articles just alluded to, we have sketched its history, and shown how very far the modern Hindu has degenerated from

the old faith of his ancestors. Professor Monier Williams, to make the distinction between the ancient and the modern quite clear, calls the former Brahmanism and the latter Hinduism. The more learned Brahmins, indeed, still profess to hold the Brahmanism of the old sacred books (see GLEANER of January and February); but in practice they have

adopted the gross

idolatry and super

stition of the mas

ses of the people. The Brahmins themselves say that they have 330

of Siva and Kali, with his hideous elephant head and bloated body (see picture in GLEANER of April, 1874) are everywhere seen. "He is lord of the troops of mischievous and malignant imps that are supposed to cause obstacles and difficulties, and is therefore invoked at the commencement of all undertakings." The monkeygod Hanuman (see February GLEANER) is also a great favourite, especially in the Marathi country. But the people are not

millions of gods. Of the two great deities, Vishnu and Siva, who, with their wives Lakshmi and Kali, are worshipped under so many different forms, we have already written. others are almost equally popular. Images of Ganesa, the son

But some

content with the recognised deities. Every village has some object of worship of its own.

66

Upon every high place, and under every green tree," as among Israel of old, either a temple, or a shrine, or an idol, or a mere block of stone or wood streaked with red paint, marks the presence of a local god or goddess. There are sacred animals, as the cow, the serpent, and the monkey, never under any circumstances

to

be killed; sacred plants, as the tulsi (purple basil) and the pipal tree; sacred stones, as the salagram. Then there are innumerable sacred

places, the very soil and air of which are sanctifying. Of these the city of Benares stands first. To die within its precincts (ten miles round) ensures entrance to heaven. Even a European who commits the crime of eating beef will be saved if he dies at Benares. Mr. Leupolt once charged his pundit with lying. "What does it matter?" was the reply," do I not live at BeTwo nares ?" thousand temples,

immense numbers of sacred wells and pools, and half-a-million of idols, add to the sanctity of this Mecca of the Hindus. Prayaga (now Allahabad), Gaya, Hurdwar, Ayodhya, Nasik, are other specially holy cities. Rivers, springs, and pools, are

generally sacred. The banks of all the chief rivers in India are holy ground. The Ganges of course is the most revered of all. Pilgrims sometimes walk the whole length of its course, on the left bank, from the Himalayas to the sea, and then back again on the right bank,-which takes six years to accomplish.

Then there are sacred seasons, as the first day of the year, the day of the "swinging festival" (in February or March), the birthdays of Rama, Krishna, and Ganesa, and (in Bengal) the Durga-puja in October; and lucky days, as when a full moon falls on a Monday.

But how do the people worship? Not by public services. There is no such thing as congregational praise and prayer. "The priests in charge of the idols," says Professor M. Williams, "decorate them and bathe them with sacred water on holy days, and do them homage (pujah) with lights and rude music morning and evening. Offerings of flowers, fruits, grain, &c., are presented to the most popular gods (practically to the priests), by lay worshippers, and mantras or texts are repeated with prostrations of the body. Prayer, in our sense, there is none.'

In South India the Hindus are more superstitious than in the north. Not only are their temples grander and the ceremonial more imposing, but among the people generally devil-worship is common, and almost all their religion consists in endeavouring to avert the malice of evil and disembodied spirits. An Englishman, who was a terror to the district he resided in, died and was buried there. Fearing the anger of his restless soul, which was supposed to haunt the neighbourhood, the natives constantly deposited brandy and cigars on his tomb to propitiate him.

Of the Mohammedans of India it is unnecessary to speak, after the article in our June number. Buddhism (see May number) is only now found in Burmah, which is hardly India, though a part of the empire; but the Jains, a sect in the neighbourhood of Bombay, famous for its care of animal life- -even the minutest insects are a kind of Buddhists. The Sikhs of the Punjab have been referred to in our March, May, and July numbers.

As we have said, only one in 150 of the people of India can be counted as Christians, and of these only one-fifth are Protestants -the number being between three and four hundred thousand. We are far indeed from having won India for Christ! Yet there is ground for encouragement. In the ten years from 1861 to 1871 the number of Native Protestant Christians rose from 138,000 to 224,000, or 61 per cent. At that rate, all India would be Christian in 150 years. But it may come sooner than that, if God will. "Hinduism is sick unto death," said a learned and venerable Hindu, not many years since. "The ancient fortress of Hinduism," says Monier Williams, "is tottering to its fall. . . . What is to become of the people when their ancient faith sinks from beneath their feet? Only two other homes are before them a cold theism and a heart-stirring Christianity. Both are already established in India. But Christianity is spreading its boundaries more widely, and striking its foundations more deeply. It appeals directly to the heart. It is exactly suited to the needs of the masses. In Christianity alone is their true home."

INDIA REVISITED.

BY MRS. WEITBRECHT.

