries
into our Eastern possessions is the maddest, most
expensive, most unwarranted project that was ever
proposed by a lunatic enthusiast," was what the East
India Company said at the beginning of the nineteenth
century. "Notwithstanding all that the English peo-
ple have done to benefit India, the missionaries have
done more than all other agencies combined," was what
Lord Lawrence the Viceroy of India said near the close
of the century.
The King Emperor has on several occasions shown
his deep interest in the cause of Missions. In a message
to the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society he
wrote : "I gratefully recognize the religious and phil-
anthropic work so universally extended by the Society
in promoting the noblest aims of Christianity."*
Sir William Hunter of the Imperial Gazetteer of
India, writing to the London Times, said, "English
Missionary enterprise is the highest modern expression
of the world- wide national life of our race. I believe
that any falling off in England's Missionary efforts will
be a sure sign of swiftly coming national decay."
*See also Appendix D for testimony of "Three Field-Marshals."
LOOKING FORWARD 193
Sir Bartle Frere, formerly, the Governor of Bombay,
said : "The teaching of Christianity. .. .is effecting
changes, moral, social, and political, which for extent
and rapidity of effect, are far more extraordinary than
anything you or your fathers have witnessed in modern
times."
Sir Andrew Fraser, late Lieut. -Gov. of Bengal, in an
address given at Simla in 1903, said : "It has been my
policy to find out the school from which boys who are
candidates for Government Service come, and I find
that the best boys we have, come from missionary
schools and colleges. That, after all, is not wonderful,
for our missionary schools and colleges have professors
of high character and education There is nothing
that England can give to India, notwithstanding the
many blessings she has given, to compare with the Gos-
pel of Christ."
And the late Governor of Bombay, Lord Sydenham,
speaking in Calcutta on the "Problem of India," said
that he went to India with no very great prepossession
in favor of missionary work. But after five and a half
years of careful study of the conditions and tendencies
of modern India, he had come to the conclusion that
missionary effort was playing a far greater part than
was generally realized in raising the standards and
ideals of life among the people, and therefore, fulfilling
one of the greatest and most sacred of their national
responsibilities.
The Problem of India became more complex every
year. The work the British people had done there was
quite marvellous, but it was not nearly finished, and
194 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
perhaps the most difficult part remained to be accom-
plished. It was only under British rule that there could
be the least hope of building up out of the varying
elements of India, a nation capable of standing alone.
He much doubted whether that could be accomplished
until the Spirit of Christianity had spread throughout
the length and breadth of the land.*
In the light of the above quotations it is not sur-
prising that a Hindu paper the Amrita Bazar Patrika
should say : "There is no doubt it would have been
an act of supreme wisdom on the part of the ruling
race if they could base British rule in India on the
precepts of Jesus Christ."
The Attractiveness of India. This seems almost an
unworthy motive to present to young men and women
to enlist them for service in India. The Right Hon.
Sir Richard Temple, spoke of India as "the fairest and
finest field in the non-Christian world for Christian
Evangelization." There is a spirit of religious ferment
among the influential classes. There is a spirit of
restiveness under the restraints of caste. Modern
ideas of progress clash with reverence for the authority
of caste. There is a Hindu proverb which says :
"You cannot put two swords into one scabbard." The
result is an undermining of the moral character. Out-
ward regard for ceremonies which the heart condemns
can have no other result.
The poor and the outcaste are looking to the Chris-
tian Church for instruction and help as never before.
Do not judge them too harshly. If you were the help-
*A quotation from " Young Men of India.'1
LOOKING FORWARD 195
less victim of a social system which crushed out every
expression of your individuality, compelled you to give
'forced labor,' labelled you as 'untouchable' compelled
you to live apart, and gave you only menial duties to
perform ; and you discovered that the Christian
Church was waging a warfare with oppression, and had
a definite message of Hope for you, — which side would
you choose to be on ? The doors of service for these
"poor" in Central India are opening wider every
year.
Land Not Yet Possessed. There remains much land
yet to be possessed. Why should not a congregation at
home become responsible for one of the thirty central
stations that yet await the coming of a missionary and
his band of helpers ? Such a Central station could be
opened, with bungalow for the missionary, a small
school, and building at one or two outstations for In-
dian helpers, at an initial cost of between four and five
thousand dollars. There would be of course the ad-
ditional annual cost of salary for missionary and Indian
workers. There may be individual Church members
who would rejoice in such an opportunity. Think of
the privilege of planting such a work ! In the parish
would be approximately 300 villages, a population of
between 60 and 75 thousand. And few of these have
heard the Gospel except from the lips of a band of
preachers on tour through their district. Think of the
joy of building there from the foundations (Romans
15 : 20). And consider that you, or some one else to
whom it would mean as great a sacrifice, must occupy
the field, or it is left untilled. "This Gospel must
196 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
be preached. . . .for a witness," is the Master's charge
to His people.
