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 Presbyterian Church in the 
 
 U.S.A. Board of Foreign 
 The great revolt in India 
 
 ■^'s^^^'myjmr. 
 
T H E 
 
 MAR 9 1904 • 
 
 GREAT REVOLT IN INDIA: 
 
 ITS EFFECTS UPON 
 
 THE MISSIONS 
 
 PRESBYTERIAN BOARD, 
 
 / 
 
 T, L> Vli\f-oh 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 PEINl-ED FOH THE BOARD OF FOEEIGN MISSIONS, 
 
 By Edwaeb O. Jenkins, No. 26 Frankfort St. 
 
 1857. 
 
MISSIONS OF THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD. 
 
 GREAT REVOLT IN" INDIA. 
 
 A MISSIONARY meeting- of much interest was held in 
 the Scotch Pi-esbyterian Church in this city, on Sabbath 
 evening, the 4th inst., in connection with the peculiar 
 and trying circumstances of the missionaries and others 
 in India at the present time. In the absence of Dr. 
 Lowrie, to whom the correspondence with these missions 
 more particularly belongs, remarks were made by the 
 other Secretaries, the substance of which are now pub- 
 lished for the information they contain in relation to 
 the present condition and future prospects of these mis- 
 sions. 
 
 REMARKS BY REV. J. LEIGHTON WILSON. 
 
 In the prosecution of the great work of spreading the 
 knowledge of the gospel over the earth, an enterprise 
 involving the honour and glory of the Redeemer, as well 
 as the best interest of mankind, we have experienced, 
 in one of the great sections of the heathen world, an un- 
 expected and almost overwhelming revulsion ; in view 
 of which, it becomes us, as a church and people, to 
 humble ourselves before God, and inquire why this great 
 calamity has been permitted to befall us. 
 
 But let us glance first at the history of our missionary 
 
6 
 
 labours in India, and the causes wliich have led to this 
 sad disaster. 
 
 Northern, or Northwestern India, the seat of this re- 
 volt, is also the scene of the earliest missions of the 
 Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. It covers 
 about the third of the whole of British India, and has a 
 population of more than thirty millions, made up chiefly 
 of Hindoos, Mohammedans, and Sikhs. It has always 
 been regarded as a most interesting field of missionary 
 labour, not only on account of its own size and import- 
 ance, but for its central geographical position, furnish- 
 ing a doorway, as it were, to all the great nations of 
 western, central, northern, and eastern Asia, all of which 
 in their turn must become interesting fields of mission- 
 ary enterprise. Its importance in a missionary point of 
 view, can scarcely therefore be exaggerated. 
 
 It is more than twenty years since our missionary 
 brethren first i-eared the gospel standard among the 
 pagan and Mohammedan population in that far-ofif land. 
 They were not only the pioneers there, but up to the 
 present day, they have been the largest and altogether 
 the most effective missionary body in that part of India. 
 
 At the time they commenced their labours, that part 
 of Northern India had been but partially subdued 
 to British rule, and the fires of hatred were still smould- 
 ering in the hearts of the people ; and especially in 
 the hearts of the Mohammedan population, who had been 
 hurled from the proud eminence they held in that country 
 for a long series of years. 
 
 The great mass of the Hindoo population, as had been 
 the case in all other parts of India where British au- 
 thority had been firmly established, soon became recon- 
 ciled to their new rulers; and indeed, looked up to them 
 
with gratitude, for having delivered them from the in- 
 tolerable yoke of Mohammedanism. 
 
 This would have been the case also with the high 
 caste Hindoos, who, with the Mohammedans, are the 
 chief actors in these bloody tragedies, if it had not been 
 for their extreme jealousy of the levelling influence of 
 Christianity. 
 
 The first station occupied by our mission forces was 
 Lodiana, a city of eighty thousand inhabitants, and oc- 
 cupying a central position of what is usiially denomi- 
 nated Northwestern India. From this point our mis- 
 sionary labours were gradually extended in a south- 
 easterly direction, along the banks of the Ganges 
 and Jumna, to Allahabad at their junction ; and at a 
 later period in a northwesterly direction as far as Pesh- 
 awur, a city in the extreme northwest corner of the 
 Punjab, and on the borders of Afghanistan. Between 
 Peshawur on the northwest, and Allahabad on the south- 
 east, a distance of nearly a tliousand miles, we have 
 fifteen principal missionary stations, all nearly on a line 
 with each other, and located, for the most part, in large 
 cities, the names of which are sufficiently familiar to 
 the readers of our missionary journals. 
 
