,transcriber's ,notes3 vowels with macrons are shown by an equals sign before the vowel in brackets4 a ,bold is surrounded by equal signs4 ,italics are shown by underscores4 ,illustration3 ,old ,india4 ,you think you know us2 you know nothing at all about us6 and the old eyes peer intently into yours1 and the old head shakes and he smiles to himself as he moves off4 ,every bit of this picture is suggestive3 the closed door behind1--only a ,brahman may open that door2 the mythological carving1--only a ,brahman has the right to understand it2 the three-skein cord1--only a ,brahman may touch it4 ,even the ragged old cloth is suggestive4 ,in old ,india nothing but ,caste counts for anything1 and a reigning ,prince lately gave his weight in gold to the ,brahmans1 as part payment for ceremonies which enabled him to eat with men of this old man's social position4 ,look at the marks on the baby's forehead2 they are suggestive too4 ,,things ,,as ,,they ,,are ,,mission ,,work ,,in ,,southern ,,india ,,by ,,amy ,,wilson-,,carmichael ,keswick ,missionary ,c4,e4,z4,m4,s4 ,,author ,,of ,,from ,,sunrise ,,land1 ,,etc4 ,,with ,,preface ,,by ,,eugene ,,stock ,illustration3 ,tamil ,text3 ,,victory ,,to ,,jesus' ,,name6 ,,london3 ,,morgan ,,and ,,scott 7,,office ,,of ,the ,christian7 #ab1 ,,paternoster ,,buildings1 ,e4,c4 ,and may be ordered of any bookseller #aije ,,first ,,edition ,april #aijc ,reprinted ,august #aijc ,january #aijd ,november #aijd ,january #aije ,to the ,memory of ,my ,dear ,friend1 ,,eleanor ,,carr1 ,whose last message to the ,band1 before her translation on ,june #af1 #aija1 was3 ,,you ,,will ,,be ,,in ,,the ,,thick ,,of ,,the ,,fight ,,by ,,the ,,time ,,this ,,reaches ,,you1 ,illustration3 ,tamil text3 ,,the ,,battle ,,is ,,the ,,lord',s6 ,note ,,within a few weeks of the publication of ,things as ,they ,are1 letters were received from missionaries working in different parts of ,india1 confirming its truth4 ,but some in ,england doubt it4 ,and so it was proposed that if a fourth edition were called for1 a few confirmatory notes1 written by experienced ,south ,indian missionaries1 other than those of the district described1 would be helpful4 ,several such notes are appended4 ,the ,indian view of one of the chief facts set forth in the book is expressed in the note written by one who1 better than any missionary1 and surely better even than any onlooker at home1 has the right to be heard in this matter--and the right to be believed4 ,and now at ,his feet1 who can use the least1 we lay this book again2 for to the ,mighty ,one1 as the ,tamil proverb says1 even the blade of grass is a weapon4 ,may it be used for ,his ,name's sake1 to win more prayer for ,india--and all dark lands--the prayer that prevails4 ,,amy ,,wilson-,,carmichael1 ,dohnavur1 ,tinnevelly ,district1 ,s4 ,india4 ,confirmatory ,notes ,from ,rev4 ,d4 ,,downie1 ,d4,d41 ,american ,baptist ,mission1 ,nizam's ,dominions1 ,s4 ,india4 ,i have felt for many years that we missionaries were far too prone to dwell on what is called the bright side of mission work4 ,that it has a bright side no one can question4 ,that it has a dark side some do question2 but ,i for one1 after thirty years of experience1 know it to be just as true as the bright side is true4 ,i have heard ,miss ,carmichael's book denounced as pessimistic4 ,just what is meant by that ,i am not quite sure2 but if it means that what she has written is untrue1 then ,i am prepared to say that it is ,,not pessimistic1 for there is not a line of it that cannot be duplicated in this ,telugu ,mission4 ,that she has painted a dark picture of ,hindu life cannot be denied1 but1 since it is every word true1 ,i rejoice that she had the courage to do what was so much needed1 and yet what so many of us shrank from doing1 lest it should injure the cause4 ,from ,rev4 ,t4 ,,stewart1 ,m4,a41 ,secretary1 ,united ,free ,church ,mission1 ,madras4 ,this book1 ,things as ,they ,are1 meets a real need--it depicts a phase of mission work of which1 as a rule1 very little is heard4 ,every missionary can tell of cases where people have been won for ,christ1 and mention incidents of more than passing interest4 ,miss ,carmichael is no exception1 and could tell of not a few trophies of grace4 ,the danger is1 lest in describing such incidents the impression should be given that they represent the normal state of things1 the reverse being the case4 ,the people of ,india are not thirsting for the ,gospel1 nor calling us to deliver their land from error's chain4 ,the night is still one in which the spiritual hosts of wickedness have to be overcome before the captive can be set free4 ,the writer has laid all interested in the extension of the ,kingdom of ,god under a deep debt of obligation by such a graphic and accurate picture of the difficulties that have to be faced and the obstacles to be overcome4 ,counterparts of the incidents recorded can be found in other parts of ,south ,india1 and there are probably few missionaries engaged in vernacular work who could not illustrate some of them from their own experience4 ,from ,dr4 ,a4 ,w4 ,,rudisill1 ,methodist ,episcopal ,press1 ,madras4 ,in ,things as ,they ,are are pictured1 by camera and pen1 some things in ,southern ,india4 ,the pen1 as faithfully as the camera1 has told the truth1 and nothing but the truth4 ,the early chapters bring out with vivid1 striking1 almost startling reality the wayside hearers in ,india4 ,one can almost see the devil plucking away the words as fast as they fall1 and hear the opposers of the ,gospel crying out against it4 ,paul did not hesitate to write things as they were of the idolaters to whom he preached1 even though the picture was very dark4 ,it is all the more needful now1 when so many are deceived and being deceived as to the true nature of idolatry1 that people at home who give and pray should be told plainly that what ,paul wrote of idolaters in ,rome and ,corinth is still true of idolaters in ,india4 ,miss ,carmichael has given only glances and glimpses1 not full insights4 ,let those who think the picture she has drawn is too dark know that1 if the whole truth were told1 an evil spirit only could produce the pictures1 and hell itself would be the only fit place in which to publish them1 because in ,christian lands eyes have not seen and ears have not heard of such things4 ,from ,rev4 ,c4 ,w4 ,,clarke1 ,m4,a41 ,principal1 ,noble ,college1 ,masulipatam4 ,i have worked as ,principal of a ,college for over seventeen years amongst the caste people of ,south ,india1 and ,i entirely endorse ,miss ,carmichael's views as to the actual risks run by students and others desirous of breaking caste and being baptized4 ,while the teaching of the ,bible and ,english education generally have removed a great deal of prejudice1 and greatly raised the ethical standard amongst a number of those who come under such influences1 ,hinduism as held and practised by the vast majority of caste people remains essentially unchanged4 ,to break caste is held to be the greatest evil a person can inflict upon himself and his community1 therefore practically any means may be resorted to to prevent such a calamity4 ,it is a commonplace amongst missionaries1 that when a caste man or woman shows any serious intention of being baptized1--in any case1 where caste feeling is not modified by special circumstances1--the most stringent precautions must be taken to protect the inquirer from the schemes of his caste brethren4 ,from ,,krishna ,,ran1 ,esq41 ,b4,a41 ,editor1 ,christian ,patriot1 ,madras 7himself a convert74 ,the question is often asked whether a high caste ,hindu convert can live with his own people after his baptism4 ,it is only those who know nothing of the conditions of life in ,india1 and of the power of caste as it exists in this country1 who raise the question4 ,the convert has to be prepared for the loss of parents and their tender affection2 of brothers and sisters1 relatives and friends2 of wife and children1 if he has any2 of his birthright1 social position1 means of livelihood1 reputation1 and all the power which hides behind the magic word caste2 of all that he is taught from his childhood to hold as sacred4 ,from ,miss ,,reade1 ,south ,arcot1 ,south ,india4 ,i am not surprised that anyone unacquainted with mission work in ,india should be staggered at the facts narrated in ,things as ,they ,are4 ,but as one who has worked for nearly thirty years in the heart of heathenism1 away from the haunts of civilisation1 ,i can bear testimony that the reality of things far exceeds anything that it would be possible to put into print4 ,one's tongue falters to tell of what is custom in this country4 ,i know a case where a young girl of ten was placed in such a position that her choice lay between two sinful courses of life1 no right way being open to her4 ,i think one of the most distressing things we have to meet in caste work in this country is the fact that often as soon as a soul begins to show interest in ,christ he or she disappears1 and one either hears next that he is dead1 or can get no reliable information at all4 ,extract from a letter to ,miss ,,carmichael on ,things as ,they ,are4 7,the writer is a veteran ,american missionary47 ,i could duplicate nearly every incident in the book2 so ,i know it is a true picture1 not alone because ,i believe your word1 but because my experience has been so similar to yours4 ,many times1 while reading it1 the memory of the old heart-break has been so vivid that ,i have had to lay the book down and look round the familiar room in order to convince myself that it was you1 and not ,i1 who was agonising over one of the ,king's own children who was being crowded back into darkness and hurled down to destruction1 because ,satan's wrath is great as he realises that his time is short4 ,i wish the book might be read by all the ,christians in the homeland4 ,from ,,pandita ,,ramabai4 ,while ,i was reading ,things as ,they ,are1 ,i fancied ,i was living my old life among ,hindus over again4 ,i can honestly corroborate everything said in regard to the religious and social life of the ,hindus4 ,i came from that part of the country1 and ,i am very glad that the book has succeeded in bringing the truth to light4 ,from ,miss ,l4 ,,trotter4 ,there is hardly a phase of all the heart-suffering retold that we have not known3 page after page might have been written out here1 word for word4 ,preface ,,the writer of these thrilling chapters is a ,keswick missionary1 well known to many friends as the adopted daughter of ,mr4 ,robert ,wilson1 the much-respected chairman of the ,keswick ,convention4 ,she worked for a time with the ,rev4 ,barclay ,buxton in ,japan2 and for the last few years she has been with the ,rev4 ,t4 ,walker 7also a ,c4,m4,s4 ,missionary7 in ,tinnevelly1 and is on the staff of the ,church of ,england ,zenana ,society4 ,i do not think the realities of ,hindu life have ever been portrayed with greater vividness than in this book2 and ,i know that the authoress's accuracy can be fully relied upon4 ,the picture is drawn without prejudice1 with all sympathy1 with full recognition of what is good1 and yet with an unswerving determination to tell the truth and let the facts be known1--that is1 so far as she dares to tell them4 ,what she says is the truth1 and nothing but the truth2 but it is not the whole truth--that she could not tell4 ,if she wrote it1 it could not be printed4 ,if it were printed1 it could not be read4 ,but if we read between the lines1 we do just catch glimpses of what she calls the ,actual4 ,it is evident that the authoress deeply felt the responsibility of writing such a book2 and ,i too feel the responsibility of recommending it4 ,i do so with the prayer of my heart that ,god will use it to move many4 ,it is not a book to be read with a lazy kind of sentimental interest4 ,it is a book to send the reader to his knees--still more to her knees4 ,most of the chapters are concerned with the lives of ,heathen men and women and children surrounded by the tremendous bars and gates of the ,caste system4 ,but one chapter1 and not the least important one1 tells of native ,christians4 ,it has long been one of my own objects to correct the curious general impression among people at home that native ,christians1 as a body1 are--not indeed perfect1--no one thinks that1 but--earnest and consistent followers of ,christ4 ,narratives1 true narratives1 of true converts are read1 and these are supposed to be specimens of the whole body4 ,but 7#a7 where there have been mass movements towards ,christianity1 where whole villages have put themselves under ,christian instruction1 mixed motives are certain2 7#b7 where there have been two or three generations of ,christians it is unreasonable to expect the descendants of men who may have been themselves most true converts to be necessarily like them4 ,hereditary ,christianity in ,india is much like hereditary ,christianity at home4 ,the ,church in ,tinnevelly1 of which this book incidentally tells a little1 is marked by both these features4 ,whole families or even villages have come over at times2 and the large majority of the ,christians were 7so to speak7 born ,christians1 and were baptized in infancy4 ,this is not in itself a result to be despised4 ,christian ,england1 unchristian as a great part of its population really is1 is better than ,heathen ,india2 and in the chapter now referred to1 ,miss ,carmichael herself notices the difference between a ,hindu and a ,christian village4 ,but the more widely ,christianity spreads1 the more will there assuredly be of mere nominal profession4 ,is the incorrect impression ,i allude to caused by missionaries dwelling mostly on the brighter side of their work8 ,here and there in the book there is just a suggestion that they are wrong in doing so4 ,but how can they help it8 ,what does a clergyman or an evangelist in ,england tell of8 ,does he tell of his many daily disappointments1 or of his occasional encouraging cases8 ,the latter are the events of his life1 and he naturally tells of them4 ,the former he comprises in some general statement4 ,how can he do otherwise8 ,and what can the modern missionary do in the short reports he is able to write8 ,fifty years ago missionary journals of immense length came home1 and were duly published2 and then the details of ,hindu idolatry and cruelty and impurity1 and the tremendous obstacles to the ,gospel1 were better known by the few regular readers4 ,much that ,miss ,carmichael tells was then told over and over again1 though not perhaps with a skilful pen like hers4 ,but the work has so greatly developed in each mission1 and the missions are so far more numerous and extended1 that neither can missionaries now write as their predecessors did1 nor1 if they did1 could all the missionary periodicals together find space for their journals4 ,the fault of incorrect impressions lies mainly in the want of knowledge and want of thought of home speakers and preachers4 ,i remember1 thirty years ago1 an eloquent ,bishop in ,exeter ,hall triumphantly flinging in the face of critics of missions the question1 ,is ,tinnevelly a fiction8--as if ,tinnevelly had become a ,christian country1 which apparently some people still suppose it to be1 notwithstanding the warning words to the contrary which the ,c4,m4,s4 publications have again and again uttered4 ,even now1 there are in ,tinnevelly about twenty heathen to every one ,christian2 and of what sort the twenty are this book tells4 ,tinnevelly is indeed no fiction1 but in a very different sense from that of the good ,bishop's speech4 ,again1 a few months ago1 ,i heard a preacher1 not very favourable to the ,c4,m4,s41 say that the ,c4,m4,s41 despite its shortcomings1 deserved well of the ,church because it had converted a nation in ,uganda6--as if the nation comprised only #cj1jjj souls4 ,some day the ,actual of ,uganda will be better understood1 and the inevitable shortcomings of even its ,christian population realised1 and then we shall be told that we deceived the public--although we have warned them over and over again4 ,but the larger part of this book is a revelation--so far as is possible--of the ,actual of ,hinduism and ,caste4 ,god grant that its terrible facts and its burning words may sink into the hearts of its readers6 ,perhaps1 when they have read it1 they will at last agree that we have used no sensational and exaggerated language when we have said that the ,church is only playing at missions6 ,service1 and self-denial1 and prayer1 must be on a different scale indeed if we are ever--,i do not say to convert the world--but even to evangelise it4 ,,eugene ,,stock4 ,contents ,,chapter ,,page ,i4 ,,about ,,the ,,book #a ,,ii4 ,,three ,,afternoons ,,off ,,the ,,track #e ,,iii4 ,,humdrum #ah ,,iv4 ,,correspondences #bf ,v4 ,,the ,,prey ,,of ,,the ,,terrible #cc ,,vi4 ,,missed ,,ends #da ,,vii4 ,,the ,,dust ,,of ,,the ,,actual #eg ,,viii4 ,,roots #ga ,,ix4 ,,the ,,classes ,,and ,,the ,,masses #hc ,x4 ,,the ,,creed ,,chasm #ia ,,xi4 ,,caste ,,viewed ,,as ,a ,,doer #if ,,xii4 ,,petra #aje ,,xiii4 ,,death ,,by ,,disuse #aaa ,,xiv4 ,,what ,,happened #aah ,,xv4 ,,simply ,,murdered #abd ,,xvi4 ,,wanted1 ,,volunteers #acb ,,xvii4 ,,if ,,it ,,is ,,so ,,very ,,important4 4 4 8 #ada ,,xviii4 ,,the ,,call ,,intensified #ade ,,xix4 ,,attracted ,,by ,,the ,,influence #afj ,,xx4 ,,the ,,elf #aga ,,xxi4 ,,deified ,,devilry #ahh ,,xxii4 ,,behind ,,the ,,door #aid ,,xxiii4 ,,pan1 ,,pan ,,is ,,dead #bjc ,,xxiv4 ,,married ,,to ,,the ,,god #bag ,,xxv4 ,,skirting ,,the ,,abyss #bbc ,,xxvi4 ,,from ,a ,,hindu ,,point ,,of ,,view #bcf ,,xxvii4 ,,though ,,ye ,,know ,,him ,,not #bdi ,,xxviii4 ,,how ,,long8 #bef ,,xxix4 ,,what ,,do ,,we ,,count ,,them ,,worth8 #bfb ,,xxx4 ,,two ,,safe #bgc ,,xxxi4 ,,three ,,objections #bgg ,,xxxii4 ,,show ,,me ,,thy ,,glory6 #bhi ,,appendix4 ,,some ,,indian ,,saints #cjc ,illustrations ,,an ,,old ,,brahman ,frontispiece ,,bandy ,,crossing ,a ,,pool ,facing page #e ,a ,,young ,,tamil ,,girl #aa ,a ,,potter ,,at ,,his ,,wheel #bd ,a ,,devotee ,,of ,,siva #bf ,,the ,,red ,,lake ,,village #bh ,,death ,,scene #ea ,,wailing #ec ,,three ,,ceremonial ,,mourners #ed ,,ceremonial ,,bathing #ef ,,an ,,ancient ,,pariah #eh ,,vellala ,,widow #ff ,,typical ,,old ,,widow #gc ,,hindu ,,schoolmaster ,,and ,,boys #hg ,,shanar ,,mother ,,and ,,child #ia ,,cooking ,,in ,a ,,shanar ,,house #ih ,,fairly ,,typical ,,vellalar #aje ,,christian ,,widow #aab ,,brahman ,,girl #aah ,,three ,,types ,,of ,,brahmanhood-- ,,keen #acb ,,thoughtful #acd ,,dull #ach ,,an ,,old ,,woman ,,and ,,baby #adc ,,brahman ,,widow #ade ,,brahman ,,street #adg ,,shepherd-,,caste ,,house #aea ,,vellala ,,child #afa ,,ugly ,,duckling #agh ,,designs ,,in ,,chalk #aid ,,handmarks ,,on ,,the ,,door #bjb ,a ,,holy ,,brahman #bba ,,woman ,,and ,,water-,,vessel #bfb ,glossary ,,agni ,god of ,fire4 ,,aiyo ,alas6 ,ai runs together almost like eye4 ,the word is repeated rapidly1 ,eye-eye ,yo ,eye-eye ,yo6 ,,amm,a ,mother6 7vocative case74 ,a is pronounced like u in up4 ,the word is also used by all women in speaking to each other1 and by girls in speaking to women4 ,,amm,a,l ,lady or woman4 ,a is pronounced like u in up4 ,,anna ,one penny4 ,,areca ,,nut ,nut eaten by the ,indians with betel leaf or lime4 ,,betel ,leaf of a creeper4 ,,bandy ,a bullock cart4 ,,brahma ,the first person in the ,hindu ,triad1 regarded as the ,creator4 ,,brahman ,the highest of the ,hindu ,castes4 ,,bramo ,,sam,j ,a sect of ,hindu reformers who honour ,christ as a man1 but reject ,him as a ,saviour4 ,,chee6 ,exclamation of derision1 disgust1 or remonstrance4 ,,compound ,a piece of ground surrounding a house4 ,,coolie ,a paid labourer4 ,coolie is the ,tamil word for pay4 ,,curry ,a preparation of meat or vegetables made by grinding various condiments and mixing them together4 ,,fakeer ,religious beggar4 ,,guru ,a religious teacher4 ,,iyer ,title given to ,brahmans and ,gurus4 ,,paddy ,rice in the husk4 ,paddy fields rice fields4 ,,pariah ,a depressed class4 ,p,u,,jah ,worship4 u is pronounced like oo4 ,,rupee ,value #as4 #d;d4 ,,saivite ,a worshipper of ,siva4 ,,salaam ,a salutation meaning peace1 used in greeting and farewell1 and often in the sense of thank you4 ,the right hand is raised to the forehead as one says salaam4 ,,seeley ,tamil woman's dress of silk1 muslin1 or cotton4 ,,shanar ,a ,caste of ,palmyra-palm climbers4 ,,siva ,the third person in the ,hindu ,triad4 ,the ,destroyer4 ,,tom-,,tom ,an ,indian drum4 ,,vaishnavite ,a worshipper of ,vishnu4 ,,vellalar ,a ,caste of landowners and cultivators4 ,,vishnu ,the second person in the ,hindu ,triad4 ,the ,preserver4 ,,things ,,as ,,they ,,are ,,mission ,,work ,,in ,,southern ,,india ,,chapter ,i ,about the ,book ,we can do nothing against the ,truth1 but for the ,truth4 ,st4 ,paul1 ,asia and ,europe4 ,there is too little desire to know what is the actual state of mission work in ,india1 and a regard to the showy and attractive rather than to the solid and practical4 ,i will try1 however1 to avoid being carried away by the tide1 and to set myself the task of giving as plain and unvarnished a statement as possible of what is actually being done or not done in the great field of our foreign labour4 ,bishop ,french1 ,india and ,arabia4 ,,three friends sat ,native fashion on the floor of an ,indian verandah4 ,two of the three had come out to ,india for a few months to see the fight as it is4 ,and they saw it4 ,they now proposed that the third should gather some letters written from the hot heart of things1 and make them into a book1 to the intent that others should see exactly what they had seen4 ,the third was not sure4 ,the world has many books4 ,does it want another1 and especially another of the kind this one would be8 ,brain and time are needed for all that writing a book means4 ,the third has not much of either4 ,but the two undertook to do all the most burdensome part of the business4 ,give us the letters1 we will make the book1 and they urged reasons which ended in--this4 ,this1 the book1 has tried to tell the ,truth4 ,that is all it has to say about itself4 ,the quotations which head the chapters1 and which are meant to be read1 not skipped1 are more worthful than anything else in it4 ,they are chosen from the writings of missionaries1 who saw the ,truth and who told it4 ,the story covers about two years4 ,we had come from the eastern side of this ,south ,indian district1 to work for awhile in the south of the ,south1 the farthest southern outpost of the ,c4,m4,s4 in ,india4 ,chapter ,,ii4 plunges into the middle of the beginning4 ,the ,band ,sisters are the members of a small ,women's ,itinerating ,band2 the girls mentioned by translated names are the young convert-girls who are with us2 the ,iyer is ,rev4 ,t4 ,walker2 the ,ammal is ,mrs4 ,walker2 the ,missie ,ammal explains itself4 ,the ,picture-catching ,missie ,ammal is the friend who proposed the book's making4 ,this is her ,tamil name1 given because it describes her as she struck the ,tamil mind4 ,the pictures she caught were not easy to catch4 ,reserved and conservative ,india considered the camera intrusive1 and we were often foiled in getting what we most desired4 ,even where we were allowed to catch our object peaceably1 it was a case of working under difficulties which would have daunted a less ardent picture-catcher4 ,wherever the camera was set up1 there swarms of children sprang into being1 burrowed in and out like rabbits1 and scuttled about over everything1 to the confusion of the poor artist1 who had to fix focus and look after the safety of her camera legs at the same time1 while the second ,missie ,ammal held an umbrella over her head1 and the third exhorted the picture1 which speedily got restive1 to sit still4 ,so much for the mere mechanical4 ,finally1 ,i should explain the book's character4 ,tell about things as they actually are2 so said the ,two with emphasis4 ,i tried1 but the ,actual eluded me4 ,it was as if one painted smoke1 and then1 pointing to the feeble blur1 said1 ,look at the battle6 'the smoking hell of battle6' ,there is the smoke6 ,the ,poet's thought was not this1 ,i know1 when she coined that suggestive phrase1 ,the ,dust of the ,actual1 but it has been the predominating thought in my mind1 for it holds that which defines the scope and expresses the purpose of the book1 and ,i use it as the title of one of the chapters4 ,it does not show the ,actual4 ,principalities1 ,powers1 ,rulers of the ,darkness1 ,potentialities unknown and unimagined1 gathered up into one stupendous ,force--we have never seen it4 ,how can we describe it8 ,what we have seen and tried to describe is only an indication of ,something undescribed1 and is as nothing in comparison with it--as ,dust in comparison with the ,actual4 ,the book's scope1 then1 is bounded by this3 it only touches the ,dust2 but its purpose goes deeper1 stretches wider1 has to do with the ,actual and our relation to it4 ,but in touching the ,dust we touch the outworkings of an ,energy so awful in operation that descriptive chapters are awful too4 ,and such chapters are best read alone in some quiet place with ,god4 ,for the book is a battle-book1 written from a battle-field where the fighting is not pretty play but stern reality2 and almost every page looks straight from the place where ,charles ,kingsley stood when he wrote-- ,god6 fight we not within a cursd world1 ,whose very air teems thick with leagud fiends-- ,each word we speak has infinite effects-- ,each soul we pass must go to heaven or hell-- ,and this our one chance through eternity ,to drop and die1 like dead leaves in the brake6 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,be earnest1 earnest1 earnest2 mad if thou wilt3 ,do what thou dost as if the stake were heaven1 ,and that thy last deed ere the judgment day4 ,illustration3 ,this is our bullock-bandy4 ,the water was up to the top of the bank when we crossed last4 ,the palms are cocoanuts4 ,,chapter ,,ii ,three ,afternoons off the ,track ,they are led captive by ,satan at his will in the most quiescent manner4 ,david ,brainerd1 ,north ,america4 ,oh that the ,lord would pour out upon them a spirit of deep concern for their souls6 ,henry ,martyn1 ,india4 ,i ask you earnestly to pray that the ,gospel may take saving and working effect4 ,james ,gilmour1 ,mongolia4 ,,the ,western ,ghauts sweep down to the sea in curves4 ,dohnavur is in one of the last of these curves4 ,there are no proper roads running under the mountains1 only rough country ruts crossing the plain4 ,we were rolling along one of these at the rate of two miles an hour4 ,crash and tumble went the bandy1 a springless construction with a mat roof2 bang over stones and slabs of rock1 down on one side1 up on the other2 then both wheels were sharp aslant4 ,but this is usual4 ,on that particular ,first ,afternoon the water was out1 which is the ,south ,indian way of saying that the tanks1 great lake-like reservoirs1 have overflowed and flooded the land4 ,once we went smoothly down a bank and into a shallow swollen pool1 and the water swished in at the lower end and floated our books out quietly4 ,so we had to stop1 and fish them up2 and then1 huddled close at the upper end we sat1 somewhat damp1 but happy4 ,at last we got to our destination1 reached through a lane which then was a stream with quite a swift little current of its own4 ,cupid's ,lake the place is called4 ,we thought the name appropriate4 ,cupid's ,lake is peopled by ,castes of various persuasions2 we made for the ,robber quarter first4 ,the ,robber ,caste is honourable here2 it furnishes our watchmen and the coolies who carry our money4 ,there is good stuff in the ,robber ,caste people3 a valiant people are they1 and though they were not prepared for the thing that was coming towards them1 they met it with fortitude4 ,a little girl saw it first4 ,one glance at my hat through the end of the cart1 and she flew to spread the news-- ,oh6 everyone come running and see6 ,a great white man is here6 ,oh what an appalling spectacle6 ,a great white man6 ,then there was a general rush2 children seemed to spring from the ground1 all eyes and tongues and astonishment4 ,she isn't a man6 ,he is6 ,she isn't6 ,he has got a man's turban6 ,but look at her seeley6 7,tamil dress47 ,a woman1 and white--it staggered them till the assurances of the ,band ,sisters prevailed2 and they let me into a neighbouring house1 out of the sun which made that hat a necessity4 ,once it was off they lost all fear1 and crowded round in the friendliest fashion2 but later1 one of the ,band was amused by hearing me described in full3 ,not a man1 though great and white1 and wearing a white man's turban1 too6 ,was it not an appalling spectacle8 ,and the old body who was addressed held up both her hands amazed1 and hastened off to investigate4 ,an ,english magazine told us lately exactly what these poor women think when they see1 for the first time in their lives1 the lady missionary4 ,they greatly admire her1 the article said1 and consider her fairer and more divine than anything ever imagined before--which is very nice indeed to read2 but here what they say is this3 ,was it not an appalling spectacle8 ,a great white man6 ,and now that the spectacle was safe in the house1 the instincts of hospitality urged clean mats and betel4 ,betel 7pronounced beetle7 is the leaf of a climbing plant1 into which they roll a morsel of areca nut and lime4 ,the whole is made up into a parcel and munched1 but not swallowed4 ,this does not sound elegant2 neither is the thing4 ,it is one of the minor trials of life to have to sit through the process4 ,we took a leaf or two1 but explained that it was not our custom to eat it2 and then we answered questions straight off for ten minutes4 ,what is your ,caste8 ,chee6 in a tone of remonstrance1 don't you see she is white8 ,married or widow8 ,why no jewels8 ,what relations8 ,where are they all8 ,why have you left them and come here8 ,whatever can be your business here8 ,what does the ,government give you for coming here8 ,these last questions gave us the chance we were watching for1 and we began to explain4 ,now what do these people do when1 for the first time1 they hear the ,good ,tidings8 ,they simply stare4 ,in that house that day there was an old woman who seemed to understand a little what it was all about4 ,she had probably heard before4 ,but nobody else understood in the least2 they did not understand enough to make remarks4 ,they sat round us on the floor and ate betel1 as everybody does here in all leisure moments1 and they stared4 ,the one old woman who seemed to understand followed us out of the house1 and remarked that it was a good religion but a mistaken one1 as it advocated1 or resulted in1 the destruction of ,caste4 ,in the next house we found several girls1 and tried to persuade the mothers to let them learn to read4 ,if a girl is learning regularly it gives one a sort of right of entrance to the house4 ,one's going there is not so much observed and one gets good chances1 but to all our persuasions they only said it was not their custom to allow their girls to learn4 ,had they to do ,government work8 ,learning was for men who wanted to do ,government work4 ,we explained a little1 and mentioned the many villages where girls are learning to read4 ,they thought it a wholly ridiculous idea4 ,then we told them as much as we could in an hour about the great love of ,jesus ,christ4 ,i was in the middle of it1 and thinking only of it and their souls1 when an old lady with fluffy white hair leaned forward and gazed at me with a beautiful1 earnest gaze4 ,she did not speak2 she just listened and gazed1 drinking it all in4 ,and then she raised a skeleton claw1 and grabbed her hair1 and pointed to mine4 ,are you a widow too1 she asked1 that you have no oil on yours8 ,after a few such experiences that beautiful gaze loses its charm4 ,it really means nothing more nor less than the sweet expression sometimes observed in the eyes of a sorrowful animal4 ,but her question had set the ball rolling again4 ,oil6 no oil6 ,can't you even afford a halfpenny a month to buy good oil8 ,it isn't your custom8 ,why not8 ,don't any white ,ammals ever use oil8 ,what sort of oil do the girls use8 ,do you never use castor oil for the hair8 ,oh1 castor oil is excellent6 ,and they went into many details4 ,the first thing they do when a baby is born is to swing it head downwards1 holding its feet1 and advise it not to sin2 and the second thing is to feed it with castor oil1 and put castor oil in its eyes4 ,do we do none of these things8 ,we sang to them4 ,they always like that1 and sometimes it touches them3 but the ,tamils are not easily touched1 and could never be described as unduly emotional4 ,all through there were constant and various interruptions4 ,two bulls sauntered in through the open door1 and established themselves in their accustomed places2 then a cow followed1 and somebody went off to tie the animals up4 ,children came in and wanted attention1 babies made their usual noises4 ,we rarely had five consecutive quiet minutes4 ,when they seemed to be getting tired of us1 we said the time was passing1 to which they agreed1 and1 with a word about hoping to come again1 to which they answered cordially1 ,oh yes6 ,come to-morrow6 we went out into the street1 and finished up in the open air4 ,there is a tree at one end of the village2 we stood under it and sang a chorus and taught the children who had followed us from house to house to sing it1 and this attracted some passing grown-ups1 who listened while we witnessed unto ,jesus1 ,who had saved us and given us ,his joy4 ,nothing tells more than just this simple witness4 ,to hear one of their own people saying1 with evident sincerity1 ,one thing ,i know1 that whereas ,i was blind now ,i see1 makes them look at each other and nod their heads sympathetically4 ,this is something that appeals1 something they can appreciate2 many a time it arrests attention when nothing else would4 ,illustration3 ,we were not able to get the photo of that special girl in the blue seeley1 but this girl is so like her that ,i put her here4 ,she is a ,vellalar4 ,the jewels worn by a girl of this class run into thousands of rupees4 ,they are part of the ordinary dress4 ,this girl did not know we were coming1 she was caught just as she was4 ,she had a ball of pink oleander flowers in her hands and white flowers in her hair4 ,we were thoroughly tired by this time1 and could neither talk nor sing any more4 ,the crowd melted--all but the children1 who never melt--one by one going their respective ways1 having heard1 some of them1 for the first time4 ,what difference will it make in their lives8 ,did they understand it8 ,none of them seemed specially interested1 none of them said anything interesting4 ,the last question ,i heard was about soap--,what sort of soap do you use to make your skin white8 ,most of them would far prefer to be told that secret than how to get a white heart4 ,afternoon ,number ,two found us in the ,village of the ,temple1 a tumble-down little place1 but a very citadel of pride and the arrogance of ignorance4 ,we did not know that at first1 of course1 but we very soon found it out4 ,there was the usual skirmish at the sight of a live white woman2 no one there had seen such a curiosity4 ,but even curiosity could not draw the ,brahmans4 ,they live in a single straggling street1 and would not let us in4 ,go6 said a fat old ,brahman disdainfully2 no white man has ever trodden our street1 and no white woman shall4 ,as for that low-caste child with you--,victory looked up in her gentle way1 and he varied it to--that child who eats with those low-caste people--she shall not speak to one of our women4 ,go by the way you have come6 ,this was not encouraging4 ,we salaamed and departed1 and went to our bandy left outside 7low-caste bandies are not allowed to drive down ,brahman streets71 and asked our ,master to open another door4 ,while we were waiting1 a tall1 fine-looking ,hindu came and said1 ,will you come to my house8 ,i will show you the way4 ,so we went4 ,he led us to the ,vellala quarter next to the ,brahmans1 and we found his house was the great house of the place4 ,the outer door opened into a large square inner courtyard4 ,a wide verandah1 supported by pillars quaintly carved1 ran round it4 ,the women's rooms1 low and windowless1 opened on either side2 these are the rooms we rejoice to get into1 and now we were led right in4 ,but first ,i had to talk to the men4 ,they were regular ,caste ,hindus2 courteous--for they have had no cause to fear the power of the ,gospel--yet keen and argumentative4 ,one of them had evidently read a good deal4 ,he quoted from their classics2 knew all about ,mrs4 ,besant and the latest pervert to her views2 and was up in the bewildering tangle of thought known as ,hindu ,philosophy4 ,fog-wreaths of doubt1 in blinding eddies drifted--that is what it really is1 but it is very difficult to prove it so4 ,one truth struck him especially--,christianity is the only religion which provides a way by which there is deliverance from sin now4 ,there is a certain system of philosophy which professes to provide deliverance in the future1 when the soul1 having passed through the first three stages of bliss1 loses its identity and becomes absorbed in ,god2 but there is no way by which deliverance can be obtained here and now4 ,sin shall not have dominion over you--there is no such line as this in all the million stanzas of the ,hindu classics4 ,he admitted this freely1 admitted that this one tenet marked out ,christianity as a unique religion2 but he did not go on further2 he showed no desire to prove the truth of it4 ,after this they let us go to the women1 who had all this time been watching us1 and discussing us with interest4 ,once safely into their inner room1 we sat down on the floor in the midst of them1 and began to make friends4 ,there was a grandmother who had heard that white people were not white all over1 but piebald1 so to speak2 might she examine me8 ,there were several matronly women who wanted to know what arrangements ,english parents made concerning their daughters' marriages4 ,there were the usual widows of a large ,indian household--one always looks at them with a special longing2 and there was a dear young girl1 in a soft blue seeley 7,tamil dress71 her ears clustered about with pearls1 and her neck laden with five or six necklets worth some hundreds of rupees4 ,she was going to be married2 and beyond the usual gentle courtesy of a well-brought-up ,tamil girl1 showed no interest in us4 ,almost all the women had questions to ask4 ,on the track it is different2 they have already satisfied their lawful curiosity concerning ,missie ,ammals2 but here they have not had the chance2 and if we ignore their desires1 we defeat our own4 ,they may seem to listen1 but they are really occupied in wondering about us4 ,we got them to listen finally1 and left them1 cheered by warm invitations to return4 ,then we thought of the poor proud ,brahmans1 and hoping that1 perhaps1 in the interval they had inquired about us1 and would let us in1 we went to them again4 ,we could see the fair faces and slender forms of the younger ,brahman women standing in the shadow behind their verandah pillars1 and some of them looked as if they would like to let us in1 but the street had not relented2 and a ,brahman street is like a house--you cannot go in unless you are allowed4 ,there was one kind-faced1 courtly old man1 and he seemed to sympathise with us1 for he left the mocking group of men1 and came to see us off2 and then1 as if to divert us from the greater topic1 he pointed to one of the mountains1 a spur of the ,god ,king's mountain1 famous in all ,south ,india1 and volunteered to tell me its story4 ,we were glad to make friends with him even over so small a thing as a mountain2 but he would speak of nothing else1 and when he left us we felt baffled and sorry1 and tired with the tiredness that comes when you cannot give your message2 and we sat down on a rock outside the ,brahman street1 to wait till the ,band ,sisters gathered for the homeward walk4 ,it was sunset time1 and the sky was overcast by dull grey clouds2 but just over the ,brahman quarter there was a rift in the grey1 and the pent-up gold shone through4 ,it seemed as if ,god were pouring out ,his beauty upon those ,brahmans1 trying to make them look up1 and they would not4 ,one by one we saw them go to their different courtyards1 where the golden glow could not reach them1 and we heard them shut their great heavy doors1 as if they were shutting ,him out4 ,in there it was dark2 out here1 out with ,god1 it was light4 ,the after-glow1 that loveliest glow of the ,east1 was shining through the rent of the clouds1 and the red-tiled roofs and the scarlet flowers of the ,flame of the ,forest1 and every tint and colour which would respond in any way1 were aglow with the beauty of it4 ,the ,brahman quarter was set in the deep green of shadowy trees2 just behind it the mountains rose outlined in mist1 and out of the mist a waterfall gleamed white against blue4 ,we spent ,afternoon ,number ,three in the ,village of the ,warrior1 a lonely little place1 left all by itself on a great rough moorland--if you can call a patch of bare land moor which is destitute of heather1 and grows palms and scrub in clumps instead4 ,it took us rather a long time to get to it1 over very broken ground on a very hot day2 but when we did get there we found such a good opening that we forgot about our feelings1 and entered in rejoicing4 ,there were some little children playing at the entrance to the village1 and they led us straight to their own house1 making friends in the most charming way as they trotted along beside us4 ,they told us their family history1 and we told them as much of ours as was necessary1 and they introduced us to their mothers as old acquaintances4 ,the mothers were indulgent1 and let us have a room all to ourselves in the inner courtyard1 where a dozen or more children gathered and listened with refreshing zest4 ,they understood1 dear little things1 though so often their elders did not4 ,then the mothers got interested1 and sat about the door4 ,the girls were with me4 7,we usually divide into two parties2 the elder and more experienced ,sisters go off in one direction1 and the young convert-girls come with me47 ,and before long1 ,jewel of ,victory was telling out of a full heart all about the great things ,god had done for her4 ,she has a very sweet way with the women1 and they listened fascinated4 ,then the others spoke1 and still those women listened4 ,they were more intelligent than our audience of yesterday2 and though they did not follow nearly all1 they listened splendidly to the story-part of our message4 ,in the meaning1 as is often the case1 their interest was simply nil4 ,but we were sorry1 and ,i think so were they1 when a commotion outside disturbed us1 and we were sorrier when we knew the cause4 ,the village postman1 who only visits these out-of-the-way places once a week1 had appeared with a letter for the head of the house4 ,one of the men folk had read it4 ,it told of the death of the son in foreign parts--,madras1 ,i think--and the poor old mother's one desire was to see us out of the room4 ,she had not liked to turn us out2 but1 as the news spread1 more women gathered clamouring round the door2 and the moment we left the room empty1 in they rushed1 with the mother and the women who had listened to us1 and flinging themselves on the floor1 cried the ,tamil cry of sorrow1 full of a pathos of its own3 ,ai-yo6 ,ai-yo6 ,ai-,ai-yo6 ,it was sad to leave them crying so1 but at that moment we were certainly better away4 ,the children came with us to the well outside the village1 and we sat on its wall and went on with our talk4 ,they would hardly let us go1 and begged us to come back and teach them every day1 not the ,gospel--do not imagine their little hearts craved for that--but reading and writing and sums6 ,as we drove off some of the villagers smiled and salaamed1 and the little children's last words followed us as far as we could hear them3 ,come back soon6 ,sometimes1 as now1 when we come to a new place1 we dream a dream1 dream that perhaps at last it may be possible to win souls peacefully4 ,perhaps these courteous1 kindly people will welcome the message we bring them when they understand it better4 ,perhaps homes need not be broken up1 perhaps whole families will believe1 or individual members believing may still live in their own homes and witness there4 ,perhaps--perhaps--6 ,and snatches of verse float through our dream-- ,oh1 might some sweet song ,thy lips have taught us1 ,some glad song1 and sweet1 ,guide amidst the mist1 and through the darkness1 ,lost ones to ,thy feet6 ,it sounds so beautiful1 so easy1 singing souls to ,jesus4 ,and we dream our dream4 ,till suddenly and with violence we are awakened4 ,someone--a mere girl1 or a lad1 or even a little child--has believed1 has confessed1 wants to be a ,christian4 ,and the whole ,caste is roused1 and the whole countryside joins with the ,caste2 and the people we almost thought loved us1 hate us4 ,and till we go to the next new place we never dream that dream again4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,humdrum ,a missionary's life is more ordinary than is supposed4 ,plod rather than cleverness is often the best missionary equipment4 ,rev4 ,j4 ,heywood ,horsburgh1 ,china4 ,truly to understand the facts of work for ,christ in any land1 we must strip it of all romance1 and of everything which is unreal4 ,miss ,s4 ,s4 ,hewlett1 ,india4 ,,there have been times of late when ,i have had to hold on to one text with all my might3 ,it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful4 ,praise ,god1 it does not say successful4 ,one evening things came to a climax4 ,we all spent a whole afternoon without getting one good listener4 ,we separated as usual1 going two and two to the different quarters of a big sleepy straggly village4 ,life and ,i went to the potters4 ,life spoke most earnestly and well to an uninterested group of women4 ,after she had finished one of them pointed to my hat 7the only foreign thing about me which was visible--oh that ,i could dispense with it674 ,what is that8 she said4 ,not one bit did they care to hear4 ,one by one they went back to their work1 and we were left alone4 ,we went to another quarter4 ,it was just the same4 ,at a rest-house by the way ,i noticed a ,brahman1 and went to see if he would listen4 ,he would if ,i would talk about politics or education1 but not if it was about religion4 ,however1 ,i did get a chance of pleading with him to consider the question of his soul's salvation1 and he took a book and said he would read it at his leisure4 ,and then he asked me how many persons ,i had succeeded in joining to my ,way since ,i began to try4 ,it was exactly the question1 only asked in another form1 which the devil had been pressing on me all the afternoon4 ,after this he told me politely that we were knocking our heads against a rock2 we might smash our heads1 but we never would affect the rock4 ,rock6 ,rock6 when wilt thou open8 ,it is an old cry2 ,i cried it afresh4 ,but the ,brahman only smiled1 and then with a gesture expressing at once his sense of his own condescension in speaking with me1 and his utter contempt for the faith ,i held1 motioned to me to go4 ,outside in the road a number of ,hindus were standing2 some of them were his retainers and friends4 ,i heard them say1 as ,i passed through their midst1 ,who will fall into the pit of the ,christian ,way6 ,and they laughed1 and the ,brahman laughed4 ,as the filth of the world1 the offscouring of all things1 unto this day4 ,we walked along the road bordered with beautiful banyan trees4 ,we sat down under their shade1 and waited for what would come4 ,some little children followed us1 but before we could get a single idea clearly into their heads a man came and chased them away4 ,it is getting dark1 he said4 ,they are only little green things2 they must not be out late4 ,it was broad daylight then1 and would be for another hour4 ,some coolies passing that way stopped to look at us2 but before they had time to get interested they too remarked that darkness was coming1 and they must be off1 and off they went4 ,we were left alone after that4 ,within five minutes' walk were at least five hundred souls1 redeemed1 but they don't know it2 redeemed1 but they don't want to know it4 ,sometimes they seem to want to know1 but however tenderly you tell it1 the keen ,hindu mind soon perceives the drift of it all--,redemption must mean loss of ,caste4 ,one day last week ,i was visiting in the ,village of the ,red ,lake4 ,standing in one of its courtyards you see the ,western ,ghauts rising straight up behind4 ,the ,red ,lake lies at the mountain foot2 we call it ,derwentwater1 but there are palms and bamboos1 and there is no ,friar's ,crag4 ,that afternoon ,i was bound for a house in the centre of the village1 when an old lady called me to come to her house1 and ,i followed her gladly4 ,there were six or eight women all more or less willing to listen2 among them were two who were very old4 ,old people in ,india are usually too attached to their own faith1 or too utterly stupid and dull1 to care to hear about another2 but this old lady had been stirred to something almost like active thought by the recent death of a relative1 and she felt that she needed something more than she had to make her ready for death4 ,she was apparently devout4 ,ashes were marked on her brow and arms1 and she wore a very large rosary4 ,it is worn to accumulate merit4 ,i did not refer to it as ,i talked1 but in some dim way she seemed to feel it did not fit with what ,i was saying1 for1 with trembling hands1 she took it off and threw it to a child4 ,i hoped this meant something definite1 and tried to lead her to ,jesus4 ,but as soon as she understood ,who ,he was1 she drew back4 ,i cannot be a disciple of your ,guru1 here1 she said2 would my relations bear such defilement8 ,being a ,christian really meant sooner or later leaving her home and all her people for ever4 ,can you wonder an old lady of perhaps seventy-five stopped at that8 ,the little children in the ,village of the ,warrior are not allowed to learn4 ,the men of the place have consulted and come to the decision4 ,the chill of it has struck the little ones1 and they do not care to run the chance of the scolding they would receive if they showed too much interest in us4 ,the mothers are as friendly as ever1 but indifferent4 ,we hear this is a religion which spoils our ,caste1 they say1 and that is the end of it4 ,in the great house of the ,temple ,village they listened well for some weeks4 ,then1 as it gradually opened to them that there is no ,caste whatever in ,christianity1 their interest died4 ,how much one would like to tell a different story6 ,but a made-up story is one thing and a story of facts is another4 ,so far we have only found two genuine earnest souls here4 ,but if those two go on--6 ,praise ,god for the joy on before6 ,we went again to the potters' village and sat on the narrow verandah and talked to a girl as she patted the pots into shape underneath where the wheel had left an open place4 ,she listened for awhile2 then she said1 ,if ,i come to your ,way will you give me a new seeley and good curry every day8 ,and back again we went to the very beginning of things1 while the old grandfather spinning his wheel chuckled at us for our folly in wasting our time over potters4 ,as if we would ever turn to your religion6 he said4 ,have you ever heard of a potter who changed his ,caste8 ,caste and religion6 ,they are so mixed up that we do not know how to unmix them4 ,his ,caste to the potter meant his trade1 the trade of his clan for generations2 it meant all the observances bound up with it2 it meant1 in short1 his life4 ,it would never strike him that he could be a ,christian and a potter at the same time1 and very probably he could not2 the feeling of the ,caste would be against it4 ,then what else could he be8 ,he does not argue all this out2 he does not care enough about the matter to take the trouble to think at all4 ,he has only one concern in life--he lives to make pots and sell them1 and make more and sell them1 and so eat and sleep in peace4 ,but the girl had the look of more possibility2 she asked questions and seemed interested1 and finally suggested we should wait till she had finished her batch of pots1 and then she would tell us all her mind4 ,so we waited and watched the deft brown hands as they worked round the gaping hole till it grew together and closed2 and at last she had finished4 ,then she drew us away from the group of curious children1 and told us if we would come in three days she would be prepared to join our ,way and come with us1 for she had to work very hard at home1 and her food was poor and her seeley old1 and she thought it would be worth risking the wrath of her people to get all she knew we should give her if she came2 and this was all her mind4 ,she had touched a great perplexity4 ,how are we to live in ,india without raising desires of this sort8 ,it is true the ,brahmans look down upon us1 and the higher ,castes certainly do not look up1 but to the greater number of the people we seem rich and grand and desirable to cultivate4 ,the ,ulterior-,object-,society is a fact in ,south ,india4 ,we may banish expensive-looking things from our tables1 and all pictures and ornaments from our walls1 and confine ourselves to texts4 ,this certainly helps2 there is less to distract the attention of the people when they come to see us1 and we have so many the fewer things to take care of--a very great advantage--but it does not go far towards disillusioning them as to what they imagine is our true position4 ,we are still up above to them2 not on a level1 not one of themselves4 ,the houses we live in are airy and large1 and they do not understand the need of protection from the sun4 ,the food we eat is abundant and good1 and to them it looks luxurious1 for they live on rice and vegetable curry1 at a cost of twopence a day4 ,our walls may be bare1 but they are clean1 and the texts aforesaid are not torn at the corners2 so1 whatever we say1 we are rich4 ,identification with the people whom we have come to win is the aim of many a missionary1 but the difficulty always is the same--climate and customs are dead against it2 how can we do it8 ,george ,bowen struck at ,english life and became a true ,indian1 so far as he could1 but even he could not go all the way4 ,no matter how far you may go1 there is always a distance you cannot cover--yards or inches it may be1 but always that fatal hiatus4 ,we seem so undeniably up1 far up above them in everything1 and we want to get to the lowest step down1 low enough down to lift lost souls up4 ,illustration3 ,i went down to the potter's house1 and1 behold1 he wrought a work on the wheels4 ,the vessel the potters are making here is worth about a halfpenny1 but it is perfect of its kind4 ,the moulder never lifts his hand from it from the moment he puts a lump of shapeless clay on the wheel till the moment he takes it off finished1 so far as the wheel can finish it4 ,if it is marred1 it is marred in the hand of the potter1 and instantly he makes it again another vessel as it seems good to him4 ,he never wastes the clay4 ,on and on1 if they will let us1 time after time1 by text and hymn and story1 we have to explain what things really mean before they are able to understand even a fraction of the truth4 ,the fact that this girl had thought enough to get her ideas into shape was encouraging1 and with such slender cause for hope we still hoped4 ,but when after some weeks' visiting she began to see that the question was not one of curries and seeleys but of inward invisible gifts1 her interest died1 and she was out when we went1 or too busy patting her pots to have time to listen to us4 ,humdrum we have called the work1 and humdrum it is4 ,there is nothing romantic about potters except in poetry1 nor is there much of romance about missions except on platforms and in books4 ,yet though it's dull at whiles1 there is joy in the doing of it1 there is joy in just obeying4 ,he said ,go1 tell1 and we have come and are telling1 and we meet ,him as we go and tell4 ,but1 dear friends1 do not1 we entreat you1 expect to hear of us doing great things1 as an everyday matter of course4 ,our aim is great--it is ,india for ,christ6 and before the gods in possession here1 we sing songs unto ,him4 ,but what we say to you is this3 ,do not expect every true story to dovetail into some other true story and end with some marvellous coincidence or miraculous conversion4 ,most days in real life end exactly as they began1 so far as visible results are concerned4 ,we do not find1 as a rule1 when we go to the houses--the literal little mud houses1 ,i mean1 of literal heathendom--that anyone inside has been praying we might come4 ,i read a missionary story founded on fact the other day1 and the things that happened in that story on these lines were most remarkable4 ,they do not happen here4 ,practical missionary life is an unexciting thing4 ,it is not sparkling all over with incident4 ,it is very prosaic at times4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,correspondences ,it is very pleasant when you are in ,england1 and you see souls being saved1 and you see the conviction of sin1 and you see the power of the ,gospel to bring new life and new joy and purity to hearts4 ,but it is still more glorious amongst the heathen to see the same things1 to see the ,lord there working ,his own work of salvation1 and to see the souls convicted and the hearts broken1 and to see there the new life and the new joy coming out in the faces of those who have found the ,lord ,jesus4 ,rev4 ,barclay ,f4 ,buxton1 ,japan4 ,,before putting this chapter together1 ,i have looked long at the photograph which fronts it4 ,the longer one looks the more pitiful it seems4 ,perhaps one reads into it all that one knows of her1 all one has done for her1 how one has failed--and this makes it sadder than it may be to other eyes4 ,and yet can it fail to be sad8 ,hood's lines reversed describe her-- ,all that is left of her ,now is not womanly4 ,the day we took her photo she was returning from her morning worship at the shrine4 ,she had poured her libation over the idol1 walked round and round it1 prostrated herself before it1 gone through the prayers she had learned off by heart1 and now was on her way home4 ,illustration3 ,a ,saivite ascetic4 ,siva represents the severer side of ,hinduism1 the ,powers of ,nature which destroy4 ,but as all disintegrated things are reintegrated in some other form1 the two ,powers1 ,destruction and ,reconstruction1 were united in the thought of the old ,hindus1 and ,siva represents the double ,power4 ,the ,saivite form of ,hinduism is older than the ,vaishnavite1 and more widely spread over ,india4 ,there are said to be #cj1jjj1jjj symbols of the god ,siva scattered about the land4 ,saivites are instantly recognised by the mark of white ashes on their foreheads1 and sometimes on the breast and arms1 and often a necklet of berries is worn4 ,we had gone to her village to take photographs1 and had just got the street scene in the morning light4 ,the crowd followed us1 eager to see more of the doings of the picture-catching box2 and she1 fearing the defiling touch of the mixed ,castes represented there1 had climbed up on a granite slab by the side of the road1 and stood waiting till we passed4 ,there we saw her1 and there we took her1--for1 to our surprise1 she did not object1--and now here she is1 to show with all the force of truth how far from ideal the real may be4 ,we looked at her as ,i look at her now1 stripped of all ,god meant her to have when ,he made her1 deep in the mire of the lowest form of idolatry1 a devotee of ,siva4 ,she had been to ,benares and bathed in the sacred ,ganges1 and therefore she is holy beyond the reach of doubt4 ,she has no room for any sense of the need of ,christ4 ,she pities our ignorance when we talk to her4 ,is she not a devotee8 ,has she not been to ,benares8 ,often and often we meet her in the high-caste houses of the place1 where she is always an honoured guest because of her wonderful sanctity4 ,she watches keenly then lest any of the younger members of the household should incline to listen to us4 ,one of her