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SINCE 1800 IN CALCUTTA.

BY DR. ROBERT JARDINE.

ABOUT the close of the eighteenth The first Provost and Vice-Provost of this

century there occurred in Great Britain a deep and wide awakening of Christian thought and effort with reference to the | evangelization of the heathen world. In Calcutta, also, about the same period, there was a corresponding awakening of missionary and philanthropic zeal. A chaplain of the East India Company, of great zeal and devotion, the Rev. David Brown, had long laboured upon the banks of the Hugli to promote the cause of true religion, both amongst his countrymen and amongst the heathen. Amidst many discouragements and difficulties, he exhibited faithful perseverance and much self-sacrifice; and, at the opening of the century, he was the great supporter of the Christian cause in Calcutta. His hands were strengthened and sustained, however, by the arrival, in 1798, of a very distinguished man in the capacity of GovernorGeneral.

College were the Rev. D. Brown and the Rev. C. Buchanan, chaplains of the East India Company, who have left behind them a most honourable name for their learning, piety, and zeal in the cause of Christian missions. These two distinguished men, and the Baptist missionaries at Serampore, for Carey was soon joined by zealous fellowlabourers, went hand in hand in the great work of the first quarter of the century-the translation of the Holy Scriptures. It was obvious to the minds of Brown, and Buchanan, and Carey, and Ward, that the first and most important duty of Christian missions, then in their infancy in Calcutta, was to give to the nations of the Eastern world the Bible in their own languages. And in order to accomplish this object an amount of energy was put forth and a course of patient earnest labour gone through which has perhaps never before or since been equalled in the history of Christian missions.

The Earl of Mornington, who was afterwards created Marquis Wellesley, the brother of the Duke of Wellington, the hero of But the work of translation was not the Waterloo, when he assumed the chief com- only kind of labour undertaken by the mismand of the East India Company's ope- sionaries of the first quarter of the nineteenth rations in India, soon gave most decided century. Important mission stations were and important support to Christianity. But opened in Calcutta by the Baptist missionit is to another quarter than Government aries and those of the Church Missionary House that we have to look for the chief Society. Schools were established, chapels actors in the important missionary efforts of were opened in which services for both the first quarter of a century which were Europeans and natives were held, mission carried on in the great metropolis of the houses were built to which native inquirers East. The Baptist Missionary Society had might come for the purpose of learning from already sent out Messrs. Thomas and Carey the missionaries about the gospel of Christ, to commence missionary operations in and attempts were made to train native Bengal. And in January, 1800, Mr. Carey Christians of promise for the work of preachbought at Serampore, on behalf of his ing the gospel to their own countrymen. society, a commodious house and a con- Evidently a strong impression was made siderable plot of ground, and thus established upon the native mind by these efforts to in a local habitation a mission which after- enlighten the people; for we learn that in wards acquired a great name. In August of the year 1805 no less than thirty natives the same year an institution was established publicly professed their faith in Christ. And in Calcutta which was destined for a short in the year 1816 an important evidence of time to play a very important part in the the up-springing of independent thought and missionary operations which were then be- life is presented in the fact that the cele ginning to be carried on. This was the brated Rajah Ram Mohan Rai established a College of Fort William, an institution of society, which exists to the present day, for learning established by a Minute of Council the investigation of religious truth and the for the purpose of giving instruction to native cultivation of a pure form of worship. This youth in science and literature, and also for was the commencement of the famous the purpose of aiding in the translation of Brahma Samáj, which has become well the Holy Scriptures into Oriental languages. | known in this country through the visit a

few years ago of its present leader, Babu Keshab Chandra Sen.

During the first thirteen years of this century the cause of Christian missions in India passed through a very critical stage. Many members of the Indian Government and the Honourable Company were opposed to all efforts to evangelize India; and this opposition was carried so far that some missionaries were ordered to leave Calcutta, and one was actually compelled to do so. But there were men in India and in England, of great Christian zeal and enlightened minds, who were not trammelled by the wretched timidity and worldliness of the rulers, and they determined that new principles should be introduced into the Government of India. The battle was long and severe; but, as has been shown at page 46 of the SUNDAY MAGAZINE, in the year 1813 the friends of missions achieved a great victory.

In the following year the good ship Warren Hastings took out to Calcutta Bishop Middleton and two of his archdeacons, along with the Rev. Dr. Bryce, the first chaplain of the Scottish Established Church in Calcutta. The principles of Christian liberty were from this time forth acted upon by the Indian Government, and the course of Christian missionary effort was henceforth one of uninterrupted progress.