The War and the Opportunity. But will not the war
among Christian nations make the work difficult or
impossible ? Is it not an almost insuperable obstacle
to the messengers of the Gospel of Peace ? The re-
proach of Christendom at war is no doubt a real one,
and will long continue to be so. The Church and her
missionaries will often have to "eat the shame" of it,
to use a Hindi idiom. But there are other reproaches
which would be harder to bear. We preach not only
a Gospel of Peace, but a message of Truth and Faith-
fulness and Righteousness ; and had our nation stood
aside from this conflict, how could its messengers of
Christ have gone forth to preach, from a land which
treats these things lightly ? Thoughtful minds in India
see in Britain's participation in the war a justification
of her profession as a Christian nation, and honor her
the more for it. There will always be those who cavil,
but among those Indians who keep themselves informed
on the causes and the course of the war, there is a
greater readiness to hear the Christian message than
ever before. "So far as we have been able to see, our
work has received no check. The attitude of the people
to the Christian preacher never has been more friendly.
The message of the Gospel is listened to with a serious-
ness such as we have rarely seen before. All the more
thoughtful of the people know that the cause which
has led Great Britain into this war is a righteous cause.
If the war has had any effect at all upon the people, it
has been a sobering, humbling effect." This report
LOOKING FORWARD 197
from an American Mission is typical of many. It may
well be, that in ways we dream not of, God will use the
horrible experience of war to open wider the gates of the
non-Christian world that the King of Glory may
enter in.
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform ;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take ;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Hands from Across the Seas. Freely ye have re-
ceived, freely give (Matt. 10 : 18). The Churches in
Canada in their time of need received help from the
Mother Churches in the Old Land. The help received
made it possible to maintain the means of Grace in
pioneer days. Hands were stretched out across the
ocean to assist the struggling Churches in the new
world. Now the situation is changed. "There's a
cry from Macedonia, come and help us." From India
hands are stretched out in supplication across the seas
to brethren and fellow-citizens in Canada. The weak
struggling Churches in Central India need the help of
the strong congregations in Canada. It surely cannot
be that they will call in vain.
The evangelization of three and one-half millions, by
three thousand Indian Christians, many of them poor,
Ip8 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
and many illiterate, is a tremendous problem for the
Indian Churches alone to face. Fourteen Mission
stations and twenty-one outstations in an area as large
as Scotland is not enough to lighten the darkness of
Central India. Indian and Canadian must join hands
in a mighty effort if the responsibility for this field is to
be met in any reasonable measure.
The Essence of the Gospel. The war crisis has made
a unique opportunity, and the situation it has created
has made urgently necessary the preaching anew of the
simple Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many non-Christians
have come to think that Christianity has failed. They
looked on it as a magical power which ought somehow
to have restrained its followers, and prevented the strife.
Missions had been laying such stress on the ' ' fruits ' ' of
Christianity in the Western world, as an evidence of its
truth, that the minds of many confused the essence of
Christianity with its by-products. It is to be feared
that sometimes it was Christian civilization which was
being propagated rather than the faith of the Son of
God. The Church is brought back to the essentials.
It will be all gain if the result be that the followers of
Christ go forth determined to know nothing among the
heathen but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is not
a civilization but a Saviour that is to be made known.
To minds perplexed by the apparent failure of Christian-
ity, its vital truths must anew be faithfully presented.
It is a unique opportunity to show how everything has
failed, but vital Christianity, and to make clear the
world's need of Christ. What an opportunity to press
home the truth that no other name is given whereby
LOOKING FORWARD 199
men may be saved ! The East will not be regenerated
by copying the civilizations of the West, but by sitting
at the feet of Jesus and learning of Him.
The Investment of Life. Central India presents an
urgent and definite call to the young men and women
of the Church. With such an opportunity to invest
their lives, and with the knowledge that the seal of
God's blessing rests on the lives that have already been
given to this needy field, young men and women with
gifts suited for the work should be very sure that God
is hindering their going before they refuse the call.
God does not send a visitation of angels to show us the
way through open doors. "I am going to China"
cried Thomas Craigie Hood, "unless God bars my
way," and through his student days the way for him
was as clear as noonday. There are those who hesitate,
saying, "I am willing to go, if God should make the way
clear to me," and all the time Divine Providence is
making the way as clear as is possible to an ordinary
intelligence. Not all can go to the foreign field, but the
proportion of available workers seems so small, and the
opportunity and the need seem so great.
Clear Guidance ; Surrender. There are some things
that are essential for clear guidance in regard to the call
to work abroad. (i) A new surrender of life to God
in the light of the new opportunity. Do not be con-
tent with the memory of a definite surrender some time
in the past. You may not then have understood all
that was involved in it. "The surrender of the life is
only the beginning of a life surrender" (Jas. H. McCon-
key). Be absolutely sure that, in the light of all that
200 IN THE HEART OP INDIA
has happened, and from the higher vantage ground, you
are still at the feet of Jesus, making yourself His debtor,
and He your Master, for ever and ever. There must be
no uncertainty about the surrender of the life.
