صور الصفحة
PDF
النشر الإلكتروني
[graphic][graphic][graphic][merged small][merged small]

the Church. The religious revival of 1873 took place both among the Syrians and the C.M.S. congregations. It promised to have a wide-spread and blessed influence, and undoubtedly much good has actually resulted from it. But great extravagances ensued; some who professed to be prophets proclaimed the Second Advent of our Lord in six years' time; a sect called the Six-years' Party was formed, which was joined by 5,000 Syrians and 300 Protestants; and, to the deep distress of the Church, one of the ablest of the C.M.S. clergy, a Brahmin convert of Mr. Peet's, fell into the snare, and became the leader of the move

BRAHMAN YOGI ENGAGED IN MEDITATION.

ment. The party has been much discredited by the failure of some shorter predictions, and is now rapidly losing ground; but it has been a master-stroke of the great adversary.

The sixty-one thousand Protestants returned in the census before mentioned include not only the C.M.S. congregations, but also those connected with the London Missionary Society in the southern part of the kingdom. The population there is not Malayâlam, but Tamil, and some 40,000 have embraced Christianity. Trevandrum itself, the capital of the kingdom, is occupied by that Society.

[merged small][graphic][merged small][merged small][subsumed]

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

Of the C.M.S. Travancore and Cochin Mission.

1795. The kingdoms of Travancore and Cochin taken under British protection. 1806. Dr. Claudius Buchanan sent by Lord Wellesley to inquire into the condition of the Syrian Church.

1809. Dr. Buchanan, by sermons and speeches in England, awakened public interest in Travancore.

1813. Colonel Munro, British Resident in Travancore, established a College for the Syrian Church.

1814. Colonel Munro invited the C.M.S. to Travancore.

1816. Rev. T. Norton, first Missionary to Travancore, arrived at Allepie, May 8th.

Rev. B. Bailey, second ditto, arrived November 19th.

1817. Bailey established the station at Cottayam.

1818. Revs. Henry Baker and Joseph Fenn joined the Mission. 1818-1835. The Missionaries worked in connection with the Syrian Church, promoting its reform and the education of its people, and translating the Bible, Prayer-book, &c.

During the same period, Missionary work among the heathen carried on by the Rev. T. Norton at Allepie, and the Rev. S. Ridsdale at Cochin. Communicants in 1835, about 150.

1824. Bailey set up a printing press, and printed the Scriptures with Malayalam types made by himself.

1825. The arrival of a new Bishop sent from Syria caused confusion in the Church. The Native Government expelled him from the country; but soon after, a new Native Metropolitan, hostile to reform, succeeded to power, and the Missionaries found great difficulty in carrying on their work.

1833. Rev. Joseph Peet joined the Mission.

1835. Bishop Wilson, of Calentta, visited Travancore, and recommended reforms to the Syrian Metropolitan.

1836. The Synod of the Syrian Church rejected the proposals for reform. 1837. Under the advice of Bishop Corrie of Madras, the Missionaries separated from the Syrian Church, and founded a new College at Cottayam.

1838. Peet began the Mission at Mavelicara.

1839. The first stone laid of Cottayam Mission Church, November 21st. 1840. Rev. J. Hawksworth joined the Mission.

Rev. J. Chapman Principal of Cottayam College.

1841. Trichur Station established by Rev. H. Harley.

Bishop Spencer confirmed about 400 converts at his Primary Visitation.

1842. Cottayam Church, built by Mr. Bailey, opened July 19th.

1813. Rev. Henry Baker, jun., joined the Mission.

1814. George Matthan ordained by Bishop Spencer, June 2nd, the first Native in Anglican orders.

1845. Peet's Church at Mavelicara opened, built chiefly with a legacy from

Hannah More.

Pallam Station established by H. Baker, jun.

1847. Jacob Chandy, secord Native clergyman, ordained. 1848. H. Baker, jun., began the Mission to the Hill Arrians.

1819. Tiruwella Station opened.

1850. Rev. J. G. Beuttler joined the Mission.

Number of baptized converts 3,364.

Movement among the slave population in favour of Christianity.
B. Bailey retired, after 34 years' service.

1851. Mundakayam Christian Arrian settlement founded.

1852. First Arrian baptisms, January 15th.

1851. Kunnankulam Station established by Rev. J. G. Beuttler. Rev. R. Collins Principal of Cottayam College.

Mar Athanasius, a former C.M.S. student at Madras, became Metran of the Syrian Church.

