consider the similar condition of the Church gathered out of the heathenism of Ephesus, and see how God, acknowledging its members as his children, and reminding them that they have put off the old man with his deeds, exhorts them to lie and to steal no more.

And if in the light of the Word we are able to receive many poor Hindus as brethren, in spite of remnants of heathenism still clinging to them, how gladly should we not acknowledge those whom God seems to have called out in a special manner, and who, in spite of the evil of their circumstances, have been enabled to speak and live for Christ with a boldness and consistency which would give them an honourable place in any Church of European Christians. I met with a few such men amongst Hindus and Parsees, and I know that they are represented among Mahometans also. They are not always the leading men in the native churches, or those whose names are known in England. Of the latter, indeed, I might say that unwise praise and promotion have sometimes destroyed their spirituality, and made them affected and arrogant. But the leading Christians I speak of are often found in a humble position, serving the Lord and owned of him in conversions in their own circle; neither ordained nor desiring to be ordained by any church. Of one of them whom I met in the north-an evidently intellectual but silent man, whom it was difficult to draw out into public work,-a Church of England clergyman well acquainted with him remarked, "That man is fit to

teach nine out of ten missionaries who are sent out to India."

One day a Hindu Christian gentleman found his way to my quiet garden-bungalow. He was a native of Jaffna and a contractor. His business had led him to Madras, where he arrived in a sickly state of soul. The Lord had used the word spoken in the Evangelistic Hall to restore him, and he thought this was a favourable opportunity for talking over and endeavouring to overcome a number of difficulties which had formerly troubled him in reading the Scriptures. These were much the same as one meets with under similar circumstances at home-as, difficulties about the language attributed to God, and about the

creation. The former of these he illustrated by the case of Jonah and Nineveh, when the Lord, after pronouncing sentence upon the city, repented, and did not execute his judgment. I answered him by supposing a missionary to have landed in the Tamil country several hundreds of years ago, and showing him the only course that such a one could take. He would have to learn the Tamil language in order to communicate the message at all. And if he found that language very different from his own, and full of faults, still he must use it, and so use those very faults or go away. Just so had God to deal with The world only understood its own language, and if God would speak to sinners intelligibly, he must condescend to speak in it too. Applying this to the case of Nineveh, God knew the end from the beginning; but to have spoken in the language of heaven would have been to lay the whole plan bare, and to have taken away all force from the threatening.

men.

This was only one of many little knots which we talked of together, and the Lord seemed to remove difficulties in the Word by the Word itself, so that the Jaffna merchant acknowledged that he saw things more clearly than before, and remarked with evident satisfaction། You give us Scripture for everything.' The same man encouraged me by what he said of the men he had recently come in contact with. His position and business gave him many opportunities of intercourse with educated and influential men in the native town, and he assured me that the evangelistic effort specially directed towards them had caused considerable interest amongst the Brahmins and others, and that a spirit of inquiry seemed to be astir among them.

I have spoken of little opportunities of addressing Europeans and Eurasians. The Lord's Day generally brought the privilege of preaching the Gospel to these in larger numbers, both in Madras and elsewhere. Although coming into the Indian mission field with no denominational name, and backed by no earthly authority, I experienced, with very few exceptions, the practical sympathy and love of Christians of every name. Advertised on one occasion as a Plymouth Brother, and on another

as a Mormon, I was, nevertheless, invited to the pulpits of Presbyterians, Wesleyans, Independents, and Baptists, while on several occasions my most intimate friends and fellow-workers were the missionaries of the Church of England. For the truth's sake I must say, that there appeared less of this spirit of generous fellowship, as well as less of other Christian graces, in the first stage of my journey than ever afterwards.

Madras had, a few years ago, the reputation of being the warmest part of the Church in India. I found it quite otherwise. With the exception of a few precious witnesses it seemed cold and lifeless, needing more than any other part of India the breath of God to quicken it into spiritual activity.

One more opportunity for evangelistic work I have yet to mention it was that afforded by the various missionary schools. In two of these, at Madras, I had an interesting, and, in great part, intelligent audience, and I had reason to believe that the Lord blessed the word spoken on these occasions in more than one instance.

