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 EDINBURGH anp GLASGOW: JOHN MENZIES & CO. 
 
[Extract from the ‘‘CnyLon OBSERVER,” 9th November, 1886.] 
 
 By the steamer to Bombay we lose Mr. William Walker, 
 head of the firm owning the Colombo Iron Works, and 
 employing some 300 men, nearly all natives. Mr. Walker 
 has been here at this time for several] months, and apart 
 from his business, has taken a special interest in philan- 
 thropic and religious work, and has visited and reported on 
 Missions all round the island. He now goes on a tour 
 through Western and Northern India. 
 
PREFATORY NOTE, 
 
 Business had many times called me to Ceylon, but up till 
 the month of November last I had never seen India. On 
 my way home from Ceylon in November I called at Bombay, 
 and from thence went on to Ahmednagar, one of the cities 
 of the Deccan, where I stayed about a fortnight, returning 
 to Bombay by way of Poona, in which city I very pleasantly 
 spent a few days. In all, I spent only about four weeks in 
 Bombay and the Deccan. I therefore saw very little of 
 India; saw none of its grandest old cities, and nothing of 
 its great sights, the Ghauts below Poona excepted. But I 
 saw something of the daily life of the people, as it is to be 
 seen in the two interesting old cities I have named, and I 
 did what I had more than once done in Ceylon: I visited a 
 number of Christian Mission Stations, and went over many 
 Mission Schools. 
 
 On the voyage home I wrote and sent back to my friends, 
 the editors of the Ceylon Observer, the letters which are here 
 reprinted. I trust that they will be accepted as off-hand 
 sketches, in which I simply try to describe what I have 
 seen—and nothing more—during a brief but very pleasant 
 visit. I trust also that I have avoided preachee-preacheeing 
 too much, in addition to telling my little story. There was 
 some temptation to do a little in that line. I had, however, 
 a good deal more to say than is said in the letters, and have 
 added a few stray notes at the end. | 
 
 In writing to the Ceylon paper I felt that I was writing 
 to kindly and well-known friends. The letters were thus 
 all the more a pleasure to myself, and I hope that to friends 
 
4 
 
 at home who may please to read them they may not be 
 altogether without interest. Perhaps they may even suggest 
 some questions which I cannot answer. The questions are 
 coming up, and will come up whether we wish it or not. 
 In our efforts to Christianise India, are we on the right 
 track? Much money is, with a great effort, being collected 
 for Missions in India; are we getting the best possible return 
 for it? Are the large educational establishments, such as I 
 have seen—almost entirely dissociated from direct evan- 
 gelistic effort—the most effective agency for making known 
 Christ, and turning Buddhists and Hindus to Christianity? 
 Is it an unquestionable benefit to have so many of our 
 Mission Schools largely dependent upon the Government 
 grant for their support? Isn’t the effect of it in many 
 instances to push on the thing that brings in the money— 
 the secular work of the school—while the Bible lesson, the 
 only attempt to teach Christian truth in many Mission 
 Schools, is pushed aside or hurried over, because it does. 
 not pay ? 
 
 But do not misunderstand my questions. I know that 
 we must educate the youth of India. It is our glory that 
 we are educating them freely, and with an embarrassing 
 success, Lord Dufferin himself being witness. But Christian 
 missionaries are not, as a rule, sent out to superintend 
 secular schools, and the question comes up: Might not 
 Mission Schools be so carried on as that their very existence 
 should not depend on the amount of the Government grant ? 
 
 Of the colleges known to me, the one which produces the . 
 best result, from the Christian point of view, is one which 
 works under no Government regulations, and hence has no 
 grant. Its teachers are untrammelled by the thought of 
 any money result, and they are free to do their best as 
 opportunity offers, to commend Christ to, and to build up 
 Christian character in, their students. I refer to the college 
 
5 
 
 carried on in connection with the American Mission at 
 Jaffna, Ceylon. The following two paragraphs regarding 
 this college I take from the latest sketch of the institution 
 which I have seen. They are written by the Principal, the 
 Rev. Dr. Hastings, and I commend them to my readers. 
 Their liberality, good sense and true consideration for the 
 best interests of the students are, I think, very manifest :— 
 
 “The design in establishing this institution, as stated in 
 the original plan, was to afford to the youth of Jaffna and to 
 others, facilities for acquiring such a practical education in 
 English and Tamil as should best fit them for positions of 
 influence and usefulness in their own land. This purpose 
 has been steadily adhered to, with satisfactory results. 
 Though often urged to make it an object to prepare our 
 students for the University Examinations in India, we have 
 not thought it advisable to turn aside from our original 
 plan, believing that a regular systematic course of study in 
 such branches as are likely to be of the most practical use 
 in after life, with due attention to the development of the 
 physical and the moral nature, and the exercise of a healthful 
 discipline, is of far more real value to the student himself 
 than a course of study having for its chief aim preparation 
 for a fixed examination, which must be limited in its range 
 and to a degree forced in its attainment.” * * * 
 
 “The College is a Christian institution, the outgrowth of 
 Mission-work and in full sympathy with it. It is conducted 
 in accordance with Christian sentiments. Students are 
 required while in the institution to conform to certain regu- 
 lations, which all experience has shown to be best for their 
 moral and intellectual improvement, and to refrain from 
 those practices that are unfavourable to such improvement 
 or pernicious in their influence. The presentation of 
 Christian truth for their serious consideration, and a plain 
 exposition of the grounds upon which Christianity rests its 
 claims to belief and acceptance, are the only direct means 
 used to influence the students to embrace Christianity. It 
 is not desired that any should profess themselves Christians 
 unless fully convinced of the truths of Christianity and of 
 their personal duty to embrace it as their religion.” 
 
6 
 
 I only add here that of 308 students who have passed 
 through this College, 180 have gone out as professed 
 Christians and communicants. And I cannot help saying 
 that I trust that Dr. Hastings will in time to come, as in 
 the past, keep clear of preparing his students for ‘‘ Univer- 
 sity examinations in India.” 
 
 And now to sum up. What have I seen during this little 
 trip in Western India ? 
 
 1. I have seen no idle missionaries anywhere. I have 
 seen earnest men actively at work, and wherever I have 
 gone I have found the wives quite as busy in the work as 
 their husbands. This seems especially to be the rule among 
 the Americans, but it is not confined to them. 
 
 2. I have found eager scholars everywhere—eager for 
 English education and English ideas—and willing to make 
 sacrifices in order to get hold of them. In proof of this 
 some touching stories could be told, but I do not stay to 
 tell them here. But the taking of the Bible to school and 
 submission daily to an hour’s Bible Jesson are to many a 
 non-Christian lad the smallest of the sacrifices he makes. 
 
 3. I have seen bright and happy and useful native 
 Christians. I know that some people doubt their existence, 
 but they are to be found by those who will look for them. 
 
 4, But one thing I have nor seen: | HAVE NOT SEEN 
 ‘“‘THE DRINK” ANYWHERE. In no mission bungalow have 
 I seen the shadow of an intoxicant. The missionaries whom 
 I have met are without exception right on this question. If 
 our merchants and bankers, our military and civil officers, 
 our judges and advocates, our soldiers and sailors were but 
 as the missionaries are in regard to “the drink,” a great 
 hindrance to the progress of Christian Missions would be for 
 
 ever rolled out of the way. 
 W.W. 
 
 SS BISHOPSGATE STREET, E.C., 
 Lonpon, April, 1887. 
 
A GLIMPSE OF MISSION WORK AND OF SOME 
 MISSION SCHOOLS IN WESTERN INDIA. 
 
 THREE LETTERS ADDRESSED TO THE EDITORS OF THE CEYLON OBSERVER. 
 
 Letter No. I. 
 
 Somewhere between Bombay and Aden, 
 on Board the 8.8. Peshawur, 14th 
 December, 1886. 
 
 Dear Sirs,—You were kind enough to inform your 
 readers when I left Ceylon about a month ago, that I was 
 about to go “on a tour through Western and Northern 
 India.” I never intended anything half so ambitious as 
 that ; but 1 meant for the first time to have a glimpse of a 
 little corner of our great Indian Continent, and now I have 
 had it, and wish to tell you something of what I have seen. 
 Of the country itself I can say nothing that would be new 
 to your readers, but | have once more been indulging in a 
 little volunteer school inspecting, and it is more particularly 
 with regard to the schools which I have seen that I wish to 
 say a word. 
 
