Life and Work in Benares and Kumaon, 1839-1877 Part 7

Traditional religion is strong, except in peculiar seasons when the tide of public opinion runs in the channel of religious revolt. From the lips of Hindus we hear continually, "We must walk in the ways of our fathers.

What our fathers believed we believe. What our fathers practised we practise. No good son leaves his father and mother. No good wife leaves her husband for another." To this objection we have various replies. We tell them they do not walk in the ways of their ancient fathers, for they did many things, such as eating the flesh of cows, which they abhor, knew nothing of the G.o.ds they wors.h.i.+p, and were not fettered by caste as they are. What we say about these Hindu ancestors gets little credit, as the people generally know nothing about them. We remind them that among themselves there have been tribes that have from generation to generation lived by thuggery and dacoity (murder and robbery). Ought the children of these murderers and robbers to walk in the ways of _their_ fathers?

I have often referred to the Khonds in the hills of Orissa, who, till the horrid practice was stopped by British interference, enticed children from the plains, fed them well, treated them kindly, and then on a fixed day murdered them, tore limb from limb, and scattered the bleeding fragments over the fields as an offering to the Land G.o.ddess to secure an abundant harvest. I have asked, "Ought these people to walk in the ways of their fathers?" To this question I have never received an affirmative reply.

We have reminded the people their fathers were as p.r.o.ne to err as we are; that we ought to weigh in the scales of truth and justice what they did, in order to the imitation of them when right and the forsaking of them when wrong. If they were with us, provided they were really wise, they would wish us to embrace the good of which they knew nothing, but which was now presented for their acceptance. With all their regard for their fathers, there were things unknown to them--as, for instance, the potato for food, and the railway carriage for travelling. If the potato was good for the body, as many of them showed they thought by partaking of it, might not our religion be good for the soul? If they resorted in crowds to the railway carriages even when going on pilgrimage to their sacred places, if in their earthly travels they found these carriages so serviceable, might they not find the religion of Christ, if candidly considered, the best vehicle for carrying them to heaven? We have much sympathy with the feeling of reverence for ancestors, but they are not ent.i.tled to tyrannize over their descendants. We tell them we do not wish them to leave their father's house, but to return to it; not to leave the husband, but to return to the true husband.

[Sidenote: WORs.h.i.+P OF G.o.d UNDER MATERIAL FORMS.]

At first sight the wors.h.i.+p carried on at Benares seems so absurd that one wonders how a reasonable being can say anything in its defence. Many years ago I had a visit from an English gentleman who was travelling through India, and he expressed his surprise we had such limited success in turning the people from wors.h.i.+pping such ugly misshapen stones. He evidently thought that by quoting some of the pa.s.sages of Scripture in which the wickedness and folly of idol-wors.h.i.+p are exposed, he could silence idol-wors.h.i.+ppers, and secure their speedy conversion to the living G.o.d. If he had come into contact with the people he would not have found their conversion such an easy matter. I have never met a Hindu who would allow he wors.h.i.+pped the material objects before which he bowed down. However illiterate he may be, he is ready to maintain that he wors.h.i.+ps the G.o.d represented by the image, and who is actually dwelling in it in a mysterious manner, after some sacred words have been uttered over it.

We are often told in defence of Hinduism that it is a symbolical representative religion, and that as G.o.d is vastly beyond our comprehension, we cannot, except by symbols, attain any conception of Him. We have often to say in reply, that as we cannot see our own spirit, and yet know how real, how dominant it is, so far less do we know the Supreme Being, and yet we have abundant evidence of His existence, character, and government. Of Him no fitting image can be made, and every such attempt is unworthy of Him, and degrading and demoralizing to us. The representations of G.o.d in Scripture under sensible forms are of high value to us in our weakness; but when reproduced in material substances, such as wood and stone, they have been ever found to foster low, materialistic views of the Most High. If we must betake ourselves to such symbols, let us have those which inspire lofty thoughts. What is there in these grotesque idols to help us in rising to the living G.o.d? Hindus who know English have quoted Cowper's address to his mother on getting her picture, "Oh that those lips had language," and we have been asked, "Was not Cowper helped in realizing his mother when looking at her picture?" To which there is the obvious reply, "Cowper's mother was truly represented. Is G.o.d truly and fittingly represented by the idols you wors.h.i.+p?"

