r 
 
 From Land of the Veda 
 
JOEL T. JANVIER 
 
 The E'irst Native Preacher of Our 
 Church in India. 
 
 BY REV. WM. BUTLER, D.D. 
 
 t S I passed through Allahabad in the fall 
 of 1856, on my way to open a mission 
 for the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
 Oudh and Rohilkund, we were entertained by 
 the Presbyterian missionaries, who welcomed 
 us most warmly as fellow-workers in the great 
 task of conquering India for Christ. The 
 topic of an interpreter and helper for the be¬ 
 ginning of our Mission was discussed, and the 
 Presbyterian brethren consented to give me a 
 young man who had been trained as a teacher 
 and who had a fair knowledge of English. 
 Joel was called, and after the matter was pre¬ 
 sented declared his willingness to go to the 
 new field, about 300 miles to the northwest, 
 
Joel T. Janvier. 
 
 3 
 
 almost as foreign to him as India to our 
 workers. The only point at which a difficulty 
 arose was whether his wife’s mother, a widow, 
 would allow her daughter to go so far away 
 from her. In The Land of the Veda I have 
 tried to describe the pathetic scene when I 
 went with Joel to ask for this permission. 
 The poor woman, with the tears running down 
 her face, exclaimed, “ The Saviour came down 
 from heaven to give himself for me, and why 
 should I not give my daughter to his work ?” 
 
 This, the first gift from the heart of a native 
 woman to our Mission, has proven to be a 
 valuable one. Joel’s religion at this time was 
 largely a matter of training and intellectual 
 belief, but as I explained to him the witness 
 of the Holy Spirit, and he read William 
 Carvosso’s life, he soon came to see its neces¬ 
 sity and to seek what he had not. Before long 
 he found it and became a joyful Christian. 
 For forty years he has been faithful, and now, 
 in his old age, is a father beloved in the North 
 India Conference. His gentle Christian spirit 
 in dealing with questioning Hindus and Mo¬ 
 hammedans has tended to disarm criticism 
 and to win them for Christ. During the days 
 of the mutiny he and his wife, amid great 
 
4 
 
 Joel T. Janvier. 
 
 peril, kept their faith, and at the reopening of 
 the work he joined me and became the first 
 native preacher. One of the most interesting 
 events of my return to India in 1884 was my 
 meeting with Joel. His sight, which had been 
 failing for some time, had completely gone a 
 short time before, and his greatest grief in re¬ 
 gard to this affliction was that it deprived him 
 of the pleasure of looking again upon the face 
 of his old superintendent. It was at the camp 
 meeting at Chandausi, and I arrived at the 
 tent just as he was leading the large congrega¬ 
 tion in prayer. At the conclusion I stepped 
 up, and, putting my hand on his shoulder, 
 “ Dear Joel! ” That was enough, and in an 
 instant we were clasped in each other’s arms, 
 the whole audience in tears of sympathy with 
 our joy. 
 
 Joel is now superannuated, living at Bareilly, 
 near the large native church. A recent letter 
 from him is of such interest that I have been 
 asked to share part of it with the large circle 
 of friends of our India work. His son, who 
 writes for him, is struggling to complete his 
 college education. I give it just as he writes 
 it in English, without any correction : 
 
Joel T. Janvier. 
 
 5 
 
 My Dear Dr. Butler: 
 
 To write you a letter to you has been the long- 
 thought-for idea which held its sway so supremely over 
 a mind so closely connected with that, which in spite of 
 so great and interminable a distance is always so deeply 
 interested in the affairs of one with whom for so many 
 weary years the harmonious work of our Saviour was 
 triumphantly carried on, with that energy which is the 
 result of the direct help of the Almighty in cases where¬ 
 with he intends to manifest his own divine will to have 
 the predominating power over every heart. 
 
 You are, my dear doctor, to your great joy well aware 
 of the increasing condition of our Mission work in India. 
 . . . It is almost useless to talk about the difficulties 
 and troubles we had to undergo when our Mission was 
 a babe in our bosom, for to our great joy we now see it 
 a grown-up child, a living soul. The desire of eating 
 the fruits of a garden, the longing for obtaining the 
 gifts of labor, is by nature given as the lot of every man. 
 The discoverer longs to remain to rule the land he has 
 had the courageous foresight to discover, the inventor 
 wishes to have the prerogative of the use of the thing 
 invented, and it is a boon for a man to see a thing 
 flourishing, the arduous beginning of which rested for 
 some time Over his skill and intelligence. So it is with 
 you. The Lord God of hosts has so kindly given us the 
 opportunity of seeing this widespread work consecrated 
 for his own divine will. May God abundantly bless 
 you to live and enjoy this privilege. . . . 
 
 Though weak and feeble, worn down by the furious 
 waves of the unfathomable ocean of time, pressed under 
 the hard rock of anxiety, and dragged by the furious 
 currents of calamity and sore trouble ; still continually 
 examining my life, still burning for the holy faith, still 
 lurking patiently, shouting for victory and the kingdom 
 of God, and thus strengthened by the divine help, I 
 
6 
 
 Joel T. Janvier. 
 
 readily find solace and comfort and excessive joy in him, 
 and led to the pulpit at my turn occasionally raise my 
 voice, trembling and feeble, to the throne of the most 
 high eternal God. I do not boast, but I thank my God, 
 from whom cometh all help, that he brings out precious 
 pearls to shine for his glory out of this sightless mechan¬ 
 ism preaching in the old Civil Lines pulpit. . . . 
 
 I long to see all of you, but, alas ! this my desire can¬ 
 not be accomplished ; but God has given us a heart to 
 love each other affectionately as long as we live in this 
 world, and that love which is a part of that unfathom¬ 
 able love of our Creator and Father is not at all lessened, 
 nor is its fire quenched, with the thought of long and 
 tiresome distance. The bond of love once connected 
 with closer ties cannot be broken by the lengthening 
 chain ; the dales and valleys and the azure main have 
 no power to detract the efficacy of the immortal love. 
 Though we don’t see each other, let us continue this 
 affection as we grow older in the grace of our Redeemer. 
 I journey from this part of the world, and you from the 
 other, but our goal and destination is the same . sooner 
 or later we must see each other face to face. 
 
 May the Lord Jesus Christ bless and keep you is the 
 prayer of your loving and affectionate biothei in Chiist, 
 
 Joel T. Janvier. 
 
 ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS PER THOUSAND. 
 
 Rindge Literature Department, 
 
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