During the first quarter of this century the policy of Christian missionaries in their attacks upon Hinduism was for the missionaries to go to the position of the Hindus and attack them. The missionaries studied the Hindu languages and spoke to the people in their own vernaculars, translated the Scriptures into these languages, and, in short, clothed Christianity in an Oriental garb to make it intelligible to the Hindu mind. This no doubt was the only method which was practicable at that early period in the history of missionary effort. But another method was soon to be inaugurated exactly the reverse of the former, inasmuch as it consisted in bringing the Hindus to the intellectual position of the Christians as a means of bringing them into relation to the Gospel of Christ. This latter method has proved a most powerful instrument in changing the intellectual, social, and religious condition of India; and the honour of first employing it belongs to the Church of Scotland. In the year 1824 the General Assembly took into consideration the necessity and mode of conducting foreign missions, when a committee, with the Rev. Dr. Inglis as convener, was appointed to consider the subject and report to next meet

ing. To the distinguished convener of this committee must be attributed the honour of having expounded and carried through the General Assembly, and subsequently applied to practice, the principle which was henceforth to govern much of the missionary effort of the Christian Church. The great question which was discussed in the Assembly was, whether the natives of India should receive the blessings of general enlightenment and secular knowledge, as a preparation for the intelligent reception of the gospel of Christ. This question was answered in the affirmative; and the policy to be adopted by the Scottish mission was to be the elevation of the Hindu mind to such an intellectual and moral standpoint, as would enable our Hindu fellowsubjects to arrive at an intelligent and reasonable conclusion regarding the important questions connected with the Christian religion. The next most important step was to secure the services of an agent who would be able to carry out the policy of the committee; and in this they were singularly successful. In the year 1829 the Rev. ALEXANDER DUFF, having been ordained for missionary service in India, sailed for Calcutta in the month of November, and, after an eventful voyage, reached his destination in the spring of the following year. Endowed in a very remarkable degree with the perfervidum ingenium which is said to characterize his countrymen, he threw himself heart and soul into the great work which was before him. In carrying out the policy of the General Assembly, he established an institution in which English literature and science along with a knowledge of the Christian religion were communicated to the pupils, the medium of instruction being, as much as possible, the English language. Beginning with five pupils, this institution gradually increased its attendance until it numbered several hundreds upon its rolls.

During this second quarter of our century, the work of translation, or rather of revising translations, was continued. Numbers of vernacular schools were established in which the elements of Christian doctrine were taught. Numberless religious tracts were written in the vernacular language. The gospel was preached in the bazaars, at street corners, and in roadside chapels to as many as could be induced to listen to it. Thus the beginnings of Bengali Christian congregations were formed, and the foundation was laid for subsequent progress.

From the very first it was felt to be of great importance to have native Christians trained

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to be preachers of the gospel amongst their countrymen. It was thought that they, being well acquainted with the customs and modes of thought prevailing in India, would be able to present the gospel to their brethren more effectually and persuasively than foreigners could possibly do; and the most brilliant expectations were entertained regarding the success of the gospel when a well-educated band of native Christian missionaries and ministers could be prepared. It was with a view to the preparation of such a band that Bishop Middleton, the Baptist missionaries of Serampore, the General Assembly, and the the Church Missionary Society, established various training institutions. But the results which were brought about by these means did not correspond to the expectations which had been entertained. The General Assembly's Institution, from the year 1846, was presided over by one whose experience in the training of native Christians is worthy of careful attention. JAMES OGILVIE was a man of a refined and sensitive nature, of high mental culture, of an extremely quiet, unobtrusive disposition, and of a much less sanguine temperament than Dr. Duff. He undertook to train no less than fifteen young men for the Christian ministry, and endeavoured to give them, as nearly as possible, the education which is required for ministers of the Church of Scotland. He and his colleagues laboured patiently and assiduously in their work, and reached a fair amount of success as far as the communication of knowledge was concerned. But upon the whole his experience was one of disappointment. The native Christians, with whom he had to deal, thought themselves to be of immense importance-an idea which they very naturally drew from the accounts that appeared in the Missionary Record at home regarding their conversion and progress. The natural consequence was that they entertained high expectations regarding the position and salary they should obtain in the Indian Church. Their expectations were disappointed, and some of them in disgust betook themselves to other occupations. Out of the fifteen with whom Dr. Ogilvie began, only three were licensed to preach the gospel. But notwithstanding the fact that the high expectations of the early missionaries and of the Christian Church at the beginning of our century have not been realised, it still remains true that the attempts, which have hitherto been prosecuted with but indifferent success, are of the very greatest importance. The value of a well-trained and earnest native

agency cannot be very well over-estimated, and, now that we have learned to moderate our expectations regarding the character and efficiency of native Christian agents, we may be able better to adapt our plans to the circumstances which we have learned to exist, and thus to command a greater degree of success.