The G.o.ds are continually represented as mediators through whom we approach the Supreme. "When we seek the favour of a king we approach him through his ministers; when we wish to propitiate a judge we try to secure a friend who will plead for us: and thus by the G.o.ds we get access to the Most High." To this we reply that as creatures we may each one go directly to G.o.d, for He is always near us, and we can never be far from Him; but as sinners we need a mediator. As the necessity for a mediator is acknowledged, we have an excellent opportunity of showing how worthy Christ is of being trusted as the Mediator, related as He is by His essential nature to the Most High, and to man by the nature He has a.s.sumed. A favourite figure with the Hindus is that the G.o.ds are a ladder by which they ascend to the Supreme; and we could not have a figure more adapted to our purpose, as it leads us to show that Christ is the very ladder we need--He by His Divine nature reaching heaven, and by His human nature being set upon the earth. His infinite excellence and His propitiatory sacrifice a.s.sure us that this ladder is so strong that it can bear the weight of the whole of the human family in their ascent to G.o.d.

Few things have been a greater stumbling-block to the Hindus than the crucifixion of Christ, and we have to dwell continually on the fact that it was not by the failure of His power, but by the ardour of His love, He endured this death. Some of the G.o.ds, s.h.i.+va and Kalee in particular, are propitiated by animal sacrifices, as blood is specially pleasing to them. The need of sacrifice to deliver from the consequences of sin is dimly discerned by the people, but they have such distorted views on the subject that it is difficult to convey to them the Christian idea of propitiation.

[Sidenote: PUNDIT DEFECT IN HISTORIC INSTINCT.]

The learned men of India have been singularly wanting in what may be called the historic instinct, and we need not wonder at finding the people generally dest.i.tute of it. The evidence for Christianity drawn from its history makes no impression on them. Historical facts and the wildest legends are received by them with equal readiness. When speaking of the miracles of our Lord, and enlarging on their peculiar features of power and goodness, I have been pleased to witness an attention which led me to hope that a favourable impression was being made; but more than once my hope has been dashed to the ground by one of my most attentive hearers saying, "You have been telling us of your G.o.d. He did excellent things, and you do well to wors.h.i.+p Him; but listen to me, and I will tell you what my G.o.ds have done." And then my hearer has become the speaker, and has dilated on the wonderful feats of his G.o.ds, such as Krishna lifting up a mountain and holding it on his hand above his wors.h.i.+ppers to shelter them from the angry bolts of Indra; and has triumphantly asked, "Is there anything similar to that in your Bible?"

To which we have readily replied, "There is not, but there is what is more worthy of G.o.d." The most illiterate of the people are very familiar with mythological stories, and if listened to will go on to relate them with the greatest gusto, and at the greatest length.

Our doctrine of salvation by grace alone, and not in any degree by man's merit, is often declared to be fatal to morality. This is often said in our own country, and we need not say what we advance in its confutation.

The doctrine of previous births has taken full possession of the Hindu mind, as accounting for the character and events of the present birth.

This belief in transmigration has a very hurtful effect on the people, as it leads them, when suffering for their conduct, to attribute their sufferings to births of which they do not profess to have any remembrance, instead of blaming themselves for the course they had pursued. We have to show the baselessness, the unreasonableness, and the injurious tendency of this notion. The doctrine of a blind fate determining everything is widely held. The greatest criminals coolly a.s.sert it has been their fate to have done what they have done, and, of course, to suffer as they suffer. The moral nature of the people, though benumbed, is happily not destroyed, and to it we appeal against a notion which levels all moral distinctions.

[Sidenote: PANTHEISM AND HINDU PHILOSOPHY.]

Pantheism, it is well known, lies at the foundation of Hindu Polytheism.

It may be indeed doubted if there has ever been a Polytheistic system apart from a Pantheistic element. The Hindus generally cannot work out the Pantheistic theory, as the Pundits do, but the most illiterate are familiar with its commonplaces, and are ready with their avowal. We often hear, "Is not G.o.d everywhere? Does He not pervade all? Is He not all? Is not all evolved from Him, as the spider's web is evolved from its body? Does not all emanate from Him, as the stream flows from the fountain and rays from the sun? Are we not all portions of Him? We may wors.h.i.+p anything and everything if only we see G.o.d in it. There are differences in the sparks from the central fire, some far brighter than others. The G.o.ds are the brightest sparks, and therefore they are specially worthy of wors.h.i.+p." In reply we have to insist on the difference between the Creator and the creature, between the Ruler and His subject. We are often told it is G.o.d that makes us speak and act, and we are puppets dancing as He draws the strings. In protest against this doctrine we appeal to the acknowledgment they themselves make of the essential distinction between right and wrong, the one to be done, the other to be shunned, and show that if their Pantheistic notion be accepted the distinction is obliterated, and the floodgate is open to the commission of all wickedness.