 These stations have been occupied for nearly twenty 
 years past by a missionary force from this country of 
 about fifty persons, besides a large number of native 
 helpers, whom they have trained up on the ground. 
 Thirteen Christian churches have been organized at 
 these different stations, to which there had been con- 
 stant accessions of hopeful converts, especially during 
 the two last years. Up to the period of the recent dis- 
 turbances, our missionary brethren had in their schools, 
 under Christian training, nearly four thousand native 
 
youths. For fifteen j^ears past four printing presses 
 had been industriously employed in printing the word 
 of God and other religious books ; and nearly one hun- 
 dred and fifty millions of pages of printed truth have 
 been scattered far and wide over that region of countrj^. 
 
 This brief statement shows that the missionary work 
 had been prosecuted with great vigour. Our brethren 
 were diligent and happy in their work. They felt that 
 they were in that far-off land by the appointment of their 
 Saviour ; and not only did they enjoy many tokens of 
 his approval, but, ever and anon, as a warm-hearted 
 convert from Mohammedanism or Brahmanism joined 
 their company, they felt less like strangers in a strange 
 land. Their prospects were becoming brighter and 
 brighter every day, and their hearts glowed with love 
 and gratitude as they contemplated the ripening harvest 
 in every direction. They had sowed in tears — they had 
 toiled and borne the heat and burthen of the day, and 
 now they are whetting their sickles to gather the rich 
 harvest at their very doors. 
 
 But suddenly a dark and mysterious cloud appears on 
 the horizon, not larger at first than a man's hand, but it 
 extends and spreads itself, until the whole heavens are 
 covered with blackness, save that lurid flame which oc- 
 casionally flashes across its bosom, to make its black- 
 ness more black. All is silent and trembling ; when a 
 fiery torrent gushes forth, and like the desolating lava, 
 threatens to consume and sweep away everything good 
 in the sight of God, or dear to the heart of the Christian 
 believer. 
 
 It is soon seen that the Mohammedans and high caste 
 Hindoos, natural enemies under other circumstances, but 
 like Pilate and Herod at the trial of Jesus, are leagued 
 
9 
 
 together for the extirpation of everybody and every- 
 thing that can in any way be identified with the sacred 
 name of Christ. These remorseless men, having seized 
 the military power of the country, seem to be transform- 
 ed into fiends, and deeds of cruelty are perpetrated, 
 which need not be recited, but which scarcely have a 
 parallel in the annals of the human race. 
 
 Most of our missionary brethren, with their little ones, 
 by the good hand of God upon them, made their way to 
 places of refuge which had been provided for them. One 
 company, alas! we fear, were overtaken by the storm 
 and sunk down in the open plain under the relentless 
 strokes of their cruel persecutors. 
 
 The question involuntarily springs up in thousands 
 of hearts, Why was this ? Was there no covert provid- 
 ed for them ? Where was the angel of the covenant ? 
 Were these not as dear to the Saviour as the others, and 
 where was the promise that He would be with them to 
 the end of the world ? Why were they not hid away 
 until the storm had passed, and then brought forth, as 
 their surviving brethren undoubtedly will be, to labour 
 afresh for their Saviour ? 
 
 But it is easier to propound, than to answer such ques- 
 tions. God has reasons for permitting this, and those 
 reasons, are founded both in love and wisdom. What 
 he does we know not now, but shall know hereafter, 
 
 It would inflict needless pain upon ourselves, to try 
 to bring up to our imaginations, the scenes connected 
 with the martyrdom of these Christian friends. They 
 are freed, happy spirits now. The night of sorrow is 
 gone, and the day of gladness has dawned brightly upon 
 them. The cry of anguish has been turned into songs 
 of exultation. The blood-stained martyr garments have 
 
10 
 
 been exchanged for robes washed, and made white in 
 the blood of the Lamb. 
 