(2) There must be the sifting out of obstacles.
Family ties, which are not considered too sacred to
prevent one from going at the call of country, or for
commercial gain, to the ends of the earth, should not be
permitted to keep one from the Service of Christ in the
foreign field.
The strength of family affection sometimes proves a
barrier to foreign service. Loved ones at home "can-
not bear" to see a dear one go to the foreign field.
How unlovely and selfish such affection becomes when
indulged in at the expense of duty ! Such affection
may be transfigured and deepened, not destroyed, by
admitting the claims of Christ, and the claims of a
world that needs the love otherwise selfishly withheld.
The loving Master makes tremendous demands upon
the love of His disciples, and He knows well that they
are always the gainers thereby.
(3) Be sure you have a positive message for the non-
Christian world. There may be nothing to prevent
your going to India. The physical or material hind-
rances may be taken out of the way ; but remember that
God removes these only that you may confront the
greater problems of faith. God rolled away the stone
that the sorrowing women might face the problem of
the empty tomb. The greatest problem you will have,
will be to confront the hungry souls of India. And
without a positive message you will be utterly helpless ;
LOOKING FORWARD 2Ot
which suggests the last and most important element in
finding God's will for you in regard to the non-Christian
world. You must know Christ as a living Friend and
Saviour. The faith once delivered unto the saints must
be a vital experience. Communion with the Saviour
of Mankind in prayer and meditation on His revealed
will in the Word, will result in the growth of a likeness
to Him. The needs of men will be seen through His
eyes. The same mind will be found in you that is in
Christ Jesus. You will know something of the travail
of His soul. You will estimate as He does the value
and possibilities of the soul. You will feel as He does
about the multitudes scattered abroad as sheep having
no shepherd. How then would you regard the call and
opportunity of India ?
Eating Our^Morsel Alone
"If I have eaten my morsel alone !"
The patriarch spoke in scorn ;
What would he think of the Church were he shown
Heathendom, huge, forlorn,
Godless, Christless, with soul unfed
While the Church's ailment is fulness of bread
Eating her morsel alone ?
I am debtor alike to the Jew and the Greek,
The mighty Apostle cried ;
Traversing continents souls to seek,
For the love of the crucified.
2O2 IN THE HEART OF INDIA
Centuries, centuries, since have sped ;
Millions are famishing : we have bread ;
But we eat our morsel alone.
Even of them who have largest dower
Shall heaven require the more ;
Ours is affluence, knowledge, power,
Plenty, from shore to shore.
And East and West in our ears have said
"Give us, give us your living bread,"
Yet we eat our morsel alone.
"Freely as ye received, so give,"
He bade, Who hath given us all.
How shall the soul in us longer live,
Deaf to their starving call,
For whom the blood of the Lord was shed
And His body broken to give them bread,
If we eat our morsel alone ?
— BISHOP OF DERRY.
APPENDICES
APPENDICES
205
APPENDIX A.
PRESENT STAFF IN CENTRAL INDIA
STATION
ARRIVAL
Indore. . . .Rev. W. A. Wilson, M.A.,D.D., and Mrs.
Wilson December 1884
. . . .Rev. R. A. King, M.A., D.D., and Mis.
King, B.A June 1903
" Rev. A. A. Scott, B.A.,B.D., and Mrs.
Scott December 1912
" Rev. Robert Schofield, M.A., and Mrs.
Schofield, B.A June 1910
" .... Miss Jessie Duncan November 1892
" Miss Janet White November 1893
" Miss Harriet Thompson December 1896
" Miss Elizabeth McMaster, M.D., C.M.. January 1904
" Miss Lizbeth Robertson, B.A February 1911
" Miss Bertha Manarey September 1913
" Rev. D. J. Davidson, B.A., and Mrs.
Davidson, M.D.,C.M .January 1904
" ... .Miss Emmaline Smillie, B.A November 1914
" Miss Laura I. F. Moodie, M.B , . .November 1914
" Rev. Harold W. Lyons, B.A., and Mrs.
Lyons February 1915
Mhow. . . .Rev. J. T. Taylor, B.A., and Mrs. Taylor . November 1899
" Miss Jessie Weir December 1896
" Miss Margaret Brebner November 1912
" ..Rev. E. J. Drew.. .
206 APPENDICES
STATION ARRIVAL
Rasalpura (Mhow)
Rev. F. H. Russell, M.A., and Mrs. Rus-
sell November 1893
" Rev. A. P. Ledingham, B.A., and Mrs.
Ledingham '. .November 1895
" Mr. L. D. S. Coxson January 1914
" Mr. A. R. Graham November 1914
Neemuch..Miss Margaret MacHarrie January 1910
. .Miss Margaret McKellar, M.D., C.M.. .October 1890
" . . Mrs. E. E. Menzies November 1902
' . .Rev. J. S. MacKay, B.A., and Mrs. Mac-
Kay (Miss Sinclair) November 1904
" . . Miss Gwendolen Gardner, B.A November 1914
" . .Miss Margaret Cameron November 1911
Jaora Rev. F. J. Anderson and Mrs. Anderson . December 1901
Rutlam. . .Rev. J. Fraser Campbell, D.D., and Mrs.