The most advanced thought of Hindu philosophy is that all is Maya, illusion, the play, the amus.e.m.e.nt of the Supreme, who leads us to believe that we are, that we have a separate existence, which we have not; but at last the illusion will come to an end, all will be absorbed in Brahm, as the water in the clouds falls into the sea; there will be no conscious existence in the universe. Brahm himself will glide into a profound slumber from which he will awake after a vast season of repose.

A rope lying on the road is taken for a serpent, but it is only a rope.

There are hundreds of suns glancing on the waters, but there is only one sun. In reply we contend that illusion implies reality; that if there was no reality illusion would be impossible. If there was no serpent a rope would not be taken for it. If there was no sun there would be no suns glancing in the waters.

The question has been often discussed, Have the Hindus any idea of a living, personal G.o.d? It is unquestionable they often speak as if they had. They often say, "Does not G.o.d see? Does He not know? Will He not punish us if we do what is wrong?" It is difficult to say to what degree this notion has been formed and cherished from intercourse for ages with Muhammadans, and how far it comes from the demand of the human spirit for the living G.o.d. Some eminent Sanscrit scholars tell us that the Vedas teach Pantheism, while others a.s.sert that in their most ancient teaching they a.s.sert the doctrine of a living, personal G.o.d. From this divided opinion it is plain that the teaching of the Vedas on this vital subject is ambiguous. At any rate there cannot be a doubt that the modern Hindus have some notion of G.o.d as a living, conscious One apart from His creatures, although it is held with Pantheistic and Polytheistic notions, which are antagonistic to it, and greatly weaken its influence. Its being held at all is very serviceable to a missionary in the prosecution of his work.

In a city like Benares many have acquired a considerable acquaintance with the Bible, and these endeavour to find flaws in it to show that our religion is as a.s.sailable as theirs.

I must not go further into these details of evangelistic work. As I am giving them my past life comes vividly to my remembrance. I remember its pleasures, and also its difficulties and trials. I feel as if I was engaged in preaching to the Hindus among whom I have spent a great part of my life, and discussing with them the great questions which affect G.o.d and man. I am consequently in danger of saying more than can be interesting to my readers.

[Sidenote: MUHAMMADAN OPPOSITION TO THE GOSPEL.]

In Benares it is rare to have only Hindus for our hearers. We very often have Muhammadans also, and, they are our most eager and bitter opponents. All I can now say about them is that they are bent on entrapping us with questions about the Sons.h.i.+p of Christ, the Trinity in the G.o.dhead, the authenticity of the Scriptures as we now have them, the alleged incompleteness of Christ's prophetic office, as proved, they think, by the promise of the Paraclete as well as by the predictions in both the Old and New Testaments. Among Muhammadans we have met individuals who seemed sincere inquirers after truth, who seemed bent on ascertaining what is true and discovering what is false. We have been gratified with their apparent candour, humility, and reasonableness. We must acknowledge these have been a small minority compared with the many whose pride and bigotry have shut up their mind against everything we had to advance, and whose sole aim has been to a.s.sail Christianity and Christians.

In the prosecution of the evangelistic work, which I have endeavoured to describe, missionaries come into contact with all cla.s.ses. The seed of the word thus sown far and wide may remain for a time hidden, but we have every reason to hope it will some time spring up and bring forth abundant fruit.

CHAPTER XII.

SCHOOLS.

From the commencement of Missions, schools have received much attention, and have absorbed a large part of mission agency. These schools have been of different orders, many primary, a number secondary, and a few educating the pupils up to the University mark for degrees. I have had a great deal of experience in teaching and superintending primary and secondary schools, and I have seen something of the inst.i.tutions of the highest cla.s.s. I now speak of schools for boys and young men. Girls'

schools will receive attention in a subsequent chapter.

[Sidenote: PRIMARY SCHOOLS.]

I do not know any mission in Northern India where elementary education has been entirely neglected. Some have done much more in this department than others, but all have devoted to it a measure of attention and effort. We had at one time ten schools of this cla.s.s in different parts of Benares. In these humble schools many have learned to read, write, and keep accounts, and have thus been fitted for discharging efficiently their secular work. Their minds have been furnished and their character improved by useful information communicated to them. Above all, Christian instruction has been imparted. The schools have been frequently visited by the missionary and his native a.s.sistants for the special object of reading with the pupils portions of the Scriptures, and inculcating the lessons they contain. Thus readers for our Scriptures and Christian books have been prepared, who we may hope come to their perusal with weakened prejudice from the kindly feeling with which we are regarded. A favourable impression has thus been made on the minds of parents as well as of pupils.

