Smyrna times., 1897-10-20
IN CHURCH.
OPEN AIR CONGREGATION WHICH
THEY VOLUNTARILY JOINED.

lHEI NOEON AhlLr JOlNEOs
Some of Them Brought Their Babies With
Them and Boxed Their Ears When They
Showed Signs Of neutrality-suspicious. Of
MissiOnarles In India.
The most singular audience that 1
ever saw gathered to listen to preaching
was an audience Of monkeys, says an
India correspondent of the Boston Gold
en- Rule.
When l commenced work in the re-
gion which have now occupied for
more than 80 years, asked two fellow
missionaries to join me in preaching
tour in the adjacent taluk, or county.
We first went with three native assist
ants to the taluk town, or county seat.
Our tents were pitched in a grove ad-
joining the town. We usually on our
tours went two and two to preach in the
villages; but, this being the taluk town,
and the first Of our preaching the gospel
in that region, we went in a body into
the native city.
Walking through the cloth, spice,
| grain and iron merchants bazaar streets,
and then through the goldsmiths and
| silversmiths' street, around through the
temple street, and then through the
street Of Brahman residences, to adver-
tise our presence and incite curiosity to
| know what we were about, we finally
took our stand in the Brahman street,
and all joined in singing one of the
beautiful Telugu Christian lyrics and
| gathered an audience of interested lis
teners.
We stood upon little raised platform
on one side Of the street against the
house walls. The houses were all of one
story, joined together like a city block,
with fiat roofs and a low parapet along
the front of the roof. One Of our native
assistants read portion from the gos-
pels, and another preached briefly then
one Of my fellow missionaries followed,
preaching more at length, while l
watched the audience, to study the coun-
tenances Of the people among whom 1
expected to work.
had noticed that behind the houses
on the opposite side of the street there
was long row of trees growing in their
back yards, the branches Of which
stretched out over the fat roofs.
CHANGING to raise my eyes, noticed
many branches of these trees beginning
to bend downward toward the roofs and
saw the faces of some old jack monkeys
peering out through the foliage Soon
some of them jumped down and came
forward to see what their big broth
ers'' in the street were about, as they
stood gazing SO intently at these white
men standing on the platform. Spring
ing upon the parapet, they seated them
selves, with their hind feet hanging
over in 'front.' and gazing with fixedness
at the preacher, rs they saw the people
in the street doing.
Other monkeys followed, until there
was long row of them thus seated on
the parapet. The late comers l could see
walking along behind the parapet, look
ing for a place wide enough to get q
seat. Failing to find a wide enough
place between two already seated mon
keys, they would put up their hands,
and, pushing each one sidewise, would
seem to be saying, ''Sit along little,
please, and give a fellow a seat, until
the "bench" was crowded
, The audience III the street, standing
with their backs toward that row Of
houses, did not notice the monkeys, and
: so their attention was not distracted by
them.
, had noticed that many mother mon.
keys had brought their babies to church
with them. These little baby monkeys
sat upon the thigh of the mother, while
her hand was placed around them in 8
very human fashion, but the sermon
was evidently too high for these little
folks to comprehend. Glancing ND, ]
saw one of the little monkeys cautiously
reach his hand around, and, catching
, hold Of another baby monkeys tail
give it pull. The other little monkey
struck back, but each mother monkey
r evidently disapproved of this levity il
I church, and each gave its own baby {
! box on the ears, as though saying: "Si
+ down. Don't you know how to behav,
' IN church?" The little monkeys, thu
! reprimanded, turned tho most solemn
4 faces toward the preacher and seemed
f to listen intently to what he was saving
s With the exception of a monkey nov
l and then trying to catch flea that wa
g biting him in some tender spot, they
e thus sat demurely until the preache,
finished his sermon and until we haC
O distributed gospels and tracts among tn
+ audience and had started for our tents
!. Our celestial audience" f." seeing on
g terrestrial audience" dispensing, then
J. and not until then, left their seats an,
O demurely walked back and sprang upol
# the branches again. There were N
/ monkey capers" as they went. The,
/ were as serious as a congregation leav
n ing church and sat upon the branohe
10 in meditative mood as though think
= ing over what they had heard the preach
k er say. And thus we left or uniou
, monkey audience