At this time I had much enjoyment in the acquaintance of two army officers, earnest and loving brethren in the Lord Mayor M-, stationed at St. Thomé, and Captain G- of Fort St. George; but as both of their stations were very far from Royapooram, I saw much less of them than I could have wished. No one who has come much in contact with our army at home or in India, within the last few years, and who is interested in the Lord's work, can have failed to notice the great increase of witnesses, of every rank, raised up within it. In many parts of India they give the principal, and, in some, I believe, the only, public testimony for Christ. In most of the military stations which I visited during these five and a-half months, I found officers, often of very high rank, as manifestly on the side of God and right living as the most devoted missionaries.

Major M- rode over one morning, many hours earlier than one thinks of visiting in the cold west, and proposed that we should make use of his house for an evangelistic effort among his immediate neighbours. As I have already said, Madras is scattered over a vast area,

so that each native district is like a separate little town, and must be treated as such if its inhabitants are to be reached in any numbers. A few stragglers might come in to Blacktown; but no doubt the greater part of those who frequented the meetings in the Evangelistic Hall lived in the neighbourhood. St. Thomé was espe

cially a Roman Catholic district. No fewer than seven chapels were provided for its converts. A great part of the population was composed of Eurasians of the lowest class, and the Mussulman quarter of Triplicaine lay close at hand.

But notwithstanding this variety in the population, we had little expectation of seeing any attend evangelistic addresses in a private house except those who were professedly Protestant Christians. Believers in England are now well acquainted with this kind of evangelistic work. They know that the Gospel has often been preached in the drawing-rooms of London and most of our great towns, and that by the word spoken in these new meeting places souls have been born to God who would not come to hear the same message when as usual publicly delivered. But, as far as I know, this is a new instrumentality in India, and we were consequently in some doubt as to the way in which it would be received. But the Lord moved the people to come, and the room was well filled on four successive evenings. Although Indian houses have been little used for such audiences, they are admirably adapted for receiving them. In England our rooms are comparatively small and separated, opening generally upon a hall by a single door; but the AngloIndian's house, except in the sleeping apartments, might often be considered one large room, divided into parts by many doors and screens, which may be thrown open at will, and surrounded by a broad verandah, which may serve the same purposes as the rooms within. At all these addresses in St. Thomé we were glad to see a considerable body of Hindus, men of business or students in the schools, standing on both sides of the principal room, and listening throughout with as much attention as the Christians in our audience! The Roman Catholics at first appeared more than civil: one of them lent chairs

from his own house for the occasion, and expressed an opinion that his priest would be ready to do the same ; and when the hour for meeting arrived this man ushered in twelve Hindus, remarking, with much satisfaction, to Major M- "See! I have brought all these." The preaching of Christ was, however, too much for him. He was observed to look very uncomfortable while it continued, and before the close of the meeting he effected his escape, and did not return.

I was especially glad to notice four or five Mussulmans present on the second evening. These are the most difficult to influence of all the natives of India. Having a more reasonable and less impure creed than the Hindus, and being strongly moved by religious pride and enthusiasm, they look down upon the latter with contempt. Their theology is contained in the well-known sentence, "There is one God, and Mahomet is his Prophet." While the mass of the people of India are bowing to unsightly images of filth and iniquity, the Mahometan kneels down in the open field, and with at least an appearance of decency and devotion worships his one God towards the sun. It is no wonder that to such a people the preaching of the Cross is foolishness. It is a rare thing for them to give it a hearing at all, and when, yielding to personal persuasion, or unwittingly, they do so, they manage to drown argument and prevent conviction by what appears to them the unanswerable question "How can God have a Son ?" It is much to be regretted that so little missionary work has been done or attempted amongst the Mussulmans of India; indeed, in some parts they seem to be entirely neglected. A few years ago a Mr. Aikman landed as an evangelist or undenominational missionary, in Madras, but his attention being by some means directed to the Mussulman population, he was led to devote himself entirely to them, and I was told that he is now engaged in a controversial work upon the Koran, pointing out its inconsistencies, and endeavouring to shake their belief in its inspired character.

I have said that there were several Mussulmans listening to the Gospel in Major M's house. Two of