| REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. | e Rev. J. W. SCUDDER, M. A., M, D. | De = Madea : TED AT THE SCOTTISH PRESS, BY GRAVES, COOKSON AND CO., | as POPHAM HOUSE, FE7O. HISTORICAL SKETCH Ghe Arcot alission REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. BY Rev. J. W. SCUDDER, M. A., M. D. — Madeas: PRINTED AT THE SCOTTISH PRESS, BY GRAVES, COOKSON AND CO., ' PpOPHAM HOUSE, Lago Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2023 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/historicalsketchOOscud_0 HISTORICAL SKETCH Ghe Arcot Mission REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA. By Rey. J. W. SCUDDER, m, a., mM. v. The Field, The Arcot District, from which our Mission takes its name, is situated on the Peninsula of India, about sixty miles from its eastern coast, and directly west from the City of Madras. Lying between the twelfth and fourteenth parallels of north latitude, and the seventy-eighth and eightieth parallels of east longitude, it covers an area of 9,093 square miles, and has a population of 3,048,980 souls. Previous to its occupation by our missionaries, a little evangelistic work had been done, and small churches gathered in Vellore and Chittoor, two of its principal towns, by agents of an English Mission- ary Society. A third church, also of a few members, had. been organized in Chittoor,asa result of the labors of Norris Groves, Hsq., an English layman of undoubted zealand piety, but holding unique and independent doctrinal views. Beyond this, nothing had been done for the Christianization of the district ; and at the time when the American Missionaries entered it, the inhabitants were, to all intents and purposes, as benighted and ignorant of the religion of Jesus, as were their ancestors a thousand years ago. Founding of the Mission. Tn January 1851, the Rev. Henry M. Scudder, who had already been laboring for some years in the city of Madras, as a missionary of the American. Board, obtained leave to seek a new and less occu- * pied field of effort. Selecting the Arcot District, he established a medical dispensary in the large town of Wallajanugger ; and, for a season, labored without coadjutors in the vast Sahara-like waste of surrounding heathenism. In 1852 he was joined by Rey, Messrs, William W. Scudder, and Joseph Scudder: and the three 4 THE ARCOT MISSION, brothers, all still connected with the American Board, but support- ed by funds derived from the Reformed Dutch Church, were in 1853 constituted a new mission, under the name of the “ American Arcot Mission of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of America.” At the date of its establishment, the entire spiritual property of the new organization consisted of no more than “a church of eight communicants, and a small but interesting school for the children of the church-members;” so much being the fruit of the preliminary work of Rev. H. M. Scudder. Such were the little beginnings of the mission, which, as we shall see in the sequel, has, from an almost imperceptible germ, developed into a widespreading and luxuriant tree, laden with fragrant blossoms and golden fruit. Plan and Methods of Work. These are clearly and definitely foreshadowed in the Constitutional Rules adopted at the founding of the Mission. We give a brief synopsis of them :— 1. Believing that the teeming populations of India can, with- out any educational or other preparative human instrumentality, be readily reached and affected bythe direct preaching of the Gospel in their vernacular tongues, and persuaded that the way to the triumphs of Christianity could most effectually be prepared by its public proclamation, the missionaries of the Arcot Mission resolved tomake it their paramount duty to go into the streets of the towns and villages throughout the district, and persistently and patiently preach Christ and Him Crucified, asthe alone hope of lost sinners. 2. Theextensive distribution of Tracts and Books specially adapted to the Hindu mind and character, together with the free dissemination of the Bible in the vernaculars of the district, was recognized as a powerful auxiliary agency, only second in importance to the direct oral proclamation of the Gospel to the masses of the people; and it was determined to compose and utilize such a litera- ture as speedily and on as large a scale as possible. 3. Appreciating the impracticability of evangelizing the millions of India through an exclusively foreign agency, as well as the impor- tance of early transforming Christianity from an exotic into an indigenous and self-propagating institution, the mission adopted measures for the immediate founding of educational establishments, in which native youths of both sexes might acquire thorough equipment to serve both as aggressors on heathenism, and as conservators and cultivators of spiritual garden-spots, wherever such should be reclaimed from the dismal wastes of paganism, 4. The necessity of instructing and spiritually training indivi- duals and communities, who might, through the foregoing instru- mentalities, be proselyted to the Christian faith was too obvious to THE ARCOT MISSION. 3 escape notice; andit was provided, that whenever three or more families inany one town or village should renounce heathenism and signify their wish to be instructed, a Catechist should be placed among them, and a small, inexpensive building be erected to serve as a school-room for the children, and a place of Sabbath convocation for old and young. ‘The worship of the true God would thus be introduced and familiarized, and, with the divine blessing, material be speedily provided for the organization of Christian churches. 