 They have left their friends, and the church to which 
 they belonged, a comforting memorial, in the declara- 
 tion made in the immediate prospect of a violent death, 
 that " they were willing to lay down their lives for Him 
 who had died for them." 
 
 Could the angel who stood by them in the dark hour 
 of death, reveal all that transpired at that moment ; the 
 composure with which they laid their dying heads on 
 the Saviour's bosom; the accents of love which he 
 whispered in their ears; the beams of joy that were shed 
 down upon their troubled spirits from Heaven: and the 
 bright visions of heavenly glory that were revealed to 
 them, it would be more than mortal man could endure. 
 
 We have but little idea of what is passing between 
 the Saviour and the dying Christian, under any circum- 
 stances. The martyr Stephen, while enduring the ruth- 
 less assaults of his cruel murderers, " looked up stead- 
 fastly to heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus 
 standing at the right hand of God." This much of his 
 experience has been revealed to us. What else he may 
 have seen and heard, we know not. 
 
 So in relation to the death of these beloved mission- 
 aries. The Saviour was undoubtedly present to console 
 and sustain, though he did not, for wise reasons, avert 
 the stroke of death. And now that they are exultant in 
 heaven, counting it their highest honour, that they were 
 called to suffer a martyr's death, why should we not 
 wipe away our tears, and rejoice with them, that " the 
 Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 
 
 It is now generally admitted that the Mohammedans, 
 and the high caste Hindoos, of whom the Bengal army 
 
11 
 
 was, iu a great measure, composed, were not only tlie 
 originators, but have been the chief actors in this bloody 
 revolt. 
 
 A variety of causes, no doubt, operated to stir up this 
 rebellion. Impatience of foreign rule on the part of the 
 insurgents, hatred of Christianity, and mismanagement 
 on the part of the East India Company, have, no doubt, 
 been the chief causes. 
 
 Many have maintained the idea that this outbreak is 
 to be ascribed mainly to the presence and influence of 
 missionaries. But this is a total misapprehension of the 
 facts of the case. The revolt is entirely a military one. 
 The great mass of the people have as yet felt little or 
 no sympath}^ with the movement. It is confined to the 
 Mohammedans and the high caste Hindoos, of which the 
 Bengal army is almost wholly composed, and to which 
 the missionaries have had no access in past years. 
 
 It is possible that these men may have regarded with 
 jealousy the labours of the missionary, and especially 
 their success among he people. It would not be sur- 
 prising if such had been the case. Our Saviour foi-e- 
 warns us that his religion, though essentially peaceful, 
 and destined to establish, ultimately, universal peace on 
 earth, would nevertheless cause disturbance in its pro- 
 gress among men. His disciples encountered opposi- 
 tion at every stage of their work. The history of Paul 
 is made up in a great measure with accounts of tumults 
 that followed upon his preaching. 
 
 We do not deny that some such feeling- may have 
 been excited in the minds of those who have been the 
 leaders in this revolt. 
 
 But what if this were the main cause, or the neces- 
 sary consequences of preaching the gospel to such com- 
 
12 
 
 niunities ? Should we on this account desist ? Where 
 then would be our faith? — where our fidelity to Him, 
 ■whose right it is to reign over these benighted men? 
 Have we enlisted in his service but to turn our backs 
 at the first appearance of danger ? 
 
 And what should the British government do, even if it 
 had been ascertained that the labours of the mission- 
 aries had been the main cause of the revolt ? Will they, 
 dare they put forth a hand to arrest the chariot of the 
 Redeemer ? Would that government cast ofi^ her own 
 religion, that she might rule over a heathen realm ? And 
 if she were even so disposed, would she, could she bear 
 rule for any considerable length of time over men with 
 such natures, such hearts, as have been displayed in this 
 recent outbreak ? 
 
 But the great question with us is to ascertain what 
 lessons God intends for us by these aflQictive dispensa- 
 tions. The conflict between the British army and the 
 insurgent Sepoys, will not, probably, be very protracted. 
 English authority, to all human appearance, must be 
 restored. But the conflict will have been a very costly 
 one to us. When we come to survey the field of car- 
 nage, we shall find that four of our dearest missionaries 
 and their families are gone, and more than $100,000 
 worth of property destroyed. Surely it becomes us to 
 inquire what lessons the great Head of the Church 
 would impart to us by this dispensation of his providence. 
 