Campbell (Miss Forrester) December 1876
. . .Mr. J. M. Waters, M.D., C.M., and Mrs.
Waters November 1903
" . . .Miss Dorothy Kilpatrick, B.A November 1914
" .... Mr. Charles M. Scott, B.A.,M.D.,C.M.,
and Mrs. Scott November 1915
Ujjain. . . .Mr. Alex. Nugent, B.A., M.D., C.M., and
Mrs. Nugent November 1899
" .... Miss Jessie Grier November 1893
. . . .Miss Margaret Drummond November 1911
.... Rev. Charles D. Donald, B.A November 1915
Dhar Miss Margaret Coltart November 1911
" Miss Margaret O'Hara, M.D., C.M December 1891
" Miss M. S. Herdman March 1903
" Rev. B. S. Smillie, B.A November 1914
APPENDICES
STATION
207
ARRIVAL
Amkhut. . . Rev. J. Buchanan, B.A.,M.D., and Mrs.
Buchanan (Miss MacKay), M.D December 1888
" . .Rev. H. H. Smith and Mrs. Smith
..Mr. D. E. McDonald and Mrs. Mc-
Donald November 1911
. .Miss Bertha W. Robson, M.A. November 1912
... .Mr. Harry H. Colwell, B.S.A.,M.B., and
Mrs. Colwell November 1915
Kharua. . .Rev. J. R. Harcourt and Mrs. Harcourt. .November 1900
" . . .Rev. D. F. Smith, B.A.,B.D., and Mrs.
Smith (Miss Madill) December 1906
" ... Miss Florence E. Clearihue December 1906
" . . .Miss Mabel E. MacLean November 1912
Banswara..Rev. D. G. Cock, B.A., and Mrs. Cock,
B.A December 1902
" . Miss Catherine Campbell December 1894
" .Miss B. Chone Oliver, M.D.,C.M February 1902
Sitamau. . . Rev. W. J. Cook, B.A., and Mrs. Cook. . October 1910
Bagli Field — Hat Pipliya :
Miss Ethel Glendinning January 1909
MISSIONARIES WHO HAVE RETIRED, OR HAVE
Designation Retired
Rev. George Stevenson 1857 1858
Miss Fairweather 1873 1880
" Rodger 1873 1891
Rev. J. M. Douglas - . 1876 1882
Miss M. McGregor 1877 1888
Rev. Joseph Builder, B.A 1883
" R. C. Murray, B.A 1885
: G. McKelvie, M.A 1888 1891
DIED
Died
1888
1887
208 APPENDICES
Designation Retired Died
Miss Amy Harris 1889 .... 1892
" Elizabeth Beatty, M.D 1884 1892
" E. B. Scott 1888 1890
" Elizabeth McWilliams 1891 1893
" W. Grant Fraser, M.D 1890 1896
Mr. J. J. Thompson, M.D 1895 1897
Miss I. Ross 1883 1898
Rev. W. J. Jamieson 1890 1898
Miss Catherine Calder 1892 1899
" Mary Charlotte Dougan 1893 1900
" JeanM. Leyden 1896 1900
Rev. J. Fraser Smith, B.A., M.D 1888 1900
Miss Rachel Chase, B.A 1895 1899
Rev. John Wilkie, M.A., D.D 1879 1902
Rev. Norman H. Russell, M.A 1890 .... 1902
Miss S. McCalla, M.D. (now Mrs. W. H.
Grant, of Honan) 1900 1902
" M. S. Wallace, M.D 1901 1902
Mr. C. R. Woods, M.D 1893 1903
Mr. George Menzies, M.D 1902 .... 1903
Miss Bella Ptolemy 1895 1904
" Agnes Turnbull, M.D., C.M 1892 .... 1906
" Mary E. Leach (Mrs. Addison) 1900 1908
" M. Jamieson.... 1889 1909
" Anna M. Nairn (Mrs. K. G. McKay) 1907 1912
Rev. Alex. Dunn, M.A., B.D 1908 1911
Miss Marion Oliver, M.D., C.M 1886 .... 1913
Rev. W. G. Russell, B.A 1901 .... 1913
Mr. K. G. McKay, B.S.A 1906 1912
" J. A. Sharrard, M.A., B.D 1907 1915
Miss Janet Sinclair 1909 1915
" Bella Goodfellow 1899 1916
Mr. A. G. McPhedran, B.A., M.B 1908 1915
Miss Ethel Bredin. . 1915 1915
APPENDICES
209
APPENDIX B.
INDIAN CENSUS RETURNS
THE POPULATION OF INDIA BY RELIGIONS
Hindu
1901
207,147026
\
1911 I
217 586 920
rariation
by
>er Cent.