 BomBAY—AMERICAN MISSION, 
 
 Before leaving Ceylon I was under engagement to call 
 upon the Rev. E. S. Hume of the American Mission, 
 Byculla, Bombay ; and the schools under the charge of Mr. 
 and Mrs. Hume were the first that I visited. Their large 
 school for the children of native CuRIsTIAN parents may 
 be described as made up of three sections, thus :-— 
 
 1. Boys’ Boarding School, with 21 boys, most of whom 
 
8 
 
 pay a fee of Rs.5 per month, for board'and education. It 
 has only been once assisted by the Board during nine 
 years, and is now entirely maintained by the fees, Govern- 
 ment grant, and a few donations from friends. 
 
 2. Boarding School for Girls: number at present 26, and 
 they are pleasant intelligent looking girls, though perhaps 
 not quite so bright as the little Tamil girls I had seen at 
 Batticaloa and Jaffna. The children here are all Marathis, 
 and most of them are of lower caste than the Tamils in the 
 north of Ceylon. A monthly fee is paid by the girls also, 
 but I find [ have not noted the exact charge. It varies 
 with the circumstances of the girls. 
 
 3. But in addition to these boarders, a large number of 
 day-scholars attend, and all are educated together, boarders 
 and day-scholars. Total number present, 120. And here 
 the experiment has been made, and made successfully, of 
 having boys and girls in one class, and receiving precisely 
 the same lessons. Mr. and Mrs. Hume are of opinion 
 that this arrangement is an advantage to both the boys and 
 the girls. A small fee is paid by the day-scholars, and both 
 boys and girls are taught up to matriculation. 
 
 4, Mr. Hume has also under his charge three small 
 schools outside the Mission compound, with an average 
 each of 25 scholars, who are the children of non-Christian 
 parents. Most of them pay a very small fee, say one to 
 four annas a month. It will be noticed, therefore, that the 
 Marathis, both Christian and non-Christian, are willing to 
 pay for the education of their children. 
 
 On Sunday morning, the day after my arrival in Bombay, 
 I attended Mr. Hume’s Sunday School, held in the Mission 
 Church in a crowded old part of the city, about half-a-mile 
 from Byculla. Sunday School here, as at many mission 
 stations, is attended by fathers and mothers, young men 
 and young women, as well as by the children. The entire 
 area of the church was well taken up by some sixteen or 
 seventeen classes, and the devotional services, conducted in 
 Marathi by Mr. Hume, began by the chanting of the Lord’s 
 prayer to Tallis’s beautiful and simple single chant. Mr. 
 Hume then prayed, while we remained standing, and after 
 prayer a Marathi translation of the hymn, “ Saviour, like a 
 Shepherd lead us,” was sung to a familiar tune, and it was 
 
9 
 
 well and freely sung. Mrs. Hume, with the help of a 
 harmonium, led the music. Then followed the Scripture 
 reading from John xxi. ; and it was read by a native gentle- 
 man, a Brahmin convert, after which I had particular 
 pleasure in noting that his Christian wife took her seat at 
 the harmonium and led the music of the second hymn, sung 
 to a Marathi air. 
 
 And now, as the lessons went on in the separate classes, 
 the scene was a cheerful and pleasant one. All the classes 
 were taught in Marathi except one in English, that one 
 being taken by a young missionary, Mr. Fairbank, at 
 present on a visit to Bombay for a few days. In this class 
 there was a father with a young child on his knee, while he 
 attended to the lesson. Mr. Hume taught an advanced 
 class of men, and Mrs. Hume had a large class of women, 
 some mothers amongst them. The lesson for the morning 
 was from the International series, ‘“ Peter restored,” and 
 after it was gone over in the classes, Mr. Hume asked 
 questions of the whole school, and was answered in quite a 
 lively manner. The closing hymn was in Marathi, and I 
 could only read its English title, ‘“‘I love Thee, my Lord.” 
 And though a great part of the proceedings was to me as so 
 much dumb show, I came away very much pleased with 
 this Marathi Sunday School. It was one of the schools for 
 which I had no doubt sometimes prayed at home. For, 
 don’t we all pray—and particularly on the Sunday mornings 
 —for all Sunday schools at home and abroad, as well as for 
 the other branches of mission work? And here I saw a 
 lively, active mission school, and in it the old and the 
 young being taught together to name the One ever-blessed 
 Name. I felt glad and thankful to be present at sucha 
 school. 
 
 In the evening I attended the ordinary service of the 
 church in the same building. The native pastor was poorly 
 (I afterwards had the pleasure of meeting him up-country) 
 and the service was conducted by a native gentleman—a 
 Christian of the second generation, for his father had 
 formerly been pastor of the church—who spoke with great 
 fluency and apparently with earnestness. The opening 
 services consisted of three hymns, two prayers, and scripture 
 reading, all being in Marathi. The first two hymns were 
 
10 
 
 sung to familiar tunes, one of them being in fact the grand 
 “Old Hundred ;” but the third, which had an English title, 
 ‘Jesus the Friend of sinners,” was sung to a Marathi 
 melody. The closing hymn was a translation of Sankey’s 
 “More love to Thee, O Christ!” and it was sung to one of 
 the tunes used at home for the hymn, “‘ Nearer my God to 
 Thee.” The singing, both in the morning and at the 
 evening services, was hearty, and all joined in it. In the 
 church there are 100 communicants, but at the evening 
 service there must have been twice or thrice that number 
 present. All the members are taught to do something in 
 the way of outside Christian work, and in most cases they 
 are willing to do it, some preaching, some teaching, some 
 reading to others, some selling religious papers, small books, 
 tracts, etc. I am glad to have to say also, on Mr. Hume’s 
 authority, that no Marathi church costs the American 
 Board anything for its pastors: they are paid by the 
 churches theiselves. 
 
 On our way home from the evening meeting, three or four 
 of the most active men in the church engaged in a little 
 out-door preaching on the public street at the entrance to 
 the Mission compound. It was simply a bow drawn at a 
 venture. None of the passers-by offered any opposition, and 
 none were disrespectful. A few stayed and listened appar- 
 ently with interest; the majority stopped only for a few 
 minutes and then passed on. And so closed the services of 
 my first Sunday in India. 
 
 Mrs. Hume is a most active and effective helper in the 
 work of the Mission. She of course has the entire oversight 
 of the Girls’ Boarding School, and she teaches music to all 
 the classes. And it is with pleasure that I note that the 
 Singing of the children—both boys and girls—was excep- 
 tionally good. One afternoon Mrs. Hume had all the 
 scholars brought together into the principal hall, and quite 
 a little entertainment was got up for the special behoof of 
 myself and one or two other friends. We first had a sort 
 of drill song, sung and acted by six boys and six girls, in 
 which they went through all sorts of positions, and did a little 
 marching while singing. Then we had a number of songs, 
 sung in parts, by the whole school, and most of them sung 
 with expression and some taste. I have only noted down 
 
1] 
 
 one of these songs—‘ Little birdie in the tree”—taken from 
 an American collection, and I was charmed with it. Some 
 of the leading girls sung the air as a solo, and then all 
 joined heartily and with precision in the chorus. The 
 softness and smoothness of the girls’ voices particularly 
 struck me. Neither the coarse bah-ing nor the humdrum 
 dragging of the ordinary native music was to be heard; and 
 for this we had no doubt to thank the painstaking and 
 patient drilling of Mrs. Hume, and her excellent musical 
 taste. 
 
 After the songs in English we had a round for three 
 voices, sung by one detachment of boys and two of girls. 
 Then we had two Marathi airs, the first of them being more 
 varied and melodious than any native air I had yet heard. 
 Then we had a Tamil air, and after that a Hindustani one, 
 so that we didn’t want for variety. There was also a soft 
 “‘Sanscrit air,” with a fine long wailing high note ever 
 coming up in it, and this was well sung by smooth female 
 voices. In return for all this really most enjoyable music, 
 I ventured ‘to give one or two pieces such as I had given at 
 Batticaloa and Jaffna, and my effort seemed to be taken 
 very kindly. And will my readers be surprised if I tell 
 them—no doubt with a little spice of vanity in the telling 
 —that after I had finished, and when we were in the act 
 of breaking up, a well-dressed Marathi girl—one who had 
 been educated under Mrs. Hume’s care—came forward, and 
 in a beautiful pure English accent said to me, “Thank you 
 very much, Mr. Walker, for your very nice song.” It is to 
 the “beautiful pure English accent,” and not the compli- 
 ment, that I wish to call attention. That a Marathi 
 Mission school girl should be able to talk in that manner is 
 surely a fact worth noting. But after all I feel constrained 
 to put on record here that the Marathis are nearly as polite 
 to strangers as the Jaffna Tamils are. 
 