 1st. One of the designs of this providence is un- 
 doubtedly to humble us before God, and lead us to 
 more earnest prayer. 
 
 Should it not be regarded as a rebuke for the little 
 interest we have felt in this great work ? God in his 
 providence threw open the whole of India to us. The 
 
13 
 
 evil passions of wicked men were kept under the re- 
 straints of his g-race. Every facility of access to the 
 country was placed within our reach. The most abun- 
 dant resources were placed at the disposal of the Church, 
 and if we had done what we might and what we ought, 
 the influences of the gospel might have become so pow- 
 erful that the catastrophe we mourn might have been 
 averted altogether. We laid an offering on the altar, it 
 is true, but, in the language of another, it was so small, 
 " that God consumed it in anger !" ! how humili- 
 ating the thought that God should have found it neces- 
 sary to adopt so severe a measure to rouse us from our 
 indifference and inactivity. 
 
 2d. Another design of this providence, undoubtedly, 
 is to give us correct notions of the true character of the 
 heathen ; and the intrinsic difficulty of the work of es- 
 tablishing the gospel among them. We are prone to 
 lose sight of this. Most of those who have written 
 about them have looked only upon the surface — they 
 have looked upon human nature in a quiescent state — 
 or have only seen the lower propensities at work, while 
 the more powerful passions have been kept in check. 
 Missionaries, too, who have had but a limited experi- 
 ence, have been misled in the same way. 
 
 The recent scenes in India will give a different im- 
 pression, and it is v/ell for us to bear in mind that 
 wherever in the heathen world our missionary brethren 
 may be called to labour, they are among men who have 
 not the fear of God before their eyes ; and they need, 
 therefore, our constant remembrance and prayers. 
 
 3d. A further design of this providence is undoubtedly 
 to make us feel that we must place our dependence upon 
 God for success and protection, and not upon an arm of 
 flesh. 
 
14 
 
 The overthrow of Mohammedanism in India, and flie 
 establishment of a Christian government in its stead, 
 has always been looked upon as a most favourable 
 interposition for the cause of Christian missions. And 
 this is a just view of the matter. Our fault, and the 
 one for which we have been rebuked, is in having lean- 
 ed too much upon an agency, established merely to aid 
 in the work, and having forgotten our dependence upon 
 the favour and blessing of God. It is not surprising, 
 therefore, that he has rebuked us. He will not give his 
 glory to another, and when the day of India's redemp- 
 tion is fully come, the glory of it will not be ascribed 
 to the East India Company, to the British government, 
 to the progress of civilization, or to the labours of the 
 missionaries, but to God alone, the author of it. 
 
 4th. Another end of the providence, and it is the 
 bi'ight side of the picture, is, that God is preparing the 
 way for the upbuilding of his kingdom in that part of 
 the world, on a broader and deeper foundation. 
 
 We do not see how British authority can be firmly 
 established in India again, until Mohammedan intoler- 
 ance and High Caste pride are thoroughly crushed out ; 
 and when this is done, two of the most serious obsta- 
 cles to the progress of Christianity will be taken out 
 of the way. We look forward then, to a bright day to 
 succeed this terrible night of darkness. 
 
 What then are we, as a missionary Board, as mission- 
 aries, and as a Christian church to do, but to gird oui'- 
 selves afresh to the Avork, feeling assured that God will 
 accept our humiliation, and bless our future labours, 
 as he has never done before. 
 
15 
 
 MR. LOWRIE'S remarks. 
 
 He stated that one important question might be further 
 illustrated, and he would confine himself to it. 
 
 What is now the duty of the Presbyterian Church in 
 relation to the missionary work in India ? In consider- 
 ing this question, several things must be noticed. 
 