5. Caste, the hoary tyrant of Hindu nationality, and Intem- perance, a recently introduced, but rapidly spreading vice, wero distinguished as being not only formidable antagonists to the spread of Christianity, but also most potent forces, working ever for the disruption and dissolution of the Native Church after its establishment ; and stringent rules were, therefore, framed to shut these pestilent enemies outside the precincts of the youthful mission.. Such are the general principles which, adopted at the founding of the Mission, have governed its policy and action to the present time; and toa faithful carrying out of these principles may, wo believe, be fairly attributed much of the success that has crowned its efforts to advance Christianity in the district. The period under review, extending from the year 1853, to the elose of the year 1878, may be divided into two parts; which, for convenience, we will designate as, lst, The Initial or Rudimental Period; and 2nd, The Village Movement, or Rapid Development Period. I. The Initial or Rudimental Period, extending from the foundation of the Mission to the close of A.D. 1860. The first Annual Report of the Arcot Mission was issued at the end of the year 1854, a little more than a twelve-month from its organization. Tokens of a vigorous and robust youth are already perceptible. Three ‘‘ Stations”—Vellore, Chittoor and Arnee—have been selected as convenient centres of operation, and are occupied respectively by the Rev. Messrs. Henry M., William W., and Joseph Scudder. Already, two churches, each consisting of thirteen com- municants, have been organized, one in Vellore and the other in Chittoor ; and two congregations of native Christians, numbering severally about seventy souls, assemble on the Sabbath to worship their newly found Lord. An ‘ Out-Station’” has been established in the city of Arcot, fourteen miles east of Vellore, and a small build- ing of mud and thatch has been erected there to serve as a school- house and church. Four vernacular Christian schools are in operation, and a ‘‘ Praeparandi Class” of thirteen selected and promis- ing lads has been formed in Vellore, which is instructed daily by the missionary and his assistants, in the Scriptures, Systematic Thoo- logy, and Heidelberg Catechism ; ag well as in secular studies, embrac- 4, THE ARCOT MISSION, ing among the rest, Sanscrit, vocal Music, and Medicine. The mis- sionaries, accompanied sometimes by the Praeparandi Class, make preaching tours in the district ; and the Gospel is systematically and diligently proclaimed, from street to street, in the large central cities occupied as Stations. ‘ Spiritual Teaching,” a tract of 96 pages, is printed and putin circulation; anda portion of the Heidelberg Catechism is in the Tamil press. In the Dispensary, kept open through- out the year, many interesting surgical operations are performed, and a vast amount of relief is afforded to the sick and suffering. Thus, within one short year of its formation, we find the mission already fully and actively at work in all its multifarious departments. A. D., 1855. The year 1855 opened auspiciously on the youthfal mission. The preceding twelve-month, although it was as we have seen a period of marked general prosperity, had not passed without its trials. Ill-health, and duty to a disabled father had compelled the absence of two of the three missionaries during a part of the year, and the burden of the entire mission had mnch overweighted the shoulders of the one who remained alone. Now, not only had the absent members returned with renewed health and vigor; but the arrival, in March, of Rey. Messrs. Ezekiel C. and Jared W. Seudder with their wives and a sister, doubled the strength of the mission, and put it in its power to preach the Gospel still more extensively among the heathen. The joy occasioned by this re-union, found utterance in the following words :— ‘Our Mission now consists of five brothers, four of whom have companions to aid them in their duties, and the other is helped by a sister, Miss Louisa Scudder. Thus we number Tan souls of Onz Name, Onz Famity, united in Onur Mission, and serving One Master. Truly we have great cause to praise God, who, through Jesus Christ, has called so many of our family to engage in the missionary work, and has given us the privilege of being associated in one body.” Stimulated as well as strengthened by the recently arrived reinforcement, the missionaries prosecuted their LHvangelistic labors with freshened ardor. The Gospel was continuously and diligently proclaimed in the streets of the Station towns, and extended tours were made among the outlying villages in the district. On these tours, the missionaries, after preaching in the streets during the morning hours, usually occupied the entire re- mainder of the day in receiving and instructing the crowds of hea- then who resorted to their place of encampment. In the larger towns they were often engaged in this work from nine o’clock a, m, until six o'clock p..m., preaching to successive audiences, and distributing among them tracts and portions of Scripture. So large was the de- mand for such publications, that several editions of various works THE