 Bompay—Free Cuurcu Coiiuece, Ere, 
 
 On Monday I called upon my friend the Rev. Dr. 
 M‘Kichan of the Free Church College, Bombay, and accept- 
 ing his kind invitation, I stayed with him two days. 
 
 It must be over twelve years since I attended in Glasgow 
 
12 
 
 the services at which Dr. M‘Kichan and his two friends, 
 Thomas Barclay and John C. Gibson, were ordained and 
 set apart, by their own choice, to the work of the Missionary. 
 They had been close friends all through their studies, and 
 had taken and kept the highest positions in their classes. 
 M‘Kichan was sent to Bombay, and Barclay and Gibson to 
 China. 
 
 And now I find myself in the scene of Dr. M‘Kichan’s 
 labours (he has been honoured with the degree of D.D. for 
 some years), in the place in which he has made a name for 
 himself as a teacher and leader of the Youth of Western 
 India. I cannot do anything like justice to the two estab- 
 lishments under his superintendence, the High School and 
 the College, for my notes regarding them are very meagre. 
 In the school there at present 300 scholars, taught in (I 
 think) eight classes, and in their teaching there are em- 
 ployed fifteen teachers, five of whom are Christians, All 
 the classes are taught the Bible for one hour daily, and the 
 Bible hour is the first of the day. All the European pro- 
 fessors in the College teach the Bible lesson, a point of some 
 importance ; for unfortunately in some schools the Bible 
 lesson is anything but commended to native pupils by the 
 fact that it is taught by native teachers of third or fourth- 
 rate attainment. I sat and listened one day while Dr. 
 M‘Kichan himself, in the absence of the regular teacher, 
 took up the Bible lesson in the 6th Standard Class. There 
 was no Christian boy in the class; but the lesson was evid- 
 ently gone into with much interest. The subject was “The 
 new birth,” taken from Christ’s conversation with Nicode- 
 mus. There were Parsees, Brahmins, Muhammadans, and 
 at least one Jew, in the class; and from the religion of each 
 of these, Dr. M‘Kichan was able to bring some fact or usage 
 to show that the idea of “the new birth” was not an un- 
 familiar idea to the peoples of the East. To myself it was a 
 most interesting lesson, and, judging from the readiness and 
 intelligence with which questions were answered, it was 
 evidently as interesting to the class. One of the best 
 teachers of the Bible is a Parsee, whose conversion to the 
 Christian religion dates so far back as forty-eight years ago. 
 When he was about to be baptized, so great was the excite- 
 ment and opposition among the Parsees that it was feared 
 
13 
 
 it might be necessary to call out the military ; but this last 
 step was happily not required. 
 
 Mr. Dhanjibhai Nauroji, for that is the name of the gentle- 
 man I here refer to, studied for some years in Edinburgh, 
 and was ordained by Dr. Chalmers or Dr. Candlish. I 
 liked him very much, and had some pleasant intercourse 
 with him. Ifa blythe and cheerful manner will have any 
 effect in inclining the hearts of brother Parsees to the reli- 
 gion of Jesus, then Mr. Dhanjibhai is a good missionary. 
 And while on this subject I may refer to the case of another 
 teacher of the Bible lesson, as interesting as that of Mr. 
 Dhanjibhai. I saw this teacher engaged with the Bible lesson 
 in the dth Standard Class, but I find that I have not got his 
 name. He is one of the few converts that we have made in 
 India from the religion of Muhammad, and is the son of a 
 gentleman high in office under the Gaikwar of Baroda. His 
 father at first was very angry, and strongly disapproved of 
 his joining the Christians ; but the son was steadfast, and 
 at length his father relented, and is now most kind to him 
 and has placed at his disposal a sum of money, the interest 
 of which he regularly uses. He teaches some other branches 
 besides the Bible, and is a very gentlemanly man, and a 
 great favourite with his classes. These two teachers whom 
 I have here briefly sketched are in fact very fine specimens 
 of the native Christian from two different races. And why 
 should we not have large numbers of such? Why should 
 we not labour and pray for such large numbers, and look for 
 answers to our prayers? I cannot but think that crowds of 
 Parsees will speedily come over to us. Of all the educated 
 races in India they are, I should think, the nearest to us in 
 thought and sentiment; they are practical and industrious 
 like ourselves ; they are thoroughly loyal, and when once 
 they declare for Christ they will not require to be fed and 
 cared for by Christian missionaries. 
 
 In the College there are 160 students, and they are 
 taught by six European Professors (one of them now at home 
 on leave) and three native teachers. These last are non- 
 Christian, and teach Sanscrit, Persian, etc. But I cannot 
 describe the work of the College in detail, and I will not 
 attempt it. JI am impressed with the thought that a great 
 work is being done here in the way of waking up from the 
 
14 
 
 torpor of centuries the mind of Western India. The walls 
 of the old religions are being slowly but systematically. 
 battered down; and we may take it as -certain that the 
 educated Indian youth of the present day can never believe 
 what their fathers have believed; but for all that, the 
 direct and manifest result of our teaching, if attempted to 
 be measured by figures, is as yet remarkably small. To 
 a very small extent do the Marathi Christians go in for 
 higher education; and so I learn from Dr. M‘Kichan ‘that 
 there was no native Christian B.A. in the Marathi Church 
 till 1879.” The College has during its existence brought 
 forth notable fruits in the conversion of men who are now 
 among the foremost native Christians in Western India ; 
 but the number has not been large. Dr. M‘Kichan does not 
 believe that over five per cent. of the students in all the 
 Colleges in Western India are Christians. Another Mis- 
 sionary named to me two per cent. as the more likely figure. 
 The evangelisation of India is a great and perplexing pro- 
 blem. We have as yet only reached units in its vast popula- 
 tions, and these as a rule the least instructed, the poorest 
 and most dependent and helpless. And in some cases we 
 have had to feed about as many as we have converted. The 
 work that we desire to see accomplished is not, I think, to 
 be done in that way; but who sball set us in a way ‘‘more 
 excellent” than the way in which we have already been going ! 
 
 Before closing this letter I think I ought to mention that 
 Dr. M‘Kichan and his Committee have commenced to build 
 a handsome new College for the accommodation of their 
 growing classes. ‘The total cost is estimated at Rs.184,000, 
 and towards this the Government has agreed to give the 
 handsome sum of Rs.87,000, leaving to be made up by the 
 Mission and its friends at home and in India the sum of 
 Rs.97,000. In addition to this amount the Government has 
 also given a free site in a splendid position, facing the sea 
 near Malabar Point. I was pleased to learn that the new 
 buildings are to include apartments for the residence of at 
 least twenty-four Christian students. This is a new feature 
 in the arrangements, and it is one the want of which has 
 been frequently felt. 
 
 In company with Mr. Dhanjibhai, I visited two smaller 
 schools in connection with the Free Church Mission, and 
 
15 
 
 also a Girls’ Boarding School ; but these I do not intend to 
 describe in detail. 
 
 I will only note that it was pleasant to me to see in the 
 boarding school some eight or ten elegantly dressed little 
 Parsee girls, who attend regularly as day-scholars, and 
 receive Christian instruction along with the others. And it 
 was also to me a most interesting sight to see in the College 
 one day, in one of Dr. M‘Kichan’s class-rooms, two high- 
 class Parsee ladies, sisters, sitting at their studies, and 
 holding a good position in a class in which were about 
 thirty young men. 
 
 But here I must close in order to post at Aden. 
 
 Letter No. II. 
 
 S.S. Peshawur, 17th December, 1886. 
 
 Dear Sirs,—From Bombay I went to Ahmednagar, one 
 of the chief cities of the Deccan, and an old stronghold of 
 the Marathis (or Mahrattas), Outside of the city there is 
 a large fort—about a mile in circumference—with walls of 
 great thickness and a deep fosse outside the walls. It must 
 have been a most formidable place in the days of our 
 struggle with the Marathi chiefs, but it was taken by the 
 Duke of Wellington, when he was as yet only Lord Wel- 
 lesley’s ‘brother Arthur,” in 1803, and taken, I am told, 
 without the loss of a single British soldier. But, although 
 the Marathi defenders had taken fright and evacuated the 
 fort, General Wellesley was afraid that they had left it 
 mined inside, and instead of entering at once and taking 
 possession, he rested for the first night under a large 
 tamarind tree outside the walls, and the tree is pointed out 
 to-day, still vigorous and of large and handsome proportions, 
 as “the Duke's tree.” It is marked by four old battered 
 guns, which are stuck upright into the ground, and stand 
 there as grim, silent sentinels, with a story of their own if 
 they could only tell it. On my early morning walks I 
 several times passed round this grand old tree. It is at 
 present loaded with fruit. 
 