But I must now advance a step downwards along the stream of time to the events bearing upon missions which transpired in the third quarter of our century. About the beginning of this period the attention of the Government of India and of the India Office was directed to the condition of education in India. The result of this examination of the subject was the great "Educational Dispatch of 1854." In that famous paper there was provision made for the establishment of three universities in India, one at each of the presidency cities. These universities were to be examining bodies, and any college might become affiliated to them upon a guarantee being given that its educational staff would be maintained upon a footing adequate to the requirements of the course of study. The privileges offered by the University of Calcutta were very soon taken advantage of by the missionary institutions. The effects of this connection with the university were very important. The standard of the secular education which was given was raised, but the liberty of the missionaries to arrange their own course of study, and especially to give Christian instruction, was considerably interfered with. The high pressure of preparing for the university examinations had a tendency to force the Christian instruction into a subordinate position. however, has been conscientiously resisted, and Christian instruction has continued to be systematically given in all the great missionary institutions of learning. The young men who attend the higher classes! of these institutions are probably as well acquainted with the fundamental facts and doctrines of the Christian religion as the pupils of the higher classes of British Sundayschools; while many of the graduates of Calcutta can discuss the fundamental doctrines of the Christian, and indeed of all religion, with as much intelligence and good sense as are to be found amongst the most intelligent young men of Christian countries. But still it must be admitted that the majority of the students do not leave the missionary institutions with sympathy for the Christian religion. The power of national prejudice is very great; the social impediments in the way of

This tendency,

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becoming Christians are still enormous; the conservative elements in Hindu society, and especially in the female portion of it, are stronger than anything with which we are acquainted in our country; and the greatest result which missionary education, as well as the secular education of the Government Colleges, is producing, is unquestionably a wide-spread scepticism.

A very important development of missionary effort may be said to take its rise in the quarter of the century which I am now reviewing. Many years earlier attempts had been made to introduce enlightenment amongst the female portion of Hindu society by the establishment of schools for girls. But the usefulness of these schools was greatly restricted by the marriage customs of the Hindus, which require that after marriage, which always occurs at a very early age, the Hindu girls must be shut up in the seclusion of the zenána. For a long time the zenánas were closed to Christian ladies who might desire to introduce the light of the gospel into their darkness; but at length the purdahs were drawn aside, and the Hindu zenánas opened to the visits of lady missionaries. It was felt that the opening of the zenánas to the light of Christian truth was a most important step towards the evangelization of Calcutta. And hence different missionary societies established agencies whose chief object was to introduce the blessed light of the gospel into the darkness and helplessness of Hindu female life. The Church Missionary Society entered with zeal into this new field; the ladies' associations of the Scottish Churches did likewise; and the American Presbyterians established an important zenána mission, which is carrying on an extensive work.

This third quarter of our century is marked also by progress towards greater consolidation and independence on the part of the native Christian churches. The number of members of these churches has been growing

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apace, partly by natural increase and partly by additions from heathenism. The process of training native Christian ministers has also been going on, although not so extensively or successfully as could be desired, and the native Christian community has increased in influence as well as in extent, until now it exerts a very considerable moral power in Hindu society. One of the earliest converts to Christianity, the Rev. K. M. Ranerji, LL.D., a gentleman of wide and accurate scholarship and high Christian culture, is now placed at the head of almost every important movement amongst the natives of Calcutta ; while many of the Bengali Christians occupy, under Government and in connection with educational and missionary institutions, positions of honour and responsibility.

Some of the Bengali congregations, too, have advanced nearly or altogether to the status of self-supporting churches. In 1861 the members of the Bhawanipore native church selected a pastor for themselves, and contributed during the year ninety pounds towards his support; and ever since then that congregation has contributed almost all the funds necessary for the support of Christian ordinances amongst them. This is a favourable example of several instances in which Bengali Christian congregations in Calcutta have taken a position approaching independence.

Thus Christian missionary effort in Calcutta has been greatly blessed by the great Master for the advancement of whose kingdom it has been carried on; it has produced some results which were unexpected, and some which may, perhaps, be deplored; but it has unquestionably been productive of enormous changes in the intellectual and religious condition of the capital of India. The great Ruler of all human affairs only knows what are His own purposes, and to His wisdom and love we may well leave the fruits of our imperfect labours.

WAITING FOR THE ANGELS. A Visit to the Putney Hospital for Encurables. E sometimes think that of all the painful tasks devolving upon a doctor in his arduous work none can be more difficult than whispering the few words to the sorrowing relatives and friends of his patient, A few more hours and the end must come."

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But is this the physician's most difficult

duty? How many times has he seen the patient, whose eager, hungry gaze was fixed upon his face until his courage has failed for what he had nerved himself to say only five minutes before-that for him, too, there was no hope, although death may be far off yet? How can he tell the eager, hopeful sufferer, just on the

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