8

"HE IS NOT DEAD, BUT SLEEPETH.”

[JAN.

be done, dear Ragland did most tenderly: he is a most gentle, wise, as well as affectionate nurse. Once, when some of the catechists were shampooing him, but not so as to comfort him, and dear Ragland took the work out of their hands, dearest Every said, "Oh, that is so pleasant!" Another time, when Ragland said he wished he knew how to do it so as to comfort him, Every said, very sweetly, "Dear Mr. Ragland, I do love you so." At eight P.M. they thought he was dying. However, he revived, and lived through the night, full of tossings to and fro, taking, every now and then, a little rice gruel, sometimes unconscious, or partly so. At one time he said, "They say I must not drink, and I am so thirsty: well, I shall soon be where they hunger no more, neither thirst any more." The last half-hour he sat up in his little camp-chair-the only one in the place-Ragland standing up behind him, and holding a pillow, on which his head rested, above the top of the chair. In this way, in dear Ragland's arms- -at least his head resting on Ragland's hands-his happy, happy spirit took its flight, with little or no pain, at eight A.M. on Tuesday, August 18th. What an honour to die so, just in the midst of one of these little unsatisfactory congregations, for whom he has been labouring so faithfully, so selfdenyingly, the last twelve months, surrounded by no incumbrances, spending his last few hours on an uncomfortable cot, and his last few minutes in a small camp-chair; but not without that inward consolation which the felt presence of the Saviour imparts, and not without, too, the greatest of outward consolation, a tender, loving, Christian friend, to whisper softly in his ear short prayers, and precious promises from God's holy word. Farewell, dearest Every: it is but a little time that we have to wait for our summons also. Oh to be found, like you, in the midst of our Master's work, waiting our Master's call!

In another letter, further information is afforded us. So soon as his dear brother had died, Mr. Ragland sent a messenger with the intelligence to Paneidipati, where his tent was pitched, and where the new Missionary bungalow was situated, as it was there the interment was to take place. Mr. Fenn says-

We had to decide whether we would lay him to rest there, in the little piece of Mission property which surrounds our bungalow, or carry him on ten miles further to Kalbodhu. We decided on the former. The carpenters engaged on our house made the coffin. The grave was dug under the one tree which stands four or five yards from the eastern end of our north verandah, in a line with it. Like the Saviour's, whom he so faithfully served, it may be said to have been hewn out of a rock, so full of stones and bits of rock was the ground. We could not get it deeper than five feet before the evening. But it was enough. One after another, through the day, came in from near-by, and from a distance, his catechists, schoolmasters, and a few poor sheep, now without their kind shepherd. Tears and sobs were not wanting. Well might they cry and sigh, if they at all realized what they have lost; for the papers and journals we have found at his bungalow show how earnestly and thoughtfully he prayed for, as we before knew he admonished, each individual of his scattered flock. I reminded them, over and over again, of what St. Paul says, saying-"Remember, consider the end of, follow the faith of,

those who have spoken to you the word of the Lord. But though they are taken from you (in this district they have had many changes of pastors in six or seven years), yet, as the next verse says, 'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.' Choose Him as your Shepherd, give vourselves up to Him; all must be well." When dearest Mr. Ragland arrived in the evening, we took the dear body out of the bandy-there was no other place to put it in during the day-and it had been very safe there: no rude eyes could gaze upon it, so carefully had that most gentle of nurses tied it up, first in a clean sheet, and then in his own railway-rug. But we took off the rug-dear Mr. Ragland said the face had better not be uncovered, it might have altered much, so we left the sheet as it was-and tried to put it into the coffin. We found it was not quite broad enough. The length was ample, for I had lain down myself on the ground in the morning to show how long it should be, but had forgotten to say any thing about the breadth. Some of the catechists gently stretched his dear arms forward to give a little more room. Still it would not do, till I knelt down, and gently pressed my two hands on his shoulders. No one else touched him. I was so glad, and it is so pleasant to look back and see that I was able to perform this little office of love: and when it was done, I put my hand upon his covered face, no more to be seen by man till it comes forth beaming with a hundred times its own sweet, loving, radiant smile of greeting, and, better still, reflecting the glory of the Lord, whom it comes forth to meet. I ought not to forget that dear Ragland's rug was under him, and wrapped around, too, all the lower part of his body. Then the lid was put on, and we went to the grave. Besides our two selves and dear Joseph, there must have been about twelve catechists, six of whom bore the coffin. Mr. Ragland asked me to read the service. We omitted the lesson after the sentence, "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord." Ah! he is indeed one of them; and I am quite certain that his works, so humbly, prayerfully, diligently, self-denyingly carried on-oh, they will, they do, follow him. Dear Every, you are blessed now. A short passage you had through the dark valley. You are now with Jesus in Paradise. But I was going to say, that, after that sentence, we asked Joseph to give an address to the people assembled: there were, of course, many heathen, as well as some Christians. On such an occasion Joseph always speaks well. Many things he said were much to the purpose, and could not fail, I think, to strike the hearers. Oh, what joy, if, in the day when all secrets are revealed, some soul be found to have been born again at dear Every's open grave. I then read the remaining prayers, and so we laid him down to rest, to ripen there till the last glorious morning.

