,transcriber's ,note3 ,italics are enclosed in underscores4 ,additional notes will be found near the end of this ebook4 ,illustration ,illustration3 ,julius ,smith ,illustration ,ten ,years in ,burma ,by ,,rev4 ,,julius ,,smith ,,cincinnati3 ,,jennings ,,pye ,,new ,,york3 ,,eaton ,,mains ,,copyright #aijb ,,by ,,jennings ,,pye ,illustration ,,all ,,rights ,,reserved ,,preface ,the following account of life in ,burma has been written to make the country and its people better known in ,america4 ,at this time1 when the ,united ,states has come into possession of large and important tropical lands1 there is much quickening of interest in all such countries4 ,burma is much like the ,philippine ,islands in climate1 and there is great racial similarity between the ,burmese race and the ,tagals4 ,but ,i have written chiefly to record the experiences and observations of a missionary in a great and important mission-field1 which is not so well known in the home land as it deserves to be4 ,my purpose has been to make the condition of missionary life1 and much of other life1 real to the reader1 who has had no experience in a tropical country4 ,it is hoped that this presentation of facts will add to missionary knowledge1 and secure a better acquaintance with the races of ,asia and the forces of civilization that are making for the uplift of ,asiatic peoples4 ,in writing of mission work in ,burma1 ,i have given special prominence to that under the control of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church4 ,there has been no printed account of this mission for the twenty-two years of its history1 and it seems well to give some permanent form to the record of that which has been undertaken by our little band of missionaries in that field4 ,in writing of races1 social life1 and government1 ,i have1 of course1 written of that which is seen through a missionary's eyes4 ,it so happens that ,i have had a great deal to do with people of various nationalities1 in relations not directly of a missionary character4 ,this has given me many opportunities to observe as a man1 regardless of my calling4 ,in all respects ,i have tried to be fair and accurate4 ,i have always cherished a fellow-feeling with men whose labors brought them to ,asia1 and my sympathies have been with all such in honorable callings4 ,it has been my purpose to reflect the conditions of life with which they are surrounded4 ,there has been much excluded that ,i would gladly have recorded1 if the limit of this book had allowed the additional facts4 ,some incompleteness of statement has been unavoidable1 as ,i could not verify the details at the time and place of writing4 ,ten years is a short time to study great questions in the ,east1 and to form conclusions on the greatest of them2 but ,i trust that enough of well-digested facts has been told in this book to give the student of missions and mission lands an inside view of the questions discussed4 ,for such defects as are due to the limitations of the author's ability to gather or to present facts in a satisfactory manner1 ,i must trust to the generous sentiments of the reader4 ,,julius ,,smith4 ,,table ,,of ,,contents ,,page ,i4 ,,from ,,america ,,to ,,burma1 #ac ,,ii4 ,,first ,,year ,,in ,,burma1 #cd ,,iii4 ,a ,,year ,,of ,,changes1 #eg ,,iv4 ,,the ,,physical ,,features ,,of ,,burma1 #gj ,v4 ,,the ,,city ,,of ,,rangoon1 #hg ,,vi4 ,,europeans1 ,,anglo-,,indians1 ,,eurasians1 #aji ,,vii4 ,,characteristics ,,of ,,races ,,of ,,burma1 #abb ,,viii4 ,,buddhism1 #aci ,,ix4 ,,buddhism2 ,,how ,,maintained1 #aec ,x4 ,,buddhism ,,and ,,christianity ,,contrasted1 #afi ,,xi4 ,,ripened ,,fruit ,,of ,,non-,,christian ,,faiths1 #ahj ,,xii4 ,,outline ,,of ,,christian ,,missions1 ,,burma1 #bja ,,xiii4 ,,methodist ,,episcopal ,,mission1 ,,burma1 #baf ,,xiv4 ,,preaching ,,in ,,four ,,asiatic ,,languages1 #bcf ,,xv4 ,a ,,unique ,,enterprise1 #bfc ,,xvi4 ,,the ,,present ,,situation ,,in ,,missions1 #bic ,,xvii4 ,,benefits ,,of ,,british ,,rule ,,in ,,southern ,,asia1 #cjh ,illustration ,,list ,,of ,,illustrations ,,page #a4 ,,julius ,,smith1 ,frontispiece4 #b4 ,,sway ,,dagon ,,pagoda1 #bg #c4 ,,methodist ,,church1 ,,rangoon1 #cg #d4 ,,natives ,,of ,,burma1 #dc #e4 ,,paddy-,,boat1 #ge #f4 ,,the ,,elephant ,,at ,,work1 #hc #g4 ,,the ,,new ,,public ,,offices1 ,,rangoon1 #ic #h4 ,,the ,,mosque1 ,,rangoon1 #ii #i4 ,,entrance ,,of ,,sway ,,dagon ,,pagoda1 #ajc #aj4 ,,royal ,,lakes ,,at ,,eventide1 ,,rangoon1 #ajg #aa4 ,a ,,burmese ,,family1 #abg #ab4 ,,shrine1 ,,sway ,,dagon ,,pagoda1 #adc #ac4 ,,front ,,of ,a ,,gautama ,,temple1 #adi #ad4 ,,buddhist ,,monk ,,and ,,attendant1 #aeg #ae4 ,,funeral ,,pyre ,,of ,a ,,burmese ,,priest1 #afc #af4 ,,festivities ,,at ,a ,,poungyi',s ,,cremation1 #aii #ag4 ,,methodist ,,girls' ,,school1 ,,rangoon1 #bai #ah4 ,,charlotte ,o',,neal ,,institute1 ,,rangoon1 #bbc #ai4 ,,large ,,image ,,at ,,pegu1 #bee #bj4 ,,miss ,,perkins ,,and ,,group ,,of ,,girls ,,at ,,thandaung1 #bge #ba4 ,,first ,,permanent ,,building ,,on ,,thandaung1 #bhc #bb4 ,,burmese ,,festival ,,cart1 #cae ,illustration ,ten ,years in ,burma ,illustration ,,chapter ,i ,from ,america to ,burma ,the ,church of ,jesus ,christ has just closed its first century of missionary effort within modern times4 ,the nineteenth century began with only a few heroic spirits urging the ,church to awake to its responsibility of giving the gospel to the ,christless nations4 ,the century has just closed with a steadily increasing army of missionaries1 who are determined to give the gospel to every man in his own tongue at the earliest possible day1 while the whole ,church is beginning to feel the missionary impulse1 so far at least1 that an increasing multitude are eager to hear of mission lands1 the condition of the peoples without ,christ1 the victories of the gospel1 and to have some share in its triumph4 ,adoniram ,judson1 the great missionary hero1 enrolled the land of ,burma in the list of great mission-fields4 ,he began his labors in ,burma during the second decade of the century4 ,the following pages are written as a report of missionary labors and observations in that land in the closing ten years of the century4 ,how the writer came to be a missionary1 and to be honored with an appointment to ,burma1 may warrant a brief statement4 ,in almost all life's important steps1 individual influence proves the determining factor4 ,this is true in my call to the mission-field4 ,in #ahfg1 when only ten years of age1 living on my father's farm in ,andrew ,county1 ,mo41 ,i heard a ,methodist preacher make a plea for the heathen world4 ,i have never been able to recall his name1 that being the only time he ever preached in that place1 which was a schoolhouse on my father's farm4 ,the sermon made a profound impression on me1 and ,i decided to give half of my little fortune of one dollar1 saved from pennies1 to the cause of missions1 with pleadings for which he so warmed our hearts and moved our eyes to tears4 ,later experiences have shown that missionary sermon to have been the most potential influence of my childhood or youth in determining what ,i should be in after years4 ,the experience itself seemed to die away for a term of years1 due1 ,i think1 to the fact that ,i had little religious training and no missionary information during youth4 ,the reawakening of missionary interest came in #ahhj1 when in college in the ,iowa ,wesleyan ,university ,i heard ,william ,taylor tell of his missionary labors in many lands4 ,had ,i then been near the close of my college course1 instead of at its beginning1 ,i would have volunteered to go to his mission in ,south ,america4 ,seven or eight years went by1 and ,i was in ,garrett ,biblical ,institute4 ,at that time ,bishop ,thoburn delivered a series of thrilling missionary addresses to the school4 ,i now think1 though without being clearly conscious of it1 that from that time ,i was called to go to ,india4 ,in #ahhi1 ,i was pastor of the ,arlington ,methodist ,church in ,kansas ,city1 ,mo41 and so became one of the entertainers of the ,missionary ,committee that met in the city that year4 ,in listening to the missionary addresses for ten days1 and more especially in conversation with ,dr4 ,oldham1 who was present1 being commissioned by ,bishop ,thoburn to secure re-enforcements for ,india1 the whole question whether my wife and ,i should offer ourselves to the ,missionary ,society for work in the foreign field came up for final settlement4 ,i sought the counsel of ,bishop ,ninde1 who had once been to ,india1 and whose kindly manner always invited confidences of this sort4 ,he agreed to come and spend a day with us1 two months later1 which he did1 and as a result of his counsel and advice1 we decided to offer to go to ,india as missionaries4 ,the offer was promptly accepted1 and from that time we laid our plans to leave for our new field of work the following fall4 ,it has always been an inspiring memory to recall the steps by which we were led to let go of ,america and set our faces toward ,asia1 and the personal agencies that led us to this decision4 ,there was another consideration which had great weight in our choice of the foreign mission-field4 ,at home there are men ready for all places4 ,in the foreign mission-fields1 especially in ,southern ,asia1 to which we were drawn1 there are several places for every man4 ,here any one of a dozen valuable men can be had for any important charge4 ,on the mission-fields there are most important posts that call in vain for re-enforcements4 ,at home supplies can be had to meet any emergency within a very short time2 but on the mission-field we often must wait years for the right man4 ,i left ,kansas ,city in the morning1 and my successor1 a very worthy and successful man1 arrived in the evening of the same day4 ,but out in ,burma ,i have pleaded for years for one man to re-enforce the mission4 ,the ,arlington ,church1 which ,i was serving1 was then and is now a very enjoyable pastorate--one in which the people1 always cherish their pastor1 and better1 where they have from the founding of the ,church cordially supported every effort for the salvation of men4 ,the decision to leave that ,church to go half way round the world to a people ,i had never seen1 was largely due to the fact that we were needed most on this picket-line of missions1 and good men1 who for any reason could not go to the foreign fields1 could be found to take up promptly the work ,i laid down at home4 ,the farewells in ,kansas ,city were of the cheerful and happy kind that send missionaries on their way to their peculiar missions strong in heart4 ,arlington ,church spoke its own farewell in a reception to their pastor and his family1 while ,grand ,avenue ,church1 the ,methodists of ,kansas ,city1 followed with a general reception to the outgoing missionaries4 ,this general gathering was under the direction of the pastor1 ,dr4 ,jesse ,bowman ,young1 and ,dr4 ,o4 ,m4 ,stewart1 the presiding elder4 ,the latter sounded the note of cheerfulness for the farewell4 ,he said1 8,let us have nothing of a funeral sort about this reception40 ,we have always thanked him for the cheerful and hopeful tone which ran all through the meeting4 ,dr4 ,young was of the same spirit1 and in his address1 which at one moment bordered on the emotional at the thought of a long parting from those to whom he had been one of the best of friends1 recovered himself by saying1 8,if you discover anything suspicious in my eyes1 charge it up to the hayfever40 ,these good brethren did more than they knew to set a standard of joyful anticipation on the part of the ,church and the outgoing missionaries in the honorable service to which they were called1 that toned up their courage when facing the actual separation from home ties4 ,this was of very great value to us who were leaving a very enjoyable pastorate1 a native land in which we had taken deep root1 and most of all1 an aged father and mother4 ,we left ,kansas ,city on ,september #c1 #ahij1 and after a little over two months spent in resting and arranging our affairs1 we sailed from ,new ,york for ,liverpool on ,november #abth4 ,the closing hours in ,new ,york were very different from those in ,kansas ,city1 and made it appear very real to us that we were being plucked up from the home land and transplanted to a foreign country4 ,we had no acquaintances at all in ,new ,york1 except one of the ,missionary ,secretaries1 who had visited us in ,kansas ,city4 ,he and his associates were as kind as they could be2 but then as now1 they were men worked beyond their strength with the burdens of business there is upon them1 and at that particular time were hurried to get off to ,boston1 to the annual ,missionary ,committee meeting1 and they had to tell us a hasty farewell at the ,mission ,rooms1 and leave us to go alone to the ship4 ,while our sailing was more lonely than that of most missionaries1 yet it is now the custom to make very little out of the departure of men and women to mission-fields1 however distant4 ,the older missionaries contrast this formal dispatch of recruits with the custom of forty years ago1 when men still in active service1 were first sent out4 ,then it was the plan to have the new missionaries gathered in one or more churches1 and after speeches and exchange of good-will all around1 to send them forth with the feeling that their outgoing on this great mission was a matter of moment to the whole ,church4 ,it is presumable that custom may change in this matter from time to time1 and especially as the number and frequency of the departure of missionaries increase2 but it is certain that the departure of missionaries to our distant fields on this1 the highest mission of the ,church1 can not be made less of than it has been in recent years4 ,we sailed on the steamship ,city of ,new ,york1 the largest and swiftest ship then afloat4 ,she loosed her moorings at five o'clock in the morning of ,november #abth4 ,it was a gloomy morning with a cold rain1 and though ,i was on deck to note any objects of interest amidst the gloom1 nothing at all of importance was in view1 save the ,statue of ,liberty holding its light aloft in the harbor4 ,no departure from the shores of the home-land could have been less cheering and romantic4 ,but as the great ship made her way out to sea1 there was a peculiar satisfaction in the feeling that came over us1 that we were actually on our way to ,burma4 ,some time before sailing1 it had been decided that we would go there1 making headquarters at ,rangoon1 the capital of that province of the ,indian ,empire4 ,our voyage across the ,atlantic was uneventful for the most part1 but not uninteresting4 ,on a great ship one has a good opportunity to study his fellow-passengers4 ,one among our company has since become an international character1 and even then had become widely known4 ,this personage was none other than ,paul ,kruger1 ,president1 then and since1 of the ,transvaal ,republic4 ,we then thought of ,majuba ,hill and its consequences1 but could not foresee that this son of the ,african velt would1 before ten years had passed1 throw so large a part of the world into turmoil and lead in a great war4 ,i was impressed with his strong leonine features1 and the less heroic fact that he was one of the first among the passengers to yield to the power of a rough sea4 ,four days out we ran into a great storm that lasted nearly two days4 ,up to that time we were making a quick passage1 but the wind and waves soon destroyed all hopes of making a high record4 ,the storm was worst at midnight1 and as we were being rolled until it was hardly possible to remain in our berths1 the ammonia pipes broke and flooded the lower cabins with gas4 ,our cabin was located near that part of the ship where the trouble occurred1 but no one was seriously injured4 ,a similar thing recently happened on the same ship in a storm on the ,atlantic1 and again the suffocating gas spread through the ship with one fatality and a number of prostrations4 ,landing at ,liverpool1 we went to ,london for ten days1 returning to the former place to take the first ship direct for ,rangoon4 ,there are two general routes from ,english ports to points in ,india4 ,by one you travel across the continent1 and usually take ship at some ,mediterranean port1 and sail to ,bombay4 ,by the other you sail via ,gibraltar1 and so go by sea all the way4 ,our route was the latter course1 and at the time we went out there was only one line of steamers1 the ,patrick ,henderson1 direct from ,english ports to ,rangoon4 ,we took passage on a new vessel1 the steamship ,pegu1 making its third voyage4 8,what a strange name for a ship60 we said4 ,we soon learned that the name was taken from an old1 ruined city of ,burma1 and that all the company's steamers bear the name of some city1 ancient or modern1 in the land of ,burma4 ,so1 at the very docks1 as we started ,eastward1 we met a name suggestive of the ancient history of the land of our future labors4 ,in the appointments of the steamer we were much impressed with the fact that we had no arrangement for heating the vessel1 but every plan for thorough ventilation4 ,we found it very cold on board until we passed the ,suez ,canal4 ,otherwise the appointments were every way satisfactory1 and the fare reasonable4 ,this good ship made but one voyage more under its ,scotch ownership4 ,it was then sold to the ,spaniards and renamed the ,alicante4 ,this circumstance became of much interest to us at a later date1 when this ship was the first to be loaded with defeated ,spanish troops at ,santiago4 ,the outward voyage had its many objects of interest to the passengers going out for the first time4 ,we sailed in plain view of the ,portuguese and ,spanish coasts1 but were disappointed in passing ,gibraltar at night4 ,the next day1 however1 we were charmed with a magnificent view of the ,sierra ,nevada ,mountains in ,southern ,spain1 as they lifted their snowy heights into cloudless skies1 and their vineclad slopes dropped away to the level of the sea4 ,for nearly a whole day we sailed close by the picturesque shores of ,sardinia4 ,here we noted a singular confusion of the compass by reason of being magnetized by the land4 ,as the good ship swung off from the southern cape of the island1 it made two great curves to correct the erratic state of the compass4 ,we entered the harbor of ,naples in the full floodlight of a ,mediterranean noon4 ,the afternoon was spent in the city4 ,our party was not favorably impressed with the gay people in their holiday attire4 ,it seems they have many holidays of the like kind4 ,in the evening we sailed southward2 and as darkness closed around us1 distant ,vesuvius sent its fiery glow upward on the black mass of overhanging cloud1 making a lurid night scene4 ,in the morning we woke in plain view of the great volcanic cone of ,stromboli1 rising out of the sea4 ,we were near the island1 which seems to have no land except the volcano itself2 yet houses nestle here and there around its base4 ,what a choice for a home--at the base of an actual volcano6 ,the weather was perfect as we sailed through the ,straits of ,messina1 but great ,mount tna1 which we hoped to see1 was hid in clouds4 ,the second stop in our journey was at ,port ,said4 ,the ,suez ,canal is the gateway of the nations4 ,port ,said is its northern entrance4 ,it is under international control1 and hence its government is less responsible than that of almost any other city4 ,it is one of the most wicked cities of the world4 ,representatives of all races are congregated there4 ,it is not our purpose to describe this city1 but to point out that here for the first time we had a glimpse of the ,orient4 ,the fellaheen of ,egypt loaded our ship with coal1 carrying great baskets on their heads4 ,we arrived in the night1 and the coaling began almost immediately4 ,my wife and ,i got out of our cabin before day to go on deck and see these people at work by the light of torches4 ,a strange1 weird sight it was to ,western eyes2 and their shouting in strange tongues emphasized the fact that we had indeed come to a strange land4 ,the ,suez ,canal is the natural dividing-line between the ,western and the ,eastern civilizations1 between the cold ,northlands and the perpetually tropical countries of ,southern ,asia4 ,looking westward and northward1 you find energy put to practical account2 looking eastward1 you find lethargy and life no more aggressive that it must be to keep peoples as they have been for a thousand years4 ,westward you greet progress1 but ,eastward life has been stagnated for ages1 and only stirs as it is acted upon from the ,west4 ,westward you have an increasing degree of prosperity and material comforts and advantages of modern civilization1 but ,eastward you have such poverty among the millions as can not be conceived by people more favored4 ,westward you have civilizations never content with present attainment2 but ,eastward you have peoples whose highest ideals are only to be and to do what their fathers were and did before them4 ,the ,west seeks to produce new things1 but the ,east condemns all improvement for no other reason than that it is new4 ,all this1 and much more1 is suggested by the ,suez ,canal1 from which you plunge downward into ,asiatic civilization4 ,climatically you are henceforth to know only the tropics1 a climate1 so far as ,southern ,asia is concerned1 that you will come to know henceforth as dividing the year into two seasons1 8,three months very hot1 and nine months very much hotter40 ,at ,port ,said you will be informed of the change that is just ahead of you4 ,whatever you may have bought in ,new ,york or ,london1 you will need one more article of dress at ,port ,said--a helmet1 to protect your head from the tropical sun4 ,you will never see a day in ,southern ,asia in which you can go forth in the noonday sun with an ordinary hat1 or without a helmet1 except at your peril2 and most of the time you will wear that protection for your head from early morning until five in the evening1 or later4 ,you will have another indication that you are going down into the tropics4 ,if you have made your journey1 as we did1 in the colder months1 the sunniest place on the deck has been the most comfortable until you arrive at ,port ,said2 but there they raise double canvas over the whole ship1 and from that on1 as long as you go to and fro in the tropical seas1 you will never travel a league by sea that you do not have that same double canvas above you when the sun is in the heavens4 ,no wonder the ,suez ,canal means so much besides commerce or travel to all who have passed through it to ,southern ,asia6 ,through the fifteen hundred miles of the ,red ,sea we took our way4 ,then the ,gulf of ,aden was traversed1 and next through the ,arabian ,sea our good ship bore us on our journey4 ,the heat1 like very hot summer at home1 was upon us1 though we were out at sea in ,december4 ,coming on deck one morning before other passengers were astir1 ,i was delighted to see the green hills of ,ceylon a few miles to our left4 ,we had rounded the island in the night4 ,the decks had been scrubbed in the early morning1 as usual2 the ocean was smooth1 and the tropical sun flooded sea and land1 while the sweetest odor of spices filled the air4 ,at once ,i thought of 8,ceylon's spicy breezes10 but ,i suddenly noted that the wind was toward the shore1 which lay some miles away1 and then ,i was prepared for the sentiment of the chief steward who had sprinkled spices out of the ship stores over the wet deck to please the passengers' sense of smell as they came forth to give their morning greetings to this emerald isle of the ,indian ,ocean4 ,in rounding ,ceylon we reached our lowest latitude1 six degrees north4 ,we were still six days' sail from ,burma1 and our course took us nearly northeast from this point4 ,the entire voyage from the ,suez ,canal to ,burma was made under cloudless skies and through calm waters4 ,a day from ,rangoon we passed near the beautiful little ,cocoa ,islands1 while the ,andamans showed above the horizon far to the southward4 ,it is remarkable how much interest there is among passengers when a ship is sighted1 or land appears on a long voyage4 ,these ,cocoa ,islands are important as being guides to vessels homeward or outward bound1 and they mark the line between the ,bay of ,bengal and the ,gulf of ,martahan4 ,an important lighthouse has been maintained there for the past fifty years4 ,the ,andamans are shrouded in gloomy mystery1 due to the fact that they are used as a penal colony of criminals transported from ,india4 ,on the #cast of ,december1 #ahij1 after passing several light-ships1 we came1 about noon1 in sight of the low-lying shores of ,burma4 ,we had been thirty-five days from ,liverpool1 and were getting weary of the sea1 to say nothing of our curiosity to land in a country new to us4 ,but no land could be less interesting than this shore-line of ,burma1 first sighted on coming in from the sea4 ,it lies just above the sea-level1 and besides a fringe of very small shrubbery1 and here and there a cocoanut palm-tree1 it is absolutely expressionless4 ,after lying at anchor for three hours at the mouth of the ,rangoon ,river1 waiting for the incoming tide1 we began the last twenty miles of our journey up the broad river to the city of ,rangoon4 ,the passengers were made up mostly of people who were returning to ,burma after a furlough in ,england4 ,the anticipation of friendly greetings and the appearance of every familiar object along the river created a quiver of pleasant excitement among them4 ,our missionary party were almost the only ones who had not special friends in ,rangoon to meet them4 ,illustration3 ,,sway ,,dagon ,,pagoda ,presently all eyes were turned up the river as the second officer called out1 8,there is the ,great ,pagoda40 ,yes1 this1 the greatest shrine of the ,buddhist world1 rising from a little hilltop just behind the main part of the city of ,rangoon1 lifted its gilded and glistening form hundreds of feet skyward4 ,this is the first object of special importance that is looked for by every traveler going up the ,rangoon ,river4 ,it is seen before any public building comes into view4 ,but presently the smoke from the great chimneys of the large rice mills of ,rangoon appeared1 and then the city was outlined along a river frontage of two or three miles4 ,the city has no special attractions1 as viewed from the harbor2 but the whole river presents an animated scene1 always interesting even to any one familiar with it1 but full of startling surprises to the newcomer to the ,east4 ,with the single exception of ,port ,said1 our missionary party had seen nothing of ,oriental life4 ,the panoramic view of that river and shore life seen on that last day of #ahij will remain a lifetime in the minds of our party4 ,steamers of many nations and sailing-vessels under a score of flags1 native crafts of every description1 steam launches by the dozen1 and half a thousand small native boats of a ,chinese pattern1 called 8sampans10 moved swiftly about the river1 while two or three thousand people crowded the landing and the river front4 ,it is possible that half a hundred nationalities were represented in that throng1 but to us strangers there were only two distinctions to be made out clearly3 a few men and women with fair skins1 and the remainder of the multitude men of darker hue4 8,europeans and natives0 is the general distinction used in all ,india4 ,some incidents at such moments in our lives1 as our landing in this strange country1 make profound impressions far above their actual importance4 ,it was just six o'clock in the evening as we made fast to the wharf4 ,suddenly1 as ,i faced the new world life of labor just before me1 and began to contrast it with that of the past1 ,i remembered that just eleven years before1 on that day and at that hour1 allowing for difference of latitude1 ,i stepped off the cars in a college town1 and parted with my old life as a farmer boy for the new life of a college student4 ,a great change that proved to be1 and this was destined to prove even more in contrast with life hitherto4 ,the curious circumstance was that the two transitions corresponded by the year and hour4 ,i awoke suddenly to the fact of great loneliness4 ,there were multitudes of people1 but in the whole company not a familiar face4 ,there were some whose names we had heard1 and they were ready to give us a cordial welcome as fellow-workers1 but we did not know them from all the others in the throng in whose thoughts we had no place4 ,for myself1 ,i have never had a more lonely moment1 even when unattended in the ,burma jungles or lost on the mountains at night4 ,another incident1 of a painful kind1 occurred4 ,as ,i stood beside the ship's doctor1 who had been coming and going to ,india for thirty years1 he volunteered information of the people who were boarding the ship to greet expected friends4 ,one young lady passenger was greeted by her sister1 whose husband stood by her side4 ,she was a fair ,english lady2 he was a tall1 well-proportioned man of good features1 but he was very dark4 ,the doctor said3 8,that young lady is destined to a great disappointment4 ,her sister is married to a ,eurasian1 and she1 as an ,english girl1 will have no social recognition among ,english people here because she has that ,eurasian relationship40 ,to my inquiries of interest1 he said many things about these people1 in whose veins flow the blood of ,european and ,asiatic1 concluding with the following slander on these people1 8,they inherit the vices of both ,europeans and ,asiatics and the virtues of neither40 ,i refer to this expression here to show how such unjust expressions fall from careless tongues2 for ,i have heard it scores of times1 breathing out unkind1 even cruel injustice4 ,it is a slander that is not often rebuked with the energy its injustice calls for4 ,as ,i will discuss this people in another chapter1 ,i only say here that for ten years ,i have been connected with them1 and while they have their weaknesses1 this charge against them is entirely groundless4 ,we were presently greeted by the small band of ,methodist missionaries and some of their friends1 and taken immediately to our ,girls' ,school in the heart of the town4 ,here we rested in easy-chairs of an uncouth pattern1 but which we have hundreds of times since had occasion to prove capable of affording great comfort4 ,while resting and making the acquaintance of ,miss ,scott1 our hostess1 an agent of the ,woman's ,foreign ,missionary ,society1 ,i was impressed with several features of our new surroundings4 ,though it was ,new-,year's ,eve1 the whole house was wide open1 and three sides of the sitting-room had open venetian blinds instead of walls1 to let in the air4 ,then we were quickly conscious of the noise1 mostly of human voices1 speaking or shouting strange speech in every direction1 which the wooden open-plank house caught up much as a violin does its sound1 and multiplied without transferring them into music4 ,we came1 by later painful experiences1 to know that one of the enemies of nerves and the working force of the missionary in ,rangoon is the ceaseless noise from human throats that seems inseparable from this ,oriental city4 ,i have been in some other noisy cities1 but1 as ,bishop ,thoburn once remarked1 our location in ,rangoon was 8the noisiest place in the world40 ,before these thoughts had taken full possession of our minds1 we were greeted by another surprise4 ,as we leaned back in the easy-chairs and our eyes sought the high ceiling of the room1 there we saw small lizards moving about1 sometimes indeed stationary1 but more often running or making quick leaps as they caught sluggish beetles or unsuspecting flies from the ceiling4 ,we counted nine of them in plain view1 seemingly enjoying themselves1 unmindful of the presence of the residents of the building or the nerves or tastes of the new arrivals4 ,a watch-night service was held that night intended for sailors and soldiers especially1 to which ,i went1 while my wife remained and rested at the school with our children4 ,at the service ,i saw for the first time what is so common in all like gatherings in ,eastern cities1 the strange mingling of all people who speak the ,english language4 ,being a seaport1 the sailors from every ,european land were present1 and1 so far as they can be secured1 attend this wholesome service1 while the soldiers from the garrison come in crowds1 and others interested in these meetings are there also4 ,every shade of ,eurasians was present4 ,some of the people whom ,i saw that night for the first time became my friends and co-laborers in the ,church and mission for the entire time of which ,i write4 ,late that night1 or in the earliest hour of the new year1 ,i fell asleep with my latest conscious thought1 8,we are in ,burma40 ,,chapter ,,ii ,first ,year in ,burma ,we were wakened early on ,january #a1 #ahia1 by the harsh cawing of a myriad of crows1 which roost in the shade-trees of the public streets and private yards4 ,we came afterwards to know these annoying pests1 that swarm over ,rangoon all day long1 as a tribe of thieves full of all cunning and audacity4 ,the first exhibition of their pilfering given us1 was that first morning when the early tea and toast1 always brought to you on rising in ,india1 was passed into our room and placed in reach of the children4 ,the crows had been perched on the window-sill before this1 restlessly watching us within the room4 ,but on our turning for a moment from the tray on which the toast was placed1 the crows swooped upon it1 and carried it off out of the window4 ,this is but a sample of the audacious annoyance suffered from their beaks and claws continually4 ,they are in country places also1 but not so plentifully as here in the cities1 where they literally swarm4 ,were it to our purpose we could write pages of these petty and cunning robberies of which they are guilty4 ,a very common sight is1 when a coolie is going through the streets with a basket of rice on his head1 to see the crows swoop down and fill their mouths with the rice1 and be off again before the man knows their intention1 or has time even to turn around4 ,it must have been some such sight as this in ancient ,egypt1 familiar to ,pharaoh's baker1 that caused him to dream of the birds eating the bread out of the basket that he carried on his head1 and that foreshadowed the dire results to himself4 ,those 8birds0 must have been 8crows0 of the ,rangoon species4 ,i could not wait long that first morning in ,rangoon1 and the first of a new year1 to get out into the streets astir with human life4 ,i took my first impression of many specimens of humanity that passed in view4 ,while the common distinctions in dress1 complexion1 manners1 and occupations1 which mean so much when you come to know their significance1 were not recognized in this first view of the people1 ,i did get a very definite impression of two classes--one well formed and well fed1 and the other class1 those poor weaklings1 mostly of the depressed peoples of ,india1 who migrate to ,burma4 ,of the latter1 ,i wrote at the time to friends in ,america1 that they were specimens of the human race that had about run their course1 and must die away from sheer weakness4 ,later conclusions do not differ materially from this first decision4 ,but ,i did learn later that the fine-looking people of strong physique were ,burmese1 and that the province of ,burma1 generally1 has very few peoples of any race that compare in feebleness with some of the immigrants from ,india that flock into the cities1 such as ,rangoon4 ,it is chiefly what the traveler sees in coast towns like ,rangoon1 which leads so many transient passers-by to wrong conclusions concerning ,oriental countries4 ,in ,rangoon1 many other peoples are more in evidence than the ,burmese4 ,after that early walk and breakfast1 which came about ten o'clock1 the usual time1 ,i met with ,rev4 ,mr4 ,warner1 and took in charge the affairs of our mission4 ,it is a simple thing for a preacher to go from one pastoral charge to another in ,america1 in every respect very much like the ,church and community he has always served2 but it is entirely different to go to a distant and unfamiliar country1 and take up work essentially different from anything you ever had to do with before4 ,then1 at home it is the custom for each man to be occupied with some one specific work and its obligations2 but on the mission-field1 such as ,burma has been until now1 there is such a variety of interests as loads every missionary with the work that ought to be distributed between two or three4 ,that morning ,i learned that we had an ,english ,church in ,rangoon which supported its own pastor2 an ,english school that numbered nearly two hundred pupils1 and an ,orphanage for the poor ,eurasians and ,anglo-,indian children4 ,there was also a work among the seamen that visited the port4 ,a woman's workshop had been founded some time before for helping the poor ,eurasian1 and other women1 to earn a living with the needle4 ,there was also preaching going on among the ,tamils and ,telegus1 some converts and a fair day-school being conducted among them4 ,this work was mostly in ,rangoon2 but some preaching was done in the villages round about1 and one exhorter was holding a little congregation of ,tamils at ,toungoo1 one hundred and sixty miles north from ,rangoon4 ,a further account of ,methodism will be given later1 and it is only necessary here to tell how the work appeared to me that morning when ,i began my labors in ,burma4 ,illustration3 ,,methodist ,,church1 ,,rangoon ,we had a modest wooden church and also a parsonage1 a fair-sized building for the school1 and another of equal size for the ,orphanage4 ,besides these buildings1 we had a couple of residence bungalows1 intended for rental for the support of the ,orphanage1 but for which we were badly in debt4 ,considering the small size of the mission1 our debts were large and troublesome4 ,they were incurred out of the emergencies of our work1 and were not the result of bad management in any way4 ,these debts were to be met at once1 and added much to my concern for the mission4 ,another embarrassing feature of the finances of the mission was found in this1 that we had very small missionary appropriations1 and the time had been not long before when our workers in ,burma had no money from home4 ,the beginning of the mission had been made entirely without funds from ,america4 ,this was the more apparent when we look at the distribution of the missionaries4 ,i was to take the pastorate of the ,english ,church1 and receive my salary from it2 ,miss ,files1 the principal of the ,girls' ,high ,school1 had never had any salary1 except what the school could pay her2 ,miss ,scott1 principal of the ,orphanage1 had half salary2 ,miss ,perkins1 the new missionary1 alone had a salary from the ,woman's ,foreign ,missionary ,society4 ,mr4 ,warner had less than full salary1 though appointed to native work4 ,we had1 also1 a number of teachers all paid locally1 and supplies in the mission-work1 none of whom received a salary from ,america4 ,here was an outline of a situation in what was called a 8self-supporting0 mission-field4 ,how to pay debts1 keep all this work going1 and make advance in mission operations with our limited money1 was my greatest responsibility4 ,there had never been a dollar given to the mission from ,america for property4 ,the problem was easy of statement1 but difficult of solution4 ,to plunge right into this work1 my first day in the country1 and immediately become the responsible head of the district1 was beginning mission-work with vigor and without delay4 ,i have learned since to believe it a serious misfortune that any missionary should be so overwhelmed with work and responsibility on entering a foreign mission-field4 ,all this1 too1 when we had yet to adjust ourselves to life in the tropics4 ,we were about to prove what it meant to be suddenly dropped down into the heart of an ,oriental city1 and there adjust ourselves to the most trying conditions we had ever known4 ,the parsonage belonging to the ,english ,church1 which we occupied1 shared the lot with the church building4 ,at the time the church and parsonage was to be built1 it was the policy of the ,government to give a grant of land to any religious society for a church or parsonage4 ,the city is blocked out in rectangular shape1 but unwisely made very narrow and long4 ,the blocks are eight hundred feet long by one hundred and fifteen feet wide4 ,our lot included one end of a block1 and was one hundred feet deep4 ,on this lot stood the church and parsonage1 facing the main street4 ,when the location was chosen1 it was a fairly satisfactory site on which to have a residence1 and in a ,western country1 with ,western conditions1 it might have contained a fairly comfortable residence2 but in ,rangoon the natives soon began to crowd into poorly constructed buildings all around the parsonage1 and the filth1 that so rapidly accumulates in an ,oriental city1 piled up everywhere4 ,the only sewerage was in open ditches that ran on three sides of our residence4 ,the stench of these sewers was ever present in our nostrils1 and especially offensive in the rainless season4 ,but the worst condition was the incessant noise made by the natives4 ,this neighborhood was occupied almost entirely by ,madassis1 who have harsh1 strident voices1 and speak with a succession of guttural sounds4 ,they are always shouting1 and quietness is almost unknown to them4 ,they quarrel incessantly4 ,at the time we lived in this locality there were six hundred of these noisy people living within a hundred yards of the parsonage4 ,they kept no hours for rest4 ,all day and all night the noise went on4 ,sometimes1 of course1 they slept1 and the native can sleep in bedlam and not even dream4 ,but there are hundreds astir at all hours of the day and night4 ,then there were thousands of passers-by who at all hours added their voices to the din4 ,besides1 a heavy traffic was carried on on two sides of us4 ,the streets were metaled1 and every wheel and hoof added to the uproar4 ,the parsonage was of the uncouth architectural plan characteristic of ,burma1 roomy and arranged well enough for comfort in that country1 had the surroundings been endurable4 ,but being placed upon posts1 some ten feet from the ground to the first floor1 and the floor and walls being made of single thicknesses of teak planks1 these multitudinous sounds of the neighborhood were gathered up and multiplied as a violin gathers the sounds of the strings1 and this discordant din was poured into our ears4 ,added to all this noise was the intense heat1 which even in the coolest part of the year is very great1 and you have conditions of life that tax you to the utmost4 ,my wife and ,i have pretty steady nerves2 but in the thirteen months we tried to live in the parsonage we did not have more than twenty nights of unbroken sleep4 ,just after we entered this residence1 we received our first mail from home1 and in the papers to hand we read the speech of the senior missionary secretary at the ,missionary ,committee meeting in ,boston1 held at the time we were sailing from ,new ,york1 in which he dwelt at length1 8on the luxury of missionary life in ,india40 ,i promptly sent him an invitation to spend the last week preceding the next ,missionary ,committee meeting in our guest-chamber1 overlooking and overhearing all that happens among this noisy throng of ,tamils4 ,i felt that ,i had learned more of the actual conditions of life in an ,oriental city in one week1 than this good man had learned in all the years of his missionary official life4 ,he did not accept the invitation4 ,illustration3 ,,natives ,,of ,,burma ,when one is overworked with unusual duties that tax nerves to the utmost1 and then lives in perpetual noise and heat day and night1 he has the ideal conditions for a short missionary career4 ,we were to prove all that this meant within one year from landing in the country4 ,surprises and disappointments in the working force of a mission1 at least in its earlier and less well organized state1 occur with great frequency4 ,within less than three months1 my missionary colleague1 ,mr4 ,warner1 and his wife left us1 and took work in another mission4 ,he had been with our mission less than two years1 having been sent out from ,america4 ,it may be said here that such changes1 so early in a missionary's career1 do not generally argue well for the stability of purpose or settled convictions of the missionary1 and do not usually help the mission to which a change is made4 ,but in our case it added to our difficulties1 as the ,burmese work1 to begin which ,mr4 ,warner was appointed1 did not get started for some years afterward4 ,there was no other man to take up his work1 and there could be no one supplied for some time4 ,this situation1 coming so soon after ,i took up the work with the high hopes of a new beginner1 added to the complications4 ,the heat increased from ,january onward4 ,the work became very laborious1 largely owing to failure to get rest at night4 ,in ,may1 ,i began to be troubled with a strange numbness in my arms4 ,this gradually spread to most of the muscles of the body1 and began to affect my head seriously4 ,at the same time1 the heat1 especially any direct ray of the sun1 caused very distressing nervous symptoms4 ,having all my life worked hard1 and having a body that had stood almost all kinds of strain and seemed none the worse for it1 ,i at the beginning expected to throw off these symptoms quickly4 ,but when ,i did not succeed in this1 ,i consulted physicians and found that they were puzzled as much as myself4 ,had it been possible to go to some cooler place and take rest at the beginning of this disorder1 it is likely that ,i could have met the difficulty and overcome it quickly2 but there was no chance to leave the work1 no place to go to1 and no one to relieve me4 ,steadily for five months the trouble increased1 until it was impossible even to read in an attentive way1 though under the excitement of a ,sabbath's congregation ,i could talk to the people4 ,in ,october1 only a little over nine months after landing in ,burma1 ,bishop ,thoburn peremptorily ordered me to the hills of ,india for a change4 ,he temporarily supplied my place at ,rangoon4 ,i left ,rangoon on the evening of the #ajth of ,october on this painful flight for health4 ,my wife remained and did hard service1 all too hard as the case proved1 to give the ,english congregations attention during my absence4 ,this early flight from my work with the uncertainties of my ailment1 and the long distance to the ,indian ,hills1 which as we supposed at the time1 was the nearest place to get above the heat of the plains1 and the condition of the work in my absence1 and the added burden to my wife1 all combined to give the occasion a serious aspect4 ,i took passage on a little vessel of the ,british ,india ,steam ,navigation ,company1 which has a large fleet of steamers in these tropical waters4 ,i traveled after this many times on steamers of this company1 and always found the trip of four days to ,calcutta very interesting4 ,the sea breeze modifies the heat until you can be in comparative comfort4 ,the officers are usually courteous1 but somewhat reserved1 for the most part4 ,perhaps this show of dignity is assumed to support the important office they hold4 ,it may be that it is a ,national characteristic also4 ,the engineers1 who number about the same on each ship as the officers1 and have about as much responsibility1 and are equally capable men1 are usually very free and sociable4 ,the officers are generally ,englishmen1 and the engineers ,scotchmen4 ,i have been greatly surprised to find how approachable most ,scotchmen are4 ,being of a social disposition myself1 ,i usually get in touch with both classes2 but ,i have secured the most friendly response from the ,scotch4 ,this has been generally true on land also4 ,the ,bay of ,bengal is a stormy water during the monsoon1 from ,may until ,october4 ,at the latter time the wind turns into the northeast1 and one or two cyclones generally form as it turns the rain currents back to the southwest1 from whence they came4 ,our captain was nervous as we rounded the land and made for the open sea1 lest we be met by a cyclone4 ,but instead of a storm1 the sea was as smooth as a sea of glass all the way to the mouth of the ,hoogli ,river1 where we enter the last portion of our voyage4 ,it may not have been noticed that many great seaports are really a great way from the sea1 on rivers4 ,more than that1 they are usually not on the main stream1 but on some subordinate branch of the many mouths of the great rivers4 ,so it is with the ,hoogli1 which is not the largest of the many mouths of the ,ganges4 ,these river mouths1 however1 are very large streams1 partly made by the inflow and outflow of the tides4 ,the tides alone make navigation to ,calcutta by ocean-going vessels possible1 as there is not enough water on the shoals except with high tide4 ,calcutta is up the ,hoogli ,river one hundred and twenty miles4 ,one naturally wonders why such a city is so far from the sea4 ,i1 at least1 have had to content myself without a reason1 and like many things ,indian1 accept that 8which is10 and that 8which remains as it is10 because it 8has been40 ,the approach to ,calcutta by river is very dangerous4 ,the number of ships that have sunk1 often with some of the passengers and crew1 make a startling history of tragedy4 ,some places on the river have permanent names for the sunken ships that are buried in its sands4 ,the currents and the tides conflict often1 and drive the vessel onto some newly-made bar1 and this overturns the great ship1 which immediately begins to sink4 ,three ships have gone down in this river in ten years1 one of them with much loss of life4 ,after the vessel sinks well into the sand it rights up again1 and lifts its masts out of the water1 to remain for years a solemn monument to the tragedy of the river4 ,usually all life-boats are swung loose and the ports all closed as the ship moves up or down the river at these most dangerous parts4 ,there are specially-qualified pilots1 highly paid1 who take ships through this river1 and they are held to the severest account4 ,an accident1 whether the pilot is to blame or not1 calls for heavy penalties4 ,the river has its charming scenery4 ,the country is flat2 but the quaint conical ,bengali houses that line the shore1 with their carefully-laid thatch roofs1 the cocoanut and date palms growing in great luxuriance on the alluvial deposit of the river front1 and the wide reaches of the rich rice-fields1 through which the winding river makes its way1 all present a picture of rare tropical interest and beauty4 ,villages increase as you approach the city1 and great oil refineries