First slave converts baptized by Hawksworth, September 8th. Bitter persecution followed."

Adherents, 5,550; Communicants, 1,370.

1855. Mundakayam became a regular station.

Slavery"virtually abolished" by the Travancore Government.
Rev. H. Andrews joined the Mission.

1856. Koshi Koshi, Jacob Tharien, Oomen Mamen, and George Curean ordained.

1859-1861.-F. N. Maltby, Esq., British Resident in Travancore, gave the Mission much sympathy and aid.

1859. Cambridge Nicholson Institution, for training Native clergy and schoolmasters, opened by Hawksworth.

First Confirmation of Arrians at Mundakayam by Bishop Dealtry.
173 confirmed. At this time 800 Arrian converts.

In this year, 117,300 copies of books, &c., issued from the Cottayam
Press.

1860. Rev. J. M. Specchly joined the Mission.

K. Kiruwella ordained.

1861. Adherents, 7,900; Communicants, 1,720.

Remarkable conversion of a Brahmin family of ten persons at
Mavelicara.

1862. November. Bishop Gell confirmed 1,010 persons.
1863. January. Hawksworth died.

Mr. Peet, reviewing thirty years' work, reported in the Mavelicara
District eleven congregations, seven stone churches, 2,323 baptized
Christians, 100 Catechumens.

Rev. R. H. Maddox joined the Mission.

1864. Mr. Speechly Principal of the Cambridge Nicholson Institution. 1865. Peet died at Mavelicara, August 11th, after 32 years' service.

1866. H. Baker, sen., died at Cottayam, July 22nd, after 48 years' service. 1867. Revs. J. H. Bishop and F. Bower joined the Mission. Mr. Bishop Principal of Cottayam College.

1868. Adherents, 12,782; Communicants, 3,174. Villages containing Christians, 100; Native Clergy, 14; Native Teachers, 175; Scholars, 3,296. Church Contributions, Rs. 1,987.

1869. Native Pastorate organisation began. Twelve Pastorates formed. First Meeting of Church Council, September 22nd. Hopeful prospects of reform in the Syrian Church, under Mar Athanasius.

1870. Rev. G. Matthan, senior Native clergyman died, March 4th, after 26 years' ministerial labours.

1871. Revs. J. Caley and W. J. Richards joined the Mission. 1872. Adherents, 15,165; Communicants, 3,417.

Great progress of reforming movement in the Syrian Church. 1873. Remarkable religious awakening both in the Syrian and Protestant congregations, through the preaching of Peet's Brahmin converts. 1875. January. H. Baker baptized 593 catechumens in a few days, in the Cottayam and Pallam Districts.

May. Commencement of the "six years" schism. Joined by 300 Protestants, including the Rev. Justus Joseph (one of Peet's Brahmin converts), and 4,000 Syrians. November. Bishop Gell confirmed 970 persons in H. Baker's districts. 1876. Rev. W. Smith, of Trichur, died.

1877. Mar Athanasius died, July 16th-a serious blow to the reforming movement in the Syrian Church.

1878. Henry Baker, jun., died at Madras, after 35 years' service. Arrian Christians, 2,000.

Adherents, 19,931; Communicants, 4,930; Villages containing Christians, 254; Native Clergy, 17; Native Teachers, 225; Scholars, 4,665; Church Contributions, Rs. 5,067.

1879. July 25th. Rev. J. M. Speechly consecrated first Bishop of Travancore and Cochin.

SUNDAY SCHOOLS IN TRAVANCORE:

As Conducted by the Students of the Cottayam College. BY THE REV. F. W. AINLEY.

E are early risers in India, and our first Sunday school meets soon after seven in the morning. Let me describe it to you.

An oblong room with two windows, both on the same side (no glass in them, but shutters to keep out the sun and rain), and two doors, one at each end, white walls glazed with chunam (a kind of lime), and for the rest a sanded floor and a black-board on tressels. Nothing else, until a little boy of nine or thereabouts (with very thin legs and arms, and very black all over, for he works all day in the hot sun, wearing scarcely any clothes and getting little to eat) comes in and sits cross-legged on the floor; then another, a year older or younger, enters and sits by his side, and so on, till a group of seven or eight sit in a line, smoothing the sand on the floor with the palms of their hands, to make it ready for their lesson in the alphabet.