relatives is an ,english-educated lawyer1 a bitter though covert foe1 who not long ago stirred up such opposition that we were warned not to go near the place4 ,men had been hired to fall upon us and beat us4 ,this because a girl1 a connection of his1 read her ,bible openly1 instead of in secret as she had done before4 ,he connected this action on her part with a visit we had paid to the house1 and so induced certain of the baser sort to do this thing4 ,we went1 however1 just the same1 as we had work we had promised to do1 and saw the old gentleman sitting on the verandah reading his ,english newspaper in the most pacific fashion4 ,he seemed surprised to see us as we passed with a salaam2 we saw nothing of the beaters1 and returned with whole bones1 to the relief of the community at large4 ,only ,i remember one of our ,band was woefully disappointed3 ,i thought1 perhaps1 we were going to be martyrs1 she said4 ,illustration3 ,street in the ,red ,lake ,village4 ,an ordinary typical village scene1 except that just then there were more people than usual before the picture-catching box4 ,the only way to keep them from crowding round it was to show them something else3 this explains the group on the stones at the side4 ,and so we realise1 as so often in ,india1 the power of both extremes2 the one with all the force of his education1 and the other with all the force of her superstition1 each uniting with the other in repelling the coming of the ,saviour both equally need4 ,as one looks at the photograph1 does it not help in the effort to realise the utter hopelessness1 from every human point of view1 of trying to win such a one1 for example1 to even care to think of ,christ8 ,there is1 over and above the natural apathy common to all1 an immense barrier of accumulated merit gained by pilgrimages1 austerities1 and religious observances1 and the soul is perfectly satisfied1 and has no desire whatever after ,god4 ,it is just this self-satisfaction which makes it so hopeless to try to do anything with it4 ,and yet nothing is hopeless to ,god2 ,set no borders to ,his strength1 a ,japanese missionary said4 ,we say it over and over again to ourselves1 in the face of some great hopelessness1 like that photograph before us2 and sometimes1 as if to assure us it is so1 ,god lifts some such soul into light4 ,just now we are rejoicing in a letter from the eastern side of the district1 telling us of the growth in the new life of one who only a little while ago was a temple devotee4 ,one has often longed to see ,him work as ,he worked of old1 healing the sick by the word of ,his power1 raising the dead4 ,but when we see ,him gathering one--and such a one6--from among the heathen to give thanks unto ,his holy ,name and to triumph in ,his praise1 one feels that indeed it is a miracle of miracles1 and that greater than a miracle wrought on the body is a miracle wrought on the soul4 ,but nothing ,i can write can show you the miracle it was4 ,in that particular case it was like seeing a soul drawn out of the hand of the ,ruler of ,darkness4 ,all salvation is that in reality1 but sometimes1 as in her case1 when the whole environment of the soul has been strongly for evil in its most dangerous phase1 then it is more evidently so4 ,perhaps we should explain4 ,we know that in its widest sense environment simply means all that is4 ,we know that all that is includes the existence of certain beings1 described as ,powers in ,ephesians vi4 #ab4 ,some of us are more or less unconscious of this part of our environment4 ,we have no conscious correspondence with it1 but it is there4 ,others1 again1 seek and find such correspondence1 to their certain and awful loss4 ,such a subject can hardly bear handling in language4 ,thank ,god we know so little about it that we do not know how to speak of it accurately4 ,neither1 indeed1 do we wish to intrude into those things which we have not seen by any attempt at close definition2 but we know there is this unhallowed correspondence between men and demons1 which in old days drew down1 as a lightning conductor1 the flash of the wrath of ,god4 ,here in ,india it exists2 we often almost touch it1 but not quite4 ,we would not go where we knew we should see it1 even if we might2 so1 unless we happen upon it1 which is rare1 we never see it at all4 ,a year ago ,i saw it1 and that one look made me realise1 as no amount of explanations ever could1 how absolutely out of reach of all human influence such souls are4 ,nothing can reach them1 nothing but the might of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,so ,i close with this one look4 ,will you pray for those to whom in the moonless night1 at the altar by the temple1 there is the sudden coming of that which they have sought--the possession1 the afflatus1 which for ever after marks them out as those whose correspondences reach beyond mortal ken4 ,all devotees have not received this awful baptism1 but in this part of ,india many have4 ,we were visiting in a high-caste house4 ,the walls were decorated with mythological devices1 and even the old wood-carvings were full of idolatrous symbols4 ,the women were listening well1 asking questions and arguing1 until one1 an old lady1 came in4 ,then they were silent4 ,she sat down and discussed us4 ,we thought we would change the subject1 and we began to sing4 ,she listened1 as they always do1 interrupting only to say1 ,that's true6 that's true6 ,till suddenly--,i cannot describe what--something seemed to come over her1 and she burst into a frenzy1 exclaiming1 ,let me sing6 let me sing6 ,and then she sang as ,i never heard anyone sing before--the wildest1 weirdest wail of a song all about idolatry1 its uselessness and folly1 its sorrow and sin4 ,so far ,i followed her1 for ,i knew the poem well1 but she soon turned off into regions of language and thought unreached as yet by me4 ,here she got madly excited1 and1 swaying herself to and fro1 seemed lashing herself into fury4 ,nearer and nearer she drew to us 7we were on the floor beside her72 then she stretched out her arm with its clenched fist1 and swung it straight for my eye4 ,within a hair's-breadth she drew back1 and struck out for ,victory's2 but ,god helped her not to flinch4 ,then ,i cannot tell what happened1 only her form dilated1 and she seemed as if she would spring upon us1 but as if she were somehow held back4 ,we dare not move for fear of exciting her more4 ,there we sat for ,i know not how long1 with this awful old woman's clenched fist circling round our heads1 or all but striking into our eyes1 while without intermission she crooned her song in that hollow hum that works upon the listener till the nerve of the soul is drawn out1 as it were1 to its very farthest stretch4 ,it was quite dark by this time2 only the yellow flicker of the wind-blown flame of the lamp made uncertain lights and shadows round the place where we were sitting1 and an eerie influence fell on us all1 almost mesmeric in effect4 ,i did not need the awestruck whispers round me to tell me what it was4 ,but oh6 ,i felt1 as ,i never felt before1 the reality of the presence of unseen powers1 and ,i knew that the ,actual itself was in the room with me4 ,at last she fell back exhausted1 trembling in every limb4 ,her old head hit the wall as she fell1 but ,i knew we must not help her2 it would be pollution to her if we touched her4 ,the people all round were too frightened to move4 ,so she fell and lay there quivering1 her glittering eyes still fixed on us2 and she tried to speak1 but could not4 ,softly we stole away1 and we felt we had been very near where ,satan's seat is4 ,think of someone you love--as ,i did then--of someone whose hair is white like hers2 but the face you think of has peace in it1 and ,god's light lightens it4 ,then think of her as we saw her last--the old face torn with the fury of hell1 and for light the darkness thereof4 ,oh1 friends1 do you care enough8 ,do we care enough out here8 ,god give us hearts that can care6 ,,chapter ,v ,the ,prey of the ,terrible ,i believe we are in the midst of a great battle4 ,we are not ourselves fighting1 we are simply accepting everything that comes2 but the ,powers of ,light are fighting against the ,powers of ,darkness1 and they will certainly prevail4 ,the ,holy ,spirit is working1 but the people do not as yet know it is the ,spirit4 ,hester ,needham1 ,sumatra4 ,,the devil's favourite device just now is to move interested people to far-away places4 ,we have had several who seemed very near to the ,kingdom4 ,then suddenly they have disappeared4 ,there was ,wreath1 of the ,village of the ,temple4 ,she used to listen in the shadow of the door while we sat on the outside verandah4 ,then she got bolder1 and openly asked to see ,golden1 and talk with her4 ,one day1 unexpectedly1 ,golden was led to the ,red ,lake ,village1 and to her surprise found ,wreath there4 ,she had been sent away from the ,village of the ,temple1 and was now with some other relations1 under even stricter guard4 ,but ,god led ,golden1 all unknowingly1 to go straight to the very house where she was4 ,so she heard again4 ,next time ,golden went she could not see her alone1 but somehow ,wreath got her to understand that if she went to a certain tree near the women's bathing-place1 at a certain time next week1 she would try to meet her there4 ,golden went1 and they met4 ,wreath told her she believed it all1 but she could not then face breaking ,caste and destroying her family's name4 ,they had been good to her1 how could she disgrace them8 ,still1 she eagerly wanted to go on hearing1 and we felt that if she did1 the love of ,god would win4 ,so we were full of hope4 ,next time ,golden went she could find no trace of her4 ,she has never seen her since4 ,there is a rumour that she has been carried off over the mountains1 hundreds of miles away4 ,in another village a bright1 keen boy of seventeen listened one day when we taught the women1 and1 becoming greatly interested1 openly took the ,gospel's part when the village elders attacked it4 ,after some weeks he gathered courage to come and see the ,iyer4 ,he was a very intelligent boy1 well known all over the countryside1 because he had studied the ,tamil classics1 and also because of his connection with one of the chief temples of the district4 ,a fortnight after his visit here1 our ,band went to his village4 ,they heard that he was married and gone1 where1 no one would say4 ,the relations must have heard of his coming to us 7of course he was urged to tell them71 and they rushed him through a marriage1 and sent him off post haste4 ,so now there is another key turned1 locking him into ,hinduism4 ,in the ,village of the ,wind a young girl became known as an inquirer4 ,her ,caste passed the word along from village to village wherever its members were found1 and all these relations and connections were speedily leagued in a compact to keep her from hearing more4 ,when we went to see her1 we found she had been posted off somewhere else4 ,when we went to the somewhere else 7always freely mentioned to us1 with invitations to go71 we found she had been there1 but had been forwarded elsewhere4 ,for weeks she was tossed about like this2 then we traced her1 and found her4 ,but she was thoroughly cowed1 and dared not show the least interest in us4 ,it is often like that4 ,just at the point where the soul-poise is so delicate that the lightest touch affects it1 something1 someone1 pushes it roughly1 and it trembles a moment1 then falls--on the wrong side4 ,the reason for all this alertness of opposition is1 that scattered about the five thousand square miles we call our field1 here and there seeds are beginning to grow4 ,some of the sowers are in ,england now1 and some are in heaven--sowers and reapers1 ,english and ,tamil1 rejoice together6 ,this is known everywhere1 for the news spreads from town to town1 and then out to the villages1 and the result is opposition4 ,sometimes the little patch of ground which looked so hopeful is trampled1 and the young seedlings killed2 sometimes they seem to be rooted up4 ,when we go to our ,master and tell ,him1 ,he explains it3 ,an ,enemy hath done this4 ,but as the measure of the ,enemy's activity is in direct proportion to the measure of ,god's working1 we take it as a sign of encouragement1 however hindering it may be4 ,satan would not trouble to fight if he saw nothing worth attacking2 he does not seem to mind the spread of a head knowledge of the ,doctrine1 or even a cordial appreciation of it4 ,often we hear the people say how excellent it is1 and how they never worship idols now1 but only the true ,god2 and even a heathen mother will make her child repeat its texts to you1 and a father will tell you how it tells him ,bible stories2 and if you are quite new to the work you put it in the ,magazine1 and at home it sounds like conversion4 ,all this goes on most peacefully2 there is not the slightest stir1 till something happens to show the people that the ,doctrine is not just a ,creed1 but contains a living ,power4 ,and then1 and not till then1 there is opposition4 ,this opposition is sufficiently strong in the case of a boy or young man 7older ,caste men and women rarely change their religion in this part of ,south ,india71 but if a girl is in question1 the ,caste is touched at its most sensitive point1 and the feeling is simply intense4 ,men and demons seem to conspire to hold such a one in the clutch of the ,terrible4 ,there is a young girl in ,cupid's ,lake ,village whose heart the ,lord opened some weeks ago4 ,she is a gentle1 timid girl1 and devoted to her mother4 ,can it be right to break my mother's heart8 she used to ask us pitifully4 ,we urged her to try to win her mother1 but the mother was just furious4 ,the moment she understood that her daughter wanted to follow ,jesus1 or join the ,way1 as she would express it1 she gathered the girl's books and burnt them1 and forbade her ever to mention the subject2 and she went all round the villages trying to stop our work4 ,at last things came to a crisis4 ,the girl was told to do what she felt would be sin against ,god4 ,she refused4 ,they tried force1 sheer brute force4 ,she nerved herself for the leap in the dark1 and tried to escape to us4 ,but in the dark night she lost the way1 and had to run back to her home4 ,next morning the village priest spread a story to the effect that his god had appeared to him1 told him of her attempt to escape1 and that she would try twice again1 but each time ,i will stand in the way and turn her back1 he said4 ,this naturally startled the girl4 ,is his god stronger than ,jesus8 she asked in real perplexity4 ,we told her we thought the tale was concocted to frighten her2 the priest had seen her1 and made up the rest4 ,but twice since then1 driven by dire danger1 that girl has tried to get to us1 and each time she has been turned back4 ,and now she is kept in rigorous guard1 as her determination to be a ,christian is well known to all in the place4 ,do you say1 ,tell her to stay at home and bear it patiently8 ,we do tell her so1 when we can see her1 but we add1 till ,god makes a way of escape2 and if you knew all there is to be known about a ,hindu home1 and what may happen in it1 you would not tell her otherwise4 ,but supposing there is nothing more than negative difficulty to be feared1 have you ever tried in thought to change places with such a girl8 ,have you ever considered how impossible it is for such a one to grow8 ,the simple grace of continuance is in danger of withering when all help of every sort is absolutely cut off1 and the soul is1 to begin with1 not deeply rooted in ,god4 ,plants1 even when they have life1 need water and sunshine and air4 ,babes need milk4 ,you find it hard enough to grow1 if one may judge from the constant wails about leanness1 and yet you are surrounded by every possible help to growth4 ,you have a whole ,bible1 not just a scrap of it2 and you can read it all1 and understand at least most of it4 ,you have endless good books1 hymn-books1 and spiritual papers2 you have sermons every week1 numerous meetings for edification1 and perhaps an annual ,convention4 ,now strip yourself of all this4 ,shut your ,bible1 and forget as completely as if you had never known it all you ever read or heard1 except the main facts of the ,gospel4 ,forget all those strengthening verses1 all those beautiful hymns1 all those inspiring addresses4 ,likewise1 of course1 entirely forget all the loving dealings of ,god with yourself and with others--a ,hindu has no such memories to help her4 ,then go and live in a devil's den and develop saintliness4 ,the truth is1 even you would find it difficult2 but this ,hindu girl's case is worse than that1 a million times worse4 ,think of the life1 and then1 if you can1 tell her she must be quite satisfied with it1 that it is the will of ,god4 ,you could not say that it is ,his will6 ,it is the will of the ,terrible1 who holds on to his prey1 and would rather rend it limb from limb than ever let it go4 ,we are often asked to tell converts' stories2 and certainly they would thrill1 for the way of escape ,god opens sometimes is1 like ,peter's from prison1 miraculous2 and truth is stranger than fiction1 and far more interesting4 ,but we who work in the ,terrible's lair1 and know how he fights to get back his prey1 even after it has escaped from him1 are afraid to tell these stories too much1 and feel that silence is safest1 and1 strange as it may seem to some1 for the present most glorifies ,god4 ,for a certain connection has been observed between publicity and peril4 ,and we have learned by experience to fear any attempt to photograph spiritual fruit4 ,the old ,greek artist turned away the face that held too much for him to paint2 and that turned-away face had power in it1 they say1 to touch men's hearts4 ,we turn these faces away from you2 may the very fact that we do it teach some at home to realise how much more lies in each of them than we can say1 how great a need there is to pray that each may be kept safe4 ,the names of one and another occur1 because they came in the letters so often that ,i could not cross them all out without altering the character of the whole2 they are part of one's very life4 ,but as even a passing mention may mean danger1 unless a counteracting influence of real prayer protects them1 we ask you to pray that the tender protection of ,god may be folded round each one of them2 and then when we meet where no sin can creep into the telling1 and no harm can follow it1 they will tell you their stories themselves1 and ,god will give you your share in the joy1 comrades by prayer at home6 ,but let us press it on you now--pray1 oh1 pray for the converts6 ,pray that they may grow in ,christ4 ,pray that ,he may see of the travail of ,his soul1 and be satisfied with each of them4 ,and pray that we may enter into that travail of soul with ,him4 ,nothing less is any good4 ,spiritual children mean travail of soul--spiritual agony4 ,i wonder who among those who read this will realise what ,i mean4 ,some will1 ,i think2 so ,i write it4 ,it is a solemn thing to find oneself drawn out in prayer which knows no relief till the soul it is burdened with is born4 ,it is no less solemn afterwards1 until ,christ is formed in them4 ,converts are a responsible joy4 ,and now we have told you a little of what is going on4 ,there are days when nothing seems to be done1 and then again there are days when the ,terrible seems almost visible1 as he gathers up his strength1 and tears and mauls his prey4 ,and so it is true we have to fight a separate fight for each soul4 ,but another view of the case is a strength to us many a time4 ,we are not ourselves fighting1 but the ,powers of ,light are fighting against the ,powers of ,darkness1 and the coming of the victory is only a question of time4 ,shall the prey be taken from the ,mighty or the captives of the ,terrible be delivered8 ,but thus saith the ,lord1 ,even the captives of the ,mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the ,terrible shall be delivered4 ,,chapter ,,vi ,missed ,ends ,if you could only know what one feels on finding oneself 4 4 4 where the least ray of the ,gospel has not penetrated6 ,if those friends who blame 4 4 4 could see from afar what we see1 and feel what we feel1 they would be the first to wonder that those redeemed by ,christ should be so backward in devotion and know so little of the spirit of self-sacrifice4 ,they would be ashamed of the hesitations that hinder us4 4 4 4 ,we must remember that it was not by interceding for the world in glory that ,jesus saved it4 ,he gave ,himself4 ,our prayers for the evangelisation of the world are but a bitter irony so long as we only give of our superfluity1 and draw back before the sacrifice of ourselves4 ,m4 ,franois ,coillard1 ,africa4 ,someone must go1 and if no one else will go1 he who hears the call must go2 ,i hear the call1 for indeed ,god has brought it before me on every side1 and go ,i must4 ,rev4 ,henry ,watson ,fox1 ,india4 ,,the tom-toms thumped straight on all night1 and the darkness shuddered round me like a living1 feeling thing4 ,i could not go to sleep1 so ,i lay awake and looked2 and ,i saw1 as it seemed1 this3 ,that ,i stood on a grassy sward1 and at my feet a precipice broke sheer down into infinite space4 ,i looked1 but saw no bottom2 only cloud shapes1 black and furiously coiled1 and great shadow-shrouded hollows1 and unfathomable depths4 ,back ,i drew1 dizzy at the depth4 ,then ,i saw forms of people moving single file along the grass4 ,they were making for the edge4 ,there was a woman with a baby in her arms and another little child holding on to her dress4 ,she was on the very verge4 ,then ,i saw that she was blind4 ,she lifted her foot for the next step 4 4 4 it trod air4 ,she was over1 and the children over with her4 ,oh1 the cry as they went over6 ,then ,i saw more streams of people flowing from all quarters4 ,all were blind1 stone blind2 all made straight for the precipice edge4 ,there were shrieks as they suddenly knew themselves falling1 and a tossing up of helpless arms1 catching1 clutching at empty air4 ,but some went over quietly1 and fell without a sound4 ,then ,i wondered1 with a wonder that was simply agony1 why no one stopped them at the edge4 ,i could not4 ,i was glued to the ground1 and ,i could not call2 though ,i strained and tried1 only a whisper would come4 ,then ,i saw that along the edge there were sentries set at intervals4 ,but the intervals were far too great2 there were wide1 unguarded gaps between4 ,and over these gaps the people fell in their blindness1 quite unwarned2 and the green grass seemed blood-red to me1 and the gulf yawned like the mouth of hell4 ,then ,i saw1 like a little picture of peace1 a group of people under some trees1 with their backs turned towards the gulf4 ,they were making daisy chains4 ,sometimes when a piercing shriek cut the quiet air and reached them it disturbed them1 and they thought it a rather vulgar noise4 ,and if one of their number started up and wanted to go and do something to help1 then all the others would pull that one down4 ,why should you get so excited about it8 ,you must wait for a definite call to go6 ,you haven't finished your daisy chains yet4 ,it would be really selfish1 they said1 to leave us to finish the work alone4 ,there was another group4 ,it was made up of people whose great desire was to get more sentries out2 but they found that very few wanted to go1 and sometimes there were no sentries set for miles and miles of the edge4 ,once a girl stood alone in her place1 waving the people back2 but her mother and other relations called1 and reminded her that her furlough was due2 she must not break the rules4 ,and being tired and needing a change1 she had to go and rest for awhile2 but no one was sent to guard her gap1 and over and over the people fell1 like a waterfall of souls4 ,once a child caught at a tuft of grass that grew at the very brink of the gulf2 it clung convulsively1 and it called--but nobody seemed to hear4 ,then the roots of the grass gave way1 and with a cry the child went over1 its two little hands still holding tight to the torn-off bunch of grass4 ,and the girl who longed to be back in her gap thought she heard the little one cry1 and she sprang up and wanted to go2 at which they reproved her1 reminding her that no one is necessary anywhere2 the gap would be well taken care of1 they knew4 ,and then they sang a hymn4 ,then through the hymn came another sound like the pain of a million broken hearts wrung out in one full drop1 one sob4 ,and a horror of great darkness was upon me1 for ,i knew what it was--the ,cry of the ,blood4 ,then thundered a ,voice1 the ,voice of the ,lord3 ,and ,he said1 ,what hast thou done8 ,the voice of thy brothers' blood crieth unto ,me from the ground4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,the tom-toms still beat heavily1 the darkness still shuddered and shivered about me2 ,i heard the yells of the devil-dancers and the weird wild shriek of the devil-possessed just outside the gate4 ,what does it matter1 after all8 ,it has gone on for years2 it will go on for years4 ,why make such a fuss about it8 ,god forgive us6 ,god arouse us6 ,shame us out of our callousness6 ,shame us out of our sin6 99 99 99 99 99 ,one afternoon1 a few weeks after that night at the precipice edge1 ,victory and ,i were visiting in the ,red ,lake ,village1 when we heard the death-beat of the tom-tom and the shriek of the conch shell1 and we knew that another had gone beyond our reach4 ,one can never get accustomed to this4 ,we stopped for a moment and listened4 ,the women we were teaching broke in with eager explanations4 ,oh1 he was such a great one6 ,he had received the ,initiation4 ,there will be a grand ceremonial1 grander than ever you have6 ,then they told us how this great one had been initiated into the ,hindu mysteries by his family priest1 and that the mystical benefits accruing from this initiation were to be caused to revert to the priest4 ,this ,reverting of the ,initiation was to be one of the ceremonies4 ,we watched the procession pass down the street4 ,they were going for water from a sacred stream for the bathing of purification4 ,when they return1 said the women1 the ceremonies will begin4 ,a little later we passed the house1 and stood looking in through the doorway4 ,there was the usual large square courtyard1 with the verandah running round three sides4 ,the verandah was full of women4 ,we longed to go in1 but did not think they would let us4 ,the courtyard was rather confused2 men were rushing about1 putting up arches and decorating them2 servants were sweeping1 and cooking1 and shouting to one another2 the women were talking and laughing4 ,and all the time from within the house came the sound of the dirge for the dead1 and the laugh and the wail struck against each other1 and jarred4 ,no one noticed us for awhile1 but at last a woman saw us1 and beckoned us to come4 ,we are all defiled to-day2 you may sit with us1 they said2 and yielding to the instincts of their kindly ,tamil nature1 they crushed closer together to make room for us beside them4 ,how ,i did enjoy being squeezed up there among them4 ,but to appreciate that in the least you would have to work in a caste-bound part of old ,india2 you can have no idea1 until you try1 how hard it is to refrain from touching those whom you love4 ,the house door opened upon the verandah1 and we could hear the moan of the dirge4 ,there is sorrow on the sea2 it cannot be quiet4 ,there was no quietness1 only the ceaseless moan1 that kept rising into a wail2 there were tears in the sound of the wail1 and ,i felt like a sort of living harp with all its strings drawn tight4 ,but the women outside cared nothing at all4 ,it was strange to see how callous they were4 ,it was not their own who had died1 so they chatted and laughed and watched the proceedings--the tying of the garlands round the arches1 the arrangement of offerings for the ,brahmans4 ,it was all full of interest to them4 ,we tried to turn their thoughts to the ,powers of the ,world to ,come4 ,but no4 ,they did not care4 ,presently there was a stir4 ,the men are coming6 they said4 ,run6 there is a shady corner under those palms on the far verandah6 ,run and hide6 ,they are here6 ,and1 even as they spoke1 in streamed the men1 each with his brass water-vessel poised on his head1 and they saw us standing there4 ,we thought they would turn us out1 and were quite prepared to go at a sign from the head of the clan4 ,but he was a friend of ours1 and he smiled as we salaamed1 and pointed to a quiet corner1 out of the way1 where we could see it all without being too much seen4 ,to understand this1 which to me was a surprise1 one must remember that by nature the ,indian is most courteous1 and if it were not for ,caste rules we should be allowed to come much closer to them than is possible now4 ,to-day they were all ceremonially unclean1 so our presence was not considered polluting4 ,also the ,indian loves a function2 sad or glad1 it matters little4 ,life is a bubble on the water2 enjoy it while you may4 ,and they sympathised with what they thought was our desire to see the show4 ,this was human2 they could understand it4 ,so they let us stay2 and we stayed1 hoping for a chance later on4 ,then the ceremonies began4 ,they carried the dead man out and laid him in the courtyard under the arch of palms4 ,he was old and worn and thin4 ,one could see the fine old face1 with the marks of the ,hindu trident painted down the forehead4 ,he had been a most earnest ,hindu2 all the rites were duly performed1 and morning and night for many years he had marked those marks on his brow4 ,had he ever once listened to the ,truth8 ,i do not know4 ,he must have heard about it1 but he had not received it4 ,he died1 they told us1 not knowing what lay on the other side4 ,the water-bearers laid their vessels on the ground4 ,each had a leaf across its mouth4 ,the priest was crowned with a chaplet of flowers4 ,then came the bathing4 ,they threw up a shelter1 and carried him there4 ,it was reverently done4 ,there was a touch of refinement in the thought which banished the women and children before the bathing began4 ,tamils bathe in the open air1 and always clothed1 but always apart4 ,and as the women's verandah overlooked the screened enclosure1 they were all ordered off4 ,they went and waited1 silent now1 awed by the presence of the men4 ,while the bathing was going on the priests chanted and muttered incantations1 and now and again a bell was rung1 and incense waved1 and tapers lighted4 ,now they were causing that mysterious ,something which still hovered round the lifeless form to leave it and return to them1 and when the bathing was over they signified that all was done2 the ,influence had departed1 descended2 the funeral ceremonies might proceed4 ,and all this time1 without a break1 the dirge was being sung by the mourners in the house4 ,it was a sort of undernote to all the sounds outside4 ,then the old man1 robed in white and crowned and wreathed with flowers1 was carried round to the other side2 and oh1 the pitifulness of it all6 ,st4 ,paul must have been thinking of some such scene when he wrote to the converts1 ,that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope4 ,and ,i thought how strangely callous we were1 how superficial our sympathy4 ,the ,lord's command does not stir us1 the sorrow of those we neglect does not touch us2 we think so much more of ourselves and our own selfish pleasure than we think of the purpose for which we were saved--and at such a tremendous cost6 ,oh for a baptism of reality and obedience to sweep over us6 ,oh to be true to the hymns we sing and the vows we make6 ,god make us true4 ,forgive all this4 ,it was burnt into me afresh that day as ,i sat there watching the things they did and listening to what they said4 ,we had come too late for that old dead man1 too late for most of the living ones too4 ,can you wonder if at such solemn times one yields oneself afresh and for ever to obey8 ,rice was prepared for the dead man's use1 and balls of rice were ready to be offered to his spirit after his cremation2 for the ,hindus think that an intermediate body must be formed and nourished1 which on the thirteenth day after death is conducted to either heaven or hell1 according to the deeds done on earth4 ,the ceremonies were all characterised by a belief in some future state4 ,the spirit was somewhere--in the dark--so they tried to light the way for him4 ,this reminds me of one ceremony especially suggestive4 ,all the little grandchildren were brought1 and lighted tapers given to them2 then they processioned round the bier1 round and round many times1 holding the tapers steadily1 and looking serious and impressed4 ,then the widow came out with a woman on either side supporting her4 ,and she walked round and round her husband1 with the tears rolling down her face1 and she wailed the widow's wail1 with her very heart in it4 ,why had he gone away and left her desolate8 ,his was the spirit of fragrance like the scented sandal-wood2 his was the arm of strength like the lock that barred the door4 ,gone was the scent of the sandal1 broken and open the door2 why had the bird flown and left but the empty cage8 ,gone6 was he gone8 ,was he really gone8 ,was it certain he was dead8 ,he who had tossed and turned on the softest bed they could make1 must he lie on the bed of his funeral pyre8 ,must he burn upon logs of wood8 ,say1 was there no way to reach him1 no way to help him now8 ,i have searched for thee1 but ,i find thee not4 ,and so the dirge moaned on4 ,i could not hear all this then2 ,victory told it to me1 and much more1 afterwards4 ,last time ,i heard it1 she said1 ,i was inside1 wailing too4 ,as the poor widow went round and round she stopped each time she got to the feet1 and embraced them fervently4 ,sometimes she broke through all restraint1 and clasped him in her arms4 ,illustration3 ,a photo rarely possible4 ,the dead woman lies in her bier2 the white on her eyes and brow is the mark of ,siva's ashes4 ,some of the mourners are so marked1 as they are all ,saivites4 ,the fire is lighted from the pot of fire to the right4 ,just before it is lighted1 the chief mourner takes a vessel of water1 pierces a hole in it1 walks round the dead1 letting the water trickle out1 pierces another hole and repeats the walk4 ,after the third piercing and walk1 he throws the pot backwards over his shoulder1 and as it smashes the water all splashes out4 ,this is to refresh the spirit if it should be thirsty while its body is being burned4 ,after many ceremonies had been performed1 the men all went away1 and the women were left to bid farewell to the form soon to be carried out4 ,then the men came back and bore him across the courtyard1 and paused under the arch outside1 while the women all rushed out1 tearing their hair and beating themselves and wailing wildly4 ,as they were lifting the bier to depart the cry was1 ,stop6 stop6 ,will he not speak8 ,and this1 chanted again and again1 would have made the coldest care4 ,then when all was over1 and the long procession1 headed by the tom-toms and conch shells1 had passed out of sight1 the women pressed in again1 and each first let down her hair1 and seized her nearest neighbour1 and they all flung themselves on the ground and knocked their heads against it1 and then1 rising to a sitting posture1 they held on to one another1 swaying backwards and forwards and chanting in time to the swaying1 in chorus and antiphone4 ,all this1 even to the hair-tearing and head-knocking1 was copied by the children who were present with terrible fidelity4 ,we sat down among them4 ,they took our hands and rocked us in the orthodox way4 ,but we did not wail and we did not undo our hair4 ,we tried to speak comforting words to those who were really in grief1 but we found it was not the time4 ,a fortnight later we went again1 and found the house door open because we had been with them that day4 ,but we could not help them then1 so we rose and were going away1 when1 held by the power of that dirge of theirs1 ,i turned to look again4 ,the last rays of the afternoon sun were lighting up the courtyard1 and shining on the masses of black hair and grey4 ,as ,i looked they got up one by one1 and put their disordered dress to rights1 and shook out the dust from their glossy hair1 and did it up again4 ,and one by one1 without farewell of any sort1 they went away4 ,an hour later we met groups of them coming home from bathing4 ,they would not touch us then4 ,afterwards the chief mourners came out and bathed1 and went all round the village wailing4 ,and the last thing ,i saw1 as the sun set over the hills and the place grew chill and dark1 was the old widow1 worn out now1 returning home in her wet things1 wailing still4 ,i write this under a sense of the solemnity of being a servant 4 4 4 separated unto the ,gospel4 ,i would not write one word lightly4 ,but oh6 may ,i ask you to face it8 ,are we honest towards ,god8 ,if we were1 would these people be left to die as they are being left to die8 ,we feel for them4 ,but feelings will not save souls2 it cost ,god ,calvary to win us4 ,it will cost us as much as we may know of the fellowship of ,his sufferings1 if those for whom ,he died that day are ever to be won4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,i am writing in the midst of the sights and the sounds of life4 ,there is life in the group of women at the well2 life in the voices1 in the splash of the water1 in the cry of a child1 in the call of the mother2 life in the flight of the parrots as they flock from tree to tree2 life in their chatter as they quarrel and scream2 life1 everywhere life4 ,how can ,i think out of all this1 back into death again8 ,but ,i want to1 for you may live for many a year in ,india without being allowed to see once what we have seen twice within two months1 and it cannot be for nothing that we saw it4 ,we must be meant to show it to you4 ,illustration3 ,this needs to be looked into4 ,gradually the middle clears4 ,the women are holding each other's hands preparatory to swaying backwards and forwards as they chant the dirge for the dead4 ,the lamp 7you see its top near the vessel on the right7 was lighted as soon as the old woman died1 and placed at her head on the floor4 ,so blindly they show their sense of the darkness of death4 ,the brass water vessel1 with the leaves laid across its mouth1 was filled with the water of purification4 ,this was poured in a circle on the floor round the body4 ,the bits of grass are the sacred ,kusa grass used in many religious ceremonies4 ,the ,picture-catching ,missie and ,i were in the ,village of the ,tamarind ,tree1 when for the second time ,i saw it4 ,they are very friendly there1 and just as in the ,red ,lake ,village they let us look behind the curtain1 so here again they pushed it back1 and let us in1 and went on with their business1 not minding us4 ,we crouched up close together on the only scrap of empty space1 and watched4 ,everything was less intense2 the dead was only a poor and very old widow who had lived her life out1 and was not wanted4 ,there were no near kindred1 only relations by marriage2 it was evident everyone went through the form without emotion of any sort4 ,the woman lay on a rough bier on the floor1 and round her crowded a dozen old women4 ,at her head there was a brass vessel of water1 a lamp-stand1 some uncooked rice1 and some broken cocoanuts4 ,just before we came in they had filled a little brass vessel from the larger one4 ,now one of the old hags walked round the dead three times1 pouring the water out as she walked4 ,then another fed her--fed that poor dead mouth1 stuffed it in so roughly it made us sick and faint4 ,there were other things done hurriedly1 carelessly2 we could not follow them4 ,the last was the rubbing on of ashes--she had been a worshipper of ,siva--also they covered the closed eyes with ashes and patted them down flat4 ,and all the time the gabble of the women mocked at the silence of death4 ,there was no reverence1 no sense of solemnity2 the ceremonial so full of symbol to its makers1 the thinkers of ,vdic times1 was to them simply a custom1 a set of customs1 to be followed and got through as quickly as might be by heedless hands4 ,and yet they faithfully carried out every detail they knew1 and they finished their heartless work and called to the men to come4 ,the men were waiting outside4 ,they came in and carried her out4 ,it seemed impossible to think of a photograph then2 it was most unlikely they would let us take one1 and we hardly felt in the spirit of picture-catching4 ,yet we thought of you1 and of how you certainly could never see it unless we could show it to you2 and we wanted to show it to you1 so we asked them if we might4 ,of course if there had been real grief1 as in the other ,i had seen1 we could not have asked it1 it would have been intrusion2 but here there was none--that was the pathos of it4 ,and they were very friendly1 so they put their burden on the ground1 and waited4 ,there it is4 ,to the right the barber stands with his fire-bowl hanging from a chain2 this is to light the funeral pyre4 ,the smoke interfered with the photo1 but then it is true to life4 ,to the left stands the man with the shell ready to blow4 ,at the back1 with the sacred ashes rubbed on forehead and breast and arms1 stand the two nearest relatives1 who to-morrow will gather the ashes and throw them into the stream4 ,the picture was caught4 ,the man with the shell blew it1 the man with the fire came in front1 the bearers lifted the bier2 they went away with their dead4 ,illustration3 ,these are three of the mourners1 but they were only mourning ceremonially2 and so1 released for the moment from their duty1 they quite enjoyed themselves4 ,then the old women1 who had been pressing through the open door1 rushed back in the usual way and began the usual rock and dirge4 ,these ,comparison ,songs are always full of soul4 ,they have sprung into being in times of deepest feeling1 taken shape when hearts were as finely wrought moulds which left their impress upon them4 ,and to hear them chanted without any soul is somehow a pitiful thing1 a sort of profanation1 like the singing of sacred words for pay4 ,the photograph was not easy to take1 the space was so confined1 the movement so continuous1 the commotion so confusing4 ,how it was taken ,i know not2 the women massed on the floor were not still for more than a moment4 ,in that moment it was done4 ,then we persuaded three of them to risk the peril of being caught alone4 ,they would not move farther than the wall of the house1 and as it was in a narrow street1 again there were difficulties4 ,but the crowning perplexity was at the water-side4 ,it was windy1 and our calls were blown away1 so they did not hear what we wanted them to do1 and they splashed too vigorously4 ,their only idea just then was to get themselves and their garments ceremonially clean1 defiled as they were by contact with the dead4 ,but let those six whom you can partly see stand for the thousands upon thousands whom you cannot see at all4 ,those thousands are standing in water to-day from the ,north to the uttermost ,south1 as the last act in the drama which they have played in the presence of the dead4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,the women have gone from the well4 ,the parrots have flown to other trees4 ,the ,tamils say the body is the sheath of the soul4 ,i think of that empty sheath ,i saw1 and wonder where the soul has flown4 ,it has gone--but where8 ,has it gone home1 like the women from the well8 ,has it flown far1 like the birds among the trees8 ,it has gone1 it has gone1 that is all we know4 ,it has gone4 ,then ,i read these words from ,conybeare and ,howson's translation3 ,if the tent which is my earthly house be destroyed ,i have a mansion built by ,god 4 4 4 eternal in the heavens4 ,and herein ,i groan with earnest longings1 desiring to cover my earthly raiment with the robes of my heavenly mansion4 4 4 4 ,and ,he who has prepared me for this very end is ,god4 ,the dead man missed his ,end4 ,that old dead woman missed it too4 ,and the millions around us still alive are missing their ,end to-day4 ,this very ,end--think of it--,mortality swallowed up in ,life--,death only an absence1 ,life for ever a presence--,present with the ,lord who has prepared us for this very ,end4 ,can we enjoy it all by ourselves8 ,will there be no sense of incompleteness if the many are outside1 missing it all because they missed their ,end8 ,will the glory make us glad if they are somewhere far away from it and ,god8 ,will not heaven be almost an empty place to one who has never tried to fill it8 ,yet there is room1 oh so much room1 for those we are meant to bring in with us6 ,and there is room1 oh so much room1 along the edge of the precipice4 ,there are gaps left all unguarded4 ,can it be that you are meant to guard one of those gaps8 ,if so1 it will always remain as it is1 a falling-point for those rivers of souls1 unless you come4 ,are these things truth or are they imagination8 ,if they are imagination--then let the paper on which they are written be burnt1 burnt till it curls up and the words fall into dust4 ,but if they are true--then what are we going to do8 ,not what are we going to say or sing1 or even feel or pray--but what are we going to do8 ,illustration3 ,the ceremonial bathing4 ,they are all old women1 but the very oldest old woman in ,india bathes most vigorously4 ,after this bathing is over1 they are purified from the defilement contracted by going to the house of the dead4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,the ,dust of the ,actual ,this may be counted as our richest gain1 to have learned afresh one's utter impotency so completely that the past axiom of service1 ',i can no more convert a soul than create a star1' comes to be an awful revelation1 so that ,god alone may be exalted in that day4 ,rev4 ,walter ,searle1 ,africa4 ,,we have just come back from a ,pariah village4 ,now see it all with me4 ,such a curious little collection of huts1 thrown down anywhere2 such half-frightened1 half-friendly faces2 such a scurrying in of some and out of others2 and we wonder which house we had better make for4 ,we stop before one a shade cleaner than most1 and larger and more open4 ,may we come in8 ,chorus1 ,come in6 oh1 come in6 and in we go4 ,it is a tiny1 narrow slip of a room4 ,at one end there is a fire burning on the ground2 the smoke finds its way out through the roof1 and a pot of rice set on three stones is bubbling cheerfully4 ,no fear of defilement here4 ,they would not like us to touch their rice or to see them eating it1 but they do not mind our being in the room where it is being cooked4 ,at the other end of the narrow slip there is a goat-pen1 not very clean2 and down one side there is a raised mud place where the family apparently sleep4 ,this side and the two ends are roofed by palmyra palm4 ,it is dry and crackles at a touch1 and you touch it every time you stand up1 so bits of it are constantly falling and helping to litter the open space below4 ,illustration3 ,an ancient ,pariah1 but the baby in her arms is a son of the ,caste of ,palmyra ,climbers4 ,both faces--the old crone's and the baby boy's--are very typical4 ,the baby is a ,christian1 ,i should explain1 and his parents are true ,christians1 otherwise the ,pariah woman would not have been allowed to touch him4 ,five babies at different stages of refractoriness are sprawling about on this strip of floor2 they make noises all the time4 ,half a dozen imbecile-looking old women crowd in through the low door1 and stare and exchange observations4 ,three young men with nothing particular to do lounge at the far end of the platform near the goats4 ,a bright girl1 with more jewellery on than is usual among ,pariahs1 is tending the fire at the end near the door2 she throws a stick or two on as we enter1 and hurries forward to get a mat4 ,we sit down on the mat1 and she sits beside us2 and the usual questions are asked and answered by way of introduction4 ,there is a not very clean old woman diligently devouring betel2 another with an enormous mouth1 which she always holds wide open2 another with a very loud voice and a shock of unspeakable hair4 ,but they listen fairly well till a goat creates a diversion by making a remark1 and a baby--a jolly little scrap in its nice brown skin and a bangle--yells1 and everyone's attention concentrates upon it4 ,the goat subsides1 the baby is now in its mother's arms2 so we go on where we left off1 and ,i watch the bright young girl1 and notice that she listens as one who understands4 ,she looks rather superior2 her rose-coloured seeley is clean1 and two large gold jewels are in each ear2 she has a little gold necklet round her throat1 and silver bangles and toe rings4 ,all the others are hopelessly grubby and very unenlightened1 but they listen just as most people listen in church1 with a sort of patient expression4 ,it is the proper thing to do4 ,i am talking to them now1 and till ,i am half-way through nobody says anything1 when suddenly the girl remarks1 ,we have ten fingers1 not just one6 which is so astonishing that ,i stop and wonder what she can be thinking of4 ,i was talking about the one sheep lost out of one hundred4 ,what has that got to do with one finger and ten8 ,she goes on to explain1 ,i have heard all this before4 ,i have a sister who is a ,christian1 and once ,i stayed with her1 and ,i heard all about your religion1 and ,i felt in my heart it was good4 ,but then ,i was married 7tied1 she said71 and of course ,i forgot about it2 but now ,i remember1 and ,i say if ten of our people will join and go over to your ,way1 that will be well1 but what would be the use of one going8 ,what is the use of one finger moving by itself8 ,it takes ten to do the day's work4 ,if ten of you had cholera1 and ,i brought you cholera medicine1 would you say1 ',i won't take it unless nine others take it too'8 ,i replied4 ,she laughs and the others laugh1 but a little uneasily4 ,they hardly like this reference to the dreaded cholera2 death of the body is so much more tremendous in prospect than death of the soul4 ,you would take it1 and then the others1 seeing it do you good1 would perhaps take it too2 and we try to press home the point of the illustration4 ,but a point pricks1 and pricking is uncomfortable4 ,the three men begin to shuffle their feet and talk about other things2 the old mother-in-law proposes betel all round1 and hands us some grimy-looking leaves with a pressing invitation to partake4 ,the various onlookers make remarks1 and the girl devotes herself to her baby4 ,but she is thinking2 one can see old memories are stirred4 ,at last with a sigh she gets up1 looks round the little indifferent group1 goes over to the fireplace1 and blows up the fire4 ,this means we had better say salaam2 so we say it and they say it1 adding the usual ,go and come4 ,it will be easier to help these people out of their low levels than it will be to help their masters of the higher walks of life4 ,but to do anything genuine or radical among either set of people is never really easy4 ,it takes the ,ideal to blow a hair's-breadth off the ,dust of the ,actual4 ,it takes more4 ,it takes ,god4 ,it takes ,god to do anything anywhere4 ,yesterday we were visiting in one of the ,caste villages1 and one old lady1 who really seems to care for us1 said she would greatly like to take my hand in hers2 but1 she explained1 this morning one of the children of the place leaned over the edge of the tank to drink1 and he fell in and was drowned2 so ,i have been to condole with his people1 and ,i have now returned from bathing1 and do not feel equal to bathing again4 ,if she touched me she would have to bathe to get rid of the defilement4 ,of course ,i assured her ,i quite understood1 but as she sat there within two inches of me1 yet so carefully preserving inviolate those two inches of clear space1 ,i felt what a small thing this caste-created distance was1 the merest ,dust of the ,actual on the surface of the system of her life2 and yet1 to blow a hair's-breadth of it off1 nothing less is needed than the breath of the power of ,god4 ,come1 ,o ,breath1 and breathe6 we cry4 ,nothing else will do4 ,something in our talk led to a question about the character of ,jesus1 and1 as we tried to describe a little of the loveliness of our dear ,lord to her1 her dark eyes kindled4 ,how beautiful it is6 she said2 how beautiful ,he must be6 ,she seemed almost persuaded1 but we knew it was only almost1 not quite2 for she does not yet know her need of a ,saviour1 she has no sense of sin4 ,sometimes1 it is true1 that comes later2 but we find that if the soul is to resist the tremendous opposing forces which will instantly be brought to bear upon it if it turns in the least towards ,christ1 there must be a conviction wrought within it2 nothing so superficial as a feeling1 be it ever so appreciative or hopeful or loving1 will stand that strain4 ,so1 though the eyes of this dear woman fill with tears as she hears of the price of pain ,he paid1 and though she gladly listens as we read and talk with her and pray1 yet we know the work has not gone deep1 and we make our petitions deep for her1 and go on4 ,in ,india men must work among men1 and women among women1 but sometimes1 in new places1 as ,i have told before1 we have to stop and talk with the men before they will let us pass4 ,for example1 one afternoon ,i was waylaid on my way to the women by the head of the household ,i was visiting1 a fine old man of the usual type1 courteous but opposed4 ,he asked to look at my books4 ,i had a ,bible1 a lyric book1 and a book of stanzas bearing upon the ,truth1 copied from the old ,tamil classics4 ,he pounced upon this4 ,then he began to chant the stanzas in their inimitable way1 and at the sound several other old men drew round the verandah1 till soon a dozen or more were listening with that appreciative expression they seem to reserve for their own beloved poetry4 ,after the reader had chanted through a dozen or more stanzas1 he stopped abruptly and asked me if ,i really cared for it4 ,of course ,i said ,i did immensely1 and only wished ,i knew more1 for the ,tamil classics are a study in themselves1 and these beautiful ancient verses ,i had copied out were only gleanings from two large volumes1 full of the wisdom of the ,east4 ,they were all thoroughly friendly now1 and we got into conversation4 ,one of the group held that there are three co-eternal substances--,god1 the ,soul1 and ,sin4 ,sin is eternally bound up in the soul1 as verdigris is inherent in copper4 ,it can be removed eventually by intense meditation upon ,god1 and by the performance of arduous works of merit4 ,but these exercises they all admitted were incompatible with the ordinary life of most people1 and generally impracticable4 ,and so the fact is1 the verdigris of sin remains4 ,i remember the delight with which ,i discovered that ,isaiah i4 #be uses this very illustration2 for the word translated dross in ,english is the colloquial word for verdigris in ,tamil2 so the verse reads1 ,i will turn ,my hand to thee1 and thoroughly purify thee1 so as to remove thy verdigris4 ,most of the others held a diametrically opposite view4 ,so far from ,soul and ,sin being co-eternal with ,god they are not really existent at all4 ,both are illusory4 ,there is only one existent entity4 ,it is the ,divine ,spirit1 and it has neither personality nor any personal qualities4 ,all apparent separate existences are delusive4 ,meditation1 of the same absorbing type held necessary by the other1 is the only way to reach the stage of enlightenment which leads to reabsorption into the ,divine essence1 in which we finally merge1 and lose what appeared to be our separate identity4 ,we are lost in ,god1 as a drop is lost in the ocean4 ,some of the men advocated a phase of truth which reminds one of ,calvinism gone mad1 and others exactly opposite are extravagantly ,arminian4 ,the ,calvinists illustrate their belief by a single illuminating word1 ,cat-hold1 and the ,arminians by another1 ,monkey-hold4 ,could you find better illustrations8 ,the cat takes up the kitten and carries it in its mouth2 the kitten is passive1 the cat does everything4 ,but the little monkey holds on to its mother1 and clings with might and main4 ,those who have watched the cat-hold in the house1 and the monkey-hold out in the jungle1 can appreciate the accuracy of these two illustrations4 ,but running through every form of ,hinduism1 however contradictory each to the other may be1 there is the underlying thought of pure and simple ,pantheism4 ,and this explains many of the aforesaid contradictions1 and many of the incongruities which are constantly cropping up and bewildering one who is trying to understand the ,hindu trend of thought4 ,so1 though those men all affirmed that there is only one ,god1 they admitted that they each worshipped several4 ,they saw nothing inconsistent in this4 ,just as the air is in everything1 so ,god is in everything1 therefore in the various symbols4 ,and as our ,king has divers representative ,viceroys and ,governors to rule over his dominions in his name1 so the ,supreme has these sub-deities1 less in power and only existing by force of ,himself1 and ,he1 being all-pervasive1 can be worshipped under their forms4 ,this argument they all unitedly pressed upon me that afternoon1 and though capital answers probably present themselves to your mind1 you might not find they satisfied the ,hindu who argues along lines of logic peculiar to the ,east1 and subtle enough to mystify the practical ,western brain2 and then--for we are conceited as well as practical--we are apt to pity the poor ,hindu for being so unlike ourselves2 and if we are wholly unsympathetic1 we growl that there is nothing in the argument1 whereas there is a good deal in it1 only we do not see it1 because we have never thought out the difficulty in question4 ,quite opposite1 sometimes we have to meet a type of mind like that of ,mac,donald's student of ,shakespeare1 who missed a plain point from his eyes being so sharp that they looked through it without seeing it1 having focussed themselves beyond it4 ,assuredly there is much to learn before one can hope to understand the winding of the thread of thought which must be traced if one would follow the working of the ,hindu mind4 ,let no one with a facility for untying mental knots think that his gift would be wasted in ,india6 ,the word that struck those men that afternoon was #a ,john v4 #aa and #ab3 ,god hath given us eternal life1 and this life is in ,his ,son4 ,he that hath the ,son hath life1 and he that hath not the ,son of ,god hath not life4 ,i was longing to get to the women1 but when they began to read those verses and ask about the meaning1 ,i could not go without trying to tell them4 ,oh1 how one needed at that moment ,christ to become to us ,wisdom1 for it is just here one may so easily make mistakes4 ,put the truth of ,god's relation to the soul subjectively--,he that hath the ,son hath life--before thoughtful ,hindus such as these men were1 and they will be perfectly enchanted2 for the ,incarnation presents no difficulty to them1 as it would to a ,mohammedan2 and perhaps1 to your sudden surprise and joy1 they will say1 that is exactly what they are prepared to believe4 ,christ in me--this is comprehensible4 ,the indwelling of the ,spirit of ,god--this is analogous to their own phrase3 ,the indwelling of the ,deity in the lotus of the heart4 ,but probably by trading on words and expressions which are already part of the ,hindu terminology1 and which suggest to them materialistic ideas1 we may seriously mislead and be misled4 ,we need to understand not only what the ,hindu says1 but also what his words mean to himself1 a very different thing4 ,that talk ended in a promise from the men that they would arrange a meeting of ,hindus for the ,iyer1 if he would come and take it1 which of course he did4 ,i should like to finish up by saying1 and several were converted1 but as yet that would not be true4 ,these deep-rooted ancient and strong philosophies are formidable enough1 when rightly understood1 to make us feel how little we can do to overturn them2 but they are just as ,dust in comparison with the force of the ,actual entrenched behind them4 ,only superficial ,dust2 and yet1 as