and weaving establishments and manufactories increase as you near the city4 ,some miles below the city the traveler begins to see a great many ships1 both sailing vessels and steamers1 and as he enters the harbor it is amidst a very forest of towering masts4 ,the shipping that goes in and out of ,calcutta1 carrying every flag under heaven1 is enormous4 ,i was greatly interested in seeing for the first time this most important city in ,southern ,asia1 if not in all the ,orient4 ,my stay was too brief to get a fair view of the city1 but enough to see that it is as reported1 8a city of palaces40 ,it is also a 8city of hovels10 in which multitudes of people do business and live in as great contrast to the palatial surroundings1 as can be found anywhere on the face of the earth4 ,after a very brief visit with ,bishop ,thoburn and other ,calcutta missionaries1 ,i made my way up country4 ,this took me over the fertile plains of ,bengal1 through the sacred city of ,benares1 though without a stop until ,i reached ,lucknow4 ,here ,i had a short rest1 and then proceeded to ,bareilly and was the guest for a day of ,dr4 and ,mrs4 ,scott1 and visited our theological school4 ,in this visit ,i began an acquaintance with our missionaries and our mission interests in these great centers1 which has extended through the years with great profit to myself1 and an enlargement of view of our ,southern ,asiatic missions1 that ,i could not have otherwise had4 ,the heat of ,north ,india is much modified by ,october2 but as ,i was making for the mountains1 with a feverish desire to get where it was cool1 ,i pushed on rapidly4 ,the railway journey ended at ,katgodam1 from whence ,i was to take a pony and go by marches to ,almora1 the capital of ,garwal1 four ordinary days' travel into the hills4 ,all over the ,indian ,empire the ,government has built on every road public rest-houses1 where the traveler can get shelter1 and usually food1 at a very reasonable price4 ,i had only the afternoon to climb the eight miles to ,bhim ,tal1 my first stage of the journey4 ,i traveled with light equipment2 but in all parts of ,india one must carry his bedding with him1 even if he is going to an ,annual ,conference4 8,entertainment0 among friends means many good things1 but seldom includes bedding1 much less so among strangers4 ,i secured a pony to ride2 but when it came to the bedding ,i had to hire a coolie to carry that4 ,i had great difficulty in getting a coolie to go four days' march back into the mountains4 ,i could not speak a word of the language1 and this was a hindrance4 ,i found a friendly native who could talk for me4 ,i secured a strong man for four cents a day4 ,this was an enhanced price exacted because ,i was a stranger4 ,i went steadily up the mountains1 and with every degree of cooler air ,i felt cheered4 ,at last at beautiful ,bhim ,tal1 a lake at an elevation of perhaps five thousand feet1 ,i came to the bungalow and had a good supper4 ,bedtime came1 and still the coolie did not come4 ,i had to borrow some blankets of a native and lay down1 but not to sleep1 as any one accustomed to the country could have foretold4 ,my coolie did not arrive until sunrise4 ,during that day ,i had a view of the majestic mountains1 that lives with me still4 ,at about ten o'clock in the morning1 after an inspiring climb up and still up1 ,i came to the mountain pass1 and turning a corner1 the great snowy range of the ,himalaya ,mountains rose into a cloudless sky4 ,the sunlight was reflected from the snow up into the blue heavens4 ,sublime are these mountains6 ,three peaks near together range between twenty-two thousand and twenty-five thousand feet1 while the snowy range is visible for hundreds of miles4 ,it was a great experience4 ,having never been among the mountains until that journey1 and then to have eyes1 mountain hungry1 feast of these piles of majestic heights1 thrilled me as no view of nature ever has done4 ,i have seen many beauties of natural scenery1 and some of nature's sublimity1 but never have ,i seen the equal of that view that burst on my enraptured vision that glorious ,october day4 ,making a double march the third day1 ,i arrived at the ,almora ,sanitarium of the ,methodist ,mission1 and was welcomed by ,dr4 and ,mrs4 ,badley1 who were there1 the last of those who had gone up for rest that year4 ,the doctor was fast breathing out his life4 ,he was dying of consumption1 but working until the last4 ,he was busy revising his ,indian ,mission ,directory4 ,his voice was gone to a whisper1 and yet he worked4 ,i helped him as ,i could1 and looked into his face and tried to realize the thoughts of a man who loves work1 and in the midst of a most successful career he is cut down1 and knows in every moment of waking thought that he can live but a few days4 ,ten days ,i staid there1 and then came down the mountain road to ,katgodam4 ,on this journey ,i did my last service for the sick and dying man4 ,at ,katgodam ,i carried him in my arms and laid him on his bed in the car4 ,the gentle caress from his wasted hand1 and his whispered blessing for the help ,i had been to him on the hard journey1 linger as a precious memory4 ,he died three weeks later4 ,from ,katgodam ,i returned to the hills1 but this time only to ,naini ,tal1 one day's march up the mountains4 ,in this wonderful hill station ,i remained ten days1 the guest of ,rev4 and ,mrs4 ,homer ,stuntz4 ,november had come1 and by this season it was getting cool in these mountains1 frosting some at night4 ,i here received a great encouragement in the matter of health1 as ,i found while living in this cool atmosphere that my head began to clear up1 and that ,i could read with pleasure again4 ,had ,i been able to remain there1 it is possible that ,i would have made a rapid recovery2 but duty seemed to call me again to ,rangoon4 ,dr4 ,george ,petecost was then engaged in a series of 8missions0 in ,india1 and ,i had secured the agreement of several ,rangoon ministers and missionaries to invite him to hold a mission in ,rangoon4 ,he was due there in ,december1 and it was nearing the end of ,november2 and as ,i felt better1 and as ,i was obligated to be in ,rangoon1 and as the worst heat of the latter place had gone1 ,i hoped to continue to improve1 even if ,i returned4 ,but ,i was quickly undeceived4 ,no sooner was ,i in the plains than all the distressing symptoms again appeared4 ,this condition was relieved a little when ,i crossed the ,bay of ,bengal1 but increased on landing in ,rangoon4 ,meantime1 my wife had broken down under the strain of her work1 and was seriously ill4 ,so ended our first year in ,burma--much hard work1 trying conditions1 and breaking health4 ,had this been all the outlook1 it would have been disappointing indeed4 ,but the people of ,rangoon had been responsive and kind4 ,the work in the ,english ,church had gone forward and some conversions had resulted1 which had been of permanent worth to the ,church4 ,the lady missionaries had completed a successful year in the school and ,orphanage4 ,the other branches of the mission were faithfully cared for1 so far as the limited supervision given would warrant4 ,at this time1 and indeed for the whole period of which ,i write1 ,burma had been a district of the ,bengal ,conference1 and as the sessions of ,conference were held almost uniformly in ,calcutta or some ,indian station1 we ,burma missionaries usually made the trip to ,india to attend the annual session4 ,this took me1 including health trips1 thirty times over the ,bay of ,bengal in the ten years of my missionary service4 ,the ,indian ,conferences have for many years been held as near the beginning of the new year as may be4 ,i left my wife very sick1 and started for ,conference about the middle of ,january1 being far from well myself1 but still at work4 ,the ,annual ,conference was of great interest1 and the ,central ,conference1 which followed immediately1 even more so4 ,i was a member of the ,central ,conference also4 ,the ,central ,conference of ,india and ,malaysia had been well organized for several years4 ,this body1 to all intents and purposes1 is a ,general ,conference4 ,it is an increasing power for good4 ,it must exist to keep ,methodism in this wide area in some organic unity4 ,it has served this purpose admirably4 ,at this session of the ,central ,conference1 held at ,calcutta1 in ,january1 #ahib1 two great questions had a clearly-defined statement that has become of wide-reaching importance4 ,the question of territorial divisions came up early1 and had the right of way for full discussion and settlement4 ,our people at home can not understand the great areas1 as well as the many millions of people in ,southern ,asiatic mission lands4 ,it is all so much bigger than the notion given by a map4 ,at the time of which ,i write we had three ,conferences and the far-away mission of ,malaysia4 ,the most extensive area was included in the ,bengal ,conference4 ,one end of this ,conference included the province of ,burma1 and the other end reached up to and included almost all the ,northwest ,indian part of our mission4 ,thus it curved all around the southern and western sides of the ,north ,india ,conference1 as far as ,mussoorie4 ,in length it could not be less than two thousand miles4 ,south ,india ,conference included territory equally incongruous with its name4 ,it became apparent that we must divide up this territory1 and make more ,conferences4 ,we planned five ,annual ,conferences1 and raised ,malaysia to a ,mission ,conference4 ,the other great question that had the earnest consideration of the ,central ,conference was the indorsement of the ,missionary ,episcopacy4 ,some of the ,annual ,conferences had already taken action1 and the ,central ,conference approved the resolutions of the ,bengal ,conference indorsing and approving the ,missionary ,episcopacy1 and asking its continuance as contrasted with the ,general ,superintendency4 ,bishop ,thoburn's administration received1 after careful debate1 the first of that series of indorsements that has lifted the ,missionary ,episcopacy into a new and conspicuous place in the organism called ,methodism4 ,these two transactions made that1 my first1 ,central ,conference of ,india and ,malaysia1 memorable4 ,,chapter ,,iii ,a ,year of ,changes ,while still at ,conference at ,calcutta1 ,i received a telegram to hasten home1 as my wife was seriously ill4 ,some of the brethren and ,i spent a season in sympathetic counsel over this distressing situation of my own impaired health1 and the serious condition of my wife4 ,i took a steamer the next day1 and started for ,rangoon4 ,of course1 we wished for a rapid passage2 but as often happens when we are eager for the most rapid advance1 there proves to be the greatest delay4 ,we were delayed in the ,calcutta ,river forty-eight hours1 owing to fogs settling down on the water just as the tide was favorable for sailing4 ,we had to tie up for such time as the fog lasted1 as no steamer will move on that dangerous river in a fog4 ,when the fog did lift1 the tide had gone down1 and we had to remain at anchor till the next tide4 ,in all my journeying up and down the river1 ,i have never had so much delay as on this voyage1 when ,i wanted to get forward the most urgently4 ,the journey across the bay was after the usual sort4 ,i felt much distressed about my wife's state1 but had great comfort in the sympathy and counsel of ,dr4 and ,mrs4 ,parker1 who were fellow-passengers going home on furlough4 ,they were going via ,rangoon1 and it proved a kindly providence as they did good service in advising us in our time of need4 ,as our ship approached the ,rangoon ,river1 we were again just too late for the incoming tide1 causing another long delay4 ,so near home1 and yet we had to lie there for twelve hours6 ,when we finally arrived in the ,rangoon ,harbor1 it was after the longest voyage that ,i have known upon the bay4 ,but ,i was immensely relieved to find that my wife was slightly better4 ,this was offset somewhat by the fact that ,i was certainly in a much less satisfactory condition than ,i had been for some weeks preceding4 ,it was now early in ,february1 and the heat was becoming severe4 ,as the heat was1 or appeared to be1 my greatest drawback1 and would hinder the recovery of my wife1 it was decided that the only solution of the difficulty was to make another flight to the ,indian ,hills immediately for a long rest4 ,this time the whole family was to go4 ,here also ,dr4 ,parker's presence and counsel were of great value4 ,he knew ,india1 having had long experience and the best judgment1 so we felt safe in following his advice4 ,he had selected two of the ,indian hill sanitariums1 and knew that that kind of a retreat was my only hope4 ,but he1 and every one else at this time1 supposed that my work in ,burma was ended4 ,it was decided to ask for some one from home to relieve me as soon as possible4 ,but there was the immediate difficulty of looking after the work1 and especially the ,english congregation4 ,the ,conference that had closed so recently had appointed a young man1 ,j4 ,t4 ,robertson1 to be my assistant in the ,rangoon ,english ,church1 so that ,i could give more time to the affairs of the district4 ,he was only a probationer in the ,conference1 having been admitted to ,conference at its recent session1 and he had had no experience as a pastor4 ,more1 he had come to a strange city2 but1 as the case often is in our mission work1 we had to take all the risks to the work and to the man1 and appoint him to the untried responsibility of the pastorate of the ,english ,church4 ,that he would have run away if he could have gotten out of the province he has often declared2 but this being impossible1 he went to work with a will1 and for the next five months did very acceptable service as pastor4 ,such adjustment of mission work was made as could be in the five days that intervened after my return from ,conference and our second departure from ,burma4 ,i hoped to aid the workers somewhat by correspondence4 ,the journey across the water began to revive ,mrs4 ,smith1 and her condition on arrival at ,calcutta was greatly improved4 ,here we sought the best medical advice4 ,dr4 ,coates1 a famous ,calcutta physician for many years1 gave us his counsel4 ,he predicted that ,mrs4 ,smith would continue to improve rapidly1 which she did4 ,as for myself1 he said that the difficulty was very obscure1 and very difficult to deal with4 ,he said that if ,i went to the hill station of ,mussoorie1 where we were intending to go1 it would be the very best thing ,i could do4 ,he further predicted that if ,i did not get better there in four months1 ,i would never get better in ,india4 ,he stipulated 8four months10 as that would take us through the rainless hot season4 ,if this time were spent in ,mussoorie1 situated as it is at an elevation of seven thousand feet in its cool and bracing air1 it would be the best possible place for recuperation4 ,after resting some with friends by the way1 we arrived in that hill station on the #acth of ,march4 ,the snow was still in sight in some lower hills1 and the snowy range was seen from afar4 ,the view of 8the snows0 at ,mussoorie is not so commanding as from the regions about ,naini ,tal1 which ,i had visited four months before4 ,the 8station0 itself is built on a ridge and its spurs for a distance of six miles or more1 and contained at that time some thirty thousand inhabitants4 ,the ,european residents were made up of retired pensioners of the ,indian ,government1 a large garrison of ,english troops1 and others connected with the several schools for ,europeans1 and some who engaged in trade4 ,but here1 as elsewhere1 the great population was made up of the natives4 ,the conditions were as favorable as could be found for rest and recuperation4 ,there was enough sociability to keep off loneliness1 and plenty of good reading matter in libraries1 and opportunity to roam about the mountains4 ,i lived much in the open air when it did not take me into the direct rays of the sun4 ,though the atmosphere is almost always cool at this altitude1 the sunlight searches one through in the rare atmosphere4 ,it paints the cheeks of every one like a peach1 even the dusky faces of the natives are given a flush of red4 ,it is doubtful if even ,america has much better climatic conditions for regaining health than many of the ,indian hills4 ,could we put the ,american style of living1 and the homelike atmosphere around the sick missionaries in these hills1 it is certain that there would be need of less home-going4 ,if missionaries could always retreat to these hills when in a decline before they are too much reduced1 they would gain the necessary strength to resume their duties4 ,i spent the time from ,march until the middle of ,june in this station1 directing the work off in ,burma as best ,i could by letter4 ,this was difficult from the distance of two thousand miles4 ,during these months ,i thought of the anomaly of being presiding elder of a district so far away1 being also a sick man1 and yet so hard pressed were we all1 that no other missionary could be spared from any field to take up the work that ,i would have so gladly laid down4 ,it became apparent that ,i was not to meet with greatly improved health1 even here4 ,bishop ,thoburn was away in ,america1 and while he is one of the most hopeful of men1 he gave up all expectations that ,i would be able to go on in mission work in ,india4 ,he had actually selected my successor in ,america4 ,but when the time came to leave home1 the brother failed him4 ,as the time wore away1 and there was no material improvement in my condition1 ,i only hoped to put the mission interests in ,burma in as good order as ,i might be able1 and then to return to ,america4 ,this was the situation on the #adth day of ,june4 ,just then the heat on the plains of ,india is most terrific1 and even the hot air and the dust storms reach such altitudes as ,mussoorie4 ,at this time man and beast pant for 8rain40 ,the barren and parched earth seems to cry1 8rain60 ,my letters from ,rangoon indicated serious complications in a business way1 and there seemed to be a great call to come down and put them to rights4 ,the monsoon had been promised to us2 but it had not come1 while from the plains the heat rose as from a furnace4 ,thinking ,i could only do a little more service for ,burma anyway1 just to put things to rights for my successor1 ,i concluded to make the plunge into that heat1 and to go at once1 and return as soon as ,i could adjust business complications4 ,here the physician who had my case said3 8,you dare not go into the plains4 ,in your condition the heat will kill you4 ,you will leave a widowed wife and two orphaned children1 and you have no right to commit suicide40 ,but ,i still thought it best to risk it for the work's sake4 ,i can not forget the awful heat that greeted me all the way to lower ,bengal2 it was the worst where ,i first entered the plain4 ,had ,i died from the heat at any stage of that journey1 ,i should not have been surprised4 ,but ,i lived4 ,i crossed the bay again1 and did three weeks of the hardest work of my life up to that time in ,rangoon4 ,weary to exhaustion1 ,i hastened to ,calcutta on my return to the mountains4 ,as ,i lay on the hatch on that rough passage1 ,i felt that my days as a missionary were over1 and that ,i had1 without a formal good-bye1 left ,burma forever4 ,on landing in ,calcutta and getting my 8land legs0 again1 ,i met one of the surprises of my life4 ,i made the glad discovery that ,i was greatly improved in health6 ,so certain of this did ,i become1 that ,i told the ,calcutta missionaries freely that my days as a missionary were not over4 ,they would gladly have believed me1 but were skeptical1 and warned me that when ,i should get back to the hills ,i would wilt again4 ,they said my apparent improvement was only due to the excitement of the journey1 and would soon wear away4 ,but ,i went further in my conviction1 and sent a letter from ,calcutta to ,bishop ,thoburn in ,america that ,i was better1 and expected to return to ,burma1 and that the bishop was to strike my name off the invalid list4 ,the improvement continued after my return to the hills1 and while ,i expected a long time to elapse before ,i would be entirely myself1 ,i never doubted after that thrill of hope in ,calcutta that ,i would become a well man again1 and continue my missionary career4 ,it is exceedingly rare that such a radical improvement in health occurs under such an extraordinary1 if not indeed perilous1 strain as ,i was under on that trip to ,rangoon4 ,my experience in all this has been given in some detail1 because it shows how a really desperate case may sometimes turn toward recovery at the unexpected time4 ,had ,i returned to ,america1 broken as ,i was1 it would have ended my missionary career4 ,the ,church1 and ourselves1 would have been painfully disappointed1 for ,i had not done what the ,church or myself expected1 and it would have been taken for granted that ,i could not possibly stand the tropical climate4 ,as it turned out1 ,i had the honor to continue on the field1 bearing heavy burdens for a rather longer period than is usual in the first term of missionary service1 and to be permitted to write these records of nearly ten consecutive years in mission work4 ,this breakdown taught us a permanent lesson4 ,no missionary henceforth of our mission should be required to live in the noise1 dirt1 and heat of the town of ,rangoon1 as we had to live the first year4 ,we determined to get to the suburbs for quieter and healthier surroundings4 ,at ,rangoon this can be easily accomplished4 ,just out of the town proper1 and yet not far distant from our town work1 there is a great cantonment1 or military quarter1 reaching for a mile or more4 ,the location is higher than that of the town4 ,the grounds around residences are usually extensive2 but it was difficult to rent a house of any value with the mission money at our command4 ,we secured a tottering old house belonging to a miserly old man1 who would not keep it in any sort of repair4 ,it leaned well over to one side1 had uneven floors1 rickety stairs1 and a roof so full of holes that ventilation was perfect4 ,yet we got on well here during the dry season2 but a later experience remains to be given4 ,from my return to ,rangoon both myself and wife plunged into the work of the mission with redoubled efforts1 that we were not to slacken for years to come4 ,mr4 ,robertson was taken sick with the fever after having stood at his post through the six months of my absence1 and his recovery was slow4 ,i had the full pastoral duties1 the business of the mission1 ,government correspondence concerning the schools1 and the chaplaincy of the ,wesleyan troops1 as all our ,rangoon pastors have had in their turn4 ,besides this1 ,i did a great deal of district work1 mostly of a pioneering kind4 ,when it is understood that this is the way many of our missionaries are loaded down1 it must surprise others1 as well as themselves1 that they hold out so long under these multiplied labors1 not forgetting that it is always under a tropical sun4 ,our lives and labors moved on without special incident for all the dry season from ,october1 #ahib1 to the end of ,april1 #ahic1 when we entered the monsoon several days earlier than usual4 ,it is here that the reader may have the closing reference to the old house that made up the residence of the official head of the ,burma ,district at this period4 ,as ,i have already stated1 the house did very well as a camping place for the dry season1 during which we seldom have any rain at all4 ,but as the time for the annual rains approached1 ,i began to press our miserly landlord to put the roof in order4 ,this he agreed to do1 but the agreement he did not keep1 and the rains came and caught us unprepared4 ,bishop ,thoburn had just arrived from ,singapore on his biennial visit4 ,he had reached our house on the afternoon of the #bdth of ,april4 ,as the afternoon wore away1 there began to be signs of rain4 ,the monsoon was not supposed to be due for a week to three weeks yet4 ,however1 showers often come lightly before this date4 ,the difference between the light showers and the 8bursting of a monsoon0 usually is1 that the former are light and merely premonitory of the coming rains1 while they will be followed by much burning sunshine and increasing heat4 ,the 8bursting of the monsoon0 usually lasts for days1 and has often much of storm with it1 which also cools the temperature4 ,sometimes there is a fall of twenty-five degrees1 but not often1 and this is not long maintained4 ,but on the evening named rain began to fall very gently1 and for an hour or two we were under the impression that it was only a shower2 but the rain continued through the night4 ,there was no wind at all1 and this led to a most remarkable circumstance1 which ,i do not know of having paralleled1 or that it has ever been made a matter of record1 though it made a deep impression at the time4 ,all about ,rangoon there is a beautiful shade tree called the 8padauk40 ,it has a short1 thick trunk and very long1 spreading branches4 ,the most remarkable feature of the tree is that it blooms three times within six weeks1 a heavy bloom each time1 and the third time the bloom bursts simultaneously with the monsoons4 ,strangely enough1 at the end of ,april1 at the time of which ,i write1 there was every indication that the third bloom was about to break forth1 though the rains1 as stated1 were not expected for some time4 ,so accurately does this tree mark the beginning of the actual rains1 that a common saying is1 8,the rains are at hand1 the padauk is ready to bloom the third time40 ,this was the situation as we went to sleep that night1 thankful for the refreshing rain1 coming so gently also that we did not see the stir of a leaf4 ,after a very refreshing sleep1 we were wakened just at daybreak by a great crash1 followed almost immediately by another4 ,i hastened to the veranda only to see the great padauk trees in front of the house dripping with water1 and at the side of two of them1 almost a quarter of each tree1 broken and prostrate on the earth1 while the sounds of breaking trees came from various directions on other streets4 ,as the light increased1 we looked for a reason for the breaking of these great branches4 ,we saw the trees one mass of yellow bloom1 and the ground covered with the fallen flowers4 ,the gentle rain was still falling through the motionless air4 ,for a space of three hours after day came the trees continued to break4 ,when the breeze began to blow the breaking ceased4 ,then we were able to find a cause why these strong trees gave way4 ,during the night the millions of little flowers on the ends of those long branches opened with the rain1 and as their cups filled with water1 there being no wind to shake the water down1 the weight of the water held in these flowers acted on the branches as a great lever and broke them down4 ,a really wonderful natural phenomenon6 ,it has had no repetition since1 probably due to the fact that the rain and the blooming have not been absolutely simultaneous1 with an absence of wind4 ,as in this case when the breeze started up1 the water was shaken down and the breaking ceased4 ,when the flowers had fallen from the trees there could be no more danger2 but he who will look for it1 can find the scars on the trees still where their great branches were broken by the weight of their own water-laden flowers4 ,the rain had done havoc in the house also4 ,it had searched out every hole in that perforated roof1 and the water was dripping from the ceiling into the middle of the room1 and streaming down from the walls4 ,the rain continued for a term of eight days1 almost uninterruptedly4 ,housekeeping was out of the question4 ,we tried to eat at our table1 but were driven away by the water and dust swept down from the roof onto the food4 ,there was no help for it4 ,mrs4 ,smith's simple wall decorations of bric-a-brac were all destroyed4 ,we had to live about the other mission premises as best we could during the days that followed4 ,there was a dry spot in the middle of one room where the bishop's bed stood1 and he returned to sleep there each night to keep out of the noise of the town4 ,so it continued for eight days1 to the end of the bishop's visit4 ,i suppose that a bishop of ,methodism does not meet with this kind of entertainment often1 even in ,india1 much less in ,america4 ,it takes a good man to endure this sort of experience and keep sweet1 especially as he knows the home ,church has abundant means to house its missionaries1 if it will4 ,and be it remembered that the ,church had never given us a dollar for property in ,burma at that time in the whole history of the little mission2 nor has it yet1 except through the ,woman's ,foreign ,missionary ,society1 which has now begun to help with a really strong hand4 ,but the good bishop and ,i determined to buy residence property1 and that on credit1 as we had no money4 ,any conditions of purchase were less risky and less expensive than being so poorly housed1 though this plan could not at once be carried out4 ,here another painful circumstance occurred4 ,my family had to live in that house for the six months of the rains4 ,just as they were all suffering with fever1 owing to the dampness continually in the house1 a missionary paper from home came1 in which there was a letter by the same ,missionary ,secretary who had greeted us with the cry of 8the luxury of ,indian missionaries0 the first week of our life in ,rangoon1 again declaring that 8,india was the most sumptuously provided mission-field on earth60 ,this letter was intended to take the life out of a plea for money to buy residences for our missionaries in ,india and ,burma that ,bishop ,thoburn had written4 ,i recall this circumstance here1 solely to show how little the real conditions under which we have worked in ,burma are understood at home1 even by those who at times have had the charge of mission interests4 ,,chapter ,,iv ,the ,physical ,features of ,burma ,it is common to tell of the physical aspects of a country in one of the first chapters of any book that may be written giving the characteristics of any land2 but the object of this book is to present1 first1 a picture of life in ,burma1 as the writer and his associates experienced it4 ,there is a logical order in taking up the study of the topography1 climate1 and products of ,burma1 as they were observed from time to time in residence and travel through that country4 ,that is the way the observations herein recorded came to the writer after he had begun the work and care of a mission in ,rangoon and the adjoining regions4 ,a missionary soon learns to take an interest in all that affects the life of the people among whom he labors4 ,he finds that climate determines the products of a land to a great extent1 and these in turn determine the occupations of the people4 ,he must adjust himself to these conditions4 ,he also finds that his plans for a people must take in their present state and their future prospects4 ,these conditions are largely material4 ,the wealth or poverty of a people determines their spirit and possibilities to a great extent4 ,americans especially1 very few of whom have ever traveled or lived in a tropical country1 and who have not studied conditions in the ,eastern hemisphere1 except in the best-known portion of the ,oriental world1 have great need of enlargement of their views on ,asiatic questions4 ,in nothing is this more evident than on the geography of ,southern ,asia4 ,while speaking on missions and ,asiatic themes at home recently1 ,i have often tried to gauge the ideas of my audience by asking them to guess the length of the ,red ,sea4 ,i selected this body of water because it is most familiar to all ,bible-students4 ,i take the ,red ,sea because all have heard of it and all have seen it mapped from childhood1 instead of the ,gulf of ,martaban1 for instance1 which lies off the coast of ,burma2 for most of my ,american readers have scarcely heard of the latter body of water4 ,the answers to this question from an audience1 especially if it is secured1 as it usually has been1 on the moment1 have been at once amusing and instructive4 ,the guesses as to the length of the ,red ,sea generally vary from 8sixty0 to 8three hundred0 miles1 while a few have gone somewhat higher4 ,but only one answer secured in months1 and that from a schoolteacher after reflection and mental calculation1 has been half the length of that historic body of water4 ,usually an audience has taken a laugh at the guesser and their own mental estimate when they have been informed that the ,red ,sea is about fifteen hundred miles long4 ,i have sometimes told the man who guessed 8one hundred miles0 to multiply all his ideas of the ,eastern world by fifteen1 and he would come nearer to the reality than he had been hitherto4 ,it is common to hear at home all the land commonly spoken of as 8,india0 as a land of a sameness of character1 in climate1 people1 language1 and products4 ,one province of it1 like ,burma1 is a small section of the country1 just like the rest of the land1 and chiefly differing from the other portions of 8,india0 in geographical lines4 ,but establish something of the largeness of these complex countries in the mind1 and also their diversity of people and physical conditions1 and the man so informed is prepared to understand that ,burma may be reckoned as a land of considerable importance in itself and worthy of special study4 ,burma is a land with an area of seventy thousand square miles4 ,it lies between the ,bay of ,bengal and ,assam on the west1 ,china on the north1 and ,french ,indo-,china and ,siam on the east4 ,it also extends through eighteen degrees of latitude1 from ten to twenty-eight north4 ,in shape it is a little like the folded right hand1 with index finger only extended southward4 ,its greatest width is about four hundred miles1 while the ,tennasserim ,coast far to the south is but a narrow strip of land4 ,the topography of the country is interesting4 ,there are three principal rivers1 the ,irrawaddy 7the greatest71 the ,salween1 and the ,sitiang4 ,all these rise in the north1 near or beyond the ,burmese border1 and flow southward4 ,between these river basins and to the westward of the ,irrawaddy there run ranges of hills rising to mountains4 ,they range from small1 picturesque hillocks that only serve to divide water-basins to mountains above ten thousand feet in height4 ,the valleys are comparatively narrow1 but very fertile4 ,the hills are not simply single crests running parallel with the rivers1 but are extensive successions of ranges quite regular1 with indications here and there of volcanic action4 ,the strata are very much broken4 ,for this reason the coal-fields of ,burma are not of much value1 owing to the broken condition of the strata4 ,when one little portion is worked for a distance1 the vein is lost1 being removed or buried too deep for work4 ,the ,irrawaddy ,river deserves special mention4 ,it rises somewhere in the heights of ,thibet near the headwaters of the ,indus and the ,ramaputra4 ,it is noteworthy that the three great rivers of ,southern ,asia rise very near each other and flow to the ocean so far apart4 ,the ,irrawaddy breaks through the hills of northern ,burma1 and descends into the plains1 widening and gathering volume till it reaches the sea4 ,it has several navigable river tributaries1 of which the ,chindwin is chief4 ,toward the lower end of its course it connects with a network of tidal creeks that unite with its several mouths1 one of which is the ,rangoon ,river4 ,this system of internal water-ways makes it possible to traverse all portions of ,lower ,burma with river steamers of various sizes1 from a steam launch to river boats as large and well equipped as those of the ,mississippi4 ,the enterprising and prosperous ,flotilla ,company of ,burma has a great fleet of these vessels running on the ,irrawaddy and its tributaries1 while the many steamers and launches utilize the tidal creeks4 ,this great enterprise has no rival for this river-borne traffic4 ,the amount of business done on the ,irrawaddy is enormous4 ,the ,salween is navigable for only thirty miles by ocean steamers1 and the ,sitiang not at all at present1 though formerly sailing vessels made ports about its mouth4 ,steam launches still ply on both these streams and their tributaries4 ,on all these inland waters there are multitudes of native boats1 of curious but most serviceable pattern4 ,they never modify these ,eastern crafts after any ,western design4 ,it is doubtful if modern ships have made much improvement in their water-lines over many ,eastern boats1 which can be seen in different styles everywhere1 from the ,red ,sea all around the coasts of ,southern ,asia4 ,they vary greatly in different countries1 and have become fixed along certain accepted lines from which they do not depart1 but they all seem to be good4 ,of all ,oriental crafts ,i have seen1 none are more picturesque than the ,burma river boats4 ,illustration3 ,,paddy-,,boat ,the mountain areas of ,burma affect the country in many ways4 ,they greatly affect the rainfall4 ,lower ,burma receives the full force of the monsoon current as it comes in off the ,indian ,ocean4 ,the consequence is a heavy rainfall each year1 and a regular and bountiful harvest4 ,lower ,burma has never had a famine4 ,the amount of rainfall varies from one hundred to three hundred inches during the rainy season of six months4 ,the western side of the outer range of the hills1 exposed to the same current1 has even a heavier fall of rain than the low lands bordering on the sea4 ,the coast range of hills rises to a considerable altitude1 and as they extend north and south1 the southwest rain currents pour out their water in crossing this range1 and so have little moisture left to furnish rain in the upper valleys of ,burma4 ,while the sea coast round about ,rangoon1 and the ,sitiang and ,irrawaddy ,valleys1 have abundant rains in the lower portions1 as you go northward in each valley the rainfall steadily decreases until in portions of ,upper ,burma there are great areas of land that will seldom give a crop for lack of moisture4 ,the soil in this arid region is as fertile as anywhere1 and where the great and enlarging canal system of the ,government is effective1 they can produce enormous harvests4 ,but left to the uncertain rainfall1 there would be only failure of crops and famine4 ,happily this condition does not extend over the most thickly-populated portion of ,burma4 ,in another respect the hill portion of ,burma is important4 ,compared with the plains or plateaus of the country1 there is a relatively smaller portion of the province of low elevations than that of ,india proper4 ,the greatest level area is bordering on the sea1 and is in consequence much modified by the sea breezes1 and the heat is never very intense for a tropical country4 ,but a large portion of the province1 which is not cooled by the breeze from the sea1 has also a moderate heat for the tropics4 ,i attribute this condition of modified temperature to the fact that we have no large plains or plateaus4 ,unlike ,india1 where the area that becomes superheated is immense1 in ,burma the area of low land is small1 and therefore is continually modified by the cooler air from the large adjacent mountain tracts4 ,this1 it seems to me1 accounts for the fact that all the seacoast of ,burma is so much cooler than the same kind of elevation of ,bengal4 ,they both alike share the sea breeze for a certain distance2 but ,bengal has hundreds of miles of low plain unbroken by high hills1 while ,burma's hills approach near the sea4 ,this gives ,burma a relatively moderate temperature1 though so far down in the tropics4 ,all the valleys of the tropical world are fertile4 ,but a word should be said about the fertility of the mountain tracts of ,burma4 ,nearly all of these hills and mountains that ,i have seen are covered with a dense growth of forest4 ,the ,indian hills are not so4 ,many of the latter are entirely barren of trees1 and where there is any chance at all they are cultivated in terraces4 ,but the virgin forests of ,burma stretch hundreds of miles over hills and mountains4 ,here and there are villagers1 it is true1 mostly ,karens1 in ,lower ,burma1 who cultivate only small areas2 but only one year in a place1 making a new clearing each year to avoid the work of digging or plowing1 and then they let the last year's clearing grow up to forest again1 which it quickly does4 ,there is room for a vast population to make an easy living in the hills of ,burma alone4 ,if those fertile hills were in ,america1 they would be all occupied as cattle and horse ranches1 if not cultivated4 ,wherever the forest is thinned or cut away1 a great luxuriant growth of grass and bamboos springs up1 on which cattle feed and flourish4 ,they can get plenty of grazing the year round in these hills1 and there would always be a ready market for beef and for bullocks for plowing4 ,among the many natural resources of ,burma1 there are two that require careful attention4 ,here we find one of the greatest rice-growing countries of the world4 ,here also are vast forests of the famous teak wood1 that is used so extensively for ship-building and other structures4 ,rice-growing is the one line of cultivation that characterizes the land of ,burma4 ,in ,india there are greater rice fields1 because the rice lands are more extensive4 ,but in ,india they cultivate other crops1 and this even on the rice land4 ,in ,india they frequently1 if not generally1 grow two or more crops on the same land in one year1 or different crops on adjacent land at the same season4 ,but the ,burman grows one crop only1 and that is uniformly rice4 ,he is a rice-grower and a rice-eater4 ,in the plains there is no other grain grown that is generally used for human food4 ,there is a little ,indian corn cultivated1 but not in sufficient amount to break the force of this general statement4 ,the rice fields of ,burma amount to over six million acres4 ,there are often as many as one hundred bushels of unhusked rice grown on an acre4 ,of course1 the average yield is far below this amount4 ,yet the aggregate rice crop is enormous4 ,it feeds all ,burma1 and there are vast quantities shipped to ,india1 ,china1 ,europe1 and ,south ,america4 ,no year since ,i have been in ,burma has there been insufficient rice for her people4 ,if rice of a different variety comes to ,burma for the immigrants that are used to the ,indian article1 there is also much ,burma rice shipped annually to various ports in ,india4 ,a word should be added as to rice cultivation4 ,perhaps all readers are aware that rice is grown usually in water1 though there is some dry cultivation4 ,the land is inclosed in very small fields1 averaging less than one acre1 but often not more than one-tenth of that area4 ,there are embankments round all these fields1 and several inches of water are kept always on the ground4 ,sometimes the water is a foot deep4 ,so long as the rice can have a very little of the upper blade out of the water it will flourish4 ,the ground is stirred with a wooden rake like a plow when it is covered with water4 ,the mud is made very fine1 and as deep as this mode of cultivation1 will stir it4 ,the rice has been sown in nurseries1 and when from a foot to fifteen inches high it is pulled up1 bound into bundles of approximately one hundred plants each1 and taken1 usually in boats1 to the prepared field1 where it is all transplanted by hand4 ,often the root is divided1 so that from one grain there come to be grown several bunches of rice4 ,in appearance a rice field looks very much like a field of oats4 ,the reader will hardly be prepared to believe that it takes nearly twice as long to mature a rice crop under a tropical sun1 as it does to grow a field of oats in the northern latitudes1 especially in ,america4 ,the rice is sown in the nursery in ,may or ,june1 and the ripened grain is not harvested before the last of ,december or in ,january4 ,it is all cut with a sickle4 ,i have never seen any one harvesting with any other instrument in ,southern ,asia4 ,the grain is always threshed under the feet of cattle1 and winnowed by hand4 ,an ,american sees hundreds of ways wherein this crop could be grown more economically1 and some missionary will yet introduce modern methods successfully4 ,the missionary is the only man likely to succeed in such a task4 ,when speaking of the great food-producing industries of ,burma1 that of fishing should have special prominence4 ,burma has a vast area of swamps submerged every rainy season1 and these are classed as 8fisheries10 and a very large revenue is secured from the sale of the fish4 ,the fisherman makes an excellent living1 and the people almost universally are able to eat fish with their rice4 ,so long has this been the case that no ,burman considers that he has been well fed unless he has fish of some sort with rice every day4 ,then he shares the characteristic of all ,asiatics in desiring much condiment with his rice4 ,he therefore takes the fish1 which is of fine flavor and excellent quality when fresh1 and rots it1 and mixes with it peppers and other spices until it suits his taste and smell1 and then feasts6 ,other less ,burmanized people declare that his 8gnape10 as he calls this preparation1 is simply very rotten fish4 ,the teak-wood forests1 before mentioned1 are among the most valuable in the world4 ,this famous wood will not shrink under the most intense sun's rays1 nor will it expand when wet with the rain4 ,it does not warp1 and has a smooth grain and works easily4 ,in the tropics1 when used for building purposes1 it is not eaten by white ants1 which destroy almost all other building material in hot countries4 ,the ,government has taken hold of this industry1 and protects the trees from fires1 regulates the cutting1 and does all it can to maintain and extend these exceedingly valuable forests4 ,the cutting of the trees1 their transport to the sea1 and conversion into lumber is one of the greatest organized industries in the country4 ,the amount of money required to carry on this business in the process of cutting the timber from the stump1 hundreds of miles inland1 gathering it out of the forests1 carrying it in rafts to the seaports1 and putting it through the great sawmills1 to the final disposal to the ,european and other purchasers1 is enormous4 ,the time element is a large one4 ,it takes years to get these logs through the process4 ,i have often desired to know just how long this timber has been waiting or is in transit from the time it was felled4 ,this at least must be several years1 for the logs often show signs of hard usage through a long period4 ,they are sometimes cracked and worn as if decades old4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,elephant ,,at ,,work ,it is in this timber industry that the elephants of ,burma are very useful4 ,all travelers visiting ,burma have at least seen the elephant at work in the mills of ,rangoon4 ,they drag the great logs from the river1 place them in position to be guided to the saws1 drag away the slabs and squared lumber1 pile all these in orderly heaps ready for further handling1 and manipulate the logs and ropes and their own chains in a marvelous way4 ,they go in and out of the mills with every part of the great machinery running1 and never make a false motion to tramp on a carriage1 become entangled in the belting1 or allow a whirling saw to touch their precious skins4 ,why a great beast with such strength1 joined to such intelligence and self-possession1 will submit to the feeble and often stupid man who sits on his neck1 and work for man at all1 is a marvel4 ,but the transient visitor only sees the elephant working in the mills4 ,this is only a small part of his task4 ,he does all the heavy dragging of the logs to get them to the river from the forest where they are grown4 ,this is often over the most difficult ground4 ,he will go into a thicket where no other beast can go1 where a horse or an ox could not climb at all1 or if he did1 would be perfectly useless for work4 ,but the elephant goes into these worst places and drags the logs over fallen trees1 bowlders1 and through mud1 not being dismayed by muddy ditches or rocky steeps4 ,it is no wonder that the ,government protects the herds of wild elephants4 ,but sometimes they invade the rice fields in great numbers4 ,when they do1 the destruction is so great that the officials give license to go and shoot them4 ,sometimes the hunters succeed in killing a few4 ,if they are males1 the tusks are very valuable4 ,the feet are also skinned1 including the leg1 sole of the feet1 and the nails1 and when so prepared are often used as waste-paper baskets1 and are regarded as great curiosities4 ,burma has great ruby mines2 but as these stones are not of so much value as formerly1 the mining is not to be considered as constituting a great industry4 ,but the oil fields of ,burma are very valuable1 and it is supposed that the industry is as yet only in its early beginning4 ,it is said that the company that owns the chief refinery1 and many of the oil fields1 will not sell any part of the stock they hold1 and that they are getting rich rapidly4 ,it will be seen from the foregoing facts that ,burma is a great land in itself4 ,it belongs to the ,indian ,empire1 and it is the richest province in the whole country4 ,it pays all its own expenses1 which are heavy1 and gives largely to the deficit of other provinces4 ,as a field for mission work1 there is none more promising so far as natural conditions are concerned4 ,,chapter ,v ,the ,city of ,rangoon ,rangoon may not perhaps be rated as a great1 but it is an important1 city4 ,the population of ,rangoon numbers above two hundred thousand1 without the usual thickly-inhabited suburbs4 ,it is a seaport third in importance in ,southern ,asia4 ,calcutta and ,bombay are the only cities that surpass it4 ,the capital of the province of ,burma1 it is the center of official life4 ,being situated so near the sea1 only twenty miles inland1 and having the best of harbors and every connection with the interior1 both by rail and river1 its importance as a trading center is very great4 ,compared to other ,indian cities1 it is more important than many with a greater population1 while it is doubtful if any city in all the seacoasts of ,southern ,asia is of equal importance in proportion to its population4 ,then1 it has the advantage of being a newly-planned city4 ,as such it has straight streets1 crossing at right angles for the most part1 like ,western cities of the modern plan4 ,however1 this admirable arrangement has been of far less advantage than it would have been1 because the blocks are too narrow to be utilized to the best advantage4 ,this blunder has1 unhappily1 been perpetuated in the great new addition that has been made on the eastward of the city4 ,it would seem that experience in this matter would have taught the municipality better things2 but like other things ,oriental1 ,i suppose1 they found it very difficult to get adapted to anything new4 ,as the beginning was made that way1 the end must be the same4 ,but in the one fact that the streets are straight and at right angles1 there is an advantage that is not found in any other ,oriental city4 ,the streets are kept well paved1 and the general improvements are progressive1 except in two very important particulars4 ,they still use poor kerosene in inferior lamps for street lighting4 ,ten years ago ,i went to the municipal engineer1 and asked him if it was not feasible to light the city with electricity1 instead of the obsolete methods then1 as now1 in vogue4 ,he said3 8,yes1 it might be2 but we are not so enterprising as you in ,america4 ,we will wait ten years1 and see if a new thing works well before we adopt it40 ,the ten years are passed1 and still the smoky old lamps send out their indifferent light and obnoxious odors--too many of which befoul any ,oriental city--because the municipal authorities have not yet found out that electric lighting is a success4 ,this is being written in ,america1 where most little towns of one or two thousand population are being well lighted with electricity1 while over the sea the great city of ,rangoon1 with two hundred thousand inhabitants and large revenues1 can not yet venture on this modern system of lighting its streets4 ,there is1 also1 a lamentable backwardness in the matter of street railways4 ,there is a poorly-built and poorly-kept street railway run by steam4 ,but there is little comfort in the car service1 and the motive power is antiquated steam engines4 ,the street railway1 such as it is1 is not extended to such limits as it should be4 ,were the streets lighted with electric-lights and a system of electric cars adequate to the city and suburbs running1 these public improvements would be in keeping with what ,rangoon is in the matter of trade4 ,there is only one other city in ,burma of nearly the same number of inhabitants as ,rangoon1 and that is ,mandalay1 the capital of ,upper ,burma4 ,this city was the capital of independent ,burma in modern times4 ,when the ,british annexed ,upper ,burma in #ahhf1 they projected the railway to the city of ,mandalay1 and as it already had steamer connection with ,lower ,burma1 its many advantages as a distributing center maintained its continued growth4 ,while it has a population nearly equal to ,rangoon1 it has nothing else to be compared with the latter city4 ,there is a very great contrast between the two cities in the matter of racial population4 ,while ,mandalay has some immigrants from other lands1 like other cities and towns of ,burma1 the city as a whole is distinctly ,burman4 ,rangoon1 on the other hand1 is so foreign in its makeup that it can not be called a ,burmese city4 ,relatively1 very few ,burmans live in the main part of the city4 ,here you find many peoples of ,india4 ,there are wide areas of the city given over to the ,tamils1 ,telegus1 ,bengalis1 ,gujaratties1 and ,chinese2 while yet other ,indian people are found in this ,indian community to the exclusion of the ,burmese4 ,the ,burmese live chiefly at both ends of the city of ,rangoon1 where there is much trading in rice and other dealings of a ,burmese character4 ,the ,burmese have given way before the immigrants of ,india1 largely because they are an independent and proud race1 and will not do the work commonly done by the coolies and servants about the city4 ,they look upon the immigrant from ,india as an inferior1 and they will not allow themselves to be his competitor for the more menial services and work of the city4 ,the ,burmese1 therefore1 collect chiefly where they have occupation congenial to their tastes4 ,it is significant that the ,burman will work at almost anything1 where the ,madrassis and other ,indian people are not working alongside of him4 ,but where there may be constant contrasts or comparisons in inferior positions1 he will not condescend to go4 ,so he gives way to the native as indicated1 not from necessity1 but from choice4 ,rangoon is a great trade center4 ,the two greatest industries are that of the lumber trade and the traffic in rice4 ,the lumber manufacture and sale has had previous mention4 ,i will only add that immense sawmills line the river front at frequent intervals1 and the logs lie in the river in great rafts1 or in heaps on land4 ,there are perhaps scores of elephants at work in connection with these mills4 ,the rice mills are conducted on a very large scale4 ,the plan is common to make advances to brokers1 who go out and loan money on the growing crop and agree to take the rice1 which in the husk is called 8paddy10 at harvest time1 at a given rate per hundred baskets4 ,the basket holds about a bushel4 ,usually the price ranges about one hundred rupees for a hundred baskets1 though often the rice is a fourth above or a fourth below this amount4 ,the rupee is equal to thirty cents4 ,as the price of rice is impossible of calculation so many months in advance of harvest1 the millers who advance the money to the brokers1 who are usually ,burmans1 and the brokers who advance the money to the cultivators agreeing to take 8paddy0 at a given rate at harvest1 and the cultivators1 all base their calculations upon guesses usually wrong1 the whole system has much of the elements of gambling1 like the dealing in futures on an ,american ,board of ,trade4 ,the rice is husked and cleaned in these great mills1 and sold to buyers from abroad1 or in the local markets for food4 ,often the cleaned rice is sent to ,europe1 and converted into some kind of intoxicants1 and comes back to curse the land out of which it grew4 ,it is noteworthy that most of these greater business enterprises that call for great organization are managed by ,europeans4 ,but there are many merchants in wholesale or retail business that are of all races4 ,the ,chinamen are busy traders1 and will doubtless have a more controlling voice in the affairs of business as time goes forward4 ,of all the trade in the country1 there are two features that are a source of unmixed evil--the trade in opium1 and the trade in liquor4 ,it is true that the ,government tries to keep the opium trade under very severe regulations2 but it is always a failure to try to regulate that which itself feeds upon vice4 ,the amount of liquor brought into ,burma is something enormous4 ,it is true that there are more people that do not drink than formerly1 and those that still drink are less given to excessive drunkenness than in earlier years2 yet there are more people in the land1 and there are more of the natives1 particularly ,burmese1 that are using intoxicants1 in imitation of ,europeans1 and therefore the quantity of liquor brought to the country to supply this demand is greater than ever before4 ,the ship that our party went on to ,rangoon carried three missionaries and three hundred tons of liquor4 ,i have no doubt this would not be above the average cargo for steamers plying between ,european ports and ,burma4 ,it is astonishing how this liquor has entered into ordinary trade4 ,most of the great importing houses deal in liquors4 ,most of the retail houses likewise4 ,so it becomes difficult for a young man who is hostile to the whole liquor business to get work in any of the retail 8shops10 as they are called1 without staining his hands in this unholy traffic4 ,one of the great reforms on the temperance questions in the ,east will be to develop a sentiment antagonistic to the traffic1 until liquor-selling can not be countenanced as a respectable business4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,new ,,public ,,offices1 ,,rangoon ,rangoon has several good public buildings1 the greatest of these being the ,government ,house1 the residence of his honor the lieutenant-governor1 and the great secretariat building1 which is situated on grounds reserved for its use1 in the center of the city4 ,the latter building has been completed only about five years1 and when newly occupied was considerably shaken by the heavy earthquake1 which shook ,rangoon and vicinity4 ,but the damage done has been repaired1 and the great building adorns the city and serves the purpose for which it was erected4 ,there is also the elegant ,jubilee ,hall erected in honor of ,queen ,victoria's illustrious reign4 ,rangoon is divided into two distinct parts4 ,the one is on the flat land adjoining the river1 and extending a third of a mile back1 and some four miles in length4 ,this includes most of the business portion and all the crowded districts of the city4 ,here many thousands of people literally swarm by day1 and sleep twenty in a single room at night4 ,this portion of the city is called 8,the ,town40 ,it is almost always very dirty1 except when washed by heavy rains4 ,here are still seen old buildings of every sort4 ,however1 these are disappearing more rapidly than one would anticipate1 from the fact that they were originally all constructed of wood1 and during the dry weather there have been frequent friendly fires of late years1 and the town is by this means relieved of a good many unsightly structures4 ,henceforth there are to be no wooden buildings erected in the center of the city4 ,during the rains we are treated to a curious effect of the excessive moisture of the climate4 ,many of the old houses have been roofed by clay tiling4 ,when this tiling is not frequently turned1 the spores of certain weeds1 which have gathered on the tiles as the rains increase and the clouds settle down in unbroken shadows over the land1 spring up and grow to the height of two feet or more1 growing as thick as grass in a meadow4 ,this makes a house a very curious-looking object4 ,a human habitation or church grown all over with weeds6 ,when the clouds break away and the sun comes out1 these weeds dry to a crisp4 ,any student of a people1 and most of all a missionary1 is early attracted by the religious life of men4 ,of the many races that mix1 but do not blend1 in the population of ,rangoon1 each brings his own religion from the land of his birth4 ,each holds to his own faith with the greatest persistency1 as a rule4 ,men will have dealings together on all subjects1 except in religion4 ,here they differ widely1 and they generally do not compromise their religious convictions or observance4 ,sometimes their dispositions to each other are that of covert hostility4 ,but generally they get on in outward peace1 but do not think of becoming proselytes to any other religion4 ,the religious rites at the shrines are kept up faithfully4 ,the great religious feasts are observed with much pomp4 ,the social customs that are connected with each religion are seldom broken4 ,so living side by side are adherents of every religion under the sun4 ,in the center of ,dalhousie ,street in ,rangoon is a large pagoda1 a shrine of the ,buddhists1 with its gilded conical shape rising far above all other buildings in the vicinity1 while from its umbrella-like top there goes out on the tropical air the sweet sound of bells that hang on the rim of the umbrella4 ,just across the street from this pagoda is a mosque where the ,mohammedan business men and passers-by go five times a day to pray4 ,two blocks east from these is a ,hindu temple1 and three or four blocks west is a ,chinese temple1 where their religious rites are observed1 consisting mostly of offerings to devils4 ,these temples are only samples4 ,i understand there are a score of mosques in ,rangoon4 ,the number of ,hindu temples ,i do not know1 while there are pagodas in every quarter4 ,there are various ,chinese temples also4 ,throughout the city are now found several ,christian ,churches4 ,here the gospel light is held up to dispel the soul-darkening counsels of the ,christless faiths4 ,at a glance at these sacred places and religious rites it will be seen that the conflict between religious ideas and practices is general1 and probably will become world-wide4 ,the ,europeans that go to that country must represent the ,christian religion1 or deteriorate religiously4 ,the non-,christians must stand by their own1 or in time they too will become modified4 ,this is wholly independent of the aggressive battle that the missionary would wage against all these non-,christian religious systems4 ,it is a significant fact that the missionaries who are in the midst of the religious life1 so opposed to all they hold dear in faith and practice1 have unbounded confidence in the final triumph of the gospel in leavening the present-day pagan faiths1 as it did those of the ,new ,testament times4 ,i have yet to meet a hopeless missionary4 ,this note of the hopeful conquering missionary force is an inbreathing of the ,spirit of our ,lord1 who from his throne sends forth his heralds4 ,one fact will show how intense is the religious faith among some of the ,asiatics4 ,the ,mohammedans and the ,hindus are often very hostile to each other4 ,if it were not for the hand of the ,english ,government in ,india1 this hostility would be almost continually breaking out into open violence in some parts of the country4 ,as it is1 it is not seldom that religious riots occur4 ,in #ahid1 during a ,mohammedan feast1 in which they are accustomed to sacrifice a cow1 the ,mohammedans were determined to slaughter the animal not far from a business house of a rich ,hindu1 on whose premises there was also a private temple4 ,as the ,hindus worship the cow1 and as the killing of such an animal1 especially in religious services1 is an abomination to them1 they were naturally much incensed1 and the ,mohammedans probably meant that they should be4 ,in this case the ,mohammedans seemed to be the aggressors throughout4 ,the fanatical antagonism was growing dangerous4 ,the authorities were watching the movements of these two parties1 the ,mohammedans giving most concern4 ,several days went by1 and the feeling was at fever heat4 ,sunday came1 and as ,i rode to church with my family in the early morning1 ,i saw on every street companies of ,mohammedans carrying clubs faced with irons1 hurrying toward the center of the town where their greatest mosque is1 and near which they meant to sacrifice the cow4 ,just as ,i concluded the morning service1 ,i heard the sound of distant firing4 ,in a few moments a ,mohammedan ran by the church1 with his face partly shot away4 ,the excitement in the city grew as the facts became known4 ,illustration3 ,,the ,,mosque1 ,,rangoon ,the deputy commissioner and other officers were present at the center of the disturbance with a small company of ,seik soldiers4 ,the mob grew to many thousands1 and the officers commanded them to disperse4 ,this order they refused in derisive language4 ,then blank cartridges were fired to frighten the multitude1 and still they refused to disperse4 ,as there was nothing left to do1 the troops were ordered to fire into the crowd that thronged about the mosque4 ,some thirty or more were shot1 several being killed outright4 ,this dispersed the crowds1 but there was rioting for days whenever ,mohammedans would find a ,hindu away from his associates1 or in unfrequented or unprotected localities4 ,had it not been for these rigorous measures of the authorities1 the whole community would have been given over to violence4 ,as it was1 the whole ,mohammedan community was doubly policed for six months1 and the extra expense was put on to the tax of that particular community4 ,this was effective in keeping order1 and when the time had run its course1 the ,mohammedans petitioned the local ,government that if these extra police were taken away1 they would behave themselves1 which they have done ever since4 ,while 8the ,town0 is such a center of life and strife1 the suburbs are a place of quiet1 rest1 cleanliness1 and beauty unsurpassed4 ,the military cantonment is here1 with perhaps nearly a mile square1 laid out in large blocks and roomy compounds1 or yards4 ,a rule has long been in force in the cantonment1 that there could only be one house erected on a lot4 ,most of these lots contain from one to four acres4 ,this gives the room necessary to beautify the grounds1 and to secure pure air4 ,the cantonment is now being curtailed1 and doubtless this admirable regulation may be modified4 ,but as this land rises a little higher than the town1 and1 being a little apart from it1 it will continue to be of great value for homes4 ,the entire suburbs have a fine growth of trees1 many of them natural forest trees and others ornamental1 and planted for shade4 ,illustration3 ,,entrance ,,of ,,sway ,,dagon ,,pagoda ,the chief object of all the region1 the great ,pagoda1 is situated about the middle of this cantonment portion of the suburbs4 ,but the suburbs run far beyond the cantonment4 ,it reaches on three sides of this reserve1 while the whole region to the northward is being occupied and built upon4 ,there is a fine grove of forest and fruit trees extending most of the way to ,insein1 nine miles from ,rangoon1 and nearly all the intermediate area is built up with fine residences of ,europeans1 or rich natives4 ,the homes out in the groves1 and with large fruit gardens1 furnish the ideal place for rest and refreshment after the work of the hot day in 8the ,town40 ,it is a fact that ,europeans who have lived for a while in this portion of the city of ,rangoon seem loath to leave it for any place4 ,if they go back to ,europe1 they mostly return again to ,rangoon4 ,government ,house1 a large palatial building1 the residence of the lieutenant-governor1 is the central attraction of all the fine residences of this region4 ,there are three areas of great beauty reserved by the authorities--the ,zoological ,gardens1 the ,cantonment ,gardens1 and the ,royal ,lakes4 ,all these reserves are beautiful with every variety of tree1 bush1 and flower that grows in the tropics1 and the grounds are laid out with artistic care1 and lakelets beautify the whole4 ,but the 8,royal ,lakes0 are a series of natural and artificial water basins1 all connected and adorned with beautiful little islands and curved shore lines4 ,a portion of the inclosure is kept as a public park1 and a winding drive is maintained along the water's edge1 which gives an ever-changing picture of tropical beauty4 ,the effect of the palms1 the mangoes1 and other shade and ornamental trees1 toning down the fierce glare of the sun1 and these shades reflected from the clear water on a tropical evening1 is a blending of color that ,i have never seen anywhere equaled4 ,the world has many places of beauty1 but of those views ,i have seen nothing equals the 8,royal ,lakes0 of ,rangoon for combinations of charming scenery in a limited area4 ,evening and morning this drive is crowded with vehicles of every type4 ,rangoonites of every race are out taking in the air and scenery4 ,here in the evening may be seen hundreds of people dressed in the coolest apparel1 visiting and resting1 while two or three evenings a week the band entertains with music4 ,it is no wonder that ,rangoon makes an attractive city for business and pleasure for any whose lot is cast in this tropical land4 ,the heat is never as intense as in ,indian cities1 and always in the hottest weather it is modified with a sea-breeze4 ,in the long and heavy rains also the people seem to get no harm from a frequent exposure4 ,illustration3 ,,royal ,,lakes ,,at ,,eventide1 ,,rangoon ,,chapter ,,vi ,europeans1 ,anglo-,indians1 ,eurasians ,all people of foreign blood from western lands1 and the descendants of these1 however remote or however little the trace of ,western blood they have1 are in ,india technically called 8,europeans40 ,before the law they have the rights of a trial by jury1 and in the school laws they are classed as 8,europeans40 ,but it is far more accurate to divide this class into three divisions--the pure 8,europeans10 the 8,anglo-,indians10 and the 8,eurasians40 ,by this division the ,europeans are people born and reared in ,europe1 or ,america1 who are now found in ,southern ,asia4 ,the ,anglo-,indians are those people of mixed ,european blood who have been born and reared in ,india4 ,the ,eurasian1 as the name implies1 is a man who has both ,european and ,asiatic blood4 ,for the purposes of comparison these may be named in two classes1 the ,western born and bred man1 the ,european1 as distinguished from ,eastern born relatives1 ,anglo-,indians and ,eurasians4 ,i want it made very clear that in discussing the characteristics and relations of these several peoples1 that ,i am not drawing invidious comparisons4 ,i have no sympathy whatever with asperities heaped upon men because of their race2 neither do ,i patronize any man because of his race4 ,i long ago concluded that character is not a matter of race2 that lovable or royal manhood is not a question of ancestry or position1 but that nearly all essential differences in men are due to environment and to personal conduct1 for which each man is responsible4 ,but comparisons not invidious must be made to bring out the various features of social and business life that enter into the complex racial intermingling of ,southern ,asia4 ,at best this complexity of life can be but partially understood by readers in ,america1 who have never seen anything quite like it4 ,the characteristics of ,europeans and ,americans are well known in the ,western world4 ,my subject calls for only those characteristics which they hold in common1 and these features of character as modified by residence in the tropics and under the social conditions of ,asia4 ,these characteristics are contrasted in a decided way1 as compared with any and all ,asiatic trained men of any race or racial mixture4 ,these elements of character are most noticeable in the energy that takes them to the tropics1 their capacity to organize business or government1 and maintain a modern and systematic organization of the highest efficiency1 and that peculiar capacity for just and progressive governmental domination4 ,this energy and this capacity for organization1 which of course involves the power to work out painstaking details1 are characteristic of the ,northern civilization1 and never found in the same degree1 as far as ,i know1 among any peoples that have been bred in the tropics4 ,it is a matter of great importance in working out the simplest framework of a theory of racial influence in the world to recognize the fact that all real pioneering1 all colossal accomplishments in all lands in modern times1 have been made by men bred in the colder countries of the temperate zone4 ,these are the men who forge the world forward in their own native climes1 and in the frigid zone1 and also in the scorching tropics4 ,the tropical world presents no people who hold their own with these exotics1 even under their native skies4 ,it is this quality of the ,european that makes him the dominating man in ,india4 ,he creates and fosters government and business enterprises on a large scale4 ,as a man1 the ,european is a mightier personal force than ,asia can produce4 ,that this energy is largely a result of climate and social environment is very plain when we compare the ,western man with the characteristics of the descendants of ,europeans who have had only an ,indian upbringing4 ,and in all comparisons ,i will class the ,anglo-,indian and the ,eurasian together1 for so they belong4 ,they both follow the same habits of life1 so far as style of living is concerned1 similar to that of the ,european resident in ,india4 ,in these respects they have much in common with all ,europeans4 ,they are all classed together as compared with the native4 ,but here the similarity between the imported man and his ,indian-bred relative comes to an abrupt end4 ,the driving and conquering energy of the ,western man is wanting in his relative of even one generation of ,asiatic breeding4 ,it is clear that this difference1 which all observing men recognize1 is purely due to environment of climate and social customs4 ,they are as bright in mind as the ,western men4 ,they are excellent students to a certain point4 ,they are specially facile letter-writers4 ,but the line of occupations which their ,asiatic life and conditions fit them for1 is very limited indeed4 ,the limitations of their lives are many4 ,the most depressing of all their conditions grows out of the fact that they from infancy are dependent for the greater part of all life's duties on the native servant4 ,the baby is nursed by a native ayah2 his clothes are kept in order for him by a servant4 ,he is fed1 clothed1 and cared for by half a dozen menials4 ,his boots are blacked for him2 his books carried to school2 his umbrella held over his head2 his pony is groomed1 saddled1 and led while he rides1 by a servant whom he is accustomed to command in everything4 ,he is helped and coddled out of all independence and self-helpfulness4 ,in all this he is not to be blamed1 but pitied4 ,in this he does as all his relatives and neighbors do4 ,his household and business methods1 all that he sees1 is being done this way4 ,not one man of ,european descent in ,india lives entirely by his own efforts1 as is common in ,western countries4 ,his dependence on menials is therefore a necessity of respectable life1 as he sees it4 ,he is not to be blamed1 for he sees nothing better around him4 ,but this admission does not require that we approve the social conditions that unman him and rob him of much energy and resourcefulness in the matter of self-help4 ,it is a fact that he develops a softness of character in matters of personal habit1 and lacks in the energy which is required only by long and sustained self-dependent work4 ,for this reason all the hardier traits of manhood are feebly developed1 or lacking4 ,you do not find these men entering callings where hard service is required4 ,they do not make either soldiers or sailors4 ,some of them become engineers1 but they are only found in places where the work is largely done by native helpers1 and even here few of them compete with the ,scotch or ,german engineer4 ,but the difference wrought by social conditions is seen more in matters of disposition than elsewhere4 ,no race of the human family can boast of good dispositions4 ,however1 we do find that ,indian-born men are unduly sensitive4 ,they are usually easily 8offended10 even to pouting4 ,they are sensitive of their 8status10 whatever their positions may be4 ,a multiplied illustration of this supersensitiveness is found in the recklessness with which men will resign from any and every post when1 for some reason or without reason1 their feelings are hurt4 ,they will often go from comfort to beggary just because they may be displeased with their treatment4 ,and that which seems almost a paradox1 compared with the preceding fact1 is that they will stand almost any amount of outright snubbing from people whom they respect for some pretentious assumption of superiority4 ,i have been puzzled many times to understand how it was when ,i went to a disgruntled man with soft speech to pacify him1 if for reason or without it he was disaffected1 to find that he would take my approach to him as a sign of weakness1 and be confirmed in his unlovely manners4 ,but ,i have seen the same man benefited by the sharpest rebuke which gave him no quarter at all4 ,but while the ,anglo-,indians have all the disposition in common with the ,eurasian1 they are distinguished in common speech in a way that often causes much pain to high-minded ,eurasians4 ,they are called 8,half-castes0 and 8,niggers40 ,they are scorned for being born of questionable parentage4 ,this is by no means true of the most of these unfortunate people1 as an increasing proportion of them are born in wedlock1 and often are the children of cultured and orderly homes1 the equal of any on earth4 ,but when true as a fact1 it does not affect their character or real moral worth4 ,but there is a sting1 the more painful for its injustice1 on the innocent child born of mixed parentage1 when born out of wedlock1 which in the cruelty of social speech attaches more shame to the innocent child than guilt to the heartless father4 ,i have been led to believe that this injustice accounts for much of the supersensitiveness in the whole ,eurasian community4 ,then they labor under the disadvantage often of having a very dark skin4 ,it is a curious law of nature that the ,eurasian child often has a darker skin than even his ,asiatic parent4 ,in a country where shades of color1 light or dark1 are measured by a supersensitive scale1 and social recognition is to some extent based upon this absurd measurement1 it will be seen that the ,eurasian1 especially if very dark1 is overmuch pained that he has not a white skin1 and he feels the fling of the term 8,nigger10 often on the lips of those whose only whiteness is in their skins4 ,one more characteristic of the ,asiatic-bred men of ,european descent may be given4 ,they do not take kindly to burdensome responsibilities1 even after ,indian pattern1 especially for their own kindred and race4 ,in a country where there are more charitable institutions in proportion to the population than in any other in the world1 and perhaps greater need of such institutions1 yet it remains a painful fact that1 with a few exceptions--so exceptional as to make the real nobility of the mind of the few more striking--there is a very small part of the money necessary for their support given by the ,anglo-,indians1 or ,eurasians4 ,the greatest amount of money to keep these institutions going is given by men foreign to the country4 ,but another like fact of note is this1 that there is not one such institution1 so far as ,i can learn1 the burdensome responsibility of which is actually carried by an ,indian-bred man1 or company of men4 ,there are many working faithfully in subordinate capacities4 ,but when it comes to organizing and maintaining such an institution1 and bearing its burdens through crises1 the ,indian-bred men have not been found under the load4 ,the suggestiveness of these facts is a commentary on either the lack of real charity1 or lack of energy to bear responsible burdens4 ,having been in this sort of work in various capacities for all the time ,i have been in the mission field1 ,i feel it is due to the institutions of this kind1 and the workers who bear the burdens of the same1 to point out this failure of this branch of the ,indian peoples to measure up to a manifest duty1 and to say further1 that ,i believe this shrinking from personal responsibility to be a direct result of training from childhood1 which teaches them to avoid unpleasant tasks and drop them upon others4 ,they would order a servant to do the work if it could be done that way2 but if not1 then the ,western man or woman must do it1 or it goes undone4 ,one more characteristic must be mentioned4 ,it can not be denied that the lack of manly independence in a majority of ,indian-bred men leads them to be forever asking somebody to do something for them4 ,many of them will appeal to ministers especially1 and all charitably-disposed people1 to get them into positions for which they are often wholly unqualified4 ,they will ask you to aid them with money2 borrow or beg without any sensibility of its unmanliness whatever4 ,it takes a very large part of every minister's time to respond to these incessant calls for 8help40 ,it would take reams of paper to write all the supplications1 petitions1 and applications for positions1 when the applicants for aid should present themselves in person and ask for posts1 conscious of their own ability to sustain themselves4 ,a ,scotchman in ,rangoon1 whom ,i knew1 and a man with most kindly heart1 in a position where he was often besieged for employment1 grew so tired of this unmanly method of applying for employment1 that he became annoyed every time he saw a man with one of those letters of recommendation coming to him4 ,he warned me repeatedly that1 as a minister1 ,i ought not to write these letters of recommendation to business men1 and in later years ,i ceased to do so4 ,one constant form of this appeal for some special favor has been repeatedly to approach the ,indian ,government to retain certain positions for the special benefit of this community4 ,the ,anglo-,indian and ,eurasian associations have repeatedly memorialized the viceroy to order these favors4 ,lord ,curzon1 the present viceroy1 gave their memorials special attention1 and as a result he delivered a reply of the most searching kind1 and urged the people of this community to carve out something worthy themselves1 instead of being continually memorializing for special favors1 and refused to aid in the special class regulations4 ,the delegation retired1 8thanking his excellency for his sarcastic remarks40 ,yet ,i fear it will take more sarcasm before the right mettle is put into this people1 as a class4 ,now while ,i have written these facts as ,i see them1 ,i wish to avoid absolutely a mistake commonly made4 ,while we point out these weaknesses in a community1 we must not stop there1 as the manner of some is4 ,there are those who would not allow themselves to speak of the real worthy ones among these peoples as heartily as they would of the deficiencies of others4 ,i want to be fair and to lean in statement where my sympathies have always been1 with the better and noble characteristics of these unfortunate people1 as ,i have known and valued them1 and recognize the possibility of toning up the moral fiber1 if they are taken in hand as boys and girls before being confirmed in the weakening customs of the country4 ,the youth1 both boys and girls1 of these families have many among them who will take a fine education4 ,they do excellent work in school4 ,some take a university course4 ,a greater number ought to do so4 ,they make very good clerks where nothing but writing is to be done4 ,this has been the chief employment of the men hitherto4 ,they are very fair teachers4 ,a few have been employed in our mission1 who for painstaking care and faithfulness can not be excelled4 ,some of them have been inspired to be and do all that is worthy and noble4 ,there are missionaries from among these peoples whose ministry has been blessed of ,god1 and greatly edified the ,church4 ,it is a fact1 however1 that for the last dozen years there has been almost a dearth of such applicants for admission to our ranks4 ,it is also true that the falling off in these applications corresponds nearly with the time that those who were in our ,indian ,conferences were advanced to the full status of ,american-trained missionaries4 ,let this be pondered and remedied4 ,some of the young people have done nobly4 ,a few have honored themselves and the ,church by an education in ,america1 and returned to devoted service for their own people4 ,but happily we have an illustrious soul of this community1 recently translated1 whose going has made earth poorer1 except in hallowed memories of her sainted life1 and heaven richer4 ,when we meet one such soul as the sainted ,phbe ,rowe1 we lift up our hearts with thanks to ,him who has made the ,christ-life so real in flesh that we could look upon4 ,phbe ,rowe was a ,eurasian4 ,she had all the ,indian conditions1 but from very early life she was a devoted ,christian4 ,in riper years she developed ,christian graces to the highest possibility4 ,after a notable service in many capacities1 she closed her career by a long term of service as an evangelist to the poor native ,church of ,india4 ,her life and labors have been recorded1 and are the property of the ,church4 ,i only write to say of her that she was the most perfect fruit of our ,indian ,mission4 ,bishop ,thoburn1 in his address before the ,central ,conference in #aijj1 spoke of her departure1 and said1 8,phbe ,rowe1 the most peerless saint ,i have ever known40 ,one such saint is a prophecy of all possible good among these people4 ,the climate and social conditions do affect ,europeans also4 ,this is manifest in very many ways4 ,from having servants to do the necessary work for them1 they easily drift into the habit of leaning back in an easy-chair1 and calling 8boy0 for everything they want1 from a drink of water to a toothpick4 ,i saw an extreme case4 ,a young ,scotchman1 just out of the office in the evening1 went to the ,royal ,lakes and called for his boat4 ,his servant dutifully brought it to the low platform2 waiting the pleasure of his master4 ,the young man turned him slowly round and sat down in the boat1 but left his legs stretched on the platform4 ,the servant went out and lifted one leg in1 and the other leg likewise4 ,when the whole man was in he pushed the boat off the shore1 and the master took lazily to the oars6 ,the habit of being waited upon in everything tends to develop the domineering habit among almost all people4 ,little children often fairly drive the servants about as they assert their pettishness4 ,grown-up people often act as spoiled children in the same way4 ,a young man who comes from ,europe from conditions where he had to do every kind of work himself1 soon learns to order his servants around with more pomp than any born lord4 ,the tendency of this kind trends also to extravagance in living4 ,it is so common for men getting a good salary to live beyond their means4 ,it is a common thing when an officer on good salary dies1 for his friends to take up a public subscription for his widow1 who will often be found to be without support of any kind4 ,in these respects1 the climate and the environment are seductive4 ,the sterling simplicity that makes ,westerners great is easily frittered away in the ,east4 ,men go in for display4 ,they keep what they call 8establishments40 ,they are much given to drink4 ,too often they debauch4 ,it is certain that a young man runs far more risk in this tropical climate of making moral shipwreck than in ,europe or ,america4 ,take away his moral props with which he is surrounded at home1 and he quickly forms alliances to his own heart4 ,concubinage is very common4 ,at first the youth is ashamed of this relation1 but later he is likely to flaunt this sin in the face of all men4 ,he sometimes acts as if he were perfectly reckless of moral consequences4 ,the good name he brought to the country and his own loved ones at home are forgotten4 ,it is a common saying1 8,he left his morals at the ,suez ,canal40 ,but while this is true as a tendency1 it is the joy of the writer to emphasize the fact that not a few men1 young men1 come from ,europe to the tropics and keep themselves pure and noble in the midst of all that is seductive in climate or society4 ,i have known a goodly number of such1 and count them among the most genuinely noble men that ,i have met4 ,there are men of many years in the country whose moral worth has grown with a steady growth as the years have gone forward1 and have made themselves a name that is a rebuke to every dishonorable or unclean life1 and a tower of strength for themselves1 and a mighty bulwark against popular evils that degrade their fellow-countrymen4 ,these men1 with their time1 business sense1 and their money1 are always actively on the side of right and righteousness4 ,no people have had more such friendships in ,india than the ,methodist missionaries4 ,i have been specially honored with a wide acquaintance with such noble men4 ,,chapter ,,vii ,characteristics of the ,races of ,burma ,the cosmopolitan character of the population of ,rangoon has been given1 and it is only necessary to add that all towns near the sea and on the railways have the same intermingling of foreign and native peoples4 ,but there is a much greater preponderance of those races which are at home in ,burma4 ,as you go inland1 of all the immigrants the most ubiquitous is the ,chinese4 ,the ,burmese are easily the chief people of ,burma over any other race1 native or immigrant1 in any part of ,burma4 ,indeed1 they rank high among all peoples of ,asia4 ,i am aware that when ,i exalt the ,burman1 ,i invite the criticism of the champion of other races4 ,it is a common observation that missionaries especially come to champion the worth and virtues of the peoples among whom they labor1 and perhaps estimate them above their value1 as compared with other races4 ,this trait is worth something to the world in that it brings to the front one class of optimists of the value of men as they are1 or of what they shall be4 ,when any man loses faith in any race1 he can no longer be of signal service to that race4 ,in rating the ,burmese people highly1 ,i am not aware of being prejudiced in their favor by reason of exclusive association4 ,our mission work has brought us into contact with nearly all the races in ,burma4 ,as a result of our experience1 the ,burman must be given a place second to none4 ,personally1 ,i believe he has more to be said in his favor than any other ,asiatic race of which ,i have any knowledge4 ,i know it will be said that he is lazy and unreliable4 ,the former accusation is well-nigh universal4 ,to undertake even to qualify this charge of indolence is a large task2 but still ,i am ready to say something for the ,burman's industry4 ,it is admitted that several of the races of ,india are ploddingly industrious4 ,the ,burman's industry is less continuous1 but ,i think not less genuine4 ,he has more festivals and idle days1 but he certainly works rapidly1 and for long hours1 when he works4 ,this is especially true of the cultivator4 ,he is in the field a little after daylight1 and with only a short time of rest at midday he works on till dark4 ,in harvesting time he does the same4 ,one evening when darkness had fallen ,i was going up a tidal creek in a boat making my way to the village of ,naunguyi1 when my attention was attracted by sounds on the bank1 and looking up ,i could see outlined against the sky two ,burmans loading a cart with rice sheaves4 ,it would have been too dark to see them if we had all been on a level4 ,these men had been working since daylight4 ,during the threshing time the work is often kept going on the threshing floors till midnight4 ,now ,i am persuaded that men naturally indolent do not work in this way4 ,in clerkships1 and as subordinate officials1 they do not compare unfavorably with other ,asiatic races2 while the ,burmese women are notably industrious1 whether in the village1 or in the bazar in the cities4 ,eight or ten years ago we heard much of the hard-working1 money-loving ,madrassi supplanting the ,burmese land-owner and cultivator of ,lower ,burma4 ,but with a somewhat close observation ,i am convinced he is not succeeding in this much faster than the ,burman finds it to his own advantage to allow the black man from across the ,bay of ,bengal to succeed him4 ,the same thing is true if it comes to larger trading4 ,in such lines as the ,burman cares to enter1 he gives a good account of himself4 ,if there is one man who will beat him in trade1 that man is the ,chinaman4 ,there are certain kinds of employment the ,burman dislikes1 and he avoids them2 but in his chosen lines he is not discounted by comparison4 ,the ,burmese are racially very proud4 ,there is a good deal of dignity in this pride1 as well as of less worthy elements4 ,among themselves the ,burmese have no caste system1 except that of the pagoda slave1 hence all kinds of work are honorable4 ,but when the ,indian1 with his caste system1 comes in and classifies life into the infinitesimal distinctions of respectability1 and the reverse in all kinds of work whereby all domestic service is put under this caste system1 the proud ,burman refuses to be a servant6 ,who can blame him8 ,he is a standing protest against a system that is wholly wrong4 ,in ,upper ,burma1 where he is not so much in competition with the caste man1 he takes fairly well to all manner of work4 ,even when he competes with the coolie labor of other races he maintains himself4 ,this was strikingly illustrated in cutting the new road up ,thandaung three years ago4 ,the officers tried ,karen labor till it failed1 though the work was in their own hills4 ,then the ,madrassis were brought in1 and they gave way after repeated trials4 ,then1 as a last resort1 the ,burmese coolies came and completed what the other races had failed to accomplish4 ,it is certainly true that the ,burmese race is much respected by most ,europeans4 ,i do not think any other ,asiatic race is equally respected by foreigners resident in ,burma4 ,the manners of the ,burmese are pleasant4 ,the ,burman is a friendly man1 and approachable4 ,there is none of the exclusive1 non-communicative characteristics about him4 ,he will share his house and his food with you always4 ,his religion1 while having something of bigotry in it1 as almost all religions have1 is not offensive to men of other faiths4 ,the toleration by ,buddhism of other faiths1 perhaps more apparent than real1 yet is sufficient to attract much favorable comment in ,burma4 ,one fact much to the ,burman's credit1 in comparison with the other races of ,asia1 is his ability to read2 that is1 a very large majority of the men read1 at least to some extent1 and a good many women4 ,lately in ,america we have heard the school system of the ,chinese much lauded4 ,and since ,minister ,wu1 at ,washington1 has so distinguished himself and his race by his striking addresses1 many people have jumped at the conclusion that an ignorant ,chinaman is the exception4 ,but ,i am told by those who ought to know1 that in ,china only about one man in a hundred1 and one woman in ten thousand1 can read4 ,the ,japanese alone of ,asiatic races are more literary than the ,burmese4 ,the ,burman is peculiarly proud of his knowledge of the ,buddhist doctrines4 ,he calls them the 8law40 ,in consequence of the system of doctrine he upholds1 he is unwilling to be taught religion by a man whom he has hitherto believed incompetent to teach4 ,it is this1 ,i believe1 which makes him unwilling1 as a rule1 to be taught ,christianity by a ,karen4 ,all his racial and religious pride comes up as he faces the suggestion of the ,karen teaching him1 whom he would always regard in a peculiar way as a 8son of the jungle40 ,he knows the ,karen formerly had no social standing and no written language1 while his vague demonology was wholly wanting as a system of religious teaching4 ,no1 he is not ready to receive ,christianity from the ,karen4 ,for hundreds of years the ,burmese have been the dominant people in the land of ,burma1 and the ,shans1 ,chins1 and ,karens were conquered and dominated by them4 ,they have had some able rulers1 and at times have had a strong enough government to wage war with distant people2 even with ,china herself they were often at war4 ,illustration3 ,a ,,burmese ,,family ,the ,burmese have a distinctly developed racial type4 ,they1 like all peoples in ,burma1 ,china1 and ,siam1 are of the ,mongolian type of men4 ,their complexion is much lighter than most ,indian peoples1 and they naturally look upon the black man from across the ,bay of ,bengal as the 8,kalla10 dark of color and an inferior4 ,while they have distinct racial features1 they evidently are a blending of the ,chinese and the ,malay4 ,this has been noticed particularly by comparison between the ,burmese and the ,filipinos4 ,visitors to ,manila1 who are acquainted with the ,burmese1 say the resemblance to the ,filipino is very striking4 ,we know the ,filipino has a ,chinese and ,malay infusion of blood4 ,the more than six millions of ,burmese people are the chief people of this land1 whether studied from a governmental1 racial1 or missionary point of view4 ,to the ,american interested in missions it is of special importance to remember these people4 ,in ,america there is just now much interest in carrying the gospel to eight or ten millions of people in the ,philippine ,islands4 ,this interest is largely because they are under the ,american flag4 ,let not the millions of ,burmese ,buddhists be forgotten while hastening to new fields4 ,the ,shans take second rank among the races of ,burma1 though much more attention has been given to the ,karens by the missionaries4 ,the ,shans in appearance are the most like the ,chinese of any of the inhabitants of ,burma4 ,they are racially closely related to them4 ,their language1 appearance1 and dress bear out the resemblance4 ,the ,shans are found widely distributed in ,burma2 but they live chiefly in the hills in the northeast of the province4 ,like the ,chins1 ,kachins1 and several tribes of the ,karens1 they seem to prefer residence in the hills4 ,in this they all contrast with the ,burmese1 who always prefer a home on the plains1 and they are never for a long time or in large numbers resident in the hills in any part of ,burma4 ,the plains are the richest part of the country1 and as the conquering ,burmese came down from the north they naturally occupied the fertile portions of the country1 and have remained there1 the weaker peoples taking to the hills and finding their permanent home in places relatively difficult of access and easy of defense4 ,the ,shans are a strong race1 and a little taller than either the ,burmese or the ,karens4 ,they are raisers of cattle and ponies1 and are great traders1 bringing the products of the distant hills to the railway centers4 ,in religion the ,shans are ,buddhists4 ,they have a written language1 and the ,bible has been translated into their tongue by the ,baptist missionaries4 ,in matters of moral purity the ,shans must be rated very low4 ,by those best informed1 it is said that their girls are nearly all corrupted before they are grown4 ,a missionary resident among them for years1 told me that the principal chief had in his reception room a picture portraying all the vices known to the human race1 placed on the wall in plain view of every one who came to see him4 ,here men1 women1 and children1 when calling on the chief1 looked upon this horrible picture1 and discussed it as a commonplace affair4 ,the missionary1 who was the chief physician1 told him he would not come to his house again if he did not take that picture down from his walls4 ,the chief expressed surprise1 and readily agreed to take the picture away1 and explained that he did not know it was wrong to have it there4 8,did not know it was wrong60 ,can any one regard this absence of the moral sense among an entire people1 and not believe in the need of ,christian missions8 ,the hundreds of thousands of ,shans must be included in the plans for the evangelization of ,burma4 ,the ,karens are a distinct people1 but of a number of different tribes or divisions4 ,during ,burmese domination they were very much oppressed4 ,for the most part they lived in villages apart from the ,burmese4 ,many of them lived far back in the hills1 probably for better security1 and certainly for freedom from interference on