I have already mentioned that these schools have been utilized for preaching-stations, and have been well adapted for this purpose. They have been carried on at small expense. The great drawback has been that with few exceptions the teachers have been Hindus. They have been of the Kaisth, the writer caste, who are as a caste less imbued perhaps with Hinduism than any other. When Christians have been available their services have of course been thankfully secured. For some years the Hindu element has been gradually withdrawn from the teaching staff. Two of the early teachers in our time became Christians, one having been baptized in our Mission, and the other in the Church Mission at Benares.

The whole state of primary education in the North-West, I may say in India, is on a very different footing from what it was in 1840. Great progress in every department of education has been made since that time.

Considering the vast importance of primary education, the advancement has not been so great as might have been expected, but there is every prospect of its being largely extended in the immediate future. It is hoped that one outcome of the Education Commission which is now sitting will be the gathering into schools of many thousands of the young who have been hitherto neglected.

In most Missions of any standing, even where the chief attention has been given to direct evangelistic work, some provision has been made for secondary education. A school with this object was established in our Mission in 1845. It was taught in a well-sized native house, and was afterwards transferred to a larger building. It had successive superintendents, the late Mr. Sherring, Mr. Blake, and myself. It was a longer time under Mr. Sherring than under any other, and in it he laboured very diligently and efficiently. It received the name of the Central School, as our idea was to transfer to it the best boys from what we called the Bazar schools. It was intended to allow none to enter who had not made some progress in reading their own language, but we found this exclusion impracticable, and we were obliged to form an elementary department. English was taught, and the higher cla.s.ses were introduced to geometry, algebra, history, especially Indian history, and other similar branches of a liberal education. Almost all when they entered were ignorant of English. Those who remained a considerable time made fair progress, a few made remarkable progress; and we were happy to find that many on leaving us obtained responsible situations, which they continued to hold to the satisfaction of their superiors.

For years under successive superintendents the Head Master was a Christian, Babu Ram Chunder Basu, who is now most usefully employed as a lecturer to educated natives. His great attainments, his diligence and teaching power, did much to promote the prosperity of the school.

In our Central school a very prominent place was given to Christian instruction. Every day Scripture lessons were given by Christian teachers; on Sat.u.r.day, for years, a lecture was delivered to the a.s.sembled school; and on Sunday morning a service was held, at which there was a good voluntary attendance. The effect of the prominence thus given to Christian teaching was shown early in 1857, when on a plan arranged by the zealous public-spirited Commissioner of the Benares Province, Mr. Henry Carre Tucker, there was a gathering in the city of the pupils from all the schools in the province who choose to attend to submit to an examination in Scripture knowledge. Prizes in money and books were given to those who proved themselves most proficient. A great number of lads and boys made their appearance, and the high place taken by the pupils of our Central school showed how well they had been taught.

[Sidenote: THE UNIVERSITY STANDARD.]

Some missions provide for taking their pupils on to the University standard. Among these the missions in the Presidency cities have held, and from their peculiar sphere must continue to hold, the first rank. I have already observed nothing interested me more, nothing delighted me more on reaching Calcutta early in 1839, than the sight of many young men and boys taught in the inst.i.tutions of the Church of Scotland and of our own Mission. It was most exhilarating to see so many bright youths studying our language, introduced to Western knowledge, and, above all, led to the fountain of truth in the Word of G.o.d. Dr. Duff was not the first in establis.h.i.+ng in Calcutta an inst.i.tution for the teaching of English; he was not the first in establis.h.i.+ng a Christian school; many were before him in this good work: but he was the first in setting up an inst.i.tution on a large scale on a thoroughly Christian basis, in which English was to have the first place, and in which provision was made for carrying the students on to the University standard of Europe. In 1843 the missionaries, on account of their adherence to the Free Church, were obliged to give up their buildings in Cornwallis Square, and to seek accommodation in another part of Calcutta, where they have continued their scholastic work with great zeal and efficiency. The inst.i.tution in Cornwallis Square has been conducted for many years with remarkable success by the missionaries of the Established Church of Scotland. All the missions of Calcutta have taken part in this work, and have sent forth bands of well-educated young men, who have acquired a large acquaintance with the Word of G.o.d.

Similar inst.i.tutions have been formed throughout the country. As may be supposed, these vary greatly in resources and efficiency. Years ago our Central school was transferred from a rented house in the city to a large purchased house in the suburbs, where, under the name of the High School, it has continued to flourish. Many of its students have successfully pa.s.sed the Entrance examination of the Calcutta University, and a considerable number have pa.s.sed the First Arts examination. It has always stood high in native estimation, has had a large attendance of pupils, and is reckoned one of the best inst.i.tutions of the kind in the North-West. The change from the Central school, with its secondary education, the the High school, with its arrangement to carry on the pupils further, was made by the late Mr. Sherring, and to his a.s.siduous care and efficient management its success is largely due. It maintains its character under the superintendence of our friend Mr. Hewlett, who has arranged for the opening of a B.A. cla.s.s.