 1. WAat has hecn the loss of property ? 
 
 The missions in India embrace fifteen stations. As 
 far as we are yet informed, nine of these stations have 
 not been injured. The remaining six stations have suf- 
 fered severely, viz. : Lodiana, Futtehgurh, Agra, Alla- 
 habad, Mynpurie, and Futtehpore. At these there have 
 been destroyed, nine churches, thirteen houses, four 
 high-school buildings, two printing establishments, with 
 type foundries, binderies, matrices, and types for the 
 different alphabets of India, and the depositories, with 
 ten millions of pages of the sacred Scriptures and re- 
 ligious tracts. Nine families also, leaving out the mis- 
 sionaries from Futtehgurh, have lost their all — furni- 
 ture, clothing, bedding, books, in short everything but 
 the clothes they had on. 
 
 2. What amount of funds xcill the Board require to com- 
 mence their operations again. 
 
 First : The mission families must be supplied with 
 means to commence housekeeping again. Their salaries 
 are so regulated as to afford them a competent support 
 merely. Second : Houses suitable to the climate of 
 India must be provided for them. When these are pre- 
 pared, the missionaries may resume their work. The 
 native assistants, and native Christians would collect 
 
16 
 
 around them. As soon as possible the printing press 
 will have to be added, and schools commenced, to such 
 an extent as the Board, after twenty years' experience, 
 may deem expedient. It is not easy to say definitely, 
 what additional amount of funds will be required for all 
 these items. After the first items are supplied, the 
 others would require some time, and of course depend- 
 ent on the amount of means supplied. All that we can 
 say at present is, that to resume the missionary work, 
 a much larger sum than usual, for several years, will 
 be wanted. 
 
 3. Will the state of India he sucJi, in any reasonable 
 time, that the missionary work may he resumed 7 
 
 The present outbreak in India has been a terrible 
 providence. The deliberate murder of the officers, mis- 
 sionaries, and others, and, above all, the cruel, and even 
 horrible treatment of defenceless women and children, 
 makes the blood run cold. I shall not give the details 
 of these fiendlike inflictions ; before such an audience 
 I could not describe them. But in view of such un- 
 heard of atrocities, in a district of more than a thou- 
 sand miles, it is no wonder that the first impression, on 
 hearing of them, would be, that the whole of British 
 India, if not lost, would require years of wars and con- 
 fusion, before peace could be restored But a calmer 
 view of the real condition of India, and the strength of 
 Great Britain, will show that these fears are groundless. 
 The seat of this outbreak, from Calcutta to Peshawur, 
 contains a population of more than fifty millions. From 
 the accounts given in the English papers, I cannot 
 make the number of mutineers more than eighty thou- 
 sand, but say they were one hundred thousand. Then 
 
17 
 
 their number, compared with the wliole population, 
 would be one to four hundred and ninety-nine. Now we 
 find that the mass of the entire population stand aloof 
 from the mutineers. The only exception worth noticing 
 is, that in the cities a parcel of vagabonds have joined 
 them in plundering and burning the houses. It may be 
 said this large number includes the women and children. 
 If these were all deducted, the relative proportion of 
 the numbers would still be overwhelming, some one 
 hundred and fifty, or two hundred to one. But I am 
 not willing to deduct the women and children. It has 
 been remarked that women and children are God's 
 police. They are conservative everywhere, in every 
 nation, and in every city, and I would rather have on 
 my side fifty millions embracing them, than fifty millions 
 made up of men alone. If the population of India had 
 risen as one mass, as our fathers did in the Revolution- 
 ary war, the days of British rule in India w^ould have 
 been ended. But the great mass of the people in India 
 know too well the peace and protection from oppression 
 they now enjoy, to cast these blessings from them. 
 Whatever may have been the injustice of some of the 
 earlier conquests of India, the British government has 
 been to that people the greatest blessing they have 
 ever enjoj^ ed. It is true that many mistakes have been 
 made by their present rulers. I shall notice but one, 
 which is the greatest of them all. The East India Com- 
 pany have expended large sums for education ; but it 
 was for a godless and christless education. Their 
 school commissioners were required to examine every 
 book, and if on any page the name of the blessed 
 Saviour was found, it was carefully cut out ! Divine 
 revelation was excluded, whilst the Koran and the 
 
