Evening journal., 1897-02-06
NIONKEYS..IN CHURCH.
OPEN AIR CONGREGATION WHICH
THEY VOLUNTARILY JOINED.

showed signs OF LeNity-Experienco OF
Missionaries In India.
The most singular audience that l |
ever saw gathered TO listen TO preaching |
was an audience Of monkeys, says an
India correspondent of the Boston Gold
en- Rule
When I commenced work in the re-
gion which / have now occupied for
more than 30 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 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 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 ell 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 tho street against the
house walls. The houses were all Of one
story, joined together like a city block,
with fiat roofs and low parapet along
the front of the roof. One of our native
assistants read a 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 l
expected to work.
i had noticed that behind the houses
on the opposite side of the street there
was a long row CT trees growing in their
back yards, the branches of which
stretched ont 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 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, as 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 corners / could see
I walking along behind the parapet, look
/. ing for place wide enough to get O
:. seat. Failing to find wide enough
I place between two already seated mon.
J. keys, they would put up their hands,
and pushing each one sidewise, would
seem 20 be saying, "Sit along a little,
. please, and give fellow a seat - until
:. the "bench" was crowded.
# The audience in 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.
I had noticed that many mother mon
!. keys had brought their babies to church
8 with them. These little baby monkeys
n sat upon the thigh of the mother, while
L her hand was placed around them in d
e very human fashion, but the sermon
+ was evidently too high for these little
folks to comprehend. Glancing up,
N saw one of the little monkeys cautiously
/. reach his hand around, and. catching
b hold Of another baby monkeys tail,
!, give it pull. The other little monkey
d struck back, but each mother monkey
y evidently disapproved Of this levity il
!, church, and each gave its own baby 8
!, box ON the ears, as though saying: "Sit
/. down. Don't you know how to behave
3 in church," The little monkeys, thus
a reprimanded, turned the most solemn
k faces toward the preacher and seemed
le to listen intently to what he was snying
With the exception of a monkey now
and then trying 20 catch a flea that wa
biting him in some tender spot, they
4 thus set dcmurely until the preacher
n finished his sermon and until we haC
n. distributed gospels and tracts among th'
I'd audience and had started for our tents.
n. Our Celestial audience. seeing on
" terrestrial audience" dispensing, then
y and not until then, left their seats an'
= demurely walked back and sprang upol
n the branches again. There were M
monkey oapers" as they went The.
were as serious as a congregation leav
ing church and sat upon the branche
a. in meditative mood as though think
. ing over what they had heard the preach
in er say. And thus we left our uniqu
m monkey audience.
is
er First Thermometer.
Tho fret fhprmornpter WAS made Il