16 
 
 AHMEDNAGAR-—CHRISTIAN VERNACULAR NORMAL SCHOOL. 
 
 During my stay in Bombay I had met with Mr. Haig of 
 the Normal or Training School at Ahmednagar, and in Mr. 
 Haig I found a ‘“‘brither Scot” and a kind friend, who made 
 me most welcome to the comforts of his bungalow. There 
 is not a hotel in the city. 
 
 The Normal School of which Mr. Haig is Principal is in 
 connection with the Christian Vernacular Education Society, 
 and was established at Ahmednagar in 1866. The present 
 buildings, which were erected in 1870 at a cost of about 
 Rs.20,000, are very complete, and consist of bungalow, 
 Normal School, Model or Practising School, houses for 
 native teachers, and dormitories for students. 
 
 The institution is undenominational and is open to young 
 men from all Protestant missions and churches. Its primary 
 object is the training of Christian teachers for Vernacular 
 Schools. Ordinary students are passed through their course 
 of study at the expense of the Vernacular Society, but 
 missionaries or others who send young men, with the view 
 of educating them and retaining their services at the expira- 
 tion of their course of study, are expected to pay for their 
 food and clothing. At the end of the term these students 
 return to the parties who sent them, and Mr. Haig is always 
 disposed to encourage the sending in this way of young men 
 of promise for training. All ordinary students engage that 
 after having completed their course of study they shall serve 
 as teachers for as many years as they spend under training. 
 The Bible is the religious text-book, and the whole course 
 of instruction is arranged with a view to the thorough train- 
 ing and efficiency of the students as Christian teachers. 
 The studies are carried on in the Vernacular, but English 
 is taught in all the classes. And I was pleased to find that 
 the regulations of the institution require the students to 
 keep their class-rooms and dormitories clean, and to work on 
 the premises at some kind of manual labour one hour each day. 
 
 There are three classes in the Normal School, known as 
 the preparatory, the junior, and the senior, and the course 
 of study, as a rule, extends over three years, Average 
 number of students, 60. 
 
 Since the establishment of the school there have been 
 
17 
 
 received in all over 400 students, and over 340 have been 
 sent out after completing the course of study. These are 
 now employed as teachers, evangelists, pastors, in connection 
 with all the Missions at work in the Marathi country. 
 About one-half, in fact, of the entire native Christian 
 agency at work among the Marathis has passed through the 
 Alb mednagar institution. 
 
 ‘We endeavour,” says Mr. Haig, in his report for 1885, 
 “‘to make our work as effective as possible, and we wish to 
 see all our men both successful teachers and efficient workers 
 for Christ. This is the end and object of our institution, 
 and were this lost sight of, our work would not be worth 
 maintaining. . . . . Good effective Christian work is 
 done by the men we raise up. Nearly all Mission work in 
 the Vernacular is done by such an agency. Their village 
 schools teach reading and writing, and spread the know- 
 ledge of Jesus Christ among the people. Hundreds of 
 children, who would otherwise have been utterly neglected 
 have been taught by these teachers in different missions ; 
 and from their village schools the native Christian Churches 
 are largely recruited with their best members.” 
 
 The course of study for 1885 was as follows :— 
 
 Preparatory Class.—‘The Bible, Reading Balbodh and 
 Modi papers, Grammar, Geography, History of Maharashtra, 
 Arithmetic, Mental Arithmetic, Writing, Dictation, Com- 
 position, Drawing, and English.” 
 
 Junior Class.—‘‘The Bible, Reading Balbodh and Modi 
 papers, Grammar, Dictation, Composition, School Manage- 
 ment, Teaching, Arithmetic, History of India, Geography, 
 Writing, Drawing, and English.” 
 
 Senior Class.—‘‘The Bible, Evidences of Christianity, 
 Reading Balbodh and Modi papers, Grammar, Dictation, 
 Composition, Writing, Drawing, Arithmetic, Mensuration, 
 School Management, Teaching, History of India, Geography, 
 Astronomy, English.” 
 
 Teachers’ Class.—“'This was attended by six teachers. The 
 work accomplished in the limited time at our disposal, two 
 hours a day, was very satisfactory. These extra studies 
 make the teachers more effective in their own schools at 
 present, and may perhaps fit them for posts of greater 
 responsibility and usefulness in the future,” 
 
18 
 
 I have on two occasions spent some time in the Normal 
 School, and I cannot but regard it as a most efficient institu- 
 tion for both secular education and Christian training. 
 The Government Inspector’s Report of it for 1885 is that 
 he was entirely satisfied with its management and general 
 efficiency, and he adds that “the institution is the first of 
 its kind, and has been doing a really good work ever since 
 its establishment.” 
 
 I ought to mention here that a number of the advanced 
 students in the Normal School are employed at certain 
 hours daily in teaching in the Practising School, this being a 
 most important part of their own training. 
 
 Mr. Haig receivesa Government grant of Rs. 2,000 isfy 
 lar teaching” in both schools, but nothing i is earned by marks. 
 
 I am sorry to have to say that the institution is pining 
 for want of funds, and that its work may have to be cur- 
 tailed if more liberal support be not given to it. I heard 
 little of this from Mr. Haig ; for he is no grumbler, but a 
 patient cheerful worker. I believe, however, that I am 
 correct in what I here state, and I should greatly rejoice if 
 any word I write should be the means of leading any 
 Christian friend to send some help to the institution. 
 
 In the Practising School the pupils are almost entirely 
 children of Christian parents. The average attendance is 
 60. Very little is charged in the way of fees, the total 
 receipts for twelve months being about Rs.20. There are 
 also two small free schools in the suburbs in connection 
 with the Normal School, and in these great prominence is 
 given to Christian instruction. 
 
 On one of the days on which I visited the Normal School 
 the number present was 58, classified thus :— 
 
 First or Senior Class, - - - - - 15 
 
 Second or Junior Class, - - - - 14 
 
 Third or Preparatory Class, - : - 29 
 As to religion there were— 
 
 Members of Church, - - - . : 24 
 
 Baptized, but not Members, - - - 24 
 
 Hindus, - : . 10 
 
 41 of the 58 were from the Ahmednagar Collectorate ; the 
 others from more distant localities. 
 
Y 
 
 AHMEDNAGAR—AMERICAN Mission. 
 
 The next school at Ahmednagar which I wish to notice is 
 the High School in connection with the American Mission, 
 of which the Rev. James Smith, B.A., is Principal. He 
 is most active and energetic, and an enthusiast in his pro- 
 fession. ‘The High School has as yet been a remarkable 
 success, from its opening in June 1882, with fourteen pupils, 
 up till now, when the number is about 300 and the staff of 
 teachers fourteen. It is an Anglo-Vernacular institution, 
 teaching the Ist, 2nd, and 3rd Standards in the Vernacular, 
 and all above the 3rd in English. The distinct intention of 
 the institution is to prepare for college. Nine-tenths of the 
 pupils are non-Christian ; but the school is opened every 
 morning with prayer, and the Bible is taught one hour daily 
 in every class. This, no doubt, prevents some pupils from 
 attending ; but it does not prevent the rapid growth of the 
 school. Some of the non-Christian parents even go so far 
 as to request that their children be taught the Bible, though 
 they say that they themselves are “too old.” Every pupil 
 is bound to bring his own Bible to the school. 
 
 Pupils are taught from the alphabet up to entrance 
 examination for Bombay College. In the examination of — 
 1884 five out of seven candidates sent up passed; and in 
 1885 eight out of ten passed. Four of these latter were 
 Christians; and it is quite certain that without this High 
 School not more than one of them could have got his educa- 
 tion. What became of the thirteen who thus passed in 
 these two years} Three are teaching in the High School 
 itself ; two are in College preparing themselves to take a 
 higher position than they could otherwise do as teachers in 
 the High School; a few have found places in Government 
 service, and some are in College with nothing particular in 
 view. 
 
