Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-01-30
MONKEYS TN CHURCH.
OPEN AIR CONGREGATION WHICH
THEY VOLUNTARILY JOINED.

Some of Them Brought Their i'nbies With
Them AMI Boxed Their Ears When They
Showed Signs of Lcvi.y-ExporIence Of
Missionaries In India.
Tho most singular audience that I
ever saw gathered 10 listen to preaching
WIS an audience Of Monkeys. says an
India correspondent Of the Boston Gold
ell Rule.
When l commenced work i'll the re-
gion which ! haze now occupied for
more than 30 years. asked two fellow
missionaries to join me in Il preaching
tour in the adjacent talrl;, or county.
We first went with three native assist
ANTS to the taluk town. or county scat.
Our tents were pitched in grove adj
joining the town. We usually Oh our
tours went two and two to preach in the
villages; but, this being the taluk town,
and tho first of our preaching the gospel
in that region, we went in body into
the native city.
Walking through the cloth, spice,
grain and iron merchants bazaar streets,
and then through tho goldsmiths and
silversmiths' street, around through the
! temple street, and then through the
street of BRAKEMAN residences, to adver-
tise our presence and incte curiosity to
know what wo were about. we finally
took our stand in the Brahman street.
and all joined in singing one Of tho
beautiful Telugu Christian lyrics and
gathered an audience of interested lis
| tencrs.
We stood upon littlo raised platform
on one sido Of tho street against the
house walls. The houses were all OF one
story, joined together like city block,
with fiat roofs and a low pnrapet along
the front of the roof One Of our nHtive
assistants read portion from the Cos
pels, and another preached briefly; then
one of my fellow missionaries followed,
preaching moro at length, while !
watched the audience, to study the coun-
tenanccs of the people among whom l
expected to work.
had noticed that behind the houses
on tho opposite side Of the street there
was long row CT trees growing i'll their
| back yards, tho branches Of which
stretched out over the fiat roofs.
CHANGING to raise my eyes, l noticed
many branches of these trees beginning
to bend downward toward the roofs and
saw the faces of scme old jack monkeys
peoring out through the foliage. Soon
some of them jumped down and came
forward to sec what their "bg broth
ers'' in the street were about, as they
stood gazing so intently at these white
mon standing on the platform. Spring
ing upon the parapct, they seated them
selves, with their hind feet hanging
over in front, and gazing with 1ixedness
at the preacher, as they saw the people
in the street doing
Other monkeys followed, until there
was long row of them thus seated on
the parapct The late corners could see
walking along behind tho parapet, look
ing for place wide enough TO get y
seat. Failing to find IL wide enough
place between two already seated mon-
keys, they would put up their hands,
and, pushing each one sidcwise, would
seem to be saying, "Sit along little,
please, and give fellow seat, until
the "bench" was crowded.
The audience i'll the street, standing
with their hacts toward that row OF
houses, did not notice the Monkeys, and
so their attention Was not distracted by
them.
l had noticed that many mother mon
keys had brought their babies to church
with them. These little baby monkeys
sat upon the thigh Of tie mother, while
her hand was placed around them in q
very human fashion, but the sermon
was evidently too high for these little
folks to comprehend. CHANGING mp,
saw one Of the little monkeys cautiously
reach his hand around, aud. catching
hold of another baby monkeys tail,
give it pull The other little monkey
struck back, but each mother monkey
evidently disapproyed OF this leyity in
church, and each gave its own baby q
box on the ears, as though saying: "Sit
| down. Don't you know how to behave
in church," The little monkeys, thus
reprimandcd, turned tho most solemn
faces toward the preacher and seemed
to listen intently to whas he was saying.
With the exception Of monkey now
and then trying to catch flea that was
biting him i'll come tender spot, they
thus sat demurely until the preacher
finished his sermon and until we had
distributed gospels and tracts among the
audience and had started for our tents
Our Celestial audience, seeing our
terrestrial audience" dispensing, then,
and not until then, left their seats and
demurely walked back and sprang upon
the branches again. There were nc
monkey capers" az they went. They
were as serious as congregation leaY-
ing q church and sat upon the branches
in medita.ive mood as though think
ing over what they had heard the preach,
er say. And thus we left our unique
monkey audience