I have mentioned the University standard. For many years after our going to India there was no University in the land. The establishment of Universities in Calcutta, Madras, and Bombay, and the introduction of the grant-in-aid system, have effected in the educational department a change so great that it may be called a revolution. The studies in mission schools are to a large extent what they were, but they have come under new conditions, which greatly alter the proportionate attention given to them, and the degree of zeal with which they are prosecuted.

Under the grant-in-aid system missionaries are allowed full liberty in giving Christian instruction to their pupils. The only thing required by the Government Inspector is that the secular education be such as will ent.i.tle the school to a grant. If formerly a mission school egregiously failed in fitting the pupils for the positions in life to which they were looking forward, it rightly lost favour, and was soon deserted. Now there is a new urgent necessity for efficiency, and the healthy stimulus thus given is in itself a marked benefit; but if care be not taken the opportunity for imparting Christian instruction is impaired, which formed the main inducement for missionaries taking part in the work.

[Sidenote: AMBITION FOR UNIVERSITY HONOURS.]

The effect of the change is most marked in our higher schools. There is a widely spread and intense ambition for University honours. Not only in the Presidency cities, but in the great cities of the country, a crowd of boys and young men are eager for admission to the University circle.

This eagerness springs from the desire for honourable distinction, which is as strong in the minds of Indian youth as in any youth on the face of the earth. It springs, perhaps, still more from the fact that the University stamp, attesting educational proficiency, is a high recommendation in favour of applicants for well-paid situations. It would be hard to say how far a love of knowledge contributes to this eagerness for study. It would be uncharitable to affirm it is altogether absent, but it would be shutting one's eyes to potent facts to suppose it furnishes the greater part of the motive power. Owing to various causes, such as the want of opportunity, of capacity, and diligence, the great majority of students do not aspire higher than the Entrance examination; but even to pa.s.s this successfully is considered a great feat, and many are proud of achieving it. The Calcutta University has a high standard for degrees, and those who acquire them are ent.i.tled to be considered well-educated men.

The effect of this eagerness, we may say this rage for University distinction, on mission schools can be easily conceived. The great question with the student is, "How can I get to the University goal?

What are the studies which promise the quickest and largest success?"

The studies which do not lead to this goal have little attraction; while those that lead to it, and just in proportion as they lead to it, are eagerly pursued. Our Scriptures have no place in the University curriculum. The consequence is that the student, whose supreme aim is to acquit himself well when he goes up for degrees, and estimates studies by their bearing on his success, gives to the Bible only the attention required by the rule of the inst.i.tution he attends, and he often gives that attention reluctantly; so that even the knowledge he cannot fail to acquire can scarcely be expected to tell on his heart and conscience.

Every hour given to the Bible he is apt to regard as taken away from the studies which he most highly values, and in which, with all his application, he finds it difficult to attain proficiency.

[Sidenote: THE POPULARITY OF MISSION SCHOOLS.]

It is undeniable that mission schools have been, and are, popular with the people of India. From the Report just published of our Benares Mission it appears that at present there are 1,265 pupils in its schools, boys and girls. Various things have conduced to this popularity. Missionaries as a cla.s.s have acquired a firmly established character for attention to their pupils and kindly treatment of them.

They are credited with good motives by many who have no drawing to Christianity. Then, for a considerable time no charge for tuition was made, the pupils being simply required to pay for their school books.

Since fees have been taken they are, I believe, generally lower than in Government inst.i.tutions; though, on the other hand, these have scholars.h.i.+ps and prizes which are far beyond any pecuniary advantage mission schools can offer. There is, of course, in our schools the possibility of the pupils' ancestral religion being weakened, or even abandoned, but the hope is entertained both by them and their parents that the danger will be escaped. While the main motive for resorting to our schools is secular advancement--undoubtedly a right motive, if kept within due limits--the missionaries, while earnestly desiring the temporal welfare of their pupils, are actuated by a still higher motive, which they constantly avow. Till the establishment of the University, boys and young men, while prosecuting the special object for which they had put themselves under tuition, with few exceptions showed no disinclination to Christian instruction. A portion of the school-time was allotted for it, and to the work of that time many cheerfully applied themselves. Some became deeply interested, and a few were led in consequence to avow their faith in Jesus. With the new University system a new order of things has come in, which has placed Christian instruction under great disadvantages.