 The fees charged are about same as in Government schools. 
 say Rs.4 per month. In 1885 they amounted to Rs.2,000, and 
 the Government grant amounted to Rs.1,500. The grant 
 from the Mission Board is at the rate of Rs.80 a month, and 
 the Board also supports the Principal and pays Rs.40 a month 
 as rent of the oldschool. For the present year the Principal 
 expects to do without the Rs.80 a month from the Board, his 
 
20 
 
 great aim being, while giving a high-class education, to make 
 the school as nearly self-supporting as possible. 
 
 The new school building for the High School is regarded 
 as one of the sights of *‘ Nuggar,” and the good people of the 
 city are rather proud of it. It was built and furnished at 
 an expense of Rs.26,000, but of this amount only Rs.4,000 
 were provided by the Mission Board. The large balance 
 was made up by subscriptions from Mr. Smith’s friends in 
 India, fees, and a Government grant. Thisis what is said of 
 the new building in the latest report of the Mission :— 
 ‘“‘The greatest event of the year has been the completion 
 of the new building. It accommodates the whole four 
 classes of the High School Department, and provides 
 also a spacious hall, 30 by 50 feet, seated for about 350 
 people with Assembly Settees made by Messrs. A. H. 
 Andrews & Co. of Chicago. The four class-rooms are in the 
 main building, two on each storey. They are all of the 
 same size, 20 by 23 feet, and accommodate 40 pupils each. 
 The old school adjoining, in which there are five more rooms, 
 is occupied by the Middle School and the Library and 
 Reading Room. The new building is built of stone, coursed 
 _ rubble, with cut stone arches and Gothic windows in pairs, 
 
 The roof is of French tiles and all the woodwork of Burmah 
 teak. The seats and desks are Andrews’ famous ‘Triumph 
 Folding Double Desks ’—‘ the best in the world.’” 
 
 But Mr, Smith has still higher work in view. Next 
 month (January, 1887) he hopes to open a College in 
 connection with the High School, and affiliated with Bombay 
 University. And he proposes to do this without imposing 
 any fresh burden on the Mission Board. The staff, including 
 another American Missionary, will be paid by fees and the 
 Government grant. ‘The aim in starting the College will be 
 to train men—Christian men—for teaching in high class 
 schools elsewhere in the American and other missions, and 
 to retain non-Christians longer under Christian influence 
 than can at present be done. 
 
 At first Mr. Smith had to encounter much opposition to 
 his arrangements, and more particularly to the prominence 
 he gave to Bible teaching. But now there is a general 
 acquiescence in all his plans, and he assures me that there 
 is much real interest in Bible truth. More than once I had 
 
21 
 
 the opportunity of speaking a few earnest words to his 
 young men, and it was a pleasure to doso. Not one boy in 
 ten who has been three years in the school will go back to 
 Hindu idolatry. 
 
 Many of them indeed frankly acknowledge the claims of 
 Christ, but in the face of their family surroundings their one 
 unanswerable question is, ‘‘ Whatcan we do?” But there 
 are decided cases of conversion and facing all consequences, 
 and one such—a deeply interesting case—is going forward 
 at present, but I am not at liberty to give any particulars. 
 
 I need not say that Mr. Smith is making himself felt as a 
 power in the community. Asa teacher he is respected alike 
 by Christians and non-Christians, and admission to the 
 High School is now generally looked upon as a privilege. 
 The same remarks would hold good with reference to Mr. 
 Haig and the Normal School. Both men are thoroughly in 
 earnest in their work, and their lives give force and power 
 to their teaching. Mrs. Smith, I am glad to say, gives 
 efficient help to her husband in the school, and Mrs. Haig 
 also took a kindly part in the work of the Normal and 
 Practising Schools, but she is at present at home in 
 England. 
 
 There is of course a Girls’ Boarding School as part of the 
 American Mission work at Ahmednagar, and it is at present 
 well managed and cared for by Miss Hume and Miss Bissell. 
 ‘There are just now sixty-nine boarders and about seventy 
 day-scholars in the school, and they are taught in seven 
 excellent class-rooms. The amount of Government grant 
 earned by those who were sent up for examination last year 
 —eighty-five girls—was Rs.726. Here, as in all the 
 American Mission Girls’ Schools, the musical training of 
 the girls is well attended to, Miss Bissell taking charge of 
 that department at present. 
 
 The church in connection with the American Mission has 
 a membership of over 300, and the contributions of native 
 members last year amounted to Rs.401. It is under the 
 oversight of Rev. Dr. Bissell and a native pastor. The 
 attendance at the Sunday services is large, and it is increased 
 by the presence of the students from Mr. Haig’s Normal 
 School, and a number of pupils from the High School. 
 
 It has also a large and well-managed Sunday School, at 
 
22 
 
 which the services are enlivened by plenty of good music— 
 much of it the native airs—led by Mrs. and Miss Bissell. 
 
 I don’t know if I need say that I was on two Sunday 
 afternoons requested to give the address to the church, and 
 that I had in each case a large and most attentive audience. 
 I had a splendid interpreter, and was assured by some friends 
 that my remarks did not lose by being done into Marathi. 
 
 Shall I say here also that at the request of my friend Mr. 
 Smith—who said he would give me his largest hall, would 
 provide a chairman, and get for me an audience that would 
 understand me—I one evening gave something like the 
 lecture on ‘‘Scottish Songs and Song Writers” which I had 
 given a few weeks before in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, 
 About 250 were present, and of these only some twelve or 
 fourteen were European or American, the others being made 
 up from the more advanced students in the Training and 
 High Schools, and from the educated people of old 
 ‘‘ Nuggar” itself. The principal judge—a namesake of my 
 own—was in the chair. [ don’t at all lke to report 
 myself, but I wish to tell what took place when I had 
 finished my programme. I had sung six or seven songs, 
 and read or declaimed two; the latter two being ‘“‘ A Man’s 
 a Man for a’ that,” and “ Auld Robin Gray,” and of this 
 latter [ said that it had more in it than most three volume 
 novels have. Of those sung I only name “ My Nannie O!” 
 —one of Burns’s purest and best—and ‘“There’s nae luck 
 about the house,” with which I closed. With or without 
 much discrimination the songs were pretty well applauded, 
 and when the last plaudits had ended I said something like 
 this :— 
 
 I am glad, my friends, that you have received that 
 song so favourably: I was indeed a little curious to see how 
 you would receive it. I have been here now for nearly a 
 fortnight, and I like Ahmednagar and feel that 1 am among 
 friends. And it is no part of my religion to say any- 
 thing offensive of the religion of my friends. But your 
 religion is different from mine, and your social life is 
 different from that which I am accustomed to, You have 
 applauded my songs, and I’m sure you must have seen 
 that it was to me a great pleasure to sing them to you. 
 But must not there be something wrong in that system of 
 
23 
 
 life under which you cannot have and cannot thoroughly 
 understand such songs as I have sung? You cannot have a 
 song like “My Nannie O!” You cannot have one like 
 “There’s nae luck about the house.” No; because they are 
 the expression of feelings which are utterly strange to 
 you. We exalt woman; we put her in the place of honour, 
 and in honouring her we find that we honour and ennoble 
 ourselves. But isn’t it the case that you degrade woman— 
 that you put her in an inferior position and keep her there ? 
 And be assured that in degrading her you degrade your- 
 selves, and rob your social life of its highest beauty and 
 happiness, 
 
 I said more than this, and I spoke with some vigour 
 and earnestness. And these men of Ahmednagar—not one 
 of whom had wife or daughter with him—loudly applauded 
 my little speech! , 
 
 In his closing remarks the Chairman was kind enough to 
 refer to what I had said, and to express his hearty approval 
 of it; and as I was about to leave the hall one of the native 
 judges—a social reformer, as I learned afterwards—came 
 forward and thanked me specially for my closing remarks. 
 
 Thus ended what must have been a new experience to the 
 good people of ‘‘ Nuggar”—a night with Scottish songs and 
 Song-writers. 
 
 I hope to live to visit Ahmednagar again, and if I do so 
 I shall expect a kindly welcome. I feel that I have left 
 some friends there. 
 
 Letter No. III. 
 
 On Board the S.S. Peshawur, near Suez, 
 18th December, 1886. 
 
 Dear Srrs,—One of the trips I took from Ahmednagar 
 was to Sirur, a small village about thirty miles distant, on 
 the road to Poona. There is here a station of the American 
 Mission, under the charge of the active and energetic Rev. 
 Richard Winsor, and to me the great attraction to Sirur 
 was that I might see for myself the Industrial School which 
 he has established and is now successfully carrying on. On 
 this trip I had two friends with me. 
 