At the other end of the room is a different group. There you may see, Sunday after Sunday, an old man, perhaps sixty years old, and his son, with three or four others, all of a low caste, who have got in their hard hands copies of. the Gospel of St. Mark in the Malayalam language, and are learning a verse or two, chanting it in a monotone, until the two teachers who conduct this school arrive. They presently come in, fresh from their morning bath in the river, nicely dressed in white linen coat and trousers, looking ready for work. They are sons of some of our native clergy, and are being educated during the week for some profession, but are glad to work for Christ's sake on Sunday.

Then the school begins. They can't sing. Most of them can't read, but are able to understand a simple prayer, and to join in the Lord's prayer very heartily. One of the teachers then takes a piece of chalk and writes on the black-board a letter of the alphabet in the Malayalam character, and the scholars try to trace the letter with the finger in the sand on the floor, repeating the letter aloud until it is learnt, and so at one time learning to read and write. Meanwhile, the rest, who have already gone through all this, and are now able to read, are

standing round their teacher and reading verse by verse a chapter of the Gospel. These are afterwards baptized and prepared for confirmation, and several have become regular communicants. This school goes on for about an hour, after which the children are given a good meal and dismissed.

This is our lowest school, but we go up higher. The country hereabouts is agricultural, with much jungle and wood, and scattered up and down for miles round are the huts of those who till their own bit of ground (growing plantains and cocoanuts, and sweet potatoes), or are employed on the rice fields of their richer neighbours. There has risen up in late years, even amongst the poorest, a desire for education, and strolling schoolmasters wander from place to place seeking employment. If they can gather together some twenty or thirty children in one place, they put up a rough shed for a school, and continue to teach there on the week-days as long as the children will come. All their teaching is secular, and nothing is done by them on Sunday. We take advantage of this, and paying the native schoolmaster a small sum monthly to get his scholars together, go out on Sunday to these schools and teach them the Word of God. I well remember paying a visit to one of these schools in the jungle. Starting about half-past three in the afternoon, when the power of the sun was beginning to fail, we walked the first part of our way along the side of rice fields, the green blades springing up out of the water, giving promise of plenty in due time. Presently we came to a small canal, not very deep, but broad, and, there being no bridge or boat, were carried over on the shoulders of a native man-servant who was with us. This happened twice, and, after some scrambling through bushes and winding ways in the wood, we reached our school in a small clearing in the jungle. Here was the heathen teacher, with his head all shaven save one long lock of black hair growing from the top of his head, which was coiled (after the fashion of the country) into a large knob on his forehead; here, too, were his pupils the boys belonging to the caste of smiths standing by themselves; those to the caste of woodmen by themselves; and the little girls, with brilliant black hair and eyes and very many rings (sometimes eight or ten) in their ears, forming another group. Perhaps a few of the fathers or mothers would come to hear what was to be said, and to those who could read tracts or leaflets would be given. We have many schools of this kind: one held in the verandah of a large shop in the market, another in an unoccupied house in the village, and others in the heart of the wood.

Besides all these, we have our ordinary Sunday School in the C.M.S. College, conducted much after the fashion of schools at home. All the masters are native Christians, and the scholars are natives too, their ages reaching from six to twenty-six. One of our most useful and clever mission agents, Mr. T. Matthai, teaches the largest class, taking one of the parables or historical events of the Bible, and, with the help of a picture, making its meaning understood by all.

In this school our highest class deserves notice. They meet in the College library, and all the teaching here is in English. Their teacher is at present taking a course of lessons in the Articles, and the boys show great interest in the work. I have often taken this class. Sitting at a table with my open Bible, with twenty intelligent-looking boys gathered round, all hoping in future time to make a mark in the world, we should read in the English Bible some chapter bearing on the particular subject of the afternoon, e.g., "Of the sufliciency of the Holy Scriptures for salvation." They would then give proofs from the Bible. itself, showing that they had been carefully taught.

After the lesson is over all the different classes meet together to hear an address, after which a native lyric or hymn is sung, and they are dismissed with prayer.

|

THE CHURCH AND THE PRESS. OME good people have been much troubled of late years because "the Church "-meaning the Church of England-is not sufficiently appreciated by "the Press "-meaning the newspapers; and the matter has been solemnly discussed at certain great meetings. With this the GLEANER has nothing to do; and the Church" and "Press" we now wish to introduce to our readers have never been suspected of mutual antagonism, but have dwelt together in unity for nearly forty years. The Church is Benjamin Bailey's church, and the Press is Benjamin Bailey's press.

