Omaha daily bee., 1889-05-06
LIFE AMONG THE HINDoos.
Interesting DISCOURSE by Rev. Smith
at the Newman NJ. II. Chmrch.

at the newman Nj. IL. ChurCh.
At the Newman NJ. f. church, yesterday
morning, Rev. Sydenham Smith, mission
airy who has spent the greater part OF his
life in India preached an interesting dis
course on the Hindoos, dwelling particularly
upon the condition of the women of India
and the work of female missionaries among
them. Among the interesting statements of
the speaker were the following:
India has 210, 600. 900 of people-over five
times as many as the United States-and yet
nearly all are religiously penigh,ed. True,
As, 900, 900 are Mohammedans, but their re-
ligion is nothing better than fan
aticism The other 225,ooO,OOO are
indicates low standard of in
tellectuality for the men of nation. But
what must be the condition of the womeni
Considerable good has been done by the GUS
tom Of the English officials IN India, by Civ.
ing government appointments there only TO
those natives who have mastered the Eng
lish language. These government positions
are for life, or at the end of twenty-five
years the incumbent can retire on pension.
These positions are, therefore, desirable,
and AS consequence tens of thousands of
young Hiudoos learn the English language
every year, and in the reading of English
books receive great deal of enlightenment.
1.-The women of India occupy the lowest
position of any of their sex in the world
They are but little better than
chattels. The greatest desire of every
Hindoo woman is to give birth to son. The
birth Of daughter is considered misfor-
tune AS soon rs boy becomes four or five
years old he is sent to school, but not one
girl in 10000 receives any education. BY
the time the girl reaches the age of seven or
eight years she Is married, and every girl in
India is married before she reaches the age
of thirteen. The women belonging to the
lower castes do all sorts of manual labor
They sweep the streets, carry brick and
stone, do grading on the railroads, and all
other work usually done by men. Yet the
condition of these women is really better
than those of the upper classes. Those be-
longing to the higher castles are shut up in
their houses all the time and see nothing
of the world; They can , not read
scarcely any household duties to which they
can devote their time, like the good women
of this country. They have no chairs no
tables, no beds, no furniture Of any kind. At
night they sleep on rugs. They have but
three things to do: Sweep the floors, wash
their clothes and prepare tho simplest meals.
1.-The great majority of people eat no meat
Can you conceive anything more deplorable
than the enforced idleness Of these womenf
The poorer classes of women see more of life
and are more intelligent. All that many of
the rich women have to do Is to put on their
dresses and pearls, and take them off and
listen to the tales of their servant women.
AS n consequence. these women are fearfully
superstitious. They believe IN the evil eye
spells and witchery. II they lose
child they believe that the evi
spirit has taken it away because
they love it. and 10 their next child they
give some contemplate name such as
"Stone" or "Heap of Rubbish" or similar
appellation to make the evil spirit think they
do not love the child. They believe that
people are sometimes possessed OF devils,
and If any person does something extraordi-
nary 1t is attributed to devil within him.
"A nation is as its homes are. The homes
are as the women are. The way to advance
these people, therefore, is through the
women. Yet in India no respectable woman
will speak to man. Male missionaries,
therefore, can do little good. Tho great
solution Of the problem is through women
missionaries. The few that are IN India to-
day are doing untold good The women
of India see that these ladies are better edu-
Gated and more intelligent than themselves,
and welcome them into their homes. The
use of lady missionaries is the only course to
be pursued in saving India from idolatry.
l would rather have five lady missionaries
come over to India than ten men. Tho
Hindoos come from the same original stock
as ourselyes--the Indo-European. They are
Caucassians, like ourselves; in fact, they are
our brothers, and we should help them"