the part of the ,burmese4 ,owing to this exclusive village life for long ages they have become very clannish4 ,the ,karen1 while admitting that the ,burman is the superior man1 still preserves his racial pride4 ,his village is very dear to him4 ,unlike the ,burman1 who moves annually or monthly1 if it suits him1 and seems about as much at home in one place as another1 the ,karen does not easily become dislodged from the village where he was born4 ,lately there has been some migration from the hills to the richer plains1 but still the community life seems to be pretty well preserved4 ,this village life has its advantages and disadvantages4 ,the cultivation of rice is made in a community4 ,while each man has the field which he clears1 it is so ordered that no one in the village is left entirely destitute4 ,the land has been held as a village1 and is therefore not easily alienated4 ,the area belonging to a given village is great1 especially in the hills1 but the amount cultivated is very little4 ,the style of cultivation1 if indeed it should be dignified by that name1 is unique1 and will never be adopted by a people of advanced methods of agriculture4 ,the hills are heavily wooded1 and when a suitable area is selected for the next year's cultivation1 the whole village proceeds to cut it down with the most complete destruction4 ,after the forest is felled during the dry season it becomes very dry1 and just before the rain fire is touched to it1 and the flames with a terrific rush cover the entire clearing in a few moments1 and consume nearly every stick of wood4 ,the few logs which remain are collected and burned1 and with the beginning of the rain the rice is planted on the steep hillsides1 the earth being enriched by a heavy coat of fresh ashes4 ,the ground is not plowed1 but the grain is dropped into small cuttings made by the thrust of a small spade-like iron on the end of a long handle4 ,the sprouts that spring from the roots in the ground are cut away as the rice grows4 ,the harvesting is with the sickle1 and when threshed is carried to the village1 frequently a long distance away1 on the backs of men and heads of women1 the latter carrying the larger loads1 as is usual in the ,east4 ,this is most laborious and tedious4 ,as there are only mountain paths1 and as the ,karen1 even when well to do1 does not care for road improvements1 he climbs up and down as his fathers have done before him for hundreds of years4 ,as the soil is never cultivated1 they depend on the fresh ashes to force their crop4 ,this requires a fresh clearing every year1 while a new jungle growth springs up on the last year's field4 ,they do not wish to cut the jungle oftener than once in ten years4 ,it will be seen how wasteful is this strange method of cultivation4 ,how wonderful the forest growth that will maintain itself over all these hills under such destructive treatment6 ,the ,christian ,karens are a living miracle of the century of ,christian missions4 ,they need much teaching yet2 but when one sees these people so uplifted from the state they were once in1 be what he may1 he must believe in ,christian missions4 ,the ,baptists1 under ,god1 deserve nearly all the credit for the conversion of this people4 ,the ,karen1 as a man1 is a study4 ,he is affectionate1 especially toward his missionary4 ,yet he will often be guilty of conduct quite at variance with that sentiment4 ,yet of this conduct he will repent again soon2 but it is a repentance usually without tears or apparent sense of regret4 ,he will take offense easily1 and a little later reappear with a smile on his face1 as forgetful of his recent temper as a child4 ,but he is not a child4 ,he enjoys a joke1 even at his own expense4 ,he is also a very obstinate man1 even when his obstinacy is against all his own interests4 ,but if you would see the ,karen at his best1 go to his village and see his children in school1 a school which the missionary founded1 but which the village now supports4 ,remember the missionary gave this people their written language4 ,attend the evening prayers when the village pastor leads their devotions in their simple chapel4 ,hear them sing6 ,there is probably no more inspiring singing in the world4 ,you will want to hear them again4 ,go to church on ,sunday1 and hear a sermon by a trained preacher1 whose great-grandfather worshiped 8gnats0 or demons1 who he supposed inhabited the surrounding hills and had his life in their malevolent control4 ,how great is the distance from the demon-worshiper to the intelligent and devout ,christian6 ,the missionary was the human agent1 and ,god the author of this transformation through the preaching of the gospel4 ,yet some people would say they do not believe in missions6 ,the ,chins and ,kachins inhabit the hills of ,north and ,northeast ,burma4 ,they are kindred peoples4 ,there are possibly two hundred thousand of them4 ,like other isolated people1 they have everything to learn from civilization and the ,christian religion4 ,the ,government officer and the missionary have undertaken the problem of these people4 ,the ,chins have given much trouble to the ,government within the last few years4 ,they lived formerly by raiding the peaceful people of the plains4 ,when the ,english ,government annexed ,upper ,burma1 it punished them for this4 ,soon the whole hill country rose against the ,government4 ,a band of soldiers was dispatched into the hills to subdue them4 ,after some sharp fighting they sued for peace1 promising good behavior4 ,sir ,alexander ,mac,kenzie1 the efficient chief commissioner1 was then the head of the province of ,burma4 ,he instructed ,mr4 ,cary1 the political officer of the ,chin ,hills1 to bring several ,chin chiefs to ,rangoon to see the city and the emblems of authority and power of the ,government4 ,his idea was that if these savage mountainmen saw the power of the ,government they would be induced to keep the peace4 ,he treated them kindly1 but told them they must respect their neighbor's property and obey the ,government4 ,but this wholesome exhortation of the chief provincial officer of the great ,indian ,empire was wholly lost on these daring1 but ignorant1 men of the hills4 ,their whole life ran riot over all obligations recognized by civilized men4 ,almost immediately they began again to rob and kill4 ,this time they were more severely punished4 ,their villages were burned and they were defeated in any attempt to give battle1 though the punitive force1 almost all of native soldiery1 under the energetic and capable political officer1 ,mr4 ,cary1 was very small4 ,they were fined fifteen hundred guns4 ,of course1 they protested they did not have three hundred4 ,but under pressure they surrendered the required number4 ,here was a revelation6 ,every antiquated gun of ,europe1 of fifty or one hundred years ago1 had been brought by unscrupulous traders and sold to these wild tribes6 ,the sales had not been made recently1 it is true2 but nevertheless the only firearms these wild men had they had secured probably of ,british traders of earlier years1 who disposed of them along the coast and they had been carried inland1 where years afterward they were used in armed robberies of peaceful subjects of this empire and against ,british authority4 ,some so-called civilized men sacrifice much of civilization for a little gain in trade4 ,after the country was substantially disarmed1 a large number of these chiefs were brought to ,rangoon by ,mr4 ,cary to attend a more imposing display of the greatness of the ,government4 ,on this occasion the viceroy summoned them and their official head1 ,mr4 ,cary4 ,the viceroy is appointed for five years1 and usually once in his term he visits ,burma4 ,lord ,landsdowne was the viceroy1 and held a durbar1 an official reception1 attended by all officials and the general public4 ,at this durbar he recognized the eminent service of ,mr4 ,cary1 and decorated him before the great assembly4 ,his excellency also called forward these ,chin chiefs1 and gave each a beautifully ornamented large knife1 as a token of his good will4 ,he probably could not have given any present so highly valued4 ,most half-civilized men live with their knives in their hands4 ,at this time a touching incident occurred which ought to be perpetually remembered to the credit of a brave and unselfish officer4 ,mr4 ,cary was the honored guest at the quarters of the chief secretary of government4 ,the ,chin chiefs were camped at the ,royal ,lakes1 living in their usual uncivilized manner4 ,they probably were eating more than they ever had eaten before in their lives4 ,at any rate1 cholera broke out among them4 ,on receiving report of their distress1 ,mr4 ,cary left his comfortable quarters and the society of his superior officers1 and went into the camp of these chiefs and nursed the sick and dying4 ,some of them died in his arms4 ,the cholera is the worst epidemic of the ,east1 and most to be dreaded4 ,yet this brave man risked his life to nurse these wild men1 who had been1 until very recently1 trying their hardest to kill him4 ,it is such heroism as this on the part of ,british officers that makes the ,british rule great throughout the world4 ,they stop at no sacrifice of their own lives to put turbulent countries in order1 and then are no less heroic in times of peace in serving their high trust of poor and dependent people4 ,i rode all day with ,mr4 ,cary and his fifty wild chiefs on their homeward journey4 ,i was greatly interested in the story of the pacification of all that ,chin and ,lushai country1 of which he had the management4 ,i was surprised that ,mr4 ,cary attributed his practical ability in all his arduous labors to the drill he received on an ,american farm and as a cowboy in the ,northwest for four years before going to ,burma4 ,though an ,englishman1 he had spent these years in ,america4 ,the ,karens1 ,chins1 and ,kachins are being rapidly converted to the ,buddhist religion4 ,christianity and ,buddhism are in an unconscious race to win them to one or the other of these faiths4 ,the first to reach them will win them to its system of religious teaching4 ,,chapter ,,viii ,buddhism ,burma is a land of ,buddhism and pagodas4 ,the pagodas are the shrines of the ,buddhists4 ,they are found all over ,burma in almost countless numbers1 in every condition from the newly-completed to the decayed structure4 ,on the higher hills and mountains they are usually built on the most conspicuous spurs1 where they can be seen to best effect from all the region round about4 ,in the low hills the same principle is followed1 the most conspicuous place being selected4 ,on the flat plains among the rice fields they make artificial mounds1 to serve as the site of their temples to be placed thereon4 ,in the ,buddhistic system of religion the building of pagodas is accounted one of the chief works of merit4 ,their preservation is of little consequence1 so that the country is dotted all over with multitudes of abandoned pagodas1 overgrown with jungle and in all stages of decay4 ,you can scarcely dig into any old mound anywhere in ,burma without finding the brick outlines of some ancient pagoda4 ,pagodas are all always built after one pattern4 ,this pattern allows of a structure not higher than a man originally1 being enlarged to the size of the ,great ,pagoda at ,rangoon without change of architectural plan4 ,in this respect the pagoda is probably the only style of building ever planned by man that has been commonly adopted1 in which this structural possibility is found4 ,the pattern is that of an irregular cone built of brick and earth1 most commonly of brick1 with the outer surface plastered4 ,at the base is a little cavity1 in which some precious relic is placed1 and over this rises the solid structure of the pagoda4 ,the base is usually circular1 and the superstructure retains the same shape1 excepting that it curves irregularly to smaller circles4 ,the top is always finished with an umbrella-like structure often with rings suspended from its outer rim4 ,the rims of the umbrellas are usually made of some kind of metal1 from which are suspended a great number of bells4 ,the bells are usually rung by a brass imitation of the leaf of the peepul-tree1 the sacred tree of ,buddhism4 ,this leaf is loosely1 suspended alongside of the bell1 and as the gentle breeze peculiar to the tropics1 especially ,burma1 puts them in motion1 they gently tap the exterior of the bells4 ,you are likely to be charmed with the delicate melodies of the bells until you come to feel what a hollow1 comfortless system ,buddhism is4 ,a pagoda is a tomb1 or at least a receptacle of relics of some revered personage4 ,the ashes of a priest's body that has been cremated are often put into a pagoda4 ,reputed remains of ,gautama are1 of course1 the most valued4 ,however extravagant the fiction that surrounds these cherished objects1 the credulous ,burman professes to believe in them absolutely4 ,this is conspicuously true of the great temple at ,candy in ,ceylon1 and the great ,sway ,dagon ,pagoda of ,rangoon4 ,the managers of the former profess to have in their possession one of ,gautama's eyeteeth1 which is shown to pious1 or noted visitors4 ,a story is invented accounting for the disappearance of three of these useful dentine members1 but the fourth and only possible one1 not accounted for otherwise1 has found its way by the traditional route to the temple of ,candy4 ,it is there the object of great reverence1 and pilgrimages1 often from long distances1 are made to this shrine in order to look upon and worship this tooth4 ,that which is shown as the eyetooth of ,gautama is a piece of bone about two inches long1 and half an inch thick4 ,it is as large as the tooth of a horse1 and could not by any possibility ever have been one of any man's set of teeth4 ,it is in appearance much like a piece of smoked ivory4 ,yet this piece of bone is reverenced to a degree that perhaps no other relic of ,buddhist tradition possesses4 ,after making great offerings to their own pagodas1 the ,burmese1 two years ago1 made a beautiful golden casket and sent a pretentious commission to ,candy with this casket1 the gift of the ,burmese ,buddhists1 as the permanent receptacle of this much-lauded tooth4 ,that which makes the great ,sway ,dagon ,pagoda famous above all others1 is that it contains relics of ,gautama4 ,the story is that ,burmese merchants made their way to ,india1 while ,gautama was alive1 and becoming converts of his teachings1 or system of belief1 they were about to return to ,burma1 when ,gautama gave them some relics of his person1 saying that while they kept these relics they would observe his system of doctrine4 ,he then tore off a small piece of his priestly robe1 gave them his simple begging bowl1 and pulled eight hairs out of his head1 and gave them these also as keepsakes and reminders of his teaching4 ,these gifts they brought back to ,burma1 and over them erected a small pagoda1 which formed the original portion of the present great structure that has become so far famed in the ,buddhist world4 ,the original structure must have been as insignificant as many that are seen elsewhere4 ,but as time went on1 and the invention1 for it could have been nothing else as in the case of the eyetooth at ,candy1 was accepted1 the pagoda became more and more famous1 and its size was increased until its present dimensions were reached4 ,it is now #a1cej feet round its base1 and rises to the towering height of #cbh feet4 ,its height is exceeded only by the pagoda at ,pegu1 but its general dimensions are far greater than the latter1 and its fame has no rival4 ,reliable accounts of the time of building the original pagoda are wanting4 ,but it is pretty certain that its present dimensions were reached some five hundred years ago4 ,i have been unable to learn when it was first covered with gold leaf4 ,illustration3 ,,shrine1 ,,sway ,,dagon ,,pagoda ,the structure of this pagoda has many other important features4 ,round its base are found many forms of elephants1 and small pagodas that fairly line the lower circle4 ,there are four shrines at the cardinal points of the compass4 ,it will have been noted that the pagoda1 unlike all other designs of sacred buildings given to worship1 has no interior chamber4 ,excepting the small cavity given to the relic1 there is solid masonry throughout the vast structure4 ,but the most striking display of the pagoda is its covering of gold leaf4 ,from base to top every inch is covered with this golden coat4 ,the devout ,buddhists are always renewing this gilding4 ,no provision is made to prevent the rains that beat upon the pagoda for six months of each year from washing away this golden covering4 ,its rusty appearance on any part simply calls for more offerings for more regilding1 by which the devout ,buddhist expects to gain much merit4 ,i have been unable to learn the cost of gilding the exterior1 though it must be very great4 ,the pagoda is regilded about twice in ten years4 ,it is difficult to determine the cost1 as the gilding is put on in patches4 ,the renewal has never been done systematically1 but by piece-meal4 ,besides this1 the umbrella that crowns the pagoda and its pendent rings are studded with precious stones and jewelry to the value of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars4 ,the four shrines are ornamented with hand-carving wrought out with great pains and skill4 ,there are two very large chests near the entrance to the pagoda area1 into which all devout ,buddhists visiting at this temple drop their offerings4 ,these gifts are taken care of by the trustees of the pagoda1 and expended on its maintenance4 ,round about the temple is an open court1 which would accommodate many thousands of visitors1 and ofttimes it is crowded to its fullest capacity4 ,on the outside of this court1 and inside the walls that make up the four sides of the square known as pagoda hill1 there is a grove of palms and peepul-trees4 ,the latter is the sacred tree of ,buddhism1 and it is usually found wherever pagodas have been built4 ,underneath these trees1 and entirely surrounding the pagoda inclosure1 there are many large pavilions1 most of them open to all comers1 where images of ,gautama are numbered by the hundreds4 ,a few images of ,gautama are in closed structures behind glass and iron bars4 ,other symbols of the ,buddha or his teaching are there also2 but images of ,gautama are by far the most numerous4 ,gautama is represented as reclining on his right side1 with his head supported by his hand2 as sitting1 which is the accepted position2 and standing4 ,these are three chosen attitudes4 ,these three postures are all that are commonly used4 ,the images are made of brass1 of marble1 and of alabaster4 ,some of them are of the normal size of a man1 and some of them are many times larger1 but all bear the impassive features of a man absorbed in meditation4 ,these images always bear distinctly ,burmanized features4 ,there are also great bells about the ,sway ,dagon ,pagoda4 ,the larger bells are supported on great wooden beams1 and are rung by all the worshipers1 and even by the idle passer-by4 ,but the strange thing about all this area of the pagoda is that it is open to all peoples1 and no objects except the inclosed images are protected in any way4 ,this is not true of either ,mohammedan mosques or ,hindu temples4 ,all ,buddhists take off their shoes or sandals before going up the steps4 ,and if any ,asiatic should attempt to go up the stairs with shoes on1 he would be ordered to make bare his feet4 ,europeans are not so restricted4 ,but this appears to be the only special requirement for admission to the pagoda area4 ,so it comes to pass that the devout ,buddhist strikes the great bells with the wooden beam1 or horns of an elk that are kept for that purpose1 and the next passer-by may be an idle globe-trotter1 who strikes the bell to only test the melody of its sound4 ,worship at a pagoda is a study4 ,the idea of worship in ,buddhism differs so widely from that of any other religion1 that it makes the student of comparative religions pause with astonishment4 ,buddhism is very much a religion of negations at best4 ,there is little that is positive in it4 ,there is no ,god according to pure ,buddhism4 ,it does not teach an unending personal immortality4 ,the character of existence beyond death is believed to be through various transmigrations of beasts1 demons1 and elevated spirits to final extinction of personal existence in ,nirvana4 ,continued existence is considered a calamity4 ,to extinguish personality in ,nirvana is the supreme goal4 ,in that loss of personal identity man passes from under the necessity of being reborn4 ,in all the struggle in which man is engaged he has no aid from without himself4 ,his own meritorious acts must bring him through all lower existences1 and finally drop him into the oblivion of neikban4 ,before men can reach this goal1 they must have passed through myriads of existences1 many of these lives being spent in hells filled with all tortures4 ,the hells of ,buddhism are filled with terrors measured only by the wildest imagination1 lasting through millions of years4 ,buddhism is a system in which there is no ,god to hear a prayer or speak a consoling word4 ,then what is worship under such a religion1 if indeed it be a religion8 ,the people and the yellow-robed priests fill the spaces before these several shrines1 and there offer flowers and food to the images of ,gautama4 ,or they sit upon their heels about the open court that surrounds the pagoda1 and offer their flowers toward the pagoda1 lifting them toward the top of the gilded dome1 while they laud the great teacher of ,buddhism4 ,in none of these acts is there any real prayer4 ,there is no confessing of sin or need1 nor hope even that ,gautama can hear1 as he is supposed to have ascended to ,nirvana and to have attained to annihilation of conscious self4 ,the whole of their worship seems to be made up of laudations of the name and character of ,gautama1 and his law1 and the ,buddhist priesthood4 ,all worship consists in praise of an extinct personality on the part of a man whose highest hope is to attain unto like personal extinction6 ,but in all the dreary and weary struggle there is no eye to pity and no hand to help to attain this goal of spiritual suicide4 ,illustration3 ,,front ,,of ,a ,,gautama ,,temple ,one of the incongruities about this great pagoda ,i found in the fact that the watchmen are ,hindus4 ,perhaps no temple of non-,christians1 save that of ,buddhists1 is cared for by men of other faiths4 ,christian ,churches in ,southern ,asia do often employ ,hindus or ,mohammedans to care for them and act as collectors of their funds4 ,but none but ,mohammedans go into a ,mohammedan mosque1 and only ,hindus enter a ,hindu temple4 ,there sits a ,mohammedan also inside the pagoda area selling coffee and bread to all who wish to buy4 ,bishop ,thoburn once remarked that perhaps only in ,burma1 and that at a ,buddhist place of worship1 could such an incongruous sight be witnessed4 ,another feature of the pagoda area is that at its four sides1 east1 west1 north1 and south1 it is bounded by brick walls1 rising four or five feet above the pagoda area1 and of several feet in thickness4 ,the ,burmese fortified the pagoda1 and the ,english have done likewise4 ,at the base is another higher wall1 and inside of this a moat4 ,the ,english soldiery guard the pagoda hill1 and the ordnance department of the ,british garrison stationed at ,rangoon is inside the outer wall on the west of the pagoda4 ,the guard is not seen about the court4 ,in the northeast corner of the pagoda area are several graves of ,british officers and soldiers who fell in storming that fortress in #aheb4 ,from the southeast corner of the inclosure you see the slope up which that band of soldiers charged1 and half down the hillside are a number of graves which are unnamed1 and around them a wall is built4 ,here the common soldiers fell in that charge4 ,they died for 8,greater ,england40 ,from the pagoda wall you can get one of the finest views in ,lower ,burma4 ,to the south and southeast lies the greater part of the city of ,rangoon4 ,at the lower extremity of the city the ,pegu and ,rangoon ,rivers unite their ample breadth of waters4 ,the great rice mills line the river and its larger tributaries1 and lift their tall chimneys above every other building of the city4 ,to the left the beautiful ,royal ,lakes reflect the tropical sunlight in dazzling brightness1 while to the northward the sweep of vision includes many stately houses of the residents of ,kokine1 the fashionable suburb of the city4 ,,chapter ,,ix ,buddhism2 ,how ,maintained ,the hoary system of ,buddhism must have some elements of vitality to keep it in existence through the twenty-six centuries of its history4 ,that it has long since passed the stage of its greatest power is quite easily believed4 ,that such a system could remain the religion of progressive races under the light of the present and the future1 as indicated by the present1 few will maintain4 ,that the number of its present adherents has been greatly exaggerated1 there is no doubt4 ,some of the peoples which have been classed as ,buddhistic in religion are clearly not distinctively of that faith4 ,sir ,monier ,williams1 in his great work on ,buddhism1 says that of real ,buddhists1 who are not more identified with some other religion than with it1 number not over one hundred millions of adherents1 instead of five hundred millions1 as some have claimed4 ,he declares that ,christianity1 and not ,buddhism1 is the strongest religion numerically in the world4 ,but a religion with even one hundred millions of reasonably faithful adherents of its doctrines and practices demands our respectful study4 ,it is not possible within the limits here defined for the writer to discuss the many-sidedness of ,buddhism1 for all the elements of a faith must have consideration in an attempt to set it forth comprehensively4 ,it is the writer's intention merely to outline some features of ,buddhism most apparent to a missionary whose work lies in a ,buddhist country4 ,buddhism is said to be in its purest form in ,burma and ,ceylon4 ,a few general statements may be made4 ,buddhism never claimed to be divine in its origin4 ,it was originally entirely atheistic4 ,it is hardly entitled to be called a religion4 ,it is the most pessimistic philosophy ever taught among men1 or even conceived as yet1 by any teacher4 ,it inveighs against all natural desires or emotions however exalted1 and disallows the holiest relationship4 ,society itself could not exist if the fundamental teachings of ,buddhism were observed4 ,all innocent joys are prohibited among those who would attain to ,nirvana4 ,it makes self-destruction the highest aim of man4 ,to cease to be born1 and to extinguish personal consciousness1 is set before its followers as the final goal to be sought4 ,how can such a system1 so opposed to all that men love1 find millions of adherents8 ,there certainly is a fascination about the supreme renunciation in the system4 ,gautama certainly renounced much2 and doubtless many of his followers have made such a sacrifice of desires as he4 ,it is not here maintained that this renunciation is wholly unselfish1 but that it lies at the foundation of ,buddhism2 and however unhealthful a sentiment it is1 it has always appealed to many minds4 ,those who will not make such renunciations themselves revere those who do1 and help sustain a system that teaches such tenets4 ,another source of the power of ,buddhism is found in the system of doctrine taught4 ,it is all the stronger in that1 as a system1 it is connected with a great teacher4 ,it is true that ,buddhism has more in it which ,gautama did not teach1 than of that which he did teach4 ,but it is very easy for the ,buddhist to connect any teaching of his religion directly with his idea of ,gautama4 ,when a religion with a system of doctrine meets with the nebulous beliefs and incoherent practices of demonology1 or like beliefs1 it must steadily gain adherents4 ,buddhism has a literature of much importance4 ,to have sacred books1 which can be appealed to in support of the voice of the living preacher1 or teacher1 is a great source of power4 ,we see in ,burma that the more backward races are becoming ,burmanized and converted to the ,buddhist religion4 ,when they have become ,buddhists1 as in the case of ,karens1 it is the testimony of all missionaries that they are much more difficult to convert to ,christianity4 ,this ,buddhist 8law0 is one of the three objects of reverence1 or worship1 enjoined by ,gautama4 ,gautama exalted the brotherhood of monks4 ,they have become one of the three objects of veneration4 ,dressed in their yellow robes and admitted to the monastic order1 they are thereby exalted in the minds of ,buddhists far above the ordinary man4 ,so much so1 that in all addresses to them the highest terms of honor are used4 ,on some occasions they are actually worshiped4 ,when a monk1 or poungyi1 leaves the assembly of monks1 which is frequently the case1 he at once drops to the level of the ordinary man4 ,but while he is a member of the order1 he is regarded as a superior1 worthy of all reverence even by his own family4 ,these monks1 with their yellow robes and beads and boy attendants1 are everywhere1 except at weddings and festivals1 though often gathering in crowds a little apart from the latter4 ,the daily going forth with the begging bowl to receive the food given by the devout1 or even respectable laity1 is an object-lesson in ,buddhism4 ,the distinctive buildings called choungs1 in which the monks always live1 are found in every village2 and whole blocks of these buildings in all towns and cities proclaim the teachers of ,buddhism4 ,these houses of the monks are invariably the best buildings in the village4 ,this conspicuous advertisement of the monastic teachers does much to keep the system which they represent ever before the people in a conspicuous way4 ,illustration3 ,,buddhist ,,monk ,,and ,,attendant ,but the monks do two distinctive services for their faith of a more positive kind4 ,they teach practically every boy in ,burma4 ,they teach the boys to read1 and they indoctrinate them4 ,no boy is considered to have a human spirit at all4 ,he must remain an animal until he has spent at least one day in the monastery4 ,but aside from this approach to the sacred order of monks1 all ,burmese boys attend school for some length of time1 and usually learn to read their language passably well4 ,they certainly learn the ,buddhist doctrines4 ,so it comes to pass that most ,burmese know what they believe1 however inconsistent with this belief they live4 ,they also learn the elements of arithmetic1 as well as the grotesque teachings of ,buddhism in geography of these teachers4 ,in estimating the strength of ,buddhism1 and its ability to maintain itself1 the monastic school1 uniting a religious order with the instruction of all the male childhood and youth1 stands easily first of all its sources of power4 ,there are schools conducted by laymen in almost every large village4 ,these schools do not generally have a continuous existence1 but so long as a teacher can get scholars he keeps his school going4 ,in these lay schools also some ,buddhistic instruction is imparted4 ,so that the ,buddhist youth is the exception who has not been indoctrinated with ,buddhist teaching4 ,without knowing why he is a ,buddhist1 nevertheless he proclaims himself as a ,buddhist1 and will give a fair statement of his belief4 ,the missionary must bring his message to a mind pre-empted by ,buddhist doctrine taught by the yellow-robed monk4 ,from this statement of the ,buddhist school system of the ,burmese1 and to its power as a religious agency1 the reader1 as does the missionary1 will see the imperative need of ,christian schools to take the place of the ,buddhist schools4 ,their efficiency as a missionary agency can not be over-estimated4 ,each of the large missions now operating in ,burma has adopted this strategic agency with very encouraging results4 ,many ,buddhists do not hesitate to send their boys to a mission school if it is equipped to do superior work4 ,here1 then1 is ,christianity's greatest opportunity among the young4 ,that mission will show greatest wisdom which gives ,christian schools of the higher grades special attention4 ,there are doctrines of ,buddhism1 aside from the moral precepts or regulations for the conduct or belief of its adherents1 which may be1 all unconsciously to the ,buddhist1 of great attraction4 ,buddhism1 as has been noted1 like most other ,eastern philosophies1 teaches that men pass through many births through countless ages1 and transmigration through men1 animals1 and spirits4 ,this transmigration may be endless1 and will be1 if the individual does not attain to ,nirvana4 ,now1 while a man's place in the scale of being is determined by the conduct of the life that now is1 there is nothing final in this life as affecting destiny4 ,if he sinks in the scale of being1 he can rise in the same by his conduct in another existence4 ,the time taken to make his recovery from the consequences of his demerits in this life may be ages2 still he can retain all that he has lost by a bad life here4 ,it therefore comports with men's wish that they can commit acts not wholly agreeable to the known or believed rules of conduct1 and yet they believe they can escape after a long time the consequences of such trifling with their moral code4 ,it is a pleasant belief of human nature1 wishing to indulge in that which is forbidden1 to sacrifice some future blessedness for a present gratification1 if at the same time the man can believe that the loss may at some future time be recovered4 ,to a temporizing conscience this is a very comforting doctrine4 ,buddhism teaches that character and states of existence are determined finally by a man's unaided efforts4 ,human nature in all lands takes kindly to such teaching4 ,if men could purchase salvation at a price in payment or sacrifice of even life itself1 there would be many applicants for eternal life1 who will not receive it as a gift4 ,buddhism is very complimentary to self-conceit when it teaches that we need no ,god to enlighten us1 no ,savior to save us1 but that we can recover ourselves4 ,that only our own acts can affect our scale of being and ultimately determine our destiny1 in every varying merit or demerit1 is believed4 ,building and gilding a pagoda lays up a great store of merit1 and to engage in meditation is the most meritorious work of all4 ,their whole system of the merit of works breeds inordinate conceit1 and hence is a very pleasant doctrine to men4 ,to save themselves1 and not to be saved by the vicarious sacrifice of another1 is pleasing to pride4 ,i think all agree that this belief in self-acquired merit is one of the strongest bulwarks of ,buddhism4 ,the student of religion who looks for its effect on the people1 is at first perplexed at a singular paradox among the ,burmese ,buddhists4 ,he finds a religion that frowns upon the innocent joys of life1 and much more upon all spectacular demonstrations4 ,it especially discourages theatricals and feasting4 ,the natural effect of such a religion would be to depress the spirit and overshadow the life4 ,it would pluck up all gayety from a people4 ,but we find the ,burmese ,buddhists the gayest and most light-hearted race of the ,orient4 ,their religion to the contrary1 they have more music1 dancing1 and theatricals than any other people4 ,and in all this they regard themselves as the most consistent ,buddhists4 ,they even connect a festival with almost every special religious duty4 ,it therefore comes to pass that they harmonize festal joys with the utter prohibition of them by their religion1 and count the practice and the 8law0 that interdicts it equally 8good40 ,by observing this fact1 it is clear that the drastic prohibitions of ,buddhism have no place at all in life practice4 ,if1 therefore1 this contradiction of ,buddhism does not add to its strength1 it at least allows the adherent to accept and reject such portions of the ,buddhist law as may be convenient1 and as suits his fun-loving and easy-going disposition4 ,in this way the ,burman comforts himself with the belief that he is a devout ,buddhist1 and at the same time escapes all the depressing effects on his nature that would result if he actually undertook to keep either the letter or spirit of the ,buddhist law4 ,so it appears this paradox is explained4 ,illustration3 ,,funeral ,,pyre ,,of ,a ,,burmese ,,priest ,examples of their ability to turn any circumstance into a festival is seen at their funerals4 ,when an ordinary man dies the friends gather and bring food1 and keep up a several days' feasting4 ,on the day of the funeral long lines of oxcarts are drawn up1 each with some offering for the poungyis1 or priests4 ,these gifts to the priests seem to be about the only religious part of the ceremonies4 ,then with bands playing1 and often dancers and buffoons performing at the head of the procession1 they move away to the burial ground4 ,on several occasions ,i saw half-drunken men carrying the coffin on a tall1 loosely-constructed framework1 dancing with all their might under their burden4 ,sometimes it seemed the coffin would fall to the ground4 ,i have seen the burial of a ,buddhist nun where the procession contained sixty-one stands of presents1 one for each year of the nun's life1 carried in front of the corpse4 ,these presents were intended for the priests1 and they enabled the donors to gain merit1 make a show1 and enjoy a festival all in one4 ,the presents were of plates1 towels1 and carpets1 amounting to about ten dollars a stand1 or over six hundred dollars in value in all4 ,the poungyis often preach against the festivals1 but ,i have never heard that they ever refused to receive the presents1 an indispensable feature of the display4 ,there are great festivals gotten up at the burning of a priest who has been much venerated4 ,he may have enjoyed a reputation for great learning1 and perhaps lived to a good old age4 ,the body is kept1 if the priest should die in the rainy season1 until the dry weather brings a time suitable for camping in the fields4 ,arrangements having been completed1 a place1 usually a cleared rice field1 is selected1 and booths are constructed to accommodate the gathering people4 ,material is procured1 and a very large skeleton framework of dry poles is constructed in imitation of the seven-fold roof of a monastery4 ,this framework is covered over with matting and paper1 on which is much ornament1 usually of a pictorial character4 ,great ropes are drawn high up into the framework1 where it is designed the coffin shall be placed before the burning4 ,a procession is formed to bring the body in great state1 with all kinds of symbolical banners and imitations of the sacred elephant4 ,the casket is placed on these great ropes1 and skillfully drawn into the tower of the structure4 ,when the body is once in its place1 the younger men hastily take up burning spears1 as fire brands1 and hurl them into the combustible material1 and in an instant all is aflame4 ,soon there is nothing but ashes4 ,the camp is broken up1 and the people return home4 ,they have had a great festival lasting in preparation over many days1 and have performed a pious work of merit4 ,they have violated much of ,buddhist teaching2 but by their spectacular festival they have helped to perpetuate ,buddhism in the community4 ,i witnessed preparation for one such burning near ,rangoon4 ,the firing of the pyre occurred on ,sunday1 amidst a great throng of all the nations represented in ,burma4 ,the full account was given in the daily papers1 and it is said that thirty thousand dollars was spent in cremating the one body1 that of a noted monk4 ,recent word from ,mandalay tells of the cremation of the body of the chief bishop of ,buddhism in ,burma4 ,it is said twenty thousand people were present at this festival4 ,yet the bishop had always preached that all festivity was wrong1 and the whole ,buddhist people declared the 8law0 was good4 ,the same contradictions are apparent in their theological teaching4 ,one instance will suffice as an illustration4 ,fish is a common and much appreciated article of food in ,burma1 and has been for centuries4 ,the people have come to regard fish as necessary to their food as rice4 ,this creates a great demand for fish1 and consequently calls for a multitude of fishermen4 ,but by ,buddhist teaching the fishermen1 or the hunter1 is doomed to the deepest hell for taking life4 ,they teach that there are four great hells1 one below another1 and the fisherman is doomed to go to the bottom of the lowest hell1 and can not get out till he spends fifty million years in each of the four hells4 ,and only after that could he hope to be born a man again on earth4 ,meantime the well-fed ,burman who fattens on the fish1 who made the fisherman necessary1 thinks he not only has no responsibility for the other's sin1 but is making good headway toward ,nirvana6 ,the fisherman1 when interviewed1 is quite at ease4 ,question him of the sin of taking the life of the fish1 and he will confidently tell you3 8,i do not kill the fish4 ,i only drag it out of the water1 and the hot sun kills it40 ,both declare themselves good ,buddhists1 and that 8the ,buddhist law is good40 ,it leaves liberty enough for any number of specious pleas to avoid personal responsibility for violating the ,buddhist prohibitions1 while the votaries of ,buddhism are still pretending to keep the 8law40 ,,chapter ,x ,buddhism and ,christianity ,contrasted ,comparative religion is one of the most fascinating studies4 ,in ,christian lands well-informed people are ever ready to receive any new light on any of the principal religions of the world4 ,in the ,east also there is inquiry after the tenets of differing faiths4 ,it is true the inquiry in the ,orient is confined to a few of the most advanced minds1 and it is also doubtful if the inquiry is often fairly made4 ,the disposition seems to be to assume1 to begin with1 that some religion like ,hinduism1 or ,buddhism1 is the religion of most truth1 and then to show that ,christianity has some things in common with these faiths4 ,the deduction is then easily drawn that one can be an eclectic in religion4 ,i have seen ,europeans in the ,east who1 in an off-handed way1 would say3 8,it is wrong to try to convert the ,burmese from their ,buddhism to ,christianity4 ,their religion is better for them than ours would be40 ,i have not heard such a remark from any one who pretended to be a ,christian in any devout or spiritual sense4 ,he would be a ,christian only in the sense that he belonged to the ,european community1 who are always called 8,christians0 by those of other faiths4 ,buddhism has had much praise for its moral precepts1 and its general practice of total abstinence from all alcoholic drinks4 ,this prohibition has been widely observed4 ,it is probable that ,buddhism was the first religion to require total abstinence4 ,then ,buddhism gave woman a freedom that no other religion of the ,east allows4 ,contrasted with ,hinduism or ,mohammedanism in this respect1 ,buddhism must be highly commended4 ,but it is another matter when men assume that one religion is as good as another1 or estimate ,buddhism as a religion of comfort and light1 when it has neither4 ,it is not the purpose of this book to attempt a comprehensive statement of comparative religions1 much less a discussion of that idea4 ,but it is my purpose to set before the reader that wherein ,buddhism is contrasted with ,christianity1 believing that ,christianity1 and it alone1 satisfies the wants of any human soul4 ,i have desired to show wherein ,buddhism fails in all essential features to measure up to this need of man for a perfect religion4 ,it is not intended to disparage any incidental good that ,buddhism may possess1 but to show the contrast with ,christianity in its fundamental teachings4 ,in this ,i am not dependent on my own research1 but can accomplish my purpose best by quoting from ,sir ,monier ,williams4 ,this great scholar and author published his works on ,buddhism as a culmination of extended studies in the great religions of the world4 ,it is the ripest fruit of his high scholarship4 ,he published this work just a few years before he died4 ,from his chapter on 8,buddhism ,contrasted with ,christianity0 ,i have quoted at length1 believing his contrasts are exhaustive and entirely truthful4 ,this eminent author doubts if ,buddhism is a religion at all4 ,after postulating that every system assuming to be a religion must declare the existence of an eternal ,god1 and the immortality of the soul of man1 he further declares that such a system must satisfy four requisites3 8,first4 ,it must reveal the ,creator in his nature and attributes to his creature1 man4 8,secondly4 ,it must reveal man to himself4 ,it must impart to him a knowledge of his own nature and history--what he is2 why he was created2 whither he is tending2 and whether he is at present in a state of decadence downwards from a higher condition1 or of development upwards from a lower4 8,thirdly4 ,it must reveal some method by which the finite creature may communicate with the infinite ,creator--some plan by which he may gain access to him and become united with him1 and be saved by him from the consequences of his own sinful acts4 8,fourthly4 ,such a system must prove its title to be called a religion by its regenerating effect on man's nature2 by its influence on his thoughts1 desires1 passions1 and feelings2 by its power in subduing all his evil tendencies2 by its ability to transform his character and assimilate him to the ,god it reveals40 ,this writer claims what all must admit1 that early ,buddhism failed in all these requisites1 and was not a religion4 ,it refused to admit a personal ,creator1 or man's dependence on a higher power4 8,it denied any external ,ego in man4 ,it acknowledged no external revelation4 ,it had no priesthood--no real clergy2 no real prayer2 no real worship4 ,it had no true idea of sin1 or of the need of pardon1 and it condemned man to suffer the consequences of his own sinful acts without the hope of help from any ,savior or ,redeemer1 and indeed from any being but himself40 ,a few years ago a former bishop of ,calcutta saw a ,buddhist in a temple1 and asked him1 8,what have you been praying for80 8,i have been praying for nothing40 8,to whom have you been praying80 ,he answered1 8,i have been praying to nobody40 8,what1 praying for nothing to nobody80 said the astonished bishop4 ,this is a fair sample of the religious expression of ,buddhists4 ,this eminent writer admits that later ,buddhism has developed a great reverence for ,buddha1 the law1 and the monkhood1 which is some expression of man's sense of need4 ,but in reality this is a cry from the hungry heart of man for ,god1 which ,buddhism does not recognize nor foster4 ,pure ,buddhism is atheistic4 ,this author also considers what claim ,gautama has to the title1 8,the ,light of ,asia40 ,he first points out that 8his doctrines spread only over ,eastern ,asia1 and ,confucius1 or ,zoroaster1 or ,mohammed1 might equally be called #8,the ,light of ,asia4'0 ,he also maintains that ,gautama was not a true light in any sense2 that he claimed little higher than intellectual enlightenment resulting from intense concentration of all man's intellectual powers in introspection4 ,he did not claim to have any voice regarding the origin of evil1 nor concerning a personal ,god4 ,his 8light10 in this respect1 was 8sheer darkness40 ,and so the system he founded is as devoid of 8light0 as midnight4 8,all that he claimed to have discovered was the origin of suffering and the remedy of suffering4 ,all the light of knowledge to which he attained came to this3 ,that suffering arises from indulging desires1 especially the desire for the continuity of life2 that suffering is inseparable from life2 that all life is suffering2 and that suffering is to be gotten rid of by the suppression of desires1 and by the extinction of personal existence40 ,here he makes his first great contrast in the teachings of ,christ and ,gautama1 and says in part3 8,it is noteworthy that both ,christianity and ,buddhism agree in asserting that all creation groaneth and travaileth in pain1 in suffering1 in tribulation4 ,but mark the vast1 the vital distinction in the teaching of each4 ,the one taught men to be patient under affliction1 and to aim at the utter annihilation of the suffering body40 ,further3 8,but1 say the admirers of ,buddhism1 at least you admit that the ,buddha taught men to avoid sin1 and to aim at purity and holiness of life6 ,nothing of the kind4 ,the ,buddha had no idea of sin as an offense against ,god2 no idea of true holiness4 ,what he said was1 ,get rid of the demerit of evil actions1 and accumulate a stock of merit by good actions4 ,and let me remark here1 that the determination to store up merit1 like capital at a bank1 is one of those inveterate propensities of human nature1 one of those deep-seated tendencies in humanity which nothing but the divine force imparted by ,christianity can ever eradicate4 ,it is forever cropping up in the heart of man1 as much in the ,west as in the ,east1 as much in the ,north as in the ,south2 forever reasserting itself like a pestilential weed1 or like tares amidst wheat1 forever blighting the fruit of those good instincts which underlie man's nature everywhere40 ,he shows the contrast of ,gautama and ,christ2 the former claiming to be self-sent1 having no divine commission and no external revelation1 while the latter claimed to be sent from ,god2 to be the ,son of ,god1 whose every word has divine authority2 that the gospel is to be proclaimed to every man in all generations1 and that ,christ himself was the ,way1 the ,truth1 and the ,life4 ,he proceeds to contrast the ,christian ,bible with the ,buddhist3 8,the characteristics of the ,christian's ,bible are that it claims to be a supernatural revelation1 yet it attaches no mystic1 talismanic virtue to the mere sound of words4 ,on the other hand1 ,buddhism utterly repudiates all claim to be a supernatural revelation2 yet the very sound of its words is believed to possess a meritorious efficacy capable of elevating any one who hears it to heavenly abodes in future existences4 ,in illustration1 ,i may advert to a legend current in ,ceylon1 that once on a time five hundred bats lived in a cave where two monks daily recited the ,buddha's law4 ,these bats gained such merit by simply hearing the sound of the words1 that when they died they were all reborn as men1 and ultimately as gods40 ,we are given another contrast in the kinds of self-sacrifice taught by the two systems4 8,but again ,i hear the admirers of ,buddhism