in every other case1 nothing but the ,breath of ,god can blow this ,dust away4 ,illustration3 ,another widow4 ,she was never a wife2 and1 moved by some sort of pity1 they let her keep one jewel in each ear4 ,she is a ,vellalar2 her people are wealthy landowners4 ,she was ashamed of having yielded to the weakness of letting us take her photo2 and when we went to show it to her1 she would not look at it4 ,she has no desire whatever to hear2 and she and the young girl on the step at her feet are resolute in opposing the teaching4 ,we left the old men to their books and endless disquisitions1 and went on to the women's quarter4 ,there we saw a young child-widow1 very fair and sweet and gentle1 but quieter than a child should be2 for she is a widow accursed4 ,her mind is keen--she wants to learn2 but why should a widow learn1 they say1 why should her mind break bounds8 ,she lives in a tiny mud-built house1 in a tiny mud-walled yard2 she may not go out beyond those walls1 then why should she think beyond8 ,but she is better off than most1 for she lives with her mother1 who loves her1 and her father makes a pet of her1 and so she is sheltered more or less from the cruel scourge of the tongue4 ,there is another in the next courtyard2 she is not sheltered so4 ,she lives with her mother-in-law1 and the world has lashed her heart for years2 it is simply callous now4 ,there she sits with her chin in her hand1 just hard4 ,years ago they married her1 an innocent1 playful little child1 to a man who died when she was nine years old4 ,then they tore her jewels from her1 all but two little ear-rings1 which they left in pity to her2 and this poor little scrap of jewellery was her one little bit of joy4 ,she could not understand it at first1 and when her pretty coloured seeleys were taken away1 and she had to wear the coarse white cloth she hated so1 she cried with impotent childish wrath2 and then she was punished1 and called bitter names1--the very word widow means bitterness1--and gradually she understood that there was something the matter with her4 ,she was not like other little girls4 ,she had brought ill-fortune to the home4 ,she was accursed4 ,it is true that some are more gently dealt with1 and many belong to ,castes where the yoke of ,custom lies lighter2 for these the point of the curse is blunted1 there is only a dull sense of wrong4 ,but in all the upper ,castes the pressure is heavy1 and there are those who feel intensely1 feel to the centre of their soul1 the sting of the shame of the curse4 ,it is fate1 says the troubled mother2 who can escape his fate8 ,it is sin1 says the mother-in-law2 and the rest of the world agrees4 ',where the bull goes1 there goes its rope4' ',deeds done in a former birth1 in this birth burn4' ,much of the working of the curse is hidden behind shut doors4 ,i saw a young widow last week whose mind is becoming deranged in consequence of the severity of the penance she is compelled to perform4 ,when1 as they put it1 the god of ill-fortune seizes her1 that is1 when she becomes violent1 she is quietly removed to another place4 ,no one sees what is done to her there1 but ,i know that part of the treatment consists in scratching her head with thorns1 and then rubbing raw lime juice in--lime juice is like lemon juice1 only more acid4 ,when the paroxysm passes she reappears1 and does penance till the next fit comes4 ,this has been repeated three times within the last few months4 ,i was visiting in a ,hindu house for two years before ,i found out that all that time a girl of seventeen was kept alone in an upper room4 ,let her weep1 they said1 quoting a proverb2 'though she weeps1 will a widow's sorrow pass8' ,once a day1 after dark1 she was brought downstairs for a few minutes1 and once a day1 at noon1 some coarse food was taken up to her4 ,she is allowed downstairs now1 but only in the back part of the house2 she never thinks of resisting this decree--it1 and all it stands for1 is her fate4 ,sometimes the glad girl-life reasserts itself1 and she plays and laughs with her sister-in-law's pretty baby boy2 but if she hears a man's voice she disappears upstairs4 ,there are proverbs in the language which tell why4 ,i sat on the verandah of a well-to-do ,hindu house one day1 and talked to the bright-looking women in their jewels and silks4 ,and all the time1 though little ,i knew it1 a widow was tied up in a sack in one of the inner rooms4 ,this wrong is a hidden wrong4 ,i do not think that anyone would call the ,hindus distinctively cruel2 in comparison with most other ,asiatics their instincts are kind4 ,a custom so merciless as this custom1 which punishes the innocent with so grievous a punishment1 does not seem to us to be natural to them4 ,it seems like a parasite custom1 which has struck its roots deep into the tree of ,hindu social life1 but is not part of it4 ,think of the power which must have been exerted somewhere by someone before the disposition of a nation could be changed4 ,this custom as it stands is formidable enough4 ,many a man1 ,indian and foreign1 has fought it and failed4 ,it is a huge and most rigorous system of tyrannical oppression1 a very pyramid to look at1 old1 immovable4 ,but there is ,something greater behind it4 ,it is only the effect of a ,cause--the ,dust of the ,actual4 ,what can alter the custom8 ,strong writing or speaking1 agitations1 ,acts of ,parliament8 ,all these surely have their part4 ,they raise the question1 stir the ,dust--but blow it off8 ,oh no6 nothing can touch the conscience of the people1 and utterly reverse their view of things1 and radically alter them1 but ,god4 ,yes1 it is true1 we may make the most of what has been done by ,government1 by missionaries and reformers1 but there are times in the heart histories of all who look far enough down to see what goes on under the surface of things1 when the sorrow takes shape in the ,prophet's cry1 ,we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth6 ,it is true4 ,we have not4 ,we cannot even estimate the real weight of the lightest speck of the ,dust that has settled on the life of this people4 ,but we believe that our ,god1 ,who comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure1 comprehends to the uttermost the ,dust of the ,actual1 and we believe to see ,him work1 with ,whom is strength and effectual working4 ,we believe to see1 and believing even now we see2 and when we see anything1 be it ever so little1 when the ,breath breathes1 and even a hair's-breadth of that ,dust is blown away1 then1 with an intensity ,i cannot describe1 we feel the presence of the ,lord our ,god among us1 and look up in the silence of joy and expectation for the coming of the ,day when all rule1 and all authority and power1 yea1 the power of the very ,actual itself1 shall be put down1 that ,god may be all in all4 ,so again and yet again we ask you to pray not less for the ,reform movement1 and the ,educational movement1 and the ,civilising movement of ,india1 but far more for the ,movement of the ,breath of ,god1 and far more for us ,his workers here1 that we may abide in ,him without ,whom we can do nothing4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,roots ,it is not an easy thing in ,england to lead an old man or woman to ,christ1 even though the only 'root' which holds them from ,him is love of the world4 ,as the ,tamil proverb says1 ',that which did not bend at five will not be bent at fifty1' still less at sixty or seventy4 ,when a soul in ,india is held down1 not by one root only1 but by a myriad roots1 who is sufficient to deliver it8 ,only ,he who overturneth the mountains by the roots4 ',this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting4' ,an ,indian ,missionary4 ,,amma1 you are getting old4 ,yes 7grunt71 yes4 ,when we are old then death is near4 ,yes 7grunt71 yes4 ,then we must leave our bodies and go somewhere else4 ,three more grunts4 ,amma1 do you know where you are going8 ,then the old woman wakes up a little1 grunts a little more1 ,who knows where she is going8 she mumbles1 and relapses into grunts4 ,i know where ,i am going1 the girl answers4 ,amma1 don't you want to know8 ,don't ,i want to know what8 ,where you are going4 ,why do ,i want to know what8 ,the girl goes over it again4 ,the old woman turns to her daughter-in-law4 ,is the rice ready8 she says4 ,the girl tries again4 ,the old woman agrees we all must die4 ,death is near to the ancient2 she is ancient1 therefore death is near to her1 she must go somewhere after death4 ,it would be well to know where she is going4 ,she does not know where she is going4 ,then she gazes and grunts4 ,illustration3 ,enlargement of one of the old dames seen in chapter vi4 ,a capital typical face4 ,we have a number of these keen1 interesting old people1 but very rarely find they have any desire to change their religion4 ,they are rooted4 ,the girl tries on different lines4 ,whom is the old woman looking to1 to help her when death comes8 ,god4 ,what ,god8 ,the great ,god4 ,and rousing herself to express herself she declares that ,he is her constant meditation1 therefore all is well4 ,is the rice ready8 ,no4 ,then give me some betel leaf1 and she settles down to roll small pieces of lime into little balls1 and these balls she rolls up in a betel leaf1 with a bit of areca nut for taste1 and this betel leaf she puts into her mouth--all this very slowly1 and with many inarticulate sounds1 which ,i have translated grunts4 ,and this is all she does4 ,she does not want to listen or talk1 she only wants to scrunch betel1 and grunt4 ,this is not a touching tale4 ,it is only true4 ,it happened this evening exactly as ,i have told it1 and the girl1 a distant connection of the old woman1 who had come with me so delightedly1 eager to tell the ,good ,tidings1 had to give it up4 ,she had begun by speaking about the love of ,jesus1 but that had fallen perfectly flat2 so she had tried the more startling form of address1 with this result--grunts4 ,i spent an afternoon not long ago with a more intelligent specimen4 ,here she is1 a fine sturdy old character1 one of the three you saw before4 ,she was immensely interested with her photo1 which ,i showed her1 and she could not understand at all how1 in the one moment when she stood against a wall1 her face had been caught on a piece of white paper4 ,a little explanation opened the way for the greater thing ,i had come about4 ,we were sitting on a mud verandah1 opening on to a square courtyard2 two women pounding rice1 two more grinding it1 another sweeping1 a cow1 some fowls1 a great many children1 and several babies1 made it exceedingly difficult to concentrate one's attention on anything1 and still more difficult to get the wandering brains of an old woman to concentrate on a subject in which she had no interest4 ,she had been interested in the photograph1 but that was different4 ,the conversation ended by her remarking that it was getting dark1 ought ,i not to be going home8 ,it was not getting dark yet1 but it meant that she had had enough1 so ,i salaamed and went1 hoping for a better chance again4 ,next time we visited the ,village of the ,tamarind she was nowhere to be seen2 she had gone to her own village1 she had only come here for the funeral4 ,would she return1 we asked8 ,not probable1 they said1 she had come and gone4 ,come and gone4 ,as they said it1 one felt how true it was4 ,come1 for that one short afternoon within our reach2 gone1 out of it now for ever4 ,in that same village there is one who more than any other drew one's heart out in affection and longing1 but so far all in vain4 ,i first saw her in the evening as we were returning home4 ,she was sitting on her verandah1 giving orders to the servants as they stood in the courtyard below4 ,then she turned and saw us4 ,we were standing in the street1 looking through the open door4 ,the old lady1 in her white garments1 with her white hair1 sat among a group of women in vivid shades of red1 behind her the dark wood of the pillar and door1 and above the carved verandah roof4 ,the men were fresh from the fields1 and stood with their rough-looking husbandry implements slung across their shoulders2 the oxen1 great meek-eyed beasts1 were munching their straw and swishing their tails as they stood in their places in the courtyard1 where some little children played4 ,the paddy-birds1 which are small white storks1 were flying about from frond to frond of the cocoanut palms that hung over the wall1 and the sunset light1 striking slanting up1 caught the underside of their wings1 and made them shine with a clear pale gold1 gold birds in a darkness of green4 ,a broken mud wall ran round one end1 and the sunset colour painted it too till all the red in it glowed2 and then it came softly through the palms1 and touched the white head with a sort of sheen1 and lit up the brow of the fine old face as1 bending forward1 she beckoned to us4 ,come in6 come in6 she said4 ,we soon made friends with her4 ,she was a ,saivite and we heard afterwards had received the ,initiation2 the golden symbol of her god had been branded upon her shoulder1 and she was sworn to lifelong devotion to ,siva2 but she had found that he was vain1 and she never worshipped him1 she worshipped ,god alone1 and at night1 when the household is sleeping1 ,i go up alone to an upper room1 and stretch out my hands to the ,god of all1 and cry with a long1 loud cry4 ,then she suddenly turned and faced me full4 ,tell me1 is that enough8 she said4 ,is it all ,i must do for salvation8 ,say6 ,i did not feel she was ready for a plunge into the deep sea of full knowledge yet1 and ,i tried to persuade her to leave that question1 telling her that if she believed what we told her of ,jesus our ,lord1 she would soon know ,him well enough to ask ,him direct what she wanted to know1 and ,he ,himself would explain to her all that it meant to follow ,him4 ,but she was determined to hear it then1 and1 as she insisted1 ,i read her a little of what ,he says about it ,himself4 ,she knew quite enough to understand and take in the force of the forceful words4 ,she would not consent to be led gently on4 ,no1 ,i must know it now1 she said2 and as verse by verse we read to her1 her face settled sorrowfully4 ,so far must ,i follow1 so far8 she said4 ,i cannot follow so far4 ,it was too late for much talk then1 but she promised to listen if we would come and read to her4 ,she could not read1 but she seemed to know a great deal about the ,bible4 ,for some weeks one of us went once a week2 sometimes the men of the house were in1 and then we could not read to her1 as they seemed to object2 but oftener no one was about1 and she had her way1 and we read4 ,she told us her story one afternoon4 ,she was the head of a famous old house2 her husband had died many years ago2 she had brought up her children successfully1 and now they were settled in life4 ,she had a ,christian relation1 but she had never seen him2 she thought he had a son studying in a large school in ,england--,cambridge1 ,i knew1 when ,i heard the name2 the father is one of our true friends4 ,all her sons are greatly opposed1 but one of her little girls learnt for a time1 and so the mother heard the ,truth1 and1 being convinced that it was true1 greatly desired to hear more4 ,but the child was married1 and went away1 and she feared to ask the ,missie ,ammal to come again1 lest people should notice it and talk4 ,so the years passed emptily1 and oh1 my heart was an empty place1 a void as empty as air6 ,and she stretched out her arms1 and clasping her hands she looked at the empty space between1 and then at me with inquiring eyes1 to see if ,i understood4 ,how well one understood6 ,i am an emptiness for ,thee to fill1 ,my soul a cavern for ,thy sea1 4 4 4 ,i have done nought for ,thee1 am but a ,want4 ,she had never heard it1 but she had said it4 ,we do not often hear it said1 and when we do our whole heart goes out to meet the heart of the one who says it2 everything that is in us yearns with a yearning that cannot be told1 to bring her to ,him ,who said ,come4 ,we were full of hope about her1 and we wrote to her ,christian relative1 and he wrote back with joy4 ,it seemed so likely then that she would decide for ,christ4 ,but one day1 for the first time1 she did not care to read4 ,i remember that day so well2 it was the time of our monsoon1 and the country was one great marsh4 ,we had promised to go that morning1 but the night before the rivers filled1 and the pool between her and us was a lake4 ,we called the bandyman and explained the situation4 ,he debated a little1 but at last--,well1 the bulls can swim1 he said1 and they swam4 ,we need not have gone1 she was out4 ,out1 or not at home to-day1 is a phrase not confined to ,society circles where courtesy counts for more than truth4 ,i am in1 but ,i do not want to see you1 would have been true1 but rude4 ,this was the first chill1 but she was in next time1 and continued to be in1 until after a long talk we had1 when again the question rose and had to be faced1 ,can ,i be a ,christian here8 ,it was a quiet afternoon2 we were alone1 only the little grandchildren were with her--innocent1 fearless1 merry little creatures1 running to her with their wants1 and pulling at her hands and dress as babies do at home4 ,their grandmother took no notice of them beyond an occasional pat or two1 but the childish things1 with their bright brown eyes and little fat1 soft1 clinging hands went into the photo one's memory took1 and helped one the better to understand and sympathise in the humanness of the pretty home scene1 that humanness which is so natural1 and which ,god meant to be4 ,i think there is nothing in all our work which so rends and tears at the heart-strings within us1 as seeing the spiritual clash with the natural1 and to know that while ,caste and bigotry reign it always must be so4 ,we had a good long talk4 ,i want to be a ,christian1 she said1 and for a moment ,i hoped great things1 for she as the mistress of the house was almost free to do as she chose4 ,i thought of her influence over her sons and their wives1 and the little grandchildren2 and ,i think my face showed the hope ,i had1 for she said1 looking very direct at me1 ,by a ,christian ,i mean one who worships your ,god1 and ceases to worship all other gods2 for ,he alone is the ,living ,god1 the ,pervader of all and ,provider4 ,this ,i fully believe and affirm1 but ,i cannot break my ,caste4 ,would you continue to keep it in all ways8 ,how could ,i possibly break my ,caste8 ,and continue to smear ,siva's sign on your forehead8 ,that is indeed part of my ,caste4 ,more especially part of it1 ,i knew1 since she had received the ,initiation4 ,then the disappointment got into my voice1 and she felt it1 and said1 ,oh1 do not be grieved6 ,these things are external4 ,how can mere ashes affect the internal1 the real essential1 the soul8 ,it was such a plausible argument1 and we hear it over and over again2 for history repeats itself1 there is nothing new under the sun4 ,i reminded her that ashes were sacred to ,siva4 ,i would not serve ,siva1 she answered me1 but the smearing of ashes on one's brow is the custom of my ,caste1 and ,i cannot break my ,caste4 ,then she looked at me very earnestly with her searching1 beautiful1 keen old eyes1 and she went over ground she knew ,i knew4 ,she reminded me what the requirements of her ,caste had always been1 that they must be fulfilled by all who live in the house1 and she told me in measured words and slow that ,i knew she could not live at home if she broke the laws of her ,caste4 ,but why make so much of trifling things8 ,for matter and spirit are distinct1 and when the hands are raised in prayer1 when the lamp is lighted and wreathed with flowers1 the outward observer may mistake and think the action is pujah to ,agni1 but ,god who reads the heart understands1 and judges the thought and not the act4 ,yes1 my hand may smear on ,siva's ashes1 while at the same moment my soul may commune with ,god the ,eternal1 ,who only is ,god4 ,i turned to verse after verse to show her this sort of thing could never be1 how it would mock at the love of ,christ and nullify ,his sacrifice4 ,i urged upon her that if she were true1 and the central thought of her life were towards ,god1 all the outworkings would correspond1 creed fitting deed1 and deed fitting creed without the least shade of diversity4 ,but faith and practice are not to be confused1 each is separate from the other2 the two may unite or the one may be divorced from the other without the integrity of either being affected3 this is the unwritten ,hindu code which she and hers had ever held2 and now1 after years of belief in it1 to face round suddenly to its opposite--this was more than she could do4 ,she held1 as it were1 the ,truth in her hand1 and turned it round and round and round1 but she always ended where she began2 she would not1 could not1 see it as ,truth1 or perhaps more truly1 would not accept it4 ,it meant too much4 ,there she sat1 queen of her home4 ,the sons were expected1 and she had been making preparations for their coming4 ,her little grandchildren played about her1 each one of them dear as the jewel of her eye4 ,how could she leave it all1 how could she leave them all--home1 all that it stands for2 children1 all that they mean8 ,then she looked at me again1 and ,i shall never forget the look4 ,it seemed as if she were looking me through and through1 and forcing the answer to come4 ,she spoke in little short sentences1 instinct with intensity4 ,i cannot live here and break my ,caste4 ,if ,i break it ,i must go4 ,i cannot live here without keeping my customs4 ,if ,i break them ,i must go4 ,you know all this4 ,i ask you1 then1 tell me yes or no4 ,can ,i live here and keep my ,caste1 and at the same time follow your ,god8 ,tell me yes or no6 ,i did not tell her--how could ,i8 ,but she read the answer in my eyes1 and she said1 as she had said before1 ,i cannot follow so far--so far1 ,i cannot follow so far6 ,reverence for opinions and practice held sacred by his ancestors is ingrained in every fibre of a ,hindu's character1 and is1 so to speak1 bred in the very bone of his physical and moral constitution4 ,so writes ,sir ,monier ,williams4 ,it is absolutely true4 ,oh1 friends1 is it easy work8 ,my heart is sore as ,i write1 with the soreness that filled it that day4 ,i would have given anything to be able truthfully to say yes to her question4 ,but across the will of nature leads on the path of ,god for them2 and they have to follow so very far1 so very1 very far6 ,all trees have roots4 ,to tear up a full-grown tree by the roots1 and transplant it bodily1 is never a simple process4 ,but in ,india we have a tree with a double system of roots4 ,the banyan tree drops roots from its boughs4 ,these bough roots in time run as deep underground as the original root4 ,and the tap root and its runners1 and the branch roots and theirs1 get knotted and knit into each other1 till the whole forms one solid mass of roots1 thousands of yards of a tangle of roots1 sinuous and strong4 ,conceive the uprooting of such a tree1 like the famous one of ,north ,india1 for instance1 which sheltered an army of seven thousand men4 ,you cannot conceive it2 it could not be done1 the earthward hold is so strong4 ,the old in ,india are like these trees2 they are doubly1 inextricably rooted4 ,there is the usual great tap root common to all human trees in all lands--faith in the creed of the race2 there are the usual running roots too--devotion to family and home4 ,all these hold the soul down4 ,but in ,india we have more--we have the branch-rooted system of ,caste2 ,caste so intricate1 so precise1 that no ,western lives who has traced it through its ramifications back to the bough from which it dropped in the olden days4 ,this ,caste1 then1 these holding laws1 which most would rather die than break1 are like the branch roots of the banyan tree with their infinite strength of grip4 ,but the strangest thing to us is this3 the people love to have it so2 they do not regard themselves as held1 these roots are their pride and joy4 ,take a child of four or five1 ask it a question concerning its ,caste1 and you will see how that baby tree has begun to drop branch rootlets down4 ,sixty years afterwards look again1 and every rootlet has grown a tree1 each again sending rootlets down2 and so the system spreads4 ,but we look up from the banyan tree4 ,god6 what are these roots to ,thee8 ,these ,caste-root systems are nothing to ,thee6 ,india is not too hard for ,thee6 ,o ,god1 come6 ,,chapter ,,ix ,the ,classes and the ,masses ,we speak of work done against the force of gravitation4 ,if the magnitude of a force can be estimated in any sense by the resistance which it has to overcome1 then verily there is no land under the sun more calculated than ,india to display the ,grand ,forces of ,god's ,omnipotent ,grace4 ,for here it has to face and overcome the combined resistances of the ,caste system1 entrenched heathenism1 and deeply subtle philosophies4 ,praise ,god6 it can and will be done4 ,thou1 who alone doest wondrous things1 work on4 ',so will we sing and praise ,thy power4' ,rev4 ,t4 ,walker1 ,india4 ,,perhaps it would help towards the better understanding of these letters if we stopped and explained things a little4 ,some may have been wondering1 as they read1 how it is that while the ,south ,indian fields are constantly quoted as among the most fruitful in the world1 we seem to be dealing with a class where fruit is very rare1 and so subject to blighting influences after it has appeared1 that we hardly like to speak of it till it is ripe and reaped and safe in the heavenly garner4 ,i think it will be easier to understand all this if we view ,hindu ,tamil ,south ,india 7with which alone this book deals7 from the outside1 and let it fall into two divisions the ,classes and the ,masses4 ,there is1 of course1 the border line between1 crossed over on either side by some who belong to the ,classes but are almost of the ,masses1 and by some who belong to the ,masses but are almost of the ,classes4 ,broadly speaking1 however1 there is a distinct difference between the two4 ,as to their attitude towards the ,gospel1 the ,classes and the ,masses unite2 they are wholly indifferent to it4 ,in a paper read at the ,student ,volunteers' ,conference in #aijj1 a ,south ,indian missionary summed up the matter in a comprehensive sentence3 ,shut in for millenniums by the gigantic wall of the ,himalayas on the ,north1 and by the impassable ocean on the ,south1 they have lived in seclusion from the rest of the world1 and have developed social institutions and conceptions of the universe1 and of right and wrong1 quite their own4 ,their own religion and traditionary customs are accepted as sufficiently meeting their needs1 and they are not conscious of needing any teaching from foreigners4 ,they will always listen courteously to what we say1 and this constitutes an open door for the ,gospel1 but of conscious need and hungering for the ,gospel there is little or none4 ,so long as it is only a matter of preaching1 there are in the world no more patient listeners than the ,hindus4 ,but as soon as a case arises of one of their number abandoning the ,caste customs and traditionary worship1 all their hostility is aroused1 and the whole community feels it a duty of patriotism to do its utmost to deprive that individual of liberty of action1 and to defend the vested rights of ,hinduism4 ,for the true ,hindu is fervently ,hindu4 ,his religion may be described as bound up in the bundle of his everyday existence4 ,his intense belief in it1 and in his ,caste1 which is part of it1 gives edge to the blade with which he fights the entrance of a new religion to his home4 ,this new religion he conceives of as something inherently antagonistic to his ,caste1 and as ,caste is at every point connected with ,hinduism1 a thing interwoven with it1 as if ,hinduism were the warp and ,caste the woof of the fabric of ,indian life1 we cannot say he is mistaken in regarding ,christianity as a foe to be fought if he would continue a ,caste ,hindu4 ,so far1 in ,south ,indian religious history1 we have no example on a large scale of anything approaching the ,bramo ,samj of the ,north4 ,in the more conservative ,south there is almost no compromise with1 and little assimilation of1 the doctrine which makes all men one in ,christ4 ,to return to the division--,classes and ,masses--the ,classes comprise members of what are known as the higher ,castes1 and in speaking of towns and villages where these dwell1 and of converts from among them1 the prefix ,caste is sometimes used4 ,among the ,classes we find women of much tenderness of feeling and a culture of their own1 but their minds are narrowed by the petty lives they live1 lives in many instances bounded by no wider horizon than thoughts concerning their husbands and children and jewels and curries1 and always their next-door neighbour's squabbles and the gossip of the place4 ,much of this gossip deals with matters which are not of an elevating character4 ,it takes us years to understand it1 because most of the conversation is carried on in allusion or innuendo4 ,but it is understood by the children4 ,one of our converts told me that she often prays for power to forget the words she heard1 and the things she saw1 and the games she played1 when she was a little child in her mother's room4 ,illustration3 ,this old man is the ,hindu village schoolmaster4 ,the boys write on a strip of palm leaf with an iron style4 ,these little lads come to us every ,sunday afternoon4 ,will some one remember them8 ,the young girls belonging to the higher ,castes are kept in strict seclusion4 ,during these formative years they are shut up within the courtyard walls to the dwarfing life within1 and as a result they get dwarfed1 and lose in resourcefulness and independence of mind1 and above all in courage2 and this tells terribly in our work1 making it so difficult to persuade such a one to think for herself or dare to decide to believe4 ,such seclusion is not felt as imprisonment2 a girl is trained to regard it as the proper thing1 and we never find any desire among those so secluded to break bounds and rush out into the free1 open air4 ,they do not feel it cramped as we should2 it is their custom4 ,it is this custom which makes work among girls exceedingly slow and unresultful4 ,they have to be reached one by one1 and it takes many months of teaching before the mind opens enough to understand that it may be free4 ,the reaction of the physical upon the mental is never more clearly illustrated than in such cases4 ,sometimes it seems as if the mind could not go out beyond the cramping walls2 but when it has1 by ,god's illumination1 received light enough to see into the darkness of the soul1 and the glory that waits to shine in on it1 conceive of the tremendous upheaval1 the shock of finding solid ground sink1 as gradually or suddenly the conviction comes upon such a one that if she acts upon this new knowledge there is no place for her at home4 ,she must give everything up--everything6 ,do you wonder that few are found willing to follow so far8 ,do you wonder that our hearts nearly break sometimes1 as we realize the cost for them8 ,do you wonder that1 knowing how each is set as a target for the archer who shoots at souls1 we fear to say much about them1 lest we should set the targets clearer in his sight8 ,the men and boys of the ,classes live a more liberal life1 and here you find all varying shades of refinement4 ,there is education1 too1 and a great respect for learning1 and reverence for their classic literature and language1 a language so ancient that we find certain ,tamil words in the ,hebrew ,scriptures1 and so rich1 that while nearly all the vernaculars of ,india have been greatly enriched from the ,sanscrit1 ,sanscrit has borrowed from ,tamil4 ,almost every ,caste village has its own little school1 and every town has many1 where the boys are taught reading1 writing1 poetry1 and mental arithmetic4 ,there is not much education among the ,masses4 ,here and there a man stands out who has fought his way through the ignorance of centuries1 up into the light of the knowledge of books4 ,such a man is greatly respected by the whole community4 ,the women have the same kindly nature as the women of the ,classes1 and there is surprising responsiveness sometimes1 where one would least expect it4 ,we have known a ,tamil woman1 distinctly of the ,masses1 never secluded in her girlhood1 but left to bloom as a wild flower in the field1 as sensitive in spirit as any lady born4 ,the people are rough and rustic in their ways1 but there are certain laws observed which show a spirit of refinement latent among them2 there are customs which compare favourably with the customs of the masses at home4 ,as a whole1 they are like the masses of other lands1 with good points and bad points in strong relief1 and just the same souls to be saved4 ,converts from among the ,masses1 as a general rule1 are able to live at home4 ,there is persecution1 but they are not turned out of village1 street1 or house4 ,often they come in groups1 two or three families together perhaps1 or a whole village led by its headman comes over4 ,there is less of the single one-by-one conversion and confession1 though there is an increasing number of such1 and they are the best we have4 ,it is easy to understand how much more rapidly ,christianity spreads under such conditions than among those prevailing among the ,classes2 we see it illustrated over and over again4 ,for example1 in a certain high-caste ,hindu town some miles distant from our station on the ,eastern side1 a young man heard the ,gospel preached at an open-air meeting2 he believed1 and confessed in baptism1 thus breaking ,caste and becoming an alien to his own people4 ,he has never been able to live at home since1 and so there has been no witness borne1 no chance to let the life show out the love of ,god4 ,the men of that household doubtless know something of the truth2 they know enough1 at least1 to make them responsible for refusing it2 but what can the women know8 ,only that the son of the house has disgraced his house and name2 only that he has destroyed his ,caste and broken his mother's heart4 ,shame upon him1 they cry with one voice1 and curses on the cause of the shame1 the ',way' of ,jesus ,christ6 ,it is useless to say they are merely women1 and do not count2 they do count4 ,their influence counts for a very great deal4 ,theoretically1 women in ,india are nothing where religion is concerned2 practically1 they are the heart of the ,hindu religion1 as the men are its sinew and brain4 ,there has never been a convert in that town since that young man was banished from it1 out-casted by his ,caste4 ,but in a village only a few miles from that town a heathen lad believed1 and was baptised1 and returned home1 not so welcome as before1 but not considered too defiled to be reckoned a son of the household still4 ,his father is dead1 his mother is a bitter opponent1 but his brother has come since1 and within a stone's-throw another2 and so it goes on3 the life has a chance to tell4 ,almost every time we have gone to that village we have found some ready for baptism1 and though none of the mothers have been won1 they witness to the change in the life of their sons4 ,my boy's heart is as white as milk now1 said one1 who had stood by and seen that boy tied up and flogged for ,christ's sake4 ,they rarely change their religion1 these staunch old souls2 let me go where my husband is2 he would have none of it6 said one1 and nothing seems to move them2 but they let their boys live at home1 and perhaps1 even yet1 the love will break down their resistance4 ,they are giving it a chance4 ,i think this one illustration explains more than many words would the difference between work among the ,classes and the ,masses1 and why it is that one form of work is so much more fruitful than the other4 ,the ,masses must not be understood as a vast casteless ,mass1 out-casted by the ,classes1 for the ,caste system runs down to the very lowest stratum1 but their ,caste rules allow of freer intercourse with others4 ,we may visit in their houses more freely1 enter more freely into their thoughts1 share more freely in the interests of their lives4 ,we are less outside1 as it were4 ,but the main difference between the one set of people and the other lies deeper2 it is a difference underground4 ,it works out1 however1 into something all can see4 ,among the ,masses1 mass movements are of common occurrence2 among the ,classes1 with rare exceptions1 each one must come out alone4 ,illustration3 ,a village woman of the ,shanar ,caste4 ,the photo shows the baby's ears being prepared for the jewels her mother hopes will fill them by and by4 ,holes are made first and filled with cotton wool1 graduated leaden weights are added till the lobes are long enough4 ,this is often forgotten by observers of the ,indian ,field from the home side4 ,there are parts of that field where the labourers seem to be always binding up sheaves and singing harvest songs2 and from other parts come fewer songs1 for the sheaves are fewer there1 or it may be there are none at all1 only a few poor ears of corn1 and they had to be gathered one by one1 and they do not show in the field4 ,,chapter ,x ,the ,creed ,chasm ,i have had to deal in the same afternoon's work1 on the one hand with men of keen powers of intellect1 whose subtle reasoning made one look to the foundations of one's own faith2 and on the other hand with ignorant crowds1 whose conception of sin was that of a cubit measure1 and to whom the terms 'faith' and 'love' were as absolutely unknown as though they had been born and bred in some undeveloped race of ,anthropoids4 ,rev4 ,t4 ,walker1 ,india4 ,,in writing about the ,classes and the ,masses of ,south ,india1 one great difference which does not exist at home should be explained4 ,in ,england a prince and a peasant may be divided by outward things--social position1 style of life1 and the duty of life--but in all inward things they may be one--one in faith1 one in purpose1 one in hope4 ,the difference which divides them is only accidental1 external2 and the peasant1 perhaps being in advance of the prince in these verities of existence1 may be regarded by the prince as nobler than himself3 there is no spiritual chasm between them4 ,it is the same in the realm of scholarship4 ,all true ,christians1 however learned or however unlearned1 hold one and the same faith4 ,but in ,india it is not so4 ,the scholar would smile at the faith of the simple villagers1 he would even teach them to believe that which he did not believe himself1 holding that it was more suitable for them1 and he would marvel at your ignorance if you confounded his creed with theirs2 and yet in name both he and they are ,hindus4 ,sir ,monier ,williams explains the existence of this difference by describing the receptivity and all-comprehensiveness of ,hinduism4 ,it has something to offer which is suited to all minds1 its very strength lies in its infinite adaptability to the infinite diversity of human characters and human tendencies4 ,it has its highly spiritual and abstract side1 suited to the metaphysical philosopher2 its practical and concrete side1 suited to the man of affairs and the man of the world2 its sthetic and ceremonial side1 suited to the man of poetic feeling and imagination2 its quiescent and contemplative side1 suited to the man of peace and lover of seclusion4 ,nay1 it holds out the right hand of brotherhood to nature worshippers1 demon worshippers1 animal worshippers1 tree worshippers1 fetich worshippers4 ,it does not scruple to permit the most grotesque forms of idolatry and the most degrading varieties of superstition1 and it is to this latter fact that yet another remarkable peculiarity of ,hinduism is mainly due--namely1 that in no other ,system of the world is the chasm more vast which separates the religion of the higher1 cultured1 and thoughtful ,classes1 from that of the lower1 uncultured1 and unthinking ,masses4 ,naturally1 therefore1 work among them is different2 one almost needs a different vocabulary for each1 and certainly one needs a different set of ideas4 ,i remember how1 in one afternoon's work1 we saw the two types most perfectly4 ,in thinking of it1 it is as if one saw again the quiet face of the old scholar against a background of confusion1 the clear calm features carved as in ivory1 and set with a light upon it2 chaotic darkness behind4 ,we were visiting his wife1 when he came out from the inner room1 and asked if he might talk with us4 ,usually to such a question ,i say no2 we have come to the women1 who are far the more needy1 the men can easily hear if they will4 ,but he was such an old man1 ,i felt ,i could not refuse2 so he began to tell me what he held as truth1 which was1 in brief1 that there are two sets of attachment1 one outer1 one inner2 that deliverance from these1 and from ,self1 the ,ego1 which regards itself as the doer1 constitutes ,holiness2 that is1 that one must be completely disentangled and completely self-less4 ,this attained1 the next is ,bliss1 which is progressive4 ,first comes existence in the same place as ,god4 ,second1 nearness to ,god4 ,third1 likeness to ,god4 ,fourth1 identity with ,god4 ,then he quoted from a classic beloved by all the old ,tamil school1 stanza after stanza1 to prove the truth of the above1 ending with one which ,dr4 ,pope has thus translated-- ,cling thou to that which ,he to ,whom nought clings hath bid thee cling1 ,cling to that bond1 to get thee free from every clinging thing4 ,he knew ,sanscrit1 and read me strange-sounding passages from a huge ancient book1 and then1 in return for a booklet1 he gave me one of ,mrs4 ,besant's translations from the ,bhagavad ,gita4 ,the talk ended in my quoting what he could not deny was the true heart-cry of one of his greatest poets4 ,i know nothing6 nothing6 ,i am in darkness6 ,lord1 is there no light for me8 ,and another1 from the poem he had quoted1 which asks the question1 ,what is the use of knowledge1 mere knowledge1 if one does not draw near to the ,all-knowing1 ,all-pure ,one8 ,and this led into what he would not listen to at first1 a little reading from the ,book of books1 before whose light even these wonderful books pale as tapers in clear sunshine4 ,the marvel of our ,bible never shows more marvellous than at such times1 when you see it in deed and in truth the ,sword of the ,spirit1 and it cuts4 ,the old man asked me to come again1 and ,i did1 as the ,iyer was away4 ,he often got out of my depth1 and ,i longed to know more2 but ,i always found the ,bible had the very word he needed1 if he would only take it4 ,so far as ,i know1 he did not1 and ,i left him--to quote his own words1 though not spoken of himself1 alas6--bewildered by numerous thoughts1 meshed in the web of delusion4 ,as we left our old scholar1 we came upon a thing wholly foolish and brainless1 animalism in force4 ,it was the difference between the ,classes and the ,masses once for all painted in glare4 ,a huge procession was tearing along the streets and roads1 with all the usual uproar4 ,they stopped when they got to a big thorn bush1 and then danced round it1 carrying their idols raised on platforms1 and borne by two or three dozen to each4 ,we passed1 singing as hard as ever we could ,victory to ,jesus' ,name6 ,victory6 and when we got rather out of the stream1 stopped1 and sang most vigorously1 till quite a little crowd gathered1 and we had a chance to witness4 ,it was dark1 and the flaming torches lit up the wildest1 most barbaric bit of heathenism ,i have seen for a long time4 ,the great black moving mass seemed like some hellish sea which had burst its bounds1 and the hundreds of red-fire torches moving up and down upon it like lights in infernal fishermen's boats1 luring lost souls to their doom4 ,as we waited and spoke to those who would hear1 a sudden rush from the centre of things warned us to go2 but before we could get out of the way1 a rough lad with a thorn-branch torch stuck it right into the bandy1 and all but set fire to us4 ,he ran on with a laugh1 and another followed with an idol1 a hideous creature1 red and white1 which he also pushed in upon us4 ,our bullocks trotted as fast as they could1 and we soon got out of it all1 and looking back saw the great square of the devil temple blazing with torches and firebrands1 and heard the drummings and clangings and yells which announced the arrival of the procession4 ,all that night the riotous drumming continued1 and1 as one lay awake and listened1 one pictured the old scholar sitting in the cool night air on his verandah1 reading his ancient palm-leaf books by the light of the little lamp in the niche of his cottage wall4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,caste viewed as a ,doer ,it is matter for especial notice that in every department of applied science we have to deal with the unseen4 ,all forces1 whether in physics1 mechanics1 or electricity1 are invisible4 ,alexander ,mackay1 ,africa4 ,,the division of the ,tamil people1 over fifteen million strong1 into ,classes and ,masses1 though convenient and simple1 is far too simple to be of value in giving an accurate idea of the matter as it is understood from within4 ,as we said1 it is only an outside view of things4 ,a study of ,caste from an ,indian point of view is a study from which you rise bewildered4 ,what is ,caste8 ,what is electricity8 ,lord ,kelvin said1 on the occasion of his jubilee1 that he knew no more of electric and magnetic force 4 4 4 than he knew and tried to teach his students of natural philosophy fifty years ago in his first session as ,professor4 ,we know that electricity exists1 we are conscious of its presence in the phenomena of light1 heat1 sound2 but we do not know what it is4 ,nothing could more perfectly illustrate ,caste4 ,you cannot live long in a conservative part of ,india1 in close contact with its people1 without being conscious of its presence2 if you come into conflict with it1 it manifests itself in a flash of opposition1 hot rage of persecution1 the roar of the tumult of the crowd4 ,but try to define it1 and you find you cannot do it4 ,it is not merely birth1 class1 a code of rules1 though it includes all these4 ,it is a force1 an energy2 there is spirit in it1 essence1 hidden as the invisible essence which we call electricity4 ,look at what it does4 ,a few months ago a boy of twelve resolved to be a ,christian4 ,his clan1 eight thousand strong1 were enraged4 ,there was a riot in the streets2 in one house the poison cup was ready4 ,better death than loss of ,caste4 ,in another town a boy took his stand1 and was baptised1 thus crossing the line that divides secret belief from open confession4 ,his ,caste men got hold of him afterwards2 next time he was seen he was a raving lunatic4 ,the ,caste was avenged4 ,it may be someone will wonder if these things are confined to one part of the field1 so ,i quote from another1 working in a neighbouring field1 ,tamil1 but not ours4 ,she tells of a poor low-caste woman who learned in her home1 and believed4 ,her husband also believed1 and both thought of becoming ,christians4 ,the village soothsayer warned them that their father's god would be angry2 they did not heed him1 but went on1 and suddenly their baby died4 ,this was too much for their faith then1 and they both went back to idolatry4 ,a few years afterwards their eldest child began to learn to read1 and the mother's faith revived4 ,the soothsayer and her husband reminded her of the infant's fate1 but she was brave1 and let her child learn4 ,then her cow suddenly died4 ,did we not tell you so8 they said1 and for the moment she was staggered2 but she rallied1 and only became more earnest in faith4 ,so the soothsayer threatened worse4 ,illustration3 ,cooking in a house of the ,shanar ,caste1 always the most accessible of all ,castes here1 but this is a specially friendly house1 or we should not have been allowed to take the photo4 ,the small girl who is grinding curry stuff on the stone is the ,imp of chapter xx4 ,then a ,caste meeting was called to determine what could be done with this woman4 ,the husband attended the meeting1 and was treated to some rice and curry2 before he reached home he was taken violently ill1 and in three days he died4 ,the relatives denounced the woman as the cause of her husband's death1 took her only son from her1 and entreated her to return to her father's gods before they should all be annihilated4 ,they gave her two weeks to fast and mourn for her husband1 then finding her mind as firmly fixed on ,christ as before1 they sent her to ,burmah4 ,this happened recently4 ,it is told without any effort to appeal to the sympathies of anyone1 simply as a fact2 a witness1 every line of it1 to the power of ,caste as a ,doer4 ,but there is something in the tale1 told so terribly quietly1 that makes one's heart burn with indignation at the unrelenting cruelty which would hound a poor woman down1 and send her1 bereft of all she loved1 into exile1 such as a foreign land would be to one who knew only her own little village4 ,and when you remember the ,caste was low1 which they took such infinite pains to guard1 you can judge1 perhaps1 what the hate would be1 the concentration of scorn and hate1 if the ,caste were higher or high4 ,but look at ,caste in another way1 in its power in the commonplace phases of life4 ,for example1 take a kitchen and cooking1 and see how ,caste rules there4 ,for cooking is not vulgar work1 or infra dig4 in any sense1 in ,india2 all ,caste women in good orthodox ,hindu families either do their own or superintend the doing of it by younger members of the same family or servants of the same ,caste4 ,we ,europeans cannot understand the extent to which culinary operations may be associated with religion4 ,the kitchen in every ,indian household is a kind of sanctuary or holy ground4 4 4 4 ,the mere glance of a man of inferior ,caste makes the greatest delicacies uneatable1 and if such a glance happens to fall on the family supplies during the cooking operations1 when the ceremonial purity of the water used is a matter of almost life and death to every member of the household1 the whole repast has to be thrown away as if poisoned4 ,the family is for that day dinnerless4 ,food thus contaminated would1 if eaten1 communicate a taint to the souls as well as bodies of the eaters1 a taint which could only be removed by long and painful expiation4 ,thus far ,sir ,monier ,williams 7quoted as a greater authority than any mere missionary674 ,think of the defilement which would be contracted if a member of the household who had broken ,caste in baptism took any part in the cooking4 ,it would never be allowed4 ,such a woman could take no share in the family life4 ,her presence1 her shadow1 above all her touch1 would be simply pollution4 ,therefore1 and for many other reasons1 her life at home is impossible1 and the ,hindu1 without arguing about it1 regards it as impossible4 ,it does not enter into the scheme of life as laid down by the rules of his ,caste4 ,he never1 if he is orthodox1 contemplates it for a moment as a thing to be even desired4 ,cooking and kitchen work may seem small 7though it would not be easy for even the greatest to live without reference to it71 so let us look out on the world of trade1 and see ,caste again as a ,doer there4 ,if a merchant becomes a ,christian1 no one will buy his goods2 if he is a weaver1 no one will buy his cloth2 if he is a dyer1 no one will buy his thread2 if he is a jeweller1 no one will employ him4 ,if it is remembered that every particular occupation in life represents a particular ,caste1 it will be easily understood how matters are complicated where converts from the great ,trades ,unions are concerned4 ,hence the need of ,industrial ,missions1 and the fact that they exist4 ,a man wants to become a ,christian1 say1 from the blacksmith or carpenter ,caste4 ,as a ,christian he loses his trade1 and he has been trained to no other4 ,his forefathers worked in iron or wood1 and he cannot attempt to learn other work4 ,let the ,christians employ him1 you say4 ,some do2 but the question involves other questions far too involved for discussion here4 ,and even if we discussed it1 we should probably end where we began--facing a practical problem which no one can hope to solve while ,caste is what it is4 ,just now this system is in full operation in the case of a lad of the brassworker ,caste4 ,he is a thoughtful boy1 and he has come to the conclusion that ,christianity is the true religion2 he would like to be a ,christian2 if the conditions were a little easier he would be enrolled as an inquirer to-morrow4 ,but here is the difficulty4 ,his father is not strong1 his mother and little sisters and brothers are his care2 if he were a ,christian he could not support them2 no one would sell him brass1 no one would buy the vessels he makes4 ,he knows only his inherited trade4 ,he can make fine water-pots1 lamps1 vases1 and vessels of all sorts1 nothing else4 ,he is too old to learn any other trade2 but supposing such an arrangement could be made1 who would support the family in the meantime8 ,perhaps we might do it2 we certainly could not let them starve2 but it would not do to tell him so1 or to hold out hopes of earthly help1 till we know beyond a doubt that he is true4 ,this is what is holding him back4 ,he reads over and over again1 ,he that loveth father or mother more than ,me is not worthy of ,me1 and then he looks at his father and mother and the little children2 and he reads the verse again1 and he looks at them again4 ,it is too hard4 ,it is easy enough to tell him that ,god would take care of them if he obeys4 ,we do tell him so1 but can we wonder at the boy for hesitating to take a step which will1 so far as he can see1 take house and food and all they need from his mother and those little children8 ,these are some of the things which make work in ,india what is simply called difficult4 ,we do not want to exaggerate4 ,we know all lands have their difficulties1 but when being a ,christian means all this1 over and above what it means elsewhere1 then the bonds which bind souls are visibly strengthened1 and the work can never be described as other than very difficult4 ,or take the power of ,caste in another direction--its callous cruelty4 ,i give one illustration from last year's life4 ,i was visiting in the house where the old lady lives upon whom the afflatus fell4 ,the first time we went there we saw a little lad of three or four1 who seemed to be suffering with his eyes4 ,he lay in a swinging bag hung from the roof1 and cried piteously all the time we were there4 ,now1 two months afterwards1 there he lay crying still1 only his cries were so weary he had hardly strength to cry4 ,they lifted him out4 ,i should not have known the child--the pretty face drawn and full of pain1 the little hands pressed over the burning eyes4 ,only one who has had it knows the agony of ophthalmia4 ,they told me he had not slept1 not even the measure of a rape-seed1 for three months4 ,night and day he cried and cried2 but he does not make much noise now1 they added4 ,he couldn't1 poor little lad6 ,i begged them to take him to the hospital1 twenty-five miles away1 but they said to go to a hospital was against their ,caste4 ,the child lay moaning so pitifully it wrung my heart1 and ,i pleaded and pleaded with them to let me take him if they would not4 ,even if his sight could not be saved1 something could be done to ease the pain1 ,i knew4 ,but no1 he might die away from home1 and that would disgrace their ,caste4 ,then he is to suffer till he is blind or dead8 and ,i felt half wild with the cold cruelty of it4 ,what can we do8 they asked2 can we destroy our ,caste8 ,oh1 ,i did blaze out for a moment6 ,i really could not help it4 ,and then ,i knelt down among them all1 just broken with the pity of it1 and prayed with all my heart and soul that the ,good ,shepherd would come and gather the lamb in ,his arms6 ,i wonder if you can bear to read it8 ,i can hardly bear to write it4 ,but you have not seen the little wasted hands pressed over the eyes1 and then falling helplessly1 too tired to hold up any longer2 and you have not heard those weak little wails--and to think it need not have been6 ,but we could do nothing4 ,we were leaving the place next day1 and even if we could have helped him1 they would not have let us4 ,they had their own doctor1 they said2 the case was in his hands4 ,as we came away they explained that one of the boy's distant relatives had died two years ago1 and that this was what prevented any of them leaving the house1 as some obscure ,caste rule would be broken if they did2 otherwise1 perhaps they might have been able to take him somewhere for change of treatment4 ,so there that child must lie in his pain1 one more little living sacrifice on the altar of ,caste4 ,the last thing ,i heard them say as we left the house was1 ,cry softly1 or we'll put more medicine in6 ,and the last thing ,i saw was the tightening of the little hands over the poor shut eyes1 as he tried to stifle his sobs and cry softly4 ,this told one what the medicine meant to him4 ,one of the things they had put in was raw pepper mixed with alum4 ,is not ,caste a cruel thing8 ,those women were not heartless1 but they would rather see that baby die in torture by inches1 than dim with one breath the lustre of their brazen escutcheon of ,caste6 ,illustration3 ,i determined not to laugh6 ,that was what she said when she saw it1 and she was fairly satisfied with the result of her efforts4 ,the jewels are gold1 the seeley a rich red4 ,a woman of this type makes a fine picture1--the strong intelligent face1 the perfect arms and hands1 the glistening gold on the clear brown1 and the graceful dress harmonising so perfectly with the colour of eyes and hair4 ,the one deformity is the ear1 cut so as to hold the jewels1 which are so heavy that one wonders the stretched lobes do not break4 ,this is one glimpse of one phase of a power which is only a name at home4 ,it is its weakest phase2 for the hold of ,caste upon the body is as nothing to the hold it has upon the mind and soul4 ,it yields to the touch of pain sometimes1 as our medical missionaries know2 but it tightens again too often when the need for relief is past4 ,it is unspeakably strong1 unmercifully cruel1 and yet it would seem as though the very blood of the people ran red with it4 ,it is in them1 part of their very being4 ,this1 then1 is ,caste viewed as a ,doer4 ,it does strange things1 hard things1 things most cruel4 ,it is1 all who fight it are agreed1 the strongest foe to the ,gospel of ,christ on the ,hindu fields of ,south ,india4 ,,chapter ,,xii ,petra ,this work in ,india 4 4 4 is one of the most crucial tests the ,church of ,christ has ever been put to4 ,the people you think to measure your forces against are such as the giant races of ,canaan are nothing to4 ,bishop ,french1 ,india and ,arabia4 ,,it was very hot1 and we were tired1 and the friendly voice calling ,come in6 come in6 ,oh1 come and rest6 was a welcome sound1 and we went in4 ,she was a dear old friend of mine1 the only real friend ,i have in that ancient ,hindu town4 ,her house is always open to us1 the upper room always empty--or said to be so--when we are needing a rest4 ,but she is a ,hindu of the ,hindus1 and though so enlightened that for love's sake she touches us freely1 taking our hands in hers1 and even kissing us1 after we go there is a general purification2 every scrap of clothing worn while we were in the house is carefully washed before sunset4 ,she insisted now upon feeding us1 called for plantains and sugar1 broke up the plantains1 dabbed the pulp in the sugar1 and commanded us to eat4 ,then she sat down satisfied1 and was photographed4 ,this town1 a little ancient ,hindu town1 is two hours journey from ,dohnavur4 ,there are thirty-eight stone temples and shrines in and around it1 and five hundred altars4 ,no one has counted the number of idols2 there are two hundred under a single tree near one of the smaller shrines4 ,each of the larger temples has its attendant temple-women2 there are two hundred recognised ,servants of the gods1 and two hundred annual festivals4 ,wonderful sums are being worked just now concerning the progress of ,christianity in ,india4 ,a favourite sum is stated thus3 the number of ,christians has