5
Sikh..
2,195 339
3 014 466
38
Jain
1 334 148
1 248 142
6
Buddhist. .
9 476 750
10 721 453
13
Zoroastrian .
94 190
100 096
6
Mussalman
62,458,077
66,623,421
7
Christian.
2,923,241
3,876,203
33
Jew. .
18,228
20,980
15
Animistic.
8,584,148
10,295,168
20
Minor Religions
129,900
37,101
71
Total.
294,361,056
313,323,981
210
APPENDICES
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o
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• Tt< CO TjH OS
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iCt^QOCO'rrOsOSTr 0000 rHici>-'<3'O;IOOOO'
C<1 rH OS OS CO CO OS »C TjH C^ 00 ^ O CO »C 00 OS rH '
COrHlCOICO^ft*- ^rH rHCQ"^OOrH|>rHT^i
C^ rH CD 1C rH 00 rH C<J rH C<l rH C<l O CO CO IO 00 00 W
OS COCO rHt>- rHOO CO OOSrHrHC^'C rH
'So?^
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.
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§ ;.« §
* g o a
111 I
APPENDICES
211
APPENDIX C.
FORCES ON THE FIELD
FOREIGN
INDIAN
MISSIONARIES
WORKERS
NAME OF SOCIETY
Unordained
Unordained
OrHM
OrrlM
,
Male
Fern.
Male
Fern.
American and
Canadian Societies. . 41
557
159
1,154
945
10,133
4,241
Australian " . . 8
26
1
12
28
85
18
British " . . 41
615
314
1,502
560
11,711
5,283
Ceylon " ..3
.
. . .
7
3
9
4
Continental " ..12
222
48
264
77
2,152
338
India " ..7
10
22
21
6
311
25
International " . . 3
9
71
93
1,926
. . .
Independent " . . 9
2
13
46
39
161
55
Indigenous " . . 12
1
6
25
7
163
174
13Q
1,442
634
3,124
1,665
26,655
10,138
Total Foreign Missionaries 5,336
" Indian " 38,458
An average of one ordained Missionary to about 218,000 people.
212 APPENDICES
APPENDIX D.
THE CHARTER OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
"We hold Ourselves bound to the natives of Our
Indian Territories by the same obligations of duty
which bind Us to all Our other subjects, and those
obligations by the Blessing of Almighty God, We shall
faithfully and conscientiously fulfil ....
"Firmly relying Ourselves on the truth of Christianity,
and acknowledging with gratitude the solace oj religion,
We disclaim alike the Right and Desire to impose Our
convictions on any of Our subjects. We declare it to
be Our Royal Will and Pleasure that none be in any
wise favored, none molested or disquieted, by reason
of their religious faith or observances ; but that all
shall alike enjoy the equal and impartial protection of
the law : and We do strictly charge and enjoin all those
who may be in authority under Us, that they abstain
from all interference with the religious belief or worship
of any of Our subjects, on pain of Our highest dis-
pleasure ....
"When, by the Blessing of Providence, internal
tranquillity shall be restored, it is Our earnest desire
to stimulate the peaceful industry of INDIA, to promote
works of public utility and improvement, and to ad-
mi nister its Government for the benefit of all Our sub-
jects resident therein. In their prosperity will be Our
APPENDICES 213
strength ; in their contentment Our security, and in
their gratitude Our best reward. And may the God of
all Power grant to Us and to those in authority under Us,
strength to carry out these Our wishes for the good of Our
people."
The above extract is from the Royal Proclamation
dated, Nov. ist, 1858, announcing the transfer of the
Government of India from the East India Company
to the Crown. The words in italics were added by the
Queen with her own hand, on the suggestion of the
Prince Consort, to the Draft of the Proclamation
presented to her by her Ministers.
APPENDIX E.
NOT AFRAID OF INVESTIGATION
Three distinguished Field-Marshals, Lords Grenfell,
Methuen, and the late Lord Roberts, a little while ago
addressed a letter to British Army Officers, having in
mind the large number of Officers who serve from time
to time in non-Christian countries, such as Africa,
India, and Egypt. The letter said, among other
things :
"You will almost certainly come into contact with
the representatives of various Christian Missionary
Societies, whose special work it is to show to non-
Christian peoples the love of the Christ whom you
profess to serve. We commend these missionaries to
you as a body of men and women who are working
214 APPENDICES
helpfully with the Government, and contributing to
the elevation of the people in a way impossible to official
action.
"Some object to Christian Missions in ignorance of
their real value. We would suggest that you will use
all opportunities of making yourself personally ac-
quainted with the work they are doing, and the charac-
ter of the converts. Most missions will bear looking
into, and we are convinced that, if you do this, you will
never afterwards condemn or belittle them."
APPENDIX F.
Extract Minute of General Assembly of the Presby-
terian Church in India at Allahabad, December, 1913,
in reference to ** Indians in U.S.A. and Canada."