24 
 SIRUR—INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL. 
 
 The drive from “ Nuggar” to Sirur is most enjoyable. 
 It is off the railway track, but instead of the rail we have 
 a splendid road, and its long distances in a perfectly straight. 
 line tell at once that it is no old Indian thoroughfare, but a 
 modern military road, and I need not say that it is kept in 
 fine order. 
 
 Mr. Winsor’s Misson work consists of :— 
 
 1. Church with a membership of  - : - bi 96 
 And attendants or adherents” - - - - 175 
 2, Sunday School, average - 100 
 3. Ten Day Schools in Sirur “ial villages ‘i in the 
 neighbourhood ~~ - : - - : - 250 
 4. Boys’ Boarding School - - - - 35 
 With Day-scholars”~ - 15 
 5. Girls’ Boarding and Day School, in all (exnnee 
 give the figures Ror Abery - : - 35 
 6. Industrial School - : - - 40 
 
 This would seem to be enough to keep one missionary 
 pretty busy ; and no doubt Mr. Winsor zs a busy man; but 
 he likes his work and thrives on it, and Mrs, Winsor very 
 actively and heartily shares it with him. 
 
 As regards the Industrial School, it will save me some 
 writing if I give here the description of it which appears in 
 the Mission Report for 1885. It is from the pen of a 
 visitor :— 
 
 “ Thirty-two miles from Ahmednagar, and forty-two 
 from Poona, lies the town of Sirur, for more than forty 
 years a station of the American Marathi Mission, and also 
 a military station occupied at present by the Poona Horse, 
 Through the kindness of Government a large and admirably 
 adapted barrack has been made over to Mr. Winsor for the 
 purposes of tbe school, and a grant of one-half the expense 
 for land and machinery. During Mr. Winsor’s recent 
 visit to America many leading “business men became 
 interested in this enterprise, and, besides donations of money, 
 valuable machinery was presented for the use of the school. 
 The course of instruction extends over three years, and 
 comprises a thorough drill in the manufacture of Aloe fibre 
 matting, carpentry, and the use of such machinery as 
 lathes for both wood and iron work, scroll and rip saws, 
 
25 
 
 mortise and tenoning machines. For the manufacture of 
 rope matting the Aloe fibre is used. Thirty acres of land 
 have been purchased suitable for the growing of the plant, 
 with abundant water necessary for preparing the fibre. 
 Already 30,000 plants have been set out. This Industrial 
 School is to be opened to all boys who shall be deemed 
 eligible, and who are willing to come under its rules. A 
 fee of three rupees per month will be asked for the support 
 and instruction of each pupil. Twenty-eight boys are 
 already enrolled, and are making commendable progress.” 
 
 I am aware that the preparation of the Aloe fibre has 
 been repeatedly attempted in Ceylon, but I am not certain 
 as to what success has attended the latest attempts. One 
 machine—-a rather heavy and expensive one—was, I think, 
 not considered a great success, and my impression is that 
 little progress has been made in utilising the fibre. Mr. 
 Winsor’s machine for separating the fibre from the pulp is 
 extremely simple and of very small dimensions. I believe 
 it is of his own design, and as he may wish to protect it, I 
 will not attempt a description of it here. But the processes. 
 in the preparation of the fibre may be indicated thus :— 
 
 lst. Soaking in water. 
 
 2nd. Separating fibre from pulp by Mr. Winsor’s 
 apparatus. 
 
 3rd. Combing and straightening the dry fibre by means. 
 of a series of iron combs, coarser and finer. 
 
 4th, Twisting the fibre into single strands of about 
 3-16ths diameter. 
 
 5th. Plaiting these strands into a slightly flat plait of 
 three times two strands. 
 
 6th. Weaving these plaits into mats of an excellent and 
 most durable quality. The loom used in this work is very 
 strong, but of a very simple make. 
 
 I have said that the matting is very durable. I saw 
 several specimens of it in Mr. Winsor’s own bungalow, one 
 of the pieces having been in use for fifteen years ; and yet 
 it seemed to me that there was not a break in its surface. 
 This piece, of course, was not made at Sirur, for the manu- 
 facture has only recently been started there; but I am 
 
26 
 
 assured that Mr. Winsor will have no difficulty in finding a 
 market for his matting. ‘The number of boys employed in 
 the Aloe fibre manufacture is 28. 
 
 After this manufacture comes carpenter-work, and in this 
 branch 12 boys are employed under a very intelligent and 
 competent native carpenter. The tools in use are of the best 
 quality, and I was a little surprised to find them so well 
 handled by boys who are still mere beginners. They have 
 as yet been employed in making wardrobes, tables, boxes, 
 etc., but are not yet far enough advanced to make a chair, 
 They like their work well, and are employed 3 hours each 
 day at industrial work, and 43 hours at lessons. 
 
 My readers will be surprised to learn that about half of 
 the boys engaged in industrial work are pure Negroes. And 
 thereby hangs a tale, of which I had got some hints before I 
 reached Sirur. 
 
 About the beginning of this year the Government 
 officials at Bombay were not a little troubled by the arrival 
 at that port of a small cargo of Negroes, which had been 
 captured off the coast of Africa by one of Her Majesty’s 
 cruisers. In the lot were 19 children or young persons—16 
 boys and 3 girls. Some correspondence took place between 
 the Government and Mr. Winsor, and ultimately it was 
 arranged that both the boys and the girls should be sent to 
 Sirur, and that the Government should pay a small monthly 
 fee for their board and instruction. I can scarcely pass this 
 part of my narrative without the thought coming up: I 
 wonder how many Governments there are in the world that 
 would have done as our own has done in this matter? Well 
 done our own Old Country! Wedon’t take the poor Negro 
 boys and girls from the slaver simply to send them back to 
 the slaver again: we take them out of the reach of any such 
 danger, and we provide that they shall be educated and 
 trained to useful industries, and that we shall pay the bill 
 for it all! There is something that is great and gracious 
 about the Old Country after all, although some of her own 
 sons at times don’t see it.. 
 
 After seeing the Negro boys in the Industrial School, we 
 saw them later in the day at their lessons along with the 
 Marathi boys. And it seemed evident to me that the 
 Negro boys were going to beat the Marathis both at work 
 
27 
 
 and lessons. Boys who about eight months ago did not 
 know one word of Marathi were now reading in the second 
 book and holding their places in the class. At one time I 
 put a question in mental arithmetic to a Marathi class. It 
 was not at alla difficult question, but I had to wait some time 
 for an answer. And the answer did at length come ; but it 
 came from the next room, scarcely separated from the one I 
 was in, and it came from a Negro boy! 
 
 At our examination of the various classes in the Boys’ 
 School, we had several Marathi airs, but we were most 
 touched by a melody and chorus by the Negroes. And we 
 pleased them by giving them some simple music in return. 
 
 We examined the Girls’ School also, and were much 
 pleased with what we saw and heard there. With the help 
 of two native assistants, Mrs. Winsor is doing good work 
 among the girls. In this school we found the three Negro 
 girls—from 12 to 13 years of age. They seemed very shy, 
 and scarcely so bright as the boys. But one of them was 
 also reading the second book. This giil was at first dead 
 against the thought of going back to Africa: “'Too many 
 Arabs there ; too many bad men.” But now she says she 
 will some day go back and tell the people about Jesus, the 
 good Saviour. And may we not hope and pray that some 
 of the boys may also be disposed to go and do the same 
 blessed work. 
 
 The boys in the Industrial School are, as any one may 
 see, strong, muscular young fellows, and they must, no 
 doubt, swallow a good quantity of rice or other grain at each 
 meal. But the following table, which I took from one of 
 Mr. Winsor’s books, will show at what a moderate rate a 
 healthy and vigorous life may here be maintained. 
 
 Kerrp oF NINETEEN NEGRO CHILDREN FOR ONE MonrtTH, 
 OctoBer, 1886. 
 
 Rice or other Grains, - - : - - Rs.i26 13 6 
 Meat, oil, and fuel, - - - . : 815 9 
 Potatoes, onions, etc., - : - - DeSa 9 
 Pepper, salt, and miscellaneous, - - 2 Go. 
 
 Total, - - - - - Rs. 40 6 6 
 
 That is to say, about £3 sterling. 
 