ETURNING to India after many years of absence, I can emphatically endorse the remark of Sir Bartle Frere quoted on page 7 in the January number of the GLEANER, that although, as there observed, the progress of the work seems slow to us, "the teaching of Christianity in India is effecting changes-moral, social, political-which for extent and rapidity are more extraordinary than anything that has been witnessed in modern Europe."

While deeply sympathising with the weary labourer on the

scorching plains of Bengal, and recalling personal recollections of those who were the workers thirty, forty, and more years ago, one is deeply impressed with the superior position of their successors of the present day. A convert of respectable standing was then rare; a Brahmin convert a unit; the few of humbler rank were too dependent on their European teachers, both for spiritual instruction and ministry, and for employment by which they could gain support for themselves and their families. The resources and energies of missionaries were taxed to the utmost, and their deepest feelings often painfully exercised as to how they should act when hopeful inquirers presented themselves, how bear the burden of a congregation who would look to them alone in the alienation from their people which the acceptance of Christianity would inevitably cause.

But now converts of good position are numerous, and Brahmins among them are no longer units. I sit daily beside a gifted lady of that caste preparing herself to become a teacher to her countrywomen-a lady whose dignified bearing, sweet, attractive countenance, and affectionate disposition, win the love of all who see her. Take this in connection with the remark of Henry Martyn, that the conversion of a Hindu Brahmin would be the nearest approach to a miracle of anything he could conceive of, and progress great and sure becomes at once apparent.

Again, I now see pretty, neat churches, with congregations of from 100 to 200 or 300 worshippers, who are ministered to by Native Pastors, and reside in dwellings far superior in comfort and arrangement to those of the heathen around them who are in as good circumstances, many more wealthy than they are. It is true that the cry is still heard from the lips of missionaries, "The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few," and this cry is still true; but while they utter it they are raising up from among the people themselves, men-yea, and women too-who are better fitted than any foreigners can be for going forth to gather into the fold of Christ "the children of God who are scattered abroad" over this vast land.

And I cannot shut my eyes to another striking mark of progress. Until twenty or thirty years ago the Bengalis were mostly confined to their own province, and were looked down on by people of the upper country as physically weak (which they are), and without independence or originality of character, though possessing great mental power. Such has been the influence of the thoroughly good and Christian education imparted by the European missionary, that now these very Bengalis are found occupying the highest and most influential positions all over North India, even in the Punjab; and I was struck with the reference to one such the other day-a Christian Brahmin in a responsible office, the trusted and effective helper in a missionary settlement" that he was one of the truest and most useful of men, an ornament and a blessing to their locality."

The readers of the GLEANER will neither be surprised nor disappointed when I proceed to trace a good proportion of the progress apparent to the advance that has been made in access to the women of India. We have had but from twenty to thirty years' trial in this special branch of missionary work, yet it has told in an astonishing degree, and is telling every day.

I have just visited a Brahmin homestead and seen the dark and desolate rooms in which the female inmates were formerly immured. Happily they are not immured now, though living a retired life still. The death of the father and family misfortune has made it needful for the widows to let the best part of their house, and they have let it to our lady missionaries for a girls' school, their own daughters being some of the most promising pupils. These widows showed me with much satisfaction the various apartments of their ancestral mansion, giving such explanations as opened the eyes to some of their family customs. One sees at a glance that the pupils in this school are of superior caste, their complexion being fairer, their features handsomer,

and their general bearing more dignified than that of the common people. And who is the teacher ? A truly earnest-minded Christian woman-a Eurasian [i.., of mixed European and Indian descent], born and brought up in India, and prepared for her work by a suitable training. The love which beams out of her eyes to her little scholars shows the deep interest she feels in them, and her hope and daily prayer is that she may be made the means of leading some of these little ones to rest in the bosom of her own dear Saviour. This is not her only school. She is engaged daily from eleven till five in a circle of such, and she also visits zenanas, and gives instruction to their secluded inmates, several of whom in her and other houses become secret believers in Jesus Christ, though not at liberty to confess Him.

This teacher is one of a large circle of trained Eurasians stationed in different localities, and I have been much interested in going occasionally with them, and in seeing the hopeful prospects opening out on all sides. These Eurasian teachers are supplemented when needful by Native Christian women, who have also been trained and prepared for the office, and are always fairly efficient-in some cases very clever and superior women going to independent work of their own. Both classes of teachers, who may be designated as hands and feet to the one or two European lady missionaries who superintend them, could be multiplied indefinitely if more local means were at our command, and many more are needed. Especially valuable should we find natives-educated widows of rather mature age-who could be placed in a central village, carry on a girls' school, and instruct the women of the locality.