It was resolved : "That the Assembly send the fol-
lowing message to the Churches of the U.S.A. and of
Canada :
"The Assembly has heard with great concern of the
great number of people of India, largely from the
Punjab, who have gone to the United States of America
and to Canada. Our concern is lest they come under
influences which will harden their hearts against the
message of Christ and cause them to return to India
embittered in spirit and estranged from the Church of
Christ. In their behalf we are impelled to ask you,
our Christian brethren, not to forget to put out a help-
ing hand to these strangers among you. They will
APPENDICES
215
respond to your sympathy and appreciate your efforts
in their behalf. It is not for us to tell you in what
way you may help these strangers, countrymen of ours.
We write to assure you that any help you give them will
be a help to the Church of Christ in India.
"It has been suggested that we send missionaries
from India who know the language and ways of these
people to work among them. We are inclined to think
that more can be accomplished by agencies carried on
under the sympathetic guidance of Pastors and Sessions
of the local Churches where these strangers live.
"We ask that your Boards of Home and Foreign
Missions bring to the attention of your Presbyteries,
Sessions, and Pastors, the great opportunity thas offered
them of uniting with us in winning the people of India
to love and worship and serve the Lord Jesus. The
blessing of many ready to perish will come upon them ;
and, better than this, the blessing of our Lord and Mas-
ter, who in the days of His flesh dwelt in Asia, will be
theirs when at last He says, ' I was a stranger and ye
took me in.'
"The Assembly resolved that the above message be
signed on behalf of the Assembly by the Moderator
and Stated Clerk, and that copies be forwarded by the
Clerk to the Secretaries of Home and Foreign Mission
Boards in the United States of America and Canada,
with the request that they suggest to the Presbyteries
and Sessions the means by which these strangers may
be reached and brought to worship Christ as their Lord
and Saviour."
2l6 APPENDICES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. " THE INDIA LIBRARY »
The following volumes, the separate price of which is given
below, may be purchased for $5.00, carriage extra, from the Foreign
Mission Board of our Church. In these volumes the Social, Politi-
cal, Industrial, and Religious conditions all find expert treatment :
Overweights of Joy AMY WILSON-CARMICHAEL
Retail Price, $1.00 net.
The Empire of Christ BERNARD LUCAS
Retail Price, 80c.
The Christian Conquest of India JAMES M. THOBURN
Retail Price, 60c.
India's Problem — Krishna or Christ JOHN P. JONES
Retail Price, $1.50.
Asia and Europe MEREDITH TOWNSEND
Retail Price, $1.50.
Mosaics from India MARGARET B. DENNING
Retail Price, $1.25.
India and Christian Opportunity HARLAN P. BEACH
Retail Price, 50c.
Wrongs of Indian Womanhood MRS. MARCUS B. FULLER
Retail Price, $1.25.
(This set weighs 11 Ibs.)
II. HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL
1. The Indian Empire SIR WILLIAM HUNTER
Triibner's Oriental Series, 21 shillings.
2. Rise of British Dominion in India SIR ALFRED LYALL
(John Murray, London). Price, 4/6.
3. The Citizen of India SIR WILLIAM LEE-WARNER
(MacMillan Co.) Price, 40c.
4. Short History of India J. TALBOYS WHEELER
(MacMillan Co.) Price, $3.50.
5. The Expansion of England J. R. SEELEY
(Little, Brown, Boston). Price, $1.75.
APPENDICES 217
HI. MEDICAL MISSIONS
1. Medical Missions, Their Place and Power JOHN LOWE
(F. H. Revell Co.) $1.50.
2. The Medical Mission, Its Place, Power and Appeal
W.G. WANLESS
(Westminster Press.) lOc.
IV. WOMEN'S WORK
1. Pandita Ramabai HELEN S. DYER
(F. H. Revell Co.) $1.25.
2. Our Sisters in India E. STORROW
(F. H. Revell Co.) $1.25.
3. The High Caste Hindu Woman PANDITA RAMABAI
(F. H. REVELL Co.) 75c.
V. GENERAL
1. Modern Religious Movements in India. . J. N. FARQUHAR, M.A.
(New York, MacMiUan Co.) 10/6.
2. The Crown of Hinduism J. N. FARQUHAR, M.A.
(Oxford Press.) 7/6.
3. The Great Religions of India. .J.MURRAY MrrcHELL,M.A.,LL.D.
(Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier.) 5s.
4. Hinduism and Christianity JOHN ROBSON, D.D.
(Oliphant, Anderson & Ferrier.) 3/6.-
5. The Renaissance in India C. F. ANDREWS, M.A.
(London S.V.M. Union.) 2/6.
6. The Redemption of Malwa W. A. WILSON, D.D.
(Presbyterian F. M. Board, Toronto.) 15 cents.
7. Village Work in India N. H. RUSSELL
(Revell Co.) 3/6.
8. The Bishop's Conversion ELLEN BLACKMAR MAXWELL
(Eaton and Mains ; Jennings and Graham.) $1.50.