increased during the last decade at a certain ratio4 ,given the continuance of this uniform rate of increase1 it will follow that within a computable period ,india will be a ,christian land4 ,one flaw in this method of calculation is that it takes for granted that ,brahmans1 high-caste ,hindus1 and ,mohammedans will be ,christianised at the same rate of progress as prevails at present among the depressed classes4 ,there are sums less frequently stated4 ,here in the heart of this ,hindu town they come with force2 one such sum worked out carefully shows that1 according to the present rate of advance1 it will be more than twenty thousand years before the ,hindu towns of this district are even nominally ,christian4 ,another still more startling gives us this result3 according to the laws which govern statistics1 thirteen hundred thousand years must pass before the ,brahmans in this one ,south ,indian district are ,christianised4 ,and if the sum is worked so as to cover all ,india1 the result is quite as staggering to faith based on statistics4 ,praise ,god1 this is not ,his arithmetic6 ,it is a purely human invention4 ,we believe in the ,holy ,ghost1 the ,lord and ,giver of ,life2 we believe in ,god1 even ,god ,who calleth the things that are not as though they were3 therefore these sums prove nothing4 ,but if such sums are worked at all1 they ought to be worked on both sides1 and not only on the side which yields the most encouraging results4 ,two of us spent a morning in the ,brahman street4 ,in these old ,hindu towns the ,brahman street is built round the temple1 and in large towns this street is a thoroughfare1 and we are allowed in4 ,the women stood in the shadow of the cool little dark verandahs1 and we stood out in the sun and tried to make friends with them4 ,then some ,mission ,college boys saw us and felt ashamed that we should stand in that blazing heat1 and they offered us a verandah2 but the women instantly cleared off1 and the men came1 and the boys besought us under their breath to say nothing about our religion4 ,we spoke for a few minutes1 throwing our whole soul into the chance4 ,we felt that our words were as feathers floating against rocks2 but we witnessed1 and they listened till1 as one of them remarked1 it was time to go for their noontide bathe1 and we knew they wished us to go4 ,we went then1 and found a wall at the head of the ,brahman street1 and we stood in its shadow and tried again4 ,crowds of men and lads gathered about us1 but our ,college boys stood by our side and helped to quiet them4 ,now you see1 they said to us1 as they walked with us down the outer street1 how quite impossible for us is ,christianity4 ,it is good sometimes to take time to take in the might of the foe we fight4 ,that evening two of us had a quiet few minutes under the temple walls4 ,those great walls1 reaching so high above us1 stretching so far beyond us1 seemed a type of the wall ,satan has built round these souls4 ,we could touch this visible wall1 press against it1 feel its solid strength4 ,run hard against it1 and you would be hurt1 you might fall back bleeding2 it would not have yielded one inch4 ,and the other invisible wall8 ,oh1 we can touch it too6 ,spirit-touch is a real thing4 ,and so is spirit-pain4 ,but the wall1 it still stands strong4 ,it was moonlight4 ,we had walked all round the great temple square1 down the silent ,brahman streets1 and we had stood in the pillared hall1 and looked across to the open door1 and seen the light on the shrine4 ,now we were out in ,god's clean light1 looking up at the mass of the tower1 as it rose pitch-black against the sky4 ,and we felt how small we were4 ,then the influences of the place began to take hold of us4 ,it was not only masonry2 it was mystery4 ,the ,sovereigns of this present ,darkness were there4 ,how futile all of earth seemed then1 against those tremendous forces and powers4 ,what toy-swords seemed all weapons of the flesh4 ,praise ,god for the ,holy ,ghost6 ,while we were sitting there a ,brahman came to see what we were doing1 and we told him some of our thoughts4 ,he asked us then if we would care to hear his4 ,we told him1 gladly4 ,he pointed up to the temple tower4 ,that is my first step to ,god4 ,we listened1 and he unfolded1 thought by thought1 that strange old ,vdic philosophy1 which holds that ,god1 being omnipresent1 reveals ,himself in various ways1 in visible forms in incarnations1 or in spirit4 ,the visible-form method of revelation is the lowest2 it is only1 as it were1 the first of a series of steps which lead up to the highest1 intelligent adoration of and absorption into the ,one ,supreme ,spirit4 ,we are only little children yet4 ,we take this small first step1 it crumbles beneath us as we rise to the next1 and so step by step we rise from the visible to the invisible1 from matter to spirit--to ,god4 ,but1 he added courteously1 as my faith is good for me1 so1 doubtless1 you find yours for you4 ,next morning we went down to the river and had talks with the people who passed on their way to the town4 ,it was all so pretty in the early morning light4 ,men were washing their bullocks1 and children were scampering in and out of the water4 ,farther downstream the women were bathing their babies and polishing their brass water-vessels4 ,trees met overhead1 but the light broke through in places and made yellow patches on the water4 ,out in one of those reaches of yellow a girl stood bending to fill her vessel2 she wore the common crimson of the ,south1 but the light struck it1 and struck the shining brass as she swung it up under her arm1 and made her into a picture as she stood in her clinging wet red things against the brown and green of water and wood4 ,everywhere we looked there was something beautiful to look at1 and all about us was the sound of voices and laughter1 and the musical splashing of water2 then1 as we enjoyed it all1 we saw this3 ,under an ancient tree fifteen men were walking slowly round and round1 following the course of the sun4 ,under the tree there were numbers of idols1 and piles of oleander and jessamin wreaths1 brought fresh that morning4 ,the men were elderly1 fine-looking men2 they were wholly engrossed in what they were doing4 ,it was no foolish farce to them2 it was reality4 ,there is something in the sight of this ordinary1 evident dethronement of our ,god which stirs one to one's inmost soul4 ,we could not look at it4 ,again and again we have gone to that town1 but to-day those men go round that tree1 and to-day that town is a fort unwon4 ,petra1 ,i have called it2 the word stands for many a town walled in as that one is4 ,in ,keith's ,evidence of ,prophecy there is a map of ,petra1 the old strong city of ,edom1 and in studying it a light fell upon ,david's question concerning it1 and his own triumphant answer1 ,who will lead me into the strong city8 ,who will bring me into ,edom8 ,wilt not ,thou1 ,o ,god8 for the map shows the mountains all round except at the ,east1 where they break into a single narrow passage1 the one way in4 ,there was only one way in1 but there was that one way in6 ,here is a town walled up to heaven by walls of ,caste and bigotry1 but there must be one way in4 ,here is a soul walled all round by utter indifference and pride1 but there must be one way in4 ,who will lead me into the strong city8 ,who will bring me into ,edom8 ,wilt not ,thou1 ,o ,god8 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,death by ,disuse ,there is a strong tendency to look upon the ,atonement of ,christ as possessing some quality by virtue of which ,god can excuse and overlook sin in the ,christian1 a readiness to look upon sinning as the inevitable accompaniment of human nature 'until death do us part1' and to look upon ,christianity as a substitute for rather than a cause of personal holiness of life4 ,rev4 ,i4 ,w4 ,charlton1 ,india4 ,from many things ,i have heard ,i fancy many at home think of the mission as a sort of little heaven upon earth1 but when one looks under the surface there is much to sadden one4 4 4 4 ,oh1 friends1 much prayer is needed6 ,many of the agents know apparently nothing about conversion4 ,you may not like my writing so plainly1 but sometimes it seems as if only the bright side were given1 and one feels that if ,god's praying people at home understood things more as they really are 4 4 4 more prayer for an outpouring of the ,holy ,spirit on our agents and converts would ascend to ,god4 4 4 4 ,we do long to see all our pastors and agents really converted men1 men of prayer and faith1 who1 knowing that they themselves are saved1 long with a great longing to see the heathen round them brought out of darkness into ,his light1 and the ,christians who form their congregations1 earnest converted men and women4 ,a4 ,j4 ,carr1 ,india4 ,fifty added to the ,church sounds fine at home1 but if only five of them are genuine what will it profit in the ,great ,day8 ,david ,livingstone1 ,africa4 ,oh for the ,fire to set the whole alight1 and melt us all into one mighty ,holy-,ghost ,church6 ,minnie ,apperson1 ,china4 ,,the lamps were being lighted1 the drums beaten1 the cymbals struck1 and the horns blown for evening pujah in all the larger temples and shrines of the ,strong ,city1 when we turned out of it1 and1 crossing the stream that divides the two places1 went to the ,christian hamlet1 which by contrast at that moment seemed like a little corner of the garden of the ,lord4 ,behind was the heathenish clash and clang of every possible discord1 and here the steady ringing of the bell for evening service2 behind was all that ever was meant by the mystery of iniquity1 and here the purity and peace of ,christianity4 ,this is how it struck me at first2 and even now1 after a spell of work in the heart of heathendom1 ,christendom1 or the bit of it lying alongside1 is beautiful by contrast4 ,there you have naked death1 death unadorned1 the corpse exhibited2 here1 if there is a corpse1 at least it is decently dressed4 ,and yet that evening it was forced upon me that death is death wherever found and however carefully covered4 ,illustration3 ,i do feel so shy6 she was just on the point of saying to me1 by the way of appeal to be released1 when the camera clicked and she was caught4 ,widows do not wear jewels1 as a rule1 among the ,hindus of the higher ,castes1 but ,christians do as they like4 ,she is a village woman of fairly good position4 ,the first of the ,christians to welcome us was a bright-looking widow--this is her photograph4 ,we soon made friends4 ,she told us she had been born in the ,way2 her grandfather joined it1 and none of the family had gone back1 so she was sure that all was right4 ,we were not so sure1 and we tried to find out if she knew the difference between joining the ,way and coming to ,christ4 ,this was only a poor little country hamlet1 but everywhere we have travelled1 among educated and uneducated alike1 we have found much confusion of thought upon this subject4 ,god knows my heart1 she said1 ,god hears my prayers4 ,if ,i see a bad dream in the night1 ,i pray to ,god1 and putting a ,bible under my head1 ,i sleep in perfect peace4 ,could anything be more conclusive8 ,there were numbers of other proofs forthcoming3 ,if your grandfather gave six lamps to the church1 value three and a half rupees each 7the lamps are hanging to-day1 and bear witness to the fact72 if your father never failed to pay his yearly dues1 besides regular ,sunday collections 7his name is in the church report1 and how much he gave is printed72 if you freely help the poor1 and give them paddy on ,christmas ,day 7quite a sackful of it72 if you never offer to demons 7no1 not when your children are sick1 and the other faithless ,christians advise you72 if you never tie on the cylinder 7a charm frequently though covertly worn by purely nominal ,christians72 and finally1 if you have been baptised and confirmed1 and without a break join the ,night-supper1 surely no one can reasonably doubt that you are a ,christian of a very proper sort8 ,as to questions about change of heart1 and chronic indulgence in sins1 such as lying--who in this wicked world lives without lying8 ,and when it pleases ,god to do it ,he will change your heart4 ,we took the evening meeting for the villagers1 who meanwhile had gathered and were listening with approval4 ,privacy1 as we understand it1 is a thing unknown in ,india4 ,that is right1 they remarked cheerfully2 give her plenty of good advice6 ,and we all trooped into the prayer-room4 ,once in there1 everyone put on a sort of church expression1 and each one took his or her accustomed seat in decorous silence4 ,the little school-children sat in rows in front on the mats with arms demurely folded1 and sparkling eyes fixed solemnly2 the grown-up people sat on their mats on either side behind1 and we sat on ours facing them4 ,we began with a chorus1 which the children picked up quickly and shouted lustily1 the grown-ups joining in with more reserve2 and then we got to work4 ,blessing spoke4 ,she had once been a nominal ,christian1 and she knew exactly where these people were1 and how they looked at things4 ,her heart was greatly moved as she spoke1 and the tears were in her eyes1 for she knew none of these friends had the joy of conscious salvation1 and she told me afterwards she had thirst and hunger for them4 ,but they listened unimpressed4 ,then we had prayer and a quiet time2 sometimes the ,spirit works most in quiet1 and we rose expectantly2 but there was no sign of life4 ,after the meeting was over they gathered round us again4 ,they are always so loving and friendly in these little villages2 but they could not understand what it was that troubled us4 ,were they not all ,christians8 ,shortly afterwards they came1 as their kindly custom is1 to bring us fruit and wreaths of flowers on ,new ,year's ,day4 ,i missed my first friend of that evening1 and asked for her4 ,that widow you talked to8 said the old catechist1 three days ago fever seized her1 and--,he broke off and looked up4 ,then ,i longed to hear how she had died1 but no one could tell me anything4 ,oh1 the curtain of silence that covers the passing of souls6 ,we went soon afterwards to the village1 sure that at last the people would be stirred2 for she had been a leader among the women1 and her call1 even in this land of sudden calls1 had been very sudden4 ,but we did not find it had affected anyone4 ,they all referred to her in the chastened tone adopted upon such occasions1 and1 sighing1 reminded each other that ,god was merciful1 and she had always been1 up to the measure of her ability1 a very good woman4 ,we felt as if we were standing with each one of those people separately1 in the one little standing space we were sure of1 before that curtain1 and we spoke with them as you speak with those whom you know you may never see again on this side of it4 ,but they looked at us1 and wondered what was the matter with us4 ,were they not ,christians8 ,did they not believe in ,god8 ,did they not pray regularly night and morning for forgiveness1 protection1 and blessing8 ,so they could not understand4 ,was it that the power to understand had been withered up within them8 ,was the soul ,god gave them dead--sentenced to death by disuse8 ,dead they are in apathy and ignorance and putrefying customs1 and the false security that comes from adherence to the ,christian creed without vital connection with ,christ4 ,these poor ,christians are dead4 ,why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that ,god should raise the dead8 ,lord1 it is not a thing incredible4 ,thou hast done it before4 ,oh1 do it again4 ,do it soon6 ,i have told you how much we need your help for the work among the heathen2 but often we feel we need it almost as much for the work among the ,christians4 ,over and over again it is told1 but still it is hardly understood1 that the ,christians need to be converted2 that the vast majority are not converted2 that statistics may mislead1 and do not stand for ,eternity work2 that many a pastor1 catechist1 teacher1 has a name to live1 but is dead2 that the ,church is very dead as a whole--thank ,god for every exception4 ,we do not say this thoughtlessly2 the words are a grief to write4 ,we humble ourselves that it is so1 and take to ourselves the blame4 ,it is true that the corpse of the dead ,church is dressed1 just as it is at home1 only here it is even more dressed2 and because the spirit of the land is intensely religious1 its grave-clothes are vestments4 ,but dressed death is still death4 ,this will come as a shock to those who have read stories of this or that native ,christian1 and generalising from these stories1 picture the ,church as a company of saints4 ,god has ,his saints in ,india1#a men and women hidden away in quiet places out of sight1 and some few out in the front2 but the cry of our hearts is for more4 ,so we tell you the truth about things as they are1 though we know it will not be acceptable1 for the best is the thing that is best liked at home2 so the best is most frequently written4 ,this may seem to cross out what was said before1 about the darker side of the truth being often told4 ,it does not cross it out3 read through the magazines and reports1 and you will find truth-revealing sentences1 which show facts to those who have eyes to see2 but though this is so1 all will admit that the sanguine view1 as it is called1 is by far the most in evidence1 for the sanguine man is by far the most popular writer1 and so is more pressed to write4 ,people will read what is buoyant and bright2 the more of that sort we have the better1 wrote a ,mission secretary out in the field not long ago1 to a missionary who did not feel free to write in quite that way4 ,those who1 to quote another secretary1 are afraid of writing at all1 for fear of telling lies--excuse the energetic language2 ,i am quoting1 not inventing--naturally write much less1 and so the best gets known4 ,this is nobody's fault exactly4 ,the home authorities print for the most part what is sent to them4 ,they even call attention sometimes to the less cheerful view of things2 and if1 yielding occasionally to the pressure which is brought to bear upon them by a public which loves to hear what it likes1 they take the sting out of some strong paragraph by adding an editorial ,nevertheless1 is it very astonishing8 ,do you think we are writing like this because we are discouraged8 ,no1 we are not discouraged1 except when sometimes we fear lest you should grow weary in prayer before the answer comes4 ,this ,india is ,god's ,india4 ,this work is ,his4 ,oh1 join with us then1 as we join with all our dear ,indian brothers and sisters who are alive in the ,lord1 in waiting upon ,him in that intensest form of waiting which waits on till the answer comes2 join with us as we pray to the mighty ,god of revivals1 ,o ,lord1 revive ,thy work6 ,revive ,thy work in the midst of the years6 ,in the midst of the years make known6 ,,footnote3 #a ,see ,appendix1 p4 #cjc4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,what ,happened ,some years ago ,england was stirred through and through by revelations which were made as to the ',bitter ,cry' of wronged womanhood4 ,in ,india the bitter cry is far more bitter1 but it is stifled and smothered by the cruel gag of ,caste4 ,orthodox ,hindus would rather see their girls betrayed1 tortured1 murdered1 than suffer them to break through the trammels of ,caste4 ,rev4 ,t4 ,walker1 ,india4 ,,there is another ancient town near ,dohnavur1 and in that town another temple1 and round the temple the usual ,brahman square4 ,in one of the streets of this square we saw the girl whose face looks out at you4 ,it struck us as a typical face1 not beautiful as many are1 but characteristic in the latent power of eyes and brow1 a face full of possibilities4 ,illustration3 ,here is one who might be a queen4 ,what she may be is very different4 ,she is a ,brahman girl2 all her people are ,hindus4 ,she has never even felt a desire1 or seen any one in her town who felt a desire1 to fall into the pit of ,christianity4 ,we were rarely able to get anything we specially wanted1 but we got this4 ,i look at it now1 and wonder how it will develop as the soul behind it shapes and grows4 ,that child is enfolded in influences which ward off the touch of the grace of life4 ,we saw numbers of women that day1 but only at the distance of a street breadth2 they would not come nearer1 for the town is still a ,petra to us1 we are waiting to be led in4 ,but if we were able to get in enough to take a photograph1 surely we were in enough to preach the ,gospel8 ,why not stop and there speak of more important matters8 ,what was to hinder then8 ,only this3 in that town they have heard of converts coming out1 and breaking ,caste in baptism1 and they have made a law that we 7with whom they know some of these converts are7 shall never be allowed to speak to any of their women4 ,that hindered us there4 ,but even supposing we had been free to speak1 as we trust we shall be soon1 and supposing she had wanted to hear1 the barriers which lie between such a child and confession of ,christ are so many and so great that when1 as now1 one wants to tell you about them1 one hardly knows how to do it4 ,words seem like little feeble shadows of some grim rock1 like little feeble shadows of the grasses growing on it1 rather than of it1 in its solidity2 or1 to revert to the old thought1 all one can say is just pointing to the ,dust as evidence of the ,actual4 ,what is to hinder high-caste women from being baptised1 and living as ,christians in their own homes8 ,the question was asked by an ,englishman1 a winter visitor1 who1 being interested in ,missions1 was gathering impressions4 ,we told him no high-caste woman would be allowed to live as an open ,christian in her own home2 and we told him of some who1 only because they were suspected of inclining towards ,christianity1 had been caused to disappear4 ,what do you suppose happened to them8 he asked1 and we told him4 ,we were talking in the pleasant drawing-room of an ,indian ,hotel4 ,our friend smiled1 and assured us we must be mistaken4 ,we were under the ,english ,government2 such things could not be possible4 ,we looked round the quiet room1 with its air of ,english comfort and ,english safety2 we looked at the quiet faces1 faces that had never looked at fear1 and we hardly wondered that they could not understand4 ,then in a moment1 even as they talked1 we were far away in another room1 looking at other faces1 faces unquiet1 very full of fear4 ,we knew that all round us1 for streets and streets1 there were only the foes of our ,lord2 we knew that a cry that was raised for help would be drowned long before it could escape through those many streets to the great ,english house outside4 ,there were policemen1 you say4 ,but policemen in ,india are not as at home4 ,policemen can be bribed4 ,and now we are looking in again4 ,there is a very dark inner room1 no window1 one small door2 the walls are solid1 so is the door4 ,if you cried in there1 who would hear8 ,and now we are listening--someone is speaking3 ,once there was one2 she cared for your ,god4 ,she was buried into the wall in there1 and that was the end of her4 4 4 4 ,but we are back in the drawing-room1 hearing them tell us these things could never be4 4 4 4 ,three years passed1 and a girl came for refuge to us4 ,she loved her people well2 she would never have come to us had they let her live as a ,christian at home4 ,but no1 ,rather than that she shall burn1 they said4 ,we were doubtful about her age1 and we feared we should have to give her up if the case came on in the courts4 ,and if we had to give her up8 ,we looked at the gentle1 trustful face1 and we could not bear the thought2 and yet1 according to our friends1 the ,government made all safe4 ,about that time a paper came to the house2 names1 dates1 means of identification1 all were given4 ,this was the story in brief4 ,a young ,brahman girl in another ,south ,indian town wanted to be a ,christian1 and confessed ,christ at home4 ,she earnestly wished to be baptised1 but she was too young then1 and waited1 learning steadily and continuing faithful1 though everything was done that could be done to turn her from her purpose4 ,she was betrothed against her will to her cousin1 and forbidden to have anything to do with the ,christians4 ,she was never allowed to go out alone1 and was practically a prisoner4 ,for three years that child held on1 witnessing steadfastly at home1 and letting it be clearly known that she was and would be a ,christian4 ,a ,hindu ceremony of importance in the family was held in her grandfather's house1 and she refused to go4 ,this brought things to a crisis4 ,her people appointed a council of five to investigate the matter4 ,she maintained a glorious witness before them all1 says the missionary2 declared boldly that she was a ,christian1 and intended to join us2 and when challenged about the ,bible1 she held it out1 and read it to the assembled people4 ,for a time it seemed as if she had won the day1 but fresh attempts were made upon her constancy by certain religious bigots of the town4 ,they offered her jewels--that failed2 tried to get her to turn ,mussulman1 that being less disgraceful than to be a ,christian2 and last and worst1 tried to stain that white soul black--but1 thank ,god6 still they failed4 ,at last the waiting time was over2 she was of age to be baptised1 and she wrote to tell her missionary friend about it4 ,he sent her books to read1 and promised to let her know within two days what he could arrange to do4 ,her letter was dated from her grandfather's house1 the missionary writes1 to which she said she had been sent1 and put in a room alone4 ,on the following day1 hearing a rumour of her death1 ,i went to ,n4's house1 and there found her body1 outside the door4 ,i caused it to be seized by the police1 and the post-mortem has revealed the fact that the poor child was poisoned by arsenic4 ,bribes have been freely used and atrocious lies have been told1 and the net result of all the police inquiries1 so far1 is that no charge can be brought against anyone4 ,last year we met one of the missionaries from this ,mission1 on the hills1 and we asked him if anyone had been convicted4 ,he said no one had been convicted1 the ,caste had seen to that4 ,here1 then1 is a statement of facts1 divested of all emotion or sensationalism4 ,a child is shut up in a room alone1 and poisoned2 when she is dead1 her body is thrown outside the door4 ,it was found4 ,there have been bodies which have not been found2 but we are under the ,british ,government--nothing can have happened to them6 ,the ,british ,government does much1 but it cannot do everything4 ,it is notorious in ,india that false witnesses can be bought at so much a head1 according to the nature of witness required4 ,bribery and corruption are not mere names here1 but facts1 most difficult for any straightforward official to trace and track and deal with4 ,we know1 and everyone knows1 that the ,white ,man's ,government1 though strong enough to win and rule this million-peopled ,empire1 is weak as a white child when it stands outside the door of an ,indian house1 and wants to know what has gone on inside1 or proposes to regulate what shall go on4 ,it cannot do it4 ,the thought is vain4 ,why not have her put under surveillance8 asked a friend1 a military man1 about a certain girl who wanted to be a ,christian2 as if such surveillance were practicable1 or ever could be1 under such conditions as obtain in high-caste ,hindu and ,mohammedan circles1 except in places directly under the eye of ,government4 ,we know there are houses where1 at an hour's notice1 any kind and any strength of poison can be prepared and administered3 quick poison to kill within a few minutes2 slow poisons that undermine the constitution1 and do their work so safely that no one can find it out2 brain poisons1 worse than either1 and perhaps more commonly used1 as they are as effective and much less dangerous4 ,but we could not prove what we know1 and knowledge without proof is1 legally speaking1 valueless4 ,and yet we know these things1 we have heard a cry of tears1 we have heard a cry of blood-- ,tears and blood have a cry that pierces heaven ,through all its hallelujah swells of mirth2 ,god hears their cry1 and though ,he tarry1 yet ,he doth not forget4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,simply ,murdered ',agonia'--that word so often on ,st4 ,paul's lips1 what did it mean8 ,did it not just mean the thousand wearinesses 4 4 4 and deeper1 the strivings1 the travailings1 the bitter disappointments1 the 'deaths oft' of a missionary's life8 ,rev4 ,robert ,stewart1 ,china4 ,,there are worse things than martyrdom4 ,there are some who are simply murdered4 ,there is one who belongs to a ,caste which more than any other is considered tolerant and safe4 ,men converts from this ,caste can live at home1 and if a husband and wife believe1 they may continue living in their own house1 among the heathen4 ,and yet this is what happened to a girl because it was known that she wanted to be a ,christian4 ,first persecution4 ,treasure1 as her name may be translated1 had learnt as a child in the little mission school1 and when we went to her village she responded1 and took her stand4 ,she refused to take part in a ,hindu ceremony4 ,she was beaten1 at first slightly1 then severely4 ,this failed1 so they sent her out of our reach to a heathen village miles away4 ,this also failed1 and she was brought home1 and for some months went steadily on1 reading and learning when she could1 and all the time brightly witnessing4 ,she was a joy to us4 ,she was very anxious to come out and be baptised1 but her age was the difficulty4 ,when a convert comes1 the first thing to be done is to let the police authorities know4 ,they send a constable1 who takes down the convert's deposition1 which is then forwarded to headquarters4 ,one of the first questions concerns age4 ,in some cases a medical certificate is demanded1 and the girl's fate turns on that2 if we can get one for over sixteen we are safe from prosecution in the ,criminal ,courts1 but eighteen is the safest age1 as the ,civil ,courts1 if the case were to proceed1 would force us to give her up if she were under eighteen4 ,the difficulty of proving the age1 unless the girl is evidently well over it1 is very serious4 ,the medical certificate usually takes off a year from what we have every reason to believe is the true age4 ,one other proof remains--the horoscope4 ,this is a ,hindu document written on a palm leaf at the birth of the child2 but it is always carefully kept by the head of the family1 and so1 as a rule1 unobtainable4 ,when a case comes on in ,court a false horoscope may be produced by the relatives2 this was done in a recent case tried in our ,courts1 so we cannot count upon that4 ,in this girl's case we got the ,government registers searched for birth-records of her village1 but all such registers we found had been destroyed2 none were kept of births sixteen years back4 ,so1 though she believed herself to be1 and we believed her to be1 and the ,christians who had known her all her life were sure she was1 about sixteen1 we knew it could not be proved4 ,she was a very slight girl1 delicate and small for her age4 ,this was against her1 and there were other reasons against her coming just then4 ,she had to wait4 ,i shall never forget the day ,i had to tell her so4 ,she could not understand it4 ,she knew that all the higher ,castes had threatened to combine1 and back up her father in a lawsuit1 if she became a ,christian2 but she thought it would be quite enough if she stood up before the judge1 and said she knew she was of age1 and she wanted to come to us4 ,i will not be afraid of the people1 she pleaded1 ,i will stand up straight before them all1 and speak without any fear6 ,i remember how the tears filled her eyes as ,i explained things2 it was so hard for her to understand that we had no power whatever to protect her4 ,it would be worse for her if she came and had to be given up4 ,she was fully sensible of this1 but ,would ,god let them take me away8 ,would ,he not take care of me8 she asked4 ,i suppose it is right to obey the laws4 ,they are1 on whole1 righteous laws1 made in the defence of these very girls4 ,it would never do if anyone could decoy away a mere child from her parents or natural guardians4 ,but the unrighteous thing1 as it seems to us1 is that the whole burden of proof lies upon us1 and that in these country villages no facilities such as ,government registers of birth are to be had1 by which we could hope legally to prove a point about which we are morally sure4 ,we feel that as the burden of proof rests upon us1 surely facilities should be obtainable by which we could find out a girl's age before she comes1 so that we might know whether or not we might legally protect her4 ,still more strongly we feel it is strange justice which decrees that though a child of twelve may be legally held competent to undertake the responsibilities of wifehood1 six years more must pass before she may be legally held free to obey her conscience4 ,free6 ,she is never legally free6 ,a widow may be legally free2 a wife in ,india1 never6 ,hardly a single ,caste wife in all this ,empire would be found in the little band of open ,christians to-day1 if the missionary concerned had not risked more than can be told here1 and put ,god's law before man's4 ,but oh1 the number who have been turned back6 ,one stops1 forces the words down--they come too hot and fast4 ,there are reasons4 ,as ,i write1 a young wife dear to us is lying bruised and unconscious on the floor of the inner room of a ,hindu house4 ,her husband1 encouraged by her own mother1 set himself to make her conform to a certain ,caste custom4 ,it was idolatrous4 ,she refused4 ,he beat her then1 blow upon blow1 till she fell senseless4 ,they brought her round and began again4 ,there is no satisfactory redress4 ,she is his wife4 ,she is not free to be a ,christian4 ,he knows it4 ,her relations know it4 ,she knows it1 poor child4 ,o ,god1 forgive us if we are too hot1 too sore at heart1 for easy pleasantness6 ,and1 ,god1 raise up in ,india ,christian statesmen who will inquire into this matter1 and refuse to be blindfolded and deceived4 ,his laws and ours clash somewhere2 the question is1 where8 ,to return to ,treasure1 we left her waiting to come4 ,a ,christian teacher lived next door1 and ,treasure used to slip in sometimes1 as the two courtyards adjoined4 ,we had put up a text on the wall for her3 ,fear not3 for ,i have redeemed thee1 ,i have called thee by thy name2 thou art ,mine4 ,this was her special text1 and she looked at it now2 and then she grew braver1 and promised to be patient and try to win her mother1 who was bitterly opposed4 ,but oh1 how ,i remember the wistfulness of her face as ,i went out2 and one's very heart can feel again the stab of pain1 like a knife cutting deep1 as ,i left her--to her fate4 ,you have seen a tree standing stark and bare1 a bleak black thing1 on a sunny day against a sky of blue4 ,you have looked at it1 fascinated by the silent horror of it1 a distorted cinder1 not a tree1 and someone tells you it was struck in the last great thunderstorm4 ,next time we saw ,treasure she was like that4 ,what happened between1 so far as it is known1 was this4 ,they tried to persuade her1 they tried to coerce her2 she witnessed to ,jesus1 and never faltered1 though once they dragged her out of the house by her hair1 and holding her down against the wall1 struck her hard with a leather strap4 ,one of the ,christians saw it1 and heard the poor tortured child cry out1 ,i do not fear6 ,i do not fear6 ,it will only send me to ,jesus6 ,then they tried threats4 ,we will take you out to the lake at night1 and cut you in little pieces1 and throw you into it4 ,she fully believed them1 but even so1 we hear she did not flinch4 ,then they did their worst to her4 ,it was a ,sunday morning4 ,the ,saturday evening before she had managed to see the teacher4 ,she told her hurriedly how one had come1 a bridegroom she called him1 a student from a ,mission ,college2 he was telling her all sorts of things--that ,christianity was an exploded religion2 and how a great and learned woman 7,mrs4 ,besant7 had exposed the missionaries and their ways1 so that no thinking people had any excuse for being deceived by them4 ,then she added earnestly1 ,it is the devil4 ,do pray for me4 ,they want me to marry him secretly6 ,oh1 ,i must go to the ,missie ,ammal6 ,and if we had only known1 we would have risked anything1 any breach of the law of the land1 to save her from a breach of the law of heaven6 ,for all this talk1 between an ,indian girl of good repute and her prospective husband1 is utterly foreign to what is considered right in ,old ,india4 ,it in itself meant danger4 ,but we knew nothing1 and next day1 all that ,sunday1 she was shut up1 and no one knows what happened to her4 ,on ,monday she was seen again2 but changed1 so utterly changed6 ,we heard nothing of this till the following ,wednesday4 ,the ,christians were honestly concerned1 but the ,tamil is ever casual1 and they saw no reason for distressing us with bad news sooner than could be helped4 ,as soon as we heard1 ,i sent two of the ,sisters who knew her best1 to try and see her if possible4 ,they managed to see her for two or three minutes1 but found her hopelessly hard4 ,every bit of care was gone4 ,she laughed in a queer1 strained way1 they said4 ,it was no use my trying to see her4 ,but ,i determined to see her4 ,i cannot go over it all again1 it is like tearing the skin off a wound2 so the letter written at the time may tell the rest of it4 ,on ,saturday ,i went4 ,i went straight to the teacher's house1 and sent off the bandy at once1 and by ,god's special arrangement got in unnoticed4 ,for hours we sat in the little inner room1 waiting2 we could hear her voice in the courtyard outside--a hard1 changed voice4 ,the teacher tried to get her in1 but no1 she would not come4 ,oh1 how we held on to ,god6 ,i could not bear to go till ,i had seen her4 ,at last we had to go4 ,the cart came back for us1 thus proclaiming where we were1 and the last human chance was gone4 ,and then1 just then1 like one walking in a dream1 ,treasure wandered in and stood1 startled4 ,she did not know we were there4 ,we were kneeling with our backs to the door4 ,i turned and saw her4 ,i cannot write about the next five minutes2 ,i thought ,i realised something of what ,satan could do in this land1 but ,i knew nothing about it4 ,oh1 when will ,jesus come and end it all8 ,just once it seemed as if the spell were broken4 ,my arms were round her1 though she had shrunk away at first1 and tried to push me from her2 she was quiet now1 and seemed to understand a little how one cared4 ,she knelt down with me1 and covered her eyes as if in prayer1 while ,i poured out my soul for her1 and then we were all very still1 and the ,lord seemed very near4 ,but she rose1 unmoved1 and looked at us4 ,we were all quite broken down1 and she smiled in a strange1 hard1 foolish way--that was all4 ,the cause no one knows4 ,there are only two possible explanations4 ,one is poison4 ,there is some sort of mind-bewildering medicine which it is known is given in such cases4 ,this is the view held by the ,christians on the spot4 ,one of them says her cousin was dealt with in this way4 ,he was keen to be a ,christian1 and was shut up for a day1 and came out--dead4 ,dead1 she means1 to all which before had been life to him4 ,the other1 and worse1 is sin4 ,has she been forced into some sin which to one so enlightened as she is must mean an awful darkness1 the hiding of ,god's face8 ,i cannot tell you how bright this dear child was4 ,up till that ,saturday evening her faith never wavered2 she was a living sign to all the town that the ,lord is ,god4 ,the heathen are triumphant now4 ,i have told you plainly what has happened4 ,god's ,truth needs no painting4 ,i leave it with you4 ,do you believe it is perfectly true8 ,then what are you going to do8 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,wanted1 ,volunteers ,we have a great and imposing ,war ,office1 but a very small army4 4 4 4 ,while vast continents are shrouded in almost utter darkness1 and hundreds of millions suffer the horrors of heathenism or of ,islam1 the burden of proof lies upon you to show that the circumstances in which ,god has placed you were meant by ,him to keep you out of the foreign mission field4 ,ion ,keith ,falconer1 ,arabia4 ,,in one of the addresses delivered at the ,international ,student ,missionary ,conference1 ,london1 in ,january #aijj1 a ,south ,indian missionary spoke of the ,brahman race as the brain of ,india4 ,their numbers are comparatively small--between ten and fifteen millions--but though numerically few--only five per cent4 of the ,hindu population--they hold all that population in the hollow of their hand4 ,they occupy every position of influence in the land4 ,they are the statesmen and politicians1 the judges1 magistrates1 ,government officials1 and clerks of every grade4 ,if there is any position conferring influence over their fellow-men1 it will be held by a ,brahman4 ,moreover1 they are a sacred ,caste1 admitted by the people to be gods upon earth--a rank supposed to have been attained by worth maintained through many transmigrations4 ,illustration3 ,a typical ,brahman face4 ,it is keener than the photo shows1 and has the cynical expression so many ,brahman faces have4 ,such a man is hard to win4 ,among the ,petras of this district is a little old-fashioned country town1 held in strength by the ,brahmans4 ,no convert has ever come from that town1 and the town boasts that none ever shall4 ,none of the houses are open yet to teaching1 or even visiting1 but we are making friends1 and hope for an entrance soon4 ,we spent a morning out in the street2 they had no objection to that1 and as the free young ,brahmans gathered round us1 or stood for a moment against a wall to be caught1 it was difficult1 even for us who knew it1 to realise how bound they were4 ,bound1 who should conquer2 slaves1 who should be kings4 ,bound1 body and soul1 in a bondage perfectly incomprehensible to the ,english mind4 ,afterwards1 when we saw the photographs1 we recalled one and another who1 while they were young students like these1 dared to desire to escape from their bondage2 but back they were dragged1 and the chains were riveted faster than ever1 and every link was tested again1 and hammered down hard4 ,we wanted to be sure of our facts about each of them1 that these facts may further answer that smile which assures us things are not as we imagine2 so the ,iyer wrote to a brother missionary who had known these lads well1 and asked him to tell what happened to each of them4 ,this morning the answer to that letter came1 and was handed to me with ,i hardly like to give it to you1 but it tells the truth about what goes on4 ,these boys were students in our ,c4,m4,s4 ,college4 ,the first one mentioned in the letter is a young ,brahman who confessed ,christ in baptism1 and bravely withstood the tremendous opposition raised by his friends1 who came in crowds for many weeks1 and tried by every argument to persuade him to return to ,hinduism2 but he preached ,christ to them4 ,they brought his young wife1 and she tore her hair and wailed1 and besought him not to condemn her to the shame of a widow's life4 ,this was the hardest of all to withstand2 he turned to the missionary and said1 ,oh my father1 take her away6 ,she is tearing out my heart6 ,illustration3 ,a typical ,brahman student4 ,the marks on the forehead are made of bright red1 yellow1 and white paste1 and represents the footprint of the god ,vishnu4 ,these ,brahmans are ,vaishnavites4 ,then came the baptism day of another ,brahman student1 his friend1 who previous to this had been seized by his relatives1 shut up and starved1 and then fed with poisoned food2 but the poison was not strong enough to kill1 and he had escaped1 and was now safe and ready for baptism4 ,it was remembered afterwards how the friend of the newly baptised stood and rejoiced1 and praised ,god4 ,then1 the baptism over1 fearing no danger in open day1 he went to the tank to bathe4 ,he was never seen again4 ,what happened exactly no one knows4 ,it is thought that men hired to watch him seized their opportunity1 and carried him off4 ,what they did then has never been told4 ,contradictory reports about the boy have reached the missionaries4 ,one1 that he is still holding on1 another that he is now a priest in one of the great ,saivite temples of ,south ,india4 ,which is true1 ,god knows4 ,but we are under the ,english ,government4 ,could nothing be done8 ,one of his near relatives is the present ,judge of the ,high ,court of one of our ,indian cities4 ,and among the crowd of ,brahmans who came during those weeks1 there were influential men1 graduates of colleges1 members of the legal profession--a favourite profession in ,india4 ,and yet this thing was done4 ,there was another2 the means used to get hold of him cannot be written here4 ,that is the difficulty which fronts us when we try to tell the truth as it really is4 ,it simply cannot be told4 ,the ,dust may be shown--or a little of it2 the whole of the ,actual1 never4 ,there were others near the ,kingdom1 but it is the same story over again4 ,they were all spirited away from the college2 the missionary writes1 it makes one's heart sick to think of them1 and the hellish means invented to turn them from ,christ4 ,these are not the words of sentimental imagination4 ,they are the words of a man who gives evidence as a witness4 ,but even a witness may feel4 ,he tells us of one1 a bright1 happy fellow1 he says he was1 whose friends made no objection to his returning home after his baptism1 and he returned1 thinking he would be able to live as a ,christian with his wife4 ,they drugged his food1 then what they did has to be covered with silence again4 4 4 4 ,they did their worst4 4 4 4 ,when he awoke from that nightmare of sin1 he sought out his missionary friend4 ,some of the ,hindus even1 ashamed of the vile means used to entice him and destroy him1 would have wished him to be received again as a ,christian1 but his spirit was broken4 ,he said he could not disgrace the cause of ,christ by coming back2 he would go away where he would not be known4 ,he left his wife1 and went4 ,he has never been heard of since4 ,our comrade tells of another1 and again1 in telling it1 we have to leave it half untold4 ,this one was eager to confess ,christ in baptism2 he was a student at college then1 and very keen4 ,his father knew of his son's desire1 and he did what few ,hindu fathers would do1 he turned his home into a hell1 in order to ruin his boy4 ,the infernal plot succeeded4 ,god only knows how far the soul is responsible when the mind is dazed and then inflamed by those fearful drugs4 ,but we do know that the soul ,he meant should rise and shine1 sinks1 weighted down by the unspeakable shame of some awful memory darkened1 as by some dark dye that has stained it through and through4 ,i think of others as ,i write3 one was a boy we knew well1 a splendid1 earnest lad1 keen to witness for ,christ4 ,he told us one evening how he had been delivered from those who were plotting his destruction4 ,for several months after his decision to be a ,christian1 he lived at home and tried to win his people2 but they were incensed against him for even thinking of breaking ,caste1 and would not listen to him4 ,still he waited1 and witnessed to them1 not fearing anything4 ,then one day1 suddenly some men rushed into the room where he was sitting1 seized and bound and gagged him4 ,they forced something into his mouth as he lay on the floor at their mercy2 he feared it was a drug1 but it was only some disgusting stuff which1 to a ,hindu1 meant unutterable defilement4 ,then they left him bound alone1 and at night he managed to escape4 ,a few months after he told us this1 we heard he had been seized again1 and this time drugged and done for4 ,in ,south ,india baptism does not prevent the ,caste from using every possible means to get the convert back2 once back1 certain ceremonies are performed1 after which he is regarded as purified1 and reinstated in his ,caste4 ,the policy of the whole ,caste confederation is this3 get him back unbaptised if you can1 but anyhow get him back4 ,two ,brahman lads belonging to different parts of this district decided for ,christ1 went through all that is involved in open confession1 and were baptised4 ,one of the two was sent ,north for safety2 his people traced him1 followed him1 turned up unexpectedly at a wayside station in ,central ,india1 and forced him back to his home in the ,south4 ,once there1 they took their own measures to keep him4 ,the other lad was sent to ,madras4 ,the ,brahmans found out where he was1 broke into the house at night1 overpowered the boy's protectors1 and carried him off4 ,they too did what seemed good to them there1 and they too succeeded4 ,no one outside could interfere4 ,the ,caste guards its own concerns4 ,o ,lord ,jesus ,christ6 wrote one1 a ,hindu still1 who knowest us to be placed in such danger that it is as if we were within some magical circle drawn round us1 and ,satan standing with his wand without1 keeping us in terror1 break the spell of ,satan1 and set us free to serve ,thee6 ,all this may be easy reading to those who are far away from the place where it happened4 ,distance has a way of softening too distinct an outline2 but it is not easy to write1 it comes so close to us4 ,why write it1 then8 ,we write it because it seems to us it should be more fully known1 so that men and women who know our ,god1 and the secret of how to lay hold upon ,him1 should lay hold1 and hold on for the winning of the ,castes for ,christ4 ,illustration3 ,another ,brahman1 much duller than the last4 ,this and the two preceding photographs are perfect as a study of three types of ,brahmanhood as we have it in ,southern ,india--keen1 thoughtful1 dull4 ,surely the very hardness of an enterprise1 the very fact that it is what a soldier would call a forlorn hope1 is in itself a call and a claim stronger than any put forth by something easier4 ,the soldier does not give in because the hope is forlorn4 ,it is a hope1 be it ever so desperate4 ,he volunteers for it1 and win or not1 he fights4 ,there is that in this enterprise which may mark it out as forlorn4 ,for ages the race has broken one of nature's laws with blind persistency1 and the result is a certain lack of moral fibre1 grit1 tone4 ,no separate individual is responsible for this1 harsh judgments are entirely out of place2 but the fact remains that it is so1 and it must be taken into account in dealing with the ,brahmans and several of the upper ,castes of ,india4 ,side by side with this element of weakness there is1 in apparent contradiction1 that stubborn element of strength known as the ,caste spirit4 ,this spirit is seen in all ,i have shown you of what happens when a convert comes4 ,it is as if all the million wills of the million ,caste men and women were condensed into one single ,will1 a concentration of essence of ,will not comparable with anything known at home4 ,look at this face--it is a photographed fact4 ,does it not show you an absence of that something which nerves to endurance1 stimulates to dare8 ,then listen to this3--,a ,christian man lies dead4 ,the way to the cemetery lies through the ,brahman street1 in the chief town of this ,district2 there is no other way4 ,the ,brahman street is a thoroughfare1 it cannot be closed to traffic1 but the ,brahmans refuse point blank to allow that dead man to be carried through4 ,the ,bishop expostulates4 ,no2 he was a ,christian1 he shall not be carried through4 ,time is passing4 ,in the ,tropics the dead must be buried quickly4 ,the ,bishop appeals to the ,collector 7,representative of ,government here74 ,the ,collector gives an order4 ,the ,brahmans refuse to obey4 ,he orders out a company of soldiers4 ,the ,brahmans mass on the housetops and stone the soldiers4 ,the order is given to fire4 ,then1 and not till then1 the ,christians may carry out their dead2 and later on the ,brahmans carry out theirs4 ,this happened some years ago1 and outwardly times have changed since then in that particular town4 ,but the spirit that it shows is in possession to this day1 and as small things show great1 so this street scene shows the presence of that something which intensifies the difficulty of winning the ,castes for ,christ4 ,each unit is weak in itself1 but in combination1 strong4 ,a forlorn hope we have called the attempt to do what we are told to do4 ,the word is a misnomer2 with our ,captain as our ,leader no hope is ever forlorn6 ,but our ,leader calls for men1 men like the brave of old who jeopardised their lives unto the death in the high places of the field1 in the day that they came to the help of the ,lord1 to the help of the ,lord against the mighty4 ,a jeopardised life may be lost4 ,christ our ,captain is calling for volunteers2 here are the terms3 ,whosoever shall lose his life for ,my sake and the ,gospel's the same shall find it4 ,the teachers' life may seem lost who lives for his college boys2 the student's life may seem lost who spends hour after hour through the long hot days in quiet talks in the house4 ,be it so1 for it may mean that4 ,but the life lost for ,his ,name's sake1 the same shall be found again4 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,if it is so very important4 4 4 8 ,let us for a moment imagine what would have happened on the ,galilean hillside1 when our ,lord fed the five thousand1 if the ,apostles had acted as some act now4 ,the twelve would be going backwards1 helping the first rank over and over again1 and leaving the back rows unsupplied4 ,let us suppose one of them1 say ,andrew1 venturing to say to his brother ,simon ,peter1 ',ought we all to be feeding the front row8 ,ought we not to divide1 and some of us go to the back rows8' ,then suppose ,peter replying1 ',oh no2 don't you see these front people are so hungry8 ,they have not had half enough yet2 besides1 they are nearest to us1 so we are more responsible for them4' ,then1 if ,andrew resumes his appeal1 suppose ,peter going on to say1 ',very well2 you are quite right4 ,you go and feed all those back rows2 but ,i can't spare anyone else4 ,i and the other ten of us have more than we can do here4' ,once more1 suppose ,andrew persuades ,philip to go with him2 then1 perhaps1 ,matthew will cry out and say1 ',why1 they're all going to those farther rows6 ,is no one to be left to these needy people in front8' ,let me ask the members of ,congress1 ,do you recognise these sentences at all8 ,eugene ,stock1 at ,shrewsbury ,church ,congress4 ,,it was only a common thing4 ,a girl1 very ill1 and in terrible pain1 who turned to us for help4 ,we could do nothing for her4 ,her people resorted to heathen rites4 ,they prepared her to meet the fierce god they thought was waiting to snatch her away4 ,we went again and again1 but she suffered so that one could not say much1 it did not seem any use4 ,the last time we went1 the crisis had passed2 she would live1 they told us with joy4 ,they were eager to listen to us now4 ,tell us all about your ,way6 clamoured the women1 speaking together1 and very loud4 ,tell us the news from beginning to end6 ,but1 alas6 they could take in very little4 ,one whole new ,truth was too much for them4 ,never mind1 they consoled us1 come every day1 and then what you say will take hold of our hearts4 ,and ,i had to tell them we were leaving that evening1 and could not come every day4 ,illustration3 ,is not the contrast good8 ,the old woman so intelligent1 the baby so inane4 ,she made a picture sitting there1 in her crimson edged seeley1 with her dark old face showing up against the darker wall4 ,she is one of the many we have missed by coming so slowly and so late4 ,how can ,i change now8 she says4 ,the girl turned her patient face towards us4 ,she had smiled at the ,name of ,jesus1 and it seemed as if down in the depths of her weakness she had listened when we spoke before1 and tried to understand4 ,now she looked puzzled and troubled1 and the women all asked1 ,why8 ,there1 in that crowded1 hot little room1 a sense of the unequal distribution of the ,bread of ,life came over us4 ,the front rows of the ,five ,thousand are getting the loaves and the fishes over and over again1 till it seems as though they have to be bribed and besought to accept them1 while the back rows are almost forgotten4 ,is it that we are so busy with the front rows1 which we can see1 that we have no time for the back rows out of sight8 ,but is it fair8 ,is it what ,jesus our ,master intended8 ,can it be really called fair8 ,the women looked very reproachful4 ,then one of them said1 looking up at me1 ,you say this is very important4 ,if it is so very important1 why did you not come before8 ,you say you will come back again if you can1 but how can we be sure that nothing will happen to stop you8 ,we are1 some of us1 very old2 we may die before you come back4 ,this going away is not good4 ,and again and again she repeated1 ,if it is so very important1 why did you not come before8 ,don't think that the question meant more than it did4 ,it was only a human expression of wonder2 it was not a real desire after ,god4 ,but the force of the question was stronger far than the poor old questioner knew2 it appealed to our very hearts4 ,the people saw we were greatly moved1 and they pressed closer round us to comfort us1 and one dear old grandmother put her arms round me1 and stroked my face with her wrinkled old hand1 and said1 ,don't be troubled2 we will worship your ,god4 ,we will worship ,him just as we worship our own4 ,now1 will you go away glad8 ,the dear old woman was really in earnest1 she wanted so much to comfort us4 ,but her voice seemed to mingle with voices from the homeland2 and another--we heard another--the ,voice ,i had heard on the precipice-edge--the voice of our brothers'1 our sisters' blood calling unto ,god from the ground4 ,friends1 are these women real to you8 ,look at this photo of one of them4 ,surely it was not just a happy chance which brought out the detail so perfectly4 ,look at the thoughtful1 fine old face4 ,can you look at it and say1 ,yes1 ,i am on my way to the ,light1 and you are on your way to the ,dark4 ,at least1 this is what ,i profess to believe4 ,and ,i am sorry for you1 but this is all ,i can do for you2 ,i can be very sorry for you4 ,i know that this will not show you the way from the ,dark1 where you are1 to the ,light1 where ,i am4 ,to show you the way ,i must go to you1 or1 perhaps1 send you one whom ,i want for myself1 or do without something ,i wish to have2 and this1 of course1 is impossible4 ,it might be done if ,i loved ,god enough--but ,i love myself better than ,god or you4 ,illustration3 ,a ,brahman widow1 the only ,brahman woman who would let us take her photo4 ,brahman women wear their seeleys fastened in a peculiar way1 and never cut their ears4 ,brahman widows are always shaven1 and wear no jewels4 ,this one is a muscular character1 strong and resolute1 an ordinary looking woman1 but there must be an under-the-surface life which does not show4 ,a widow's fate is described in one word here1 accursed4 ,you would not say such a thing1 ,i know1 but ,whoso hath this world's good1 and seeth his brother have need1 and shutteth up his compassion from him1 how dwelleth the love of ,god in him8 ,,chapter ,,xviii ,the ,call ,intensified ,sometimes the men and boys will not go away and let us talk to the women2 in such cases ,i find silent prayer the best refuge4 ,in other places the people welcome you1 but will listen to anything but the ,doctrine of ,jesus ,christ2 and this is harder to bear than anything else ,i know4 ,anna ,gordon1 ,china4 ,let the people that are at home not care only to hear about successes2 we must train them that they take an interest in the struggle4 ,rev4 ,a4 ,schreiber1 ,sumatra and ,india4 ,it is a fight making its demands upon physical1 mental1 and spiritual powers1 and there are many adversaries4 ,the dead weight of heathenism1 the little appreciation of one's object and purpose1 and the actual1 vigorous opposition of the powers of darkness1 make it a real fight1 and only men of grit1 of courage1 devotion1 and infinite