Such villages abound in this populous land. I visited one the other day, which is a missionary centre for the entire neighbourhood. The presiding genius is a comely native between thirty and forty, a really superior woman, of considerable power of character and of earnest piety. She has seventy girls in daily attendance, whose reading, writing, ciphering, &c., but especially their knowledge of Scripture, showed her to be a teacher of no common order. She was evidently the trusted friend and adviser of the village women, some dozen or more of whom clustered round her-after the girls had retired and listened to the old, old story from her lips. "What do you do on Sundays?" I inquired. "We read our Bibles, sing our hymns, and talk to those who are sure to pay us visits, and then we pray for God's blessing on it all." I was pleased to notice that she opened her school, and closed it too, with prayer.

This is a sample of the sapping and mining which is going on in some Hindu villages, and if by the sympathy and help of our sisters at home we can increase this some into many we shall rejoice. Who among the readers of the GLEANER Would like to become responsible for one such village mission? The average cost would be about £40 a year for salaries, house rent, &c., &c. As I notice the great risk to health and its frequent failure in the zealous, earnest-hearted European lady, and as the eye opens more widely to the vast needs of this land, one longs intensely for the multiplication of both the kinds of native agency alluded to, and, to prepare this, a separate training-school for superior native women is much needed. I hope that need will be realised by those who can supply it, and that very soon it may be no longer a thing to be desired, but a thing in possession.

European lady missionaries are indispensable, not only as instructors of high-born native ladies, but as heads and directors of the work, and to give it a position among the natives. We have between thirty and forty ladies connected with our circle of missions, i.e., those of the Indian Female Instruction Society; but these are scattered all over India, and many a desirable place of course remains untouched either by our or any other agency, and must so remain till labourers come forth in increased numbers.

A very great need in connection with our work in North India is the presence of a lady of experience, who should reside in Calcutta, and be general superintendent of the whole worka mother in Israel, one to whom all might go for advice and encouragement, and whose time would be profitably occupied in visiting Native Christian ladies, and other sections of the community, who should be noticed and helped in various ways. One other point presses, which, though mentioned last, is all important: the need of more earnest, constant, and persevering prayer, both among the labourers in India and those who send them forth. On the voyage out I read the Memoir of Ragland, and was deeply impressed by this point, so striking in his missionary career. When a brother spoke to him on any subject, he at once knelt with him to pray about it, and all his own missionary plans were conceived and carried out in this spirit of continuous prayer. A blessing such as was desired and hoped for followed, and answers to his prayers are still being traced, long after his death. I was reminded of a similar feature in the late Mr. Pennefather's character, and the effect is similar in all one sees at Mildmay, that spot so rich in spiritual blessing. May our missionary committees and our missionary supporters, and may we ourselves, be penetrated by the spirit of prayer, such as marked Ragland and Pennefather, and a blessing will fall as abundantly on us, and our wilderness will become a fruitful field, the Spirit being poured upon us from on high!

CALCUTTA, March 1st, 1878.

SOME TESTIMONIES TO MISSION WORK IN INDIA. The following testimonies to success of the missionary work in India are selected from a much larger number:

Lord Lawrence, late Viceroy-"I believe, notwithstanding all that the English people have done to benefit that country [India], the missionaries have done more than all other agencies combined."

Sir Bartle Frere, late Governor of Bombay-" I assure you that, whatever you may be told to the contrary, the teaching of Christianity among 160 millions of civilised, industrious Hindus and Mohammedans in India is affecting changes, moral, social, and political, which for extent and rapidity of effect are far more extraordinary than anything you or your fathers have witnessed in modern Europe."

Sir Donald M'Leod, late Lieut.-Governor of the Punjab-"In many places an impression prevails that our Missions have not produced results adequate to the efforts which have been made, but those who hold such opinions know but little of the reality." "The

Report of the Secretary of State and Council of India upon Moral and Material Progress and Condition of India," printed for the House of Commons in 1873-"The Government of India cannot but acknowledge the great obligation under which it is laid by the benevolent exertions made by these 600 missionaries, whose blameless example and self-denying labours are infusing new vigour into the stereotyped life of the great populations placed under English rule, and are preparing them to be in every way better men and better citizens of the great Empire in which they dwell."

Report of the Government Census of the Presidency of Madras, taken in 1874-"The Protestant Missions. have made rapid strides of recent years in the conversion of the inhabitants to Christianity. An immense amount of good work has been done by the zealous and earnest agents of these Missionary Societies in the education of the people."

The Calcutta correspondent of the "Pall Mall Gazette"-"No one who has studied the effects of a Missionary Station in any District of India can help feeling that it yields a good return for the money spent upon it."

Lord Northbrook, late Viceroy, on his return to England, wrote to the Secretaries of the Church Missionary Society to put down his name as a subscriber of £100 a year. In a speech delivered at the Society's anniversary in May, 1877, he said "The work of the Society in India is entirely worthy of your hearty support; and the workers, those who are carrying on the preaching of the Gospel in India, are worthy of all support, encouragement, and admiration. I have known many of them, having taken every opportunity which naturally came in my way to visit their institutions. I know of no single exception to the general esteem in which the Church Missionary Society's missionaries are held in India."