66

Benjamin Bailey was one of our first missionaries in Travancore. He went out in 1816, and laboured most faithfully for thirty-four years. He founded the station at Cottayam, which has ever since been the centre of the Society's work. He began by clearing the jungle, building a house, planting a garden, and, as soon as he had mastered the language, translating the Bible. Then he wanted to begin printing his translations; but there was no press; and after waiting two or three years, he set to work and constructed a wooden one himself, which is still preserved, and is seen in the picture. But where was the type to print from? None of the Malayalam character existed, and when the Government foundry at Madras cast some for him, the letters were so badly formed as to be almost useless; so he determined to provide this want also with his own hands. He had never seen a type-foundry or its apparatus; but he obtained an old cyclopædia and a small book on printing, and, with the help of a common Native carpenter and two Native silversmiths, he set to work again; and so complete was his success, that the print was pronounced by the British Resident at the Maharajah's court to be "extremely beautiful and correct."

From that press and those types were produced, within a few years, complete editions of the Bible, the Prayer-book, and two Dictionaries, translated and compiled from beginning to end by Mr. Bailey alone, and printed under his superintendence. One of the most interesting conversions in the history of the Mission resulted from the reading of one of these Prayer-books by a Nair -one of the most influential castes in Travancore.

The Cottayam Press is now an important institution. It employs forty persons, and is quite self-supporting. It prints and binds for the Bible Society, the Maharajah's Government, the Travancore Public Works Department, &c.

After the separation of the Mission from the Syrian Church, Mr. Bailey threw himself into another work, the building of a church for the Protestant congregation. The first stone was laid November 21st, 1839, and "Christ Church," the building of which we give a picture, was dedicated to the service of God on July 19th, 1812. Soon afterwards Bishop Daniel Wilson, of Calcutta, visited Travancore, and spoke of this church as "the glory of Southern India"; but it has since been excelled by others in Tinnevelly. Within its walls most, if not all, of the Travancore ordinations have taken place, and several confirmations. On the last occasion, in November, 1875, the Bishop of Madras confirmed 551 candidates, and on the following Sunday ordained three Native presbyters and a deacon.

The Rev. W. J. Richards, who has sent us the photographs, thus writes:-

It is now forty years since the church was begun, as its founder states, "in reliance on the prontises of God." It still remains a witness to the same. He sleeps with his fathers, after bequeathing to Malayali many valuable gifts. First, the priceless Word of God in the mother tongue; then the venerable and now heartily cherished liturgy of the Church of England; two dictionaries hitherto invaluable to the missionary; a book depôt, a printing press, foundry for type, &c., &c., complete, and still in full work; and last, not least, this fine church.

The church needs repair after forty years' brave defiance of Travancore monsoons. The chief engineer to the Travancore Government gives it as

[ocr errors]

his opinion that a teak-wood roof is an essential to stand the heavy rains of the south-west coast. This will cost not less than Rs. 6,000. To raise this sum much help I will be needed from the Church Missionary Society and from friends in England. The collections available in Cottayam from the church funds and offertories will reach to over Rs. 1,000. The Maharajah of Travancore, G.C.S.I., has graciously given Rs. 500 towards the repairs, and the British Resident at his court Rs. 50. [A rupee is about 18. 7d.] Besides helping to continue the pure worship of God according to the service of the Reformed Church

[graphic]

of England, contributors to the

fund for the repairs

may rejoice that

they are assisting

to perpetuate the memory of what should never be forgotten-the valu

able work of the late Rev. Benjamin Bailey, the first in the famous missionary trio of Cottayam-Bailey,Fenn,

and Baker.

In giving a

picture (a French engraving) of King Mtesa and his chiefs in the May GLEANER, we said that we did not know its original Source. In Mr. Stanley's work, The Dark Continent, there is a picture, from a photograph taken by him in Uganda, from which evidently the French engraving was adopted. We had not noticed this before. Some of our friends have doubted the authenticity of our picture, but it turns out to be quite correct.

[graphic][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][graphic][graphic][merged small][merged small]
« السابقةمتابعة »