patience and perseverance1 will win4 ,have ,i painted a discouraging picture8 ,am ,i frightening good men who might have volunteered and done well8 ,i think not4 ,i think the right sort of men1 those who ought to volunteer1 will be attracted rather than repelled by the difficulties4 ,rev4 ,j4 ,lampard1 ,india4 ,,we got this photograph that day in ,december which we spent in the friendly ,brahman street4 ,there is not another woman in the town who would stand for you like that6 said the men1 as she came forward1 and1 without a thought of posing1 stood against the wall for a moment1 and looked at the camera straight4 ,most of the women were afraid even to glance at it1 but she was not afraid4 ,she would not stay to talk to us1 however1 but marched off with the same resolute air4 ,for ,brahman widows as a whole are by no means an approachable race4 ,sometimes we find one who will open out to us1 and let us tell her of the ,comfort wherewith we are comforted2 but oftener we find them hard1 or hardening rapidly4 ,illustration3 ,there is nothing to say about it except what is said in the chapter4 ,there is nothing much to look at in a ,brahman street4 ,but that single simple street scene represents forces which control two hundred and seven million minds4 ,it is too soon to write about any of those who have listened during the past few months1 but we put this photo in to remind you to remember those who are freer than most women in ,india to follow the ,lord ,jesus ,christ1 if only they would let ,his love have a chance of drawing them4 ,we have been to the various towns in this and the upper curve of the mountains1 but we have not reached the lower curve towns1 or half of the many villages scattered close under the mountains1 and1 except when we went out in camp1 we have not of course touched those farther afield4 ,there are only five working afternoons in a week1 for ,saturday is given up to other things1 and ,sunday belongs to the ,christians2 and when any interest is shown1 we return again to the same village1 which delays us1 but is certainly worth while4 ,then there are interruptions--sometimes on the ,hindu side2 festivals1 for instance1 when no woman has time to hear2 and on ours1 and on the weather's1 so to speak1 when great heat or great rain make outdoor work impossible4 ,theoretically1 itinerating is delightfully rapid2 but practically1 as every itinerating missionary knows1 it is quite slow4 ,there are other things to be done2 those already brought in have to be taught and trained and mothered1 and much time has to be spent in waiting upon ,god for more2 so that1 looking back1 we seem to have done very little for the thousands about us1 and now we must return to the eastern side of the district1 for some of the boy converts are there at school1 and there may be fruit to gather in after last year's sowing4 ,but ,i look up from my writing and see a stretch of mountain range thirty miles long1 and this range stretches unbroken for a thousand miles to the ,north4 ,i know how little is being done on the plains below1 and ,i wonder when ,god's people will awake1 and understand that there is yet very much land to be possessed1 and arise and possess it4 ,look down this mountain strip with me2 there are towns where work is being done1 but it needs supervision1 and the missionaries are too few to do it thoroughly4 ,there are towns and numbers of villages where nothing is even attempted1 except that once in two years1 if possible1 the ,men's ,itinerant ,band comes round2 but that does not reach the women well1 and even if it did1 how much would you know of ,jesus if you only heard a parable or a miracle or a few facts from ,his life or a few points of ,his doctrine once in two years8 ,i do not want to write touching appeals1 or to draw one worker from anywhere else1--it would be a joy to know that ,god used these letters to help to send someone to ,china1 or anywhere where ,he has need of ,his workers1--but ,i cannot help wondering1 as ,i look round this bit of the field1 how it is that the workers are still so few4 ,we have found the people in the towns and villages willing to let us do what we call verandah work when they will not let us into their houses4 ,verandah work1 like open-air preaching1 is unsatisfactory as regards the women1 but it is better than nothing4 ,we spent an afternoon in the street this photo shows4 ,it is a thoroughfare1 and so we were not forbidden2 but even so1 we always ask permission before we walk down it4 ,such an ordinary1 commonplace street it looks to you2 there is no architectural grandeur to awe the beholder1 and impress him with the majesty of ,brahmanhood2 and yet that street1 and every street like it1 is a very ,petra to us1 for it is walled round by walls higher and stronger than the temple walls round which it is built2 walls built1 as it seems1 of some crystal rock1 imperceptible till you come up to it1 and even then not visible1 only recognisable as something you cannot get through4 ,our first day there was encouraging4 ,we began at the far end of the street1 and after some persuasion the men agreed to move to one side1 and let us have the other for any women who would come4 ,nothing particular happened1 but we count a day good if we get a single good chance to speak in quietness to the women4 ,next time we went it was not so good4 ,they had heard in the meantime all about us1 and that we had girls from the higher ,castes with us1 and this was terrible in their eyes4 ,for the ,brahman1 from his lofty position of absolute supremacy1 holds in very small account the souls of those he calls low-caste2 but if any from the middle distance 7he would not describe them as near himself1 only dangerously nearer than the others7 fall into the pit of the ,christian religion1 he thinks it is time to begin to take care that the ,power which took such effect on them should not have a chance to perform upon him1 and1 above all1 upon his womankind4 ,so that day we were politely informed that no one had time to listen1 and1 when some women wanted to come1 a muscular widow chased them off4 ,we looked longingly back at those dear ,brahman women1 but appeal was useless1 so we went4 ,in one of the other ,castes1 the ,caste represented by this row of men1 we found more friendliness2 they let us sit on one end of the narrow verandah fronts1 and quite a number of women clustered about on the other4 ,they were greatly afraid of defilement there1 and would not come too close4 ,and they had the strangest ideas about us4 ,they were sure we had a powder which1 if they inhaled it1 would compel them to be ,christians4 ,they had heard that we went round calling children1 that is1 beckoning them1 and drawing them to follow after us1 and that we were paid so much a head for converts4 ,it takes a whole afternoon sometimes simply to disabuse their minds of such misconceptions4 ,i heard this commercial aspect of things explained by one who apparently knew4 ,a kindly old ,brahman woman had allowed us to sit on her doorstep out of the sun1 and bit by bit we had worked our way to the end of the verandah1 which was a little more shaded1 where a girl was sitting alone who seemed to want to hear4 ,the old woman sat down behind us1 and then an old man came up1 and the two began to talk4 ,said the old woman to the old man1 ,she is trying to make us join her ,way4 7,i had carefully abstained from any such expression47 ,the old man agreed that such was my probable object4 ,what will she get if we join8 ,do you know8 ,oh yes2 do ,i not know6 ,for one of us a thousand rupees1 and for a ,vellalar five hundred4 ,she even gets something for a low-caste child1 but she gets a whole thousand for one of us6 ,illustration3 ,a ,shepherd-,caste house of the better sort4 ,we would give a great deal to get into this house1 but so far it is closed4 ,you can see straight through to the back courtyard where the women are1 where we may not go4 ,the old man is typical of his class1 a thoughtful man of refinement of mind1 but wholly indifferent to the teaching4 ,they were both very interested in this conversation1 and so indeed was ,i1 and ,i thought ,i would further enlighten them1 when the old woman got up in a hurry and hobbled into the house4 ,after that1 whenever we passed1 she used to shake her head at us1 and say1 ,chee1 chee6 ,no persuasions could ever induce her to let us sit on her doorstep again4 ,we were clearly after that thousand rupees1 and she would have none of us4 ,in the same village there was a little ,brahman child who often tried to speak to us1 but never was allowed4 ,one day she risked capture and its consequences1 and ran across the narrow stream which divides the ,brahman street from the village1 and spoke to one of our ,band in a hurried little whisper4 ,oh1 ,i do want to hear about ,jesus6 ,and she told how she had learnt at school in her own town1 and then she had been sent to her mother-in-law's house in this jungle village1 that one1 pointing to a house where they never had smiles for us2 but her mother-in-law objected to the preaching1 and had threatened to throw her down the well if she listened to us4 ,just then a hard voice called her1 and she flew4 ,next time we went to that village she was shut up somewhere inside4 ,often as one passes one sees shy faces looking out from behind the little pillars which support the verandahs1 and one longs to get nearer4 ,but it does not do to make any advance unless one is sure of one's ground4 ,it only results in a sudden startled scurrying into the house1 and you cannot follow them there4 ,to try to do so would be more than rude--it would be considered pollution4 ,only yesterday we were trying to get to the women who live in the great house of the village behind the bungalow4 ,this photo shows you the door we stood facing for ten minutes or more1 first waiting1 and then pleading with the old mother-in-law to let us in to the little dark room in which you may see a woman's form hiding behind the door4 ,but we could not go to them1 and they could not come to us4 ,there were only two narrow rooms between1 but the second of the two had brass water-vessels in it4 ,if we had gone in1 those vessels and the water in them would have been defiled4 ,the women were not allowed to come out1 the mother-in-law saw well to that2 never was one more vigilant4 ,she stood like a great fat hen at the door1 with her white widow's skirts outspread like wings1 and guarded her chickens effectually4 ,go6 go by the way you have come6 was all she had to say to us4 ,the friendly old man of the house was out4 ,a friendly young man came in with some rice1 and began to measure it4 ,he invited us to sit down1 which we did1 and he measured the rice in little iron tumblers1 counting aloud as he did so in a sing-song chant4 ,he was pleased that we should watch him1 and it was interesting to watch1 for he did it exactly as the verse describes1 pressing the rice down1 shaking the iron measure1 heaping up the rice till it was running over1 and yet counting this abundant tumblerful only as one2 then he handed the basketful of rice to a child who stood waiting1 and asked what he could do for us4 ,we told him how much we wanted to see the women of the house1 but he did not relish the idea of tackling the vigorous old mother-in-law1 so we gave up the attempt1 and went out4 ,as we passed the wall at the back which encloses the women's quarters1 we saw a girl look over the wall as if she wanted to speak to us1 but she was instantly pulled back by that tyrannical dame1 and a dog came jumping over1 barking most furiously1 which set a dozen more yelping all about us1 and so escorted we retired4 ,this house is in the ,village of the ,merchant1 not five minutes from our gate1 but the women in it are far enough from any chance of hearing4 ,the men let us in that day to take the photograph1 and we hoped thereby to make friends2 but though there are six families living there 7for the house is large2 the photograph only shows one end of the verandah which runs down its whole length71 we have never been once allowed to speak to one of the women2 the mother-in-law of all the six takes care we never get the chance4 ,one of the children1 a dear little girl1 follows us outside sometimes1 but she is only seven1 and not very courageous2 so1 though she evidently picks up some of the choruses we sing1 she is afraid of being seen listening1 and never gets much at a time4 ,these are some of the practical difficulties in the way of reaching the women4 ,there are others4 ,suppose you do get in1 or1 what is more probable in pioneer work1 suppose you get a verandah1 even then it is not plain sailing by any means4 ,for1 first of all1 it is dangerously hot4 ,the sun beats down on the street or courtyard to within a foot or two of the stone ledge you are sitting upon1 and strikes up4 ,reflected glare means fever1 so you try to edge a little farther out of it without disturbing anyone's feelings1 explaining minutely why you are doing it1 lest they should think your design is to covertly touch them2 and then1 their confidence won so far1 you begin perhaps with the wordless book1 or a lyric set to an ,indian tune1 or a picture of some parable--never of our ,lord--or1 oftener still1 we find the best way is to open our ,bibles1 for they all respect a ,sacred ,book1 and read something from it which we know they will understand4 ,we generally find one or two women about the verandahs1 and two or three more come within a few minutes1 and seeing this1 two or three more4 ,but getting them and keeping them are two different things4 ,it is not easy to hold people to hear what they have no special desire to hear4 ,but we are helped2 we are not alone4 ,it is always a strength to remember that4 ,once fairly launched1 interruptions begin4 ,you are in the middle of a miracle1 perhaps1 and by this time a dozen women have gathered1 and rejoice your heart by listening well1 when a man from the opposite side of the street saunters over and asks may he put a question1 or asks it forthwith4 ,he has heard that our ,book says1 that if you have faith you can lift a mountain into the sea4 ,now1 there is a mountain1 and he points to the pillar out on the plain1 standing straight up for five thousand feet1 a column of solid rock4 ,there is sea on the other side1 he says2 cast it in1 and we will believe6 ,and the women laugh4 ,but one more intelligent turns to you1 ,does your ,book really say that8 she asks1 then why can't you do it1 and let us see8 ,and the man strikes in with another remark1 and a woman at the edge moves off1 and you wish the man would go4 ,perhaps he does1 or perhaps you are able to detach him from the visible1 and get him and those women too to listen to some bit of witnessing to the ,power that moves the invisible1 and you are in its very heart when another objection is started3 ,you say there is only one true ,god1 but we have heard that you worship three6 or1 ,can your ,god keep you from sin8 ,and you try1 ,god helping you1 to answer so as to avoid discussion1 and perhaps to your joy succeed1 and some are listening intently again1 when a woman interrupts with a question about your relations which you answered before1 but she came late1 and wants to hear it all over again4 ,you satisfy her as far as you can1 and then1 feeling how fast the precious minutes are passing1 you try1 oh so earnestly1 to buy them up and fill them with eternity work1 when suddenly the whole community concentrates itself upon your ,tamil sister4 ,who is she8 ,you had waived the question at the outset1 knowing what would sequel it1 but they renew the charge4 ,if she is a born ,christian1 they exclaim1 and draw away for fear of defilement--,low-caste1 low-caste6 and the word runs round contemptuously4 ,if she is a convert1 they ask questions about her relations 7they have probably been guessing among themselves about her ,caste for the last ten minutes72 if she does not answer them1 they let their imagination run riot2 if she does1 they break out in indignation1 ,left your own mother6 ,broken your ,caste6 and they call her by names not sweet to the ear1 and perhaps rise up in a body1 and refuse to have anything more to do with such a disgraceful person4 ,or perhaps you are trying to persuade some of them to learn to read1 knowing that1 if you can succeed1 there will be so much more chance of teaching them1 but they assure you it is not the custom for women in that village to read1 which unhappily is true2 or it may be you are telling them1 as you tell those you may never see again1 of the ,love that is loving them1 and in the middle of the telling a baby howls1 and all the attention goes off upon it2 or somebody wants to go into the house1 and a way has to be made for her1 with much gathering together and confusion2 or a dog comes yelping round the corner1 with a stone at its heels1 and a pack of small boys in full chase after it2 or the men call out it is time to be going2 or the women suggest it is time to be cooking2 or someone says or does something upsetting1 and the group breaks up in a moment1 and each unit makes for its separate hole1 and stands in it1 looking out2 and you look up at those dark little doorways1 and feel you would give anything they could ask1 if only they would let you in1 and let you sit down beside them in one of those rooms1 and tell them the end of the story they interrupted2 but they will not do that4 ,oh1 it makes one sorrowful to be so near to anyone1 and yet so very far1 as one sometimes is from these women4 ,you look at them1 as they stand in their doorways1 within reach1 but out of reach1 as out of reach as if they were thousands of miles away4 4 4 4 ,just as ,i wrote those words a ,brahman woman came to the door and looked in4 ,then she walked in and sat down1 but did not speak4 ,can you think how one's heart bounds even at such a little thing as that8 ,brahman women do not come to see us every day4 ,she pulled out a book of palm-leaf slips1 and we read it4 ,it told how she was one of a family of seven1 all born deaf and dumb2 how hand in hand they had set off to walk to ,benares to drown themselves in the ,ganges2 how a ,sepoy had stopped them and taken them to an ,english ,collector2 how he had provided for the seven for a year1 then let them go2 how they had scattered and wandered about1 visiting various holy places1 supported by the virtuous wherever they went2 and how the bearer would be glad to receive whatever we would give her4 4 4 4 ,she has gone1 a poor deaf and dumb and wholly heathen woman2 we could not persuade her to stay and rest4 ,she is married1 she told us by signs2 her husband is deaf and dumb1 and she has one blind child4 ,she sat on the floor beside us for a few minutes and asked questions--the usual ones1 about me1 all by signs2 but nothing we could sign could in any way make her understand anything about our ,god4 ,and yet she seems to know something at least about her own4 ,she pointed to her mouth1 and then up1 and then down and round1 to show the winding of a river1 and signed clearly enough how she went from holy river to holy river1 and worshipped by each1 and she pointed up and clasped her hands4 ,there we were1 just as ,i had been writing1 so near to her1 yet so far from her4 ,but the greatest difficulty of all in reaching the women is that they have no desire to be reached4 ,sometimes1 as on that afternoon when the child came and wanted to hear1 we find one who has desire1 but the greater number have none2 and except in the more advanced towns and villages1 where they are allowed to learn with a ,bible-woman1 they have hardly a chance to hear enough to make them want to hear more4 ,then1 as if to make the case doubly hard 7and this law applies to every woman1 of whatever ,caste71 she is1 in the eyes of the law1 the property of her husband2 and though a ,christian cannot by law compel his ,hindu wife to live with him1 a ,hindu husband can compel his ,christian wife to live with him2 so that no married woman is ever legally free to be a ,christian1 for if the husband demanded her back1 she could not be protected1 but would have to be given up to a life which no ,english woman could bear to contemplate4 ,she may say she is a ,christian2 he cares nought for what she says4 ,god help the woman thus forced back6 ,but1 believing a higher ,power will step in than the power of this most unjust law1 we would risk any penalty and receive such a wife should she come4 ,only1 in dealing with the difficulties and barriers which lie between an ,indian woman and life as a free ,christian1 it is useless to shut one's eyes to this last and least comprehensible of all difficulties1 an ,english law1 imported into ,india1 and enforced with imprisonment1 an obsolete ,english law6 ,we have no ,brahman women converts in our ,tamil ,mission4 ,we hear of a few in ,travancore2 we know of more in the ,north1 where the ,brahmans are more numerous and less exclusive2 but there is not a single bon fide ,brahman convert woman or child in the whole of this ,district4 ,there was one1 a very old woman2 but she died two years ago4 ,we may comfort ourselves with the thought that surely some of those who have heard have become secret believers4 ,but will a true believer remain secret always8 ,we may trust that many a dear little child died young1 loving ,jesus1 and went to ,him4 ,but what about those who have not died young8 ,i know that a brighter view may be taken1 and if the sadder has been emphasised in these letters1 it is only because we feel you know less about it4 ,for more has been written about the successes than about the failures1 and it seems to us that it is more important that you should know about the reverses than about the successes of the war4 ,we shall have all eternity to celebrate the victories1 but we have only the few hours before sunset in which to win them4 ,we are not winning them as we should1 because the fact of the reverses is so little realised1 and the needed reinforcements are not forthcoming1 as they would be if the position were thoroughly understood4 ,reinforcements of men and women are needed1 but1 far above all1 reinforcements of prayer4 ,and so we have tried to tell you the truth--the uninteresting1 unromantic truth--about the heathen as we find them1 the work as it is4 ,more workers are needed4 ,no words can tell how much they are needed1 how much they are wanted here4 ,but we will never try to allure anyone to think of coming by painting coloured pictures1 when the facts are in black and white4 ,what if black and white will never attract like colours8 ,we care not for it2 our business is to tell the truth4 ,the work is not a pretty thing1 to be looked at and admired4 ,it is a fight4 ,and battlefields are not beautiful4 ,but if one is truly called of ,god1 all the difficulties and discouragements only intensify the ,call4 ,if things were easier there would be less need4 ,the greater the need1 the clearer the ,call rings through one1 the deeper the conviction grows3 it was ,god's ,call4 ,and as one obeys it1 there is the joy of obedience1 quite apart from the joy of success4 ,there is joy in being with ,jesus in a place where ,his friends are few2 and sometimes1 when one would least expect it1 coming home tired out and disheartened after a day in an opposing or indifferent town1 suddenly--how1 you can hardly tell--such a wave of the joy of ,jesus flows over you and through you1 that you are stilled with the sense of utter joy4 ,then1 when you see ,him winning souls1 or hear of your comrades' victories1 oh6 all that is within you sings1 ,i have more than an overweight of joy6 ,,chapter ,,xix ,attracted by the ,influence ,it seems to have been a mistake to imagine that the ,divine ,majesty on high was too exalted to take any notice of our mean affairs4 ,the great minds among us are remarkable for the attention they bestow upon minuti 4 4 4 'a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without your ,father4' ,david ,livingstone1 ,africa4 ,,we have now left ,dohnavur1 on the ,west1 and returned to our old battlefield on the ,east4 ,the evening after our arrival one of those special things happened1 though only a little thing some will say--a little child was brought4 ,illustration3 ,this is not ,pearl-eyes4 ,pearl-eyes is tinier1 and has more sparkle2 but the ,caste is the same1 and as we have not got ,pearl-eyes1 we put this small girl here4 ,there is a temple in the ,hindu village near us4 ,we have often tried to reach the temple women1 poor slaves of the ,brahmans4 ,we have often seen the little girls1 some of them bought as infants from their mothers1 and trained to the terrible life4 ,in one of the ,mission day schools there is a child who was sold by her ,christian mother to these ,servants of the gods2 but though this is known it cannot be proved1 and the child has no wish to leave the life1 and she cannot be taken by force4 ,sometimes we see the little girls playing in the courtyards of the houses near the temple1 gracious little maidens1 winsome in their ways1 almost always more refined in manner than ordinary children1 and often beautiful4 ,one longs to help the little things1 but no hand of ours can stretch over the wall and lift even one child out4 ,among the little temple girls in the ,great ,lake ,village was a tiny girl called ,pearl-eyes1 of whom we knew nothing2 but ,god must have some purpose for her1 for ,he sent ,his ,angel to the house one afternoon1 and the ,angel found little ,pearl-eyes1 and he took her by the hand and led her out1 across the stream1 and through the wood1 to a ,christian woman's house in our village4 ,next morning she brought her to us4 ,this is what really happened1 ,i think2 there is no other way to account for it4 ,no one remembers such a thing happening here before4 ,i was sitting reading in the verandah when ,i saw them come4 ,the woman was looking surprised4 ,she did not know about the ,angel1 ,i expect1 and she could not understand it at all4 ,the little child was chattering away1 lifting up a bright little face as she talked4 ,when she saw me she ran straight up to me1 and climbed on my knee without the least fear1 and told me all about herself at once4 ,i took her to the ,iyer1 and he sent for the ,pastor1 who sent a messenger to the ,village of the ,lake1 to say the child was here1 and to inquire into the truth of her story4 ,my name is ,pearl-eyes1 the child began1 and ,i want to stay here always4 ,i have come to stay4 ,and she told us how her mother had sold her when she was a baby to the ,servants of the gods4 ,she was not happy with them4 ,they did not love her4 ,nobody loved her4 ,she wanted to live with us4 ,but why had she run away now8 ,she hardly seemed to know1 and looked puzzled at our questions4 ,the only thing she was sure about was that she had run and come1 and that she wanted to stay4 ,then the ,ammal came in1 and she went through exactly the same story with her4 ,we felt1 if this proved to be fact1 that we could surely keep her2 the ,government would be on our side in such a matter4 ,only the great difficulty might be to prove it4 ,meanwhile we gave her a doll1 and her little heart was at rest4 ,she did not seem to have a fear4 ,with the prettiest1 most confiding little gesture1 she sat down at our feet and began to play with it4 ,we watched her wonderingly4 ,she was perfectly at home with us4 ,she ran out1 gathered leaves and flowers1 and came back with them4 ,these were carefully arranged in rows on the floor4 ,then another expedition1 and in again with three pebbles for hearthstones1 a shell for a cooking pot1 bits of straw for firewood1 a stick for a match1 and sand for rice4 ,she went through all the minuti of ,tamil cookery with the greatest seriousness4 ,then we1 together with her doll1 were invited to partake4 ,the little thing walked straight into our hearts1 and we felt we would risk anything to keep her4 ,our messenger returned4 ,the story was true4 ,the women from whose house she had come were certainly temple women4 ,but would they admit it to us1 and1 above all1 would they admit they had obtained her illegally8--a fact easy to deny4 ,almost upon this they came2 and to the ,iyer's question1 ,who are you8 one said1 ,we are ,servants of the gods6 ,i heard an instructive aside1 ,why did you tell them8 ,oh1 never mind1 said the one who had answered1 they don't understand6 ,but we had understood1 and we were thankful for the first point gained4 ,they stood and stared and called the child1 but she would not go1 and we would not force her4 ,then they went away1 and we were left for an hour in that curious quiet which comes before a storm4 ,our poor little girl was frightened4 ,oh1 if they come again1 hide me6 she begged4 ,one saw it was almost too much for her1 high-spirited child though she is4 ,the next was worse4 ,a great crowd gathered on the verandah1 and an evil-faced woman1 who seemed to have some sort of power over ,pearl-eyes1 fiercely demanded her back4 ,when we refused to make her go1 the evil-faced woman1 whose very glance sent a tremble through the little one1 declared that ,pearl-eyes must say out loud that she would not go with her1 ,out loud so that all should hear4 ,but the poor little thing was dumb with fear4 ,she just stood and looked1 and shivered4 ,we could not persuade her to say a word4 ,star was hovering near4 ,she had been through it all herself before1 and her face was anxious1 and our hearts were1 ,i know4 ,it is impossible to describe such a half-hour's life to you2 it has to be lived through to be understood4 ,the clamour and excitement1 and the feeling of how much hangs on the word of a child who does not properly understand what she is accepting or refusing4 ,the tension is terrible4 ,i dared not go near her lest they should think ,i was bewitching her4 ,any movement on my part towards her would have been the signal for a rush on theirs2 but ,i signed to ,star to take her away for a moment4 ,the bewilderment on the poor little face was frightening me4 ,one more look up at that woman1 one more pull at the strained cord1 and to their question1 ,will you come8 she might as likely say yes as no4 ,star carried her off4 ,once out of reach of those eyes1 the words came fast enough4 ,star told me she clung to her and sobbed1 ,oh1 if ,i say no1 she will catch me and punish me dreadfully afterwards6 ,she will6 ,i know she will6 ,and she showed cuts in the soft brown skin where she had been punished before2 but ,star soothed her and brought her back1 and she stood--such a little girl--before them all4 ,i won't6 ,i won't6 she cried1 and she turned and ran back with ,star4 ,and the crowd went off1 and ,i was glad to see the last of that fearful face1 with its evil1 cruel eyes4 ,but they said they would write to the mother1 who had given her to them4 ,we noted this--the second point we should have to prove if they lodged a suit against us--and any day the mother may come and complicate matters by working on the child's affections4 ,also1 we have heard of a plot to decoy her away1 should we be for a moment off guard2 so we are very much on the watch1 and we never let her out of our sight4 ,by this time--it is five days since she came--it seems impossible to think of having ever been without her4 ,apart from her story1 which would touch anyone1 there is her little personality1 which is very interesting4 ,she plays all day long with her precious dolls1 talking to them1 telling them everything we tell her4 ,yesterday it was a ,bible story1 to-day a new chorus4 ,she insisted on her best-beloved infant coming to church with her1 and it had to have its collection too4 ,everything is most realistic4 ,tamil children usually hang their dolls up by their limbs to a nail in the wall1 or stow them away on a shelf1 but this mite has imagination and much sympathy4 ,in thinking over it1 as1 bit by bit1 her little story came to light1 we have been struck by the touches that tell how ,god cares4 ,the time of her coming told of care4 ,some months earlier1 the temple woman who kept her had burnt her little fingers across1 as a punishment for some childish fault1 and ,pearl-eyes ran away4 ,she knew what she wanted--her mother2 she knew that her mother lived in a town twenty miles to the ,east4 ,it was a long way for a little girl to walk1 but some kind people found me on the road1 and they were going to the same town1 and they let me go with them1 so ,i was not afraid1 only ,i was very tired when we got there4 ,it took three days to walk4 ,i did not know where my mother lived in the town1 and it was a very big town1 but ,i described my mother to the people in the streets1 and at last ,i found my mother4 ,for just a little while there was something of the mother-love1 my mother cried4 ,but the temple woman had traced her and followed her1 and the mother gave her up4 ,then comes a blank in the story2 she only remembers she was lonely1 and she felt a mother-want about the world1 and wandered wearily-- ,as restless as a nest-deserted bird ,grown chill through something being away1 though what ,it knows not4 ,then comes a bit of life distinct in every detail1 and told with terribly unchildish horror4 ,she heard them whisper together about her2 they did not know that she understood4 ,she was to be married to the god1 tied to a stone4 ,terrified1 she flew to the temple1 slipped past the ,brahmans1 crossed the court1 stood before the god in the dim half-darkness of the shrine1 clasped her hands1--she showed us how1--prayed to it1 pleaded1 ,let me die6 ,oh1 let me die6 ,barely seven years old1 and she prayed1 ,oh1 let me die6 ,she tried to run away again2 if she had come to our village then1 she could not have been saved4 ,we were in ,dohnavur1 and there was no one here who could have protected her against the temple people4 ,so ,god kept her from coming then4 ,about that time1 one afternoon one of our ,tamil ,sisters1 whom we had left behind to hold the fort1 passed through the ,great ,lake ,village1 and the temple women called the child1 and said1 ,see6 ,it is she6 ,the child-stealing ,ammal6 ,run6 ,it was only said to frighten her1 but it did a different work4 ,one day1 the day after we returned1 the thought suddenly came to her1 ,i will go and look for that child-stealing ,ammal2 and she wandered away in the twilight and came to our village1 and stood alone in front of the church1 and no one knew4 ,there one of our ,christian women1 ,servant of ,jesus by name1 found her some time afterwards1 a very small and desolate mite1 with tumbled hair and troubled eyes1 for she could not find the one she sought1 that child-stealing ,ammal she wanted so much1 and she was frightened1 all alone in the gathering dark by this big1 big church2 and very big it must have looked to so tiny a thing as she4 ,servant of ,jesus thought at first of taking the little one back to her home1 but mercifully it was late 7another touch of the hand of ,god71 and so instead she took her straight to her own little house1 which satisfied ,pearl-eyes perfectly4 ,but she would not touch the curry and rice the kind woman offered her4 ,she drew herself up to her full small height and said1 with the greatest dignity1 ,am ,i not a ,vellala child8 ,may you ask me to break my ,caste8 ,so ,servant of ,jesus gave her some sugar1 that being ceremonially safe1 and ,pearl-eyes ate it hungrily1 and then went off to sleep4 ,next morning1 again the woman's first thought was to take her to her own people4 ,but the child was so insistent that she wanted the child-catching ,ammal1 that ,servant of ,jesus1 thinking ,i was the ,ammal she meant 7for this is one of my various names71 brought her to me1 as ,i have said1 and oh1 ,i am glad she did6 ,nothing escapes those clear brown eyes4 ,that morning1 in the midst of the confusion1 one of the temple women called out that the child was a wicked thief4 ,this is an ordinary charge4 ,they think it will compel submission4 ,we will make out a case1 and send the police to drag you off to gaol6 they yell2 and sometimes there is risk of serious trouble1 for a case can be made out cheaply in ,india4 ,but this did not promise to be serious1 so we inquired the stolen sum4 ,it came to fourpence halfpenny1 which we paid for the sake of peace1 though she told them where the money was1 and we found out later that she had told the truth4 ,i never thought she would remember it--the excitements of the day crowded it out of my mind--but weeks afterwards1 when ,i was teaching her the text1 ,not redeemed with corruptible things1 as silver and gold1 and explaining how much ,jesus had paid for us1 she interrupted me with the remark1 ,oh yes1 ,i understand6 ,i know how much you paid for me--fourpence halfpenny6 ,and now to turn from small-seeming things to large4 ,ragland1 ,tamil missionary1 is writing to a friend in #ahdg4 ,he is trying to express astronomically the value of a soul4 ,he asks1 ,how does the astronomer correct the knowledge of the stars which simple vision brings him8 ,first1 having discovered that the little dot of light is thousands of miles distant1 and having discerned by the telescope that it subtends at the eye a sensible angle1 and having measured that angle1 a simple calculation shows him the size of the object to be greater perhaps than that of the huge ball which he calls his earth4 ,then1 ,take the soul of one of the poorest1 lowest ,pariahs of ,india1 and form it by imagination into1 or suppose it represented by1 a sphere4 ,place this at the extremity of a line which is to represent time4 ,extend this line and move off your sphere1 farther and farther ad infinitum1 and what has become of your sphere8 ,why1 there it is1 just as before4 4 4 4 ,it is still what it was1 and this even after thousands of years4 ,in short1 the disc appears undiminished1 though viewed from an almost infinite distance4 ,oh1 what an angle of the mind ought that poor soul to subtend6 ,the letter goes on to suggest another parallel between things astronomical and things spiritual4 ,he supposes an objector admits the size as proved1 but demurs as to the importance of these heavenly bodies4 ,they are1 perhaps1 only unsubstantial froth1 mere puffs of air1 vapoury nothings4 ,but the astronomer knows their mass and weight1 as well as their size3 ,long observation has taught him that planets in the neighbourhood of one given heavenly body have been turned out of their course1 how1 and by what1 he is at first quite at a loss to tell but he has guessed and reasoned1 has found cause for suspecting the planet4 ,he watches1 observes1 and compares2 and after a long sifting of evidence1 he brings it in guilty of the disturbance4 ,if it be so1 it must have a power to disturb1 a power to attract2 and if so1 it is not a mere shell1 much less a mere vapour4 ,it has mass and it has weight1 and he calculates and determines from the disturbances what that weight is4 ,just so with the ,pariah's soul4 ,oh1 what a disturbance has it created6 ,what a celestial body has it drawn out from its celestial sphere6 ,not a star1 not the whole visible heavens1 not the heaven of heavens itself1 but ,him ,who fills heaven and earth1 by ,whom all things were created4 ,him did that ,pariah's soul attract from heaven even to earth to save it4 ,oh that we would thence learn1 and learning1 lay to heart the weight and the value of that one soul4 ,and just as the majesty of the glory of the ,lord is shown forth nowhere more majestically than in the chapter which tells us how ,he feeds ,his flock like a shepherd1 and gathers the lambs with ,his arm1 and carries them in ,his bosom1 so nowhere1 ,i think1 do we see the glory of our ,god more than in chapters of life which show ,him bending down from the circle of the earth1 yea rather1 coming down all the way to help it1 attracted by the influence of the need of a little child4 ,,chapter ,,xx ,the ,elf ,you remember what ,i said once1 that you could not1 perhaps1 put a whole crown on the head of ,jesus--that is1 bring a whole country to be ,his--but you might put one little jewel in ,his crown4 ,bishop ,french1 ,india and ,arabia4 ,,pearl-,,eyes1 otherwise the ,elf1 because it exactly describes her1 was very good for the first few weeks1 after which we began to know her4 ,she is not a convert in any sense of the term4 ,she is just a very wilful1 truthful1 exasperating1 fascinating little ,oriental4 ,when she is1 as she expresses it1 moved to sin1 nobody of her own colour can manage her4 ,you are only me grown up1 is her attitude towards them all4 ,she is always ready to repent1 but1 as ,pearl sorrowfully says1 before her tears are dry1 she goes and sins again1 and then1 quite unabashed1 she will trot up to you as if nothing had happened and expect to be lavishly petted4 ,i never saw anyone except the ,elf look interesting when naughty4 ,she does look interesting4 ,she is a rather light brown1 and any emotion makes the brown lighter2 her long lashes droop over her eyes in the most pathetic manner1 and when she looks up appealingly she might be an innocent martyr about to die for her faith4 ,we have two other small girls with us2 the ,imp--but her name is a libel1 she reformed some months ago--and ,tangles1 who ties herself into knots whenever she makes a remark4 ,these three have many an argument 7for ,indian children delight in discussion71 and sometimes the things that are brought to me would shock the orthodox4 ,this is the last1 brought yesterday3 ,obedience is not so important as love4 ,orpah was very obedient4 ,her mother-in-law said1 ',go1 return1' and she did as she was told4 ,but ,ruth was not obedient at all4 ,four times her mother-in-law said1 ',go1' and yet she would not go4 ,but ,god blessed ,ruth much more than ,orpah1 because she loved her mother-in-law4 ,so obedience is not so important as love4 ,only the day before ,i had been labouring to explain the absolute necessity for the cultivation of the grace of obedience2 but now it was proved a secondary matter1 for ,ruth was certainly disobedient1 but good and greatly blessed4 ,the ,elf's chief delinquencies at present1 however1 spring from a rooted aversion to her share in the family housework 7ten minutes' rubbing up of brass water-vessels72 an appetite for slate pencils--she would nibble them by the inch if we would let her--they are so nice to eat1 she says2 and1 most fruitful of all in sad consequences1 a love of being first4 ,as regards sin ,no4 #a1 ,i hope it will soon be a thing of the past1 for she has just made a valuable discovery3 ,satan doesn't come very close to me if ,i sing all the time ,i'm rubbing the brasses4 ,he runs away when he hears me sing1 so ,i sing very loud1 and that keeps him away4 ,satan doesn't like hymns4 ,and ,i quite agree1 and strongly advise her to persevere4 ,sin ,no4 #b is likely to pass1 as she hates the nasty medicine we give her to correct her depraved proclivities2 but ,no4 #c is more serious4 ,it opens the door1 or1 as she once expressed it1 it calls so many other sins to come1--quarrelling1 pride1 and several varieties of temper1 come at the call of this sin ,no4 #c4 ,she is a born leader in her very small way1 and she has not learned yet1 that before we can lead we must be willing to be led4 ,i will choose the game1 she remarks and all of you must do as ,i tell you4 ,sometimes they do1 for her directions1 though decisive1 are given with a certain grace that wins obedience2 but sometimes they do not1 and then the ,elf is offended1 and walks off4 ,but she is the life of the game1 and they chase her and propitiate her2 and she generally condescends to return1 for solitary dignity is dull4 ,if any of the seniors happen to see it1 it is checked as much as possible1 but oftener we hear of it in that very informing prayer1 which is to her quite the event of the evening2 for she takes to the outward forms of religion with great avidity1 and the evening prayer especially is a deep delight to her4 ,she counts up all her numerous shortcomings carefully and perfectly truthfully1 as they appear to her1 and with equal accuracy her blessings large and small4 ,she sometimes includes her good deeds in the list1 lest1 ,i suppose1 they should be forgotten in the record of the day4 ,all the self-righteousness latent in human nature comes out1 or used to1 in her earlier days1 in the evening revelations4 ,here is a specimen1 taken at random from the first month's sheaf4 ,she and the ,imp had come to my room for their devotions1 preternaturally pious1 both of them1 though quite unregenerate4 ,it was the ,elf's turn to begin4 ,she settled herself circumspectly1 sighed deeply1 and then began4 ,first came the day's sins1 counted on the fingers of the right hand1 beginning with the fourth finger4 ,once1 and down went the little finger on the palm1 ,i was cross with ,l4 7,l4 being the ,imp1 nine and a half to the ,elf's seven and a half1 but most submissive as a rule47 ,i was cross because she did not do as ,i told her4 ,that was wrong of me2 but it was wrong of her too1 so it was only half a sin4 ,twice1 and the third finger was folded down1 when ,i did not do my work well4 ,that was quite all my fault4 ,three times1 and down went the middle finger1 when ,i caught a quarrel with those naughty little children2 they were stupid little children1 and they would not play my game1 so ,i spoiled unity4 ,but they came running after me1 and they said1 ',please forgive us1' so ,i forgave them4 ,that was very good of me1 and ,i also forgave ,l42 so that is three bad things and two good things to-day4 ,i stopped her1 and expatiated on the sin of pride1 but her mind was full of the business in hand4 ,then there were four blessings--no1 five2 but ,i can't remember the fifth4 ,the ,ammal gave me a box for my doll1 and you gave me some sweets2 and ,i found some nice rags in your waste-paper basket--grubbing in rag-bags and waste-paper baskets is one of the joys of life2 rags are so useful when you have a large family of dolls who are always wearing out their clothes--and ,i have some cakes in my own box now4 ,there are four blessings4 ,but ,i forget the fifth4 ,i advised her to leave it1 and begin1 for the ,imp was patiently waiting her turn4 ,she1 good child1 suggested the missing fifth must be the soap--the ,ammal had given each of them a piece the size of a walnut4 ,yes1 that was it apparently1 for the ,elf1 contented1 began-- ,o loving ,lord ,jesus6 ,i have done three wrong things to-day 7then followed the details and prayer for forgiveness74 ,lord1 give ,l4 grace to do what ,i want her to do2 and when she does not do it1 ,lord1 give me grace to be patient with her4 ,i thank ,thee for causing me to forgive those little children who would not play the game ,i liked4 ,oh make them good1 and make me also good2 and next time we play together give me grace to play patiently with them4 ,and oh1 forgive all the bad things ,i have done to-day2 and ,i thank ,thee very much for all the good things ,i have done1 for ,i did them by ,thy grace4 ,praise for mercies followed in order3 the cardboard box1 the lump of sugar-candy1 the spoils from the waste-paper basket1 those sticky honey-cakes--which1 to my disquietude1 ,i then understood were secreted in her seeley box--and that precious bit of soap4 ,then--and this is never omitted--a fervently expressed desire for safe preservation for herself and her friends from the bites of snakes and scorpions1 and all other noxious creatures1 through the darkness of the night1 and when ,i wake may ,i find myself at ,thy holy feet4 ,amen4 ,no matter how sleepy she is1 these last phrases1 which are quite of her own devising1 are always included in the tail-end of her prayer4 ,she would not feel at all safe on her mat1 spread on the ground out of doors in hot weather1 unless she had so fortified herself from all attacks of the reptile world4 ,and when1 one day1 we discovered a nest of some few dozen scorpions within six yards of her mat1 not one of which had ever disturbed her or any of her friends1 we really did feel that funny little prayer had power in it after all4 ,you cannot interrupt in the middle of those rather confusing confessions1 she is far too much engaged to be disturbed1 but when the communication is fairly over1 and she cuddles on your knee for the kissing and caressing she so much appreciates1 you have a chance of explaining things a little4 ,she listened seriously that evening1 ,i remember1 then1 slipping down off my knee1 she added as a sort of postscript1 very reverently1 ,o ,lord ,jesus1 ,i prayed it wrong4 ,i was naughtier than ,l41 much naughtier4 ,but indeed ,thou wilt remember that she was naughty first4 4 4 4 ,oh1 that's not it6 ,it was not ,l41 it was me6 ,and ,i was impatient with those little children4 ,but 4 4 4 but they caused impatience within me4 ,then getting hopelessly mixed up between self-condemnation and self-justification1 she gave it up1 adding1 however1 ,next time we play together1 give them more grace to play patiently with me1 which was so far satisfactory1 as at first she had scouted the idea that there could be any need of patience on the other side4 ,sometimes she brings me perplexities not new to most of us4 ,this morning ,i prayed with great desire1 ',lord1 keep me to-day from being naughty at all1' and ,i was naughty an hour afterwards2 ,i looked at the clock and saw4 ,how was it ,i was naughty when ,i wanted to be good8 ,the naughtiness jumped up inside me1 so--7illustrating its supposed action within71 and it came running out4 ,so what is the use of praying8 ,once the difficulty was rather opposite4 ,can you be good without ,god's grace8 ,i told her ,i certainly could not4 ,well1 ,i can6 she answered delightedly4 ,i want to pray now4 ,now8 ,it is eight o'clock now4 ,haven't you had prayer long ago8 7,we all get up at six o'clock47 ,no4 ,that's just what ,i meant4 ,i skipped my prayer this morning1 and so of course ,i got no grace2 but ,i have been helping the elder ,sisters4 ,wasn't that right8 ,yes1 quite right4 ,and yet ,i hadn't got any grace6 ,but ,i suppose1 she added reflectively1 it was the grace over from yesterday that did it4 ,as a rule she is not distinguished for very deep penitence1 but at one time she had what she called a true sense of sin which fluctuated rather1 but was always hailed1 when it appeared in force1 as a sign of better things4 ,after a day of mixed goodness and badness the ,elf prayed most devoutly1 ,i thank ,thee for giving me a sense of sin to-day4 ,o ,god1 keep me from being at all naughty to-morrow4 ,but if ,i am naughty1 ,lord1 give me a true sense of sin6 ,illustration3 ,we value this photo exceedingly1 it was so hard to get4 ,we were in a big heathen village when we saw this ,ugly ,duckling1 in fact she was one of the most tiresome of the rabbits mentioned in ,chapter ,i4 ,she saw us1 and darted off and climbed a wall and made faces at us in a truly delightful manner4 ,we thought we would take her1 and tried4 ,as well try to pick up quicksilver2 she would not be caught4 ,the deed was finally done when she had not the least idea of it1 and the camera gave a triumphant click as it snapped her unawares4 ,what do they want her for8 inquired a grown-up bystander1 who had observed our little game4 ,look at her hair1 said another1 they never saw hair like that in ,england1 that's what they want her for6 ,professor ,drummond speaks of our whole life as a long-drawn breath of mystery1 between the two great wonders--the first awakening and the last sleep4 ,i often think of that as ,i listen to the little children talking to each other and to us4 ,they are always wondering about something4 ,one day it was1 ,do fishes love ,jesus8 followed by ,what is a soul8 ,the conclusion was1 ,it's the thing we love ,jesus with4 ,when they first come to us they invariably think that mountains grow like trees3 ,stones are young mountains1 aren't they8 and hills are middle-aged mountains4 ,later on1 every printed thing on a wall is a text4 ,we were in a railway station1 on our way to the hills3 ,look6 oh1 what numbers and numbers of texts6 ,but what queer pictures to have on texts6 ,one was specially perplexing2 it was a well-known advertisement1 and the picture showed a monkey smoking a cigar4 ,what could that depraved animal have to do with a text8 ,when we got to the hills the first amazement was the sight of the fashionable ladies wearing veils4 ,don't they like to look at ,god's beautiful world8 ,do they like it better spotty8 ,tangles has another name2 it is the ,ugly ,duckling1 and it is extremely descriptive2 but ,ugly ,duckling or not1 she is of an inquiring turn of mind1 and one ,saturday afternoon1 after standing under a tree for fully five minutes lost in thought1 she came to me with a question3 ,what are the birds saying to each other8 ,i looked at the ,ugly ,duckling1 and she twisted herself into a note of interrogation1 in the ridiculous way she has1 but her face was full of anxiety for enlightenment about the language of the sparrows4 ,there1 she said1 pointing vigorously to the astonished birds1 which instantly flew away1 that little sparrow and this one are making quite different noises4 ,what are they saying8 ,i do want to know so much6 ,as ,i imagined the birds in question had just been having supper1 ,i told her what ,i thought they were probably saying4 ,next day1 in the sermon1 there was something about the praise all creation offers to ,god1 and ,i saw ,tangles knotting her hands together and going into the queerest contortions in appreciation of the one bit of the sermon she could understand4 ,the ,imp's questions were various4 ,what is that8--pointing to a busy-bee clock--is it an ,english kind of insect8 ,don't its legs get tired going round8 ,oh6 is it dead now8 7when it stopped74 ,who made ,satan8 was an early one4 ,why doesn't ,god kill him immediately1 and stamp on him8 ,one day ,i was trying to find and touch her heart by telling her how very sorry ,jesus is when we are naughty4 ,she seemed subdued1 then--,amma1 where was the ,queen's spirit after she died and before they buried her1 and what did they give it to eat8 ,did you see ,lot's wife8 was a question which tickled the ,bishop when1 on his last visitation1 he gave himself up to an hour's catechising upon his tour in the ,holy ,land4 ,they were disappointed that he had to confess he had not4 ,oh1 ,i suppose the salt has melted1 was the ,elf's comment upon this4 ,tangles is distinctly inclined to peace4 ,the ,elf1 ,i grieve to say1 is not4 ,yesterday she announced a quarrel3 ,i feel cross6 ,tangles objected to quarrel4 ,i do feel cross6 and the ,elf apparently showed corroborative symptoms4 ,then ,tangles looked at her straight3 ,i'm not going to quarrel4 ,the devil has arrived in the middle of the afternoon to interrupt our unity1 and ,i won't let him6 which so touched the ,elf that she embraced her on the spot2 and then1 in detailing it all in her prayer in the evening1 this incorrigible little sinner added1 with real emotion1 ,lord1 ,i am not good4 ,i spoiled unity with ,l4 7the ,imp71 and ,thou didst feel obliged to remove her to a boarding-school4 ,now do help me not to spoil unity with ,p4 7who is ,tangles71 lest ,thou shouldst feel obliged to remove her also to a boarding-school1--a view of the ,imp's promotion which had not struck me before4 ,tangles and she belong to the same ,caste1 and ,tangles has the character of that ,caste as fully developed as the ,elf1 and can hold her own effectually4 ,also she is a little older and taller1 and being the ,elf's elder sister1 is1 therefore1 entitled to a certain measure of respect4 ,all those small things tend to the discipline of the ,elf1 who is very small for her age1 and who would have preferred a junior1 of a meek and mild disposition1 and whose constant prayer is this3 ,o ,lord1 bring another little girl out of the lion's mouth1 but1 ,o ,lord1 please let her be a very little girl6 ,shortly after this prayer began1 a very little girl was brought2 but she was a vulgar infant1 and greatly tried the ,elf1 and she was1 for various reasons1 promptly returned to her parents4 ,after this episode the prayer varied somewhat3 ,lord1 let her be a suitable child1 and give me grace to love her from my heart when she comes4 ,the conversation of these young creatures is often very illuminating1 and always most miscellaneous4 ,the ,elf's mind especially is a sort of small curiosity shop1 and displays many assortments4 ,the ,elf1 ,tangles1 and little ,delight 7,delight is a youthful ,christian7 are curled up on the warm red sand with their three little heads close together4 ,the ,elf is telling a story4 ,i listen1 and hear a marvellous muddle of the ,uganda ,boys and ,cyril of ,north ,africa4 ,he was only six years old1 and he stood up and said1 ',what you are going to do1 do quickly6 ,i am not afraid4 ,i am going to the ,golden ,city6' ,and they showed him the sword and the fire1 and he said1 ',do it quickly6' and they chopped off his arm1 and said1 ',will you deny ,jesus8' and he said1 ',no6' and they chopped off his other arm1--and so on through all the various limbs in most vivid detail1--and then they threw him on the fire1 and burnt him till he was ashes2 and he sang praises to ,jesus6 ,the ,elf leans to the tragic4 ,tangles' mother had a difference of opinion with a friend4 ,the friend snatched at her opponent's ear jewels1 and tore the ear4 ,life with a torn ear was intolerable1 so ,tangles' mother walked three times round the well1 repeated three times1 ,my blood be on your head6 and sprang in4 ,she rose three times1 each time said the same words1 and then sank4 ,all this ,tangles confided to the ,elf1 who concocted a game based upon the incident--which1 however1 we ruthlessly squashed4 ,they are tossing pebbles now1 according to rules of their own1 and talking vigorously4 ,the ,ammal told me all the people in ,england are white1 and ,i asked her what they did without servants1 and she said they had white servants1 white servants66 and the note of exclamation is intense4 ,the others are equally astonished4 ,white people as servants6 ,the two ideas clash4 ,they have never seen a white servant4 ,in all their extensive acquaintance with white people they have only seen missionaries 7who are truly their servants1 though they hardly realise it yet71 and occasionally ,government officials1 whose mastership is very much in evidence4 ,so they are puzzled4 ,they get out of the difficulty1 however4 ,at the beginning of the beginning of ,england1 black people must have gone to be the white people's servants1 and they gradually grew white4 ,yes1 that's it apparently2 they faded4 ,the conversation springs higher4 ,do you know what lightning is8 ,i'll tell you4 ,i watched it one whole evening1 and ,i think it's just a little bit of heaven's light coming through and going back again4 ,this sounds probable1 and great interest is aroused4 ,they are discussing the sheet lightning which plays about the sky in the evening before rain4 ,of course it isn't much of heaven's light1 only a little tiny bit getting out and running down here to show us what it is like inside4 ,one night ,i shut my eyes1 and it ran in and out1 in and out1 oh so fast6 ,even if ,i shut my eyes ,i saw it running inside my eyes4 ,did you get caned in school to-day8 ,no1 not exactly caned1 and an explanation follows4 ,i was standing beside a very naughty little girl1 and the teacher meant to cane her1 but the cane fell on me by mistake4 ,i wanted to cry1 because it hurt1 but ,i thought it would be silly to cry when it hurt me quite by mistake4 ,so ,i didn't cry one tear6 ,the ,elf hit upon a capital expedient for escaping castigation 7which is never very severe74 ,i found this cane myself4 ,it was lying on the ground in the compound1 and ,i am going to take it to the teacher4 ,chorus of ,why8 ,because1 and the ,elf looked elfish1 if ,i give it to him with my own hands1 how will he cane my hands with it8 ,his heart will not be hard enough to cane me with the cane ,i gave him6 and the little scamp looks round for applause4 ,chorus of admiring ,oh6 ,then they begin again1 the ,elf as usual chief informant4 ,i know something6 ,chorus1 ,what8 ,a beautiful doll is waiting for me in a box1 and ,i'm going to have it at ,ki-rismas6 ,what sort of a doll8 is the eager inquiry4 ,i don't know exactly1 but ,god sent it1 of course1 so ,i think it must be something like an angel4 ,chorus1 delightedly1 ,ah6 ,yes1 if it came from ,god1 then of course it came from heaven1 and heaven is the place all the angels come from1 and they are white and shining1 so ,i think it will be white