say3 ,is it not the case that the doctrine1 like the doctrine of ,christ1 has self-sacrifice as its keynote8 ,well1 be it so4 ,i admit that he related of himself that1 on a particular occasion in one of his previous births1 he plucked out his own eyes1 and that on another he cut off his own head as a sacrifice for the good of others2 and that again1 on a third occasion1 he cut his own body to pieces to redeem a dove from a hawk4 ,yet note the vast difference of the sacrifice taught by the two systems4 ,christianity demands the suppression of selfishness2 ,buddhism demands the suppression of self1 with the one object of extinguishing all consciousness of self4 ,in the one the true self is elevated and intensified4 ,in the other the true self is annihilated by a false form of non-selfishness1 which has for its real object not the good of others1 but the annihilation of the ,ego1 the utter extinction of the illusion of personal individuality40 ,the doctrines which ,christ and ,gautama bequeathed to their followers present an equally great contrast4 ,from the vast difference between them it is comparatively easy to believe the statement from ,christ that he brought a divine revelation1 and from ,gautama that he was self-sent and had no revelation to make to his followers4 ,the contrast between the two systems has been arranged by the same author4 8,according to ,christianity3 ,fight1 and overcome the world4 ,according to ,buddhism3 ,shun the world1 and overcome it4 8,according to ,christianity3 ,expect a new earth when the present earth is destroyed2 a world renewed and perfected2 a purified world in which righteousness is to dwell forever4 ,according to ,buddhism3 ,expect a never-ending succession of evil worlds coming into existence1 developing1 decaying1 perishing1 and reviving1 and all equally full of everlasting misery1 disappointment1 illusion1 change1 and transmutations4 8,according to ,christianity1 bodily existence is subject to only one transformation4 ,according to ,buddhism1 bodily existence is continued in six conditions1 through countless bodies of men1 animals1 demons1 ghosts1 and dwellers in various hells and heavens2 and that1 too1 without any progressive development1 but in a constant jumble of metamorphoses and transmutations4 8,christianity teaches that life in heaven can never be followed by a fall to a lower state4 ,buddhism teaches that life in a higher heaven may be succeeded by a life in a lower heaven1 or even by a life on earth or in one of the hells4 8,according to ,christianity1 the body of a man may be the abode of the ,spirit of ,god4 ,according to ,buddhism1 the body1 whether of men or higher beings1 can never be the abode of anything but evil4 8,according to ,christianity3 ,present your bodies as living sacrifices1 holy1 acceptable to ,god1 and expect a change to a glorified body hereafter4 ,according to ,buddhism3 ,look to final deliverance from all bodily life1 present and to come1 as the greatest of all blessings1 highest of all boons1 and loftiest of all aims4 8,according to ,christianity1 a man's body can never be changed into the body of a beast1 or bird1 or insect1 or loathsome vermin4 ,according to ,buddhism1 a man1 and even a god1 may become an animal of any kind1 and even the most loathsome vermin may again become a man or a god4 8,according to ,christianity3 ,stray not from ,god's ways2 offend not against his holy laws4 ,according to ,buddhism3 ,stray not from the eight-fold path of the perfect man1 and offend not against yourself and the perfect man4 8,according to ,christianity3 ,work the works of ,god while it is day4 ,according to ,buddhism3 ,beware of action1 as causing rebirth1 and aim at inaction1 indifference1 and apathy4 8,according to the ,christian ,bible3 ,regulate and sanctify the heart1 desires1 and affections4 ,according to the ,buddhist3 ,suppress and destroy them utterly1 if you wish for true sanctification4 8,christianity teaches that in the highest form of life1 love is intensified4 ,buddhism teaches that in the highest state of existence1 all love is extinguished4 8,according to ,christianity3 ,go and earn your own bread and support your family4 ,marriage1 it says1 is honorable and the bed undefiled1 and married life is a field on which holiness may grow and develop4 ,nay1 more3 ,christ himself honored a wedding with his presence1 and took up little children in his arms and blessed them4 ,buddhism1 on the other hand1 says3 ,avoid married life2 shun it as if it were a burning of live coals2 or1 having entered on it1 abandon wife1 children1 and home1 and go about as celibate monks1 engaging in nothing but in meditation and recitation of the ,buddha's ,law--that is to say1 if you aim at the highest degree of sanctification40 ,then comes greatest of all distinctions1 which separates ,christianity and ,buddhism4 8,christianity regards personal life as the most sacred of all possessions4 ,life1 it seems to say1 is no dream1 no illusion4 #8,life is real4 ,life is earnest4' ,life is the most precious of all ,god's gifts4 ,nay1 it affirms of ,god himself that he is the highest example of intense life1 of intense personality1 the great #8,i ,am ,that ,i ,am1' and teaches us that we are to thirst for a continuance of personal life as a gift from him1 nay1 more1 that we are to thirst for the living ,god himself and for conformity to his likeness2 while ,buddhism sets forth as the highest of all aims the utter extinction of the illusion of personal identity--the utter annihilation of the ,ego--of all existence in any form whatever1 and proclaims as the true creed the ultimate resolution of everything into nothing40 8,what shall ,i do to inherit eternal life80 says the ,christian4 8,what shall ,i do to inherit the eternal extinction of life80 says the ,buddhist4 ,surely in this comprehensive list of contrasts the great scholar has shown that there is an immeasurable height of moral and spiritual philosophy1 and revealed truth concerning ,god and man in the ,christian religion that ,buddhism never conceived4 ,it has no excellence in moral precept that is not better stated by ,christianity4 ,christianity sheds a broad1 clear light on the way to find salvation from sin4 ,buddhism has no light1 and no consolation4 ,the human heart finds rest in the one1 but the other can not bring a moment's peace to any anxious or agonizing soul4 ,buddhism is a pessimistic1 dark1 and desolate system of philosophy1 mistaken for religion4 ,,chapter ,,xi ,ripened ,fruit of ,non-,christian ,faiths ,in setting before the reader the following account of painful scenes1 most of which ,i have witnessed1 in connection with religious rites1 ,i am aware that some may say that these facts1 though admitted to have taken place1 are not characteristic of the religion in which they are found4 ,having given much attention to this pertinent question1 ,i am convinced that they are some of the legitimate fruit of religious systems without ,christ4 ,this book is not written to theorize about religion1 so much as to give an account of what a missionary sees living in ,burma in direct contact with its varied people4 ,the theoretical teaching of ,buddhism1 ,mohammedanism1 or ,hinduism may be one thing1 while the practical religious usages may bear quite another character4 ,a people may naturally be very agreeable and have many lovable traits1 and yet their religious rites may degrade and not uplift the natural man4 ,the saddest part of the following account is found in its degradation of the ordinary healthful sentiments of the people1 in the name of religion4 ,then1 again1 what is done openly in the name of any religion1 is done that it may be seen and recognized as of that religion4 ,therefore1 it is certainly characteristic4 ,if the observance of this is repeated1 or is related to that which is of frequent occurrence1 it is certainly characteristic4 ,that which is here recorded is the natural fruitage of the religions which cheat the natural hunger of the human heart for the favor of ,god1 whom all have sinned against1 but whose loving mercy is not known among these ,christless millions4 ,before giving an account of the cruelties still observed by devotees and fanatics1 it is well to remember some terrible practices which have been abolished in recent years4 ,these include suttee1 or widow-burning1 hook-swinging1 the ,juggernaut1 and marriage of little girls4 ,these were all religious practices1 but they were abolished by the ,government4 ,theoretically and practically1 the ,english ,government in ,india is neutral in religion4 ,only a ,christian ,government could be strictly neutral in religious matters1 though other ,governments at times have been tolerant of other faiths to some extent4 ,by proclamation1 the ,english rule in ,india is neutral in religion4 ,this proclamation is adhered to literally1 so that a ,mohammedan1 ,hindu1 or ,buddhist has just as much protection under the law as a ,christian1 and neither has any powers above the other4 ,how1 then1 does it come to pass that the ,government has interfered in religious rites8 ,this was done only when such rites actually took life1 or endangered life4 ,the ,government's first duty is to protect the lives of its subjects1 even against self-destruction1 where that is possible4 ,many questionable deeds are yet done by devotees in which the ,government has not interfered1 though some of them are exceedingly cruel1 because they have not actually endangered life4 ,but suttee1 or widow-burning1 has been prohibited by the ,government1 though still practiced among the ,hindus beyond the ,english border4 ,bishop ,thoburn gives an account of the burning of four widows in ,nepal1 a little more than a quarter of a century ago4 ,the dead husband had been high in the service of the ,indian ,government1 and had been honored with a title by ,queen ,victoria4 ,he was a ,hindu1 and he died over the border in ,nepal1 and four of his widows were burned with his body4 ,this shows the spirit of ,hinduism where it is not restrained by a ,christian law4 ,you can not burn people on any pretext under the ,british flag4 ,hook-swinging was another horrible practice1 which was put down in the same way4 ,devotees were placed on hooks suspended on long ropes fastened high above1 and the hooks fastened deep in the flesh of the devotees4 ,the body was then swung from side to side till its momentum tore the hooks from the flesh1 and the torn and bleeding body fell to the ground1 perhaps to die1 certainly to be permanently maimed4 ,the law suppressed this practice1 and it is no longer perpetuated except in remote regions and under great secrecy4 ,the car ,juggernaut1 with its great idol1 when drawn along the roads at the ,juggernaut festival evoked such fanaticism that men threw themselves under its great wheels1 and were crushed4 ,this practice has been prohibited by law4 ,the festival is still observed1 but men do not throw themselves under the wheels4 ,i have seen the great car1 with its hideous idol1 drawn past our mission-house in ,rangoon1 attended by thousands of ,hindus1 with all the noise and confusion of an ,oriental procession2 but there is no blood on its wheels now1 and no crushed bodies are left in the street4 ,there was another even more terrible custom prevalent in ,india for ages1 in which the ,government had to interfere4 ,it has for centuries been the custom of ,hindus to give their little girls in marriage when tender children4 ,they were married at ten or eleven years of age1 or even at nine years4 ,to appreciate this monstrous cruelty it should be remembered that a child of the same age in ,western lands is much stronger than a child in ,india4 ,there were many mothers in ,india at twelve years of age4 ,the cruelties of this practice of child marriage were such that they can not be written4 ,let it be remembered that this practice existed for hundreds of years1 and that practically all the ,hindus approved it1 although the sufferers were their own children4 ,and when the terribleness of the practice was so pressed on the ,government that it could not avoid taking action1 and consequently framed a bill to raise the age of consent to twelve years1 before which it would be unlawful to consummate marriage1 the whole ,hindu world rose up in protest4 ,they charged the bill to the oppression of the ,government4 ,fifty thousand ,hindus met in public protest in the city of ,calcutta4 ,this protest was from ,hindus directed against a righteous law for the protection of their children from this age-old cruelty6 ,to the writer it has been an experience of a painful kind to find a few ,americans crying out against the 8,oppression of ,england in ,india10 when they are only echoing the cry of the ,hindus against the righteous law4 ,but the law was enacted1 and has had a wholesome effect so far as it is not evaded by false statements of the age of the girls1 which are often made4 ,but if ,england had no other justification for her ,government in ,india than these four enactments1 the ,government would have much to its credit4 ,but these are legal protections thrown around her people to prevent them taking life1 or perpetuating cruelty in the name of religion4 ,if monstrous things are still done1 it is a comfort to know that these named have been abolished4 ,once each year a sect of ,mohammedans torture themselves by running through the fire4 ,this torture occurs during the feast which follows the ,mohammedan fast1 or lent4 ,during this fast the ,mohammedan community eat nothing from sunrise to sunset4 ,they may eat a great deal after sunset and before sunrise4 ,having fasted in this manner for forty days1 they feast for three days4 ,but this does not include all of the community4 ,there is a division of the ,mohammedans dating back to the death of ,mohammed4 ,a quarrel then arose over his successor as leader of the ,mohammedans4 ,one party held to ,hassan and ,hoosan1 the sons of the prophet2 and the opposing party stood for another leader4 ,this division led to war1 in which ,hassan and ,hoosan were slain and their party defeated4 ,this contention has been maintained until the present1 and those of the conquering party are known as ,sunni ,mohammedans1 and the followers of ,hoosan and ,hassan are called ,shia ,mohammedans4 ,the latter will not feast with the other party1 and take this occasion to torture themselves by running through the fire1 as a protest against the opposing sect4 ,the preparations for this torture by fire are made deliberately1 and it is carried out on a large scale4 ,first of all1 they must secure the permission of the ,rangoon magistrate to this ordeal4 ,then they publish the places where it will occur1 for it is celebrated in several localities on the same night4 ,ditches are dug deep enough to hold a great mass of coals1 and two or more rods in length4 ,on the day appointed1 a large supply of dry wood being provided1 a fire is kindled in the ditches about noon1 and is kept burning until long after dark4 ,meantime the ditch has been filled with coals smoldering1 and kept alive1 but not allowed to burn to ashes4 ,as the earlier hours of the night have been passing1 multitudes of all nationalities have gathered at the scene of fire-running4 ,they have to be kept at a distance by a cordon of rope stretched about a considerable circle4 ,as midnight passes1 a spirit of expectancy takes possession of the waiting multitude1 which is increased by shouts and excitement in a side street not far away4 ,these are all according to the ,oriental's idea of working up a climax of interest in his spectacular display4 ,a little after midnight the fanatics who have been selected to undergo this torture come rushing from a side street1 carrying banners and shouting in increasing excitement as they enter the arena and approach the fire on the run4 ,crowding close together at the end of the ditch of fire1 they wave their banners1 chant1 shout1 and shriek until a frenzy possesses them1 and then they plunge into the fire with their bared feet and legs6 ,the first man to leap into the fire sinks more than half way to his knees in the fiery pit1 and the next step also1 and so through the ditch4 ,as might be supposed1 he plunges through as fast as possible with his greatest strides4 ,he is followed in turn by every other of the twenty or more fanatics of his company4 ,they immediately collect at the other end of the ditch1 and with even greater frenzy than before scream1 stamp the coals from feet1 and plunge again through the ditch4 ,so from end to end they rush till the coals are dragged out of the ditch clinging to their feet and legs1 or are kicked out on the surrounding ground4 ,then the fanatics disappear1 and the multitude of curious onlookers disperse4 ,this cruel practice is carried out every year among these ,mohammedan immigrants to the province of ,burma4 ,the idea seems to be a frenzied appeal to ,god that their contention1 settled by the sword in the defeat of their party twelve centuries ago1 was right4 ,this particular revolting exhibition may be a modern development2 but if so1 it is but another evidence of the growth of fanatical extravagance of an imperfect faith4 ,but viewed in any light1 it is a sad commentary on the ,christless ,mohammedan world in this twentieth century of the ,christian era4 ,it is a fact to be lamented that ,christian missions are not generally directed to the adherents of the ,mohammedan faith4 ,lest it be thought that such fanaticism is only representative of the lower class of people1 let this circumstance be noted4 ,on one occasion my wife saw this 8fire-running40 ,just before the expected approach of the company designated to run through the fire1 a finely-dressed ,mohammedan merchant came within the ropes1 with the air of a man who intended to act as a self-appointed master of ceremonies over these fanatics1 lest they act too outrageously4 ,but when the excitement of the occasion was on1 and these common people were rushing through the fire1 he began to show every indication of rising excitement4 ,he sat down1 rose up1 sat down again4 ,he took off one shoe1 jumped up1 and sat down again2 then off came both stockings1 and he plunged into the fire like any other of these frenzied people4 ,this shows the terrible power of such enormities over even the self-poised ,mohammedan merchant4 ,another scene we witnessed among the ,hindus1 even more revolting than this annual exhibition among the ,mohammedans4 ,it was on a ,sabbath-day1 and ,bishop ,thoburn was with us on his biennial visit to ,burma4 ,the early morning service at the ,english ,church had been concluded1 and we were going to the mission-house in the cantonments4 ,the day was growing almost intolerably hot1 especially under the direct rays of the sun1 as it was in the latter part of ,april1 the hottest time of the year4 ,as we rode along under the protection of our covered tum-tum1 we saw just ahead of us in the middle of the ,signal ,pagoda ,road1 the main street between the city and the suburbs1 an excited company of ,hindu pilgrims and their attendants4 ,it is a striking fact1 too1 that the scene we beheld was very near a ,christian church located on that road--a ,christian church dedicated to the worship of ,him who died for all men--and here by the side of that edifice on that ,lord's-day1 nearly twenty centuries after the gospel was proclaimed to a sin-darkened world1 was enacted one of the most distressing cruelties of heathenism1 and it is doubtful if the devotees1 or their attendants1 even dreamed of the salvation which every ,christian temple should suggest6 ,that ,church does nothing for missions1 being content to preach only to those who bear the ,christian name4 ,there was a company of about twenty men1 eight of whom were devotees1 while the others urged them on their terrible way4 ,around each devotee's neck was an iron ring supporting twenty-four small chains about two feet in length4 ,on the end of each chain was a large hook made of wire1 and these two dozen hooks were buried deep in the chest1 sides1 and back of each poor man4 ,the flesh was raised in great welts over the buried hooks6 ,but to add to the horrors of this torture1 each man had an iron rod about the size of a slate-pencil thrust through both cheeks1 passing through the mouth1 of course4 ,another rod of equal size pierced the tongue1 which was drawn out of the mouth as far as could be done without plucking it from its roots1 the rod holding it in that drawn condition1 as it was held against the face by the strained muscles4 ,these hooks and iron rods piercing the flesh of body and face must have produced all the agony that the human frame could endure4 ,yet the cruelties of the heathen could add to even this4 ,most of the poorer natives of ,india go barefooted4 ,but these devotees wore wooden sandals1 not to protect the feet1 but to torture them4 ,through these sandals from below nails were driven and sharpened above1 so that every step each poor man took the weight of his body pressed upon the upturned nails1 and must have produced a refinement of agony4 ,to the natural weight of the body was added a wooden arch often used among this class of ,hindus in ,rangoon as a symbol1 this arch being carried on the shoulder and adding possibly twenty pounds to press down his tortured body upon those upturned nails6 ,these poor deluded sons of our unhappy race1 these devotees of a ,christless faith1 were agonizing along this highway under a pitiless tropical sun1 making their way to a ,hindu shrine eight miles away6 ,their condition was indescribable4 ,their attendants were urging them forward with shouts1 and were dashing water on their protruding tongues1 seemingly untouched with pity at their agony4 ,the very sight of this torture made the heart sick4 ,i doubt if any ,christian man could have endured the sight for any length of time4 ,an indescribable faintness began to sweep over me2 and the bishop1 who has a heart of great tenderness1 could hardly speak2 but as he turned to me ,i noted an expression of anguish on his face1 as he said in broken tones3 8,that is the worst sight ,i have witnessed in thirty-five years in ,india2 but that is the ripened fruit of idolatry40 ,let the reader again recall that this occurred in the closing years of the nineteenth century of our gospel era4 ,let him also be informed that among all these thousands of ,hindu immigrants to ,india there is not one missionary giving his time to preaching ,christ4 ,the only reason there is not such a missionary is because there is no money in any mission treasury to send him4 ,there is plenty of money in ,christian hands4 ,if the ,christian men and women of those lands that are the heirs of all temporal blessings1 and of the ,christian joys of the gospel centuries1 could realize the blackness of the night that has settled down on the ,christless nations1 who are heirs of thousands of years of increasing idolatry1 they would hasten the messengers of life and light to these poor people4 ,if we turn to ,buddhism and ask for correspondingly desperate conditions1 we are at once assured that they are not found4 ,its friends would assure us of its elevated character as a religion4 ,but ,i am sure we find a sad enough condition among some of the most faithful ,buddhists1 and a refinement of cruelty in all classes of the adherents of the teachings of ,gautama4 ,the building of a pagoda is regarded as the most meritorious deed1 and even its repair or partial regilding gives a man honor and merit4 ,but the serving of a pagoda renders a man an outcast4 ,the only real outcast ever recognized in ,burmese ,buddhism1 which is free from the ,indian caste system1 is the 8pagoda slave40 ,perhaps we ought to speak of this in the past tense1 as the ,english rule has made it possible for these slaves to find their freedom1 which was impossible under ,burmese rule1 though even this legal liberty is not recognized by the ,buddhists4 ,under ,buddhist1 or ,burmese1 order1 whole families were set apart for the pagoda service4 ,once in that service they were despised by their self-respecting co-religionists1 and their children after them forever suffered their disabilities4 ,sometimes a certain number of families in a village were arbitrarily picked up and set down at the pagoda for this purpose1 henceforth to be banished from the circle of respectability4 ,never could any man get out of this degraded service4 ,the heaviest penalties were laid upon any who tried to aid him or his family to escape to any other calling4 ,why this strange degradation of men and women who serve the pagoda1 when the building of a pagoda exalts its builder here and hereafter1 does not seem to be explained4 ,personally1 ,i think it one of the stony-hearted cruelties natural to this faith4 ,the priests were fed daily out of the household's store2 but the pagoda caretaker had to fight with the ownerless dogs1 with which ,burma abounds1 for some of the food offered to the images of ,gautama6 ,when the slave died he could not have respectable burial4 ,sometimes his body was thrown out with the refuse for the dogs to eat4 ,this settled policy of ,buddhism may be truly said to be one of its perfected fruits1 not mentioned by the friends of the faith from ,western lands4 ,under ,british rule these people were allowed to become sellers of supplies for the pagoda service1 or to go away where1 unknown and carefully disguising their former life1 they might work into some respectable occupation1 but never with the consent of ,buddhist priests or self-respecting laymen1 who had always despised the servant of the temple4 ,but the sight which always met the observers when visiting the great ,sway ,dagon ,pagoda in ,rangoon until recent years1 was the line of lepers always piteously begging along its ascending steps4 ,they were classed with the pagoda slave1 and were despised4 ,it can not be said that they were really pitied1 even though some corn or rice and an occasional copper coin were thrown them by the ,buddhist climbing the stair to ,gautama's shrine4 ,these lepers were born on these steps1 diseased1 rotted1 and died there6 ,a more pitiable sight was never witnessed than these poor1 suffering creatures1 practically expelled outside the bounds of ,buddhist sympathy for no fault of character or conduct4 ,of course1 the ,buddhist would say that the leper's foul disease was the demerit of some past existence1 and therefore he suffers justly in his loathsome condition1 and his ostracism from human sympathy6 ,but this is only another heartless invention of a much overrated religion4 ,the reader will have made the contrast4 ,centuries of labor and millions in gifts to raise and perfect the great pagoda and to gild it and to bejewel its tinkling bells1 all in honor of eight human hairs2 while its own faithful adherents suffer and die without so much as a shed being built to shelter them6 ,millions for gilding brick and mortar1 and not the least coin to build a hospital for suffering and despairing men6 ,this is ,buddhism's fruitage of the centuries4 ,let him praise the tender sympathies of this faith who will4 ,to me it is one of the most heartless systems taught among men4 ,the leper was an outcast here1 and taught to believe millions of years of existence in hell were awaiting him hereafter4 ,this was his portion in ,buddhism4 ,turn now and witness what ,christianity has done for him4 ,within the decade of my writing1 the ,christian missions of ,burma became strong enough to put their sympathies underneath the long suffering lepers4 ,a ,scotch leper mission is aiding the ,wesleyans at ,mandalay4 ,later the ,baptists in ,moulmein1 and the ,catholics on their own account in ,rangoon1 built leper asylums1 the ,government aiding also in their support2 and the lepers in every municipality in ,burma have been gathered into these ,christian institutions1 their sores bound up1 medicines to alleviate their sufferings given1 abundant food and suitable clothing provided1 the first time to most of them during their agonized lives4 ,best of all1 the gospel1 with its help1 love1 and hope1 is preached to them who had been bound to suffering for ages to come by their own religious system6 ,if to the question1 8,do missions to the ,burmese ,buddhists pay80 there could be offered only these three leper asylums1 they would warrant the answer1 8,yes40 ,one very hot afternoon ,i went with an assistant of the ,wesleyan ,leper ,asylum1 and took twenty-five of those lepers off the steps of the ,sway ,dagon ,pagoda1 and securing their passage money from the ,rangoon municipality1 ,i sent them off to ,mandalay4 ,later ,i visited that city and the asylum1 and there beheld one hundred and forty of the lepers gathered from many places in ,burma4 ,they were so well cared for as to seem almost content in spite of their physical suffering4 ,they were fed1 clothed1 and had the gospel preached to them in the true ,christian spirit4 ,some of them were filled with peace and joy by conscious communion with ,him who is so mightily preached by this institution of mercy4 ,there was one leper1 with hands and feet fallen off1 an eye gone1 and the tongue nearly eaten away2 still on the piece of a face that remained there shone a light seen only on the face of the man who communes with ,god4 ,in this glad vision ,i had my reward in having aided in a small way to send so many afflicted ones to this ,christian haven4 ,a thousand times since ,i have been made glad with the memory of what seemed that hot afternoon a very commonplace piece of work4 ,but as it retreats into the past1 and ,i know every poor sufferer will have had ,christian care all his days1 it came to be recognized as one of my greatest privileges as a missionary to have had some part in this work4 ,when in the future the traveler comes to ,burma and visits the pagoda1 and when the resident passes through ,rangoon's streets1 and is not pained with the vision of lepers begging at his feet1 let them remember that for centuries these ,buddhist lepers were spurned by their own race and countrymen1 and that it was the ,christian missionaries who gathered them into homelike asylums1 there to receive loving ,christian care4 ,let them reflect that this contrast is one of principle in the two faiths4 ,the leper1 agonizing in hopeless despair on the pagoda steps1 was the perfected fruit of centuries of the teaching of the purest ,buddhism to be found4 ,one more illustration of the practical teaching of ,buddhism presents itself4 ,at ,kemmendine1 near ,rangoon1 is a ,buddhist burial-ground4 ,there is a large pavilion near the entrance to the graveyard1 on the ceiling of which there have been various pictorial representations of the teachings of ,buddhism4 ,much of this is a portrayal of the many ,buddhist hells4 ,but there was for years a succession of pictures along one border representing the ,buddhist priest in the process of crushing out all sentiment and sympathy with even the greatest human distress4 ,the candidate for neikban must destroy all desire2 the last desire to give way is that for existence4 ,this pictorial representation was evidently made to show the process of this suppression in progress4 ,the yellow-robed priest1 who should represent the system1 is seated in perfect composure looking on the distress of a sick man4 ,there is none to attend the sick1 and the priest1 of course1 gives no aid4 ,the next picture shows the man approaching the crisis of death2 in the next he is actually dying4 ,then follows a succession of pictures showing other stages of dissolution1 until only the scattered bones remain4 ,through all the series of representations the priest sits with a face as expressionless as marble1 and has not moved a muscle4 ,complete indifference to all experiences of human life is the virtue aimed at4 ,to show that this crushing out of all natural sensibility is a difficult process1 the artist has made another picture with a little humor in it4 ,the scattered bones suddenly become articulated1 and the skeleton makes a wild leap upon the priest4 ,this unexpected jump of the skeleton would be calculated to affright ordinary mortals to a degree2 but not so the priest4 ,he only slightly turns his head4 ,he has nearly conquered all natural sentiment4 ,the last picture shows a skull and crossbone1 and the motionless priest sitting in perfect composure of features and of person4 ,he has conquered all desire6 ,this is the picture on the pavilion2 but now with the writer look on the living reality4 ,on one occasion ,i attended a cremation in that burial-ground4 ,sometimes bodies are buried1 and sometimes cremated if the person was rich or much respected in life4 ,the funeral pyre was crudely made1 and the burning presented a revolting sight that need not be given in detail4 ,when the body was nearly consumed some of the people returned to the pavilion1 and with them the widow1 a grown son and daughter1 and some smaller children of the deceased4 ,meantime five priests had come in from the monastery1 and sat in a row upon a platform at one end of the structure4 ,they had not been present at the place of burning4 ,they had rendered no service of consolation at all1 though they may have preached at the home the usual pronouncement of ,buddhism1 that all existence leads to misery1 and therefore the way out of misery is to strive to get into neikban and cease to exist4 ,more than this1 the funeral is the occasion over all others in which costly presents far above the ability of the family are given to the poungyis1 or priests4 ,but real consoling service to the sorrowing they give none4 ,there is nothing springing from sympathy1 pity1 or hope in this religion4 ,as these five well-fed priests sat on that platform1 the broken-hearted widow1 son1 and daughters came forward1 and bowed down and worshiped them4 ,the bruised and broken human heart cried in anguish and must cry for help1 and ,buddhism offers only the worship of a yellow-robed priest6 ,buddhism has no ,god4 ,it tries to crush all human pity4 ,but where shall the broken-hearted find rest8 ,worship these yellow-robed priests6 ,that is all4 ,what about the priests8 ,there they sat1 and chewed betel-nut and tobacco1 spitting lazily at the cracks in the platform1 looking about idly and vacantly1 utterly indifferent to the prostrate and broken-hearted family before them6 ,not a look of sympathy or pity1 not even a glance of recognition cast in the direction of the prostrate forms6 ,this is the very real illustration in the living priest1 of the pictorial representation of the priest of the ,buddhist religion given above6 ,the ,buddhist system is devoid of hope1 pity1 consolation1 or even ordinary human sympathy4 ,it is as heartless as its own stony or brazen images of ,gautama so universally worshiped4 ,men become like their gods4 ,illustration3 ,,festivities ,,at ,a ,,poungyi',s ,,cremation ,,chapter ,,xii ,outline of ,christian ,missions in ,burma ,christianity entered ,burma with the incoming of traders and ,governments from the ,west1 as it did in the other portions of ,southern ,asia4 ,some of these traders and some of these representatives of nominally ,christian ,governments were unscrupulous adventurers4 ,they were seldom men of strict moral integrity1 much less spiritual ,christians4 ,they would not measure very high by present-day social standards1 much less by the lofty standards of the gospel4 ,they were ,christians in name only4 ,the ,portuguese gained some footing in ,burma1 as in all this tropical world1 in the sixteenth century1 and continued with varying influence for nearly two hundred years4 ,they gained a foothold in ,burma1 and built a city called ,syrian1 and still bearing that name1 just across the ,pegu ,river from the present site of ,rangoon4 ,here1 however1 they met utter defeat and destruction at the hands of the great ,alombra1 the founder of the ,burmese ,dynasty1 of which ,king ,thebaw1 deposed at ,mandalay in #ahhf1 was the last sovereign4 ,this great king completely overthrew the ,portuguese ,government1 and with it the only form of ,christianity then known among them1 that represented by the ,roman ,catholic ,church of that day4 ,these venturesome ,portuguese carried with them their religious observances1 and their priests always were active missionary agents4 ,they built a church at ,syrian1 the well-defined ruins of which still remain4 ,they made converts among the ,burmans4 ,whether their methods in converting the ,burmese were as unscrupulous as the ,portuguese traders' methods were1 we have no detailed account4 ,but in this matter we are not left in much doubt1 as their attempts to convert the ,burmese could not have been much different from that employed in ,india at the same period1 which unhappily we know only too well were in utter disregard of the true ,christian spirit4 ,but these missionaries of the ,catholic ,church counted their converts by possibly the hundred thousand4 ,these foreigners on their shores were then1 as all are now1 regarded as representatives of the ,christian religion4 ,in ,asia every man is regarded as an adherent of some religion4 ,little account is taken of whether he represents his faith or misrepresents it4 ,his ,government and his personal and social life are supposed to flow from his religion2 so that the ,christian religion1 as represented by the ,portuguese1 was probably despised as cordially by the ,buddhists as their commercial prestige and ,government authority were hated by the ,burmese people4 ,and when they made war to the extermination of the ,portuguese settlements and their fortified city1 and sunk their ships in the river1 they also dealt a fatal blow to ,catholic missions in ,burma4 ,there remains little trace of their old-time teaching4 ,this is very unfortunate2 for it is only just to say that even the ,catholicism of two centuries ago taught more truth concerning ,god and ,god's dealings with men than ,buddhism ever did in its best state4 ,nominal ,christianity1 even when half idolatrous1 kept the name of ,god alive in the minds of men1 while they waited for a better day in which the gospel would be preached in its purity4 ,with the beginning of the nineteenth century the ,british began to get control of ,burma1 and this advantage has been followed by further acquisitions of territory until in #ahhf ,upper ,burma was annexed1 and so the whole land has come under the ,english flag4 ,during this century1 with its better ,governmental conditions1 the ,catholic ,church has re-established its institutions in all parts of the province4 ,for many years its growth was slow1 and even now1 in numbers1 it is far exceeded by the ,baptist mission4 ,but in the last ten years there has been a marked growth in the ,catholic community4 ,this has been to some extent by immigrants from ,india1 who are ,catholics4 ,but the ,church has been aggressive in every respect4 ,its priests are multiplying in the cities1 and they also have occupied strategic points in the interiors4 ,they are especially far-seeing in the acquisition of great properties in cities like ,rangoon and in building schools and charitable institutions4 ,they are now engaged in building a great cathedral1 to add to their already enormous properties in the capital city1 and1 as usual1 have chosen a most conspicuous location1 near the great ,government offices4 ,of course1 in ,burma1 as elsewhere1 they need the ,protestant ,churches1 though they will not admit it4 ,they regard us all as heretics4 ,but they have been improved by ,protestant missions1 and need a great deal more of the same influence4 ,while they give ,protestants no recognition1 save in an external civility1 they are indebted to ,protestant activity for the revival of that which is best in their own methods of work1 especially in education2 and we will still have to teach a pure1 spiritual1 experimental religion as a protest against their mechanical ritualism and exclusive pretension1 and1 most of all1 against their semi-idolatrous practices4 ,a concrete example of this is found in the usages that make the ,catholic cemetery on 8,all ,souls' ,day0 look like the adorning of a ,buddhist feast2 that make them still celebrate mass annually with great pomp for the repose of the soul of their late bishop1 a noble man1 whom we ,protestants would gladly believe to have been accepted of ,god in ,christ ,jesus1 and not needing the unbiblical fiction of purgatory to purify his soul and fit it to dwell with ,god4 ,but the greatest missionary labors wrought in ,burma have been wrought by the ,american ,baptists4 ,from ,adoniram ,judson1 who landed in ,burma in #ahac1 until the present generation of missionaries1 there has been an increasing force of faithful and heroic men and women who have devoted their lives to the redemption of ,burma4 ,it is safe to say that the sum of the work of all missionaries of all other societies combined would not equal that done by the ,baptists4 ,it is also true that the number of their converts from among the people of ,burma equal1 or exceed1 the sum of all others4 ,the mere outline of their extensive mission1 with a history of eighty-eight years behind it1 can not be given in the space allowed in the plan of this book4 ,it is the writer's joy1 however1 to make the fullest recognition of their great work that space will allow1 and also in justice to others and the field1 to point out some of their limitations as a mission4 ,it is well known that the quality of their spiritual work is of the best4 ,they are faithful teachers of experimental religion1 and they lead blameless lives4 ,they are1 and have been from the beginning1 faithful examples and witnesses for a sterling morality in a land where lax morals were too common4 ,they have been advocates of total abstinence in a land where dram-drinking was1 until recently1 almost universal1 and is still deeply intrenched in social usage1 as liquor-selling is in business4 ,these same missionaries were pioneers in education1 having extensive schools long before the ,government had an educational system4 ,they had given the ,karens1 among whom they have had their greatest successes1 a written language1 as well as having led tens of thousands of them into the ,christian ,church4 ,the census of ,burma in #ahia says the ,karens have been preserved as a people only by the labors of the missionaries4 ,these people now have many primary schools1 as well as some of higher grades4 ,there are two institutions of this higher education worthy of special mention4 ,one is the ,baptist college of ,rangoon1 with ,rev4 ,j4 ,n4 ,cushing1 ,d4 ,d41 and a full corps of well-equipped teachers1 and an attendance of more than five hundred students1 including primary grades4 ,in schools of higher education in the ,east the lower grades are always taught also2 hence the large total4 ,the other is their theological school at ,eusein1 near ,rangoon1 with which ,rev4 ,d4 ,a4 ,w4 ,smith1 ,d4 ,d41 has been connected for nearly forty years4 ,this school has from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty students preparing for the ministry4 ,they represent several races1 but are mostly ,karens1 corresponding with the greater numbers of these people in the ,baptist ,churches in the province4 ,a large amount of the money for the support of this theological school is paid by the ,karen ,churches4 ,here may be noted another important feature of the successful work of the ,baptist mission4 ,they have probably done as much toward teaching the native ,churches self-support as any other great missions of ,southern ,asia4 ,they have many churches and schools practically supported by the villages in which they are found4 ,it is true that most of these are in the ,karen villages1 where the people live apart from all others and do not migrate much4 ,it is noteworthy1 also1 that all peoples in ,burma are in possession of far more means than in any other portion of the ,indian ,empire1 and they can give more easily and more in amount than in ,upper ,india1 the ,telegu missions4 ,yet1 after all allowances are made1 the fact still remains1 and it is most creditable to the mission1 that they have developed self-support to an encouraging extent1 by which other missions could profitably be instructed4 ,this mission has a large publishing-house1 and a great quantity of literature1 mostly periodicals and tracts1 is published4 ,it also circulates many books and pamphlets4 ,the young ,church has need of much of this1 especially the ,karens4 ,this same press issues several different styles of ,judson's translation of the ,bible into the ,burmese tongue1 and also the ,karen1 ,shan1 and ,kachin1 translations of the entire ,bible1 or portions of the ,scriptures4 ,it is here1 however1 we meet a serious lack4 ,the ,burmese read more than any other ,oriental people1 unless the ,japanese be excepted4 ,yet the literature adequate to carry on a great campaign of ,christian enlightment of these ,buddhists has never yet been produced4 ,perhaps this lack is due to several causes1 one of which is that there are only a comparatively few ,burmese ,christians4 ,but still1 all missionaries should face this need1 and provide for it4 ,the translation of the ,bible into ,burmese would alone render the name of ,judson immortal4 ,but it has one serious defect that can not be overlooked in writing even a sketch of missions in ,burma4 ,he1 being an ardent ,baptist1 has fixed the extreme ,baptist teaching on the mode of baptism on the translation of the ,new ,testament4 ,other bodies justly contend that this is not translating1 but interpreting a modern doctrinal controversy into the text of the ,burmese ,bible4 ,the ,baptists declare they can not yield anything of this position1 and all other missions are equally convinced they can not use a biased text4 ,after long negotiations seeking ground for a compromise1 but failing1 it has been decided to put out another translation of the ,new ,testament1 which alone1 in the ,judson translation1 bears this particular defect4 ,this new translation is now in progress under the direction of the ,british and ,foreign ,bible ,society4 ,on this question the great ,baptist mission needs the teaching of other ,protestant bodies on the mission-field as they do in the home lands4 ,while noting the extensive work of the ,baptist mission in ,burma1 and so cordially rejoicing in their success1 it becomes necessary to point out another limitation of this very successful mission4 ,this defect is merely a limitation in the means to an end4 ,much as has been done1 this great society can not evangelise ,burma alone4 ,it is exceedingly difficult for the people at home to understand that ,burma is a very great country1 and her peoples are diverse to a degree an ,american who has not lived in ,southern ,asia can not understand4 ,the population of ,burma numbers more than #h1jjj1jjj4 ,of these the ,burmese ,buddhists number more than #f1jjj1jjj4 ,from these millions of ,buddhists there are less than #d1jjj converts in all the evangelical missions in ,burma4 ,karens number less than #ejj1jjj1 and yet there is a ,christian community of nearly #ajj1jjj among these people4 ,so far as evangelization is concerned1 the ingathering from the ,karens has1 to date1 been nearly twenty per cent1 while among the ,burmans it has not been one-fifteenth of one per cent4 ,yet the ,burmese people are the important people of the land in numbers and influence4 ,they are superior people to the ,karens1 and they assert that superiority4 ,it was hoped that the ,burmese would be evangelized by the ,karens1 but that hope has not been realized1 and it is not within practical missionary expectation to look for it longer4 ,there must be a stupendous and prolonged missionary campaign made to convert the ,burmese millions4 ,this will require every devoted man and woman of every society that can be rallied to this gigantic task4 ,the further fact should be noted1 also1 to show its urgency4 ,while the ,karens have been converted by the scores of thousands and the work of conversion and organization goes right on1 though at a slower pace than at one time1 it is probably true that the ,karens are being ,burmanized and converted to ,buddhism faster than they are being converted to ,christianity4 ,hence our greater missionary campaign has yet to be planned1 and it must be fought out with ,buddhism1 and this will require all the available men and women and all the money all the societies now at work in ,burma can get4 ,here we witness a providential ordering4 ,god has called missionaries into ,burma from various lands and set them to a common task4 ,each set of missionaries may easily think they alone are1 or should be1 assigned to this field2 but ,god1 whose plans are far greater than man's narrow vision1 thrusts diverse agencies into the field1 and the writer believes each could have abundant justification of its presence and hard work in the land4 ,one of the ,churches longest represented in ,burma is the ,church of ,england4 ,it is the policy of this ,church to provide some service for its people in remote regions4 ,with the early planting of the ,british flag in ,burma1 as elsewhere1 came some representatives of the ,established ,church4 ,they were not always very devoted men1 but some of them have been among the godliest servants of our ,lord4 ,they usually have ministered to the ,english-speaking people as chaplains of civilians or of the military4 ,as such they are found in every locality where ,europeans or their descendants congregate4 ,had this considerable number of clergy always been spiritual men1 their influence for good would have been of incalculable value4 ,had the majority stood for evangelical truth1 as a few have1 had they been teetotalers in a land of dram-drinking1 and had they spoken with moral and spiritual authority against the licentiousness of many1 they would have saved the people and themselves1 and won an unfading crown and the favor of all who love righteousness4 ,some have so lived4 ,one such died in ,rangoon a few years ago1 one of the most devoted and best loved ministers ,i have ever known4 ,these ministers of the ,church of ,england have had the ears of the people as none others could have had1 by reason of their social and official standing4 ,but because they have not always pursued their calling with single-eyed devotion1 others have been required to help them save the neglected people4 ,the ,church of ,england has not been primarily a missionary ,church in ,burma1 though latterly it is doing a good deal of work directly for the non-,christian peoples4 ,their greatest native work is among the ,karens1 who came to them years ago chiefly by a secession from the ,baptist mission4 ,they have held most of these seceders1 but have not gained rapidly from among the heathen ,karens4 ,it is among a people like this that strict habits of life tell so much4 ,the ,karens as a race are much given to drunkenness4 ,most missionaries--all of the ,baptists--are total