ARCOT MISSION. Hs amounting to no less;than 1,760,000 pages were printed during the year, Pastoral, educational, and other miscellaneous work within the Stations was also assiduously attended to. ‘Two services on the Sabbath; daily exposition of the Scriptures; a class for the instruc- tion of communicants and catechumens on Wednesday, amd several prayer-meetings during the week ;—these, with daily street-preaching to the heathen, amply filled the time, and taxed the industry of the missionaries and their native assistants. These multiform and abundant efforts were .not barren of results. No large ingathering of converts was, it is true, made from among the heathen ;—a result, indeed, hardly to be expected so soon—yet the close of the year exhibits a notable advance on its beginning, The aggregate of native Christians has swelled from 150 to 350; two new schools have been opened; a Church has been organized at Arnee; and the communicants number 75 against 26 in 1864. A part of this increase was owing to accessions from the» congregations of. the Gospel Propagation Society, and of Mr. Groves, who, on with- drawing from the district, transferred their adherents to the spiritual guardianship of the Arcot Mission. A. D., 1856. A peculiar interest ever attaches to the early, formative period of a great enterprise ; and we have, therefore, given, at some length, the record of the first two years of the Mission’s existence. Our space, however, does not provide for such continued details; and we must pass the remaining portions of this Initial Period under more rapid review, touching only salient points of interest. The year 1856 was marked by the following events :— The publication of “ Sweet Savours of Divine Truth,” a com- prehensive Catechism in Tamil, which has been of great service in the native congregations; the organization of two new churches, one in Arcot and the other in Coonoor; the completion and dedication of a neat and commodious church edifice in Vellore; the foundation and partial erection of similar buildings in Chittoor and Arnee, and the adoption of Coonoor as an additional Station. All of which events are good evidence of healthy growth and vigorous expansion. This adoption as a Mission Station of a place situated at a con- siderable remove from the Arcot WVistrict, though under ordinary circumstances it might have seemed undesirable, was clearly indicated by the leadings of Providence. The health of the Rev. Joseph Scudder, never very robust, had become so seriously impaired as to forbid his laboring any longer on the heated Indian plains; and his return to America appeared imperative. Just at this juncture, a native Christian congregation, which had been gathered by the efforts of two English gentlemen in Coonoor, a town situated on 6 THE ARCOT MISSION, the heights of the Neilgherries, and bathed in a charmingly salu- brious atmosphere, was offered to the Arcot Mission. The timely offer was gladly accepted; and the invalid missionary was appointed to occupy the place, and make it the centre of his pastoral and evangelical labors. The force of foreign missionaries in the Arcot District proper, already reduced by this removal of the Rev. Joseph Seudder to Coonoor, was stillfurther weakened by the departure of the Rev. W. W. Scudder on furlough to America. Yet, by the Divine blessing, the prosperity of the mission does not appear to have suffered any abatement ; for we find that the aggregate of its Christian adherents had increased during the year from 350 to 459, and of the communicants from 75 to 126. A. D., 1857. The year 1857 was, to the Mission, one of mingled clouds and sunshine. Among the circumstances depressive and faith-trying were the sad defections of certain church members; and the unexpected departure of the Kev. H. M. Scudder to America, caused by the sudden and complete prostration of his health, To these may be added the Sepoy Mutiny, which, sweeping like a fiery tidal-wave, carried desolation and death over the northern half of the continent, and threatened continually to overflow and devastate its southern latitudes as well. But God’s protecting hand was about His servants in Arcot, shielding them from peril and disaster. While missionaries in other parts of the land fella prey to the sword of the Infidel, these here were permitted to pursue their labors, not without some anxiety it is true, but still uninterrupted and un- disturbed. Although their number was reduced once more to only - three, the Lord’s hand was not shortened thereby. Indeed, the events of the year, as a whole, were of a nature togive them much cause for thankfulness and encouragement. They were permitted to re- joice in aconsiderable augmentation both of adherents and communi-. cants. The congregation at the new station of Coonoor was nearly . doubled. Six heathen families, all residents of a single village, indicated their intention to forsake Paganism and bear the Christian name; a very cheering fact, as being the first token manifested in the district of amovement in masses towards Christianity. After long waiting and hoping, the Church edifice in Chittoor, a beautiful and spacious building, occupying a prominent and most eligible position on the principal street in the town, reached completion; and with services both in English and Tamil was, on the 14thof January 1858, solemnly and exultantly dedicated to the Triune Jehovah. And lastly, the ‘‘ Reformed Church of