9. A Vision of India SIDNEY Low
(Smith, Elder & Co.) Is.
10. Among India's Rajahs and Ryots SIR A. FRASER
(Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board, Toronto.) $1.50.
INDEX
PAGE
ABORIGINAL TRIBES (See Bheels) 10, 49, 63
AMERICAN MISSION, Pres. Church N 60, 164
ANDREWS, REV. C. P.. 122
ANGLO-INDIANS 9
ARYANS. , 49, 50/51
BAPTISM 7, 73( 161
BALLAIS 164
BEATTY, DR. ELIZABETH. . . . 74, 76
BHEELS . . 41, 43, 49, in, 121
BLIND — Work for. . 63, 126
BRAHM 29, 30
BRAHMANS 30, 31, 168
BUCHANAN, REV. DR. 77, 94, 113, 132
BUDDHISM , 6, 53
BUILDER, REV. J . . / 113
CAMPBELL, REV. J. FRASER, D.D 58, 60, 71, 90, 113, 129, 145
CAMPBELL, MRS. DR. (Miss Forrester 62, in
CAMPBELL, Miss in
CASTE 6, 16, 50, 112, 164, 165
CHAPLAINS 10, 61, 144
CHRISTIANS — Protestant, 5 ; Number of, Indian 151 ff
CHRISTIANITY — Its Intolerance, 6 ; Its Weakness, 5 ; Its Motive, 12
CHURCH — Primitive, 13 ; Syrian, 4 ; Roman, 4 ; Indian, 9, 38,
63, 135 ; Statistics, 138 ; Influence of, 139 ; Development,
141, 145 ; Missionary Activities of, 150 ; Relation to
Foreign Mission, 142, 151, 179 ; Union Movements in, 145 ff,
Federation, 147; Typified in Banyan Tree, 150; Problems of,
154 ; Revivals, 156 ; Appeal of 197
CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY 1 1 1
COLLEGE — Indore Christian 81 ff, 171
COWLEY, FATHERS 61
219
220 INDEX
PAGE
CONGRESS NATIONAL 173
DE SELINCOURT, Miss 125
DOUGLAS, REV. J. M 60, 65
DREW, REV. E. J x 145
DUNCAN, Miss J 124
DE LASSOE, CAPT 1 13
DHAR, 42 ; Opening of, 94 ; Leper Asylum at, 132
DUFF, DR 12, 59
DUTT, TORU 182
EDDY, G. S. 167
EDWARDES, SIR HERBERT 149, 160
EDUCATION, — (See Mission Methods) 21
ELLIS, REV. BENJAMIN. 151
EUROPEANS — Influence of 9, 155
FAIRWEATHER, Miss 59
FAMINE ! 63, 88, 101
FARQUHAR, J. N 25
FRASER, SIR A 36, 193
FRERE, SIR BARTLE 193
GAIKWAD, REV. BHAGAJEE 152
GENERAL ASSEMBLY — Pres. Church in India 120, 179
GOREH, REV. NEHEMIAH 61
GOVERNMENT— BRITISH — Religious Toleration, 66 ; Neutrality,
8 ; Treatment of Aboriginal Tribes, in ; Aid to Medical
Work, 131 ; Relation to National Movement, 1 73 ; Keeping
the Peace, 6, 1 1 ; Relation to Native States 44 ff
GWALIOR 44, 48
HARRIS, Mis> 84
HARDINGE, LORD 177
HASTINGS, LORD 44
HENDERSON MEMORIAL ASYLUM 132
HINDU— Problem in Canada 172 ff
INDEX 221
PAGE
HINDUISM — Opposed to Christianity, 6 ; Defined, 29 ; Character
of, 6, 31 ; Relation to Aboriginal Tribes, 10, 50, 113 ; Rela-
tion to Mohammedanism, 6, 53 ; Religious Ideas of 26
HOLCOMB, REV. DR 60
HOSTELS 171
HUNTER, SIR WILLIAM 49, 192
HEBER, BISHOP 182
IDOLATRY — Its Character, 24, 188 ; Its Stronghold ; The Women
22, 74
ILLUSION, DOCTRINE OF 28
INDIA AND THE EMPIRE— (See also "War") 3, 47
INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE 129
INDIAN CHARACTER 17, 20, 23, 25
INDIAN POVERTY 163
INDUSTRIAL MISSIONS AID SOCIETY 108
INDORE 46, 48, 60 ff, 74, 80 ff, 109, 124
IRISH PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH in
ITINERATING 40, 71
JAMIESON, Miss 126
JOHORY, MR 152
JOHORY, MRS 88, in
JOHNS, Miss 58
KARIM, REV. SAMUEL 152
KARMA 26, 53
KHARUA 165
KHAN SINGH 87
KING-EMPEROR 174. J92
KRISHNA 7t 31
KEEGAN, LIEUT.-COL % 129
KING, REV. PRIN.. 124