abstainers and constant advocates of this most wholesome practice4 ,but some of the ,church of ,england and ,catholic missionaries are habitual dram-drinkers4 ,the effect of this practice among the missionaries is very bad in its effect on the native ,church4 ,it is not a pleasant thing to write of these defects1 but this drink-habit is so common among ,europeans1 and the example of men who assume the office of missionaries counts for so much for good or bad with native ,christians who have this vice to fight that the unwillingness of the missionaries to abstain from strong drink is most reprehensible4 ,this fact is only a little less important among ministers to ,europeans4 ,i have yet to see the minister of any class whose influence for good is not dissipated by taking the intoxicating cup under any circumstances4 ,the fact that any considerable number of clergymen in a mission-field drink intoxicating liquor will surprise most people in ,america1 where1 if a clergyman tipples1 he is at once under a social ban4 ,but it is a pleasure to write that the reprehensible practice is growing less in the entire ,east4 ,the ,churches and ministry which make total abstinence an unyielding rule would be needed in this mission-field for their testimony and practice of total abstinence1 if for no other reason4 ,we dare not gather a native ,church and leave them under the curse of drink4 ,we dare not keep silent and by our practice encourage the drink-habit among ,europeans and their descendants4 ,the minister or missionary who has the temerity to do it takes great responsibility for wrecked lives of those who follow his practice4 ,it would seem to be as clear as sunlight that1 knowing the evil of the drink-habit in the ,east1 as they do1 all ministers and missionaries would stand unitedly and unwaveringly for total abstinence4 ,the ,catholics1 ,baptists1 and ,church of ,england have been operating in ,burma through the greater part of the century that has just closed4 ,but the ,methodist ,episcopal mission and the ,wesleyans came upon the scene much later4 ,of the ,methodist ,episcopal missions ,i have written elsewhere4 ,it is only necessary to indicate here that1 in the language of ,bishop ,thoburn1 8our work in ,burma was thrust upon us rather than sought by us40 ,it was taken up as a far-away outpost of our beginnings in ,calcutta4 ,it has since become one of the important smaller missions established in all strategic centers from ,karachi to the ,philippine ,islands4 ,our organization in ,rangoon dates from #ahgi4 ,we have only fairly gotten our footing1 and hope soon to move forward with a good degree of momentum4 ,a detailed account of the mission is found in following chapters4 ,the ,wesleyans began their work in ,burma in #ahhf1 just after the annexation of ,upper ,burma4 ,they made the great city of ,mandalay their chief center of labor1 and they have occupied important towns on the ,irrawaddy ,river1 the ,chindwin1 and on the railway4 ,their location was wisely selected1 and their advance has been made with equal good judgment4 ,they wisely selected the ,burmese people as their objective from the first1 and excepting their first superintendent1 they have made the mastering of the language the first duty of every new missionary4 ,in this they have been exceedingly clearsighted4 ,while the mission has not been large in numbers1 it has maintained a good working force1 and had latterly sent forward re-enforcements4 ,they maintain nine or ten missionaries1 men and women1 who are in the full vigor of their earlier manhood and womanhood1 and they are steadily gathering a native ,church4 ,meantime1 they have added ,english work and taken up the lepers1 mentioned elsewhere1 as a specialty4 ,they have the vigor and hope of a healthful young mission4 ,there are two other special features of their mission worthy of note4 ,they have strongly-fortified themselves with ,christian schools1 one of the most potent agencies for breaking down ,buddhism4 ,buddhist schools must be met by ,christian schools4 ,then1 they require five years' service from every young man entering their mission before they allow him to marry4 ,this gives a period of probation at small outlay of money1 and insures that the young man will acquire the language and be safely proven worthy and suited to his calling before the mission becomes responsible for his family4 ,it has one disadvantage4 ,when the young missionary does marry1 his wife is a novice in the land1 wholly unacquainted with the people and their language1 and can hardly hope to become her husband's helpmate1 as she could have done if they had entered upon their missionary life together4 ,yet1 on the whole1 it is a policy worthy of careful study and wider application4 ,this outline of missions in ,burma leaves much more unwritten than it records4 ,it is only intended to give a general survey of the forces that are gathering which shall make the ,burmese1 the ,shans1 the ,karens1 the ,chins1 and all the nations and tribes truly ,christians4 ,they all aim at the speedy redemption of this stronghold of ,buddhism with its attendant demonology4 ,,chapter ,,xiii ,the ,methodist ,episcopal ,mission1 ,burma ,methodism was established in ,rangoon in #ahgi4 ,unlike any other mission known to the writer1 ,methodism began its work in ,burma1 as in some other places in ,india1 without any financial support or any community of ,methodistic sentiment or tradition among the people to depend upon4 ,it is true that there are a few persons in ,rangoon who had known of the wonderful work done in ,calcutta under ,dr4 ,thoburn1 and had repeatedly invited him to come to ,rangoon to preach4 ,william ,taylor had sent out ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,carter from ,america to begin self-supporting work among the ,english-speaking people in ,rangoon4 ,at this juncture1 ,dr4 ,thoburn went over to ,rangoon and laid the foundation of ,methodism in that city4 ,he always remembers1 with cordial appreciation1 the kindness of the ,baptist missionaries in receiving him and giving him the use of their chapel in which to preach until the size of the congregation required a larger building4 ,then he went to the municipal hall where he arranged the first ,methodist society within two weeks of his first service4 ,the beginnings were very encouraging4 ,of all the ,english-speaking ,churches which ,methodism has organized in ,india1 that at ,rangoon was the largest in numbers and most diverse in its membership at the beginning4 ,some of these original members remained with us for nearly a score of years4 ,some of them proved their loyalty and faithful service through long years and under all changes4 ,the self-support of this ,church has been somewhat remarkable4 ,the ,government gave the site for the church and parsonage1 and the first year a plain1 wooden church edifice was erected1 and also a parsonage by its side4 ,mr4 ,carter was succeeded by ,mr4 ,robinson as pastor4 ,under this pastorate all that had been done previously was conserved and new undertakings were begun4 ,the church and parsonage buildings were paid for and the ,church taught ,methodist usages4 ,considering that very few of the members1 if any1 had any previous knowledge of the doctrines1 this instruction was most necessary4 ,from the very first until the present1 a period of twenty-one years1 the ,church has supported its pastor with a modest salary4 ,if part of that time there has been a supplemental amount paid by the ,missionary ,society1 this has always been more than offset by the real missionary work done by the pastorate4 ,much of the time the pastor has been presiding elder of the district1 and always he has had more than his pastorate to care for4 ,rev4 ,mr4 ,robinson1 aided by his devoted wife1 had four years of labor in care of the ,church and the affairs of the mission4 ,during this busy period he began a girls' school for the ,english-speaking children and also a mission to seamen4 ,these two institutions were begun in a modest way as works of faith and without buildings or funds for running expenses4 ,they were both launched to meet a great need4 ,here again the liberality of the congregation and the community of ,rangoon friendly to an active evangelism was exemplified in the contributions to support both of these institutions4 ,here1 as in the case of the church1 the ,government was generous in its aid of the school4 ,it was at this time the ,government was extending its newly-organized educational department and felt generous in its plans for schools already organized4 ,a very desirable piece of land was given the mission to be used for our girls' school4 ,but a building was to be erected1 and our people had no funds4 ,at that time the thought of receiving mission money from ,america was not entertained by any4 ,after giving the land1 the ,government gave over half the cost of the first school building1 and the people of ,rangoon and vicinity gave the remainder of the required funds4 ,this has been the order almost throughout our experience as a mission4 ,support of all ,english branches of our work has been secured almost entirely in ,burma4 ,it was impossible for a single missionary family to do all the work required4 ,the first re-enforcement sent to this field was ,miss ,warner1 who did enduring work in successfully superintending this school in its infancy4 ,afterward she moved to another part of ,india1 having been married to ,rev4 ,d4 ,o4 ,fox1 with whom she continues in effective missionary service4 ,illustration3 ,,methodist ,,girls' ,,school1 ,,rangoon ,after four years of service in ,rangoon1 ,rev4 ,s4 ,p4 ,long came to aid ,mr4 ,robinson1 and took work among the seamen1 and assisted ,mr4 ,robinson in his increasing labors4 ,the 8,seamen's ,rest0 became a resort for many officers and sailors1 and in all its years no seafaring man ever received aught but good in this institution4 ,no class of men so much need wholesome surroundings in a seaport4 ,it will surprise ,american readers to know that many of the ,sailors' ,homes and like institutions1 maintained often at ,government expense in these ,asiatic ports1 sell liquors to the sailors who seek shelter within their walls4 ,thus the sailors meet one of their worst enemies in the house of their professed friends4 ,the ,seamen's ,rest has sheltered and protected sailors through all these years4 ,so well did it do its work that1 even to this day1 men who found ,christ in the services maintained in the ,rest and on board ships years ago1 return to tell us of the glad experience of those days4 ,so well is the work done that the ,government for years past has given money to pay the rent1 and1 sometimes1 additional aid4 ,more hard work without adequate remuneration has been done by the superintendents and managers of this seamen's institution during its nearly eighteen years of good service1 than in any other institution ,i have ever known in any land4 ,it has secured these workers almost always from the membership of the ,english ,church4 ,the mission to seamen should be regarded as a part of the ,church's activity4 ,it is such work as this1 in ways too numerous to record1 that this congregation has fostered1 that led ,bishop ,thoburn to write1 some years ago1 8,the ,rangoon congregation is the best working ,church ,i have known in any land40 ,in #ahhf1 ,mr4 ,robinson1 after six years of most useful labor in ,rangoon1 transferred to ,india1 and ,mr4 ,long took charge of the ,church in addition to his other duties4 ,for nearly four years he met the requirements of his position in the strength of ,christian manliness4 ,one event of signal importance occurred during his incumbency4 ,a courageous young woman came out from ,america and became his wife4 ,she was a companion to her husband in all his arduous labors4 ,but early in #ahij1 ,mrs4 ,long's health having broken down under conditions of living already developed1 which prostrated the writer and his wife two years later1 they were compelled to return to ,america1 leaving the results of a memorable service in ,burma4 ,mrs4 ,long's health never being fully regained1 they could not return to ,burma4 ,but it is a joy to all their friends to know that they have been signally successful in the pastorate at home4 ,the girls' school prospered during this period also1 under the care of ,miss ,julia ,e4 ,wisner1 who succeeded to the principalship at the marriage of ,miss ,warner4 ,she was aided by ,miss ,files1 who came later1 when it became evident that one woman could not endure the multiplied burdens of such a school4 ,these ladies1 as also ,miss ,warner1 were sent to ,burma by the ,woman's ,foreign ,missionary ,society1 which has done so much to aid all the missions of the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church4 ,illustration3 ,,charlotte ,o',,neal ,,institute1 ,,rangoon ,early in the administration of ,mr4 ,long it became evident that the school must be divided4 ,a number of orphans and destitute children had been placed in our hands1 and some of the patrons paying full fees objected to their children being placed on an equal basis with 8orphans40 ,there arose out of this protest1 and out of the further fact that the first building was much crowded1 the necessity of securing a second building4 ,this was done while only thirteen hundred dollars out of its entire cost came from ,america4 ,the remainder of the five thousand dollars required was secured by subscription in ,rangoon4 ,this building was known as the 8,orphanage10 under separate management from the school1 except that all the children had the same class-room privileges4 ,during #ahii1 ,miss ,fannie ,scott was sent out to take charge of the ,orphanage4 ,she continued most devotedly at her post until failing health required her transfer to ,india1 in ,september1 #ahia1 where she has done faithful service since4 ,miss ,perkins succeeded ,miss ,scott in charge of the ,orphanage4 ,during the last year of ,mr4 ,long's service in ,burma1 he was joined by ,mr4 ,warner1 who came to be his assistant4 ,on the departure of ,mr4 ,long1 ,rev4 ,r4 ,c4 ,chancy was transferred to ,burma1 to be the head of the mission and pastor of the ,church4 ,but the year #ahij was to witness frequent changes in the small band of workers4 ,miss ,wisner1 owing to failing health1 went on furlough with the ,longs1 while the management of the school fell to ,miss ,files4 ,mrs4 ,chancy was ill when they arrived in ,rangoon1 and the old parsonage was a most unfit place for a well person to live1 much less a sick mother with the care of a family4 ,but as it was the only residence in the mission1 and the ,missionary ,society had not then1 nor has it yet1 been able to help us in acquiring houses for our missionaries1 it could not be helped4 ,mr4 ,chancy pushed the mission work vigorously2 but he was compelled to leave ,burma for ,america for his wife's health at the end of six months4 ,even then he was too late4 ,he only reached the shores of ,california to see her slip away to the other world4 ,mr4 ,warner took charge of the work as best he could1 though it would have been too much for a far more experienced man4 ,he held the post until the arrival of the writer the last day of this year1 as noted elsewhere4 ,mr4 ,warner's short administration was embarrassed by the defection of a young woman to another mission1 after she had been with us but a very few months1 having been sent out to take up ,burmese4 ,singular that he and his wife should follow in her footsteps soon after4 ,when our party of three landed in ,burma1 we constituted the largest number of re-enforcements received from home by our mission at any one time in its history4 ,this fact shows that the mission has not been well sustained by the home ,church4 ,the most important personal experiences of myself and family during the first two and a half years have been given elsewhere4 ,i only wish to emphasize a few facts learned in that pastorate of six years4 ,the ,church was well attended during nearly all that time1 and often crowded4 ,the congregation was such a collection of humanity as ,i believe can be found in few other places in the world4 ,but the very variety gave life to it1 and inspiration to the preacher4 ,sailors and soldiers1 wanderers from every land1 ,english1 ,irish1 ,scotch1 ,german1 ,scandinavian1 ,americans1 were all in the audience at once with ,burma's own score of differentiated humanity4 ,once1 of nine penitents in one meeting1 six different nationalities were represented4 ,as ,i look back now1 two classes have impressed me more than any others of my auditors4 ,the one class was the faithful ones of diverse racial descent who were regular in their attendance1 and could be depended on for any and every service the ,church requires4 ,they do not realize how valuable just this kind of service is4 ,in any land it takes first place in worthy ,christian fidelity4 ,it is far above social prestige1 money1 or even bright talent4 ,but in ,burma1 when in the nature of the case there is so much instability among many1 this fidelity becomes the very pillar of the ,church4 ,our ,rangoon ,church has some such as worthy and as faithful men and women as any missionary pastor they have ever had4 ,the other class that impressed me was the ,scotchmen1 who have sat in that congregation during those years4 ,i had not personally had much acquaintance with the sons of this distinguished branch of our race before going to ,burma4 ,some of the wisest counsels ,i have ever received were from ,scotchmen in ,rangoon4 ,warm friendships that ,i cherish highly grew out of this acquaintance4 ,on land and sea ,i have some scores of ,scotch friends1 made while in the pastorate of ,rangoon4 ,all these ,scotchmen could listen to a sermon and not grow weary1 if there was anything in it to rebuke1 instruct1 or inspire4 ,the ,scotch are great 8sermon tasters40 ,to have had their sterling men in the congregation1 in our home1 to have traveled with them oft by sea1 and to have counseled with not a few about the riches of 8the kingdom10 makes very precious memories of six busy years4 ,for nearly four years of the six that ,i served that ,church1 ,i had the joy of witnessing frequent conversions at the regular services4 ,these ,sunday evening congregations especially furnished our chief opportunity to arrest attention and lead men to ,god4 ,often weary and poorly prepared by stress of work during the week1 yet to preach to a crowded house of attentive hearers1 and knowing that some of those present in every such congregation had opportunity to enter a church but seldom1 and some who could attend such services avoided ,god's house except on occasions1 lifted the preacher to efforts beyond what he would ordinarily be capable of giving4 ,this ,church had among other good qualities the desire and expectation of seeing sinners converted1 and rejoiced when ,god gave new-born souls to their care4 ,two more facts of importance in the acquisition of property which occurred during my residence in ,rangoon may be noted4 ,the one is mentioned elsewhere as the purchase of residence property in the cantonments1 where we purposed also to remove our boarding department of the ,girls' ,school4 ,the other was the enlargement and connection of the school and orphanage buildings in the center of the town4 ,miss ,wisner had returned from furlough and the school was prospering under her care1 as was the ,orphanage under ,miss ,perkins4 ,both buildings were too crowded for comfort1 and provision for more room was urgent4 ,just at this time a man left two children on our hands1 and advanced payment on them4 ,on application to the ,educational ,department1 we secured from the ,government an equal amount1 and constructed an addition connecting these two buildings4 ,this completed a general architectural design1 and gave us a good commodious row of buildings that furnished us excellent accommodations for our large day-school4 ,it will be seen that in all these ,rangoon enterprises we are much indebted to the ,government and the ,rangoon public for funds to plant the ,church1 school1 and ,orphanage4 ,the ,government and the community are in turn much indebted to us for founding these same institutions and maintaining them4 ,but all this work was done with only thirteen hundred dollars from ,america4 ,the knowledge of these facts has been slowly understood in ,america4 ,it has in some cases had exactly the opposite effect from what it should have had4 ,since we have been able to accomplish so much without much aid from ,america1 it has been taken for granted that we needed no mission money4 ,the result has been that for twenty-one years we have received less money1 in proportion to the work done or the importance of the mission1 than perhaps any other field of any ,church4 ,it ought to be that most help should go to those who do most for themselves2 but the fact that we have done much to help ourselves has until recently had exactly the opposite effect on the people at home4 ,during my pastorate in ,rangoon ,i had many evidences of the advantageous location of our church4 ,it is centrally placed and open to every good cause1 and so became a gathering place for the common religious interests of ,rangoon4 ,this was markedly true of the temperance gatherings for a term of years4 ,one gathering of this sort was especially memorable4 ,the ,hon4 ,mr4 ,caine1 the great ,english temperance advocate1 visited ,burma1 and he addressed a public meeting in the interests of temperance4 ,this meeting was held in the ,methodist church1 which was crowded1 though it began at a late hour4 ,only one other ,english church in ,rangoon would have been open to a meeting like this4 ,the ,church is ,methodistic to the fullest degree1 but forms a common rallying ground for the united ,church interests4 ,at the end of #ahif ,i was succeeded in the pastorate by ,rev4 ,c4 ,t4 ,erickson1 who had1 with his wife1 just arrived from ,america for this pastorate4 ,the general work of superintending the district1 together with the pastorate1 always was too much for one man1 and yet ,i had been laden with that double task for six years4 ,mr4 ,erickson's coming was in answer to my often repeated request1 and gave me corresponding relief4 ,he took up the pastorate1 and ,i had the opportunity to give attention to district interests4 ,the people were as much relieved as myself1 as they wanted a pastor who could give his whole time to them4 ,but in a few months all our plans were disconcerted again by the return to ,america of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,erickson1 on account of the latter's health4 ,just at that time we had some prospects of getting other recruits to our mission from ,america1 so ,mr4 ,schilling was called in from the ,burmese work to supply the ,english ,church for a few months1 until ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,hill1 our expected re-enforcements1 arrived4 ,once more we were in a difficulty about the principalship of the school4 ,miss ,wisner1 who had been in failing health for some time1 was arranging to go home on a much-needed furlough1 and ,miss ,keeler1 who had been teaching in the school for four or five years since her arrival from ,america1 being needed in her department as teacher1 we were in great perplexity to secure a principal for the school4 ,conference was in session about this time at ,calcutta1 and after much deliberation it was decided to do a very unusual thing4 ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,hill were nearing the shores of ,india4 ,mrs4 ,hill was appointed principal of the school4 ,she had never been in ,india before1 and hence could have had no experience in our school affairs1 or ,indian life4 ,but ,mr4 ,hill had been brought up in ,india1 and had had an intimate acquaintance with schools1 and he could advise her in school management4 ,mr4 ,hill took the pastorate of the ,english ,church1 and ,mrs4 ,hill conducted the school for nearly a year very satisfactorily4 ,the pastorate of ,mr4 ,hill was also successful from the first1 and has continued until the present4 ,toward the end of #ahhh the mission was re-enforced by ,miss ,turrell1 who came out from ,england to take the principalship of the school4 ,she is an experienced educator1 and enjoys the distinction of being the first missionary among us who has gone forth at her own charges1 donating her own passage money and services4 ,in the great generosity on her part she deserves the cordial thanks of our entire mission1 and especially the good women at home whose work she had done until the present time in the place of one of their own missionaries4 ,early in #ahii1 ,miss ,files returned from her furlough with ,miss ,charlotte ,illingworth1 one of our own ,rangoon girls1 who came back from college in ,america to take up work as a missionary in the land and school of her early training4 ,miss ,keeler retired from missionary work and1 after a visit to ,america1 returned and was married1 and lives in ,rangoon4 ,after one year's service in the school1 ,miss ,files was transferred to ,india1 and is teaching in the ,wellesley ,girls' ,school at ,naini ,tal4 ,this somewhat detailed record of the labors of our missionaries in ,rangoon and the institutions they have built up has been given1 because a connected setting forth of this work has never been made4 ,a new mission as ours is often small1 and the importance of the several missionaries and their earlier work is not always appreciated until years afterward1 when perhaps the exact date can not be recalled4 ,it is the writer's purpose to make mention of all the missionaries married and single1 who have been sent to ,burma under the ,missionary ,societies of the ,methodist ,church during the first twenty-one years of our work there4 ,to do this it has been most convenient to give at the same time the planting and growth of our ,english work in ,rangoon1 with which1 either in ,church1 school1 or ,orphanage1 all but a very few of our missionaries have begun their labors4 ,those few exceptions will have mention in the two following chapters4 ,the fact that ,methodism in ,burma was founded on self-supporting ,english work1 and so continued for the most part still1 has the advantage of that self-support long before the ,missionary ,society could have done anything in the country1 and of holding the position for later developments1 and also in securing properties from the ,government for church and schools at a time when such grants could be obtained4 ,in all these respects1 as well as in initial evangelism among ,english-speaking peoples1 our mission has done nobly1 and has been cordially approved by all its friends4 ,i am free to say that our people1 as a whole1 could not have done more under the conditions under which they have worked4 ,more than that1 if we could not have entered the field as we did and worked as we have1 there would have been no representatives of ,american ,methodism in ,burma to this day4 ,hundreds of people who have been converted1 and thousands who have been uplifted by our preaching and teaching1 would have been the poorer by so much as our ,church and school have brought them4 ,many poor and destitute whom we have clad and fed and taught would have missed the protection and shelter we gave them4 ,many strangers who have found friends in times of temptation in a strange and wicked city1 would have missed such friends4 ,earth and heaven are richer for this score of years of faithful work of our little mission4 ,but this plan of founding a mission has its serious disadvantages1 which are now being realized4 ,the foreign missions must have the ,christless peoples leaning on false faith as their great objective4 ,to reach this goal quickly and work it permanently1 it is of vital importance to master the language of the people among whom you work4 ,happy is the missionary who has been able to devote his greatest efforts to this end during the first year of his life in his chosen field4 ,he should lay a foundation in this period on which a mastery of the language is easily possible4 ,to do this he must be freed from other labors and all great responsibilities for the welfare of the mission4 ,this opportunity has been lost to all our missionaries who have been plunged into the ,english first4 ,the responsibilities in every post are extremely exacting4 ,the climate exacts its tribute of strength1 and when the large measure of exhausting labor in the school or varied pastoral duties has been met1 there is neither time nor strength to apply on a language4 ,so it comes to pass that every such missionary finds himself at a loss as the years move around1 and he finds he can not preach to the people in their own tongue4 ,the time has come when we must give the new missionaries a chance at the language as their first and most important undertaking4 ,,chapter ,,xiv ,preaching in ,four ,asiatic ,languages ,in other chapters are given the facts concerning the beginnings and development of the ,english work in ,rangoon4 ,the beginning among the natives is of equal interest to the inquirer after missionary information4 ,when a mission without resources begins operations in a foreign country1 it may be supposed that it would be very modest in its undertaking4 ,but in the case of ,methodism in ,burma1 and some other parts of ,southern ,asia as well1 rightly or wrongly1 it has pursued exactly the opposite course4 ,with a mere handful of workers1 including missionaries and their helpers1 our people have from the beginning undertaken about every kind of mission work possible4 ,within two weeks from the time ,bishop ,thoburn landed in ,rangoon he had organized an ,english ,church of seventy members and probationers1 and from the membership thus brought together there were volunteer workers raised up to preach among peoples of three different native languages4 ,as the streets were always thronged with these people1 it was always easy to get a congregation4 ,this hopeful beginning was in perfect keeping with the theory of missions long in vogue in a large portion of ,india--that from these self-supporting ,english ,churches there would be raised up the workers who would evangelize the heathen peoples around them4 ,william ,taylor was the great apostle of this policy1 and most of the ,methodist missions not included in the ,north ,india ,conference were founded on this theory by him and those that caught his spirit4 ,this theory has fatal defects we now know1 but it was believed and put to the test in the way indicated2 and while it did not succeed in accomplishing all that it was hoped at the beginning1 it did accomplish more than any other theory of missions has done in the same time in proportion to the number of missionaries employed1 while its expenditure of mission money for years was almost nothing4 ,this movement carried ,methodism into every city in ,southern ,asia that had a considerable ,english-speaking population4 ,it gave us ,english ,churches in all these centers4 ,our methods aroused other missions to do more for these people than they had ever done before4 ,more than this1 it committed us to general mission work over this area1 and that with no outlay of mission money until safe foundations were laid in all the centers occupied4 ,moved by this impulse and flushed with the warmth of a great revival1 these laymen in ,rangoon began to preach in ,tamil1 ,telegu1 and ,hindustani4 ,it will be noticed that all these are languages of ,india proper1 indicating that these ,english-speaking laymen had themselves come from ,india1 and so were familiar with the languages of the native immigrants to ,burma4 ,but most of our ,english-speaking laymen were from ,madras or the ,telegu country1 so that the preaching in ,tamil and ,telegu were continued2 but for a long time we were unable to keep a layman interested who could preach in ,hindustani1 and it was discontinued1 except at irregular intervals4 ,there were converts from among the heathen ,tamil and ,telegu people from the start4 ,they were baptized1 and later on some ,church organizations were formed and some schools kept for the children of these people4 ,preaching was kept up in the ,english ,church and at half a dozen other places in ,rangoon2 in ,dalla1 across the ,rangoon ,river from ,rangoon1 among the coolies in the mills1 and in the jungle villages1 and in ,toiurgoo1 and later in ,pegu on the railway4 ,the ,tamils and the ,telegus were generally found together1 and we could sometimes get a layman who could preach in both languages1 though generally we had to engage different preachers4 ,as time went on we learned several important facts about these people and this work that we did not know at first4 ,we very soon discovered that we lost heavily among our converts by these immigrants returning to their own land1 and that our people were not so distributed in ,india that they could care for them in their native land on their return4 ,but this continual loss made it out of the question to hope for much permanency in this kind of work4 ,another weakness was that the men did not bring their families with them4 ,and while we got the men converted1 they were still connected with heathen relatives in ,india to whom they would return4 ,but the immediate weakness was in the fact that there were few women and children to complete the ,christian families and ,christian communities4 ,so family life1 school1 and ,sunday-school work was not possible4 ,as the work extended somewhat1 we were met by the fact that we must depend on paid agents1 and could not hope to go beyond a very narrow limit by unpaid volunteer preaching and subpastoral care4 ,applicants for such places were not wanting4 ,many of these men in course of years applied1 and in turn were found1 with few exceptions1 wholly unfit for permanent responsibility4 ,in the case of the ,tamils especially1 this was true4 ,the breakdown of this class of mission employees was nearly complete4 ,this was due to two causes4 ,the one seems to be in the ,tamil race itself4 ,they do seem to lack the element of reliability generally in everything that has not the highest monetary value attainable as its goal4 ,it is astonishing how many of these employees failed us at this point4 ,there was the further difficulty1 in that we had to employ the men who drifted into ,burma as the dislodged members of other missions in ,india1 who were either unwilling to accept the regulations of their own missions1 or were not of its better material4 ,we seldom employed a man without certificate of character1 and we imported some agents under special recommendation2 but our experience with them was generally unsatisfactory for the highest interest of the mission4 ,but ,i am happy to record that some were very true and reliable4 ,but the greatest weakness was on our part1 in being unable to give the missionary supervision necessary to insure the highest success4 ,we have never been strong enough to give a missionary to this work among immigrants to ,burma4 ,without this close missionary supervision1 we can not hope to succeed largely4 ,then we did not have the money to extend the work largely so as to acquire the momentum1 and that would place at our disposal enough candidates to enable us to sift them and employ only the most worthy4 ,but a great deal of good has been done with a very little outlay of money1 and this work will be continued1 though only incidental to the larger mission plans4 ,we must make the ,burmese people our real objective4 ,for reasons already given1 we have been slow in taking up work among the ,burmese people4 ,these reasons were in brief1 too few missionaries to spare even one man or woman to make the beginning1 and for years no missionary appropriation at all was made to ,burma4 ,when a little money was given us1 we made the best use of it4 ,but we did baptize ,burmese before we had any missionary appropriations or missionary to these people4 ,some inquirers from several miles out on the ,pegu ,river came into ,rangoon1 and sought out our missionaries4 ,bishop ,thoburn being in ,rangoon at the time1 a boat was secured and a party made up to visit the village and investigate this new opening4 ,the village was found1 and the bishop preached1 with a young ,eurasian girl as his interpreter4 ,the interest created was considerable1 and before the day was over several candidates were baptized4 ,the initial step could not be followed up as we could wish1 but two years later ,i arrived in ,burma1 and after some months was able to visit this village and the surrounding country4 ,it was a great joy to find some of these converts still true to all they knew of the gospel4 ,one of them could read the ,bible1 and he had a copy of the good ,book and some good tracts4 ,later on in this region1 but a little further from ,rangoon1 we had our first considerable awakening among the people4 ,in ,rangoon we had one ,burmese boys' school1 which for two or three years gave promise of much usefulness4 ,these boys came from the country and city1 and were bright young lads from nine to fifteen years of age4 ,they were instructed in the secular studies1 and at the same time taught the ,bible4 ,a ,sunday-school was kept up also4 ,if this school could have been well cared for under a missionary who knew the language1 it could have become largely useful and permanent4 ,it finally was broken up by the ,burmese teacher going wrong4 ,but if a trained missionary had been in charge1 another teacher could have been employed and the school sustained4 ,during the continuance of this school there were a number of boys baptized in the school1 and that with their relatives' knowledge1 and there was no special opposition to it4 ,bishop ,thoburn was much impressed with this fact1 as such an occurrence in one of the schools in ,india among the ,hindu or ,mohammedan boys would have broken up the school4 ,in all the schools we have had1 mostly in large villages in the district1 the same accessibility to the young ,burman has been found4 ,among the missions which have become strong enough to found a good school or system of schools1 they find not only that the ,burmese are ready to send their boys and pay the fees according to the ,government school code1 but that these same schools are the best missionary agencies1 both for the conversion of the ,burmese and the ,christian training of prospective preachers and teachers4 ,for the latter1 years under immediate ,christian training are indispensable4 ,as ,buddhism is founded on a system of monastic schools1 where the boys are indoctrinated in the teachings of that faith1 it would seem that any policy which looks to the overthrow of ,buddhism should contemplate replacing these ,buddhist schools with ,christian schools4 ,and when we find the ,buddhists themselves seeking education in ,christian schools1 and willing to pay good fees for the privilege1 the prospect for the ,christian schools becoming the greatest auxiliary of evangelism is very encouraging4 ,it is my conviction that no nonchristian country in the world presents the prospect of extensive usefulness of the ,christian system equal to ,burma4 ,so eager were we to begin mission work among the ,burmese1 that we took up with whatever opening presented itself4 ,so sure were we that we would not get the ear of the home ,church1 and so get the necessary funds really to establish the ,burmese mission work1 that we were ready to accept whatever the field offered that promised to give us access to the ,burmese people4 ,our first opportunity was thrust upon us4 ,we embraced it with perhaps too much eagerness4 ,but this is a question raised in the light of subsequent experience which no man could foresee4 ,in the early part of #ahic1 ,i received a message from the deputy commissioner of the ,pegu ,district1 saying that he was opening a large tract of newly-drained rice land to settlement and cultivation in his district1 and if ,i would start a colony of ,burmese cultivators on it1 he would put at the disposal of the mission from two to three thousand acres of land4 ,this was a very singular proposition1 as ,i had never seen that official but once1 and had never been in that part of his district1 and had not planned such an undertaking4 ,i went up and made a hurried investigation of the region1 and found it a part of a large plain that for a short time each year had too much water for even rice cultivation1 which grows in water often a foot deep4 ,the ,government felt certain its new drainage canals1 dug at considerable expense1 would drain this plain4 ,and as its soil was the most fertile possible1 and covered with a light grass1 which would easily yield to the ordinary native plow1 it seemed desirable to co-operate with the district officials1 and take up a large section of the land4 ,the deputy commissioner offered to put at our disposal three thousand acres of land1 for which we were to have a title as soon as we put it under cultivation4 ,having no mission money of any account to go on in the conventional method of founding a mission1 it does not at all seem to be wondered at that this inviting offer of land was looked upon as a providential way of founding an industrial mission4 ,just at this time1 in a thickly-populated part of the district1 some forty miles away1 a company of twenty-eight ,burmans1 whom ,i had not seen before1 sought me out1 and asked me to help them get some land4 ,taken with the offer of the land by the district officer1 it seemed a rare opportunity to get forward with our mission4 ,the season being far advanced1 it was imperatively necessary to act quickly because these ,burmans had to make their arrangements for the year1 and the opportunity to get this land or any other so well situated we thought would never come again4 ,this combination of urgent features led us to take the land and make the venture at once4 ,there was a great deal of planning to launch such a scheme4 ,we did not want to be involved financially4 ,we did want to lay a good foundation of evangelism and to establish schools4 ,the plan finally adopted was that we were to aid the ,burmans in their dealings with the ,government1 and in selling their rice4 ,we were to furnish schools for their children and to preach to them4 ,but we were not to become financially involved1 either for the running expenses of the colony1 or for the tax due the ,government4 ,the plan was one of mutual helpfulness4 ,to this plan all parties cheerfully agreed4 ,it was nearly time for the rains to begin when the papers were secured allowing us to move upon the land4 ,meantime a good many of the people who would have gone with us a month earlier dropped out during the delay in getting the land4 ,but we succeeded in gathering one hundred and twenty people1 and moved on to the land about the first of ,may4 ,we still had time to build a village out of the bamboo poles and thatch1 out of which these cultivators' houses are always made4 ,this was rather a hopeful beginning1 and we had assurance of twice as many people to follow4 ,just at this time we met with an example of the careless disregard of a financial obligation often found in the ,burman4 ,his cool indifference to a promise1 however well secured1 is frequently refreshing in its audacity4 ,the ,burmans were to furnish all the cattle to work the land4 ,we were to lay out no money whatever on the business features of the colony4 ,four head men of the colony had been recognized by the deputy commissioner4 ,they had pledged two hundred cattle security for the tax due on the land4 ,their cattle would have been entirely sufficient to cultivate at least a thousand acres the first year4 ,but when the houses were built and the colony began business1 it became clear that only a small number of these cattle were really in the hands of the colonists4 ,their explanation was that many of the men having most cattle dropped out1 as the uncertainties of getting the land for the crop remained over the venture4 ,this we learned later was true in part4 ,more of them had dropped out because they did not want to put in all their cattle1 while some of the colonists had none1 or only a few1 and they were heavily mortgaged4 ,but these men had pledged to the ,government1 officially1 cattle which they did not possess4 ,in this they deceived us1 a not very difficult matter1 as we were new to the country and unacquainted with the characteristics of the ,burmese people4 ,but if we were deceived1 the deputy commissioner had more reason to regret having been duped1 as he was an officer in the province for many years1 and supposed he knew the ,burman4 ,he also drew up the revenue bond which they signed4 ,he indeed planned and extended this bond1 entirely apart from the revenue regulations1 ,i believe4 ,therefore1 when we reproached ourselves in not being as farsighted as we should have been1 we still could shield our humiliation behind the much greater defeat of the pet measure of this official4 ,if we had been willing simply to save the mission from all financial obligations1 and retreat from the enterprise without any dishonor1 we could have done so when we learned that these ,burmans were unable to carry out their part of the contract4 ,but it would have been equivalent to the utter collapse of the enterprise4 ,while we were in no way financially obligated to meet what they had failed to meet under our general agreement1 yet in my mind ,i have never been convinced that it would have been the wisest thing to do1 even if we could have foreseen the final outcome1 which we did not at that time even suspect4 ,then every honorable man must give his character to the enterprise he launches4 ,our second surprise came only a few weeks later4 ,i had secured money outside of mission funds1 for we had none of the latter1 and bought sufficient cattle for the colony4 ,this was beyond all our agreement4 ,the men began work well enough1 and soon had a promising beginning of cultivation4 ,as the young rice began to show in the fields1 the water which had been slowly rising over the plain during the increasing rains suddenly covered all the fields to a dangerous depth4 ,a foot of extra water will not hurt much if it goes down within two or three days4 ,but this flooding of our land covered a score of square miles of the country4 ,then it slowly dawned on us that the ,government engineers' drainage system was a failure1 and with it our colony was doomed4 ,we had depended upon the work of the engineers1 and their canals could not carry off the water1 and we were the sufferers4 ,the colony slowly melted away while the water remained4 ,let it be noted that though the ,burmans failed us1 and some of our acutely sympathetic friends have assured us all these years that this failure of the ,burmese character was inevitable1 yet it was the failure of the work of the ,government engineers that destroyed our colony4 ,the ,burmans were at work until the floods came1 and they remained weeks after all ordinary hope of making a crop was gone2 while the failure of the drainage scheme developed early1 and the whole plain remained flooded for six years until supplementary canals were dug4 ,if we failed by overconfidence in the adroit ,burman1 we failed with double effect when we trusted to the skill of the ,government engineers4 ,a very unpleasant incident occurred about the time the colony was drowned out4 ,the deputy commissioner1 who had gone out of his way to induce us officially to enter upon this colony scheme1 turned against us in a very unaccountable way4 ,he misrepresented our undertaking to his superiors4 ,he accused us of exacting oppressive terms of the ,burmans1 when the exact opposite was true4 ,we had gone far beyond all our agreement with them1 and gave them better terms than any other people ever gave to any cultivator in ,burma4 ,in the end it was easy enough to show wherein this unwise official was wholly in error4 ,but it was not until his official opposition had wrought its work on scattering the colony1 and had made success in recognition impossible4 ,this episode is an unpleasant matter to record4 ,i would omit it entirely if it did not bear a vital relation to the defeat of a missionary enterprise4 ,but ,i am glad to be able to say that he is the only official of ,british blood who ever gave our mission or missionaries in ,burma during my experience there any annoyance or ungenerous treatment in a business way4 ,the officials have been courteous gentlemen always1 and ,i have been much in business transactions with all classes of them for a decade4 ,our missionaries of long experience in other parts of the empire have been delighted in making much the same report4 ,while the colony was broken up and scattered in a way that forebade us to hope for any good to result from our undertaking1 it was not really so bad as we believed at the time4 ,we had not baptized any of the colonists1 though a number of them had indicated that they wished baptism in the early beginnings of the colony4 ,when they scattered abroad in the country doubtless they made reports very discouraging4 ,but we have much reason to know that there came to be quite a general feeling that we had sought the good of the people4 ,there have been many evidences of this1 but that which is clearest proof1 is that every year since ,burmans in the same neighborhood have urged us to undertake some such enterprise again4 ,but there were other evidences4 ,the colony was begun in ,april1 #ahic1 and was abandoned entirely by the end of the year4 ,just at this time ,rev4 ,g4 ,j4 ,schilling and wife came to us to take up the ,burmese work4 ,i had been the only man among our small band of missionaries for nearly three years4 ,my assistants were supplies picked up in the country4 ,i got very weary often with the heat and much work4 ,but ,i was often worn greatly for lack of counsel in the responsibilities of the mission4 ,there have always been some of the truest friends among the laymen in ,rangoon1 but naturally they can not take the responsible care of the mission4 ,the coming of ,mr4 and ,mrs4 ,schilling was a great joy to me and all our lady missionaries4 ,a little incident occurred the second day after the arrival of our friends1 which shows the playful side of missionary life4 ,they arrived in the afternoon1 and early next morning ,i took ,mr4 ,schilling with me a day's journey by steam launch through one of ,lower ,burma's many tidal creeks to a village where we had some ,christians4 ,we were so busy we did not allow the new missionary even a day to look around the city of ,rangoon1 but hurried him immediately into the district4 ,i had the journey planned1 and could not delay the trip for pressure of work in the city4 ,at six o'clock in the evening we arrived at the village of ,thongwa1 a place of five thousand people4 ,after some three hours' looking about the town we were tired1 and as always in ,burma when taking exercise1 very much heated4 ,i proposed a swim in the