America,” convinced that the best interests of her foreign work and of all concerned in it, would be more effectually advanced by ‘“ separate action,” did, at the meeting of General Synod, in June of this year, 1857, resolve’ to annul her compact with the American Board, and to assume the immediate THE ARCOT MISSION, y care and conduct of her own missions. This was a measure peculiarly grateful and encouraging to her missionaries in India; for while their relations with the American Board had, with a single exception, been eminently cordial and satisfactory; they, nevertheless, now ex- perienced new thrillings of emotion, as they found themselves pressed directly to the breast of their own mother, and felt the full, warm pulsations of her great heart rhythmically responding to and sym- - pathetically blending with their own. And so the year went out ina bright sunset, which, while it bathed their landscape in light, served also to illumine and embellish the very clouds, whose shadows had cast somewhat of gloom over their spirits. A. D., 1858. We pass this year with only a brief reference. It was a period, in some respects, of much trial and discouragement. To supervise four widely separated Stations and meet their multiform requirements, there remained now, inthe Arcot District, only the two younger members of the missionary force; and even these were much hampered and embarrassed by serious and continued illness in their families. Under these adverse circumstances the mission, while on the one hand it does not appear to have suffered any notable deterioration, did, on the other, unquestionably feel the absence of that expansive elasticity and cheering success which had marked the preceding periods of its history. A. D., 1859. The arrival in the early part of 1859 of the Rev. W. W. Scudder accompanied by a new missionary, the Rev. J. Mayou, infused new strength and courage into overburdened and somewhat dejected. hearts. This accession of force led to the occupation of the new Station of Palamanair,a town of about seven thousand inhabitants, situated on the borders of the Telugu country, twenty-six miles west of Chittoor, and forming the centre ofa populous district thickly studded with villages,—thus presenting an excellent field for evange- listic labors. The native congregations in Arnee and Coonoor, who had hitherto been, much to their regret, without houses of worship, took posses- sion this year with happy and thankful hearts, of their completed and dedicated church edifices. A sweet-toned bell, the gift of the “Scudder Missionary Society of the Third Reformed Church of Philadelphia,” hung in the tower of the Arnee building, and uttered its silvery notes of invitation to the dwellers around, heathen and Christian alike. The dedication services in Coonoor, attracted large audiences of both Europeans and natives, the latter of whom freely expressed their interest and joy at exchanging the straitened and inadequate limits of a small school-house for their well-appointed and comfortable church. Perhaps the most important and, to the missionaries especially, deeply interesting event of the year was the ordination of their first “ 8 THE ARCOT MISSION. native pastor, the Rev. Andrew Sawyer. The services were held in the Church at Chittoor, in which town the candidate, an old and tried servant of the Lord, had labored as Catechist and Lay-preacher for many years; and had secured the respect and love of all who, through the long period of his probation, had witnessed his blameless life, and profited by his eloquent and forceful preaching. in the large audience, which crowded the building, were many heathen, attracted by the novelty of a ceremonial, altogether without — precedent in their idolatrous town. The newly ordained minister was soon after installed pastor of the native Church in Arcot. It was in this year, also, that the “ Arcot Seminary,”—hitherto known as the “ Praeparandi class” —sent forth its first graduates into the Lord’s Vineyard. Three young men, who had gone through the prescribed course of six years’ instruction and training, were appoint- ed to labor as Readers and school-masters in the Mission. The num- ber of students in the institution at this time was twenty. In summing up the results of the year, the Annual Report says :— ‘“‘ Though we have no remarkable accessions to record, we have every ground for encouragement in our work. There has been a steady increase in our numbers and strength since the publication of our last report. Our Stations have never been in a more flourishing condition ; our Churches have never been better attended; and a pleasing spirit of more earnestness and prayer pervading the body of our native Christians, leads us to hope for richer and more abundant blessings.” The statistics of this year are somewhat defective; but approxi- mately, the congregations may be recorded as numbering in the ageregate, 579, and the communicants, 142. The year, auspicious in its beginning, and prosperous in its continuance, did not, however, end without its trial. The complete prostration of the Rey. Joseph Scudder’s health, and the long conti- nued and apparently hopeless illness of Mrs. J. W. Scudder imperatively demanded a change of climate; and the working force of the mission was once more reduced to three, by the embarkation in December of two families for America, Vellore and Coonoor were left vacant by the withdrawal of strength ; and the ship which