and shining like an angel4 ,the doll in question is a negress with a woolly head and a scarlet-striped pinafore4 ,it had not struck me as angelic4 ,it is an experiment in dolls4 ,will it take8 ,ki-rismas came at last1 and the heavenly doll with it1 but it did not take4 ,grievous were the tears and sobs1 and the bitterest wail of all was1 ,i thought ,god would have sent me a nicer doll6 ,we changed it for a nicer doll1 for the poor ,elf was not wicked1 only broken-hearted1 and ,star1 who is supposed to be much too old for dolls1 begged for the despised black beauty2 because1 as the ,elf maliciously remarked as she hugged her white dolly contentedly1 ,that black thing has a curly head1 just like ,star's6 ,the habit of praying about everything is characteristic of the ,elf1 and more than once her uninstructed little soul has grieved over the strange way our prayers are sometimes answered4 ,one day she came rushing in full of excitement4 ,oh1 may ,i go and be examined8 ,the ,government ,missie ,ammal is going to examine our school6 ,please let me go6 ,the ,government ,missie ,ammal1 a great celebrity who only comes round once a year1 was staying with us1 and ,i asked her if the child might have the joy of being examined even though she had not had nearly her year at school4 ,she agreed1 for the sake of the little one's delight--for an ,indian child likes nothing better than a fuss of any kind--to let her come into the examination room1 and take her examination informally4 ,we knew she was sure of a pass4 ,an hour or two afterwards a scout came flying over to tell us the awful news4 ,the ,elf had failed1 utterly failed1 and she was so ashamed she wouldn't come back1 wouldn't come back any more4 ,i went for her1 and found her a little heap of sobs and tears1 outside the schoolroom4 ,i gathered her up in my arms and carried her home1 and tried to comfort her1 but she was crushed4 ,i asked ,god so earnestly to let me pass1 and ,i didn't pass6 ,and ,i thought ,he had listened1 but now ,i know ,he didn't listen at all6 ,i was puzzled too1 though for a different reason4 ,i knew she should easily have passed1 and ,i could only conclude her wild excitement had made her nervous1 for with many tears she told me1 ,i did not know one answer6 not even one6 ,and again she came back to the first and sorest1 ,oh1 ,i did think ,god was listening1 and ,he wasn't listening at all6 ,at last ,i got her quieted1 and explained1 by means of a rupee and an anna1 how sometimes ,god gives us something better than we ask for2 we ask for an anna1 and ,he gives us a rupee4 ,a rupee holds sixteen annas4 ,she grew interested3 ,then my passing that examination was the anna4 ,but what is the rupee8 ,now the ,elf1 as you may have observed1 is not weighted with over much humility1 so ,i told her ,i thought the rupee must be humility4 ,she considered a while1 then sliding off my knee1 she knelt down and said1 with the utmost gravity and purpose1 ,o ,god6 ,i did not want that kind of answer1 but ,i do want it now4 ,give me the rupee of humility6 ,then springing up with eyes dancing with mischief1 ,next time ,i fall into pride you will say1 ',oh1 where is that rupee8' ,when the school examinations were over1 and the ,missie ,ammal came back to rest1 ,i asked her about the ,elf4 ,she really did very badly1 seemed to know nothing of her subjects2 should not have gone in1 poor mite6 ,it suddenly struck me to ask what class she had gone into4 ,the first1 said the ,missie ,ammal4 ,but she is in the infants'6 ,then we understood4 ,the ,elf had only been at school for a few months1 and had just finished the infant standard book1 and had been moved into the first a day or two before1 as the teacher felt she was well able to clear the first course in the next six months and take her examination in the following year1 two years' work in one4 ,but it was not intended she should go in for the ,government examination1 which requires a certain time to be spent in preparation2 so when1 in the confusion of the arrangement of the classes1 she stood with her little class-fellows of two days only1 the mistake was not noticed4 ,no wonder the poor ,elf failed6 ,we never told her the reason1 not desiring to raise fresh questions upon the mysterious ways of ,providence in her busy little brain2 and to this day1 when she is betrayed into pride1 she shakes her head solemnly at herself1 and remembers the rupee4 ,she has lately been staying with the ,missie ,ammals1 my very particular friends1 as she calls them1 at the ,c4,e4,z4 ,house1 in ,palamcottah4 ,she returned to us full of matter1 and charged with a new idea4 ,i am no more going to spend my pocket money upon vanities4 ,i am going to save it all up1 and buy a ,gee-lit ,bible4 ,this gilt-edged treasure is a fruitful source of conversation4 ,it will take about six years at the rate of one farthing a week to save enough to buy exactly the kind she desires4 ,i don't want a common ,bible4 ,it must be gee-lit1 with shining gee-lit all down the leaves on the outside1 and the name on the back all gee-lit too4 ,that's the kind of ,bible ,i want6 ,just as ,i wrote that1 she trotted in and poured three half-annas in small change upon the table4 ,that's all ,i've got1 and it's six weeks' savings4 ,six years is a long1 long time6 ,she confided to me that she found the flesh wanted to persuade her to spend these three half-annas on cakes4 ,it is the flesh1 isn't it1 that feeling you get inside1 that says 'sweets and cakes6 sweets and cakes6' in a very loud voice8 ,i listened to it for a little1 and then ,i wanted those sweets and cakes6 ,so ,i said to myself1 ,if ,i buy them they will all be gone in an hour1 but if ,i buy that ,gee-lit ,bible it will last for years and years4 ,so ,i would not listen any more to my flesh4 ,then a sudden thought struck her1 and she added impressively1 ,but when you give me sweets and cakes1 that is different2 the feeling that likes them is not 'flesh' then4 ,it is only 'flesh' when ,i'm tempted to spend my ,gee-lit ,bible money on them4 ,this was a point ,i was intended thoroughly to understand4 ,sweets and cakes were not to be confused with flesh except where a ,gee-lit ,bible was concerned4 ,she seemed relieved when ,i agreed with her that such things might perhaps sometimes be innocently enjoyed1 and with a sudden and rather startling change of subject inquired1 ,do they never have holidays in hell8 ,,chapter ,,xxi ,deified ,devilry ,next to the sacrificers1 they 7the temple women7 are the most important persons about the temple4 ,that a temple intended as a place of worship1 and attended by hundreds of simple-hearted men and women1 should be so polluted1 and that in the name of religion1 is almost beyond belief2 and that ,indian boys should grow up to manhood1 accustomed to see immorality shielded in these temples with a divine cloak1 makes our hearts grow sick and faint4 ,mrs4 ,fuller1 ,india4 ,,excuse the title of this chapter4 ,i can write no other4 ,sometimes the broad smooth levels of life are crossed by a black-edged jagged crack1 rent1 as it seems1 by an outburst of the fiery force below4 ,we find ourselves suddenly close upon it2 it opens right at our very feet4 ,two girls came to see us to-day2 sisters1 but tuned to different keys4 ,one was ordinary enough1 a bright girl with plenty of jewels and a merry1 contented face4 ,the other was finer grained2 you looked at her as you would look at the covers of a book1 wondering what was inside4 ,both were married2 neither had children4 ,this was the only sorrow the younger had ever had1 and it did not seem to weigh heavily4 ,the elder looked as if she had forgotten how to smile4 ,sometimes1 when the other laughed1 her eyes would light for a moment1 but the shadow in them deepened almost before the light had come2 great soft brown eyes1 full of the dumb look that animals have when they are suffering4 ,i knew her story1 and understood4 ,she was betrothed as a baby of four to a lad considerably older2 a lovable boy1 they say he was1 generous and frank4 ,the two of course belonged to the same ,caste1 the ,vellalar1 and were thoroughly well brought up4 ,in ,south ,india no ceremony of importance is considered complete without the presence of the ,servants of the gods4 ,these are girls and women belonging to the temple 7that is1 belonging to the priests of the temple71 who1 as they are never married1 except to the god who never dies1 can never become widows4 ,hence the auspiciousness of their presence at betrothals1 marriages1 feasts of all sorts1 and even funerals4 ,but this set of ,vellalars had as a clan risen above the popular superstition1 and the demoralising presence of these women was not allowed to profane either the betrothal or marriage of any child of the family4 ,so the boy and girl grew up as unsullied as ,hindus ever are4 ,they knew of what happened in other homes1 but their clan was a large one1 and they found their society in it1 and did not come across others much4 ,shortly before his marriage the boy went to worship in the great temple near the sea4 ,he had heard of its sanctity all his life1 and as a little lad had often gone with his parents on pilgrimage there1 but now he went to worship4 ,he took his offering and went4 ,he went again and again4 ,all that he saw there was religion1 all that he did was religious4 ,could there be harm in it8 ,he was married2 his little bride went with him trustfully4 ,she knew more of him than most ,indian brides know of their husbands4 ,she had heard he was loving1 and she thought he would be kind to her4 ,a year or two passed1 and the child's face had a look in it which even the careless saw1 but she never spoke about anything to give them the clue to it4 ,she went to stay in her father's house for a few weeks1 and they saw the change1 but she would not speak even to them4 ,then things got worse4 ,the girl grew thin1 and the neighbours talked1 and the father heard and understood2 and1 to save a scandal1 he took them away from the town where they lived1 and made every effort to give them another start in a place where they were not known4 ,but the coils of that snake of deified sin had twisted round the boy1 body and soul2 he could not escape from it4 ,they moved again to another town2 it followed him there1 for a temple was there1 and a temple means that4 ,then the devil of cruelty seized upon him2 he would drink1 a disgraceful thing in his ,caste1 and then hold his little wife down on the floor1 and stuff a bit of cloth into her mouth1 and beat her1 and kick her1 and trample upon her1 and tear the jewels out of her ears4 ,the neighbours saw it1 and told4 ,then he refused to bring money to her1 and she slowly starved1 quite silent still1 till at last hunger broke down her resolute will1 and she begged the neighbours for rice4 ,and he did more1 but it cannot be told4 ,how often one stops in writing home-letters4 ,the whole truth can never be told4 ,she is only a girl yet1 in years at least2 in suffering1 oh1 how old she is6 ,not half is known1 for she never speaks2 loyal and true to him through it all4 ,we only know what the neighbours know1 and what her silent dark eyes tell1 and the little thin face and hands4 ,she was very weary and ill to-day1 but she would not own it1 brave little soul6 ,i could see that neuralgia was racking her head1 and every limb trembled when she stood up2 but what made it so pathetic to me was the silence with which she bore it all4 ,i have only seen her once before1 and now she is going far away with her husband to another town1 and ,i may not see her again4 ,she was too tired to listen much1 and she knows so little1 not nearly enough to rest her soul upon4 ,she cannot read1 so it is useless to write to her4 ,she is going away quite out of our reach2 thank ,god1 not out of ,his4 ,we watched them drive off in the bullock cart1 a servant walking behind4 ,the little pale face of the elder girl looked out at the open end of the cart2 she salaamed as they drove away4 ,such a sweet face in its silent strength1 so wondrously gentle1 yet so strong1 strong to endure4 ,do you wonder ,i call this sort of thing a look deep down into hell8 ,do you wonder we burn as we think of such things going on in the ,name of ,god8 ,for they think of their god as ,god4 ,in ,his ,name the temples are built and endowed1 and provided with ,servants to do devil's work4 ,yes1 sin is deified here4 ,and the shame of shames is that some ,englishmen patronise and in measure support the iniquity4 ,they attend entertainments at which these girls are present to sing and dance1 and see nothing disgraceful in so doing4 ,as lately as #ahic1 when the ,indian ,social ,reformers of this ,presidency petitioned two notable ,englishmen to discountenance this pernicious practice 7the institution of ,slaves of the gods7 by declining to attend any entertainment at which they are invited to be present1 these two distinguished men1 representatives of our ,queen1 refused to take action in the matter4 ,surely this is a strange misuse of our position as rulers of ,india4#b 99 99 99 99 99 ,there are so many needs everywhere that ,i hardly like to speak of our own1 but we do need someone to work among these temple women and girls4 ,there is practically nothing being done for them2 because it is impossible for any of us to work among them and others at the same time4 ,the nearest ,home to which we could send such a one is four hundred miles away4 ,someone is needed1 old enough to have had experience of this kind of work1 and yet young enough to learn the language4 ,many of these ,slaves of the gods were bought1 or in some other way obtained1 when they were little innocent girls1 and they cannot be held responsible for the terrible life to which they are doomed by the law of the ,hindu religion4 ,many of them have hardened past any desire to be other than they are2 but sometimes we see the face of a girl who looks as if she might have desire1 if only she had a chance to know there is something better for her4 ,can it be that1 out of the many at home1 ,god has one1 or better1 two1 who can come with ,him to this ,south ,indian ,district to do what must always be awful work1 along the course of that crack8 ,if she comes1 or if they come1 let them come in the power of the ,holy ,ghost1 baptised with the love that endures6 ,this1 then1 is one look into ,hinduism1 this ghastly whitened sepulchre1 within which are dead men's bones4 ,,footnote3 #b ,for details1 see ,the ,wrongs of ,indian ,womanhood1 by ,mrs4 ,fuller4 ,,chapter ,,xxii ,behind the ,door ,when any person is known to be considering the new ,religion1 all his relations and acquaintances rise en masse2 so that to get a new convert is like pulling out the eye-tooth of a live tiger4 ,adoniram ,judson1 ,burmah4 ,,every missionary who has despaired of hitting upon an illustration vivid enough to show you what the work is really like among ,mohammedans and ,caste ,hindus will appreciate this simile4 ,after our return from ,dohnavur we found that the long-closed villages of this eastern countryside had opened again1 and the people were willing to allow us to teach the girls and women4 ,for two months this lasted1 and then three boys1 belonging to three different ,castes1 became known as inquirers4 ,instantly the news spread through all the villages4 ,it was in vain we told them we 7women-workers7 had never once even seen the boys1 had in no way influenced them2 the people held to it that1 personally responsible or not1 the book we taught to the girls was the same those boys had read 7an undeniable fact72 that its poison entered through the eyes1 ascended to the brain1 descended to the heart1 and then drew the reader out of his ,caste and his religion2 and that therefore we could not be tolerated in the streets or in the houses any more1 and so we were turned out4 ,illustration3 ,it took me such a long time to learn to draw nicely1 said ,victory when she saw this photo2 ,i used to go to the ,brahman street every morning and practise it there4 ,a design is drawn with a piece of chalk on the ground in front of every house each morning during part of ,december and ,january1 in memory of a goddess who used to amuse herself by drawing these patterns and planting flowers in them4 ,all sorts of geometrical designs are drawn by the women and children1 and the regular morning drawing is part of the day's work4 ,in one village where many of the relations of one of these three lads live1 the tiger growled considerably4 ,one furious old dame called us ,child-snatchers and ,powder-mongers1 and white snakes of the cobra species1 and a particular genus of lizard1 which when stamped upon merely wriggles1 and cannot be persuaded to die 7this applied to our persistence in evil71 and a great many other things4 ,the women stood out in the street in defiant groups and would not let us near enough to explain4 ,the men sat on the verandah fronts and smiled1 blandly superior to the childish nonsense the women talked1 but they did not interfere4 ,villages like this--and ,old ,india is made up of such villages--are far removed from the influence of the few enlightened centres which exist4 ,madras is only a name to them1 distant four hundred miles or so1 a place where ,caste notions are very lax and people are mixed up and jumbled together in a most unbecoming way4 ,education1 or ,learning1 as they call it1 they consider an excellent thing for boys who want to come to the front and earn money and grow rich4 ,but for girls1 what possible use is it8 ,can they pass examinations and get into ,government employ8 ,if you answered this question you would only disgust them4 ,then there is a latent feeling common enough in these old ,caste families1 that it is rather infra dig4 for their women to know too much4 ,it may be all very well for those who have no pretensions to greatness1 they may need a ladder by which to climb up the social scale1 but we who are already at the top1 what do we want with it8 ,have not our daughters got their ,caste8 ,this feeling is passing away in the towns1 but the villages hold out longer4 ,in that particular village we had some dear little girls who were getting very keen1 and it was so hard to move out1 and leave the field to the devil as undisputed victor thereon1 and ,i sent one of our workers to try again4 ,she is a plucky little soul1 but even she had to beat a retreat4 ,they will have none of us4 ,we went on that day to a village where they had listened splendidly only a week before4 ,they had no time1 it was the busy season4 ,then to a town1 farther on1 but it was quite impracticable4 ,so we went to our friend the dear old ,evangelist there1 the blind old man4 ,he and his wife are lights in that dark town4 ,it is so refreshing to spend half an hour with two genuine good old ,christians after a tug of war with the heathen2 they have no idea they are helping you1 but they are1 and you return home ever so much the happier for the sight of them4 ,as we came home we were almost mobbed4 ,in the old days mobs there were of common occurrence4 ,it is a rough market town1 and the people1 after the first converts came1 used to hoot us through the streets1 and throw handfuls of sand at us1 and shower ashes on our hair4 ,in theory ,i like this very much1 but in practice not at all4 ,the yellings of the crowd1 men chiefly1 are not polite2 the yelpings of the dogs1 set on by sympathetic spectators2 the sickening blaze of the sun and the reflected glare from the houses2 the blinding dust in your eyes1 and the queer feel of ashes down your neck2 above all1 the sense that this sort of thing does no manner of good--for it is not persecution 7nothing so heroic71 and it will not end in martyrdom 7no such honours come our way7--all this row1 and all these feelings1 one on the top of the other1 combine to make mobbing less interesting than might be expected4 ,you hold on1 and look up for patience and good nature and such like common graces1 and you pray that you may not be down with fever to-morrow--for fever has a way of stopping work--and you get out of it all1 as quickly as you can1 without showing undue hurry4 ,and then1 though little they know it1 you go and get a fresh baptism of love for them all4 ,but how delighted one would be to go through such unromantic trifles every hour of every day1 if only at the end one could get into the hearts and the homes of the people4 ,as it is1 just now1 our grief is that we cannot4 ,we know of several who want us1 and we are shut out from them4 ,one is a young wife1 who saw us one day by the waterside1 and asked us to come and teach her4 ,for doing this she was publicly beaten that evening in the open street1 by a man1 before men2 so1 for fear of what they would do to her1 we dare not go near the house4 ,another is a widow who has spent all her fortune in building a rest-house for the ,brahmans1 and who has not found ,rest4 ,she listened once1 too earnestly2 she has not been allowed to listen again4 ,oh1 how that tiger bites6 ,next door to her is a child we have prayed for for three years4 ,she was a loving1 clinging child when ,i knew her then1 little ,gold1 with the earnest eyes4 ,that last day ,i saw her1 she put her hands into mine1 caring nothing for defilement2 ,are we not one ,caste8 she said4 ,i did not know it was the last time ,i should see her2 that the next time when ,i spoke to her ,i should only see her shadow in the dark2 and one wishes now one had known--how much one would have said6 ,but the house was open then1 and all the houses were4 ,then the first girl convert1 after bravely witnessing at home1 took her stand as a ,christian4 ,her ,caste people burned down the little ,mission school--a boys' school--and chalked up their sentiments on the charred walls4 ,they burned down the ,bible-woman's house and a school sixteen miles away2 and the countryside closed1 every town and village in it1 as if the whole were a single door1 with the devil on the other side of it4 ,but some of the girls behind the door managed to send us messages4 ,gold was one of these4 ,she wanted so much to see us again1 she begged us to come and try4 ,we tried2 we met the mother outside1 and asked her to let us come4 ,she is a hard old woman1 with eyes like bits of black ice1 set deep in her head4 ,she froze us1 and refused4 ,afterwards we heard what the child's punishment was4 ,they took her down to the water1 and led her in4 ,she stood trembling1 waist deep1 not knowing what they meant to do4 ,then they held her head under the water till she made some sign to show she would give in4 ,they released her then1 rubbed ashes on her brow1 sign of recantation1 and they led her back sobbing--poor little girl4 ,she is not made of martyr stuff2 she was only miserable4 ,for some months we saw nothing of her4 ,we used to go to the next house and persuade the people to let us sing to them4 ,we sang for ,gold2 but we never knew if she heard4 ,one evening1 as two of us came home late from work1 a woman passed us and said hurriedly to me1 ,come1 come quickly1 and alone4 ,it is ,gold who calls you6 ,come6 ,i followed her to the house4 ,i am ,gold's married sister1 she explained4 ,sit down outside in the verandah near the door and wait till the child comes out4 ,then she went in1 and ,i sat still and waited4 ,those minutes were like heart-beats4 ,what was happening inside8 ,but apparently the mother was away1 for soon the door opened softly1 and a shadow flitted out1 and ,i knew it must be ,gold4 ,she dropped on her knees on the little narrow verandah on the other side of the door and crept along to its farther end1 and then ,i could only distinguish a dark shape in the dark4 ,for perhaps five minutes no one came except the sister1 who stood at the door and watched4 ,and for those five minutes one was free to speak as freely as one could speak to a shape which one could barely see1 and which showed no sign1 and spoke no word4 ,five whole minutes6 ,how one valued every moment of them6 ,then a man came and sat down on the verandah4 ,he must have been a relative1 for he did not mean to go4 ,i wished he would4 ,it was impossible to talk past him to her1 without letting him know she was there2 so one had to talk to him1 but for her1 and even this could not last long4 ,dusk here soon is dark2 we had to go4 ,as we went1 we looked back and saw him still keeping his unconscious guard over the child in her hiding-place4 ,there are no secrets in ,india4 ,it was known that we had been there1 and that stern old mother punished her child2 but how1 we never knew4 ,if any blame us for going at all1 let it be remembered that one of ,christ's little ones was thirsty1 and she held out her hand for a cup of cold water4 ,we could not have left that hand empty1 ,i think4 ,after that we heard nothing for a year2 then an old man whom we had helped1 and who hoped we intended to help him more1 came one evening to tell us he meant to set ,gold free4 ,it was all to be secretly done1 and it was to be done that night4 ,we told him we could have nothing to do with his plan1 and we explained to him why4 ,but1 he objected1 what folly is this8 ,i thought you ,christians helped poor girls1 and this one certainly wants to come4 ,she is of age4 ,this is the time4 ,if you wait you will never get her at all4 ,we knew this was more than probable2 to refuse his help was like turning the key and locking her body and soul into prison--an awful thought to me1 as ,i remembered ,treasure4 ,but there was nothing else to be done2 and afterwards1 when we heard who he was1 and what his real intentions were1 we were thankful we had done it4 ,he looked at us curiously as he went1 as if our view of things struck him as strange2 and he begged us never to breathe a word of what he had said4 ,we never did1 but it somehow oozed out1 and soon after that he sickened and very suddenly died4 ,his body was burnt within two hours4 ,post-mortems are rare in ,india4 ,another year passed in silence as to ,gold4 ,how often we went down the street and looked across at her home1 with its door almost always shut1 and that icy-eyed mother on guard4 ,we used to see her going about1 never far from the house4 ,when we saw her we salaamed2 then she would glare at us grimly1 and turn her back on us4 ,once the whole family went to a festival2 but the girl of course was bundled in and out of a covered cart1 and seen by no one1 not even the next-door neighbours4 ,there was talk of a marriage for her4 ,most girls of her ,caste are married much younger2 but to our relief this fell through1 and once one of us saw her for a moment1 and she still seemed to care to hear1 though she was far too cowed by this time to show it4 ,then we heard a rumour that a girl from the ,lake ,village had been seen by some of our ,christians in a wood near a village five miles distant4 ,these ,christians are very out-and-out and keen about converts1 and they managed to discover that the girl in the wood had some thought of being a ,christian1 and that her being there had some connection with this1 so they told us at once4 ,the description fitted ,gold4 ,but we could not account for a girl of her ,caste being seen in a wood2 she was always kept in seclusion4 ,at last we found out the truth4 ,she had shown some sign of a lingering love for ,christ1 and her mother had taken her to a famous ,brahman ascetic who lived in that wood2 and there together1 mother and daughter stayed in a hut near the hermit's hut1 and for three days he had devoted himself to confuse and confound her1 and finally he succeeded1 and reported her convinced4 ,illustration3 ,this is the tangible brass-bossed door outside of which we so often stand on the stone step and knock1 and hear voices from within call1 ,everyone is out4 ,the hand-marks are the hand-prints of the ,power that keeps the door shut4 ,once a year1 every door and the lintel of every window1 and sometimes the walls1 are marked like this4 ,that evening1 just before dark1 the god comes round1 they say1 and looks for his mark on the door1 and1 seeing it1 blesses all in the house4 ,if there is no mark he leaves a curse4 ,this is the devil's ,south ,indian parody on the ,passover4 ,we heard all this1 and sorrowed1 and wondered how it was done4 ,we never heard all1 but we heard one delusion they practised upon her1 appealing as they so often do to the ,oriental imagination1 which finds such solid satisfaction in the supernatural4 ,nothing is so convincing as a vision or a dream2 so a vision appeared before her1 an incarnation1 they told her1 of ,siva1 in the form of ,christ4 ,siva and ,christ1 then1 were one1 as they had so often assured her1 one identity under two names4 ,hinduism is crammed with incarnations2 this presented no difficulty4 ,like the old monk1 the bewildered child looked for the print of the nails and the spear4 ,yes1 they were there1 marked in hands and foot and side4 ,it must be hard to distrust one's own mother4 ,gold still trusted hers4 ,listen6 said the mother1 and the vision spoke4 ,if the speech of the ,christians is true1 ,i will return within twenty-four days2 if the speech of the ,hindus is true1 ,i will not return4 ,then hour by hour for those twenty-four days they wove their webs about her1 webs of wonderful sophistry which have entangled keener brains than hers4 ,she was entangled4 ,the twenty-four days did their work4 ,she yielded her will on the twenty-fifth4 ,so the mother and the ,brahman won4 ,these letters are written1 as you know1 with a definite purpose4 ,we try to show you what goes on behind the door1 the very door of the photograph1 type of all the doors1 that seeing behind you may understand how fiercely the tiger bites4 ,,chapter ,,xxiii ,pan1 ,pan is ,dead ,if there is one thing that refreshes my soul above all others1 it is that ,i shall behold the ,redeemer gloriously triumphant at the winding up of all things4 ,henry ,martyn1 ,n4 ,india4 ,,partly founded upon a well-known tradition1 mentioned by ,plutarch1 according to which1 at the hour of the ,saviour's ,agony1 a cry of1 ',great ,pan is dead1' swept across the waves in the hearing of certain mariners1 and the oracles ceased4 ,so reads the head-note to one of ,elizabeth ,barrett ,browning's poems4 ,we look up a classical dictionary1 and find the legend there4 ,this was readily believed by the ,emperor1 and the astrologers were consulted1 but they were unable to explain the meaning of so supernatural a voice4 ,pan1 and with him all the false gods of the old world1 die in the day of the death of our ,saviour1--this according to the poem-- ,gods1 we vainly do adjure you1-- ,ye return nor voice nor sign6 ,not a votary could secure you ,even a grave for your ,divine2 ,not a grave1 to show thereby1 ,here these grey old gods do lie4 ,pan1 ,pan is dead4 ,and yet--is he dead8 quite dead8 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,night1 moonless and hot4 ,our camp is pitched on the west bank of the river2 we are asleep4 ,suddenly there is what sounds like an explosion just outside4 ,then another and another1--such a bursting bang1--then a s-s-swish1 and ,i am out of bed1 standing out on the sand2 and for a moment ,i am sure the kitchen tent is on fire4 ,then it dawns on me1 in the slow way things dawn in the middle of the night3 it is only fireworks being let off by the festival people--only fireworks6 ,but ,i stand and look1 and in the darkness everything seems much bigger than it is and much more awful4 ,there is the gleaming of water1 lit by the fires of the crowd on the eastern bank of the river4 ,there are torches waving uncertainly in and out of the vast black mass--black even in the black of night--where the people are4 ,there is the sudden burst and s-s-swish of the rockets as they rush up into the night1 and fall in showers of colours on the black mass and the water2 and there is the hoarse roar of many voices1 mingled with the bleat of many goats4 ,i stand and look1 and know what is going on4 ,they are killing those goats--thirty thousand of them--killing them now4 ,is ,pan dead8 4 4 4 ,morning1 blazing sun1 relentless sun1 showing up all that is going on4 ,we are crossing the river-bed in our cart4 ,don't look6 says my comrade1 and ,i look the other way4 ,then we separate4 ,she goes among the crowds in the river bed1 where the sun is hottest and the air most polluted and the scenes on every side most sickening1 and ,i go up the bank among the people4 ,we have each a ,tamil ,sister with us1 and farther down the stream another little group of three is at work4 ,in all seven1 to tens of thousands4 ,but we hope more will come later on4 ,we have arranged to meet at the cart at about ten o'clock4 ,the bandy-man is directed to work his way up to a big banyan tree near the temple4 ,he struggles up through a tangle of carts1 and finds a slanting standing-ground on the edge of the shade of the tree4 ,all the way up the bank they are killing and skinning their goats4 ,you look to the right1 and put your hands over your eyes4 ,you look to the left1 and do it again4 ,you look straight in front1 and see an extended skinned victim hung from the branch of a tree4 ,every hanging rootlet of the great banyan tree is hung with horrors--all dead1 most mercifully1 but horrible still4 ,we had thought the killing over1 or we should hardly have ventured to come2 but these who are busy are late arrivals4 ,one tells oneself over and over again that a headless creature cannot possibly feel1 but it looks as if it felt 4 4 4 it goes on moving4 ,we look away1 and we go on1 trying to get out of it1--but thirty thousand goats6 ,it takes a long time to get out of it4 ,we see groups of little children watching the process delightedly4 ,there is no intentional cruelty1 for the god will not accept the sacrifice unless the head is severed by a single stroke--a great relief to me4 ,but it is most disgusting and demoralising4 ,and to think that these children are being taught to connect it with religion6 ,with me is one who used to enjoy it all4 ,she tells me how she twisted the fowls' heads off with her own hands4 ,i look at the fine little brown hands1 such loving little hands1 and ,i can hardly believe it4 ,you--you do such a thing6 ,i say4 ,and she says1 ,yes2 when the day came round to sacrifice to our family divinity1 my little brother held the goat's head while my father struck it off1 and ,i twisted the chickens' heads4 ,it was my pleasure6 ,we go up along the bank2 still those crowds1 and those goats killed or being killed4 ,we cannot get away from them4 ,at last we reach a tree partly unoccupied1 but it is leafless1 alas6 ,on one side of it a family party is cheerfully feeding behind a shelter of mats4 ,a little lower down some ,pariahs are haggling over less polite portions of the goat's economy4 ,they wrap up the stringy things in leaves and tuck them into a fold of their seeleys4 ,at our feet a small boy plays with the head4 ,we sit down in the band of shade cast by the trunk of the tree1 and1 grateful for so much shelter1 invite the passers-by to listen while we sing4 ,some listen4 ,an old hag who is chaperoning a bright young wife draws the girl towards us1 and sits down4 ,she has never heard a word of our ,doctrine before1 and neither has the girl4 ,then some boys come1 full of mischief and fun1 and threaten an upset4 ,so we pick out the rowdiest of them and suggest he should keep order1 which he does with great alacrity1 swinging a switch most vigorously at anyone likely to interfere with the welfare of the meeting4 ,my little companion speaks to them1 as only one who was once where they are ever can4 ,i listen to her1 and long for the flow at her command4 ,do you not do this and this8 she says1 naming the very things they do2 and don't you say so and so8 ,they stare1 and then1 ,oh1 she was once one of us6 ,what is her ,caste8 ,when did she come8 ,where are her father and mother8 ,what is her village8 ,is she not married8 ,why is she not8 ,and where are her jewels8 ,above all1 everyone asks it at once1 ,what is her ,caste8 ,and they guess it1 and probably guess right4 ,you can have no idea1 unless you have worked among them1 how difficult it is to get a heathen woman to listen with full attention for ten consecutive minutes4 ,they are easily distracted1 and to-day there are so many things to distract them1 they don't listen very well4 ,they are tired1 too1 they say2 the wild1 rough night has done its work4 ,yesterday it was different2 we got good listeners4 ,being women1 and alone in such a crowd of idolaters1 we do not attempt an open-air meeting1 but just sit quietly where we can1 and talk to any we can persuade to sit down beside us4 ,hindus are safer far than ,mohammedans2 they are very seldom rude2 but to-day we know enough of what is going on to make us keep clear of all men1 if we can4 ,they would not say anything much to us1 but they might say a good deal to each other which is better left unsaid4 ,by the time we have gathered1 and held1 and then had to let go1 three or four of such little groups1 it is breakfast time1 and we want our breakfast badly4 ,so we press through the crowd1 diving under mat sheds and among unspeakable messes1 heaps of skins on either side1 and one hardly knows what under every foot of innocent-looking sand2 for the people bury the dbris lightly1 throwing a handful of sand on the worst1 and the sun does the rest of the sanitation4 ,it is rather horrible4 ,at last we reach the cart1 tilted sideways on the bank1 and get through our breakfast somehow1 and rest for a few blissful minutes1 in most uncomfortable positions1 before plunging again into that sea of sun and sand and animals1 human and otherwise2 and then we part1 arranging to meet when we cannot go on any more4 ,is ,pan dead8 4 4 4 ,noon1 and hotter1 far hotter1 than ever4 ,oh1 how the people throng and push1 and kill and eat1 and bury remains6 ,how can they enjoy it so8 ,what can be the pleasure in it8 ,we find our way back to that ribbon of shade4 ,it is a narrower ribbon now1 because the sun1 riding overhead1 throws the shadow of a single bough1 instead of the broader trunk4 ,but such as it is1 we are glad of it1 and again we gather little groups1 and talk to them1 and sing4 ,some beautiful girls pass us close1 the only girls to be seen anywhere4 ,only little children and wives come here2 no good unmarried girls4 ,one of the group is dressed in white1 but most are in vivid purples and crimsons4 ,the girl in white has a weary look1 the work of the night again4 ,but most of the sisterhood are indoors2 in the evening we shall see more of them1 scattered among the people1 doing their terrible master's work4 ,these pass us without speaking1 and mingle in the crowd4 ,after an hour in the band of shade1 we slowly climb the bank again1 and find ourselves among the potters1 hundreds and hundreds of them4 ,every family buys a pot1 and perhaps two or three of different sizes2 so the potters drive a brisk trade to-day1 and have no leisure to listen to us4 ,it is getting very much hotter now1 for the burning sand and the thousands of fires radiate heat-waves up through the air1 heated already stiflingly4 ,we think of our comrades down in the river bed1 reeking with odours of killing and cooking1 a combination of abominations unimagined by me before4 ,we look down upon a collection of cart tops4 ,the palm-woven mat covers are massed in brown patches all over the sand1 and the moving crowds are between4 ,we do not see the others4 ,have they found it as difficult as we find it1 we wonder1 to get any disengaged enough to want to listen8 ,at last we reach the long stone aisle leading to the temple4 ,on either side there are lines of booths1 open to the air but shaded from the sun1 and we persuade a friendly stall-keeper to let us creep into her shelter4 ,she is cooking cakes on the ground4 ,she lets us into an empty corner1 facing the passing crowds1 and one or two1 and then two or three1 and so on till we have quite a group1 stop as they pass1 and squat down in the shade and listen for a little4 ,then an old lady1 with a keen old face1 buys a ,gospel portion at half price1 and folds it carefully in a corner of her seeley4 ,two or three others buy ,gospels1 and all of them want tracts4 ,the shop-woman gets a bit restive at this rivalry of wares4 ,we spend our farthings1 proceeds of our sales1 on her cakes1 and she is mollified4 ,but some new attraction in the gallery leading to the temple disperses our little audience1 to collect it round itself4 ,the old woman explains that the ,gospel she has bought is for her grandson1 a scholar1 she tells us1 aged five1 and moves off to see the new show1 and we move off with her4 ,there1 in the first stall1 between the double row of pillars1 a man is standing on a form1 whirling a sort of crackling rattle high above his head4 ,in the next1 another is yelling to call attention to his clocks4 ,there they are1 ranged tier upon tier1 regular ,english busy-bee clocks1 ticking away1 as a small child remarks1 as if they were alive4 ,then come sweet-stalls1 clothes-stalls1 lamp-stalls1 fruit-stalls1 book-stalls1 stalls of pottery1 and brass vessels1 and jewellery1 and basket work1 and cutlery1 and bangles in wheelbarrow loads1 and medicines1 and mats1 and money boxes1 and anything and everything of every description obtainable here4 ,in each stall is a stall-keeper4 ,occasionally one1 like the clock-stall man1 exerts himself to sell his goods2 more often he lazes in true ,oriental fashion1 and sells or not as fortune decides for him1 equally satisfied with either decree4 ,how ,indian shopkeepers live at all is always a puzzle to me4 ,they hardly ever seem to do anything but moon4 ,on and on1 in disorderly but perfectly good-natured streams1 the people are passing up to the temple1 or coming down from worship there4 ,all who come down have their foreheads smeared with white ashes4 ,even here there are goats2 they are being pulled1 poor reluctant beasts1 right to the steps of the shrine1 there to be dedicated to the god within4 ,then they will be dragged1 still reluctant1 round the temple walls outside1 then decapitated4 ,i watch a baby tug a goat by a rope tied round its neck4 ,the goat has horns1 and ,i expect every moment to see the baby gored4 ,but it never seems to enter into the goat's head to do anything so aggressive4 ,it tugs1 however1 and the baby tugs1 till a grown-up comes to the baby's assistance1 and all three struggle up to the shrine4 ,we are standing now in an empty stall1 just a little out of the crush4 ,next door is an assortment of small ,tamil booklets in marvellous colours1 orange and green predominating4 ,there is an empty barrel rolled into the corner1 and we sit down on it1 and begin to read from our ,book4 ,this causes a diversion in the flow of the stream1 and we get another chance4 ,but it grows hotter and hotter1 and we get so thirsty1 and long for a drink of cocoanut water4 ,it is always safe to drink that4 ,no cocoanuts are available1 though1 and we have no money4 ,then a man selling native butter-milk comes working his way in and out of the press1 and we become conscious that of all things in the world the thing we yearn for most is a drink of butter-milk4 ,the man stops in front of our stall1 pours out a cupful of that precious liquid1 and seeing the thirst in our eyes1 ,i suppose1 beseeches us to drink4 ,we explain our penniless plight4 ,buy our books1 and we'll buy your butter-milk1 but he does not want our books4 ,then we wish we had not squandered our farthings on those impossible cakes4 ,the butter-milk man proposes he should trust us for the money2 he is sure to come across us again4 ,he is a kind-hearted man2 but debt is a sin2 it is not likely we shall see him again4 ,the butter-milk man considers4 ,he is poor1 but we are thirsty4 ,to give drink to the thirsty is an act of merit4 ,acts of merit come in useful1 both in this world and the next4 ,he pours out a cupful of butter-milk 7he had poured the first one back when we showed our empty hands74 ,we hesitate2 he is poor1 but we are so very thirsty4 ,the next stall-keeper reads our hearts1 throws a halfpenny to the butter-milk man4 ,there6 he says1 drink to the limit of your capacity6 and we drink4 ,it is a comical feeling1 to be beholden to a seller of small ,tamil literature of questionable description2 but we really are past drawing nice distinctions4 ,never was butter-milk so good2 we get through three brass tumbler-fuls between us1 and feel life worth living again4 ,we give the good bookseller plenty of books to cover his halfpenny1 and to gratify us he accepts them2 but as he does not really require them1 doubtless the merit he has acquired is counted as undiminished1 and we part most excellent friends4 ,and now the crowd streaming up to the temple gets denser every moment4 ,every conceivable phase of devotion is represented here1 every conceivable type of worshipper too4 ,some are reverent1 some are rampant1 some are earnest1 some are careless1 awestruck1 excited1 but more usually perfectly frivolous2 on and on they stream4 ,i leave my ,tamil ,sister safely with two others at the cart4 ,but the comrade whom ,i am to meet again at that same cart some time to-day has not turned up4 ,so ,i go off alone for another try1 drawn by the sight of that stream1 and ,i let myself drift along with it1 and am caught in it and carried up--up1 till ,i am within the temple wall1 one of a stream of men and women streaming up to the shrine4 ,we reach it at last4 ,it is dark2 ,i can just see an iron grating set in darkness1 with a light somewhere behind1 and there1 standing on the very steps of ,satan's seat1 there is a single minute's chance to witness for ,christ4 ,the people are all on their faces in the dust and the crush1 and for that single minute they listen1 amazed at hearing any such voice in here2 but it would not do to stay1 and1 before they have time to make up their minds what to make of it1 ,i am caught in another stream flowing round to the right1 and find myself in a quieter place1 a sort of eddy on the outer edge of the whirlpool1 where the worship is less intense1 and very many women are sitting gossiping4 ,there1 sitting on the ground beside one of the smaller shrines which cluster round the greater1 ,i have such a chance as ,i never expected to get2 for the women and children are so astonished to see a white face in here that they throw all restraint to the winds1 and crowd round me1 asking questions about how ,i got in4 ,for ,indian temples are sacred to ,indians2 no alien may pass within the walls to the centre of the shrine2 moreover1 we never go to the temples to see the parts that are open to view1 because we know the stumbling-block such sight-seeing is to the ,hindus4 ,all this the women know1 for everything a missionary does or does not do is observed by these observant people1 and commented on in private4 ,now1 as they gather round me1 ,i tell them why ,i have come 7how ,i got in ,i cannot explain1 unless it was1 as the women declared1 that1 being in a seeley1 one was not conspicuous71 and they take me into confidence1 and tell me the truth about themselves1 which is the last thing they usually tell1 and strikes me as strange2 and they listen splendidly1 and would listen as long as ,i would stay4 ,but it is not wise to stay too long1 and ,i get into the stream again1 which all this time has been pouring round the inner block of the temple1 and am carried round with it as it pours back and out4 ,and as ,i pass out1 still in that stream1 ,i notice that the temple area is crowded with all kinds of merchandise1 stalls of all sorts1 just as outside4 ,vendors of everything1 from mud pots up to jewels1 are roaming over the place crying their wares1 as if they had been in a market2 and right in the middle of them the worship goes on at the different shrines and before the different idols4 ,there it is1 market and temple1 as in the days of our ,lord2 neither seems to interfere with the other4 ,no one seems to see anything incongruous in the sight of a man prostrated before a stone set at the back of a heap of glass bangles4 ,and when someone drops suddenly1 and sometimes reverently1 in front of a stall of coils of oily cakes1 no one sees anything extraordinary in it2 they know there is a god somewhere on the other side of the cakes4 ,on and out1 through the aisle with its hundred pillars1 all stone--stone paving1 pillars1 roof2 on and out1 into the glare and the sight of the goats again4 ,but one hardly sees them now1 for between them and one's eyes seem to come the things one saw inside--those men and women1 hundreds of them1 worshipping that which is not ,god4 ,is ,pan dead8 4 4 4 ,pan is dead6 ,oh1 ,pan is dead6 ,for1 clearer than the sight of that idolatrous crowd1 ,i saw this--,i had seen it inside those temple walls3--a pile of old1 dead gods4 ,they were bundled away in a corner1 behind the central shrine--stone gods1 mere headless stumps2 wooden gods with limbs lopped off2 clay gods1 mere lumps of mud2 mutilated and neglected1 worn-out old gods4 ,oh1 the worship once offered to those broken1 battered things6 ,no one worships them now6 ,for full five minutes ,i had sat and looked at them-- ,gods bereavd1 gods belated1 ,with your purples rent asunder6 ,gods discrowned and desecrated1 ,disinherited of thunder6 ,there were withered wreaths lying at the feet of some of the idols near2 there were fresh wreaths round the necks of others4 ,there were no wreaths in this corner of dead gods4 ,i looked1 and looked1 and looked again4 ,oh1 there was prophecy in it6 ,and as ,i came out among the living people1 the sight of that graveyard of dead gods was ever with me1 and the triumph-song ,god's prophetess sang1 sang itself through and through me--,pan is dead6 ,quite dead6 ',twas the hour when ,one in ,sion ,hung for love's sake on a cross2 ,when ,his brow was chill with dying1 ,and ,his soul was faint with loss2 ,when ,his priestly blood dropped downward1 ,and ,his kingly eyes looked throneward-- ,then1 ,pan was dead4 ,by the love ,he stood alone in1 ,his sole ,godhead rose complete1 ,and the false gods fell down moaning1 ,each from off his golden seat2 ,all the false gods with a cry ,rendered up their deity-- ,pan1 ,pan was dead4 ,,chapter ,,xxiv ,married to the ,god ,one thing one notices very much as a 'freshman'--that is1 the unconscious influence which ,christianity has over a nation4 ,go to the most depraved wretch you can find in ,england1 and he has probably got a conscience1 if only one can get at it4 ,but here the result of heathenism seems to be to destroy men's consciences4 ,they never feel sin as such4 ,rev4 ,e4 ,s4 ,carr1 ,india4 ,i have heard people say they enjoyed hearing about missions4 ,i often wonder if they would enjoy watching a shipwreck4 ,mrs4 ,robert ,stewart1 ,china4 ,,leave this chapter if you want something interesting to read2 hold your finger in the flame of a candle if you want to know what it is like to write it4 ,if you do this1 then you will know something of the burning at heart every missionary goes through who has to see the sort of thing ,i have to write about4 ,such things do not make interesting reading4 ,fire is an uncompromising thing1 its characteristic is that it burns2 and one writes with a hot heart sometimes4 ,there are things like flames of fire4 ,but perhaps one cares too much2 it is only about a little girl4 ,i was coming home from work a few evenings ago when ,i met two men and a child4 ,they were ,caste men in flowing white scarves--dignified1 educated men4 ,but the child8 ,she glanced up at me1 smiled1 and salaamed4 ,then ,i remembered her2 ,i had seen her before in her own home4 ,these men belonged to her village4 ,what were they doing with her8 ,then a sudden fear shot through me1 and ,i looked at the men1 and they laughed4 ,we are taking her to the temple there1 and they pointed across through the trees1 to marry her to the god4 ,it all passed in a moment4 ,one of them caught her hand1 and they went on4 ,i stood looking after them--just looking4 ,the child turned once and waved her little hand to me4 ,then the trees came between4 ,the men's faces haunted me all night4 ,i slept1 and saw them in my dreams2 ,i woke1 and saw them in the dark4 ,and that little girl--oh1 poor little girl6--always ,i saw her1 one hand in theirs1 and the other waving to me6 ,and now it is over1 the diabolical farce is over1 and she is tied1 as their idiom has it1 tied to the stone4 ,oh1 she is tied indeed1 tied with ropes ,satan twisted in his cruellest hour in hell6 ,we had to drive through the village a night or two later1 and it was all ablaze4 ,there was a crowd1 and it broke to let our bullock carts pass1 then it closed round two palanquins4 ,there were many men there1 and girls4 ,in the palanquins were two idols1 god and goddess1 out on view4 ,it was their wedding night4 ,we saw it all as we passed3 the gorgeous decorations1 gaudy tinsels1 flowers fading in the heat and glare2 saw1 long after we had passed1 the gleaming of the coloured lights1 as they moved among the trees2 heard for a mile and more along the road the sound of that heathen revelry2 and every thud of the tom-tom was a thud upon one's heart4 ,our little girl was there1 as one married to that god4 ,i had seen her only once before4 ,she belonged to an interesting high-caste village1 one of those so lately closed2 and because there they have a story about the magic powder which1 say what we will1 they imagine ,i dust upon children's faces1 ,i had not gone often lest it should shut the doors4 ,but that last time ,i went1 this child came up to me1 and1 with all the confidingness of a child1 asked me to take her home with me4 ,do let me come6 she said4 ,there were eyes upon me in a moment and heads shaken knowingly1 and there were whispers at once among the women4 ,the magic dust had been at work6 ,i had drawn the little girl's heart to myself4 ,who could doubt it now8 ,and one mother gathered her child in her arms and disappeared into the house4 ,so ,i had to answer carefully1 so that everyone could hear4 ,of course ,i knew they would not give her to me1 and ,i thought no more of it4 ,i was talking to her grandmother then1 a very remarkable old lady4 ,she could repeat page after page from their beloved classics1 and rather than let me sing ,christian stanzas to her and explain them1 she preferred to sing ,hindu stanzas to me and explain them4 ,consider the age of our great ,religion1 consider its literature--millions of stanzas6 ,what can you have to compare with it8 ,these ignorant people about us do not appreciate things4 ,they know nothing of the classics2 as for the language1 the depths of ,tamil are beyond them--is it not a shoreless sea8 ,and so she held the conversation4 ,illustration3 ,this is vile enough to look at1 but nothing to the reality4 ,if the outer form is this1 what must the soul within it be8 ,yet this is a holy ,brahman2 and if we sat down on that stone verandah he would shuffle past the pillar lest we should defile him4 ,look at the shadowy shapes behind2 they might be spirits of darkness4 ,it is he1 and such as he1 who have power over little temple flowers4 ,it was just at this point the child reappeared1 and1 standing by the verandah upon which we were sitting1 her little head on a level with our feet1 she joined in the stanza her grandmother was chanting1 and1 to my astonishment1 continued through the next and the next1 while ,i listened wondering4 ,then jumping up and down1 first on one foot1 then on the other1 with her little face full of delight at my evident surprise1 she told me she was learning much poetry now2 and then1 with the merriest little laugh1 she ran off again to play4 ,and this was the child4 ,all that brightness1 all that intelligence1 married to a god4 ,now ,i understood the question she had asked me4 ,she was an orphan1 as we afterwards heard1 living in charge of an old aunt1 who had some connection with the temple4 ,she must have heard her future being discussed1 and not understanding it1 and being frightened1 had wondered if she might come to us4 ,but they had taken their own way of reconciling her to it2 a few sweets1 a cake or two1 and a promise of more1 a vision of the gay time the magic word marriage conjures up1 and the child was content to go with them1 to be led to the temple--and left there4 ,but her people were so thoroughly refined and nice1 so educated too1--could it be1 can it be1 possibly true8 ,yes1 it is true2 this is ,hinduism--not in theory of course1 but in practice4 ,think of it2 it is done to-day4 ,a moment ago ,i looked up from my writing and saw the little ,elf running towards me1 charmed to find me all alone1 and quite at leisure for her4 ,and now ,i watch her as she runs1 dancing gleefully down the path1 turning again--for she knows ,i am watching--to throw kisses to me4 ,and ,i think of her and her childish ways1 naughty ways so often1 too1 but in their very naughtiness only childish and small1 and ,i shiver as ,i think of her1 and a thousand thousand as small as she1 being trained to be devil's toys4 ,they brought one here a few days ago to act as decoy to get the ,elf back4 ,she was a beautiful child of five4 ,think of the shame of it6 ,we are told to modify things1 not to write too vividly1 never to harrow sensitive hearts4 ,friends1 we cannot modify truth1 we cannot write half vividly enough2 and as for harrowing hearts1 oh that we could do it6 ,that we could tear them up1 that they might pour out like water6 that we could see hands lifted up towards ,god for the life of these young children6 ,oh1 to care1 and oh for power to make others care1 not less but far1 far more6 care till our eyes do fail with tears for the destruction of the daughters of our people6 ,this photo is from death in life2 a carcass1 moving1 breathing1 sinning--such a one sits by that child to-day4 ,i saw him once4 ,there is a monastery near the temple4 ,he is the holiest man in it2 the people worship him4 ,the day ,i saw him they had wreathed him with fresh-cut flowers2 white flowers crowned that hideous head1 hung round his neck and down his breast2 a servant in front carried flowers4 ,was there ever such desecration8 ,that vileness crowned with flowers6 ,i knew something about the man4 ,his life is simply unthinkable4 ,talk of beasts in human shape6 ,it is slandering the good animals to compare bad men to beasts4 ,safer far a tiger's den than that man's monastery4 ,but he is a temple saint1 wise in the wisdom of his creed2 earthly1 sensual1 devilish4 ,look at him till you feel as if you had seen him4 ,let the photo do its work4 ,it is loathsome--yes1 but true4 ,now1 put a flower in his hand--a human flower this time4 ,now put beside him1 if you can1 a little girl--your own little girl--and leave her there--yes1 leave her there in his hand4 ,,chapter ,,xxv ,skirting the ,abyss ,the first thing for us all is to see and feel the great need1 and to create a sentiment among ,christian people on this subject4 ,one of the characteristics of this great system is its secrecy--its subtlety4 ,so few know of the evils of child-marriage1 it is so hidden away in the secluded lives and prison homes of the people4 ,and those of us who enter beyond these veils1 and go down into these homes1 are so apt to feel that it is a case of the inevitable1 and nothing can be done4 ,mrs4 ,lee1 ,india4 ,i ,,have been to the ,great ,lake ,village to-day trying again to find out something about our little girl4 ,i went to the ,hindu school near the temple4 ,the schoolmaster is a friend of ours1 one of the honourable men of the village from which they took that flower4 ,he was drilling the little ,brahman boys as they stood in a row chanting the poem they were learning off by heart2 but he made them stop when he saw us coming1 and called us in4 ,i asked him about the child4 ,it was true4 ,she was in the temple1 married to the stone4 ,yes1 it was true they had taken her there that day4 ,i asked if the family were poor2 but he said1 ,do not for a moment think that poverty was the cause4 ,certainly not4 ,our village is not poor6 ,and he looked quite offended at the thought4 ,i knew the village was rich enough1 but had thought perhaps that particular family might be poor1 and so tempted to sell the little one2 but he exclaimed with great warmth1 ,certainly not4 ,the child was a relative of his own2 there was no question of poverty6 ,we had left the school1 and were talking out in the street facing the temple house4 ,i looked at it1 he looked at it4 ,from hence a passage broad1 smooth1 easy1 inoffensive1 