The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-12-01

the gospel Of Christ and do not feel the
| need or 1t. Just as Christ when ne
| came was born in manager and FOUND
no place In the hearts of men, SO now
the missionary finds the heather world
| pre-occupied with no room and no de-
sire for the gospel of Christ. The at
tempt to Introduce foreign religion Is
! considered an insult to the existing re-
hglons. A Hindu paper recently re-
marked, I'VE have long thought that
Christian missionaries have no business
In India, and that they would be better
employed in their own countries In try
ing to strengthen their own church,
which is appreciably falling into decay.
1t is our firm conviction that all mis-
sionary activities to further the pro-
| gress of Christianity are what may be
called so many frauds upon the people
of this country" Another native paper
proposes to drive all missionaries out Of
the country, not by force, for that
would be out Of the question, but by boy
cotting them and having nothing to do
with them except to treat them with
contempt. The missionaries are de-
scribed as ''intolerant, bigoted and mis-
chievous traducers of the Hindu reli-
| gion." Il might state in passing that
| the editor who wrote the above is now
| behind the prison bars, under a. well
| deserved sentence of Imprisonment for
| eighteen months for reasonable writ
| ing against the British government.
| He is man of great ability and influ-
ence, with the degree of B. A., but
| thoroughly bad.)
An immense obstacle to Christianity
49,
| mass of educated men. Professor Sat
thianadhan, prominent Christian of
Madras, says, 1.-THE one sole object Of
the educated Hindu is to get on in life,
by securing the best paid government
post within his reach. AS a conse-
| quence we have a great deal of apathy
| and Indifference characterizing the ma
| jority of the educated classes. Mere
secular education, therefore, has not
| been an unmixed good If any practi-
| cal acquaintance with young India has
| convinced me of anything, 1T is that ed
| ucation is the last thing to regenerate
! India" The greatest obstacle at pres
ent to Christian progress is the apathy
and Indifference which characterize the
| educated classes
Opposition is chiefly excited when a
| high caste man is converted to Chris
| tianity. There Is no true religious lib
| erty in India. What there is exists only
on account of the British government.
\ If it should withdraw, no Hindu could
| become Christian without danger to
| life and property. Every means is en-
| ployed to prevent the young men from
| studying the Bible or visiting Chris
tians. Mr.. Robert Wilder says, "There
| are almost insuperabe obstacles which
| educated Hindus must face in confess
| ing Christ After the inertia Of indif-
ference gives way to investigation, hos
tility is naturally aroused against the
religion Of the conquerors. They say,
"Why should we give up our ancestral
faith and holy traditions? Why should
we give up our high caste privileges
and enter a religion in which there is no
caste - And as honest inquiry sue
| ceeds hostility, there are many phases
of doubt and many difficulties. INTEL
| lectually 1t IS difficult for a pantheistic
mind to reason monotheistically. When
Hinduism is left behind many paths are
| open. Theosophy, agnosticism and all
the forms of scepticism are open before
him. All these cults come from the
west. Before the educated Hindu ac-
cepts Christianity he faces Renan and
Rosseau and Voltaire, and it may he
Ingersoll, and worse than these he is
confronted with the new Hinduism.
What a temptation to turn back from
inquiry to ones ancestral faith which
receives praise from Max Muller and
was lauded at the Worlds Parliament
of Religions. If he fights his way
through all these obstacles and ap-
proaches the goal of Christianity, there
are two guides who offer their services
to him. One of the Brahmo Samaj, a
place of rest and deliverance from all
dilemas, a resultant from Hinduism
and Christianity, the other guide points
to the Salvation Army where no bap-
tism is necessary. You can compro
mise. You can confess Christ with the
mouth and yet remain In the Hindu Sa-
maj Why be baptized and cut off from
all that the heart holds dear. Why be
baptized and risk the loss of life or rea-
son by being drugged? IF the Holy
Spirit We're not in Christianity, this re-
ligon would make no Roadway among
the educated classes. But God is in it
as we see by the conversions which
have already taken place" Baptism
| involves bitter persecution and the loss
| Of everything most precious. When a
person is on the spirit Of being baptized
his friends try the most unscrupulous
means of dissuading him from it. They
try to make him satisfied with Hindu
ism by the most cunning arguments.
| They bring all kinds of sceptical argu-
ments against Christianity. When
these fail they sometimes resort to for
chile methods they often drug the per-
son so as to affect his reason, and in
many cases he is made permanent
imbecile by this means. They had
rather have him so than become a
Christian. When the person is minor
he is strictly forbidden to be baptized.
When he is with missionaries or Chris
tians, lying messages are sent to get
him away, and then he is kept as a
prisoner. Here is an instance: A
prominent young man had arranged to
be baptized. Suddenly the telegram
came, "Your father is very sick on the
point of death; come at once" He af-
forwards found that his father had not
been sick at all. The most diabolical
means are sometimes resorted to.
haye heard of cases where young man
who wished to confess Christ was shut
UP with harlot, so that he would COM
nit sin with her and thus feel himself
| unworthy to be baptized What a teS-