The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1876-05-10
MISSIONS IN INDIA.


l. and at the same time toseeif the Christian Mi
a sionaries sent out fromdifferent countries, an
n which have been working here for half Ger
. tury, were making any impression upon tn
hoary system of idolatry, which dates from
. remote antiquity, and which holds fast-boun
, hundreds of millions Of the human race.
q wished to study missions'here on their favor
t ite ground, to form some judgment Of tn
. wisdom of their organization aud their pros
pe0t of success.
India has been from an early date cho
sen seat of missionary operations. Here tn
great Jesuit, Francis Xavier, preached AM
baptized like an apostle, and here he died.
In the Cathedral of Goa they still keep hi
dust. Here Schwartz, the German mission
ary, labored in the last century, and left sucl
a name for saintliness that even Hindoo prin
ces and people bonored and trusted him al
ga man of Cod Here at the beginning
of this century, CareyE-s2,a Ward ead Marsh
man began their work at Serampore, ,neal
Calcutta. And here has been the field Of
labor of many of our most devoted American
missionaries. The names of the Winslows
the Scudders, the Ballantynes, and many
others, will recur to all. Whether they, or
the whole host of missionaries, have wrought
any considerable change in the religious faith
of India, is the question.
In forming judgment, have been very
careful not to take my opinion from mission
aries alone. In travelling about the country,
/ have been thrown with men of all classes
and professions, and have sought light from
friends and foes. | have met great num-
Der of Englishmen resident here, either az
officers of the army, o. connected with the
civil service, with whom l have talked freely.
When l have met them in railway carriages
l have preferred not to betrsy my profession,
but to appear simply as an American travel
er, seeking information, that l might have
their verdict wholly unprjudiced. [ did not
wish that they should suppress their real
opinions out of courtesy to me.
AS the result of my inquiries, | find great
variety of opinions. Many British officers
and civilians make light of the whole thing,
and speak of missions as ga farce;' they
think the very idea of sending men from
England or America to convert the Hindoos,
is absurd, and that the success which attends
such efforts is infnitesimally small Some
even 60 so far as to say that the missionaries
do great mischief; that they stir up bad
blood in the native population, and perpetu-
ate an animosity of races Far better would
it be to leave the "mild Hindoo" to his
gods; to let him worship his sacred COWS,
and monkeys and Serpents, and his hideous
idols, so long as he is quiet and inoffensive
subject of the government.
This sounds quite philosophical and states
manlike, and we begin to think that we may
be all in the wrong in our theory of mis-
sions But we find on closer observation
that these military gentlemen who speak so
Aippantly, are not always the beat specimens
OF the British officer abroad. They are men
whose tastes and conversation do not range
much beyond the barrack and the camp;
whose talk is always of this or that regi-
ment; or when their great minds require re-
lief from such heavy occupations, find it in
some form of "sport." To get up grand
tiger hunt is to them matter of greater mo-
ment than it would te to convert whole
village, or introduce schools. into province.
They are generally men who "hate India,
.and despise its people, counting them only
fit to do servile labor for the ruling caste.
But there are officers in the army of diff
ferent stamp-lke Hsyelock and Sir Henry
Lawrence, on whom the British power in
India leans in every. great crisis of its fate
men who know how to battle, to conquer
and to die-who speak very differently
They regard missionaries as at once the most
self denying and the most useful Of men, as
the introducers of Christian civilization into
India, and as the best friends Of the natives,
since they have always been the first to pro-
test against any act of injustice or oppres-
sion, and have used all their influence on the
side of humanity. Which of these two class
es of British officers would be the more likely
to be we'll informed, it is not difficult to say.
To the same purport is the testimony of
men in high civil station. Here in Calcutta
no man stands higher to-day than Sir Will
liam Muir, the Finance Minister. He has
been thirty-nine years in India, and there
is not man living who is higher author
ity on all questions in regard to this coun-
try. He tells me that the missionaries have
been the benefactors Of India; that to them
greatly is due especially to the labogs of DIR.
Duff the magnificent system of National Ed
ucatlon which has grown to such proportions;
and he added (what it pleased me to hear)
"We owe great deal to your American
missionaries in the Northwest" He spoke
of that part of India especially as the one
with which he is most familiar, having been
for some years Governor of the Northwest
provinces Such judgments can perhaps be
set of against the s-e5pant talk of military
men, who, however brave and gallant they
may be in war, can hardly claim to be the
most patient and careful observers of the
! moral and social condition of people or the
best judges of what is for their good.
I But we need not take. the opinion of any,
body, or bow to any authority however high
Here we are in India-let US see and Judge
for ourselves But to give our own impres
sions will require another letter.
ANOTHER HooP. Two neighbors, say
SpurgeoD, cooper ard farmer were spend
ing the evening together. Both were pro
fessors of religion, but of different commun
ions. Their conversation was first upol
tonica ralatin0 to practical relipion but afte