down to hell2 he knew it well4 ,yes1 she is a relative of my own1 he continued1 and explained minutely the degree of relationship4 ,her grandmother1 whom you doubtless remember1 is not like the ignorant women of these parts4 ,she has learning4 ,and again he repeated1 as if desirous of thoroughly convincing me as to the satisfactory nature of the transaction1 ,certainly she was not sold4 ,she is a relative of my own4 ,a relative of his own6 ,and he could teach his school outside those walls1 and know what was going on inside1 and never raise a finger to stop it1 educated ,hindu though he is4 ,i could not understand it4 ,he seemed quite concerned at my concern1 but explained that for generations one of that particular household had always been devoted to the gods4 ,the practice could not be defended2 it was the custom4 ,that was all4 ,our custom4 ,a stone's-throw from his door is another child who is living a strangely unnatural life1 which strikes no one as unnatural because it is our custom4 ,she is quite a little girl1 and as playful as a kitten4 ,her soft round arms and little dimpled hands looked fit for no harder work than play1 but she was pounding rice when ,i saw her1 and looked tired1 and as if she wanted her mother4 ,while ,i was with her a very old man hobbled in4 ,he was crippled1 and leaned full weight with both hands on his stick4 ,he seemed asthmatic too1 and coughed and panted woefully4 ,a withered1 decrepit old ghoul4 ,the child stood up when he came in and touched her neck where the marriage symbol lay4 ,then ,i knew he was her husband4 ,what1 ,no blush at the avowal--you dared to buy ,a girl of age beseems your grand-daughter1 like ox or ass8 ,are flesh and blood ware8 are heart and soul a chattel8 ,yes6 like chattels they are sold to the highest bidder4 ,in that auction ,caste comes first1 then wealth and position4 ,and the chattel is bought1 the bit of breathing flesh and blood is converted into property2 and the living1 throbbing heart of the child may be trampled and stamped down under foot in the mire and the mud of that market-place1 for all anyone cares4 ,it is not long since a young wife came for refuge to our house4 ,three times she had tried to kill herself2 at last she fled to us4 ,her husband came4 ,get up1 slave1 he said1 as she crouched on the floor4 ,she would not stir or speak4 ,then he got her own people to come1 and then it was as if a pent-up torrent was bursting out of an over full heart4 ,you gave me to him4 ,you gave me to him4 ,the words came over and over again2 she reminded them in a passion of reproach how1 knowing what his character was1 they had handed her over to him4 ,but we could hardly follow her1 the words poured forth with such fierce emotion1 as with streaming eyes1 and hands that showed everything in gestures1 she besought them not to force her back4 ,they promised1 and believing them1 she returned with them4 ,the other day when ,i passed the house someone said1 ,beautiful is there4 ,he keeps her locked up in the back room now4 ,so they had broken their word to her1 and given her back1 body and soul1 to the power of a man whose cruelty is so well known that even the heathen call him a demon4 ,what must he be to his wife8 ,and if that poor wife1 nerved by the misery of her life1 dared all1 and appealed to the ,government1 the law would do as her people did--force her back again to him1 to fulfil a contract she never made4 ,is it not a shame8 ,oh1 when will the day come when this merchandise in children's souls shall cease8 ,we know that many husbands are kind1 and many wives perfectly content1 but sometimes we see those who are not1 and there is no redress4 ,another of our children sold by auction in the ,village of the ,lake is one who used to be such a pretty little thing1 with a tangle of curls1 and mischievous1 merry brown eyes4 ,but that was five years ago4 ,then a fiend in a man's shape saw her1 and offered inducements to her parents which ended in his marrying her4 ,she was nine years old4 ,one year afterwards she was sent to her husband's home4 ,his motives in marrying her were wholly evil1 but the child knew something of right and wrong1 and she resisted him4 ,then he dragged her into an inner room1 and he held her down1 and smothered her shrieks1 and pressed a plantain into her mouth4 ,it was poisoned4 ,she knew it1 and did not swallow it all4 ,but what she was forced to take made her ill1 and she lay for days so dizzy and sick that when her husband kicked her as she lay she did not care4 ,at last she escaped1 and ran to her mother's house4 ,but the law was on her owner's side2 what could she prove of all this1 poor child8 ,and she had to go back to him4 ,after that he succeeded in his devil's work1 and to-day that child is dead to all sense of sin4 ,oh1 there are worse things far than seeing a little child die6 ,it is worse to see it change4 ,to see the innocence pass from the eyes1 and the childishness grow into wickedness1 and to know1 without being able to stop it1 just what is going on4 ,i am thinking of one such now4 ,she was four years old when ,i first began to visit in her grandmother's house4 ,she is six now--only six--but her demoralisation is almost complete4 ,it is as if you saw a hand pull a rosebud on its stem1 crumple and crush it1 rub the pink loveliness into pulp1 drop it then--and you pick it up4 ,but it is not a rosebud now4 ,oh1 these things1 the knowledge of them1 is as a fire shut up in one's bones6 shut up1 for one cannot let it all out--it must stay in and burn4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,those who know nothing of the facts will be sure to criticise4 ,it is not an unknown thing for persons to act as critics1 even though supremely ignorant of the subject criticised4 ,but those who know the truth of these things well know that we have understated it1 carefully toned it down perforce1 because it cannot be written in full4 ,it could neither be published nor read4 ,it cannot be written or published or read1 but oh1 it has to be lived6 ,and what you may not even hear1 must be endured by little girls4 ,there are child-wives in ,india to-day1 of twelve1 ten1 nine1 and even eight years old4 ,oh1 you mean betrothed6 ,another instance of missionary exaggeration6 ,we mean married4 ,but of course the law interferes6 ,perhaps you have heard of the law which makes wifehood illegal under twelve4 ,with reference to this law the ,hon4 ,manomoham ,ghose of the ,high ,court of ,calcutta writes3--,if the ,government thinks that the country is not yet prepared for such legislation 7by which he means drastic legislation7 as ,i suggest1 ,i can only express my regret that by introducing the present ,bill it has indefinitely postponed the introduction of a substantial measure of reform1 which is urgently called for4 ,there are men and women in ,india to whom many a day is a nightmare1 and this fair land an ,inferno1 because of what they know of the wrong that is going on4 ,for that is the dreadful part of it4 ,it is not like the burning alive of the widows1 it is not a horror passed4 ,it is going on steadily day and night4 ,sunlight1 moonlight1 and darkness pass1 the one changing into the other2 but all the time they are passing1 this ,wrong holds the hours with firm and strong hands1 and uses them for its purpose--the murder of little girls4 ,meanwhile1 what can be done by you and by me to hasten the day of its ending8 ,those who know can tell what they know1 or so much as will bear the telling2 and those who do not know can believe it is true1 and if they have influence anywhere1 use it2 and all can care and pray6 ,praying alone is not enough1 but oh for more real praying6 ,we are playing at praying1 and caring1 and coming2 playing at doing--if doing costs--playing at everything but play4 ,we are earnest enough about that4 ,god open our eyes and convict us of our insincerity6 burn out the superficial in us1 make us intensely in earnest6 ,and may ,god quicken our sympathy1 and touch our heart1 and nerve our arm for what will prove a desperate fight against leagud fiends in bad men's shapes1 who do the devil's work to-day1 branding on little innocent souls the very brand of hell4 ,i have told of one--that little child who is now as evil-minded as a little child can be2 she is only one of so many4 ,let a medical missionary speak4 ,a few days ago we had a little child-wife here as a patient4 ,she was ten or eleven1 ,i think1 just a scrap of a creature1 playing with a doll1 and yet degraded unmentionably in mind4 4 4 4 ,but oh1 to think of the hundreds of little girls6 4 4 4 ,it makes me feel literally sick4 ,we do what we can4 4 4 4 ,but what can we do8 ,what a drop in the ocean it is6 ,where the dotted lines come1 there was written what cannot be printed4 ,but it had to be lived through1 every bit of it1 by a scrap of a creature of ten or eleven4 ,another--these are from a friend who1 even in writing a private letter1 cannot say one-tenth of the thing she really means4 ,a few days ago the little mother 7a child of thirteen7 was crying bitterly in the ward4 ',why are you crying8' ',because he says ,i am too old for him now2 he will get another wife1 he says4' ',he' was her husband1 'quite a lad1' who had come to the hospital to see her4 ,the end of that story which cannot be told is being lived through this very day by that little wife of thirteen4 ,and remember that thirteen in ,india means barely eleven at home4 ,she was fourteen years old1 they said1 but such a tiny thing1 she looked about nine years old in size and development4 4 4 4 ,the little mother was so hurt1 she can never be well again all her life4 ,the husband then married again 4 4 4 as the child was ruined in health4 4 4 4 ,and1 as before1 the dots must cover all the long-drawn-out misery of that little child who looked about nine4 ,there is an old1 old man living near here1 with a little wife of ten or eleven4 4 4 4 ,our present cook's little girl1 nine years old1 has lately been married to a man who already has had two wives4 ,in each of these cases1 as in each ,i have mentioned1 marriage means marriage1 not just betrothal1 as so many fondly imagine4 ,only to-day ,i heard of one who died in what the nurse who attended her described as simple agony4 ,she had been married a week before4 ,she was barely twelve years old4 ,we do not say this is universal4 ,there are many exceptions2 but we do say the workings of this custom should be exposed and not suppressed4 ,question our facts2 we can prove them4 ,to-day as ,i write it1 to-day as you read it1 hundreds and thousands of little wives are going through what we have described4 ,but described is not the word to use--indicated1 ,i should say1 with the faintest wash of sepia where the thing meant is pitch black4 ,think of it1 then--do not try to escape from the thought--,english women know too little1 care too little--too little by far4 ,think of it4 ,stop and think of it4 ,if it is trying to think of it1 and you would prefer to turn the page over1 and get to something nicer to read1 what must it be to live through it8 ,what must it be to those little girls1 so little1 so pitifully little1 and unequal to it all8 ,what must it be to these childish things to live on through it day by day1 with1 in some cases1 nothing to hope for till kindly death comes and opens the door1 the one dread door of escape they know1 and the tortured little body dies8 ,and someone says1 ,the girl is dead1 take the corpse out to the burning-ground4 ,then they take it up1 gently perhaps4 ,but oh1 the relief of remembering it6 ,it does not matter now4 ,nothing matters any more4 ,little dead wives cannot feel4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,i wonder whether it touches you8 ,i know ,i cannot tell it well4 ,but oh1 one lives through it all with them6--,i have stopped writing again and again1 and felt ,i could not go on4 ,mother1 happy mother6 ,when you tuck up your little girl in her cot1 and feel her arms cling round your neck and her kisses on your cheek1 will you think of these other little girls8 ,will you try to conceive what you would feel if your little girl were here8 ,oh1 you clasp her tight1 so tight in your arms6 ,the thought is a scorpion's sting in your soul4 ,you would kill her1 smother her dead in your arms1 before you would give her to--that4 ,turn the light down1 and come away4 ,thank ,god she is safe in her little cot1 she will wake up to-morrow safe4 ,now think for a moment steadily of those who are somebody's little girls1 just as dear to them and sweet1 needing as much the tenderest care as this your own little girl4 ,think of them4 ,try to think of them as if they were your very own4 ,they are just like your own1 in so many ways--only their future is different4 ,oh1 dear mothers1 do you care8 ,do you care very much1 ,i ask8 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,we passed the temple on our way home from the ,village of the ,lake4 ,the great gate was open1 and the ,brahmans and their friends were lounging in and out1 or sitting in the porch talking and laughing together4 ,they were talking about us as we passed4 ,they were quite aware of our object in coming1 and were pleased that we had failed4 ,government officials1 ,english-speaking graduates1 educated ,hindus like our old friend the schoolmaster1 all would admit in private that to take a child to the temple and marry her there was wrong4 ,but very few have much desire to right the shameful wrong4 ,there are thousands of recognised ,slaves of the gods in this ,presidency4 ,under other names they exist all over ,india4 ,there are thousands of little child-wives2 fewer here than elsewhere1 we know1 but many everywhere4 ,i do not for a moment suggest that all child-wives are cruelly handled1 any more than ,i would have it thought that all little girls are available for the service of the gods4 ,nor would ,i have it supposed that we see down this hell-crack every day4 ,we may live for years in the country and know very little about it4 ,the medical workers--,god help them6--are those who are most frequently forced to look down1 and ,i1 not being a medical1 know infinitely less of its depths than they4 ,but this ,i do know1 and do mean1 and ,i mean it with an intensity ,i know not how to express1 that this custom of infant marriage and child marriage1 whether to gods or men1 is an infamous custom2 that it holds possibilities of wrong1 such unutterable wrong1 that descriptive words concerning it can only skirt the abyss1 and that in the name of all that is just and all that is merciful it should be swept out of the land without a day's delay4 ,we look to our ,indian brothers4 ,india is so immense that a voice crying in the ,north is hardly heard in the ,south4 ,thank ,god for the one or two voices crying in the wilderness4 ,but many voices are needed1 not only one or two4 ,let the many voices cry6 ,every man with a heart and a voice to cry1 should cry4 ,then all the cries crying over the land will force the deaf ears to hear1 and force the dull brains to think and the hands of the law to act1 and something at last will be done4 ,but crying is not nearly enough4 ,we look to you1 brothers of ,india1 to do4 ,get convictions upon this subject which will compel you to do4 ,many can talk and many can write1 and more will do both1 as the years pass1 but the crux is contained in the doing4 ,god alone can strengthen you for it4 ,he who set ,his face as a flint1 can make you steadfast and brave enough to set your faces as flints1 till the bands of wickedness are loosed1 and the heavy burdens are undone1 and every yoke is broken1 and the oppressed go free4 ,it will cost4 ,it is bound to cost4 ,every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and garments rolled in blood4 ,it is only sham battles that cost something less than blood4 ,everything worth anything costs blood4 ,reproach hath broken ,my heart4 ,a broken heart bleeds4 ,is it the reproach of the battle you fear8 ,this fear will conquer you until you hear the voice of your ,god saying1 ,fear ye not the reproach of men1 neither be afraid of their revilings4 4 4 4 ,who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die1 and the son of man that shall be made as grass1 and forgettest the ,lord thy ,maker8 ,this book is meant for our comrades at home1 but it may come back to ,india1 and so we have spoken straight from our hearts to our ,indian brothers here4 ,oh1 brothers1 rise1 and in ,god's ,name fight2 in ,his power fight till you win1 for these1 your own land's little girls1 who never can fight for themselves6 ,and now we look to you at home4 ,will all who pity the little wives pray for the men of ,india8 ,pray for those who are honestly striving to rid the land of this shameful curse4 ,pray that they may be nerved for the fight by the power of ,god's right arm4 ,pray for all the irresolute4 ,a sound of battle is in the land1 4 4 4 the ,lord hath opened ,his armoury4 ,cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood4 ,pray for resolution and the courage of conviction4 ,it is needed4 ,and to this end pray that the ,spirit of ,life may come upon our ,mission ,colleges1 and mightily energise the ,missionary ,educational ,movement1 that ,hindu students may be won to out-and-out allegiance to ,christ while they are students1 before they become entangled in the social mesh of ,hinduism4 ,and pray1 we earnestly plead with you1 that the ,christian students may meet ,god at college1 and come out strong to fight this fiend which trades in slaves and souls of men--and in the souls of little girls4 ,,chapter ,,xxvi ,from a ,hindu ,point of ,view ,the ,lord preserve us from innovations foreign to the true principles of the ,protestant ,church1 and foreign to the principles of the ,c4,m4,s4 ,pictures1 crosses1 and banners1 with processions1 would do great harm4 ,the ,mohammedan natives would say1 ',wah6 you worship idols as the ,hindus do1 and have taziyas 7processions7 as well as the ,mohammedans6' ,and our ,christians would mourn over such things4 ,rev4 ,c4 ,b4 ,leupolt1 ,india4 ,i ,,am sitting in the north-west corner of the verandah of a little mission bungalow1 on the outskirts of a town sixteen miles south of our ,eastern headquarters4 ,this is the town where they set fire to the schoolroom when ,victory came4 ,so far does ,caste feeling fly4 ,as you sit in the corner of this verandah you see a little temple fitted between two whitewashed pillars1 roughly built and rudely decorated1 but in this early morning light it looks like a picture set in a frame4 ,it is just outside the compound1 so near that you see it in all its detail of colour2 the sun striking across it touches the colours and makes them beautiful4 ,there is the usual striped wall1 red and white2 the red is a fine terra-cotta1 the colour of the sand4 ,the central block1 the shrine itself1 has inlays of green1 red1 and blue2 there is more terra-cotta in the roof1 some yellow too1 and white4 ,beyond on either side there are houses1 and beyond the houses1 trees and sky4 ,it is all very pretty and peaceful4 ,smoke is curling up in the still air from some early lighted fire out of doors2 there are voices of people going and coming1 softened by distance4 ,there is the musical jingle of bullock bells here in the compound and out on the road1 and there is the twitter of birds4 ,in front of that temple there are three altars1 and in front of the altars a pillar4 ,i can see it from where ,i am sitting now1 rough grey stone4 ,upon it1 there is what ,i thought at first was a sun-dial1 and ,i wondered what it was doing there4 ,then ,i saw it had not a dial plate2 only a strong cross-bar of wood1 and the index finger1 so to speak1 was longer than one would expect1 a sharp wooden spike4 ,as ,i was wondering what it was a passer-by explained it4 ,it is not a sun-dial1 it is an impaling instrument4 ,on that spike they used to impale alive goats and kids and fowls as offerings to the god ,siva and his two wives1 the deities to whose honour the three altars stand before the little shrine4 ,the pillar on which stands this infernal spike has three circles scored into it1 sign of the three divinities4 ,the impaling has stopped1 say the people1 greatly amused at one's horror and distress1 for at first ,i thought perhaps they still did it4 ,now we do not impale alive2 the ,government has stopped it4 ,thank ,god for that6 ,but oh1 let all lovers of ,god's creatures pray for and hasten the coming of our ,lord ,jesus ,christ6 ,government may step in and stop the public clubbing to death of buffaloes1 and the impaling of goats and fowls in sacrifice1 but it cannot stop the private cruelty1 and the still wider-spread indifference on the part of those who are not themselves cruel2 only the coming of ,christ the ,compassionate can do that4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,there was the sound of voices just then1 as ,i wrote1 many voices1 coming nearer1 shrill women's voices1 cutting through one's thoughts1 and ,i went out to see what was going on4 ,on the other side of the road1 opposite our gate1 there is a huge old double tree1 the sacred fig tree of ,india1 intertwined with another--a religious symbol to this symbol-loving people4 ,underneath is a stone platform1 and on it the hideous elephant-god4 ,on the same side is a little house4 ,a group of women were gathered under the shade near the house1 evidently waiting for something or someone4 ,they were delighted to talk4 ,we spent half an hour under the tree1 and they listened2 but we were interrupted by some well-dressed ,government officials with their coats1 sashes1 and badges1 and one not strictly ,governmental got up in a marvellous fashion1 and they joined the group and monopolised the conversation4 ,i waited1 hoping they would soon go away1 and ,i listened to what they were saying4 ,yes6 she actually appeared6 ,she was a goddess4 7,a goddess6 ,oh6 from the women47 ,she came forward1 moving without walking1 and she stood as a tree stands1 and she stretched out her arms and blessed the people1 and vanished4 ,a woman pointed to me4 ,like her8 ,was she like her8 ,like her6 and the ,government official was a little contemptuous4 ,did ,i not say she was a goddess8 ,is this ,missie ,ammal a goddess8 ,is she not a mere woman like yourselves1 only white8 ,she also came from the bungalow1 objected the woman rather feebly1 feeling public opinion against her4 ,you oyster6 said the official politely1 because a ,missie ,ammal comes from the bungalow1 does it prove that the goddess was a ,missie ,ammal8 ,the other women agreed with him1 and snubbed the ignoramus1 who retired from the controversy4 ,the story was repeated with variations1 such a mixture of the probable with the improbable1 not to say impossible1 that one got tangled up in it before he had got half through4 ,just then an ancient ,christian appeared on the scene and quavered in1 in the middle of the marvel1 with words to the effect that our ,god was the true ,god1 and they ought to have faith in ,him4 ,it was not exactly propos of anything they were discussing1 but he seemed to think it the right thing to say1 and they accepted it as a customary remark1 and went on with their conversation4 ,i asked the old worthy if he knew anything about the story1 and at first he denied it indignantly as savouring too much of idolatry to be connected with the bungalow1 but finally admitted that once in the dim past he had heard that an ,ammal in the bungalow1 who was ill and disturbed by the tom-toms at night1 got up and went out and tried to speak to the people4 ,and the men1 listening now to the old man1 threw in a word which illumined the whole1 ,it was a great festival4 ,i remembered that impaling stake1 and understood it all4 ,and in a flash ,i saw it--the poor live beast--and heard its cries4 ,they would wring her heart as she heard them in the pauses of the tom-tom4 ,she was ill1 but she got up and struggled out1 and tried to stop it1 ,i am sure--tried1 and failed4 ,seven thousand miles away these things may seem trivial4 ,here1 with that grey stone pillar full in view1 they are real4 ,i came back to the present4 ,the women were still there1 and more people were gathering4 ,something was going to happen4 ,then a sudden burst of tom-toms1 and a banging and clanging of all manner of noise-producers1 and then a bullock coach drove up1 a great gilded thing4 ,it stopped in front of the little house2 someone got out2 the people shouted1 ,guru6 ,great ,guru6 ,lord ,guru6 with wild enthusiasm4 ,the ,guru was not poor4 ,he had two carts laden with luggage--one item1 a green parrot in a cage4 ,close to the cage a small boy was thundering away on a tom-tom1 but it did not disturb the parrot4 ,the people seemed to think this display of wealth demanded an apology4 ,it is not his1 it belongs to his followers2 he1 being what he is1 requires none of these things1 they said4 ,i had to go then1 and we started soon afterwards on our day's round1 and ,i do not know what happened next2 but ,i had never had the chance of a talk with a celebrity of this description1 and in the evening1 on my homeward way1 ,i stopped before the little house and asked if ,i might see him1 the famous ,guru of one of the greatest of ,south ,indian ,castes4 ,the ,government officials of the morning were there1 but the officialism was gone4 ,no coats and sashes and badges now1 only the simple national dress1 a scarf of white muslin4 ,the one who in the morning had been an illustration of the possible effect of the mixture of ,east and ,west1 stood in a dignity he had not then1 a fine manly form4 ,the door was open1 and they were sentry1 for their ,guru was resting1 they said4 ,then he is very human1 just like yourselves8 ,but the strong1 sensible faces looked almost frightened at the words4 ,hush1 they answered all in a breath1 no such thoughts may be even thought here4 ,he is not just like us4 ,and as if to divert us from the expression of such sentiments1 they moved a little from the door1 and said1 ,you may look1 if you do not speak1 and knowing such looks are not often allowed1 ,i looked with interest1 and saw all there was to see4 ,the ,guru was in the far corner resting2 a rich purple silk1 with gold interwoven in borders and bands1 was flung over his ascetic's dress4 ,at the far end1 too1 was a sort of altar1 covered with red cloth1 and on it were numerous brass candlesticks and vessels1 and on a little shelf above1 a row of little divinities1 some brass ornaments1 and flowers4 ,to the left of this altar there was a high-backed chair covered by a deer skin2 there were pictures of gods and goddesses round the room1 especially near the altar1 and there were the usual censers1 rosaries1 and musical instruments1 and there was the parrot4 ,the ,government official pointed in1 and said1 with an air of pride in the whole1 and a certainty of sympathy too1 ,there1 you see how closely it resembles your churches2 there is not so much difference between you and us after all6 ,not so much difference6 ,there is a very great difference1 ,i told him2 and ,i asked him where he had seen a ,christian church like this4 ,he mentioned two4 ,one was a ,roman ,catholic chapel1 the other an ,english church4 ,what could ,i say8 ,they bear our name2 how could he understand the divisions that rend us asunder8--,romanists1 ,ritualists1 and ,protestants--are we not all called ,christians8 ,i looked again1 and ,i could not help being struck with the resemblance4 ,the altar with its brasses and flowers and candlesticks1 and the little shelf above2 the pictures on the walls2 the chair1 so like a ,bishop's chair of state2 the whole air of the place heavy with incense1 was redolent of ,rome4 ,he went on to explain1 while ,i stood there ashamed4 ,look1 have you not got that8 and he pointed to the altar-like erection1 with the red cloth and the flowers4 ,we have nothing of the sort in our church4 ,come and see2 we have only a table1 ,i said2 but he laughed and declared he had seen it in other churches1 and it was just like ours1 only yours has a cross above it1 and ours has images2 but you bow to your cross1 so it must represent a divinity1 and1 without waiting for any reply1 he pointed next to the pictures4 ,they are very like yours1 ,i think1 he said1 only yours show your ,god on a cross1 stretched out and dying--so--,and he stretched out his arms1 and dropped his head1 and said something which cannot be translated2 and ,i could not look or listen1 but broke in earnestly3 ,indeed1 we have no such pictures--at least we here have not2 but even if some show such a picture1 do they ever call it a picture of ,god8 ,they only say it is a picture of--,but he interrupted impatiently3 ,do not ,i know what they say8 ,and then1 with a touch of scorn at what he thought was an empty excuse on my part1 he added1 ,we also say the same 7which is true2 no intelligent ,hindu admits that he worships idols or pictures2 he worships what these things represent74 ,your people show your symbols1 he continued1 in the tone of one who is sure of his ground1 exactly as we show ours4 ,i have seen your ,god on a great sheet at night2 it was shown by means of a magic lamp2 and sometimes you make it of wood or brass1 as we make ours of stone4 ,the name may change and the manner of making1 but the thing's essence is the same4 ,the ,mohammedans do not show their ,god's symbol2 but we do1 and so do the ,christians4 ,therefore between us and the ,christians there is more in common than between the ,mohammedans and us4 ,this was another ,hindu's contribution to the argument4 ,the chair now served as a text4 ,when your ,bishop comes round your churches1 does he not sit in a chair like that1 himself apart from the people8 ,and in like manner our ,guru sits4 ,there is much similarity4 ,also do not your ,christians stand--and he imitated the peculiarly deferential attitude adopted on such occasions by some--just in the fashion that we stand8 ,and do not your people feel themselves blessed by the presence of the ,great8 ,oh1 there is much similarity6 ,i explained that all this1 though foolish1 was not intended for more than respect1 and our ,bishops did not desire it2 at which he smiled4 ,then he went on to expatiate upon what he had seen in some of our churches 7probably while on duty as ,government servant73 the display1 as it seemed to him1 so like this2 the pomp1 as he thought it1 so fine1 like this2 the bowing and prostrating1 and even on the part of those who did not do these things1 the evident participation in the whole grand show4 ,and the other men1 who apparently had looked in through the open windows and doors1 agreed with him4 ,he is not the first who has been stumbled in the same way2 and ,i remembered1 as he talked1 what a ,mohammedan woman said to a friend of mine about one of our ,english churches1 seen through her husband's eyes4 ,you have idols in your church1 she said1 to which you bow in worship4 ,she referred to the things on or above the ,communion table4 ,my friend explained the things were not idols4 ,then why do your people bow to them8 ,was there nothing in the question8 ,often we wonder whether the rapid but insidious increase of ritual in ,india is understood at home4 ,in ,england it is bad enough1 but in a heathen and ,mohammedan land it is1 if possible1 worse2 and the worst is1 the spirit of it1 or the spirit of tolerance toward it1 which is on the increase even in missionary circles4 ,some of our ,tamil people attend the ,english service in these advanced churches after their own service is over1 and thus become familiarised with and gradually acclimatised to an ecclesiastical atmosphere foreign to them as members of a ,protestant ,society4 ,i remember spending a ,sunday afternoon with a worthy pastor and his wife1 stationed in the place where the church is in which the idols are worshipped according to the ,mohammedans4 ,when the bell rang for evening service he began to shuffle rather as if he wanted me to go4 ,but he was too polite to say so1 and the reason never struck me till his son came in with an ,english ,bible and ,prayer-,book4 ,the old man put up his hand to his mouth in the apologetic manner of the ,tamils4 ,we do not notice the foolish parts of the service4 ,we like to hear the ,english4 ,for the sake of the ,english we go4 ,he did not turn to the ,east1 but he did not keep quite straight2 he just half turned4 ,this from a pastor's wife1 about one whom she had been observing during an ordination ceremony in the ,english cathedral4 ,he just half turned4 ,it describes the nebulous attitude of mind of many a one to-day4 ,india has not our historical background4 ,it has no ,foxe's ,book of ,martyrs yet4 ,perhaps that is why its people are so indifferent upon points which seem of importance to us4 ,they have not had to fight for their freedom1 in the sense at least our forefathers fought2 there is no ,puritan blood in their veins2 and so they are willing to follow the lead of almost anyone1 provided that lead is given steadily and persistently2 which surely should make those in authority careful as to those in whose hands that lead is placed4 ,but the natural instinct of the converted idolater is dead against complexity in worship1 and for simplicity4 ,he does not want something as like his own old religion as possible1 but as different as possible from it2 and so we have good building material ready to hand1 and a foundation ready laid4 ,but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon4 ,i hope this does not sound unkind4 ,we give those who hold different views full credit for sincerity1 and a right to their own opinions2 but convictions are convictions1 and1 without judging others who differ1 these are ours1 and we want those at home who are with us in these things to unite to help to stem the tide that has already risen in ,india far higher than perhaps they know4 ,brave men are needed1 men with a fuller development of spiritual vertebr than is common in these easy-going days1 and we need such men in our ,native ,church4 ,god create them2 they are not the product of theological colleges4 ,and may ,god save ,his ,missions in ,india from wasting ,his time1 and money1 and men1 on the cultivation of what may evolve into something of no more use to creation than a new genus of jelly-fish4 ,the ,government official and his friends were still talking among themselves3 ,do we not know what the ,christians do8 ,have we not ears8 ,have we not eyes8 ,they do it in their way1 we do it in ours4 ,the thing itself is really the same4 ,yes1 their religion is just like ours4 ,they could not see the vital difference between even the most vitiated forms of ,christianity and their own ,hinduism2 there were so many resemblances1 and these filled their mental vision at the moment4 ,one could hardly wonder they could not4 ,they turned to me again1 and with all the vigour of language at my command ,i told them that neither we nor those with us ever went to any church where we had reason to think there would be an exhibition of ecclesiastical paraphernalia4 ,we did not believe it was in accordance with the simplicity of the ,gospel2 and ,i told them how simple the ,truth really was1 but they would not believe me4 ,those sights they had seen had struck them much as they struck the convert who described the ,confirmation service thus3 ,we went up and knelt down before a stick 7the ,bishop's pastoral staff74 ,they had observed the immense attention paid to all these sacred trifles1 and naturally they appeared to them as essential to the whole2 part of it1 nearly all of it1 in fact2 and even where the service was in the vernacular1 their attention had been entirely diverted from the thing heard by the things seen4 ,then ,i thought of the description of a primitive ,christianity service as given in #a ,corinthians4 ,there the idea evidently was that if an outsider came in1 or looked in1 as ,hindus and ,mohammedans so often look in here1 he should understand what was going on2 and being convicted of his sin and need1 should be convinced2 and so1 falling down on his face1 he will worship ,god1 and report that ,god is in you of a truth4 ,compare the effect produced upon the minds of these ,hindu men by what they saw of our services1 with the effect intended to be produced by the ,holy ,ghost4 ,can we say we have improved upon ,his pattern8 ,oh for a return to the simplicity and power of the ,gospel of ,christ6 ,then we should not roll stumbling-blocks like these in our ,indian brother's way4 ,oh for a return to the days of the beginning of the ,acts of the ,apostles1 to obscurity1 and poverty1 and suffering1 and shame1 and the utter absence of all earthly glory1 and the winning of souls of a different make to the type thought sufficiently spiritual now6 ,oh for more of the signs of ,apostleship--scars1 and the cross--the real cross--the reproach of ,christ the ,crucified1--no mitre here1 but there the crown6 ,,chapter ,,xxvii ,though ye know ,him not ,i have known cases of young ministers dissuaded from facing the missionary call by those who posed as friends of ,foreign ,missions1 and yet presumed to argue3 ',your spiritual power and intellectual attainments are needed by the ,church at home2 they would be wasted in the ,foreign ,field4' ',spiritual power wasted' in a land like ,india6 ,where is it so sorely needed as in a continent where ,satan has constructed his strongest fortresses and displayed the choicest masterpieces of his skill8 ',intellectual ability wasted' among a people whose scholars smile inwardly at the ignorance of the average ,western6 ,brothers1 if ,god is calling you1 be not deterred by flimsy subterfuges such as these4 ,you will need the power of ,god the ,holy ,ghost to make you an efficient missionary4 ,you will find your reputation for scholarship put to the severest test in ,india4 ,here is ample scope alike for men of approved spiritual power and for intellectual giants4 ,and so ,i repeat1 if ,god is calling you1 buckle on your sword1 come to the fight1 and win your spurs among the cultured sons of ,india4 ,rev4 ,t4 ,walker1 ,india4 ,,the sensation you experience is curious when you rise from the study of ,sir ,monier ,william's ,brahmanism and ,hinduism and go out to your work1 and meet in that work someone who seems to be quoting that same book1 not in paragraphs only1 but in pages4 ,he is talking ,tamil1 and the book is written in ,english2 that is all the difference4 ,he was standing by the wayside when ,i saw him3 we got into conversation4 ,at first he reminded me of a sea anemone1 with all its tentacles drawn inside1 but gradually one by one they came out1 and ,i saw what he really was2 and ,i think the great ,christian scholar1 who laboured so hard to understand and translate into words the intricacies and mysteries of ,indian thought1 would have felt a little repaid had he known how his work would help in the practical business of a missionary's life4 ,part of our business is to meet the mind with which we are dealing half-way with quick comprehension4 ,it is in this ,sir ,monier ,williams helps4 ,when once this man felt himself understood1 his whole attitude changed4 ,at first1 expecting1 ,i suppose1 that he was being mistaken for an ignorant heathen and worshipper of stocks and stones1 he hardly took the trouble to do more than answer1 as he thought1 a fool according to his folly4 ,the tentacles were all in then4 ,but that passed soon1 and he pointed to the shed behind him1 where two or three life-size idol horses stood and said how childish he knew it was1 foolish and vain4 ,but then1 what else could be done8 ,idols are not objects of worship1 and never were intended so to be2 their only use is to help the uninitiated to worship ,something4 ,if nothing were shown them1 they would worship nothing2 and a non-worshipping human being is an animal1 not a man4 ,he went on to answer the objections to this means of quickening intelligent worship by explaining how1 in higher and purer ways1 the thinkers of ,hinduism had tried to make the unthinking think4 ,look at our temples1 he said4 ,there is a central shrine1 with only one light in it4 ,the darkness of the shrine symbolises the darkness of the world1 of life and death and being4 ,for life is a darkness1 a whirlpool of dark waters4 ,we stand on its edge1 but we do not understand it4 ,it is dark1 but light there must be2 one great light4 ,so we show this certainty by the symbol of the one light in the shrine1 in the very heart of our temples4 ,this led on to quotations from his own books1 questioning the validity of such lights1 which he finished the moment one began them1 and this again led to our ,lord's words1--how strong they sounded1 and how direct--,i am the ,light of the ,world4 ,but he could not accept them in their simplicity1 and here it was that the book ,i had been reading came in so helpfully4 ,he spoke rapidly and eagerly1 and such a mixture of ,sanscrit and ,tamil that if ,i had not had the clue ,i am not sure ,i could have followed him1 and to have misunderstood him then might have driven all the tentacles in1 and made it harder for the next one whom the ,spirit may send to win his confidence4 ,he told me that1 after much study of many religions1 he held the eternal existence of one1 ,brahma4 ,the human spirit1 he said1 is not really distinct from the ,divine ,spirit1 but identical with it2 the apparent distinction arises from our illusory view of things3 there is absolutely no distinction in spirit4 ,mind is distinct1 he admitted1 and body is distinct1 but spirit is identical2 so that1 in a definitely defined sense1 ,i am ,god1 ,god is ,i4 ,the so-called two are one1 in all essentials of being4 ,and he touched himself and said1 ,i am ,brahma4 ,i myself1 my real ,i1 am ,god4 ,it sounds terribly irreverent1 but he did not for a moment mean it so4 ,go back to ,gen4 ii4 #g1 and try to define the meaning of the words1 the breath of life1 and you will1 if you think enough1 find yourself in a position to understand how the ,hindu1 without revelation1 ends as he does in delusion4 ,but1 intertwined with this central fibre of his faith1 there were strands of a strange philosophy2 he held strongly the doctrine of ,illusion1 by which the one impersonal ,spirit1 in the illusion which overspreads it1 is to the external world what yarn is to cloth1 what milk is to curds1 what clay is to a jar1 but only in that illusion1 that is1 he is not the actual material cause of the world1 as clay of a jar1 but the illusory material cause1 as a rope might be of a snake2 and the spirit of man is that ,spirit1 personalised and limited by the power of illusion2 and the life of every living spirit is nothing but an infinitesimal arc of the one endless circle of infinite existence4 ,of course there are answers to this sort of reasoning which are perfectly convincing to the ,western1 but they fail to appeal to the ,eastern mind4 ,you suggest a practical test as to the reality or otherwise of this ,illusion--touch something1 run a pin into yourself1 do anything to prove to yourself your own actuality1 and he has his answer ready4 ,though theoretically he holds that there is one1 and only one1 ,spirit1 he virtually believes in three conditions of being--the real1 the practical1 and the illusory2 for while he affirms that the one ,spirit1 ,brahma1 alone has a real existence1 he allows a practical separate existence to human spirits1 to the world1 and to the personal ,god or gods1 as well as an illusory existence4 ,hence every object is to be dealt with practically1 as if it were really what it appears to be4 ,this is only the end of a long and very confusing argument1 which ,i expect ,i did not half understand1 and he concluded it by quoting a stanza1 thus translated by ,dr4 ,pope1 from an ancient ,tamil classic-- ,o ,being hard to reach1 ,o ,splendour infinite1 unknown1 in sooth ,i know not what to do6 ,he is far away from me1 he said1 a distant ,god to reach1 and when ,i quoted from ,st4 ,augustine1 ,to ,him who is everywhere1 men come not by travelling1 but by loving1 and showed him the words1 which in ,tamil are splendidly negative1 ,he is ,,not far from every one of us1 he eluded the comfort and went back to the old question1 ,what is ,truth8 ,how can one prove what is ,truth8 ,there is an ,indian story of a queen who proved the truth by tasting the food4 ,the story tells how her husband1 who dearly loved her1 and whom she dearly loved1 lost his kingdom1 wandered away with his queen into the forest1 left her there as she slept1 hoping she would fare better without him1 and followed her long afterwards to her father's court1 deformed1 disguised1 a servant among servants1 a cook4 ,then her maidens came to her1 told her of the wonderful cooking1 magical in manner1 marvellous in flavour and in fragrance4 ,they are sure it is the long-lost king come back to her1 and they bid her believe and rejoice4 ,but the queen fears it may not be true4 ,she must prove it1 she must taste the food4 ,they bring her some4 ,she tastes1 and knows4 ,and the story ends in joy4 ,oh1 taste and see that the ,lord is good4 ,if any man will do ,his ,will1 he shall know4 ,we got closer in thought after this4 ,for the ,oriental1 a story is an illuminating thing4 ,i have sought for the way of truth1 he said1 and sought for the way of light and life4 ,behind me1 as ,i look1 there is darkness4 ,before me there is only the ,unknown4 ,and then1 with an earnestness ,i cannot describe1 he said1 ,i worship ,him ,i know not1 the ,unknown ,god4 ,whom1 therefore1 ye worship1 though ye know ,him not1 ,him declare ,i unto you4 ,one could only press home ,god's own answer to his words4 ,one other verse held him in its power before ,i went3 ,i am the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,life4 ,with those two verses ,i left him4 ,it was evening1 and he stood in the shadow1 looking into it4 ,there was a tangle of undergrowth1 and a heavy grove of palms4 ,it was all dark as you looked in4 ,behind was the shrine of the demon steeds1 the god and his wife who ride out at night to chase evil spirits away4 ,near by was an old tree1 also in shade1 with an idol under it4 ,it was all in shadow1 and full of shadowy nothings1 all dark4 ,but just outside1 when ,i went1 there was light2 the soft light of the after-glow1 which comes soon after the sun has set1 as a sign that there is a sun somewhere1 and shining4 ,and ,i thought of his very last words to me1 but ,i cannot describe the earnestness of them1 ,i worship the ,unknown ,god4 ,friends1 who worship a ,god whom you know1 whose joy in life is to know ,him1 will you remember and pray for that one1 who to-day is seeking1 ,i think in truth1 to find the ,unknown ,god8 ,,chapter ,,xxviii ,how ,long8 ,i shivered as if standing in the neighbourhood of hell4 ,henry ,martyn1 ,india4 ,i ,,have come home from vainly trying to help another child4 ,she had heard of the children's ,saviour1 and ,i think she would have come to ,him1 but they suffered her not4 ,she was1 when ,i first saw her1 sweet and innocent1 with eyes full of light1 great glancing1 dancing eyes1 which grew wistful for a moment sometimes1 and then filled with a laugh again4 ,she told me her mother lived very near1 and asked me to come and see her2 so ,i went4 ,the mother startled me4 ,such a face1 or such a want of a face4 ,one was looking at what had once been a face1 but was now a strange spoiled thing1 with strange hard eyes1 so unlike the child's4 ,there was no other feature fully shaped2 it was one dreadful blank4 ,she listened that day1 with almost eagerness4 ,she understood so quickly1 too1 one felt she must have heard before4 ,but she told us nothing about herself1 and we only knew that there was something very wrong4 ,her surroundings told us that4 ,before we went again we heard who she was2 a relative of one of our most honoured pastors1 himself a convert years ago4 ,then a great longing possessed us to try to save her from a life for which she had not been trained1 and especially we longed to save her little girl1 and we went to try4 ,this time the mother welcomed us1 and told us how our words had brought back things she had heard when she was young4 ,but now it is all different1 for ,i am different1 and she told us her story4 4 4 4 ,so ,i took poison1 but it acted not as ,i intended4 ,it only destroyed my face1 and she touched the poor remnant with her hand1 and went on with her terrible tale4 ,there were people listening outside1 and she spoke in a hoarse whisper4 ,we could hardly believe she meant what she said1 as she told of the fate proposed for her child4 ,and oh1 how we besought her then and there to give up the life1 and let us help her1 and that dear little one4 ,she seemed moved4 ,something awoke within her and strove4 ,tears filled those hard eyes and rolled down her cheeks as we pleaded with her1 in the name of all that was motherly1 not to doom her little innocent girl1 not to push her with her own hands down to hell4 ,at last she yielded1 promised that if in one week's time we would come again she would give her up to us1 and as for herself1 she would think of it1 and perhaps she also would give up the life2 she hated it1 she said4 ,there was another girl there1 a fair1 quiet girl of fifteen4 ,she was ill and very suffering1 and we tried for her too2 but there seemed no hope4 ,take the little one2 you are not too late for her1 the mother said1 and we went with the promise1 ,one more week and she is yours4 ,the week passed1 and every day we prayed for that little one4 ,then when the time came1 we went4 ,hope and fear alternated within us4 ,one felt sick with dread lest anything had happened to break the mother's word1 and yet one hoped4 ,the house door was open4 ,the people in the street smiled as we stopped our bandy1 got out1 and went in4 ,i remembered their smiles afterwards1 and understood4 ,the mother was there3 in a corner1 crouching in pain1 was the girl2 on the floor asleep1 drugged1 lay the child with her little arms stretched out4 ,the mother's eyes were hard4 ,it was no use4 ,outside in the street the people sat on their verandahs and laughed4 ,offer twenty thousand rupees1 and see if her mother will give her to you6 shouted one4 ,inside we sat beside that mother1 not knowing what to say4 ,the child stirred in her sleep1 and turned4 ,will you go8 said the mother very roughly in her ear4 ,she opened listless1 senseless eyes4 ,she had no wish to go4 ,she wanted to come last week1 we said4 ,the mother hardened1 and pushed the child1 and rolled her over with her foot4 ,she will not go now1 she said4 ,oh1 it did seem pitiful6 ,one of those pitiful1 pitiful things which never grow less pitiful because they are common everywhere4 ,that little girl1 and this6 ,we took the mother's hands in ours1 and pleaded once again4 ,and then words failed us4 ,they sometimes do4 ,there are things that stifle words4 ,at last they asked us to go4 ,the girl in the corner would not speak--could not1 perhaps she only moaned2 we passed her and went out4 ,the mother followed us1 half sorry for us1--there is something of the woman left in her1--half sullen1 with a lowering sullenness4 ,you will never see her again1 she said1 and she named the town1 one of the ,sodoms of this ,province1 to which the child was soon to be sent2 and then1 just a little ashamed of her broken promise1 she added1 ,i would have let her go1 but he would not1 no1 never2 and she does not belong to me now1 so what could ,i do8 ,we did not ask her who he was4 ,we knew4 ,nor did we ask the price he had paid4 ,we knew2 fifty rupees1 about three pounds1 was the price paid down for a younger child bought for the same purpose not long ago4 ,this one's price might be a little higher4 ,that is all4 ,we stood by the bullock cart ready to get in4 ,the people were watching4 ,the mother had gone back into the house4 ,then a great wave of longing for that child swept over us again4 ,we turned and looked at the little form as it lay on the floor1 dead1 as it seemed1 to all outward things4 ,oh that it had been dead6 ,and we pleaded once more with all our heart1 and once more failed4 ,we drove away4 ,we could see them crowding to look after us1 and we shut our eyes to shut out the sight of their smiles4 ,the bullock bells jingled too gladly1 it seemed1 and we shut our ears to shut out the sound4 ,and then we shut ourselves in with ,god1 who knew all about it1 and cared4 ,how long1 ,o ,god1 how long8 ,and now we have heard that she has gone1 and we know1 from watching what happened before1 just what will happen now4 ,how day by day they will sear that child's soul with red-hot irons1 till it does not feel or care any more4 ,and a child's seared soul is an awful thing4 ,forgive us for words which may hurt and shock2 we are telling the day's life-story4 ,hurt or not1 shocked or not1 should you not know the truth8 ,how can you pray as you ought if you only know fragments of truth8 ,truth is a loaf2 you may cut it up nicely1 like thin bread and butter1 with all the crusts carefully trimmed4 ,no one objects to it then4 ,or you can cut it as it comes1 crust and all4 ,think of that child to-night as you gather your children about you1 and look in their innocent faces and their clear1 frank eyes4 ,our very last news of her was that she had been in some way influenced to spread a lie about the place1 first sign of the searing begun4 ,i think of her as ,i saw her that first day1 bright as a bird2 and then of her as ,i saw her last1 drugged on the floor2 ,i think of her as she must be now1 bright again1 but with a different brightness--not the little girl ,i knew--never to be quite that little girl again4 ,oh1 comrades1 do you wonder that we care8 ,do you wonder that we plead with you to care8 ,do you wonder that we have no words sometimes1 and fall back into silence1 or break out into words wrung from one more gifted with expression1 who knew what it was to feel6 ,with such words1 then1 we close2 looking back once more at that child on the floor1 with the hands stretched out and the heavy eyes shut--and we know what it was they saw when they opened from that sleep-- ,my ,god6 can such things be8 ,hast ,thou not said that whatsoe'er is done ,unto ,thy weakest and ,thy humblest one1 ,is even done to ,thee8 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 ,hoarse1 horrible2 and strong1 ,rises to heaven that agonising cry1 ,filling the arches of the hollow sky1 ,,how ,,long1 ,o ,,god1 ,,how ,,long8 ,,chapter ,,xxix ,what do we count them worth8 ,if we are simply to pray to the extent of a simple and pleasant and enjoyable exercise1 and know nothing of watching in prayer1 and of weariness in prayer1 we shall not draw down the blessing that we may4 ,we shall not sustain our missionaries who are overwhelmed with the appalling darkness of heathenism4 4 4 4 ,we must serve ,god even to the point of suffering1 and each one ask himself1 ,in what degree1 in what point am ,i extending1 by personal suffering1 by personal self-denial1 to the point of pain1 the kingdom of ,christ8 4 4 4 ,it is ever true that what costs little is worth little4 ,rev4 ,j4 ,hudson ,taylor1 ,china4 ,,she picked up her water-vessel1 and stood surveying us somewhat curiously4 ,the ways of ,picture-catching ,missie ,ammals were beyond her4 ,afterwards she sat down comfortably and talked4 ,that was a year ago4 ,then in the evening she and all her neighbours gathered in the market square for the open-air meeting4 ,shining of ,life spoke for the first time4 ,i was a ,hindu a year ago4 ,i worshipped the gods you worship4 ,did they hear me when ,i prayed8 ,no6 ,they are dead gods4 ,god is the living ,god6 ,come to the living ,god6 ,one after the other the boys all witnessed that evening4 ,their clear boyish voices rang out round the ring4 ,and some listened1 and some laughed4 ,illustration3 ,she picked up her water-vessel1 and stood surveying us somewhat curiously4 ,behind us there was a little demon temple4 ,it had a verandah barred down with heavy bars4 ,within these bars you could see the form of an idol4 ,beside us there was a shrine4 ,someone had put our lanterns on the top of this pyramid shrine4 ,before us there was the mass of dark faces4 ,behind us1 then1 black walls1 black bars1 a black shape2 before us the black meeting1 black losing itself in black4 ,around us light1 light shining into the black4 ,that was as it was a year ago4 ,now we are back at ,dohnavur1 and almost the first place we went to was this village1 where we had taken the light and set it up in the heart of the dark4 ,an earnest young schoolmaster had been sent to keep that light burning there1 and we went expectantly4 ,had the light spread8 ,we went straight to our old friend's house4 ,she was as friendly as ever in her queer1 rough1 country way1 but her heart had not been set alight4 ,tell me what is the good of your ,way8 ,will it fill the cavity within me8 and she struck herself a resounding smack in the region where food is supposed to go4 ,will it stock my paddy-pots1 or nourish my bulls1 or cause my palms to bear good juice8 ,if it will not do all these good things1 what is the use of it8 ,if it is so important1 why did you not come before8 ,the dear old woman who asked that lived here1 and we searched through the labyrinthic courtyards to find her1 but failed4 ,the girl who listened in her pain is well now1 but she says the desire she had has cooled4 ,we found two or three who seem lighting up2 may ,god's wind blow the flame to a blaze6 ,but we came back feeling that we must learn more of the power of prayer ourselves if these cold souls are to catch fire4 ,we remembered how1 when we were children1 we caught the sunlight1 and focussed it1 and set bits of paper on fire2 and we longed that our prayers might be a lens to focus the ,love-light of our ,god1 and set their souls on fire4 ,just one little bit of encouragement may be told by way of cheer4 ,blessing went off one day to see if the ,village of the ,warrior were more friendlily inclined1 and ,golden went to the ,petra where they vowed they would never let us in4 ,before ,blessing entered the village she knelt down under a banyan tree1 and1 remembering ,abraham's servant1 prayed for a sign to strengthen her faith that ,god would work in the place4 ,while she prayed a child came and looked at her2 then seeing her pray1 she said1 ,has that ,missie ,ammal sent you who came here more than a year ago8 ,blessing said ,yes4 ,then the child repeated the chorus we had taught the children that first day4 ,none of us forget1 she said2 and told ,blessing how the parents had agreed to allow us to teach if ever we should return4 ,the village had been opened4 ,he goeth before4 ,golden's experience was equally strengthening to our faith4 ,in the very street where they held a public demonstration to cleanse the road defiled by our low-caste presence1 twenty houses have opened1 where she is a welcome visitor4 ,but all this is only for ,love's sake1 they say4 ,they do not yet want ,christ2 so let us focus the light6 ,then there is need for the fire of ,god to burn the cords that hold souls down4 ,there is one with whom the ,spirit strove last year when we were here4 ,but a cord of sin was twined round her soul4 ,she has a wicked brother-in-law1 and a still more wicked sister1 and together they plotted so evil a plot that1 heathen though she is1 she recoiled1 and indignantly refused4 ,so they quietly drugged her food1 and did as they chose with her4 ,and now the knot she did not tie1 and which she wholly detested at first1 seems doubly knotted by her own will4 ,oh1 to know better how to use the burning-glass of prayer6 ,there may be a certain amount of sentiment1 theoretically at least1 in breaking up new ground4 ,the unknown holds possibilities1 and it allures one on4 ,but in retracing the track there is nothing whatever of this4 ,the broad daylight of bare truth shows you everything just as it is4 ,will you look once more at things just as they are1 though it is not an interesting look4 ,a courtyard where the women have often heard4 ,may we come in8 ,oh yes1 come in6 ,but with us in comes an old fakeer of a specially villainous type4 ,his body is plastered all over with mud2 he has nothing on but mud4 ,his hair is matted and powdered with ashes1 his face is daubed with vermilion and yellow1 his wicked old eyes squint viciously1 and he shows all his teeth1 crimson with betel1 and snarls his various wants4 ,the women say ,chee6 ,then he rolls in the dust1 and squirms1 and wriggles1 and howls2 