river to cool us down so we could sleep4 ,mr4 ,schilling1 being a strong swimmer1 plunged out into the stream1 and did not pause till he reached the opposite side of the river4 ,i1 being a very moderate swimmer1 remained near the shore4 ,but ,i was impressed with the dark river lined with palm-trees on a moonless night1 with no light except from the stars and a faint glimmer from the lamps of the village4 ,i wondered at the temerity of my fellow-missionary on this1 his first night in a tropical country6 ,perhaps ,i was not wholly innocent in the practical joke ,i attempted4 ,just as ,i heard a splash on the opposite side of the stream ,i called out1 8,brother ,schilling1 ,i forgot to tell you that there are alligators in this river40 ,there was a splash1 a plunge1 and heavy breathing of a swimmer exerting all his power in the haste to recross the stream4 ,i was amused at the effect of this bit of information on the missionary recruit4 ,but his amusement arrived only as an afterthought4 ,his first efforts were all spent in getting to my side of the river4 ,he reasoned1 8,in haste there is safety40 ,when he recovered his breath he told me that just as ,i shouted 8alligator0 he had stepped on some slippery member of the tribe that lives in the muddy ooze of all tropical tidal creeks1 and to his imagination the word 8alligator0 made that squirming creature a very real menace to his personal safety4 ,there were alligators in the stream1 but they were several miles further down and1 as far as ,i knew1 quite harmless4 ,another experience which befell some of us some months before this had features about it too grim for humor1 but which may be recorded to show the reality of life in a tropical land4 ,shortly after the colony was flooded1 ,i made one of my visits to the people4 ,several times ,i had to travel in a small boat1 a dug-out log4 ,to return to ,rangoon ,i took to the stream after nightfall1 and traveled within a mile or two of the railway1 and then1 the current of the stream becoming too swift for the oarsman1 we took to the water1 and waded against the current until we reached the station4 ,the particular occurrence occurred when the water was at its highest over an area many miles4 ,the occasion of my making these journeys at night was that ,i could catch a train bringing me to ,rangoon in the morning for my many duties there4 ,as the whole country was flooded1 we undertook to guide our boat thirteen miles from the colony to the railway all over an overflowed1 treeless plain4 ,our party consisted of a young ,swiss ,i had in charge of the colony1 a ,malay servant of the ,swiss1 who acted as steersman1 and a ,telegu1 a very lazy man1 who would not row1 and so got a free ride1 grudgingly allowed by myself4 ,the ,swiss and ,i had to do all the rowing1 no easy task through the protruding elephant grass1 which rose several feet above the water in some places4 ,in addition1 ,i undertook to pilot the boat1 the open hollow-log canoe1 always difficult to keep bottom downward4 ,without any object to serve as a guide1 my own sense of locality1 as we had no compass1 being my only resource1 the downpour of rain every half-hour--all made a combination of circumstances calculated to fill us with doubts as to our success in reaching the railway at all1 while the dark hours of the night passed slowly on4 ,we had no light with us1 and at times it was exceedingly dark2 but the moon showed its half-filled face occasionally4 ,late in the night we came near to some abandoned grass hut4 ,as an unusually heavy storm was approaching1 revealed to us by the beating of the rain on the quiet water of the plain1 we concluded to steer our unstable craft in through the open doorway of the hut4 ,there were several feet of water in the hut and on the adjacent fields4 ,as the hut was large enough to accommodate our boat and the roof was intact1 we hoped to have shelter until the rain had passed4 ,we had our misgivings1 because we feared the snakes1 driven from the grass of the plain by the water1 would be finding quarters in the house4 ,this proved to be a very true surmise4 ,we had just got into the house1 when our free passenger1 the ,telegu1 took out his matchbox and a cigar and prepared to smoke4 ,i thought ,i could use that match to better advantage1 and demanded it4 ,as the match flashed and then burned steadily for a moment1 we searched the thatch sides and roof and bamboo supports for snakes4 ,we were not disappointed4 ,here and there were the glistening coils of snakes tucked away2 but our greatest nervous shock came on looking immediately over our heads1 when we were startled to see a very large snake coiled on top of the rafter1 while the glistening scales of his whitish belly were only two or three feet above some of our heads4 ,we immediately prepared to leave this place in possession of its venomous occupants4 ,softly we moved lest we shake snakes into our boat4 ,the ,swiss was very eager to avoid colliding with a post and shaking a snake into the boat1 especially as we were all barefooted1 having removed our shoes4 ,we took to the storm again1 the worst of that weary wet night1 thankful to have escaped keeping company with the snakes4 ,about one o'clock at night we found the railroad1 and rested until the train came4 ,i look back on that night's experience with vivid recollections4 ,the long piloting of the boat without guide of any kind for thirteen miles1 and then to have made our exact destination1 was no ordinary achievement1 of which ,i have always had some pride4 ,the experience with the snakes in the abandoned house seen by the flash of a match makes a memory too vivid to avoid an inward squirming to this day4 ,these disconnected experiences are given to break the monotony of prosaic account of mission work1 and to indicate to the reader that there are realities in journeyings about the inhabited parts of a tropical country calculated to impress the memory4 ,mr4 ,schilling's coming to us was very timely4 ,he began ,burmese very soon1 in which ,mr4 ,robertson joined him4 ,we at once planned to open a station for a missionary outside of ,rangoon4 ,we selected ,pegu1 a town on the railway fifty-six miles from the capital city1 and on the road to ,mandalay4 ,we chose this town because it was the nearest station to our broken-up colony1 from which also we could work another region which had been given to the people for the colony1 and from whence we could reach half a hundred villages of ,burmans unsought by any missionary4 ,we needed a town1 also1 where we could have a physician for the missionary's family4 ,a place was desired where land and missionary buildings could be secured economically4 ,illustration3 ,,large ,,image ,,at ,,pegu ,mr4 ,schilling was supported by the vigorous missionary ,church of ,montclair1 ,new ,jersey4 ,they paid his passage and his salary1 and for the mission house4 ,so prompt was their response and so generous1 that the mission was very greatly uplifted4 ,mr4 ,robertson lived with ,mr4 ,schilling1 and they both made rapid progress in learning the language4 ,in a few months inquirers began to be found4 ,some lapsed ,christians were picked up1 and they tried to work them into some ,christian usefulness4 ,before the end of the year they were beginning to preach in the vernacular4 ,altogether our prospect of doing mission work among the ,burmese was becoming promising1 and we were all filled with cheer4 ,within a little more than a year each of these brethren was doing aggressive evangelistic work4 ,mr4 ,schilling remained at ,pegu1 and traveled somewhat widely in the regions east and north4 ,mr4 ,robertson was given the district south of ,pegu and east of ,rangoon4 ,he lived at ,thongwa1 the village where our ,burmese work was first undertaken in a systematic way4 ,mr4 ,robertson had married ,miss ,haskew1 of ,calcutta4 ,mr4 ,schilling1 at the suggestion of some of the ,burmese who had been with us in the colony enterprise1 organized a new movement to build a village near the place where we had formerly located1 but not subject to floods1 into which the ,christians and their families would move1 separating the ,christian community and providing a school for their children4 ,about one hundred and fifty people came to the village1 and a simple church was built and a school begun4 ,quite a number of these people were with us in the original enterprise1 and they and their friends had had some ,christian instruction4 ,mr4 ,schilling preached earnestly to the village1 and baptized about thirty people in a few months' time4 ,so we came to have a visible ,christian community in the wake of our colony scheme1 and that within two years of our first beginning4 ,if1 as we are accustomed to say1 we failed in the colony1 still but for the colony we would not have been in that region at all4 ,if we had not founded the colony1 we would not have had a village4 ,we are encouraged this much1 that though we failed in our unusual departure in this region for reasons stated1 we had more to show at the end of the two years from the failure than the most successful enterprise on the conventional mission lines that ,i know of in ,burma has had during an equal length of time at the beginning of their history4 ,if we count the money invested1 the same comparison holds good4 ,the village still exists1 and though it has suffered many vicissitudes1 due in part to the nature of pioneer mission work1 and partly to lack of continuous missionary direction1 yet we have contact with the entire community of that region1 and within the last year and a half our missionary in charge has baptized a number of converts in the village and community4 ,before a year from the time he took up his residence in ,thongwa1 ,mr4 ,robertson's health failed seriously1 and he had to give up his labors and go to the hills of ,india4 ,this was in #ahif4 ,at first we thought he would soon be with us again2 but this was not to be4 ,he has been kept in ,india by the exigencies of his health at first1 and latterly by the exigencies of the work4 ,the ,thongwa circuit has been supplied as best we could do it to this day1 and has never had continuous missionary residence or supervision such as is needed4 ,it has had only such attention as could be given it by men whose hands were more than full elsewhere4 ,during #ahif two young men were sent out by individuals who wished to do a generous thing for missions through a representative4 ,mr4 ,krull arrived in ,april1 and ,mr4 ,swann came in ,october4 ,much was hoped from this arrangement4 ,the young men were religious1 and faithful in their efforts4 ,a mistake had been made in both cases1 in that neither man was educated sufficiently to enable him to master a foreign tongue1 or to meet the responsibility of leadership4 ,after a few months the supporter of ,mr4 ,swann declined to pay the small salary he had agreed upon1 and the young man had to retire from the field1 as he was not sent out by the ,mission ,board4 ,mr4 ,krull continued as an auxiliary mission agent for nearly five years1 for which he contracted1 and his friend loyally supported him to the end4 ,then1 he being convinced that he was not adapted to do the work of a missionary1 returned and began secular work4 ,however1 he still has responsibilities as a local preacher4 ,these young men were not qualified for the work for which they were chosen4 ,in this they were not to blame1 as they could not have understood the needs of a mission field4 ,they were not selected by a ,mission ,board4 ,but the whole experience is added to like experience elsewhere in proof that the best way to aid missions is through regular channels1 or through men whose judgment has been proven in responsible positions4 ,mr4 ,schilling's health was impaired during #ahig1 and early in #ahih he and his family returned to ,america4 ,so within two years we lost two missionary families from our ranks1 greatly to the distress of those that remained1 and the detriment of the entire work4 ,our promising beginnings among the ,burmese suffered most4 ,for a year we awaited re-enforcements4 ,early in #ahii1 ,rev4 ,mr4 ,leonard and wife were sent to us from ,india4 ,mr4 ,leonard at once moved into the mission-house at ,pegu4 ,without delay he began the study of the ,burmese language1 and as he had high linguistic ability1 he acquired a working use of the language4 ,before the end of the year he was preaching without an interpreter1 and was doing some necessary translation4 ,one of the first steps towards putting the ,burmese work on a better foundation was the beginning of a school for the boys of our ,burmese ,christians4 ,for years ,i had hoped to see this done4 ,pegu had been chosen for the residence of a missionary partly with this end in view1 as it is accessible1 is free from some of the evils of a great city like ,rangoon1 and simple habits of life can be maintained more easily4 ,the last is most important4 ,expensive habits are so easily learned and so difficult to unlearn1 that we can not be too careful about the training of the children of our ,christian community4 ,this school was begun with about six boys1 and soon grew to an attendance of twenty4 ,some of these paid full school fees4 ,their instruction was the best4 ,they were given regular lessons in secular subjects and daily ,bible instruction4 ,much of the latter was committed to memory4 ,it would surprise some of our ,sunday-schools and some of our ,christian people to find how carefully the ,bible is taught in mission schools4 ,mr4 ,leonard did most thorough work in this matter1 and we hope in this school to prepare for future service promising boys4 ,those who know what it means to work with the only material available in the beginning of a mission can appreciate our solicitude for enough properly-trained workers4 ,these preachers and teachers so much needed must come from our own schools4 ,mr4 ,leonard has been very successful in getting access to the ,burmese4 ,he baptized more than one hundred converts from ,buddhism during #aijj4 ,this shows how accessible the ,burmese people are4 ,if it were true that the ,burmese have been exceptionally hard to reach hitherto1 it is not so now4 ,we have access to all classes of them1 and we are positive of winning them to ,christ and of founding our ,church among them just as rapidly as we can be re-enforced to do this work4 ,mr4 ,leonard has twice the territory to look after that one missionary should have4 ,our latest work to be done is that among the ,chinese4 ,we were led into this work by two circumstances4 ,in ,rangoon we found a few ,chinese ,christians who were not looked after by anybody1 and to these were added some of our own ,chinese converts from ,malaysia and some from ,china4 ,as ,rangoon and ,burma are the natural termini of the immigrants from ,china by sea and overland1 we have a large ,chinese population in ,rangoon1 and this same population is very evenly distributed in all important villages of the province4 ,these ,chinamen marry ,burmese women1 so that they become identified with the ,burmese people4 ,as we aimed at the conversion of the ,burmese1 it was easy to begin preaching for those that were ,christians1 and to fortify the foundation of our mission to the ,burmese4 ,as in other work1 we had to employ just such preachers as we could pick up4 ,but in #ahig we secured a young man trained by ,dr4 ,west1 of ,penang1 who has done faithful preaching in ,rangoon and vicinity4 ,there have been some thirty baptisms since he came to us4 ,this work is so important that it must be done by somebody4 ,there is a demand for as great a school for these people as we have founded in ,singapore or ,penang4 ,but its support is not in sight4 ,,chapter ,,xv ,a ,unique ,enterprise ,in ,march1 #ahig1 the ,rangoon ,orphanage was removed to the ,karen ,hills1 east of ,tomgoo1 and established on an industrial basis1 where it has been maintained these four years under the new plan1 and it has become the 8,unique ,institution of the ,east10 as one discerning official called it4 ,when one starts an enterprise that is entirely new he is called upon for his reason for doing so4 ,so long as he proceeds exactly as other people1 he needs no apology4 ,but in all conservative countries to go contrary to 8custom0 is to invite criticism1 even if one's efforts are an advance on the established order4 ,one curse of ,india is that its people are enslaved by 8custom20 and some of these customs are very bad1 and most of them are wholly unprogressive4 ,custom has bound chains on the people1 and they have worn these chains so long that they have come to love their bonds better than liberty4 ,in most matters 8change0 is undesired1 and to announce that a plan is 8new0 is enough to condemn it hopelessly with many1 and to start a thousand tongues to attack it4 ,it has been shown elsewhere how pitiably situated are the poor of ,european descent in all parts of ,southern ,asia1 there is a greater percentage of these poor dependent on some form of public or private charity than among any people ,i know of in any land4 ,perhaps in no country do the social customs do more to unfit the poor to help themselves4 ,i am persuaded also that very much of the charity of the country1 of which there is a great deal1 is unwisely1 if not harmfully1 bestowed4 ,rangoon1 for instance1 like all ,indian cities1 has a charitable society made up of ministers and officials1 which dispenses a great deal of relief4 ,studying its methods as a member for six years1 ,i became convinced that1 while very much good was done1 the system pauperized a relatively large number of people1 who should have been self-sustaining4 ,in this general dependent condition of a large part of these people1 there is the ever-present and acute distress of poor or abandoned children1 for which there have been established many ,orphanages and schools4 ,all managers of these ,orphanages are appealed to by indolent or destitute parents to give free schooling1 including board and clothing1 to their children4 ,the truly orphaned1 or the abandoned1 children are always touching our sympathies1 and appealing irresistibly to us for aid4 ,the number of children born in wedlock1 as well as out of legal bonds1 who are abandoned by parents or legal relatives1 is astonishingly large4 ,the result of all these combinations is to fill our ,orphanages2 for the innocent child must not be allowed to suffer all the consequences of others' sins4 ,so the 8,orphanages0 are found everywhere to care for these children of ,european descent1 whether they be ,anglo-,indian or ,eurasian4 ,the founding of the ,methodist ,orphanage in ,rangoon has been noted elsewhere4 ,in managing this ,orphanage for a number of years after the custom of the country1 ,i became convinced that while the amount of relief and protection given to child-life during its earlier years was exceedingly great1 there was a very serious defect in the system of conducting all such institutions4 ,i have intimated elsewhere how little ordinary work is done by anybody of ,european extraction in the whole of ,southern ,asia4 ,this applies generally to the schools1 including even the ,orphanages4 ,everything that can be done by servants is delegated to them4 ,it may surprise many ,american readers to know that 8orphanages0 and 8homes0 for ,eurasians in ,india depend on the work of servants1 and very little on the inmates1 much as other establishments of the country4 ,this1 too1 not only in those things where the work is beyond the power of boys and girls to do1 but in many kinds of work which it is considered 8improper0 or 8undignified0 for them to engage in4 ,it is considered right and proper for the girls to learn to sew1 in addition to learning their lessons1 and sometimes to arrange their own beds4 ,some of them even learned to cook some kinds of food1 generally 8curry and rice40 ,but to sweep1 or scrub a floor1 or thoroughly to clean a house1 to wash or iron their own clothes1 much less the clothes of others1 or to take up cooking or dish-washing as a regular task1 is not thought of4 ,those are 8menial tasks20 a 8servant should do them40 ,what a lady of refinement and wealth in a ,western land often does from choice1 even the destitute depending on 8charity0 are ashamed to do in ,asia4 ,to be dependent or even to 8beg0 is no disgrace2 but to be a cook1 a nurse for a lady1 or housekeeper1 unless aided by servants1 is considered a disgrace4 ,indeed1 these kinds of work are never done by any one unless under great extremities4 ,the boys and men are even less willing to do the ordinary work of life4 ,clerkships and such like only are considered 8respectable0 employment4 ,in all this it will be observed that the question is not one of indolence or lack of energy1 but one of a social system4 ,the individual is not so much to blame4 ,he does not do differently from his neighbors4 ,in the matter of the children1 the managers of the ,orphanages are responsible1 in so far as they can resist the enfeebling social conditions under which they work4 ,we then contemplated teaching the girls and boys under our care to help themselves where others depended on servants2 to do this as a necessary part of a well-rounded education4 ,of course1 we recognized the fact that we were undertaking to modify the social order1 universal among an entire people4 ,this was recognized as a very difficult task1 and nothing but a settled conviction that the old order was fearfully defective led us to undertake it4 ,looking back now1 we have much interest in recalling the comments on this undertaking4 ,many assured us that it was a work that should be done1 but would fail if undertaken4 ,others wanted the girls especially trained for housekeepers1 8so we can be released from dependence on the ,madrassi servants40 ,this suggestion was wholly philanthropic6 ,another said several times3 8,what are you training those girls for8 ,for servants8 ,i want some servants40 ,the author of the latter remark has never made any other contribution to the ,orphanage so far as ,i can learn4 ,people who had always received something for nothing1 of whom there were many1 were opposed to the plan4 ,the 8prophets10 of whom ,asia has her share1 were all against us4 ,the 8loquacious oracles10 talking about what they did not know1 as was their habit1 were all against us4 ,but we had a few friends who gave unqualified encouragement4 ,these were of two classes2 one a small company of brave missionaries1 of whom ,bishop and ,mrs4 ,thoburn were the representatives4 ,the other class were those who had done most for and given most money to the ,orphanage on the old basis4 ,these people who gave money and sympathy1 while others gave poor advice and criticism1 said1 8,if you only teach these boys and girls to care for themselves1 it will be the greatest service to them40 ,we were led to follow the advice of our friends1 who really had the problem on their hearts1 and our own convictions1 and so ventured on this untried undertaking4 ,the first consideration was to find a more suitable location for our ,orphanage4 ,to have undertaken to dispense with servants and all native helpers1 and to introduce an entirely new household order in ,rangoon1 would have been to invite such a degree of intermeddling by irresponsible people1 as we did not care to be annoyed with4 ,besides1 the climate in the plains is very hot1 and too oppressive for foreigners to do the extent of physical labor required to pioneer such an undertaking4 ,the help that the boys and girls could give at the beginning would be insignificant4 ,we sought a cooler climate4 ,this could only be found in hills high enough to lift you into a substantially cooler and less oppressive atmosphere4 ,i had been making investigation in the hills of ,burma one hundred and sixty miles north of ,rangoon1 for four years4 ,the original object of this investigation was to find a cool mountain retreat to which our missionaries could go when worn with their labor in the plains4 ,other parts of ,india had well-established hill stations1 but ,burma had none4 ,in my own case1 when health failed1 ,i had to go the long journey to ,india1 and to remain there many months4 ,had ,i been acquainted with the hills of ,burma1 this could all have been avoided by a change from the heat of the plains when ,i first began to decline4 ,after my return to ,burma1 ,i determined to find such a place in ,burma1 if possible4 ,the first intimation of an accessible place came to me on a visit to ,tomgoo1 where a member of my ,church lived4 ,his name was ,d4 ,souza1 a pensioner of the ,indian ,survey ,department of the ,government4 ,as this good brother was closing his work prior to retiring from the service1 he came to survey ,thandaung1 a hill twenty-three miles northeast of ,tomgoo1 the head of the district and a town on the railway4 ,thandaung had been an experimental garden under the ,forestry ,department of the ,government in the seventies1 where cinchona cultivation had been undertaken1 also tea and coffee had been planted4 ,a school had been established at ,tomgoo1 intended to teach the ,karens how to grow these products4 ,later the school was closed1 and the cultivation on the hills abandoned4 ,at that time ,tomgoo was the military outpost1 and the authorities built a road to ,thandaung1 and experiments with the place as a hill station for their soldiers were made4 ,when ,upper ,burma was annexed in #ahhe1 there was a great rush to ,mandalay1 and later to regions beyond1 where in the regions of ,upper ,burma various attempts to open military hill stations were made4 ,thandaung was abandoned1 but not till records had been made very favorable to the place as a sanitarium for ,europeans4 ,this record did good service for us when we came to reinspect these hills4 ,mr4 ,d4 ,souza secured the most of the area of the old cantonment and some of the buildings1 with a view of making a large coffee plantation4 ,he had begun operations early in #ahic1 and ,i visited the place first in ,june of that year4 ,for four years ,i made frequent visits during different months of the year to test the climate thoroughly4 ,i found the climate in delightful contrast with the plains at all times1 and surprisingly invigorating during most of the year4 ,in this investigation ,i was much aided by my former sojourn in three of the hill stations of ,india--,almora1 ,naini ,tal1 and ,mussoorie4 ,it has the altitude of the first and a cooler temperature during the hottest weather than either of the three1 while from ,november to ,may there is no fog and no rain4 ,i was convinced that this most accessible hill in ,burma would serve admirably for our double need2 a location for our industrial plans1 for our ,orphanage1 and a resort for tired missionaries4 ,by a vote of the ,bengal-,burma ,conference1 ,i was instructed to apply for land for the enterprise4 ,this ,conference authority was sought because it was a good thing to be 8regular0 in a new undertaking1 and to have the moral support of the ,conference when the difficult places in working out the new scheme were reached4 ,i learned afterward that a good-natured brother remarked1 8,o yes1 vote him the authority to go ahead2 he can only fail anyway40 ,the ,government gave us a lease of one hundred acres of land for the new undertaking1 and preparations were begun to move the ,orphanage1 together with the superintendent and my own family1 to this hill4 ,but positive authority to go to our new location was given at the ,conference session in ,february of #ahig4 ,it required much haste to close up affairs in ,rangoon connected with the ,orphanage1 and make the move4 ,before we actually took the train we allowed all the children whose relations were unwilling to have them go with us into this new location and untried plan to depart from the school4 ,nearly a dozen left us4 ,people whose children had been fed and clothed and schooled for years for nothing were entirely unwilling to have them go into the new location1 where they were to learn to work as well as to eat1 and to a small extent work for what they ate4 ,we yielded to them1 being conscious all the time of the ingratitude displayed for years of care of their children4 ,indeed1 it is the legitimate fruit of a system that gives everything to dependent people and requires no service in return1 that they should come to take your service and care as a right1 without even a grateful acknowledgment for favors4 ,there are cases where recipients of free care have taken the position that they were conferring a favor on the missionaries by remaining under their protection and care4 ,the experimental cinchona garden had grown up in a young forest during the years since the ,forestry ,department had abandoned it4 ,the roads were all overgrown with rank jungle4 ,we had a small space cleared and a hut erected1 made of bamboo mats1 and supported on bamboo poles with split bamboo used as tiles folded over each other for a roof4 ,the floor was two feet from the ground1 and consisted of split bamboos spread out flat and laid on bamboo poles4 ,this hut was expected to protect us only during the month of ,april1 at the end of which the rains begin4 ,we arrived at ,thandaung on ,march #bdth1 and took up our abode in the primitive domicile4 ,the whole structure cost thirty dollars1 and thirty-five people moved into it1 ,miss ,perkins1 the principal of the ,orphanage1 and the writer and his family included4 ,this furnished us house room at a cost of less than a dollar each4 ,this frail shelter was only intended to serve as a camping-place for five weeks at the longest4 ,i had planned for a better house than this1 and a month earlier ,i had given the contract for the preliminary work of cutting and dragging timber for the framework1 thinking it would be possible to secure some kind of permanent shelter early in the rains4 ,it is true this more substantial building would have to be limited to what could be built for three hundred dollars1 as that was all we had in sight for this new enterprise4 ,when we arrived on the mountain ,i found the ,karens1 who had agreed to do the work of cutting and dragging timber1 had failed us entirely4 ,but the tropical rains did not fail4 ,the monsoon is always on time in ,lower ,burma4 ,with the first downpour all hope of building operations was at an end4 ,in consequence we went into the long monsoon in this temporary inclosure1 by courtesy called a house4 ,we improved the shelter by laying some sheets of corrugated iron on the roof1 and weighting them down with poles4 ,in this house we kept school1 had our sleeping apartments1 and did the cooking and baking for this large family4 ,at first boys and girls were rebellious against assisting in household work1 and one girl ran away twice1 all the twenty-three miles to the railway4 ,the second time we sent her permanently to her relatives4 ,but in good time much advance in orderly housekeeping was made4 ,had meddlesome people not followed us into even this isolated place1 the work of training would have been much easier4 ,work for the boys was begun also4 ,they cut the wood1 carried the water1 and milked cows2 also cultivated vegetables1 and we planted some eight thousand coffee trees the first year4 ,it was the intention to make coffee-growing a basis for self-support4 ,the coffee the forestry officers had planted twenty years before was growing finely1 and was of the best quality4 ,as we did our own work1 it would seem an easy matter to secure our own support by this coffee cultivation alone4 ,there were other industries projected also4 ,during all the months of the first rains the health of our little colony was excellent4 ,there was not one but what received a toning up by the cooler atmosphere1 mountain air1 and healthful work4 ,this was a great cheer to us all1 and was the first step toward making ,thandaung known favorably for a hill station4 ,thandaung itself is a charming locality4 ,the mountain chain1 or ranges1 8,karen hills10 as they are called1 of which the ridge known as 8,thandaung0 7iron mountain7 is a part1 cover a very large area1 running from the ,malay peninsula to ,china1 and from fifty to one hundred and fifty miles wide4 ,the highest elevations are nine or ten thousand feet1 but most of the ridges and plateaus rise no higher than three to five thousand feet4 ,the scenery is magnificent and varied in character4 ,looking westward from our school1 the mountain drops away at an angle of about fifty-five degrees into a deep valley1 down which the ,pa ,thi ,chang stream runs in a succession of cataracts4 ,then the hills rise again1 forming a vast amphitheater4 ,standing on the site of our school1 this splendid view is constantly before us4 ,looking beyond the lower hills1 the view widens until the whole of the ,sitiang ,valley1 with its winding river and broad lakes1 light up the scenery with life4 ,beyond this plain rise in succession three ranges of the low ,pegu ,hills1 the intervening valleys but dimly defined1 while beyond all these there is a smoky depression indicating the great valley of the ,irrawaddy ,river4 ,beyond this again1 on the farthest horizon1 are seen the rounded ridges of the ,arracan ,hills1 about one hundred and twenty miles from ,thandaung4 ,in all this vast expanse of mountain1 valley1 and plain there is not one barren rood of earth4 ,mountains and plains1 where not recently cleared1 are covered with a tropical forest4 ,where there are cultivated fields1 they are matted with luxuriant green of growing rice1 or yellow with the ripened crop4 ,this stretch of deep-green verdure under a tropical sun throws on the vision a combination of coloring that gives the place a 8charm all its own10 as one admiring visitor declared4 ,when the rains have washed the atmosphere clear of dust1 the view is very clear4 ,houses in ,tomgoo1 twenty-three miles away1 are very clearly seen4 ,the great oil-trees on the plains1 some specimens of which are left standing where a great forest has been cut away1 lift their straight gray trunks a hundred and fifty feet to the first limb1 and above this hold a majestic crown4 ,often have ,i seen1 under the reflected rays of the morning sun1 those trunks of trees defined like so many giant pencils4 ,yet they are twelve to fourteen miles away4 ,to the north and south the view is over well-rounded hills and ridges for sixty to seventy-five miles4 ,but it is to the east we turn for the sublimest scenery4 ,a little over a mile from the school a peak rises above the surrounding heights4 ,it is called ,thandaung ,ghyi1 meaning the greatest ,thandaung4 ,climbing up the forest path1 and finally scaling a sharp and rocky height1 we stand on the top1 only a rod across4 ,from here all the western view1 also north and south1 is taken4 ,toward the east an entirely new arrangement of the hills is made4 ,from where you stand there is a precipitous descent of nearly three thousand feet into a basin fifty miles across1 rimmed on the east by a great ridge with a culminating peak called ,nattaung1 or ,spirit ,mountain1 nine thousand feet high4 ,the ,bre ,hills1 where the wild ,karens live1 join this ridge1 and the two curve until they complete the opposite border of the basin4 ,never have ,i been able to look on the sublime ranges of mountains and picturesque plains over this sweep of two hundred miles of ,burma's varied surface1 without a profound sense of awe and wonder4 ,it is so wonderful that it grows on one1 though seen daily for years4 ,illustration3 ,,miss ,,perkins ,,and ,,group ,,of ,,girls1 ,,thandaung4 ,once ,i went with a friend to ,thandaung early on a ,january morning4 ,this is the season when fogs hang heavily over the plains and reach high up the mountain valleys2 but our mountain heights are above the fogs1 in perpetual sunshine4 ,when we reached the top of ,thandaung ,ghyi an unexpected view delighted our eyes4 ,the great basin to the east was filled with a dense fog1 and we were looking down upon it as it floated like a great gray sea three thousand feet below4 ,the lower mountains here and there lifted above the fog1 and their wooded tops made beautiful islands in the sea of vapor4 ,the sun was shining from the opposite side1 and the full flood of reflected glory fell upon our eyes4 ,at another time1 accompanying a ,government official1 ,i went up to get this view4 ,the rains had not yet ceased1 but were dying away4 ,we hoped to reach the top before the daily storm came on4 ,we took this chance1 as the views are the most glorious after the rains have swept the sky of every speck of dust4 ,but the rains beat us1 and we were drenched1 while the mountain was buried in the clouds4 ,after two hours we were growing cold1 and were about to give up the object for which we came4 ,lingering a last moment1 ,i thought ,i saw a rift in the clouds1 and then the streak of light broadened1 the rain grew less1 the darkness lifted1 and a field of blue appeared1 the sun shone through the falling rain1 and suddenly all the basin below1 and old ,nattaung1 rising above1 appeared to our entranced vision6 ,all the heightened coloring was intensified by our position under the shadow of the retreating cloud4 ,eyes may hardly hope to see a more wonderful vision of mountain scenery than we beheld as this vision was slowly borne from the rift in that retreating storm4 ,our new enterprise was planted under such conditions and amid such scenes as these4 ,while it was a discouraging task1 a daily view of the mountains round about us drove away many an occasion of low spirits4 ,taken all together1 we in time became a happy family1 sharing a common task4 ,during this first monsoon our frail house several times gave way in floor1 roof1 or wall2 but we suffered no serious harm4 ,in ,september1 as the sun was occasionally breaking through the clouds1 and we were wondering what move we would make for a better habitation1 a telegram came from ,bishop ,thoburn1 which read1 8,god has sent you a thousand dollars for a house40 ,if the heavens had opened suddenly1 and the money had dropped into our upturned hands1 it could hardly have been more really a providential gift in our extreme need4 ,no wonder we all rejoiced aloud6 ,later a letter came1 telling us that a good woman who had come from ,scotland to ,india to visit missions1 and having brought considerable money with her to give to mission institutions1 had been in conference with ,bishop and ,mrs4 ,thoburn1 and as a result of a canvass of all the many worthy objects in which a great mission is fostering1 she chose this ,thandaung school as the first to receive her favor4 ,she approved the undertaking1 and gave a thousand dollars to erect a building for the school4 ,no wonder the bishop could telegraph that ,god had sent the help4 ,this was only the beginning of the beneficence of this good woman2 and the strange thing was that she had no acquaintance with ,methodists1 and had been trained in a ,church of quite opposite teaching and polity from ours4 ,the building of our first house deserves mention4 ,the logs were cut from the forest and dragged to a sawpit and sawed by hand by ,burmese sawyers1 in the old style of one man above and one man under the log4 ,this was slow and crude work2 but it was the only way to get building material4 ,the framework was built on posts set in the ground1 as has been the universal custom in the construction of wooden houses in ,burma4 ,the iron for the roof had to be brought from ,rangoon by rail to ,tomgoo1 and from there to the mountain top1 by carts and coolies4 ,this pioneer work took time and the most constant supervision4 ,the number and character of men that the missionary has to work with1 as well as the mixed character of the population of ,burma1 may be understood from the following account3 ,i bought the iron of a ,scotchman1 who imported it from ,germany4 ,it was delivered to a ,eurasian station master1 aided by a ,bengali clerk4 ,the railroad that carried it is owned by the ,government1 but managed by the ,rothschilds4 ,the iron was delivered at ,tomgoo by a ,eurasian station master1 aided by a ,hindu clerk from ,madras1 and another a ,mohammedan from ,upper ,india4 ,a ,tamil cart-man carried it to the ,sitiang ,river1 where a ,bengali ,mohammedan carried it over the ferry4 ,a ,telegu cart man hauled it to the foot of the hills4 ,shan coolies carried it up to ,thandaung1 where ,burmese carpenters put it on the house with nails that ,i bought of a ,chinaman1 who had imported them from ,america4 ,the logs of the house had been cut from the forest by ,karens1 and drawn to the sawpit by a ,siamese elephant6 ,the missionary had the simple duty of making all the connections and keeping the iron moving to its destination4 ,but we were needing the new house badly before we got it4 ,part of the roof was nailed on1 the frame completed1 but only a very little of the plank walls begun1 when our old hut collapsed entirely4 ,we had often patched the rotting bamboos1 but as the monsoon passed away the east wind1 as usual on those hills1 began to blow with great force1 and the frail walls repeatedly gave way before it1 and finally one morning the entire roof and sides were blown away4 ,a very wonderful providence was manifested1 in that no one of our large family was hurt4 ,most of the smaller children had been romping on the east side of the house1 and the gale of wind was blowing from the east4 ,in their play they suddenly ran down the path fifty yards or so from the house4 ,in that instant the roof and poles that held it down were lifted and hurled upon the place where they had been playing the moment before4 ,the loose pieces of corrugated iron cut the air like swords1 and some of them were carried far down the mountain side1 which falls in precipitous descent from that point4 ,had the children not been moved away for that moment by the unseen hand of ,god1 they must have been cruelly hurt4 ,as it was they were out of danger1 while those of us that were in the collapsed house suffered no harm4 ,this is but one of many indications which we had of the kindly ,providence in all our pioneering4 ,for nearly three years from the beginning of this work1 there was not a case of serious sickness nor an injury of consequence by any accident suffered by any of our little colony4 ,but as our old hut was gone beyond repair or reconstruction1 and as the wind was now cold1 for it was ,november1 the matter of providing shelter became a serious matter4 ,the frame of our new house was completed1 and a part of the roof was on1 also a few planks nailed upright at one corner4 ,taking this beginning as a starting1 we inclosed a part of the space of the building by bamboo mats1 laid a little flooring temporarily1 and then1 having divided this into two rooms1 we moved into our new quarters4 ,the workmen went right on with the construction of the house4 ,we lived in the house while it was being builded4 ,when completed1 though built of unseasoned wood1 poorly sawed and roughly put together1 it was a palace compared with what we had before1 and indeed it continues to this day to do very good service4 ,illustration3 ,,first ,,permanent ,,building ,,on ,,thandaung ,about the time the house was completed1 ,miss ,bellingham1 the generous donor of the thousand dollars1 came to ,burma to see what use we had made of the money4 ,she spent a week on ,thandaung1 to our great delight and hers4 ,she consented that the building might bear her name1 and we have since called it 8,bellingham ,home40 ,shortly after we began operations on this hill1 public interest in the place began to be shown4 ,i wrote some letters to the ,rangoon papers1 and visitors did likewise4 ,the advantages of the place were laid before the ,government4 ,officials began to come up on tours of inspection4 ,the place grew in favor1 and it was planned to give ,government sanction to making it into a station4 ,a new road up the mountain1 giving a better grade than the old road1 and the cart road across the plain was metalled4 ,the old travelers' bungalow on the hill1 that had fallen into decay since the military left the place1 was rebuilt4 ,so the improvement goes on till now4 ,the latest plan contemplates a cart road running entirely up the mountain1 and the survey of the whole hill into building sites4 ,there is every promise of this becoming the favorite resort in ,burma for the people who seek a change from the heat of the plains4 ,in the meantime the scheme has had a good degree of prosperity1 in spite of the fact that it was pioneer in character and location4 ,the irresponsible gossips continue to attack it1 the fearful in heart who love their bondage to the old order still stand agape as they see the school continue on its way4 ,the people who have been beating their way through the world still cry it down4 ,but an increasing number of people who believe in self-dependence1 and the character it develops1 are in great sympathy with this work4 ,some who can pay full boarding fees send their children to us4 ,they have adopted with us the theory that this self-help is to be accepted as a necessary part of a well-appointed system of education4 ,there has been a specially significant growth in usefulness among the girls4 ,they have learned to bake excellent bread1 cook and serve a variety of food in a cleanly and orderly manner1 and to keep the entire house in good taste and comfort4 ,this is realized as a great accomplishment when one has seen the slovenly1 untidy houses commonly found where the woman in the house does not do anything to keep the house in order herself1 and counts it impossible that she should do what she chooses to call 8coolie's work40 ,a woman like this would not know enough even to instruct good servants in keeping the house1 much less the worthless servants she can ill afford to keep1 whose only qualification is that they are as incompetent as servants as their mistress is as head of the establishment4 ,yet almost universally such women would prefer to exist in a hovel1 and give orders to a miserable servant1 rather than have a decent abode1 if they had to sweep1 scrub1 or dust it with their own hands4 ,in contrast to these are the girls trained in our industrial school4 ,they can do all things necessary to keeping a house1 and have almost forgotten that there are any servants in the world4 ,they have done all this1 and at the same time they have been in school1 doing as good work as girls in other schools1 where they depend on servants for even buttoning their clothes4 ,our girls are self-respecting young women1 far beyond what they could have been had they not received the advantages in character that come from self-help in ordinary daily tasks4 ,the boys have generally profited by the outdoor work4 ,having nothing to begin with1 it has not been possible as yet to organize the outdoor work as that within doors4 ,plans are under way1 however1 to develop this branch of the school1 hoping for a large industrial plant4 ,enough has been done in these four years greatly to encourage those of us who have sacrificed something in planning and carrying forward this new feature of industrial mission work4 ,there is to-day more material advantage in this plant than can be shown in any institution anywhere that ,i have been for the money invested4 ,more has been done in direct school work1 for the money invested1 than in almost all the ,english schools with which ,i am acquainted4 ,the effect of the work on the boys and girls under our care has exceeded our highest hopes4 ,i am sure not one of us would be willing to go back to the old order of ,orphanages4 ,the boys and girls themselves do not want to return to the old order4 ,the school has met with a degree of favor from those whose judgment is counted of the highest value to us1 by reason of the fact that they have put money into the plant under the old order and the new also1 that we hardly dared to hope for4 ,we have also received a bequest of seventeen hundred dollars with which we have put up a second building4 ,the patronage of the school by people of means and social standing is such as to encourage us much4 ,it reveals the fact that the school meets a want felt most by the people who make a financial success of life1 but see that self-help should be taught to every child regardless of financial circumstances4 ,these people believe that indolence1 dependence1 and slovenly habits are a disgrace1 and honest work in all things is honorable4 ,miss ,perkins1 now in the eleventh year of her continuous service on the field1 has carried on this work for more than a year1 being aided by ,miss ,rigby1 who went to her aid in #aijj4 ,this industrial school was founded to reteach the truth long since forgotten in ,asia that all kinds of household and manual toil are respectable4 ,the ,lord himself was a carpenter1 and washed the feet of his disciples1 which many of those who bear his name would be ashamed to do4 ,the school has run four years without a servant1 and is stronger than when it began4 ,in this it is the only institution among ,europeans in all ,asia that is so managed4 ,it is absolutely unique in this4 ,it promises much usefulness and a large growth4 ,but if it were closed up to-morrow1 it would still have proved by four successful years that such a plan is possible of successful operation even in ,asia4 ,while it is not directly a part of mission enterprise1 it may be of interest to some reader to have some account of experiences and observations in a ,burma forest4 ,some such experiences came to me in connection with life on and about ,thandaung4 ,nearly the entire distance from ,tomgoo to ,thandaung is through a forest reserve of the ,government4 ,several miles of this forest are made up of the great trees before mentioned4 ,one variety produces an oil used in ,europe for making varnish4 ,the method of extracting this oil is very curious4 ,a deep cut is made in the tree near the ground1 and in this cut a fire is built and kept burning until the tree is blackened ten feet or more from the ground4 ,then the coals are taken out of the cut1 which has become a sort of cup1 into which the oil oozes from the wound made by the fire on the tender tree4 ,it seems almost cruel to treat the giant trees in this way4 ,it is astonishing that they survive and heal over the great blackened scars left on their sides4 ,another remarkable thing observed in these forests is the growth of notable vines and parasites4 ,here is to be seen a great vine1 like half a dozen grape-vines joined together1 climbing high round and into these splendid trees4 ,the trunk is usually not large1 though so tall4 ,then high up on this tree a spore of the peepul-tree finds a lodgment1 and sprouts1 the leaf upward1 the root running downward1 hugging close to the tree as if drawing life from the trunk4 ,sometimes the young growth starts a hundred feet from the ground4 ,as its main root descends it throws outside roots which encircle the tree1 and these roots branch again so the whole trunk is soon inclosed