Wednesday and yesterday Ragland and I were at Sivagási, about nine miles north of Paneidipaki, looking into, cataloguing, and arranging his and the Mission property. All his accounts seem to have been kept most carefully. We find scraps of paper here and there, showing how conscious he was of his own shortcomings, and how he prayed and watched over them, and how faithful he was in intercessory prayer specially for every thing connected with his own district, each new arrangement, and that, for instance, about Joseph and Vethanagayam, that about Masillimani leaving Kalbódhu for more direct work among the heathen, &c. But not only

10

FRUITS OF CHRISTIAN LOVE FROM IRELAND

66

[JAN. for these, but for the Mission work in general, for our three selves, for the sufferers in North India, he seems constantly to have prayed. His journals will be most valuable to whoever succeeds him, so much do they enter into particulars about individuals in each congregation. But the most precious relic we have yet found is a manuscript English sermon on To me to live is Christ, to die is gain." It is most valuable, solid, and scriptural. It speaks the experience of a working Missionary. There is no date to it. Well, I must not go on. It is the Lord's doing. I do not feel a doubt that this mysterious event will be greatly for the furtherance of the kingdom of Christ in our district. I do not doubt that He who made the breach, will, in His own way, heal it. My favourite verse I shall apply to this dear brother, who has gone before me to the Saviour's bosom. "According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing he will be ashamed, but that as always by his life, so now also by his death, Christ shall be glorified!"

FRUITS OF CHRISTIAN LOVE FROM IRELAND.

THERE is a village in the west of Ireland (we will for once put out the two eyes of chronology and geography, and, for obvious reasons, withhold names and dates) where the Missionary cause had never been heard of till the other day-as the chairman reminded the meeting that since the days of St. Columba no Missionary meeting had ever been held there, and that they had thirteen hundred years of arrears to make up.

A zealous clergyman was appointed about a year ago to take charge of the parish, and resolved at once to make the Missionary cause instrumental in reviving religion among his own people. He at once applied to the Society's office in Dublin for cards and papers, which were distributed among five or six collectors, while he took care to keep the zeal of his collectors alive by occasional addresses from the pulpit or schoolroom. Last month he resolved to call the first meeting, and inaugurate a Missionary Association. Our Association Secretary for Ireland attended, and addressed a small-for the neighbourhood is thinly peopled-but influential meeting. Among other stations where the Society's Missionaries are labouring, he mentioned Vancouver's Island, which drew from the chairman an affecting mention of the first Missionary who ever broke ground for Christ in that distant island. A young midshipman, the child of many prayers, was brought, in the providence of God, into the society of Sir Edward Parry at Portsmouth, who received him into his house, and was the instrument of bringing him to Christ. Hearing, soon after, that a young officer, stationed with his ship in the Pacific, was enduring much persecution for his Christian profession, he succeeded in getting himself appointed to the same ship, and was stationed off the coast of Vancouver's Island.

The condition of the first white settlers there called for some efforts to save them from the practical heathenism into which they were fast lapsing; and these two young men obtained permission from the captain to land every Sunday, and conduct a service on shore. That young officer was well known to the chairman, who remarked upon the wonderful openings that God is making every day in the Mission field.

After the chairman had concluded his address, the collectors were

1858.] AMERICAN PRESS ON FUTURE GOVERNMET OF INDIA.

11

called upon for their cards, when 157. was handed in as the proceeds of six collecting cards. A plate was then handed round, and 51. more collected, making a total of 201. paid in at the first meeting ever held for a Missionary purpose in a poor village in the poorest part of Ireland,

We do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed upon this village church in Ireland, how that, out of their deep poverty, they have abounded in the riches of their liberality. Unlike other districts to which the Secretary has to appeal for a meeting, and only succeeds after many refusals, this district came forward of itself: they prayed us with much entreaty to accept the gift.

The spirit of grace shed abroad upon the minister has also spread among the people; and the clergy of neighbouring parishes will, we hope, soon be stirred by his example.