18 
 
 Shasters were freely* admitted. The result of such 
 teaching was, that the native systems of absurdity and 
 idolatry were destroyed, and the young men came out 
 confirmed deists or atheists. The labours of the mis- 
 sionaries in India, aided and sustained as they have 
 been by the liberal donations, and the example of many 
 pious officers, both in the army and the civil service, 
 have done much to correct this ruinous course, and we 
 may hope that for the future wiser councils will prevail. 
 Still with all the mistakes that have been made, the 
 great mass of the inhabitants of India have reposed 
 under the protection of British justice, administered by 
 many able and faithful men. Viewing then almost the 
 entire population taking no part in the present insurrec- 
 tion, the rule of the mutineers must soon come to an 
 end. It would indeed have ended in a very short time, 
 had it not been for the distance from England to India. 
 When the troops on the wsiy shall have arrived, peace 
 will be at once restored. Important points like Allaha- 
 bad, Agra, &c., will be again occupied by British 
 officials and their dependents, and the way will be open 
 for our missionaries to resume their peaceful labors. 
 Then native assistants and native Christians will gather 
 round them, and the Lord's work go forward. 
 
 4. The call for additional funds comes to the Church at 
 the time of a severe cotnmercicd pressure in the community. 
 
 This, as far as we are concerned, gives intensity to 
 the afflictive dispensation of God in the suspension of 
 our India mission, and the destruction of mission pro- 
 perty there. We are inquiring in regard to the duty 
 of the Church. If it be her duty to resume and even 
 enlarge her missions in India, then additional and even 
 
19 
 
 enlarged means will be wanted, at tlie very time when 
 the ability to contribute as formerly is greatly lessened. 
 God is teaching his people, by these providences, that 
 his service requires more self-denial than they have 
 ever exercised heretofore. He requires them to honour 
 him with the first fruits of all their increase. A beau- 
 tiful example we have in the widow of Sarepta. The 
 prophet asked her for a drink of water. " And as she 
 was going to fetch it, he called to her and said. Bring 
 me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And 
 she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, 
 but a haudfuU of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a 
 cruise ; and behold, I am gathering two sticks that I 
 may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may 
 eat it and die. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not ; go 
 and do as thou hast said ; but make me a little cake 
 thereof first, and bring it unto me, and after make for 
 thee and thy son. And she went and did after the say- 
 ing of Elijah ; and she, and he, and her house, did eat 
 many days." 
 
 I admit freely that if the members of the Church be 
 contributing according to their ability, as God has pros- 
 pered them, they are not required to do more. But 
 what is the result ? Last year was one of, great pros- 
 perity in our whole country. The contributions of the 
 whole Church for Foreign Missions, averaged less than 
 one cent a week to each communicant on the rolls of 
 the Church. Had one cent a week been contributed by 
 each member, instead of a balance of eleven thousand 
 dollars against the treasury, there would have been a 
 balance of two thousand dollars in its favour. Such a 
 statement should fill us ail with humiliation and shame. 
 
 My dear friends, we are met here to-night to Immble 
 
20 
 
 ourselves before God, under his severe rebuke, and 
 under a distressing dispensation of his righteous provi- 
 dence. Truly "we are all guilty in his sight, and the 
 the whole Church have much cause for humiliation and 
 prayer before God. We cannot say tliat we have done 
 our duty. A portion of the Church, ministers and elders, 
 and members have done something, but how very little 
 that has been ! How cold have been our prayers ! 
 How seldom have we considered the condition of the 
 perishing heathen. One thing is certain, we cannot 
 plead inability. Even in the present financial pressure 
 there are means enough in the hands of professing Chris- 
 tians, to restore and enlarge the missions in India, and 
 to carry forward the work in other places, beyond any- 
 thing that has yet been attempted, and that too with- 
 out interfering in the least with any other of the evan- 
 gelical agencies of the Church. 
 