28 
 
 Iam sorry that I cannot go further into Mr. Winsor’s 
 interesting work at Sirur. I have no doubt that the 
 Industrial School will in many ways strengthen and prosper 
 all the work of the Mission, and already it is yielding fruit 
 in the gratitude of the native people of the district. The 
 following is an extract from an address presented twelve 
 months ago to Mr. Winsor :— 
 
 ‘““We consider that you have conferred upon us a great 
 favour by having undertaken this excellent work. We are 
 under great obligation to you for all the labour and toil you 
 have undergone, and for the trouble you have endured in 
 this connection. Finally, our prayer to Almighty God is, 
 that He may keep you and yours in health, and His name 
 be honoured long in this land. 
 
 (Signed) “Tuxaram Natuusi, Chairman. 
 “ BALAWANT CuimaJi, Clerk.” 
 
 Poona—FREE CHURCH INSTITUTION. 
 
 After leaving Ahmednagar I visited Poona, the ancient 
 capital of the Marathis, and spent a few days there. There 
 also I visited many schools, including the Free Church 
 Institution under the charge of Rev. Mr. Beaumont. In 
 the Institution and the schools connected with it, Mr. Beau- 
 mont has in all from 1,000 to 1,100 students or pupils, and 
 there are girls as well as boys in some of the schools. There 
 is also an Orphanage near Mr. Beaumont’s own bungalow, 
 and it is superintended by Miss Beaumont and a European 
 assistant. Of fifteen teachers employed in the Institution, 
 I found that only two were Christian. This may be a 
 necessity for the present ; but if it be so it surely is a most 
 painful necessity, and some steps might perhaps be taken 
 to put an end to it. J found also that one native teacher 
 teaches all classes the Bible lesson—one after another all 
 day long, and the teacher himself not a very bright subject— 
 a half-educated man, in fact. If he had any love for the 
 Bible to begin with, sure enough this plan must have been 
 invented to kill it right out of him. I wonder what the 
 poor man thinks of his Bible lesson as it gets near four 
 o'clock each afternoon? Or rather, I should perhaps say, 
 I wonder whether he has by that time any power left in 
 
29 
 
 him of thinking at all? Mr. Beaumont, I have no doubt, 
 means everything that is right; he is a good man, and 
 thoroughly in earnest in his work ; but one can’t help think- 
 ing, Is it any wonder that the Bible lesson is sometimes 
 not much respected by native students?! There were highly- 
 educated Brahmin teachers standing about listening as we 
 heard the Bible lesson gone over in one of the classes, I 
 wonder what they thought of it, and of our reverence for 
 our Sacred Book? I think that Mr. Beaumont has far too 
 much to do, and too much to think of. He is evidently 
 oppressed with his work, and it is telling upon his health. 
 And I hope he will not think me unfriendly when I say all 
 this. 
 
 I ought to add that in this Institution there have been 
 during the last fifteen years twenty converts to Christianity 
 from the College classes, and that two of these were high- 
 caste. The Institution receives from home each year, Rs. 8,000 
 and from fees, Government grant, etc., - - 4,800 
 
 In all, Rs. 12,800 
 
 I was much pleased with the Orphange under the care of 
 Miss Beaumont. ‘The children are evidently well cared for. 
 They have a comfortable and tidy look; and their education 
 is not neglected, for they are taught up to the 7th Standard. 
 Two of the most advanced girls (Marathis) read to us Word- 
 worth’s verses, ‘‘ We are seven,” with a fairly correct Eng- 
 lish accent. 
 
 Poona—Miss Bernarp’s SCHOOLS: CHURCH OF SCOTLAND. 
 
 In Poona, I also visited—along with two friends—Miss 
 Bernard’s Orphanage or Boarding School, in connection with 
 the Church of Scotland. In the Boarding School there are 
 27 girls; but Miss Bernard has in all under her charge 11 
 schools, classified thus:— 
 
 For Girls only, - - = : : : ‘ , 8 
 
 », Boys and Girls, - - . e 2 : 2 
 Night School, - ; - , ; : i 1 
 Attendance in all, Girls ‘ : : : s - 500 
 
 $3 Hee Boyes ait pes bliin Shy n «dodo 
 
30 
 
 In the education of these children there are employed 13 
 native teachers, and I am delighted to be able to say that 
 they are all Christians. Miss Bernard also superintends a 
 very interesting Zenana work, in carrying on which she 
 and her assistants visit 100 homes. 
 
 Poona—Mrs. Sorassi’s ScHoot, 
 
 Our last visit in Poona was to an excellent and most 
 interesting school, opened and successfully carried on by 
 Mrs. and the Misses Sorabji, a Christian Parsee family. 
 The school is, of course, a Christian school; it is chiefly for 
 girls, but a few boys are taken, from 9 to 12 years of age. 
 And I noticed in the classes a few fair-skinned European 
 girls—-a most rare thing to see in any school for natives in 
 India. These were the children, I believe, of some of the 
 Europeans employed on the railway. That this school 
 stands well in the examinations is shown by the fact that 
 the Government grant last year was Rs.2074, and this 
 amount was earned by 60 pupils. I am aware also that our 
 countryman Lord Reay, the present Governor of Bombay, 
 has spoken most favourably of the school. Since I came 
 home, I learned that Mrs. Sorabji has lately been in 
 Scotland trying to raise funds for the improvement and 
 extension of the Poona school buildings. I have not had 
 the pleasure of meeting with the lady, but I can bear wit- 
 ness that she is right in wishing to see her class-rooms both 
 improved and enlarged. 
 
 Bompay—Mrs. CANAREN’S SCHOOL. 
 
 Before leaving Bombay I had the opportunity of visiting 
 yet another school which had for me an interest specially its 
 own. It is the direct outcome of a living Christian faith 
 working in the heart, and bringing forth beautiful and 
 precious fruit. The school was originated and is carried on 
 by Mrs. Trimbuck Canaren, a Christian lady of the second 
 generation, her father having been a Christian and of good 
 caste. She is a lady by education and by natural refinement, 
 and she daily seeks to follow Christ by teaching and training 
 poor and uncared-for children in the Colaba part of Bombay. 
 
31 / 
 I found that the school consisted of 60 boys and 10 girls. 
 A few of them pay small fees, but most of them are too 
 poor to pay anything. Mrs. Canaren is not a lady of large 
 means. She has only the salary of her husband to depend 
 upon; but her husband—as fine a specimen of the native 
 Christian as I have met—joins with her heartily in this 
 good work, and the needful money for the support of the 
 school has as yet come in as required. Let me here give a 
 few short paragraphs from a little unpretending statement 
 of the work of this school for 1885. It is drawn up by Mr. 
 Trimbuck Canaren :— 
 
 “ During the year under review, 27 additional scholars 
 have been received; but 23 of our most promising pupils 
 have recently left—some to earn their livelihood, and others 
 to further their studies in English knowledge, by joining 
 other schools; and the majority, 14 girls, to go to the homes 
 of their mothers-in-law.” 
 
 [Please note that the poor little things—married while 
 they are mere children—have “to go to the homes of 
 their mothers-in-law.” It is by the mothers-in-law that 
 they are to be taught their domestic duties. | 
 
 “The planting of such a school as ours, where secular 
 schools are already in existence, is a very delicate and diffi- 
 cult task, and should only be undertaken by those who are 
 acquainted with the caste and religious prejudices of the 
 people of this country, and who are prepared to deal ten- 
 derly with them, until such time at least as caste prejudice 
 is overcome by education and Christian intercourse. 
 
 “We feel that by combining religious with secular and 
 practical education we prepare those whom we reach to 
 become better members of society, loyal subjects, and upright 
 men and women. 
 
 ‘* A number of our Christian and non-Christian friends 
 have been very pressing that we should open similar schools 
 in other localities where our work would be better appre- 
 ciated. To all such our answer has been—the rich have 
 many means of educating their children, but the poor have 
 none; and we feel called upon to labour among such till the 
 Lord opens new fields of labour for us. 
 
 “The Sunday School work is making satisfactory pro- 
 gress, the attendance is increasing, and a greater willingness 
 
32 
 
 is shown to receive the truth on the part of the children 
 attending it, and the opposition of the parents has subsided.” 
 
 I was much interested to learn that Mrs. Canaren has, 
 in addition to her aptness as a Christian teacher, a good 
 deal of artistic ability. She paints with great taste, and 
 she is an excellent photographer. Some time before I was 
 in Bombay, one of the native princes (perhaps I had better 
 not give the name) wished very much to have some photo- 
 graphing done, and he was in trouble, because the ladies of 
 his household were to be “taken,” and, therefore, no male 
 artist could be employed. He was at length directed to 
 Mrs. Canaren, and she undertook to do all that he required. 
 And she did it, and did it so entirely to his satisfaction, 
 that at the end of three weeks he sent her and her husband 
 home loaded with shawls and other presents, over and above 
 a princely amount in rupees expressly to help her in her 
 school work. 
 