Are there no villages in England where, since a church has stood there, no Missionary effort has ever been made? Better, like this Irish village, retrieve the neglect of centuries, than plod on in the same old rut of sinful, careless indifference.

We publish the foregoing, in the hope that it may stir up some of our clergy to see how much may be done, even with little means, and in remote places.

THE AMERICAN PRESS ON THE FUTURE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.

WHILE it is not yet possible to foretell the immediate issue of the contest in the North-western Provinces of India, now that Delhi has fallen, there are very few who doubt that it must ultimately be in favour of Great Britain. But when British dominion has been restored, and the mutinous Sepoys duly punished for the great crimes they have committed, the most arduous and delicate portion of the task which British statesmen have to perform will remain to be performed, namely, the consolidation of the newly-asserted supremacy, and the reorganization of the Government of India on a better and more stable basis. Among the first and most difficult questions to be considered will be, whether the British officials in India shall boldly assert the principles of Christianity as the truest, the best, the most just, and conducive to man's happiness, and make them the rule of their conduct; or whether, as in the past, they shall pursue the "traditionary policy," which has been forcibly described as a compromise between Christianity and heathenism, and by which Englishmen practically disavowed their own religion, and recognised those of the Hindús and Mohammedans, with the view-unsuccessful, as it has proved-of conciliating both, and purchasing their goodwill at the expense of principle. In the effort to please all parties-to be Christian to the European inhabitants, Brahmin to the high-caste soldiers of Bengal, and Mohammedan to the followers of the Prophet-the Government of India has displeased every body. The Moslem was offended at seeing the worshippers of Vishnu placed on a level with him; the Hindú was disgusted at seeing a creed, said to be so much superior to his own, made to yield to political expediency; and the Christian was naturally displeased that a Government professing his faith should not only tolerate, but encourage, practices utterly inconsistent with its precepts. It has been proved, after one hundred years' experience of the "traditional

12 AMERICAN PRESS ON FUTURE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. [JAN. 1858. policy," that not one of the objects for which it was designed has been attained. The natives have not been won to yield cheerful obedience to the rule of their conquerors; they have not been induced to abandon the faith of their fathers, and embrace that of their masters; and that they have not been made loyal and faithful to their Feringhee rulers is proved by recent events. The Hindú could not understand on what principle the Suttee was forbidden, and Brahmin soldiers who embraced Christianity dismissed from the army by the British, as if they had been guilty of a crime. Treacherous, cunning, and wedded to his own traditions, the Hindú could not comprehend that this was dictated by any other motive than political expediency; and, instead of considering it toleration, and being grateful for it as such, he felt contempt for those who could so easily sacrifice principles they professed to cherish so fondly. It being admitted on abundant proof that the "traditional" or compromise policy has been a failure, it is now urged by the people of England, and was forcibly recommended on the Fast-day by the clergymen of every Christian denomination in the United Kingdom, that, while the English Government should scrupulously abstain from interference with the domestic institutions of the natives of India, except where they are inconsistent with British supremacy, it is a duty imposed by truth, conscience, and good policy, that Christianity should be openly declared to be the basis of British civilization; that it should never be made to give way or be ignored for political expediency; that natives who may voluntarily embrace Christianity, instead of being punished as criminals, should be encouraged, protected, and supported; and that the profession of idolatry should not be in itself a partial immunity from submission to British rule, and a consequent superiority of social and political condition over that of the Christian inhabitants of India. No one recommends or desires to see forcible means employed to convert the natives, be they Mohammedan, Hindú, or Buddhist. Such a policy would be quite as mistaken, and perhaps more criminal, than that which has resulted so badly. Perfect toleration in all religious matters should be strictly observed; but between that and practical abnegation of Christianity there is a wide difference. The Hindús and Mohammedans are a conquered people, and yet it would be unfair to compel them, by the right of conquest, to submit to all the laws by which Englishmen are governed. The management of their domestic institutions should be exclusively theirs, except where, as in the case of the Suttee and the Juggernaut, they are revolting to humanity, and not to be tolerated by a Christian Government. Their matrimonial institutions, their laws of succession and rules of caste, do not positively clash with British jurisdiction, or interfere with the supremacy of Christian civilization, and need not be interfered with; but the indecent orgies-called religious festivals-of the Hindús, sacrifices of human life, insults to Christian ministers or ordinances, and outrages against Christian converts, should be strictly prohibited, and, in case of disobedience, severely punished; and the practical lesson taught, that justice, truth, and human happiness, are best secured by a Christian Government, tolerant, yet firm in its own belief; mild, yet resolute; and, above all, just between man and man, in every condition of life. [New York Journal of Commerce,