in a great net1 ever tightening4 ,here is seen a very strange thing4 ,these roots do not overlap1 but grow right into each other when they come in contact1 and the union is made without a trace or scar4 ,as these meshes of the living net grow1 they tighten into a hug that kills1 first the vine and then the tree4 ,each in turn is devoured by the great parasite4 ,its net meantime becomes a solid wooden shell1 reaching to the ground and lifting its crown high among the other giants2 a tree made great by the death of two others2 a tree and vine1 each seemingly having as much right to live as this parasite that preys on other forest life4 ,another singular circumstance annually occurs in the forest4 ,about the end of ,january a species of great bees1 as large as the ,american hornet1 come from migrations1 nobody knows where1 and rest upon the under side of the branches in the crowns of these great monarchs of the forest1 which sometimes rise two hundred feet from the ground4 ,about this time some varieties of these trees are in heavy bloom1 and no doubt it is this which brings the bees4 ,they locate on only one or two kinds of trees1 and at once begin to build honeycombs1 suspending them from the under side of the limb4 ,they multiply rapidly1 and by ,march there are sometimes as many as twenty to thirty swarms on a tree4 ,the honeycombs are sometimes three feet long1 and hang perpendicularly a foot and a half4 ,the study of these bees is very interesting4 ,they build on the same trees from year to year4 ,but the most impressive fact is to observe the method of collecting the honey4 ,the trees are perfectly smooth1 and are often without a limb for one hundred and fifty feet4 ,the ,karens usually collect the honey1 and the ,burmese dealers come to the camps to buy it when first secured1 and take much of it away to the towns4 ,how do they get the honey8 ,the ,karens climb up these bare trunks4 ,but how8 ,some of them are seven feet thick1 and can not be grasped in a man's arms so as to enable him to climb4 ,the daring man drives thin bamboo pegs into the bark of the tree1 and goes up on these4 ,more1 he drives in the pegs as he climbs6 ,they are about eight inches long outside of the small portion imbedded in the bark1 and twenty-two inches apart4 ,so the climber1 beginning at the ground1 can only place two or three pegs before he begins his ascent4 ,in all this perilous climb he never has the use of more than two of these short projections at once4 ,on these he clings with feet and legs while he must use both hands in driving a new one4 ,to get the honey1 he must wait till night1 and then with material for a torch1 a vessel for the honey1 and a rope to lower it1 he climbs up into the darkness and out onto the great branches1 where with lighted torch he drives the bees away and cuts off the well-filled honeycomb1 and lowers it to others on the ground4 ,in this manner he takes all the honey from a tree4 ,a more daring feat for a small return can hardly be imagined4 ,and nerves of steadier poise are required to prevent the destruction of the climber4 ,he receives a dollar and a half for clearing one tree4 ,surely a life is regarded of little value among these people4 ,,chapter ,,xvi ,the ,present ,situation in ,missions ,the first century of modern missions has closed under circumstances of great encouragement1 not without its element of deep solicitude4 ,the last ten or fifteen years have brought to the home ,church the report of more triumphs of the gospel than any like period since the days of the apostles4 ,all lands are open1 or are being opened1 to the missionary4 ,converts are coming by the tens of thousands annually into our mission ,churches1 where even a quarter of a century ago the same missions would have been content with scores4 ,missionaries formerly had only those difficulties to adjust which met the little band of converts1 while to-day they have the problem of the rapidly-growing ,church1 so recently gathered out of heathenism4 ,china has had an upheaval2 but all missionaries believe the future of the ,chinese missions is bright with hope4 ,the martyrdom of the missionaries and the ,chinese converts has been as heroic as any in ,christian annals4 ,whatever the ,chinaman may or may not be generally1 as a ,christian he has proven himself worthy4 ,the persecuted young ,church will be worthy of the millions of converts that are to be gathered in when the country has been settled again4 ,in ,southern ,asia there has been the famine1 far more terrible in its consequences than the mobs and wars in ,china4 ,but the famine has been greatly relieved1 and the impress of ,christianity and civilization relieving its worst distress has been wholly good4 ,many thousands of converts are presenting themselves to the ,church4 ,baptisms were discontinued in the famine districts during the year of greatest distress4 ,but since the famine has ended1 we hear of two conservative brethren baptizing eighteen hundred in three days in ,gujarat1 with the prospect of eight or ten thousand others coming into the ,christian community after them in that district alone4 ,all over the vast ,indian field people hitherto counted difficult of access are ready to listen to the gospel4 ,the ,burmese were counted1 until recently1 so fortified in their ,buddhism that they could not be induced to accept the gospel2 but we find it is not so now4 ,one missionary1 new to the field too1 baptized more than one hundred last year1 and he might easily have added many more if he had been properly supported4 ,what could not a mission1 aggressive and large enough to have momentum1 do8 ,it would be easy to add to the young ,church in ,southern ,asia1 being gathered by ,methodism1 twenty-five thousand converts annually1 if we could be re-enforced only slightly4 ,yet1 as it is1 we must keep accessible people waiting for years till we can receive them4 ,there is just now an important movement going on in far away ,borneo1 the ,southern limit of this vast field4 ,there has recently been established a colony of ,chinese ,christian immigrants in the island4 ,bishop ,warne visited them1 and placed a preacher in charge4 ,they are immigrants from ,southern ,china4 ,other ,christians will follow these pioneers4 ,they are in immediate contact with the ,dyaks1 head hunters of the island1 and must have much to do in influencing and probably beginning a work of conversion among these savages of the ,borneo jungle4 ,all eyes are upon the ,philippine ,islands1 where a new reformation appears to be going on4 ,thousands of ,catholics1 who have never known the comfort of a pure1 simple faith1 nor the joy of reading the ,word of ,god1 are crying out for the full gospel light4 ,they are appealing to the ,protestant missionaries for instruction1 and they are being led to a purer faith4 ,all this array of current mission facts declares that ,god is owning his messengers in every land2 that he is fairly crowding success on to the missionaries1 to cheer them and quicken the ,church in home lands into something of a true conception of the magnitude and urgency of his plans for giving the gospel to every creature1 and to lift the age-long night from the ,christless nations4 ,thus success of missions throws a great burden of work and responsibility upon the missionaries at the front4 ,it can hardly be understood in ,america4 ,in the home land most pastors have ,churches1 the whole machinery of which has long been in working order1 and they pursue that work along well-established lines4 ,their entire surroundings are of1 or are influenced by1 the ,christian ,church1 and at least a ,christianized civilization4 ,the pastor is not required to go outside of the well-known methods of carrying on our ,church work4 ,in the foreign field the contrary is the case4 ,the missionary is compelled to be a pioneer in methods of work4 ,he is against a living wall of idolatrous humanity1 and he often feels very sorely the lack of human support and sympathy4 ,he has to carry the finances of the mission as well4 ,oftentimes he is the only resource the mission enterprise has4 ,in the ,methodist mission in ,southern ,asia more property has been secured by the unaided missionary than through ,missionary ,societies4 ,in addition to all the burdens of a surrounding heathenism and of mission business1 the missionary has charge of more ,church members than the average pastor at home4 ,in the ,methodist ,episcopal ,missions of ,southern ,asia the members of ,annual ,conferences1 including missionaries and native members1 have more than twice as many ,church members to care for1 per man1 than the pastors at home1 the average being taken in both cases4 ,the greatest need of every mission with which the writer is acquainted1 and pre-eminently so in the ,methodist ,episcopal ,mission1 is more well-equipped missionaries4 ,yet this is exactly what we can not get4 ,we can only hope that we can maintain about the number of missionaries on the whole field which we now have4 ,this means if there is any extension of the field so as to require missionaries in new places1 they must be thinned out in the older parts of the mission4 ,the ,church has candidates for the foreign field1 but the ,missionary ,society has no money to send them4 ,recently some of the finest candidates have been refused for the lack of money for their support1 while the missionaries on the field are fairly staggering under the load they carry1 hoping for delayed re-enforcements1 who do not arrive4 ,the disproportion of work actually in hand1 to the men and women who do that work1 is most distressing4 ,there are great questions of missionary policy to settle4 ,a strong force of missionaries1 adequately superintended by men who are acquainted with the work they superintend1 is the least that can be asked in our missions4 ,a close and detailed oversight of all mission interests1 working out a far-sighted policy1 which changes only by light that comes by actual experience in mission work1 is of the greatest value4 ,it is clear this superintendency can not be accomplished by periodical visits of some official whose whole life has been spent in the home field4 ,a secretary or a ,mission ,board is of little account in determining the internal management in any far-distant field4 ,an occasional visit by some such official may do incidental good in acquainting the missionaries with the condition in the home ,church1 and in bringing to the people at home fresh facts from the field4 ,but for administrative purposes on the field such visits are of little or no value4 ,the ,methodist ,episcopal ,missions in ,southern ,asia have been most highly favored in thirteen years of the missionary episcopacy1 with ,bishop ,thoburn to fill the office of superintendent and leader4 ,his administration is sure to become more and more monumental as time reveals its scope and character4 ,it is now clear that no other episcopal supervision hitherto provided by ,methodism is equal to this missionary episcopacy for the far-distant mission fields4 ,the success of this policy and of ,bishop ,thoburn in that office determines the question of the future policy of the ,church in the administration of the mission field of ,southern ,asia4 ,the ,general ,conference of #aijj by a decisive vote increased the missionary episcopal force in this field1 and by an equally decisive vote elected ,dr4 ,e4 ,w4 ,parker and ,dr4 ,f4 ,w4 ,warne to the missionary episcopacy1 and in co-ordinate authority with ,bishop ,thoburn4 ,the election of ,dr4 ,parker as bishop was a general recognition of his long and pre-eminently successful missionary career4 ,the election of ,dr4 ,warne to a like office was in response to a like choice of ,india1 for this younger1 but very efficient missionary1 whose pastorate and presiding eldership in the city of ,calcutta had been of such a character as to make him well qualified for the larger office to which he has been called4 ,but one year has passed since their election1 and a great change has come4 ,bishop ,warne has been eminently acceptable in his new office1 and he has traveled widely throughout the great field where ,methodism has its foothold in the southlands of ,asia4 ,but ,bishop ,parker's stalwart form has yielded1 after a prolonged battle with an obscure disease which laid its hand upon him within a few months after his election4 ,his death demands a reverent pause1 while we drink in renewed inspiration from reflection on his noble ,christian manhood and really pre-eminent service as a missionary4 ,bishop ,parker had labored over forty-two years as a missionary to ,india1 and it is a safe statement that in this more than twoscore years he did more work than any missionary in ,india of any ,church1 or perhaps in any land1 in the same time4 ,the work which he did in laying broad foundations1 winning men to ,christ1 calling into being valuable mission agencies1 and as a masterful1 statesman-like administration in the ,church1 has classified him1 from two separate and distinct sources1 as 8the most successful missionary in ,india40 ,every element of his noble ,christian manhood and eminent ability measured up to the requirements of this exceptional estimate of the missionary and his work4 ,he has now ascended to his heavenly reward1 to be forever with the ,lord and to share in his glory4 ,the cablegram that reached us in ,america was brief1 but laden with a great sorrow and a greater triumph1 8,parker translated60 ,we will no more have his counsels1 his inspiring presence1 the grasp of his strong hand1 or hear his manly voice in ,indian ,conferences4 ,for this loss we weep4 ,he was 8translated40 ,in this glad triumph we are filled with joy4 ,death is abolished to such a saintly follower of his ,lord passing from mortal vision4 ,bishop ,parker was ready for other worlds4 ,his recent testimony was triumphant1 in keeping with the godly life he lived4 ,it was fitting that the good bishop should take his departure from amidst the glorious ,indian hills he had loved so long4 ,his last days were spent in ,naini ,tal1 amid the most varied mountain scenery in ,india4 ,here lies the lake of wonderful clearness1 stretching for a mile in length1 filling the basin4 ,around the lake is the mall1 or broad road4 ,from this road others branch off1 some circular and others zigzagging up the mountains1 which rise a thousand and more feet above the lake1 their sides clad from base to top with1 evergreen1 pines1 and oak4 ,here residences1 churches1 and schools nestle among the trees wherever space can be found4 ,here tired missionaries go in ,may and ,june to rest from the fiery heat of the plains below1 and to gird themselves anew with strength as they look upon ,god's mountains4 ,from the northern ridge they look upon the whole mountain amphitheater with its glorious lake 8shimmering0 in the sunlight1 high-rimmed with its border of living green1 while to the north1 stretching hundreds of miles to east and west1 rise the perpetually snow-covered ,himalaya mountains4 ,the picture1 one of nature's wonders1 has few equals for inspiring beauty and grandeur combined4 ,as the man looks through the rare1 clear1 mountain air1 on peaks and range resting in quiet strength and majesty1 he almost feels as if he was in sight of the eternal hills where ,god is4 ,amid such scenes1 with his brave wife by his side1 companion of his missionary labors about him1 and a host of ,god-fearing ,christians all over ,india1 among whom were a multitude of the dusky natives1 waiting in sorrow because they 8should see his face no more10 the bishop was 8translated40 ,as his ,lord on the ,mount of ,olivet took one look upon his disciples1 and then a cloud received him and he ascended on high1 so his servant was translated from the hills of ,naini ,tal2 was caught up amid the clouds to be forever with his ,lord4 ,so the workmen fall4 ,others labor on1 but they are overburdened4 ,they must be re-enforced4 ,the young native ,church must be shepherded4 ,thousands of others will join the flock4 ,just here we missionaries have our greatest fear4 ,we are the ,church's representatives4 ,god is with us1 and the doors are all open4 ,we have done all that men and women can do4 ,will the ,church at home sustain us in the great and glorious task that is appointed to us8 ,this is our only fear4 ,so loyal and true are many of the hearts at home to the cause of missions1 that it seems unkind to speak of any lack4 ,yet1 while we love every generous impulse of those who give money and time to that which1 as missionaries1 we give our lives and our loved ones1 we love our cause so much the more that we must be true to its urgent needs and its perils for the want of a little money4 ,that our advance is retarded over a vast area1 that many of our institutions are imperiled1 that native preachers are being dropped for the lack of the small salary they require1 and that we are being compelled to ask of our ,board to give up a section of our ,india ,church because missionary appropriations are cut down1 is but an outline of our care at this time4 ,to the home ,church we look for relief4 ,this relief can come only in one way4 ,our people at home1 in the most wonderful prosperity ,america ever knew1 are not increasing their gifts to missions with their growth in wealth4 ,some are1 but most are not4 ,the aggregate of all moneys given by the ,methodist ,episcopal ,church for preaching the gospel in heathen lands is only about twenty-two cents per member4 ,this is all that is given to declare ,christ to the ,christless nations6 ,our people are giving about forty times as much for their own religious instruction and for the gospel in ,christianized lands4 ,this proportion is distressing to the missionary who stands among millions of people who have been waiting nineteen centuries1 and have never yet heard that a ,savior had been born into the world4 ,the writer is convinced that the measurable failure to give to the cause of missions as our people are able to give1 is due to the failure to get the information to them in an effective way4 ,it is not the writer's intention to locate the responsibility or discuss a policy of raising missionary funds1 but clearly a virtual standstill in receipts under present conditions is defeat for the missionary cause4 ,one fact is certain1 our present methods of raising funds leaves the majority of our people without feeling the immediate and imperative need of this cause1 or inspiring them with the certainty of gaining a great result by the investment of money in missions4 ,we are in the second year of the 8,thank-offering0 movement1 and more than eleven million dollars have been pledged toward the 8,thank-offering10 and certainly not nearly one hundred thousand dollars of this amount has gone to missions4 ,not one dollar in a hundred6 ,one chief reason why this disparity exists is because all other causes have employed special agencies to reach every nook and corner of the ,church1 and the cause of missions is being operated at long range and on general principles1 often as only one of the 8benevolences10 and must necessarily fail to advance to any considerable extent under present conditions and absolute restrictions4 ,but there are hopeful indications4 ,some officials and some pastors begin to see the situation and to inquire what can be done to relieve the straits4 ,a number of loyal souls are tenderly giving their most cherished treasures to the cause of missions4 ,in a year's campaign at home ,i have come in heart-touch with so many such that ,i would gladly believe there is a multitude who cherish the cause of missions as supreme1 as it really is4 ,the ,mission ,conference in ,burma1 little company that it is1 is being re-enforced by a promising band of six missionaries1 long overdue it is true1 but now gladly and gratefully received4 ,nearly all of these are being sent by the sacrifice of people who give largely of that which is a sacrifice to give4 ,one missionary family is being sent out and sustained for a part of this year by more than fifteen hundred dollars given by the preachers of the ,kansas and the ,st4 ,louis ,conferences4 ,this very large giving of men of very small resources to a special object that touched their hearts has put new courage into all our little ,burma ,mission4 ,in this giving they have helped put true-hearted missionaries in the field1 and ,i believe permanently enlarged their sympathy for missions1 if indeed they have not also indicated an improved policy of raising mission funds4 ,the ,woman's ,foreign ,missionary ,society1 through some of its young lady ,auxiliaries1 is doing most generous things for the re-enforcements to ,burma4 ,burma has waited long for even small re-enforcements1 and needs yet many other things before it is fairly launched as a mission4 ,but with the re-enforcements we have now in immediate prospect1 we are so encouraged we can return to our field and take up the work with renewed courage and hope1 knowing of the increased number of friends of missions who support us with money and prayerful sympathy4 ,a hope ,i often cherished in times of great weariness and discouragement seems in part being realized4 ,many times in ,rangoon1 when wearied to exhaustion with the work of two or three men1 ,i have gone up to the ,sway ,dagon ,pagoda1 and1 looking upon its gilded mass and the ,burmans chanting their meaningless laudations1 ,i have longed for heralds enough to bring these people the gospel instead of ,buddhism1 and to replace the pagodas of the land with ,christian ,churches2 longed for re-enforcements that came not4 ,then ,i turned into the northeast corner of the pagoda area and looked upon the graves of the ,british officers who fell in the war of #aheb while storming that pagoda4 ,then down the slope up which that band of ,anglo-,saxons charged1 to the graves of soldiers who were buried where they fell4 ,my blood warmed with the thought that these men gave their lives without a word of complaint for their queen whom they loved1 and the flag which they raised over this far-distant land1 to the immense benefit of the land of ,burma4 ,then ,i remembered that the world-wide empire of which this is a part had been secured and maintained by men who1 as these1 had laid down their lives for the flag they loved4 ,from this scene and its suggestions ,i turned away1 encouraged to hold my post till re-enforcements would come up for the preaching of the gospel of the ,son of ,god1 who sent me to ,burma4 ,here was a very human kind of encouragement4 ,looking up the shining pagoda shaft ,i saw a sprout of the peepul-tree1 the sacred tree of ,buddhism1 which grows anywhere on any surface where its spores can find lodgment2 which when neglected has torn to fragments hundreds of pagodas1 here springing from the great pagoda two hundred feet from the ground4 ,it had found an opening through the gold leaf1 or perhaps had been buried in the mortar with which its surface had been plastered1 and had sent its roots deep into the brick mass of the pagoda2 while its green branches grew in a thriving cluster over the gilded sides4 ,what did it matter that this tree was two hundred feet from the ground1 and had no moisture save what its roots could extract from the dry bricks and its leaves draw out of the air6 ,this peepul-tree can thrive anywhere6 ,beautiful symbolism6 ,the gilded colossal pagoda represents the lifeless system of hoary ,buddhism4 ,the growing young tree represents the religion of ,jesus ,christ1 filled with the life of the ,son of ,god4 ,it will crumble ,buddhism back to dust1 as that tree1 if fostered1 will destroy the pagoda1 ,buddhism's most ornate symbol4 ,looking on this scene1 my heart took new courage1 as under ,divinely-given cheer1 to labor on for the salvation of the ,buddhists and other people of ,burma4 ,when describing the pagoda and its surrounding1 at ,adams1 ,new ,york1 ,i dwelt at some length on the graves of the ,english soldiers there1 and spoke of their courage and self-sacrifice4 ,there was a large congregation present1 nearly all of whom were strangers to me4 ,at the close of the service ,i saw a little man start from the rear of the church and make his way down the side aisle1 then across the church1 and as he came he quickened his step2 and grasping my hand he exclaimed with trembling voice3 8,i tried to come to church this morning1 having heard a man from ,burma was to speak2 but ,i could not get here4 ,i live nine miles back in the ,adirondacks1 and ,i drove in to-night to hear you4 ,i am so glad those graves of the ,english soldiers are cared for2 ,i was in the regiment that stormed that pagoda hill in #aheb40 ,he wrung my hand and shed tears of gladness because ,i came from ,burma and brought him a voice from the land of the stirring scenes of his soldier life of forty-eight years ago4 ,there will be a day when every pagoda will crumble down1 every mosque and ,hindu temple fall into decay1 and ,christian churches stand in their places1 and ,burma1 as all other parts of this needy world1 will be fully redeemed4 ,in a brighter world there will be a time of rejoicing over the gospel triumphs1 and all who in person or by proxy aided in the gospel victories in all the world1 shall strike glad hands1 like the old soldier1 and say1 8,i was there and helped in the glorious work40 ,,chapter ,,xvii ,benefits of ,british ,rule in ,southern ,asia ,the missionary is one of the most interested students of government that can be found4 ,good or bad government affects his work vitally4 ,not only does good government give him protection from violence1 but it gives settled peace to the people among whom he preaches1 and thus provides the best conditions for the success of his calling4 ,he can not wait for good government where it is not2 but where he has the benefits of a settled state of society that is protected by wholesome laws promptly executed1 he is one of the first men to recognize the priceless benefits of such government4 ,then he looks to the effect of government on the general conditions of the people4 ,his views of government are not narrow4 ,he looks ahead to the final effect on the mass of the people of the ,government under which he lives4 ,from every standpoint the missionaries whose fields lie under the ,british flag are best situated of all men of like calling in foreign lands4 ,it therefore comes to pass that all missionaries1 of whatever nationality1 living in ,southern ,asia are almost a unit in praise of the ,government4 ,this ,government1 which has for more than forty years given protection to life1 calling1 and property of its nearly three hundred million diverse peoples1 and that in unbroken peace1 deserves the highest approval of all fair-minded men4 ,life is as well protected in ,southern ,asia as it is in almost any land4 ,the highest in the land and the meanest coolie are alike protected before the law4 ,where any man thinks he can insult or assault with even a little lordliness there is recourse to the law1 and that within reach of the lowliest and the poorest1 and he can get evenhanded justice for any injury1 and that quickly4 ,perhaps in no land is the man of high and the man of low degree dealt with with more evenhanded and prompt justice than in ,southern ,asia4 ,there are many social distinctions made in ,asia1 most of all in ,southern ,asia1 peculiar to the land1 and the ,government adds its official distinctions and social ranks4 ,but when it comes to the law and its administration in protection against all oppression and injustices1 these social conditions have no place4 ,it appears to be true that in a ,briton's mind there are two places where men of all stations have equal rights--before a court1 and at the sacramental altar in the church4 ,every man is protected in the exercise of his religious faith1 and must not be molested by any4 ,to revile another's religion is to bring down the swift penalty of the law4 ,it is possible for missionaries and other travelers to come and go anywhere in the ,indian ,empire without a thought as to their personal safety1 as that is assured4 ,even unattended ladies make long journeys1 and with only native carriers1 sometimes travel in unfrequented regions and in the darkness2 but so far as ,i can learn1 there has not for many years been an insult offered to one of them4 ,some of our own workers live and travel in remote regions1 even on the extreme borders of the empire1 and sometimes these are lone women2 but we do not hear of even serious inconveniences to them on account of their isolation4 ,this is due chiefly to the ,government1 which protects life1 persons1 and calling4 ,it is1 therefore1 not surprising that the missionaries are among the most devoted supporters of the ,british ,government in ,southern ,asia4 ,it is likely they would support any ,government under which they would find themselves called to work4 ,they would teach their converts loyalty and obedience to law4 ,but it is a great gain to be able to say to all the peoples of the ,indian ,empire that the ,government under which they find themselves is one of the very best the world has produced4 ,and if it were necessary to say it1 they could truthfully add1 better than any possible ,government by native rulers1 better for themselves1 and better for all people in the land4 ,it is a great pleasure to ,american missionaries to acknowledge the good government of ,india1 for in it they find many of the best principles in which they believe4 ,so far as ,i can learn1 this just tribute from the ,american missionaries is well nigh universal among them1 and the older they are and the longer they have lived in any part of this great empire1 the more confirmed they are in their views4 ,of all the institutions of the ,government that are most to be commended1 the courts are perhaps the most notable4 ,there are several features of these courts which are specially commendable4 ,they are prompt to a degree4 ,long1 vexatious delays over technicalities of law are most unusual4 ,it is not infrequent that a serious breach of law is brought to account very soon1 and finally settled4 ,certain it is that money and influence and the 8tricks of lawyers0 can not long delay final decision on any case4 ,then there is no crowding to the wall the poor man without influence or money to aid him4 ,the poorest can sue as a pauper1 and have his case heard in regular order with the rich man of high station4 ,he can get as certain justice1 based on evidence4 ,cases are on record in recent years to illustrate how the socially high and even the official class have been rebuked and punished at the plaint of the lowliest in the land4 ,they would be well worth recording if their publication would not be understood as too personal4 ,it is this absolutely even-handed justice that has called out the comment of the native of ,india1 8,the ,english judge is not afraid of the face of man40 ,no partiality is shown for race or condition4 ,the system of ,government seems to be well worthy of study4 ,there is the viceroy1 and associated with him1 but not limiting his powers1 a ,council representing the entire ,empire4 ,there are lieutenant-governors over provinces4 ,then there are chief commissioners over portions of the country that are not regarded of sufficient importance to have lieutenant-governors4 ,under both these officials the next officers in rank are commissioners over divisions1 and these in turn have deputy commissioners under them who administer districts4 ,below the deputy commissioners there are several lesser officers1 usually over townships1 but having a wide range of duties4 ,from viceroy down to deputy commissioners the officers have certain executive1 or executive and judicial powers combined4 ,the higher officers have also authority to some extent in military affairs4 ,the army is made up of ,british troops and native soldiers1 with a great preponderance of the latter4 ,there are also many belonging to the military police4 ,the same division is made in the civil police4 ,the police department is perhaps the most difficult branch of ,government to keep efficient and free from scandal1 but there are many worthy men in the police service4 ,in addition to the regular administrative officers mentioned there are departmental officers1 such as an engineering corps1 which has the care of all public works4 ,there is the growing educational department and a medical department including care of prisons1 hospitals1 and a great forestry department1 that conserves the valuable forests of the empire4 ,there is also a department of marine with full official equipment4 ,there is a civil service system operating throughout all these departments of government1 including even the most subordinate clerkships4 ,the higher officials are usually brought out from some part of ,britain1 and have been taken into ,government employ after the severest examinations4 ,their promotions are given by grade and service1 allowing also for special promotions for distinctive service4 ,having been so placed that ,i have had to do with a wide range of these officials1 in most departments of the service1 it becomes a great pleasure to me to record the character of their official conduct as ,i have found it in personal dealing4 ,in the first place1 they almost without exception are men of courteous1 gentlemanly manners4 ,this alone goes far to smooth the way in official transactions4 ,then ,i have found them generally men who are very fair and even generous in dealings where public interests1 missionary matters1 or property have been dealt with4 ,this is partly due to the system of aid given especially to schools with which both the ,government and the missionary have to do1 and partly due to fair dealing on general principles1 which ,i am led to believe from an experience all over the province of ,burma for a period of ten years1 and from inquiries from others of longer experience1 is a ,british characteristic4 ,this is especially true of the better cultivated men4 ,the snobbery of the uneducated ,briton is equal to that of the ,american of the same class4 ,in the whole range of my experience ,i have never met with other than manly treatment from officials but twice1 and then these were not of the higher ranks1 and one of them can not be said to be a ,briton4 ,if an officer might be disposed to be unfair1 he knows that there is a superior above him that is ready to correct any abuse4 ,but the whole system of ,indian service is well worth study1 for it is not a creation of a day1 but the best fruit of ,england's extensive colonial experiences4 ,in this matter it is well worth study1 especially on the part of ,america1 which has now to enter upon the rule of large and distant possessions4 ,it is also to be noted that the wonder of ,england's ,government is that she has been able to allow of a diversity of ,governments in her several possessions suited largely to local conditions1 so that no two of her colonies are entirely alike1 and yet she has been able to give protection1 justice1 and the largest measure of liberty to each country that the people are able to utilize for their own good4 ,in these respects it is only fair to say her system of ,government over remote and diverse peoples is the best yet seen on this globe4 ,illustration3 ,,burmese ,,festival ,,cart ,there is also a striking feature of the ,government of municipalities in ,india4 ,municipalities have not wholly self-government1 yet they are so ordered that the popular will has a representation1 even when it retards the actual progress of the city1 as it not infrequently does4 ,the municipalities are governed by commissioners1 about half of whom are elected by the people1 and the other half are appointed by ,government4 ,the latter are not ,government officers1 however4 ,they may be as democratic in their votes as any member of the municipal committee4 ,but these commissioners are representative of the different native races1 as well as the ,europeans in the city4 ,in a city like ,rangoon there are several great race divisions that are recognized on the municipal committee1 both elective and appointive4 ,in the election of these commissioners appears one of the most extreme examples of the democratic principles that the writer knows of anywhere4 ,perhaps it has no parallel4 ,in the case of the ballot1 it is allowed freely to all ,europeans and ,americans on exactly the same conditions4 ,they1 as aliens1 never having become ,british subjects1 and never intending to do so1 have the ballot the same as an ,englishman4 ,this broad democracy has greatly surprised many ,americans when ,i have told them of it4 ,the alien has a right to hold the office of city commissioner1 if elected1 the peer of the native-born ,briton4 ,this is the broadest democracy found anywhere within the defined limits of franchise4 ,the ,government has a vast system of railroads in ,india amounting to sixteen thousand miles1 with many other extensions and new lines in prospect4 ,these roads now reach nearly all the districts which could sustain them4 ,they are sometimes built for military purposes1 but they are mostly directed for the carrying of traffic in times of peace4 ,the province of ,burma1 one of the later provinces to be thoroughly developed1 is having railroads to all its principal sections1 and some of these roads are being projected to the very borders4 ,that to ,kunlon is extended to the borders of ,china4 ,they also talk of a line from ,rangoon through ,western ,china1 and there is every likelihood of connections direct with ,bengal4 ,so the old world moves under the impetus of ,western enterprise4 ,the telegraphs attend the railway1 and exist even far outside of railway lines to all parts of the empire and to foreign lands4 ,let it be remembered that probably none of these improvements would have been thought of in the country had not it been taken in hand by an enlightened and enterprising people from the ,west4 ,great systems of canals have been constructed1 and more than thirty million acres of land are irrigated1 and famine in this area is forever forestalled4 ,larger plans are being suggested by the recent famine4 ,the famine relief works constructed many tanks on land too high for irrigation from running streams4 ,good pavements in cities and good roads have been made in the land universally4 ,these roads are nearly all metaled and kept in good order4 ,public buildings of the most substantial and imposing kind are built in all capital cities4 ,the ,government wisely erects buildings in keeping with its own governmental ideas1 and with its declared intention of remaining in the land to work out its plans4 ,the public parks and gardens are on an elaborate scale1 and are enjoyed by everybody4 ,the memorials to great men of ,india and the great men who have made ,india ,british territory are placed in all public gardens4 ,great men and great deeds are set before the world as they should be1 that the world may emulate them4 ,the latest design is to build a memorial to ,queen ,victoria in the city of ,calcutta1 to which many of the rajahs of ,india are subscribing4 ,the building is to cost perhaps more than five million dollars1 and while it is a great memorial to ,queen ,victoria1 it is to be a museum of great men of ,india as well4 ,there will be other memorials established in other cities of the ,indian ,empire also4 ,the taxes of the ,government are reasonable4 ,they are mostly placed directly on the earning power of the individual1 or tax upon land assessed in proportion to the amount of grain it produces1 ,there is also a tax on houses in villages outside municipalities4 ,the land tax is very just4 ,if the land produces regular good crops1 it is taxed accordingly4 ,if there is a failure of crops1 the tax is reduced or remitted4 ,as land needs rest1 it is allowed a tax at fallow rates1 which is very light indeed4 ,the income tax is collected chiefly in cities1 but of all ,government employees1 beginning with the viceroy4 ,this tax is two per cent per month4 ,this is to be paid out of the monthly salary4 ,but it is said this tax only reaches one out of three hundred and fifty of the native-born inhabitants of ,india4 ,the ,government claims to own the land1 very much as the ,american ,government owns the public lands4 ,but1 of course1 the greater part of this land comes into the ownership of the people1 and is transferable as elsewhere in the world4 ,in the comparatively rich province of ,burma1 where there has been until recently much of the very best land of the tropical world lying idle1 grown into grass and forests--land that never was cultivated1 the land is given out freely to would-be cultivators4 ,they only have to show that they are prepared to cultivate it4 ,they have to pay nothing but for its survey4 ,when it is cultivated they get a title to it1 and then they can sell it as the actual owners4 ,if it is grass land1 the cultivators are allowed one year exemption from tax4 ,if forest land1 ten years are allowed exemption4 ,a more liberal plan could not be devised than this4 ,it is just here that ,england's policy in the country is shown4 ,if a ,burman asks for a piece of land1 and a ,european1 any ,englishman indeed1 asks for the same piece of land1 the ,burman will surely get it4 ,one becomes more and more convinced that the policy of ,government in ,india is to govern for the best interests of the ,government4 ,there is another great plan of ,government to aid agriculture4 ,the people of all parts of the ,indian ,empire are chiefly agricultural4 ,they are like all ,asiatics1 great borrowers of money4 ,they generally mortgage the crop by the time it springs out of the soil4 ,the native money-lender demands as much as three per cent a month2 but here the ,government comes forward1 and agrees to loan the agriculturalist money at six per cent a year1 and allow him to repay it in partial payments4 ,this is eminently fair1 and any man can get it who can show that he can repay it1 and can give two personal securities4 ,this seems a very liberal proposition4 ,the ,government has also devised a great school system to aid in popular education4 ,the schools of ,southern ,asia have been almost entirely in the hands of the various religions of the land4 ,the ,government has undertaken to work out a plan by which a very large part of this education can be put under popular control1 and yet be allowed to remain under the direction of the various religious communities that conduct schools4 ,of course1 under the old order there was but a small part of the community allowed to go to school1 and the teaching was of an inferior kind4 ,government would promote education and give a fixed standard4 ,to do this they had to put the secular instruction of all schools under the ,government1 and allow the religious instruction to be carried out according to the ideas of every society concerned4 ,so that we witness ,mohammedan1 ,christian1 ,hindu1 and ,buddhist schools1 all drawing aid from ,government1 and all passing the same ,government examinations in secular subjects1 but each imparting its own religious instructions4 ,to aid in this educational scheme1 the ,government will give grants in putting up buildings1 in paying accredited teachers1 and in giving grants to current expenses on passes secured in ,government examinations4 ,in addition1 the ,government has built up certain schools entirely under its control1 where no religion is taught4 ,in all this it will be seen that the ,government1 in keeping with its declared purpose and position1 is neutral in the matter of religion4 ,it ought to be clear to all who will see it1 that the ,christian ,church should avail itself of all this educational plan that is possible1 so as to mold the minds of all the young in ,christian principles4 ,nearly all mission schools are identified with this educational system1 but there is opportunity for much more of the same kind of work4 ,there is another great and merciful arm of ,government to be mentioned4 ,in every municipality1 and even in large villages1 there is hospital treatment for all who need medical or surgical aid4 ,all this is freely given to every applicant4 ,all cities and large towns have great hospitals where medicines and food and shelter in bad cases are given freely to men of all races and creeds4 ,no disease is turned away1 and no sick man denied attention4 ,this charitable effort of ,government is far-reaching in its beneficence4 ,it is not so valuable as it might be1 because it has a prejudice of the populace to deal with4 ,but the amount of suffering that is relieved by ,government in all the empire is enormous4 ,in cases of epidemics there is a ,government order to fight the disease in an organized way4 ,if it is smallpox1 which is very prevalent1 public vaccination is enforced4 ,cholera epidemics are taken in hand vigorously1 water purified1 and quarantine established1 until the pestilence is put under control4 ,the last four years has called out all the agencies of a great ,government to battle with the ,bubonic plague and the famine4 ,it is now more than four years since the plague began its ravages in ,india1 and a little over three years since the famine began its course of devastation4 ,both of these dire visitations were grappled with from the start1 and the battle is still being waged4 ,a competent board of physicians and a large force of skilled nurses were quickly organized1 and they have been unremitting in their efforts1 and many of these have fallen victims to their difficult and dangerous duty4 ,a system of inspection was at once established on all railroads and steamship lines throughout ,india and along its coasts4 ,every traveler1 irrespective of race or rank1 has been examined by medical experts4 ,yet in spite of this precaution the deadly scourge has insidiously worked its way almost throughout the empire4 ,but still the ,government grapples with the pestilence4 ,one can feel something of its terrors when it is noted that ninety-four per cent of all who are seized by the plague die4 ,six hundred thousand have died of the plague in five years4 ,the greatest hostility has been shown at times by the native population1 in opposing the most necessary plague regulations4 ,with plague almost all over the empire1 the ,government had at the same time to undertake a most extensive plan for relieving a famine that was ever undertaken by any ,government in human history4 ,the famine had only one immediate cause--the lack of rain4 ,the greater rains over almost all ,india occur between ,june and ,september4 ,for years on overlapping territory the rains failed1 or were deficient4 ,the world knows the story4 ,one-fourth of the nearly three hundred millions of this population of the empire were in the terrors of famine1 with its slow starvation of man and beast1 with its attendant cholera1 plague1 and other diseases4 ,it is worthy of cordial recognition and perpetual memory that this gigantic specter was met by a ,christian ,government4 ,it was not a ,mohammedan or ,hindu people which fought back this monster calamity1 but a ,government and a people whose sympathies were ,christian4 ,the ,christians hurried to the relief of those of non-,christian belief and alien people1 and hardly thought of their race or religion4 ,they only knew they were starving communities of fellow-beings1 and they put forth supreme efforts to relieve their hunger and other ills due to the famine4 ,yes1 this was done by a ,christian ,government1 aided by private ,christian beneficence of distant lands1 while their own co-religionists1 having money in many cases1 owning nearly all the grain in the empire1 enough to have fed all the hungry at every stage of the famine1 gave practically nothing for famine relief6 ,they held their feasts1 organized their tiger hunts1 looked on the dance of the impure nautch-girl1 and reveled while their people starved and died1 or owed their life to a foreign race of the ,christian faith4 ,the ,government of ,india spent #ib1fej1jjj on famine relief during #ahii and #aijj4 ,the relief works were open nearly two years before that1 and help on a large scale continues still4 ,this is the most gigantic effort of all human history to meet a great national calamity4 ,strange that these noble and statesman-like efforts should have been belittled by any1 much less by some who should have known better4 ,the census of #aija has been gathered1 and these columns of figures tell their sad story of suffering and death in the famine districts4 ,of ,india's two hundred and eighty-six millions of ten years ago1 sixty-six millions were residents in native-protected ,states4 ,the census of #aija shows that ,british ,india increased its population by ten millions1 while the peoples of the native ,states decreased three millions4 ,british territory increased its population by four and one-half per cent1 and the-native ,states decreased by four and one-half per cent4 ,a close inspection of the figures shows the decrease to be largely due to the famine4 ,what would have been the death-rate but for the ,english ,government's immense relief8 ,the missionaries worked hand in hand with the ,british officers1 and ,i have never heard that either has ever spoken except in words of praise of the other's labors4 ,this proves that good ,governments and faithful missionaries are invaluable to each other4 ,a crowning proof of the good government of ,britain in ,india1 is in the fact that her population does not migrate to any adjacent ,state where there is limited or unlimited native rule4 ,but from all such ,states there is a steady stream of immigration pouring into ,british territory4 ,none of ,india's peoples migrate in any numbers to any ,oriental or ,occidental country1 but from every ,oriental land there are immigrants to sojourn or to settle in ,india under the justice1 protection1 and peace of ,british rule4 ,the tropical world is fast coming under ,western domination4 ,these lands must be lifted by new blood from the ,north and ,west1 and must serve the needs of our race4 ,while this process is going on1 the world can afford to be happy over the fact that so large a part of the tropical countries is under ,british rule4 ,transcriber's ,notes ,punctuation1 hyphenation1 and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,simple typographical errors were corrected2 unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious1 and otherwise left unbalanced4 ,illustrations in this e,book have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations4 ,in versions of this e,book that support hyperlinks1 the page references in the ,list of ,illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations4 ,the first illustration is the cover4 ,the illustration on the ,title ,page is a photograph of a woman leaning against a cocoanut tree 7it is the leftmost part of the illustration on page #de of this e,book74 ,the four captionless illustrations are identical decorative tailpieces4