 I brought home a few of Mrs. Canaren’s photographs, 
 one of them being an ‘interior ”—the native prince’s own 
 sitting-room. It has very much the appearance of a hand- 
 somely furnished English drawing-room. 
 
 It is surely a comfort to know that there are some such 
 native Christians as I have incidentally sketched in these 
 letters. And I did not go out of my way to seek them: I 
 only had eyes to see them when they came right in my way.. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Trimbuck Canaren are doing fine Christian 
 work; they are doing it from love to Christ and the poor 
 neglected children, and I trust that Christian friends will 
 continue to help and sustain them in it. I noticed with 
 much pleasure that amongst the latest contributions was a 
 donation of 100 rupees by General Sir Robert Phayre. 
 
 I fain would say more, but I am pressed for time to post 
 this at Suez, and so I make salaams, and remain, as of old, 
 
 yours faithfully, 
 WILLIAM WALKER. 
 
ADDITIONAL NOTES. 
 
 I.—Two NATIVE JUDGES. 
 
 _ During my stay at Ahmednagar, I had the honour of being 
 introduced to two native judges, and at their own suggestion 
 they paid me a visit at Mr. Haig’s bungalow, and had a long 
 morning talk with me. They were of course intelligent and 
 highly educated, and spoke English freely—one of them 
 perfectly. They questioned me eagerly about Ceylon—its 
 Governor, its Legislative Council, the employment of the 
 people, the productions of the country, and so forth. They 
 questioned me also as to my reason for visiting Ahmednagar, 
 and were not a little complimentary when I told them that 
 I was there simply because I wanted to know a little about 
 the people of Western India. We talked long and pleasantly, 
 but I can only notice two subjects on which we touched. 
 They said they were “of course” loyal, and never had a 
 thought of being anything else. They said that the benefits 
 to their country from being under the British Government 
 were incalculable ; but they added with great earnestness 
 that there was one evil which we were bringing upon them, 
 and they wished to speak of it tome. They referred to the 
 increasing use of intoxicants by their countrymen: a usage 
 that was greatly on the increase, which was encouraged—so 
 they said—by our Government, and out of which my 
 countrymen made gain. And they besought me, if I had 
 any influence at home, to bring this subject under public 
 notice. What could I say? What, but tell them that for 
 forty years I had had neither part nor lot in the drinking 
 system of my country; that since [ was a boy I had been 
 opposed to it; and that there were large numbers at home 
 like myself, who would willingly try to help them in this 
 matter. Please note, however, that I do not think that the 
 Government of India encourages the increased consumpt of 
 intoxicants. I here only fairly re-state what two intelligent 
 gentlemen said to me. 
 
34 
 
 The next subject I refer to is Christian Missions, and it 
 came up incidentally. 
 
 I had said some word about Christian Missions, when all 
 at once the-elder gentleman of the two said, almost as if he 
 were speaking an aside; “ Missionaries! Your missionaries 
 will never convert the people of India. Everyone of them 
 has got his tonga and half-a-dozen servants. They never 
 will convert our people in that way.” The tonga, I may 
 explain, is a comfortable sort of low dog-cart, drawn by two 
 ponies, and greatly used in the Deccan. I was not at all 
 inclined to discuss the tonga question, and I took no notice 
 of the remark. And neither am I disposed to discuss it 
 here. I simply repeat what was said tome. At same time, 
 I believe that at certain seasons the tonga, or something in 
 that line, is indispensable, if Mission work is to be carried 
 on at all. 
 
 II.—Non-CHRIsTIAN TEACHERS. 
 
 It will be noticed that in one school—the High School at 
 Bombay-—out of fifteen teachers employed only jive are 
 Christian, and in the classes at Poona the proportion was 
 two out of fifteen. And so, in a large educational institu- 
 tion in Southern India, for which I have got the figures, I 
 find that out of twenty-two native teachers employed only 
 seven are Christian. And it is added most significantly that 
 there have been ‘‘no conversions for three years.” Why 
 should there be? In some schools I don’t think conversions 
 are arranged for or looked for. But for all that the schools 
 are called Christian mission schools. 
 
 IIJl.—Some Ficures rrom CEYLON. 
 
 It may interest some readers if from my little sketch, 
 “ A Trip round Ceylon,” I extract these figures :— 
 
 Total number of children taught in connection with the 
 four Missions noticed as at work in Ceylon— 
 
 Wesleyan Mission, - : - - - - 17,048 
 Church es - - . - - 9,373 
 American », (at Jaffna only), - : - 8,500 
 Baptist i - - - 3 : : 2,437 
 
 Total,.- “a bop ahewomeee 
 
35 
 
 And please note that, so far as I know, only Christian 
 teachers are employed in teaching, and this applies alike to 
 all the Missions. 
 
 The following remarkable statement shows the material 
 which our missionaries in Ceylon have to work upon. 
 
 Classification of 7,353 children in the schools of the 
 Wesleyan .Mission in Colombo, Kandy and Galle districts, 
 classified according to parentage :— 
 
 Church of England)” - . . - - - 389 
 Presbyterian, - - - - - - - 124 
 Wesleyan, - . - - - - - ae als ho? 
 Roman Catholic, = - - - - - - - 504 
 Other denominations (Christian), - - - - 56 
 MUHAMMADANS,~ - - . - - - - 127 
 Hinpvs, - - . - - - - - - 230 
 BUDDHISTS, - : - : =f? : - 4,771 
 
 Total, . - Besos 
 
 The net sifted total church membership of the four Mis- 
 sions—all mere “adherents,” or ‘“‘candidates,” or ‘‘members 
 on trial,” or ‘candidates for baptism ” being left out—is as 
 under :— 
 
 Wesleyan Mission, - - - - - - 38,912 
 Church ; - . - - - - 1,850 
 American _,, - - - - . - 1,244 
 Baptist, 3 - - - - - - 732 
 
 Total, - - ee LOS 
 
 IV.—SPECIAL, FOR TRAVELLERS. 
 
 I think that I ought to state that during my stay at 
 Ahmednagar and Poona, in November and December, the 
 climate was as near as possible perfect. My morning walks 
 into the fine open country around old ‘“ Nuggar” were a 
 special delight—a delight now often repeated in my day 
 dreams—and even during the day the heat was not at all 
 oppressive. Altogether I do not estimate the amount of 
 Christian self-denial involved in a visit to the Deccan during 
 the mouths of November, December, or January at a very 
 high figure; and if any of my friends should wish to do their 
 mission-visiting at the expense of some little mortification 
 
36 
 
 of the flesh, they had better give the Deccan the go-by during 
 these months. They will find a few mosquitoes in Bombay, 
 and large and bloodthirsty creatures they are, as I know 
 well—but there are no other discomforts. Travelling by 
 rail is luxurious; that is to say, it will be so unless you 
 happen to meet with one of Her Majesty’s officers— an 
 exceptional case, | am most ready to admit—who persists 
 in occupying with his belongings three-fourths of a large 
 compartment, and leaves you and your friends to comfort 
 yourselves with the remaining fourth. Between such 
 an othcer and the Bombay mosquitoes there is perhaps 
 not much to choose; but I have not found the officers quite 
 so plentiful as the mosquitoes. English is spoken at all the 
 stations; I found the conductors everywhere civil and 
 obliging, and there are no tips. Once, for special services 
 rendered to me, I offered the conductor a rupee, and it was 
 politely declined: “ It was against the rules of the service.” 
 Happy service ! and may it have many such conductors. 
 
 V.—COoNCLUSION. 
 
 It is with great hesitation that I remind my readers of 
 the need of funds for the Christian Vernacular Training 
 School at Ahmednagar; and I would also add a word for 
 Mrs. Canaren’s school, Bombay. A larger and better class- 
 room is much needed; and I think that Christian friends 
 who have it in their power to give, might, with great con- 
 fidence, help her to provide it. 
 
 AlrRD & COGHILL, PRINTERS, GLASGOW. 
 
‘ie A 
 f 5 « 
 Se 
 
 Pin met 
 
 ans 
 
Just Published. 
 Motes on the foreign Missions of 
 the Hmerican Board. 
 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CEYLON. 
 By WILLIAM WALKER. ~ 
 
 For Distribution, price 6d. per dozen. 
 
 AIRD & COGHILL, 263 ARGYLE STREET. 
 
 ieee cy pe Tec err