bore the missionaries away, both carried and left behind her disappointment and sincere regret. The Rev. Joseph Scudder, after his arrival at home, kept his relation to the mission unsevered for many years, always hoping to return to his work in India; but his shattered frame never recovered sufficiently to warrant the step, and the remainder of his life was passed laboring for the Master in the United States. His. term of foreign service was seven years. He died at Upper Red Hook, N. Y., November 21st, 1876, and now sleeps in Greenwood Cemetery, beside his brother Samuel, who, though consecrated to.the missionary work, was taken away while preparing to engage in it, THE ARCOT MISSION. g A D., 1860. We must content ourselves with a bare resumé of the events of this year. The Rev. H. M. Scudder returned, but with still imperfect health, to the mission. Two new missionaries, the Rey. J. Chamberlain,and §S. D. Scudder, M. D. arrived ; the former in April and the latter in December. A small church was organized in Palamanair with encouraging prospects of success and enlargement. Marked indications of the presence of God’s Spirit, in both Semi- naries, resulted in the conversion and admission to the Church of two lads in the one, and fivegirlsin the other. Several, more than ordinarily interesting, instances of conversion from among the Roman Catholics are found in the report of this year. This brings us to the termination of our “ Initial Period.” The annexed comparative table exhibits the progress made and results attained during the seven years of its continuance. The first colamn shows the statistics of the year1854, and the second those of 1860. Items. | 1854. | 1860. | Stations sa pepe 3 | 6 Cabestationse 207 SNR RO eee ee 13 0 Missionaries .. ae cee 3 8 Native Ministers ... te ale we Aaa 0 M Catechists ... Ue ae ie as 3 | 4 Readers Mice net 9) 2 | Schoolmasters nis Eee ee ae 5 Colporteurs ae its aot sie 0 1 Churches ne vee ve ee en 2 6 Communicants ... Mee wits ys te eae 26 154 Baptized Children... Pe me a ie; 220 Total of Adherents Aa e Sade 170 612 Pupils in Arcot Seminary 13 20 Pupils in Female Seminary _... 0 14 Number of Day-Schoois pe A 5 eae? it. The Village Movement, or Rapid Development Period. Extending from the year 1361 tothe year 1878 inclusive. We have now reached the beginning of our second Period, desig- nated, “ The Village Movement, or Rapid Development Period,” be- cause of the features which most conspicuously marked its history. rs) bots 10 THE ARCOT MISSION. Jts almost uninterrupted prosperity, and remarkable successes justly entitle it to the distinction of being called the palmy period of the mission. The introductory pages of the “ Eighth Annual Report’ so well describe its auspicious commencement, that we cannot do better than transcribe a part of the record :— “This Mission, which, by the culture of the great Husbandman, is becoming a tree with boughs and flowers and fruits, sprang from a slender shoot. In January 1851, a missionary pitched his taberna- cle in the North Arcot District, and worked, for a season, alone in a wide and weary waste of heathenism. Afterwards another laborer - came. Then still another arrived, and the three were constitnted a Mission in 1853. A church of thirteen members was organized. Three small congregations, previously existing im ‘the district, were given over to us. In 13555, after four years of labor, and this accession, our congregations contained three hundred and fifty souls, of whom seventy-five were communicants; and now, this day, we number nine Missionaries, one Native Pastor, six Churches, six Catechists, four Readers, six Teachers and seven hundred and ninety-six nominal Christians, of whom two hundred and thirty-two are Communicants. See what the Lord has wrought! We gazc upon His stately steppings, and wonder and adore. He has transcended all our expectations. By His grace, our work has not. been like the duckweed that floats upon stagnant tanks. Nay, it has proved to be a germ planted by Him in His own garden. He has nurtured it, and truly it has become a spreading tree. The dew is on its roots. The glow of the sunbeam is on the ripening fruit; and we, a cheerful band of brethren and sisters, gather under its pleasant shade, and sing the Lord’s song in a strange land. Our mouth is filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: for He hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.” Limited space forbids any further attempt at a detailed tracing of the Mission History from year to year, for such a record would take the dimensions of a large volume. We must content ourselves, therefore, with brief and only partial sketches formed from an analy- sis and classification of the work and successes of the period under review. let our first subject be that of the Village Movement throughout the district. The Village Movement. We have already noticed the earliest token of this movement in the intention expressed in 1857 by six heathen families, all residing in @ single village, to renounce heathenism and embrace Christianity. But much time elapsed before the promise became an actuality ; for not until the year 1861 does Sattanbady, the name of the first Christian village, appear on the records of the mission. The accession of this community was the primal ingathering of a harvest, the antecedents of which had been arduous labors, long waiting, and carnest continued prayer. More than six hundred