The times., 1899-06-05
CHRISIIANIZING The
NATIVES OF india
The Work Described by the
Rev. Dr.. Wynkoop.
Translation Of the Bible a Most
Difficult Undertaking.
The Former Pastor Omcintcs nt Com
ern Presbyterian Church.

| years pastor of the Western Presbyterian
| Church in this city. and later the agent
of the British and Foreign Bible Society,
rest. He was engaged in the publication.
translation. and circulation of the Bible in
North India, and rendered the society val
liable service there. The work was very
exacting, and required man of more than
ordinary ability to direct it. AS a result
of his labors in a country where the eli
matte conditions are anything but good
DR.. Wynkoop felt the need of a rest, and
returned home few days ago. His plans
probable that he will remain in the city
for some time. He has number of friends
here, and they are all glad to welcome him
back to his old home.
1T is very pleasant to be in Washington
again, and renew old acquaintance" DR..
Wynkoop told reporter for The Times
yesterday afternoon. Il vas pastor of the
Western Presbyterian Church in this city
for about sixteen years, and therefore
have many pleasant recoIlections and asso-
Citations with it, and the people connected
with 1t. ] spent five years in India, where
/ was the agent of the British and For
eign Bible Society. Our headquarters were
in Allah Abad which means the City of
God. Abad is word which means almost
the same as the English abode. and sig
nifies place where a number of people
live. 1t may mean a city or a country as
there is a great deal of liberty allowed in
the use of the word. My work there was
principally in the publication and circula-
tion OF the Bible in the native languages.
You see there are such a number of Ian
guages spoken in India. that what may be
perfect translation for one people would
not be understood by another The peo-
pie all belong TO the same general
race, but there are a number of castles
and these all speak different languages.
We have just lately translated the Bible
INTO a language that. up to a short time
ago. had absolutely no written characters
This is the kurku language. The people of
this caste inhabit the hills and are not
very sociable.
The translation OF the Bible in India
was very difficult undertaking, as there
were many languages like the Kurku. The
missionaries went to work with the people
and learned their language. Then they
proceeded to write as il sounded in Eng
lish. with few Sanscrit words, where the
native speech failed in translation. In this
way quite number of the castles were
provided with written language that they
did not before possess
The people of India hang to traditions
tenaciously and that probably makes the
introduction of the Christian religion
harder than it otherwise would be. Their
religion is curious one. and their con-
ception of the Christian faith Is also curl
GUS They believe in q Supreme Being.
without believing in its personality Their
great god is everything. They never speak
OF their god as he or give him a person.
ality in any way. The god is always it and
it is everything. II is this utter absence
of personality in their religious worship
that makes it difficult for the Christians
to get their faith firmly imbedded in the
native mind. The amount of work thus
far accomplished is marvellous. consider
ing the material with which the nilsson
arises had to work ! superintended the
translation OF the Bibles before spoken of,
but | did not do any of the actual work
myself. / understood the various Ian
guages and assisted the translators as well
as / could.
THE country where l lived is as safe
for habitation as the country about here.
The British went into il years ago and
they were presented with much the same
problem that now confronts this country
in the Far East. They were compelled to
learn the proper method of governing the
country and they have learned it. The
people Of India. as ! said before. are made
up of a number of castes, who speak differ
ent languages and before the occupation
Of the country by the English they had as
many different laws and customs as there
were peoples and languages. Under the
British rule this has been abolished, and
they now live together in unity. OF course
the caste differences still remain and the
people are as widely separated as people
as they were before. but they are all
amenable TO the same laws and are gov
erned by the same system The civil gov
eminent is vested in sixteen officers who
administer justice TO the natives and resi-
dents of the country with mercy and equa
ton. The military force consists of three
hundred thousand native troops under
English officers and about sixty thousand
English troops.
The country is one complete network
of railroad lines SO that the fifty or sixty
thousand English troops can be hurried
to any part of the land when occasion re-
quires. This will prevent the recurrence
of such a mutiny as occurred years ago.
At that time the English force in the
country was very small, many troops hay-
ing been drawn of for the war with Rus
STA and into other colonies. The native
troops thought that they could soon rule
the country by numbering their officers
and thus getting control of the govern
ment This is what they did, and it re-
Quired a great deal OF hard work on the
part of the English 10 beat them. This
was finally accomplished, however, and
it led to the adoption of law which. more
than anything else viii probably prevent
another mutiny. At present a native is
not allowed to have any weapon whatever
in his possession. If a firesrm or sword,
or even a knife, is found it is coniscated
by the Government. Even the native po-
lice are not allowed to carry firearms.
They are armed with a species of blud-
geon and with this they are expected to
preserve order.
Il think that is about what will have TO
be done in the case of the Filipinos. |
have no doubt that the President and his
advisors have taken counsel from the ex-
periences of the British in India and will
adopt similar measures for the protection
of our form OF government in our new
possessions, / do not think the natives
in India are capable OF governing them
selves. If the English should withdraw
there would follow such reign OF anarchy
as the world never before experienced.
Little principalities would spring into ex-
istence here and there and there would be
continual fighting. This same problem
will probably confront the Government in
the Philippines. and il is probable that
the disarmament system viii be used
there"
Yesterday was communion Sunday at the
Western Presbyterian Church. and DR..
Wynkoop oficiated and preached the SER
mon. At the conclusion of the services