and he pours out such unclean vials of wrath that the women1 coerced1 give him all he demands1 and he rolls off elsewhere4 ,now may we read to the women8 ,no6 ,many salaams1 but they have no time4 ,last night there was a royal row between two friends in adjoining courtyards1 and family histories were laid bare1 and pedigrees discovered4 ,they are discussing these things to-day1 and having heard it all before1 they have no time to read4 ,another courtyard1 more refined2 here the fakeer's opposite1 a dignified ascetic1 sits in silent meditation4 ,we know it all6 ,you told us before6 ,but the women are friendly1 and we go in2 and after a long and earnest talk the white-haired grandmother touches her rosary4 ,this is my ladder to heaven4 ,the berries are fine and set in chased gold1 but they are only solidified tears1 tears shed in wrath by their god1 they say1 which resolved themselves into these berries4 ,how can tears make ladders to heaven8 ,she does not know4 ,she does not care4 ,and a laugh runs round1 but one's heart does not laugh4 ,such ladders are dangerous4 ,another house2 here the men are kind1 and freely let us in and out4 ,the ,way1 they say1 is very good2 they have heard the ,iyer preach4 ,but one day there is a stir in the house4 ,one of the sons is very ill4 ,he has been suffering for some time2 now he is suddenly getting worse1 and suspicions are aroused4 ,then the women whisper the truth3 the father and he are at daggers drawn1 and the father is slowly poisoning him--small doses of strychnine are doing the work4 ,the stir is not very violent1 but quite sufficient to make an excuse for not wanting to listen well4 ,this sort of thing throws us back upon ,god4 ,lord1 teach us to pray6 ,teach us the real secret of fiery fervency in prayer4 ,we know so little of it4 ,lord1 teach us to pray6 ,oh1 ,amma6 ,amma6 do not pray6 ,your prayers are troubling me6 ,we all looked up in astonishment4 ,we had just had our ,band ,prayer ,meeting1 when a woman came rushing into the room1 and began to exclaim like this4 ,she was the mother of one of our girls1 of whom ,i told you once before4 ,she is still in the ,terrible's den4 ,now the mother was all excitement1 and poured out a curious story4 ,when you went away last year ,i prayed4 ,i prayed and prayed1 and prayed again to my god to dispel your work4 ,my daughter's heart was impressed with your words4 ,i cried to my god to wash the words out4 ,has he washed them out8 ,oh no6 ,and ,i prayed for a bridegroom1 and one came2 and the cart was ready to take her away1 and a hindrance occurred2 the marriage fell through4 ,and ,i wept till my eyes well-nigh dissolved4 ,and again another bridegroom came1 and again an obstacle occurred4 ,and yet again did a bridegroom come1 and yet again an obstacle2 and ,i cannot get my daughter 'tied1' and the neighbours mock1 and my ,caste is disgraced--and the poor old mother cried1 just sobbed in her shame and confusion of face4 ,then ,i went to my god again1 and said1 ',what more can ,i offer you8 ,have ,i not given you all ,i have8 ,and you reject my prayer6' ,then in a dream my god appeared1 and he said1 ',tell the ,christians not to pray4 ,i can do nothing against their prayers4 ,their prayers are hindering me6' ,and so1 ,i beseech you1 stop your prayers for fourteen days--only fourteen days--till ,i get my daughter tied6 ,and after she is tied8 we asked4 ,oh1 then she may freely follow your ,god6 ,i will hinder her no more6 ,poor old mother6 ,all lies are allowed where such things are concerned4 ,we knew the proposed bridegroom came from a place three hundred miles distant1 and the idea was to carry the poor girl off by force1 as soon as she was tied4 ,we have been praying night and day to ,god to hinder this4 ,and ,he is hindering6 ,but there is need to go on4 ,that mother is a devotee4 ,she has received the afflatus4 ,sometimes at night it falls upon her1 and she dances the wild1 wicked dance1 and tries to seize the girl1 who shrinks into the farthest corner of the little house2 and she dances round her1 and chants the chant which even in daylight has power in it1 but which at night appeals unspeakably4 ,once the girl almost gave way1 and then in her desperation1 hardly knowing the sin of it1 ran to the place where poison was kept1 drank enough to kill two1 straight off1 then lay down on the floor to die4 ,better die than do what they wanted her to do1 she thought4 ,but they found out what she had done1 and drastic means were immediately used1 and the poison only made her ill1 and caused her days of violent pain4 ,so there is need for the hindering prayer4 ,lord1 teach us how to pray6 ,is ,india crammed with the horrible8 ,picturesque1 they call it1 who have done it in a month or two1 and written a book to describe it4 ,and the most picturesque part1 they agree1 is connected with the temples4 ,india ends off in a pointed rock2 you can stand at the very point of the rock1 with only ocean before you1 and almost all ,asia behind4 ,a temple is set at the end of the point1 as if claiming the land for its own4 ,we took our convert boys and girls to the ,cape for the ,christmas holidays1 and one morning some of us spent an hour under an old wall near the temple1 which wall1 being full of hermit crabs1 is very interesting4 ,we were watching the entertaining ways of these degenerate creatures when1 through the soft sea sounds1 we heard the sound of a ,brahman's voice1 and looking up1 saw this3 ,a little group of five1 sitting between the rocks and the sea1 giving a touch of life to the scene1 and making the picture perfect4 ,there were two men1 a woman1 a child1 and the priest4 ,they were all marked with the ,v-shaped ,vishnu mark4 ,the priest twined the sacred ,kusa grass round the fingers of his right hand1 and gave each a handful of grass1 and they did as he had done4 ,then they strewed the grass on the sand1 to purify it from taint of earth1 and then they began4 ,the priest chanted names of ,god1 then stopped1 and drew signs on the sand4 ,they followed him exactly4 ,then they bathed1 bowing to the ,east between each dip1 and worshipping2 then returned and repeated it all4 ,but before repeating it1 they carefully painted the marks on their foreheads1 using white and red pigment1 and consulting a small ,english hand mirror--the one incongruous bit of ,west in this ,east1 but symbolical of the times4 ,the child followed it all1 as a child will1 in its pretty way4 ,she was a dainty little thing in a crimson seeley and many gold jewels4 ,the elder woman was dressed in dark green2 the colouring was a joy to the eye1 crimson and green1 and the brown of the rock1 against the blue of the sea4 ,it was one of those exquisite mornings we often have in the ,tropics1 when everything everywhere shows you ,god2 shines the word out like a word illumined2 sings it out in the ,universe ,song2 and here in this ,south niche of ,nature's cathedral1 under the sky's transparency1 these five1 in the only way they knew1 acknowledged the ,presence of one great ,god1 and worshipped ,him4 ,there was nothing revolting here1 no hint of repulsive idolatry4 ,they worshipped the ,unseen4 ,very stately the ,sanscrit sounded in which they chanted their adoration4 ,king of ,immensity6 ,king of ,eternity6 ,boundless1 ,endless1 ,infinite ,one6 ,it might have been the echo of some ancient ,christian hymn4 ,it might have been1 but it was not4 ,they are not worshipping ,god the ,lord4 ,they might be1 but they are not4 ,whose is the responsibility8 ,is it partly yours and mine8 ,the beauty of the scene has passed from us2 the blue of the blue sky is blotted out-- ,only like souls ,i see the folk thereunder1 ,bound who should conquer1 slaves who should be kings2 ,hearing their one hope with an empty wonder1 ,sadly contented with a show of things4 ,then with a rush the intolerable craving ,shivers throughout me like a trumpet call3 ,oh to save these6 ,to perish for their saving1 ,die for their life1 be offered for them all6 ,the picture is made of souls--souls to be saved4 ,oh to save these6 ,to perish for their saving6 ,that is what the picture says4 ,picture6 ,there is no picture4 ,in the place where it was1 there is simply a pain--,god's world1 and ,god dishonoured in it6 ,oh to see these people as souls6 ,refined or vulgar1 beautiful or horrible1 or just dull1 oh to see them only as souls1 and to yearn over them1 and pray for them as souls who must live eternally somewhere1 and for whom each of us1 in our measure1 is responsible to ,god4 ,do you say we are not responsible for those particular souls8 ,who said that sort of thing first8 ,where we disavow being keeper to our brother we're his ,cain4 ,if we are not responsible1 why do we take the responsibility of appealing to them in impassioned poetry8 ,let every kindred1 every tribe1 ,on this terrestrial ball1 ,to ,him all majesty ascribe1 ,and crown ,him ,lord of all6 ,what is the point of telling people to do a certain thing if we have no concern in whether they do it or not8 ,the angels and the martyrs and the saints1 to whom we appealed before1 have crowned ,him long ago4 ,our singing to them on the subject will make no difference either way2 but when we turn to every kindred and tribe1 the case alters4 ,how can they crown ,him ,lord of all when they do not know about ,him8 ,why do they not know about ,him8 ,because we have not told them4 ,it is true that many whom we have told heard their one hope with an empty wonder2 but1 on the other hand1 it is true that the everlasting song rises fuller to-day because of those who1 out in this dark heathendom1 heard1 and responded1 and crowned ,him ,king4 ,but singing hymns from a distance will never save souls4 ,by ,god's grace1 coming and giving and praying will4 ,are we prepared for this8 ,or would we rather sing8 ,searcher of hearts1 turn ,thy search-light upon us6 ,are we coming1 giving1 praying till it hurts8 ,are we praying1 yea agonising in prayer8 or is prayer but a pleasant exercise--a holy relief for our feelings8 ,we have sat together under the wall by the ,southern sea4 ,we have looked at the five as they worshipped ,another1 and not our ,god4 ,now let this little ,south window be like a little clear pane of glass1 through which you may look up far to the ,north1 over the border countries and the mountains to ,tibet1 over ,tibet and away through the vastness of ,central ,asia1 on to ,china1 ,mongolia1 ,manchuria2 and even then you have only seen a few of the great dark ,northern lands1 which wait and wait--for you4 ,and this is only ,asia1 only a part of ,asia4 ,god looks down on all the world2 and for every one of the millions who have never crowned ,him ,king1 ,christ wore the crown of thorns4 ,what do we count these millions worth8 ,do we count them worth the rearrangement of our day1 that we may have more time to pray8 ,do we count them worth the laying down of a single ambition1 the loosening of our hold on a single child or friend8 ,do we count them worth the yielding up of anything we care for very much8 ,let us be still for a moment and think4 ,christ counted souls worth ,calvary4 ,what do we count them worth8 ,,chapter ,,xxx ,two ,safe ,god has given me the hunger and thirst for souls2 will ,he leave me unsatisfied8 ,no verily4 ,james ,gilmour1 ,mongolia4 ,that one soul has been brought to ,christ in the midst of such hostile influences is so entirely and marvellously the ,holy ,spirit's work1 that ,i am sometimes overjoyed to have been in any degree instrumental in effecting the emancipation of one4 ,robert ,noble1 ,india4 ,,two of our boys are safe4 ,they left us very suddenly4 ,we can hardly realise they are gone4 ,the younger one was our special boy1 the first of the boys to come1 a very dear lad4 ,i think of him as ,i saw him the last evening we all spent together1 standing out on a wave-washed rock1 the wind in his hair and his face wet with spray1 rejoicing in it all4 ,not another boy dare go and stand in the midst of that seething foam1 but the spice of danger drew him4 ,he was such a thorough boy6 ,the call to leave his home for ,christ came to him in an open-air meeting held in his village two years ago4 ,then there was bitterest shame to endure4 ,his father and mother1 aghast and distressed1 did all they could to prevent the disgrace incurred by his open confession of ,christ4 ,he was an only son1 heir to considerable property1 so the matter was most serious4 ,the father loved him dearly2 but he nerved himself to flog the boy1 and twice he was tied up and flogged4 ,but they say he never wavered2 only his mother's tears he found hardest to withstand4 ,weeks passed of steadfast confession1 and then it came to the place of choice between ,christ and home4 ,he chose ,christ1 and early one morning left all to follow ,him4 ,do you think it was easy8 ,he was a loving boy4 ,could it have been easy to stab his mother's heart8 ,when the household woke that morning he was on his way to us4 ,the father gathered his clansmen1 and they came in a crowd to the bungalow4 ,they sat on the floor in a circle1 with the boy in their midst1 and they pleaded4 ,i remember the throb of that moment now4 ,a single pulse seemed to beat in the room1 so tense was the tension1 until he spoke out bravely4 ,i will not go back1 he said4 ,they promised everything--a house1 lands1 his inheritance to be given at once1 a wife with a rich dowry of jewels--all a ,tamil boy most desires they offered him4 ,and they promised him freedom to worship ,god2 only come back and save your ,caste1 and do not break your mother's heart and disgrace your family4 ,day after day they came1 sometimes singly1 sometimes in groups1 but the mother never came4 ,they described her in heart-moving language4 ,she neither ate nor slept1 they said1 but sat with her hair undone1 and wept and wailed the death-wail for her son4 ,at last they gave up coming1 and we were relieved1 for the long-continued strain was severe2 and though he never wavered1 we knew the boy felt it4 ,we used to hear him praying for his people1 pouring out his heart when he thought no one was near1 sobbing sometimes as he named their names4 ,the entreaty in the tone would make our eyes wet4 ,if only he could have lived at home and been a ,christian there6 ,but we knew what had happened to others1 and we dare not send him back4 ,then a year or so afterward we all went to the water together1 and he and three others were baptised4 ,the first to go down into the water was the elder boy1 ,shining of ,victory4 ,shining of ,life was second4 ,a few weeks of bright life--those happy days by the sea--and then in the same order1 and called by the same messenger--the swift ,indian messenger1 cholera--they both went down into the other water1 and crossed over to the other side4 ,shining of ,life was well in the morning1 dead in the evening4 ,when first the pain seized him he was startled4 ,then1 understanding1 he lay down in peace4 ,the heathen crowded in4 ,they could not be kept out4 ,they taunted him as he lay4 ,this is your reward for breaking your ,caste6 they said4 ,the agony of cholera was on him4 ,he could not say much1 but he pointed up1 ,do not trouble me2 this is the way by which ,i am going to ,jesus1 and he tried to sing a line from one of our choruses1 ,my ,strength and my ,redeemer1 my ,refuge--,jesus6 ,his parents had been sent for as soon as it was known that he was ill4 ,they hurried over1 the poor despairing mother crying aloud imploringly to the gods who did not hear4 ,he pointed up again2 he was almost past speech then1 but he tried to say ,jesus and ,come4 ,then1 while the heathen stood and mocked1 and the mother beat her breast and wailed1 and the father1 silent in his grief1 just stood and looked at his son1 the boy passed quietly away4 ,they hardly believed him dead4 ,oh1 we miss him so much6 ,and our hearts ache for his people1 for they mourn as those who have no hope4 ,but ,god knows why ,he took him2 we know it is all right4 ,every memory of him is good4 ,when the first sharp strain was over we found what a thorough boy he was1 and in that week by the sea all the life and fun in him came out1 and he revelled in the bathing and boating1 and threw his whole heart into the holiday4 ,we had many hopes for him2 he was so full of promise and the energy of life4 ,and now it is all over for both4 ,was it worth the pain it cost8 ,such a short time to witness1 was it worth while8 ,it is true it was very short4 ,most of the little space between their coming and their going was filled with preparation for a future of service here4 ,and yet in that little time each of the two found one other boy who1 perhaps1 would never have been found if the cost had been counted too great4 ,and ,i think1 if you could ask them now1 they would tell you ,jesus' welcome made it far more than worth while4 ,,chapter ,,xxxi ,three ,objections ,may ,i have grace to live above every human motive2 simply with ,god and to ,god1 and not swayed1 especially in missionary work1 by the opinions of people not acquainted with the state of things1 whose judgment may be contrary to my own4 ,henry ,martyn1 ,india4 ,,these letters have been put together to help our comrades at home to realise something of the nature of the forces ranged against us1 that they may bring the ,superhuman to bear upon the superhuman1 and pray with an intelligence and intensity impossible to uninformed faith4 ,we have long enough under-estimated the might of the ,actual4 ,we need more of ,abraham's type of faith1 which1 without being weakened1 considered the facts1 and then1 looking unto the promise1 wavered not1 but waxed strong4 ,ignorant faith does not help us much4 ,some years ago1 when the first girl-convert came1 friends wrote rejoicing that now the wall of ,caste must give way2 they expected soon to hear it had4 ,as if a grain of dust falling from one of the bricks in that wall would in anywise shake the wall itself6 ,such faith is kind1 but there it ends4 ,it talks of what it knows not4 ,then1 as to the people themselves1 there are certain fallacies which die hard4 ,we read1 the other day1 in a home paper1 that it was a well-known fact that ,indian women never smile4 ,we were surprised to hear it4 ,we had not noticed it4 ,perhaps1 if they were one and all so abnormally depressed1 we should find them less unwilling to welcome the ,glad ,tidings4 ,again1 we read that you can distinguish between heathen and ,christian by the wonderful light on the ,christians' faces1 as compared with the sad expression on the faces of the poor benighted heathen4 ,it is true that some ,christians are really illuminated1 but1 as a whole1 the heathen are so remarkably cheerful that the difference is not so defined as one might think4 ,then1 again1 we read in descriptive articles on ,india that the weary1 hopeless longing of the people is most touching4 ,but we find that our chief difficulty is to get them to believe that there is anything to long for4 ,rather we would describe them as those who think they have need of nothing1 knowing not that they have need of everything4 ,and again and again we read thrilling descriptions of ,india's women standing with their hands stretched out towards ,god4 ,they may do this in visions2 in reality they do not4 ,and it is the utter absence of all this sort of thing which makes your help a necessity to us4 ,but none of you can pray in the way we want you to pray1 unless the mind is convinced that the thing concerning which such prayer is asked is wholly just and right2 and it seems to us that many of those who have followed the ,story of this ,war may have doubts about the right of it--the right1 for example1 of converts leaving their homes for ,christ's sake and ,his ,gospel's4 ,all will be in sympathy with us when we try to save little children1 but perhaps some are out of sympathy when we do what results in sorrow and misunderstanding--not peace1 but a sword4 ,so we purpose now to gather up into three1 some of the many objections which are often urged upon those engaged in this sort of work1 because we feel that they ought to be faced and answered if possible1 lest we lose someone's prevailing prayer4 ,the first set of objections may be condensed into a question as to the right or otherwise of our forcing our religion upon those who do not want it4 ,we are reminded that the work is most discouraging1 conversions are rare1 and when they occur they seem to create the greatest confusion4 ,it is evident enough that neither we nor our ,gospel are desired2 and no wonder1 when the conditions of discipleship involve so much4 ,we should not like strangers to come and interfere with our religion1 write the friends who object1 and draw our children away from us2 we should greatly resent it4 ,no wonder the ,hindus do6 ,and one reader of the letters wrote that she wondered how the girls who came out ever could be happy for a moment after having done such a wrong and heartless thing as to disobey their parents4 ,they richly deserve all they suffer1 she wrote4 ,it is a perfect shame and disgrace for a girl to desert her own people6 ,one turns from the reading of the letter1 and looks at the faces of those who have done it2 and knowing how they need every bit of prayer-help one can win for them1 one feels it will be worth while trying to show those who blame them why they do it1 and how it is they cannot do otherwise if they would be true to ,christ4 ,this objection as to the right or wrong of the work as a whole1 leads to another relating to baptism4 ,it is a serious thing to think of families divided upon questions of religion2 surely it would be better that a convert should live a consistent ,christian life at home1 even without baptism1 than that she should break up the peace of the household by leaving her home altogether8 ,or1 having been baptised1 should she not return home and live there as a ,christian8 ,lastly--and this comes in letters from those who1 more than any1 are in sympathy with us--why not devote our energies to work of a more fruitful character8 ,we are reminded of the mass-movement type of work1 in which nations are born in a day2 and often1 too1 of the nominal ,christians who sorely need more enlightenment4 ,why not work along the line of least resistance1 where conversion to ,god does not of necessity mean fire and sword1 and where in a week we could win more souls than in years of this unresultful work8 ,we frankly admit that these objections and proposals are naturally reasonable1 and that what they state is perfectly true4 ,it is true that work among high-caste ,hindus all over ,india 7as among ,moslems all over the world7 is very difficult4 ,it is true that open confession of ,christ creates disastrous division in families4 ,it is true there is other work to be done4 ,especially we feel the force of the second objection raised4 ,we fully recognise that the right thing is for the convert to live among her own people1 and let her light shine in her own home2 and we deplore the terrible wrench involved in what is known as coming out4 ,to a people so tenacious of custom as the ,indians are1 to a nature so affectionate as the ,indian nature is1 this cutting across of all home ties is a very cruel thing4 ,and now1 only that we may not miss your prayer1 we set ourselves to try to answer you4 ,and1 first of all1 let us grasp this fact3 it is not fair1 nor is it wise1 to compare work1 and success in work1 between one set of people and another1 because the conditions under which that work is carried on are different1 and the unseen forces brought to bear against it differ in character and in power4 ,there is sometimes more result written down in a single column of a religious weekly than is to be found in the #fdf pages of one of the noblest missionary books of modern days1 ,on the ,threshold of ,central ,africa4 ,or take two typical opposite lives1 ,moody's and ,gilmour's4 ,moody saw more soul-winning in a day than ,gilmour in his twenty-one years4 ,it was not that the men differed4 ,both knew the ,baptism of ,power1 both lived in ,christ and loved4 ,but these are extremes in comparison2 take two1 both missionaries1 twin brothers in spirit1 ,brainerd of ,north ,america and ,henry ,martyn of ,india4 ,brainerd saw many coming to ,jesus2 ,martyn hardly one4 ,each was a pioneer missionary1 each was a flame of fire4 ,now let me burn out for ,god1 wrote ,henry ,martyn1 and he did it4 ,but the conditions under which each worked varied as widely spiritually as they varied climatically4 ,can we compare their work1 or measure it by its visible results8 ,did ,god8 ,let us leave off comparing this with that--we do not know enough to compare4 ,let us leave off weighing eternal things and balancing souls in earthly scales4 ,only ,god's scales are sufficiently sensitive for such delicate work as that4 ,we take up the objections one by one4 ,first1 ,why do you go where you are not wanted8 ,we go because we believe our ,master told us to go4 ,he said1 all the world1 and every creature4 ,our marching orders are very familiar4 ,go ye into all the world and preach the ,gospel to every creature4 ,all the world means everywhere in it1 every creature means everyone in it4 ,these orders are so explicit that there is no room to question what they mean4 ,all missionaries in all ages have so understood these words all and every4 ,nearly seven hundred years ago the first missionary to the ,moslems found no welcome1 only a prison2 but he never doubted he was sent to them4 ,god wills it1 he said1 and went again4 ,they stoned him then1 and he died--died1 but never doubted he was sent4 ,our ,master ,himself went not only to the common people1 who heard ,him gladly1 but to the priestly and political classes1 who had no desire for the truth4 ,ye will not come to ,me that ye might have life1 ,he said1 and yet ,he gave them the chance to come by going to them4 ,the words1 ,if any man thirst1 let him come unto ,me and drink1 were spoken to an audience which was not thirsting for the ,gospel4 ,st4 ,paul would willingly have spent his strength preaching the ,word in ,asia1 especially in ,galatia1 where the people loved him well2 but he was under orders1 and he went to ,europe1 to ,philippi1 where he was put in prison2 to ,thessalonica1 where the opposition was so strong that he had to flee away by night2 to ,athens1 where he was the butt of the philosophers4 ,but ,god gave souls in each of these places2 only a few in comparison to the great indifferent crowd1 but he would tell you those few were worth going for4 ,you would not have had him miss a ,lydia1 a ,damaris8 ,above all1 you would not have had him disobey his ,lord's command8 ,so whether our message is welcomed or not1 the fact remains we must go to all2 and the worse they are and the harder they are1 the more evident is it that1 wanted or not1 it is needed by them4 ,m4 ,coillard was robbed by the people he had travelled far to find4 ,you see we made no mistake1 he writes1 in bringing the ,gospel to the ,zambesi4 ,the second objection is1 ,why break up families by insisting on baptism as a sine qu non of discipleship8 ,and again we answer1 ,because we believe our ,master tells us to4 ,he said1 ,baptising them in the ,name of the ,father1 and of the ,son1 and of the ,holy ,ghost4 ,what right have we1 ,his servants1 to stop short of full obedience8 ,did ,he not know the conditions of high-caste ,hindu life in ,india when ,he gave this command8 ,was ,he ignorant of the breaking up of families which obedience to it would involve8 ,suppose ye that ,i am come to give peace on earth8 ,i tell you nay1 but rather division4 ,and then come words which we have seen lived out literally in the case of every high-caste convert who has come4 ,for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided1 three against two1 and two against three4 ,the father shall be divided against the son1 and the son against the father2 the mother against the daughter1 and the daughter against the mother2 the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law1 and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law4 ,these are truly awful verses2 no one knows better than the missionary how awful they are4 ,there are times when we can hardly bear the pain caused by the sight of this division4 ,but are we more tender than the ,tender ,one8 ,is our sympathy truer than ,his8 ,can we look up into ,his eyes and say1 ,it costs them too much1 ,lord2 it costs us too much1 to fully obey ,thee in this8 ,but granted the command holds1 why should not the baptised convert return home and live there8 ,because he is not wanted there1 as a ,christian4 ,exceptions to this rule are rare 7we are speaking of ,caste ,hindus71 and can usually be explained by some extenuating circumstance4 ,the high-caste woman who said to us1 ,i cannot live here and break my ,caste2 if ,i break it ,i must go1 spoke the truth4 ,keeping ,caste includes within itself the observance of certain customs which by their very nature are idolatrous4 ,breaking ,caste means breaking through these customs2 and one who habitually disregarded and disobeyed rules1 considered binding and authoritative by all the rest of the household1 would not be tolerated in an orthodox ,hindu home4 ,it is not a question of persecution or death1 or of wanting or not wanting to be there2 it is a question of not being wanted there1 unless1 indeed1 she will compromise4 ,compromise is the one open door back into the old home1 and ,god only knows what it costs when the choice is made and that one door is shut4 ,this ever-recurring reiteration of the power and the bondage of ,caste may seem almost wearisome1 but the word1 and what lies behind it1 is the one great answer to a thousand questions1 and so it comes again and again4 ,in ,southern ,india especially1 and still more so in this little fraction of it1 and in the adjoining kingdoms of ,travancore and ,cochin1 ,caste feeling is so strong that sometimes it is said that ,caste is the religion of ,south ,india4 ,but everywhere all over ,india it is1 to every orthodox ,hindu1 part of his very self4 ,get his ,caste out of him8 ,can you8 ,you would have to drain him of his life-blood first4 ,it is the strength of this ,caste spirit which in ,south ,india causes it to take the form of a determination to get the convert back4 ,promises are given that they may live as ,christians at home4 ,we will send you in a bandy to church every ,sunday6--promises given to be broken4 ,if the convert is a boy1 he may possibly reappear4 ,if a girl--,i was going to say never2 but ,i remember hearing of one who did reappear1 after seventeen years imprisonment--a wreck4 ,send them back1 do you say8 ,think of the dotted lines in some chapters you have read2 ponder the things they cover2 then send them back if you can4 ,the third objection divides into two halves4 ,the first half is1 ,why do you not go to the ,christians8 ,to which we answer1 we do1 and for exactly the same reason as that which we have given twice before1 because our ,master told us to do so4 ,our marching orders are threefold1 one order concerning each form of service touched by the three objections4 ,the third order touches this1 ,teaching them to observe all things whatsoever ,i have commanded you4 ,so we go1 and try to teach them the all things2 and some of them learn them1 and go to teach others1 and so the message of a full ,gospel spreads1 and the ,bride gets ready for the ,bridegroom4 ,the second half of this last objection is1 ,why not do easier work8 ,there are so many who are more accessible1 why not go to them8 ,and there does seem to be point in the suggestion that if there are open doors1 it might be better to enter into them1 rather than keep on knocking at closed ones4 ,we do seek to enter the so-called open doors1 but we never find they are so very wide open when it is known that we bring nothing tangible with us4 ,spiritual things are not considered anything by most4 ,still1 work among such is infinitely easier1 and many1 comparatively speaking1 are doing it4 ,the larger number here are working among the ,christians1 the next larger number among the ,masses1 and the fewest always1 everywhere1 among the ,classes1 where conversion involves such terrible conflicts with the ,evil ,one1 that all that is human in one faints and fails as it confronts the cost of every victory4 ,but real conversion anywhere costs4 ,by conversion we mean something more than reformation2 that raises fewer storms4 ,the kind of work1 however1 which more than any other seems to fascinate friends at home is what is known as the mass movement1 and though we have touched upon it before1 perhaps we had better explain more fully what it really is4 ,this movement1 or rather the visible result thereof1 is often dilated upon most rapturously4 ,i quote from a ,winter ,visitor3 ,christian churches counted by the thousand1 their members by the million2 whole districts are ,christian1 entire communities are transformed4 ,and we look at one another1 and ask each other1 ,where8 ,but to that question certain would answer joyously1 ,here6 ,there are missions in ,india where the avowed policy is to baptise people at the outset1 not on evidence of what is popularly called conversion4 4 4 4 ,we baptise them 'unto' the baptism of the ,holy ,spirit1 and not because we have reason to believe that they have received the ,spirit's baptism1--we quote a leader in the movement1 and he goes on to say1 if it is insisted that we should wait until this change 7conversion7 is effected before baptising them1 we reply that in most cases we would have to wait for a long time1 and often see the poor creatures die without the change4 ,of course every effort is made by revival services and camp meetings to bring these baptised ,christians to a true knowledge of ,christ1 and it is considered that this policy yields more fruit than the other1 which puts conversion first and baptism second4 ,it is certainly richer in results1 for among the depressed classes and certain of the middle ,castes1 among whom alone the scheme can be carried out1 there is no doubt that many are found ready to embrace ,christianity1 as the phrase goes1 sometimes genuinely feeling it is the true religion1 and desiring to understand it1 sometimes for what they can get4 ,it must be admitted--for we want to state the case fairly--that a mass movement gives one a splendid chance to preach ,christ1 and teach ,his ,gospel day by day4 ,and the power in it does lay hold of some2 we have earnest men and women working and winning others to-day1 fruit of the mass movement of many years ago4 ,but on the whole1 we fear it1 and do not encourage it here4 ,the dead weight of heathenism is heavy enough1 but when you pile on the top of that the incubus of a dead ,christianity--for a nominal thing is dead--then you are terribly weighted down and handicapped1 as you try to go forward to break up new ground4 ,so1 though we sympathise with everything that tends towards life and light in ,india1 and rejoice with our brothers who bind sheaves1 believing that though all is not genuine corn1 some is1 yet we feel compelled to give ourselves mainly to work of a character which1 by its very nature1 can never be popular1 and possibly never successful from a statistical point of view1 never1 till the ,king comes1 ,whose ,coming is our hope4 ,,chapter ,,xxxii ,show me ,thy ,glory6 ,yesterday ,i was called to see a patient1 a young woman who had been suffering terribly for three days4 ,it was the saddest case ,i ever saw in my life4 4 4 4 ,i had to leave her to die4 4 4 4 ,the experience was such a terrible one that1 old and accustomed surgeon as ,i am1 ,i have been quite upset by it ever since4 ,as long as ,i live the memory of that scene will cling to me4 ,a ,chinese ,missionary4 ,if we refuse to be corns of wheat falling into the ground and dying2 if we will neither sacrifice prospects nor risk character and property and health1 nor1 when we are called1 relinquish home and break family ties1 for ,christ's sake and ,his ,gospel1 then we shall abide alone4 ,thomas ,gajetan ,ragland1 ,india4 ,not mere pity for dead souls1 but a passion for the ,glory of ,god1 is what we need to hold us on to ,victory4 ,miss ,lilias ,trotter1 ,africa4 ,,we are all familiar with the facts and figures which stand for so much more than we realise4 ,we can repeat glibly enough that there are nearly one thousand1 five hundred million people in the world1 and that of these nearly one thousand million are heathen or ,mohammedan4 ,perhaps we can divide this unthinkable mass into comprehensible figures4 ,we can tell everyone who is interested in hearing it1 that of this one thousand million1 two hundred million are ,mohammedans2 two hundred million more are ,hindus2 four hundred and thirty million are ,buddhists and ,confucianists2 and more than one hundred and fifty million are ,pagans4 ,but have we ever stopped and let the awfulness of these statements bear down upon us8 ,do we take in1 that we are talking about immortal souls8 ,we quote someone's computation that every day ninety-six thousand people die without ,christ4 ,have we ever for one hour sat and thought about it8 ,have we thought of it for half an hour1 for a quarter of an hour1 for five unbroken minutes8 ,i go further1 and ,i ask you1 have you ever sat still for one whole minute and counted by the ticking of your watch1 while soul after soul passes out alone into eternity8 4 4 4 ,i have done it4 ,it is awful4 ,at the lowest computation1 sixty-six for whom ,christ died have died since ,i wrote eternity4 ,oh my ,god6 my ,god6 ,men are perishing1 and ,i take no heed6 4 4 4 ,sixty-six more have gone4 ,oh1 how can one keep so calm8 ,death seems racing with the minute hand of my watch4 ,i feel like stopping that terrible run of the minute hand4 ,round and round it goes1 and every time it goes round1 sixty-six people die4 ,i have just heard of the dying of one of the sixty-six4 ,we knew her well4 ,she was a widow2 she had no protectors1 and an unprotected widow in ,india stands in a dangerous place4 ,we knew it1 and tried to persuade her to take refuge in ,jesus4 ,she listened1 almost decided1 then drew back2 afterwards we found out why4 ,you have seen the picture of a man sucked under sea by an octopus2 it was like that4 ,you have imagined the death-struggle2 it was like that4 ,but it all went on under the surface of the water1 there was nothing seen above1 till perhaps a bubble rose slowly and broke2 it was like that4 ,one day1 in the broad noontide1 a woman suddenly fell in the street4 ,someone carried her into a house1 but she was dead1 and those who saw that body saw the marks of the struggle upon it4 ,the village life flowed on as before2 only a few who knew her knew she had murdered her body to cover the murder of her soul4 ,we had come too late for her4 ,last week ,i stood in a house where another of those sixty-six had passed4 ,crouching on the floor1 with her knees drawn up and her head on her knees1 a woman began to tell me about it4 ,she was my younger sister4 ,my mother gave us to two brothers--and she stopped4 ,i knew who the brothers were4 ,i had seen them yesterday--two handsome high-caste ,hindus4 ,we had visited their wives1 little knowing4 ,the woman said no more2 she could not4 ,she just shuddered and hid her face in her hands4 ,a neighbour finished the story4 ,something went wrong with the girl4 ,they called in the barber's wife--the only woman's doctor known in these parts4 ,she did her business ignorantly4 ,the girl died in fearful pain4 ,hindu women are inured to sickening sights1 but this girl's death was so terrible that the elder sister has never recovered from the shock of seeing it4 ,there she sits1 they tell me1 all day long1 crouching on the floor1 mute4 ,all do not pass like that2 some pass very quietly1 there are no bands in their death2 and some are innocent children--thank ,god for the comfort of that6 ,but it must never be forgotten that the heathen sin against the light they have2 their lives witness against them4 ,they know they sin1 and they fear death4 ,an ,indian ,christian doctor1 practising in one of our ,hindu towns1 told me that he could not speak of what he had seen and heard at the deathbeds of some of his patients4 ,a girl came in a moment ago1 and ,i told her what ,i was doing4 ,then ,i showed her the diagram of the ,wedge2 the great black disc for heathendom1 and the narrow white slit for the converts won4 ,she looked at it amazed4 ,then she slowly traced her finger round the disc1 and she pointed to the narrow slit1 and her tears came dropping down on it4 ,oh1 what must ,jesus feel6 she said4 ,oh1 what must ,jesus feel6 ,she is only a common village girl1 she has been a ,christian only a year2 but it touched her to the quick to see that great black blot4 ,i know there are those who care at home1 but do all who care1 care deeply enough8 ,do they feel as ,jesus feels8 ,and if they do1 are they giving their own8 ,they are helping to send out others1 perhaps2 but are they giving their own8 ,oh1 are they truly giving themselves8 ,there must be more giving of ourselves if that wedge is to be widened in the disc4 ,some who care are young1 and life is all before them1 and the question that presses now is this3 ,where is that life to be spent8 ,some are too old to come1 but they have those whom they might send1 if only they would strip themselves for ,jesus' sake4 ,mothers and fathers1 have you sympathy with ,jesus8 ,are you willing to be lonely for a few brief years1 that all through eternal ages ,he may have more over whom to rejoice1 and you with ,him8 ,he may be coming very soon1 and the little interval that remains1 holds our last chance certainly to suffer for ,his sake1 and possibly our last to win jewels for ,his crown4 ,oh1 the unworked jewel-mines of heathendom6 ,oh1 the joy ,his own are missing if they lose this one last chance6 ,sometimes we think that if the need were more clearly seen1 something more would be done4 ,means would be devised2 two or three like-minded would live together1 so as to save expenses1 and set a child free who must otherwise stay for the sake of one of the three4 ,workers abroad can live together1 sinking self and its likes and dislikes for the sake of the ,cause that stands first4 ,but if such an innovation is impossible at home1 something else will be planned1 by which more will be spared1 when those who love our ,god love ,him well enough to put ,his interests first4 ,worthy is the ,lamb to receive6 ,oh1 we say it1 and we pray it6 ,do we act as if we meant it8 ,fathers and mothers1 is ,he not worthy8 ,givers1 who have given your ,all1 have you not found ,him worthy8 ,bare figures overwhelmed me1 said one1 as he told how he had been led to come out2 ,i was fairly staggered as ,i read that twenty-eight thousand a day in ,india alone1 go to their death without ,christ4 ,and ,i questioned1 ,do we believe it8 ,do we really believe it8 ,what narcotic has ,satan injected into our systems that this awful1 woeful1 tremendous fact does not startle us out of our lethargy1 our frightful neglect of human souls8 ,there is a river flowing through this ,district4 ,it rises in the ,western ,ghauts1 and flows for the greater part of the year a placid1 shallow stream4 ,but when the monsoon rains overflow the watersheds1 it fills with a sudden1 magnificent rush2 you can hear it a mile away4 ,out in the sandy river bed a number of high stone platforms are built1 which are used by travellers as resting-places when the river is low4 ,some years ago a party of labourers1 being belated1 decided to sleep on one of these platforms2 for though the rainy season was due1 the river was very low4 ,but in the night the river rose4 ,it swept them on their hold on the stone4 ,it whirled them down in the dark to the sea4 ,suppose that1 knowing1 as they did not1 that the rain had begun to fall on the hills1 and the river was sure to fill1 you had chanced to pass when those labourers were settling down for the night1 would you1 could you1 have passed on content without an effort to tell them so8 ,would you1 could you have gone to bed and slept in perfect tranquillity while those men and women whom you had seen were out in the river bed8 ,if you had1 the thunder of the river would have wakened you1 and for ever your very heart would have been cold with a chill chiller than river water1 cold at the thought of those you dared to leave to drown6 ,you cannot see them1 you say4 ,you can4 ,god has given eyes to the mind4 ,think1 and you will see4 ,then listen4 ,it is ,god ,who speaks4 ,if thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death1 and those that are ready to be slain2 if thou sayest1 ',behold we knew it not1' doth not ,he that pondereth the heart consider it1 and ,he that keepeth thy soul1 doth not ,he know it8 and shall not ,he render to every man according to his works8 ,oh1 by the thought of the many who are drawn unto death1 and the many that are ready to be slain1 by the thought of the sorrow of ,jesus ,who loves them1 consider these things6 ,but all are not called to come6 ,we know it4 ,we do not forget it4 ,but is it a fact so forgotten at home that a missionary need press it8 ,what is forgotten surely is that the field is the world4 ,you would not denude ,england6 ,would ,england be denuded8 ,would a single seat on the ,bishop's bench1 or a single parish or mission hall1 be left permanently empty1 if the man who fills it now moved out to the place which no one fills--that gap on the precipice edge8 ,but suppose it were left empty1 would it be so dreadful after all8 ,would there not be one true ,christian left to point the way to ,christ8 ,and if the worst came to the worst1 would there not still be the ,bible1 and ability to read8 ,need anyone die unsaved1 unless set upon self-destruction8 ,if only ,christians in ,england knew how to draw supplies direct from ,god1 if only those who cannot come would take up the responsibility of the unconverted around them1 why should not a parish here and there be left empty for awhile8 ,surely we should not deliberately leave so very many to starve to death1 because those who have the ,bread of ,life have a strong desire for sweets4 ,oh1 the spiritual confectionery consumed every year in ,england6 ,god open our eyes to see if we are doing what ,he meant1 and what ,he means should continue6 ,but some men are too valuable to be thrown away on the mission field2 they are such successful workers1 pastors1 evangelists1 leaders of thought4 ,they could not possibly be spared4 ,think of the waste of burying brain in unproductive sand6 ,apparently it is so1 but is it really so8 ,does ,god view it like that8 ,where should we have been to-day if ,he had thought ,jesus too valuable to be thrown away upon us8 ,was not each hour of those thirty-three years worth more than a lifetime of ours8 ,what is ,god's definition of that golden word success8 ,he looks at ,roman ,catholic ,europe1 and ,roman and heathen ,south ,america1 and ,mohammedan and heathen ,africa and ,asia1 and many a forgotten place in many a great land4 ,and then ,he looks at us1 and ,i wonder what ,he thinks4 ,ragland1 ,fellow of ,corpus ,christi ,college1 ,cambridge1 after years of brain-burying waste1 wrote that ,he was teaching him that of all plans for securing success the most certain is ,christ's own1 becoming a corn of wheat1 falling into the ground and dying4 ,if coming abroad means that for anyone1 is it too much to ask8 ,it was what our dear ,lord did4 ,this brings us to another plea4 ,i find it in the verse that carves out with two strokes the whole result of two lives4 ,if any man's work abide4 4 4 4 ,if any man's work shall be burned4 ,the net result of one man's work is gold1 silver1 precious stones2 the net result of another man's work is wood1 hay1 stubble4 ,which is worth the spending of a life8 ,an earnest worker in her special line of work is looking back at it from the place where things show truest1 and she says1 ,god help us all6 ,what is the good done by any such work as mine8 ',if any man build upon this foundation 4 4 4 wood1 hay1 stubble4 4 4 4 ,if any man's work shall be burned he shall suffer loss2 but he himself shall be saved1 yet so as by fire6' ,an infinitude of pains and labour1 and all to disappear like the stubble and the hay4 ,success--what is it worth8 ,i was flushed with praise1 ,but pausing just a moment to draw breath1 ,i could not choose but murmur to myself1 ',is this all8 ,all that's done8 and all that's gained8 ,if this1 then1 be success1 'tis dismaller ,than any failure4' ,so transparent a thing is the glamour of success to clear-seeing poet-eyes1 and should it dazzle the ,christian to whom nothing is of any worth but the thing that endures8 ,should arguments based upon comparisons between the apparent success of work at home as distinguished from work abroad influence us in any way8 ,is it not very solemn1 this calm1 clear setting forth of a truth which touches each of us8 ,every man's work shall be made manifest1 for the ,day shall declare it1 because it shall be revealed by fire1 and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is4 ,and as we realise the perishableness of all work1 however apparently successful1 except the one work done in the one way ,god means1 oh1 does it not stir us up to seek with an intensity of purpose which will not be denied1 to find out what that one work is8 ,the same thought comes out in the verse which tells us that the very things we are to do are prepared before1 and we are created in ,christ ,jesus to do them4 ,if this is so1 then will the doing of anything else seem worth while1 when we look back and see life as ,god sees it8 ,it may be that the things prepared are lying close at our hand at home1 but it may be they are abroad4 ,if they are at home there will be settled peace in the doing of them there2 but if they are abroad1 and we will not come and do them8--,oh1 then our very prayers will fall as fall the withered leaves1 when the wind that stirred them falls1 yea more so1 for the withered leaves have a work to do1 but the prayers which are stirred up by some passing breeze of emotion do nothing1 nothing for eternity4 ,god will not hear our prayers for the heathen if ,he means us to be out among them instead of at home praying for them1 or if ,he means us to give up some son or daughter1 and we prefer to pray4 ,lord save us from hypocrisy and sham6 ,shrivel the falsehood from us if we say we love ,thee but obey ,thee not6 ,are we staying at home1 and praying for missions when ,thou hast said to us ,go8 ,are we holding back something of which ,thou hast said1 ,loose it1 and let it go8 ,lord1 are we utterly through and through true8 ,lord ,god of truthfulness1 save us from sham6 ,make us perfectly true6 ,i turn to you1 brothers and sisters at home6 ,do you know that if ,god is calling you1 and you refuse to obey you will hardly know how to bear what will happen afterwards8 ,sooner or later you will know1 yea burn through every part of your being1 with the knowledge that you disobeyed1 and lost your chance1 lost it for ever4 ,for that is the awful part4 ,it is rarely given to one to go back and pick up the chance he knowingly dropped4 ,the express of one's life has shot past the points1 and one cannot go back2 the lines diverge4 ,some of us almost shudder now to think how nearly we stayed at home1 a missionary writes4 ,do not1 ,i beseech you1 let this great matter drift4 ,do not walk in uncertainty4 ,do not be turned aside4 ,you will be eternally the poorer if you do4 ,it may be you are not clear as to what is ,god's will for you4 ,you are in doubt1 you are honest1 but a thousand questions perplex you4 ,will you go to ,god about it1 and get the answer direct8 ,if you are puzzled about things which a straightforward missionary can explain1 will you buy a copy of ,do ,not ,say1 and read it alone with ,god8 ,let me emphasise that word alone4 ,arise1 go forth into the plain1 and ,i will there talk with thee4 ,there was a ,voice 4 4 4 when they stood and had let down their wings4 ,oh1 by the thought of the ,day that is coming1 when the fire shall try all we are doing1 and only the true shall stand1 ,i plead for an honest facing of the question before it is too late6 ,but this is not our strongest plea4 ,we could pile them up1 plea upon plea1 and not exhaust the number which press and urge one to write4 ,we pass them all1 and go to the place where the strongest waits3 ,god's ,glory is being given to another4 ,this is the most solemn plea1 the supreme imperative call4 ,not mere pity for dead souls1 but a passion for the ,glory of ,god1 is what we need to hold us through to victory4 ,i am the ,lord1 that is ,my ,name1 and ,my ,glory will ,i not give to another1 neither ,my praise to graven images4 ,but the men ,he made to glorify ,him take ,his ,glory from ,him1 give it to another2 that1 the sin of it1 the shame1 calls with a low1 deep under-call through all the other calls4 ,god's ,glory is being given to another4 ,do we love ,him enough to care8 ,or do we measure our private cost1 if these distant souls are to be won1 and1 finding it considerable1 cease to think or care8 ,is it nothing to you1 all ye that pass by8 ,behold and see--,they took ,jesus and led ,him away4 ,and ,he1 bearing ,his cross1 went forth into a place called the place of a skull 4 4 4 where they crucified ,him4 4 4 4 ,herein is love4 4 4 4 ,god so loved the world4 4 4 4 ,have we petrified past feeling8 ,can we stand and measure now8 ,i know that only the ,spirit1 ,who counted every drop that fell from the torn brow of ,christ as dearer than all the jewelled gates of ,paradise1 can lift the ,church out of her appreciation of the world1 the world as it appeals to her own selfish lusts1 into an appreciation of the world as it appeals to the heart of ,god4 ,o ,spirit1 come and lift us into this love1 inspire us by this love4 ,let us look at the vision of the ,glory of our ,god with eyes that have looked at ,his love6 ,we would not base a single plea on anything weaker than solid fact4 ,sentiment will not stand the strain of the real tug of war2 but is it fact1 or is it not1 that ,jesus counted you and me1 and the other people in the world1 actually worth dying for8 ,if it is true1 then do we love ,him well enough to care with the whole strength of our being1 that to-day1 almost all over the world1 ,his ,glory is being given to another8 ,if this does not move us1 is it because we do not love ,him very much1 or is it that we have never prayed with honest desire1 as ,moses prayed1 ,i beseech ,thee1 show me ,thy ,glory8 ,he only saw a little of it4 ,behold there is a place by ,me1 and thou shalt stand upon a rock3 and it shall come to pass1 while ,my ,glory passeth by1 that ,i will put thee in a clift of the rock1 and will cover thee with ,my hand while ,i pass by4 ,and the ,glory of the ,lord passed1 and ,moses was aware of something of it as it passed1 but ,my face shall not be seen1 ,and yet that little was enough to mark him out as one who lived for one purpose1 shone in the light of it1 burned with the fire of it--he was jealous for the ,glory of his ,god4 ,and we--,we beheld ,his ,glory1 the ,glory as of the only begotten of the ,father1 full of grace and truth2 and we--we have seen the light of the knowledge of the ,glory of ,god in the face of ,jesus ,christ4 ,while ,my ,glory passeth by ,i will 4 4 4 cover thee 4 4 4 ,my face shall not be seen4 ,but we all with open face1 reflecting1 as in a mirror1 the ,glory of the ,lord1 are changed--,are we8 ,do we8 ,do we know anything at all about it8 ,have we ever apprehended this for which we are apprehended of ,christ ,jesus8 ,have we seen the ,heavenly ,vision that breaks us down1 and humbles us to hear the ,voice of the ,lord ask1 ,who will go for ,us8 and strengthens us to answer1 ,here am ,i1 send me1 and holds us on to obey if we hear ,him saying ,go8 ,i beseech ,thee1 show me ,thy ,glory6 ,shall we pray it1 meaning it now1 to the very uttermost8 ,the uttermost may hold hard things1 but1 easy or hard1 there is no other way to reach the place where our lives can receive an impetus which will make them tell for eternity4 ,the motive power is the love of ,christ4 ,not our love for ,him only1 but ,his very love itself4 ,it was the mighty1 resistless flow of that glorious love that made the first missionary pour himself forth on the sacrifice and service4 ,and the joy of it rings through triumphantly1 ,yea1 and if ,i be poured forth 4 4 4 ,i joy and rejoice with you all6 ,yes1 ,god's ,glory is our plea1 highest1 strongest1 most impelling and enduring of all pleas4 ,but oh1 by the thought of the myriads who are passing1 by the thought of the ,coming of the ,lord1 by the infinite realities of life and death1 heaven and hell1 by our ,saviour's cross and ,passion1 we plead with all those who love ,him1 but who have not considered these things yet1 consider them now6 ,let ,him show us the vision of the ,glory1 and bring us to the very end of self1 let ,him touch our lips with the live coal1 and set us on fire to burn for ,him1 yea1 burn with consuming love for ,him1 and a purpose none can turn us from1 and a passion like a pure white flame1 a passion for the ,glory of ,god6 ,oh1 may this passion consume us6 burn the self out of us1 burn the love into us--for ,god's ,glory we ask it1 ,amen4 ,worthy is the ,lamb that was slain to receive power1 and riches1 and wisdom1 and strength1 and honour1 and glory1 and blessing 4 4 4 ,blessing1 and honour1 and glory1 and power be unto ,him4 ,,appendix ,some ,indian ,saints ,,there was one--he has joined the company of ,indian saints in glory now--the poet of the ,mission1 and our friend1--one so true in all his ways that a ,hindu lad observing him with critical schoolboy eyes1 saw in him1 as in a mirror1 something of the holiness of ,god1 and1 won by that look1 became a ,christian and a winner of souls4 ,some of the noblest converts of our ,mission are the direct result of that ,tamil poet's life4 ,there is another2 he is old1 and all through his many years he has been known as the one-word man1 the man of changeless truth4 ,he is a village pastor1 whom all the people love4 ,go into his cottage any time1 any day1 and you will find one and another with him1 and you will see the old man1 with his loving face and almost quite blind eyes1 bending patiently to catch every word of the story they are telling1 and then you will hear him advising and comforting1 as a father would his child4 ,for miles round that countryside the people know him1 and he is honoured by ,hindus and by ,christians as ,india honours saints4 ,i remember once seeing the poet and the pastor together4 ,they belonged to widely different castes1 but that was forgotten now4 ,the two old white heads were bent over the same letter--a letter telling of the defection of a young convert each had loved as a son1 and they were weeping over him4 ,it was the ancient ,east living its life before us3 ,o my son ,absalom1 my son1 my son ,absalom6 would ,god ,i had died for thee1 ,o ,absalom my son1 my son6 ,but what made it a thing to remember in this land of ,caste divisions1 even among ,christians1 was the overflowing of the love that made those two men one4 ,there are others4 ,money1 the place it holds in a man's affections1 is supposed to be a fair test of character4 ,we could tell of a lawyer who is losing money to-day rather than touch unrighteous gains2 of a doctor who gives to his church till he feels1 and travels any distance to help the poor who cannot pay2 of a peasant who risks a certain amount of injury to his palms rather than climb them on ,sunday2 and in many an old-world town and village1 dotted about on the wide red plain1 we have simple1 humble1 holy people1 of whom the world knows nothing--pastors in lonely out-stations1 teachers1 and workers1 and just ordinary ,christians--who do the day's work1 and shine as they do it4 ,we think of such men and women when we hear the critic's cry1 and we wish he could know them as they are4 ,it is these men and women who ask us to tell it out clearly how sorely our ,indian ,church needs your prayers4 ,they have no desire to hide things4 ,they speak straighter than we do1 and far more strongly1 and they believe1 as we do1 that if you know more you will pray more4 ,,london3 ,,morgan ,,and ,,scott 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's ,notes3 ,obvious punctuation errors repaired4 ,page #adf was missing in the #aije edition4 ,the text was replaced from the #aijc edition4