LAIDLAW, SIR ROBERT J3
LAING, REV. JOHN, D.D 59
LAWRENCE, LORD *92
222 INDEX
PAGE
LEE-WARNER, SIR WILLIAM 47
LEPERS 63, 85, 132
LIFE — Hindu Belief in Sacredness of 53
LUDHIANA — Medical College 131
MACLEOD, DR. NORMAN 136
MAcKAY, MRS. (Miss Sinclair) 84
MACKAY, DR. MARY 77
McKiLViE, REV. GEO 144
MAKASARE, REV. J. B 151
MALWA — 37, 41, 64 ; Famine in 101
MANGS 52, 87 ff
MARATHAS 43, 73
MASIH, REV. YOHAN 152
MASS MOVEMENTS — 10, 85 ff ; Defined, 161 ; Effects of. ... 167 ff
McCHEYNE, R. M 13
MCGREGOR, Miss 61, 126
McKELLAR, DR. M 75, 129
MCDONALD, D. E 1 16
McPHEDRAN, DR. A. G 127
MELAS 63, 149
MENZIES, GEO., M.D , 56
METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSION 164
MEREDITH TOWNSEND 18
MHOW 80, 107, 144
MISSION COUNCIL 62, 63
MURRAY, REV. and MRS 93, 1 13
MISSIONS — Comity of, 184 ; Cost of 186, 195
Methods of (i) Evangelistic 67, 71, 114, 188
(2) Educational 78, 169
Normal Training 63, 126
Higher Education 121, 169
Women's (see under " Women's Work ")
Theological Training 117
(3) Industrial 63, 88, 105, 169
(4) Medical Men's 77, 127
Consumptives 132
Women's (see under "Women's Work ")
INDEX 223
PAGE
MISSIONS— Testimony to 192
MOHAMMEDANISM 6, 22, 32, 42, 53, 73
MOTT, DR. J. R 100, 136
MOULE, DR 189
NARBADDA, RIVER 38
NATIONAL MOVEMENT 1 1, 172
NATIVE STATES — Defined, 45 ; Administration of, 46 ; Num-
bers, 44 ; Area, 45 ; Residence in, 89 ; Difficulties Peculiar
to Work in 64
NEEMUCH , 80, 86, 144
NOAH, C. V , 107
O'HARA, DR. MARGARET 97, in
OLIVER, DR. MARION 75, 76
ORPHANS 101, 104
OUTCASTES 10, 162 ff, 194
PANT^US 4
PARSEES 50
PERSECUTIONS 65, 70
PLAGUE 69
PLUTSCHAU 5
POLYGAMY 155
PORTUGUESE 4
PRAYER — 12 ; Answered, 167 ; Need of 187
PREACHING — Methods 22
PRESS 63, 65, 109
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN CANADA 38, 60
PTOLEMY, Miss 126
RASALPURA 107
REVIVALS i56
ROBERTSON, Miss L 124
RODGER, Miss 59, 84
RUTLAM — Opening of, 90 ; English Services at 145
RUSSELL, REV. NORMAN 95, H3, "9
224 INDEX
PAGE
RUSSELL, REV. F. H 95, 97, 1 13
SABBATH OBSERVANCES 154, 174
SACRIFICES, BLOODY 24
SAMAJES 9
SEN, KESHUB CHUNDER 191
SINCLAIR, Miss ". 127
SMITH, REV. H. H 1 16
SMILLIE, Miss E 124
SOCIAL SERVICE — Among Hindus 168
STEVENSON, REV. GEO 59
SURVEY 183
SYDENHAM, LORD 193
TEMPLE, SIR RICHARD 194
THEOLOGICAL TRAINING — (See Mission Methods), Co-operation
in 146
TOLERATION, RELIGIOUS 66
TREVELYAN, SIR CHAS 160
UJJAIN — 42, 77, 80, 83, 86 ; Opening of, 93 ; Leper Asylum at. . 132
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF NORTH AMERICA 164
VlKRAMADITYA 42
VILLAGE LIFE 43
VILLAGES, NUMBER OF 187
VINDHAYA MOUNTAINS 38, 43
WAR— Effect on India, 3,174 ; Relation to Mission Work, 184,
196 ; Lessons of, 185
WATERS, DR 127
WASHINGTON, DR. BOOKER T 167
WHITE, Miss in, 126
WILSON, REV. W. A., D.D 51,70, 119 ff
WILKIE, REV. DR 62, 80 ff,i24
WOMEN'S COUNCIL 63
INDEX 225
PAGE
WOMEN'S WORK : General 10, 57, 59
Evangelistic (see also Mission Methods) 72
Medical , 11, 74, 95, 97, 128 ff
Educational, 82, 95, 172 ; Primary Schools, 124
Industrial 88, 106, in
Need of 22
WORSHIP— Of Fire, 51 ; of Images, 6, 51 ; of Saints, 6, 53 ; of
Demons 24, 52
XAVIER, FRANCIS 4
ZlEGENBALG 5