 5. Can the missionaries he obtained. 
 
 I have referred to the loss of mission property, heavy 
 and severe it has been. But there is another loss, far 
 more distressing, far more heavy and severe ; the loss of 
 precious men and women, cut down in the prime of life, 
 by the hands of bloody men, whilst engaged in the mis- 
 sionary work. This distressing providence has been 
 feelingly noticed by the brother who has just addressed 
 you, but it is so connected with the question of the duty 
 of the Church, that I will refer to it also. These mar- 
 tyrs were Messrs. Freeman, Campbell, Johnston, McMul- 
 len, and their wives, and two children of Mr. Campbell. 
 Our last letters from these dear friends, are dated the 
 2d of June, from Futtehgurh. They were then fully 
 aware of their imminent peril, and their expression of 
 
21 
 
 faith and trust in tbe merits of an all-sufficient Saviour, 
 and their willingness, if that were his blessed will, to 
 lay down their lives in his service, afford now a rich 
 legacy to their surviving friends, and to tbe church of 
 God. From other sources, we have heard, that soon 
 after the 2d of June, our friends, with some European 
 families, left Futtehgurh in boats, intending, if possible, 
 to get to Allahabad. That after descending the Ganges 
 for some distance, they wei'e arrested and taken prison- 
 ers by a party of mutineers, in the neighbourhood of 
 Bithoor, some distance above Cawnpore. One account 
 stated that a powerful Zimindar, on the Oude side of 
 the river, agreed to protect them. Another account, 
 that they were taken to Bithoor, in company with the 
 English residents of Futtehgurh. Here we lose the 
 sight of them. We still hoped they might be preserved. 
 But the British army have regained possession of Cawn- 
 pore, and Bithoor, and our dear friends are not found 
 alive. With the appropriate and feeling remarks which 
 we have just heard, from my colleague, I most cordially 
 agree. But constituted as we are, we must weep over 
 graves of those we love ; our Lord wept over the grave 
 of Lazarus, and devout men carried the first Christian 
 martyr to his burial, and made great lamentation over 
 him. We are not permitted that sad privilege. Alas, 
 alas, sad and terrible were their deaths, and at the time 
 there were none to carry them to their burial. But I 
 would not thus seek the living among the dead. They 
 are done with sin and sorrow. God himself has wiped 
 away all the tears from their eyes, and the days of their 
 mourning are ended. They have joined tbe great and 
 ever enlarging circle in heaven, where the redeemed are 
 ever praising God and the Lamb. Let us see of what 
 
22 
 
 that circle is composed, and we shall there find an 
 answer to the questions, whether missionaries can be 
 obtained, and what is the duty of the Church. 
 
 The word of God is full of prophecies and promises 
 that the Gentile nations shall be given to Christ. In the 
 seventh chapter of Revelation, the apostle, under the in- 
 spiration of the Holy Spirit, writes the history of the 
 final triumph of the Saviour's kingdom. After record- 
 ing the sealing of God's servants among the tribes of 
 Israel, he writes, " After this I beheld, and, lo, a great 
 multitude which no man could number, of all nations, 
 and kindreds and peoiDle, and tongues, stood before the 
 throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, 
 and palms in their hands." In that glorious circle our 
 dear martyred friends are now standing. Among them 
 are redeemed souls, gone up before them, from the mis- 
 sion in India. The Spirit of God has blessed the agency 
 of the Church there, feeble although it was, for the re- 
 demption of souls. And not in India alone, but in China, 
 and Siam, and Africa, in South America, and among the 
 Indian tribes of our own land. New names of tongues 
 had to be inscribed on that circle for them, the Choc- 
 taws, the Chickasaws, the Muskogees, the Seminoles, 
 the lowas, the Sacs, the Omahas, the Chippewas, and 
 the Ottawas, are there, and from these tribes many 
 others are on the way. With such fruits of the feeble 
 efforts of the Church in years past, can she refuse her 
 gold or her silver, her sons and her daughters ? Ma)iy 
 people and tongues have not yet heard of the Saviour. 
 Their names are not yet in the blessed circle. Let us 
 then, my dear friends, and let the whole Church, rise up 
 as one man to the Lord's work. Let us look away from 
 ourselves to the Lord Christ. Let us take a low place 
 
23 
 
 in the dust before him, and be willing that he may have 
 all the glory of saving lost souls. Let us never forget 
 the inefficieucj^ of all human agency, without the Spirit 
 of God. Let us never forget that it is not by power, 
 nor by might, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of 
 Hosts